Talking TAP

New Year TAP Newsletter Welcome

Welcome to the New Year issue of the Talking TAP Newsletter - this issue we announce our NEW Online Learner Feedback Service, you can share Paul Edmondson's tale of implementing Facilitation skills in Dubai, and test your grey cells in our Brain Teaser of the Month.

Leon Robinson shares with us the reasons for his recent enrolment on the TAP Diploma in Learning Facilitation, soon I am sure we will see Leon's name in our Celebrate Success feature!

If you would like to contribute to our Question of the Month please do, it's always very interesting to hear your training experiences.

Greetings

Claire Brookes
Editor Talking TAP

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Late Availability TAP Discount

We are offering 50% off the two-day TAP certificate in Blended Learning course starting on 12th December 2011, reducing the cost from £990+VAT to £495+VAT.

There are only a limited number of places available so please contact us on 02476 411288 as soon as possible to reserve yours.

To join our mailing list and be among the first to find out about any special offers, please e-mail s.litterick@trainingfoundation.com.

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NEW Online Learner Feedback Service

We are holding a TAP Partners Open Day on the 12^th January.  Attending this event is a great opportunity to network with other TAP Partners and share war stories. It will also give Partners an advance preview of an exciting new initiative.  

The dire financial climate is currently having a major impact on many L&D functions - sadly training is still seen by some as expendable when we all know it is essential to business survival.  Downsizing, restructuring and outsourcing seem to be the order of the day, and these decisions are frequently self-defeating. The problem is that they are often made in the absence of empirical data on the validity and value of the L&D service being provided.  To help address this shortfall, we are launching a unique new online service at the event;
 the Learner Feedback Service.  

This service is designed to meet Kirkpatrick Level 3 evidence and will provide many benefits. It is exclusively open to TAP Partners only;

The service will:

-        Generate a Learning Application Profile (LAP) for every training event.  Part 1 of the questionnaire (conducted online straight after course end) focuses on how four key drivers of effective learning transfer are met; trainer, learning context, learning content and line manager support.  Part 2 (30-60 days later) focuses on identifying the application of learning in the workplace made by the learners.  The LAP will report the course profile of both how the 4 key drivers are met and the resultant application made of the learning.

-        Offer extensive reporting of results, including the difference between internally resourced and externally resourced training, and between TAP-delivered training and non-TAP delivered training. Also, results by course, by trainer, by Business Unit and optionally by line manager.

-        Provide benchmark data, enabling the function to clearly demonstrate its superior performance in comparison to others.

A demonstration of the Service will be shown at the launch event;  don’t miss it!  BOOK YOUR PLACE TODAY, email info@tap-training.com 

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Website Watch

Welcome to the Website Watch feature, here we update you with new developments on our website

* View the TAP approved Training Tip just follow this link: http://www.tap-training.com/page/communities/trainingtip.html

* View the TAP Training Accreditation Programme - to help your company professionalise Learning and Development:
http://www.tap-training.com/docs/tap_accreditation_programme_professionalising_l_d.pdf

* We have also developed TAP Accreditation for L&D professionals  - to look in to this follow this link:
http://www.tap-training.com/docs/tap_accreditation_for_l_d_professionals.pdf

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Question Of The Month

Last month our e-Learning Manager Louise Talbot wondered whether our readers had met any famous people in their training career. We included the unlikely pairing of Peter Purves and Rihanna, and asked you to write in with your experiences.

 To start, our Deputy Chief Executive Ron Mackrell thinks back to his early career and recalls that “in 1968 I joined Telephone Rentals (a telecommunications company, later to become part of Cable and Wireless). Part of my induction included a sales training course, which was held somewhere in North London and I stayed in local accommodation with other trainees.  It was a great opportunity for me to mix with work colleagues and to get them to know them better.  One of the more well-spoken trainees was a very young and confident James Hunt, later to become known as Hunt the Shunt!.”  He adds “If you are too young to remember go to http://www.formula1.com/teams_and_drivers/hall_of_fame/326/ to find out more”

And somewhat further afield, Karl Whitburn at Fidessa found himself on the set of the new Jeff Bridges movie RIPD, due for release next year. Karl was delivering a course in Boston, USA to do with Asset Management and Buy Side Trading Software – he  takes up the tale himself…

”I was staying in Central Boston in a quaint little American hotel called the Club Quarters, great food, nice Ale and they served shots on the rocks (I always thought that was only in movies).

