ItsDevelopmental - content + technology + people

Tweet, tweet and Twitter yourself to the top

A lot has been made of the power of Twitter, especially the way in which the recent Mumbai bombings covered (tweeted) by those affected. 

Here is an article on the power of Twitter. And here is my Twitter account. 

How the world of work is changing

Thanks to Richard Donkin for pointing me in the direction of this useful resource on FT.com on how the world of work is changing [entitled the 'New World of Working']. Richard has contributed to the articles.

 

A great time to be teaching journalism

Excellent post by Jeff Jarvis on how news delivery is changing. This paragraph encapsulates some of the changes journalism is going through and the exciting new ways in which journalists can gather and share stories. And it is this that makes teaching journalism so exciting.  

The essential functions of journalism - reporting, watching, sharing, answering, explaining - and its verities - factualness, completeness, fairness, timeliness, relevance - are eternal, but the means of performing them are multiplying magnificently. That is why I so enjoy teaching journalism, because we need no longer pick a medium and its tools for a career but can select them every time we need to tell a story - and because journalism is no longer about preservation (it never should have been) but is instead about change and growth.

Training's high profile in a downturn

I have been amazed at the high profile TV advertising for Train to Gain. I can't remeber a time when training has been given such a high profile in the media. made me go in search of related stories - and here are some plucked from my Google reader (and all Personnel Today).

Organisations must train UK staff before bringing in migrant workers
£27m skills training pot available for employment projects
Government gives £65m to Train to Gain for car firms
Cadbury committed to employee training and development

And then there is this counterpoint on training budget surveys that reveal different responses to the downturn.

Do you spend too much work time in meetings?

This is what I have asked Ask500people.

I am  asking as a piece of research for my forthcoming running effective meetings session. 

Update: oops forgot to embed it and code not working. Will try in a bit.

Time to get a grip on this blog

Another week, another set of inconsequential stats for the blog. I think I know what I have to do (I have been blogging on the Travel Weekly blog) - it's just I have found this harder to do than I thought. This is probably because:

• I am looking to change career at some point so do not want to advertise that fact to my colleagues.   

• For the above reason, I have so far used the blog as a kind of CV of things training related I have been up to

• I have yet to find my voice and have not joined in converastions with other bloggers

• I do not like the design of the blog

• When I am not working I spend a lot of time with my delightful family. I don't seem to have the time to post as regularly as I would like to

• I would like to write about other things but am not sure where to put them.

I can fix these issues I think. I liked this post by Chuck Westbrook on getting lots of people to visit blogs, especially the following top 10 thoughts on what all great blogs have in common.

Training digital natives

Interesting piece by author Don Tapscott on what digital natives expect from work and the workplace. Here are his key points:

• Children of the 'babyboomers' are now in their 20s and entering work - challenging their employers with demands about how work should work
• Digital natives have grown up with technology and have skills that enable them to collaborate online
• They have different attitudes to work: they want to choose when and where to work and value family over money
• They are loyal to their careers, not one company
• They expect to be able to network online in and out of work (employers that ban social networking are turning off digital natives)
• They want challenging work but not neccessarily organisational responsibility - hierarchies are a thing of the past.

So, flatter structures, more collaboration and workers with a different approach and expectation of work. Learning and development for these people will look very different to the types of training delivered to the digital immigrant workforce.

And then there are the challenges of learning and development for mixed teams of 20 somethings and 30/40/50 somethings.

More links: Genertaion Y research from Personnel Today

Effective meetings session - the research

I am running a session on how to conduct effective meetings. Here is some of my research so far:

• Wikipedia page on meetings
• Six tips for more effective meetings from effectivemeetings.com
• Recent Studies Help Explain Why Some Meetings Fail - published 20 years ago
• Australian management consultant and author, Dan Kehoe's 12 reasons why meetings fail
• Lifehacker advice on meetings

I'm also planning to survey some editors around the business using SurveyMonkey and my chief executive has agreed to do a short video piece answering these questions:

• What percentage of your working week is spent in meetings?

• What makes an effective meeting?

• Your top tips for an effective meeting.

And then there is this from the Fail blog . . .

see more pwn and owned pictures

Trainer feedback

Enjoyed this piece on Training Zone.

Links

5 Tips to Make You an Indispensable Employee
Private sector pay 2007/08: Utilities workers top pay league table
Managing conflict
Hands-on learning touches a nerve with employees