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Sunday, August 17, 2014
Ravinder Tulsiani: How to Create an Effective Mentor/Coaching Program
Just like an effective business strategy is important for its growth, similar a well designed mentoring program is responsible for training the staff and invoking leadership qualities within them. Creating a proper mentoring program is not easy as it requires a lot of efforts as well as understanding to come up with a complete program. If you wish to enhance the skills of the staff, their training and development is very important. This can be best accomplished with the help of the mentoring program which is highly helpful and valuable too. So let us consider the different factors which need to be kept in mind while creating a #mentoring program. #traininganddevelopment
Define your goals
It is important to get familiar with the goals and objectives that you wish to fulfill. Once you know the goals, it becomes quite easy to frame the program and make sure that the goals are met keeping in mind the deadlines. So identifying the objectives is very important and can prove helpful in training your staff in the right way and making them more efficient to achieve their targets on time. #HR
A reason to be a part of the mentoring program
The staff will not show any interest in the mentoring program unless there is a benefit associated with it. Make them understand the importance of the program and how it can prove useful in taking their career to the next level. Guide them about the benefits of the program and how every individual will get to learn something new and unique. Creating interest in their mind is an imperative for program success. #leadership
Right implementation
Creating a mentoring program is not enough unless it is executed in the right direction. The mentor must take an effort towards executing the program so that the staff is happy and benefits from it in a number of ways. Properly follow the minute details of the program and make sure that the best comes your way. #business
Evaluation
This is the most important segment because the mentors must know what the staff is learning and whether they are utilizing it practically or not. So evaluation on a regular basis can definitely make a huge difference and can prove efficient too. As per the changing needs, the program can be altered so as to meet the current business requirements and survive in the competition as well.
So follow the above steps and create a mentoring program.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Ravinder Tulsiani: 5 Qualities of Superior Leaders
It’s hard to say what the exact formula behind becoming a superior #leader is. Either it’s an inborn behavioural trait or development of the personality or gaining expertise by adopting certain skills through practice is still a matter of debate among psychologists.
According Brian Tracy- “Followers think and talk about the problems; leaders think and talk about the solutions”. #briantracy
Being a leader is not an easy thing. You become one of the prime faces of your organization. While your company’s profit will take you to the peak of your success, its failure will make you befall simultaneously. #Leadership is a matter of great responsibility and superior leaders are those who have all the following aspects and traits in their characteristics. #HR
1. Mission and vision:
As a superior leader, you have to be in line with the mission and vision of your organization and how to accomplish it. The mission should be direct and to the point and it’s your duty to make sure all the employees are identifying with it and showing enough diligence to achieve it. Your vision should be categorically defined and redefined, so that every employee can instantly comprehend it. #leadership
2. Challenge and Initiative:
You have to face multiple situations every now and then that ask for challenge and promise. A superior leader always initiates himself/herself to face such challenging situations and win over it. When it’s a do or die scenario going on in your company, you just cannot afford to sit back; you have to come forward and take initiative. #business
3. Interpersonal Skills:
A leader becomes superior only when he/she succeeds in solving problems and convincing people quickly to get their jobs done. These depend a lot on the leader’s interpersonal skills. You have to make yourself approachable and friendly to others. Build rapport with almost anyone and everyone whom you may need for the benefits of your company. If your employees will find their boss to be cordial and congenial, they will come to you with their problems and discuss those with you at length. This will help you to develop a more cohesive team and a stronger team spirit. Not all leaders are adept at these skills, but very often you have to pay too high a cost, if you cannot master the interpersonal skills properly. For that you may take a course, hire a trainer or a therapist to develop the interpersonal skills within yourself.
4. Moral Values:
A superior leader is highly aware of his/her moral values. If you are not morally strong and integral enough, you cannot guide your subordinates through the right pathway. Every time make yourself a subject of self evaluation. Try to find out your loopholes and work on it. Develop yourself not only as a strong leader but also as an honest leader.
5. Inspiration:
You are the role model of your team. Employees will keep on looking up to you for guidance and encouragement. A superior leader always inspires his team. Hence come back to your employees time and again, praise them, trust them and show them how patiently you are depending on them. Your trust will make them respect and love you and they will try to give their best not to let you down.