I was staying over the weekend and walked out the front entrance of the hotel and started to go round the back to go shopping, sight seeing etc. I walked up the road and almost into the camera, but a nice young man told me to HALT!! They had closed off the street to the back of the hotel and were shooting the chase scenes. A camera was on the bike and it had to race up the centre of the street and all these cars were waiting to go; when they said action, the bike set off and the cars moved out of the way. I watched it a couple of times, and apparently they were going to be doing more of the same during the day. Unfortunately I was back in work on Monday and that was the day Jeff Bridges was going to be there. I did learn one thing though, non of these cars passed much beyond 20 mph as the street was small and tight, they must take the film and just speed it up to make it look more impressive; it looked like kind of chase scene that Miss Daisy would find extremely slow. But it was cool!!!!”

Thank you to Ron & Karl for sharing their experiences with us. Look out for December’s question of the month and share your memories of your first course with us.

December Question Of The Month

This month’s question comes from Frances Day, our Director of Training, who is interested to find out  “What are your memories of your first course?”

Hers was Lotus 123 in 1982, when spreadsheets were very new. She tells us that she had about 100 index cards to help her remember the details “so many that they became too unwieldy to work with and I got into an awful pickle trying to find my place. This taught me the importance of preparation which I am still learning to this very day!”

I have memories of a dramatic incident when I had only just started with The Training Foundation – I dropped a large sharp knife onto my foot whilst chopping fruit for breakfast. There was a huge amount of blood, my husband was telling me to get it seen, but I was just starting to deliver my first training sessions with my colleague Debbie and was very keen to come to work.  So I just bandaged it up and hobbled round all day, but eight years later I still have a scar surrounded by patch of skin on the top of my foot which is completely numb –maybe I should have gone to A&E after all!

So cast your mind back and let me know what memories you have of your first course – good or bad! Please e-mail me your stories at s.litterick@trainingfoundation.com.

Thank You
Sharon 

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TAP Professional of the Month, Leon Robinson

I live near the vibrant city of Manchester with my wife and my son aged 5.  My career has been one marked out by working in education with a good helping of IT.  My Father was a Secondary school teacher and, while I admire him greatly, it wasn't a path I wanted to take so I carved out something of my own.  Initially I worked with educators, first as a Technician at a secondary school, which I like to tell people involved chopping up wood and dipping things in acid! However, I was given many opportunities to coach both staff and pupils in the tools and software they needed.  Then as an IT Technician at a pupil referral unit in Bolton mainly maintaining and repairing the equipment but also providing training regarding the unusual and bespoke required software which was provided.  In 2007 I had a chance conversation with a friend who mentioned one of his jobs had been as an IT Trainer.

It was a quantum leap moment for me as I had assumed people just learnt how to deal with IT as they went along as I had.  I'm an inveterate geek and like nothing more to do in my spare time than amateur systems integration.  I have my own server and run software for mail, web, groupware, music and a plethora of other things I shan't bore you with.  After that conversation I galvanised myself into breaking into the Training sector and came across The Training Foundation and their TAP Learning System, and felt that this is the way forward to quality assure my training skills.  Initially it felt like a risky venture to self finance a TAP qualification, but once I had completed the TAP certificate in Training Delivery in 2007 I knew I had valuable skills and tools and this was proven when I got an IT Training job 6 months later on the strength of what I had learnt.

Unfortunately my position was recently made redundant which I am sure many of you can sympathise with given the current economic climate.  However with four years of training experience now under my belt I have returned to The Training Foundation to complete my TAP Diploma in Learning Facilitation; with a view to furthering my career either under contract or freelance.  The future may be unsure but I can step out confidently knowing I have the best skillset on the market.  Also The Training Foundation are to be commended in all their support they've shown me both in and out of the classroom.

Hopefully I will be able to share my experiences of achieving the TAP Diploma in Learning Facilitation shortly, with an aim to become a Gold TAP Accredited L&D Professional. 

Thank You
Leon

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My Training Tale by Paul Edmondson

Okay, let’s get this straight: I enjoyed delivering in Mumbai and I had a great time in the Philippines.  I’ve discovered Ireland’s unique charm and Scotland welcomed me with open arms.  Having been given an opportunity to deliver our three-day TAP Certificate in Facilitation in Dubai, I thought this would also give me a chance to think about how the course transcends culture and is universally valid.

There’s something about Dubai with which I fell in love.  Maybe it was the sunshine, perhaps it was the glittering architecture or it could possibly have been the delicious cuisine and understated hospitality.  Whatever, I’m already looking forward to my next visit.

Some of you may already know about Dubai’s geography and others might like to know a little more about this fascinating Emirate.  Indulge me; I’ve researched!

Dubai is one of the seven Emirates of the United Arab Emirates and is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula.  It has the largest population and is the second-largest emirate by area, after Abu Dhabi.  Dubai is home to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.

So, I arrived at Al Manzil hotel on Emaar Boulevard, looking forward to working on the  TAP Certificate in Facilitation.   I was excited by the prospect of applying the facilitative techniques to the highly-regulated financial industry within which our client operated.

The group of seven professionals that I worked with represented various nationalities: some lived in the UAE; others were from Karachi and others still from Mumbai.  Oh, and there was me, from Warwickshire.  A truly international blend.

Over the course of the three days, we embraced our cultural differences and celebrated our similarities.  We found that we shared a passion (a clichéd word, but it’s accurate in this context) for learning and development and we discovered that we face similar challenges in the facilitation room; it soon became obvious that Carl Rogers’ internal and external threats to learning are universal.

Those of you who have attended our Facilitation course will know that the three days begin at a high contextual level, where we explore what facilitation means, the types of events that we might facilitate and consider the eight levels of rapport, before we move onto the detail of structuring an event.  It was whilst we were discussing the levels of rapport that I first realised that this course transcends cultural differences, geographical boundaries and notional political borders; when two people are in rapport, their background doesn’t matter.  Finding a connection with another person means linking with them on a human level; our humanity is one of the very few things that we all have in common.

When we discussed the tools that a facilitator might use to structure their event, I noticed that the methods we were thinking about were as appropriate in the Middle East as they are in Middle England.  I discovered that the techniques that we use to generate discussion and filter responses are universal.

There could be an argument that cultural norms and values might mean that some attendees at facilitated events are averse to contributing in a group setting.  This was certainly not my experience: every member of the group I was working with added value to our discussions and helped to move our sessions forwards.  Was this testament to their personalities?  Possibly.  Could this have been evidence of the power of language patterns to help the group feel included?  Maybe.  Were subtle instructions embedded into statements?  Probably.  Did carefully selected words and phrases encourage the group to engage with the content and each other?  It’s likely.

I guess what I’m saying is that a facilitator can appeal to individuals’ subconscious, simply by using clever, maybe imperceptible, language patterns.  Who knows: you might even have been exposed to this use of language whilst reading this article!

When, on the second day of our course, we started thinking about managing behaviour during facilitated events, I was again struck by our similarities: challenging behaviour is challenging behaviour, whichever way you culturally cut it!  When we brainstormed different types of behaviour and underlying reasons that we might come across, the group had exactly the same ideas as any group that I’ve worked with in the UK.  It stood to reason, then, that the strategies available were also identical.  This suggested that TAP Certificate in Facilitation methods are borne of an innate desire to connect on a human level and that we can all use strategies to get the best from people.

So, what were my biggest lessons during my Middle Eastern adventure?  If I were going to share my experience, I’d suggest that you keep looking for ways to:

• Apply facilitative methods so that you can adapt the structure of your event to suit your attendees’ needs and achieve the desired outcome
• Elevate your events and their contents above cultural expectations
• Embed commands to appeal to your group’s subconscious
• Structure your language carefully so that all of your attendees remain engaged
• Use your facilitative skills to control levels of participation, irrespective of attendees’ professional or cultural backgrounds

As I close this piece I find myself reflecting on the international groups that I’ve worked with (as far west as Memphis and as far east as Manila).  My experience tells me that all attendees to our events – and it doesn’t matter where they’re from – have something to contribute in terms of sharing ideas and experiences.  Our duty is to use the most appropriate facilitative tool to maintain engagement, interaction and participation; knowing that a tool that’s effective in one context may be ineffective in another.

Regards
Paul Edmondson

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TAP Accredited L&D Partners

TAP Accredited L&D Partner is a FREE upgrade available to all TAP Partners, who make the following commitments to ensure quality standards:

* All training events are facilitated or designed by personnel holding relevant TAP qualifications.
*  Internal monitoring of delivery standards by an in-house TAP Certified Assessor.

For more information on the TAP Accredited L&D Partner programme please follow this link:http://www.tap-training.com/docs/tap_accreditation_programme_professionalising_l_d.pdf

We are pleased to announce the following five organisations that have upgraded as a TAP Accredited L&D Partner.

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Celebrate Success

Each month we celebrate the success of our delegates who have achieved a TAP Diploma with us, our congratulations go out to these hard working individuals who have also signed up as Gold Accredited L&D Professionals:

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Brain Teaser

The Winter Brain Teaser is suggested by Paul Millard from ORACLE - and is entitled 3 mistakes:

There is three mistakes in this sentance. What are they?

If you know the solution, email me at c.brookes@trainingfoundation.com with 3 mistakes in the subject line.  As always the solution will be printed in the next issue of the TAP Newsletter.

The solution to last month's Brain Teaser was neither as the yolk is yellow!  Congratulations to everyone who correctly solved this Brain Teaser, those who correctly emailed in are listed below:

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