Ravinder Tulsiani: Using Pre-Work as a Training Strategy
The problem is a common one. You have been scheduled for a training session to explain a new policy or procedure. Unfortunately, you have time and budget constraints that mean you do not have the time or resources to have a session of the proper length or breadth. Whether you as a trainer or you as an employer looking to engage a trainer encounter this issue, pre-work may help alleviate the strain on the budget or the time table, while invigorating the #training process.
Pre-work is work that is assigned before a training session begins. It can provide the groundwork of the training session, be a way for employees to self assess their knowledge of a particular topic or practice before the training session begins, or simply lay out some of the basics the training session will cover in a more in-depth manner so that the employees have some sense of what the session itself will be about. Regardless of what the pre-work actually is, it is an effective way to drum up enthusiasm for the training session itself, while staying on time and on price point. #management
Studies show that typically during a training session, learners spend 70% of their time speaking, and 30% of their time listening and learning, which when time is of the essence, is not efficient. It is also important to energize and excite the learners about the material that will be studied and illustrate to them the ways it will benefit them in their work. Sending out content before the training session begins in the form of studies and reading, or pre-work, not only helps shift the paradigm of the learning/speaking balance of learners, it creates enthusiasm for the training session and encourages the learners to come to the session already engaged in the subject matter. Pre course activities can be as simple as some reading a self assessment questionnaire, or as complicated as a series of worksheets. Regardless, illustrating the relevance of the lesson to the work and the applications of it should remain a priority.
Once the #learners come in excited about the material, it is important to keep them engaged and enthusiastic. This can be done by considering the type of material you are teaching and what key information you want to impart to the learners. Consider approaching the training with real world applications, so the learners will know how to apply the knowledge you impart on them into real world work scenarios. Also try asking questions and constructing interesting engaging activities to reinforce the classroom lessons.
Learners need to be committed to the applying the learning process, and trainers need to enforce that enthusiasm through verbal cues such as relating the training procedures to successful real life individuals, and non verbal cues such as putting up training course work where others can see it for encouragement. #HR
Pre-work, and training, like many workplace strategies typically needs to be adjusted on a case by case basis for your business’s needs. However, when done successfully, using the tips we’ve outlined, pre-work can become a crucial part of your #business training model.
Ravinder Tulsiani: What Trainers Need To Know About Project Management
Project management skills are essential when it comes to developing and applying a training program for employees; in fact, these skills are fundamental if the program is to be a success. Because we may have several projects on the go at any one time, as we bid to instigate a growth in our business, it can mean that certain projects either become neglected - or they run away with themselves. When this happens, stress can become manifest, and the training program we began with the best intentions begins to fall apart around us, with the staff becoming disillusioned. Project management, with skills centring around planning, organisation, and management, is something that can be learnt by all of us and its worth is invaluable. #projectmanagement
Training programs are important for both the business and the employee. It is important that the trainer shows enough respect to their employee by developing and sustaining a program that is successful, and which doesn’t get undercut or neglected simply because the trainer has poor project management skills. Project management’s basics are centred around planning and organising. At the start of a project need to write up your overall end goal for each aspect, as well as your daily goals. By writing up daily goals and tasks that you want to achieve with each of your projects, you will be able to better manage your time. You will know what you have to do each day, and you will be able to make sure that you never over stretch yourself. If you don’t organise your time daily, you can be sure that at least one of the aspects of your training program will take months, rather than weeks, to complete. Make deadlines, and stick to them. #training
Naturally, it may not always be possible to accurately calculate a finish time for each program, but by using previous experience (and you will gain experience as you go along), and breaking down your program into daily goals and targets, you will have a clearer vision of all your deadlines - including the final deadline. When we envision end results, we have a greater chance of meeting them. Each project will have a timeline, and if you clearly delineate where you want to be at the end of each week, and as long as you’re reasonable with your expectations, you will have a much greater chance of success. Being reasonable with our expectations is, in fact, a key factor; you don’t want to over stretch yourself, and you need to remember to always work within your means. There are boundaries for all things, and project management is all about setting yourself boundaries that you can work within. #business
Organising and working with your staff means that you will need good communication skills. To get the best out of your training program, you will need to be able to work well with your employees. You don’t have to be the most perceptive person to be able to detect who is good at what; finding out the key skills of your staff and using them to everyone’s advantage is part and parcel of what makes a training program successful. You will need to be constantly talking to your employees, keeping them updated, and you can do this through meetings. This doesn’t mean that you need to organise a plethora of meetings that cover just a few trivial points; the key is to make the meetings as effective as possible. #HR
Finally, project management teaches the trainer to think on their feet. It may be that, from time to time, things go wrong and your timeline has to be altered a little to compensate for lost time. You need to be ready for these kind of moments, and experience itself is often enough to act as a saving grace in times such as these. It may even be that the time you were given by the company simply wasn’t enough, in which case you can talk to them about future changes in the way your training program is scheduled. Project management breeds experience, and experience is what will ultimately shape your future success as a trainer.
Ravinder Tulsiani: What You Should Know About Business Leadership
Leaders come from all different walks of life. Anyone can become an effective leader. It all starts with believing in yourself and having the determination to succeed. The following article has many great tips that will show you how to become the best leader you can be.
SHARE YOUR VISION
Talk about the vision of your team. Think of your mission the way you might think of a compass, and integrate company values into the daily workings of the company. It is critical that you show team members how they play a role in the larger picture of the company's workings. It is a great way to offer direction and build a healthy professional relationship.
DECISIVE
Be confident in a decision before you share it with others. If you look indecisive, that will cause your subordinates to question your authority and be indecisive themselves. Instead, deliberate in private before you make any announcements.
PART OF THE TEAM
Be sure that you spend some time each day out of your office, and in the midst of the workforce. Try to be a part of the group, while maintaining your leadership role. You can use this time to get to know your employees, ask questions or even join them for lunch.
WALK THE TALK
To be an effective, you need to walk the talk. Set a good example for others. You cannot sit around giving out orders and expect people to follow. The best way to earn respect is being a positive role model to others.
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Don't rely on email to manage your team. Over-reliance on email disconnects your from your team. You will not only build resentment among your team, but also miss out on the chance to build relationships that will improve productivity in the long run.
LEADERSHIP STYLE
One way to become a good leader is to avoid becoming a monarch. You should have a good and talented workforce under you if you are a good leader. Just make sure to avoid creating a "throne" by setting up restrictive guidelines that are unreasonable. You need to guide your employees, but not with a bunch of parameters that are unnecessary. Influence your workers without trying to "rule" them.
EMPOWER
Empower your employees. Leadership isn't just about decision making. It's also about knowing when to give up the power to your trusted colleagues. When you let them make decisions, you are helping to build their loyalty to the company. They'll feel respected, and most importantly, wanted. That's a big thing for the health of your business.
ACTIVE COMMUNICATION
Even if you're not a tremendous speaker, that doesn't mean you can't be a good leader. Communicating effectively can overcome lack of oratory skills. Let all your team members know what is expected of them and how they contribute to the organization. Communicate success stories and be precise when providing critical remarks.
OPTIMAL DRIVE
Do not push people on your team too hard since this can result in doing the opposite of what you are trying to accomplish. Instead of giving them motivation to do more work, it may make them feel demoralized. In turn, they will lose a lot of respect for you and negatively effect your employee turnover rate.
Remember, effective leadership requires a steadfast determination to succeed and belief in oneself that you can really be a leader. The article here presented you with very good advice that many people have used to better their leadership skills. Use this information in your life to help develop the leadership capabilities that lie within you.
NEXT STEPS
Check out my book: "Your Leadership Edge". It's an innovative step-by-step leadership training program that will help you develop a highly engaged and super-charged workforce... in stores this fall. Pre-order your copy today to get exclusive bonuses athttp://www.yourleadershipedge.ca.
Author Information:
Ravinder Tulsiani has over a decade of experience in training and management development. Tulsiani’s expertise has been cited and sought out on a number of major networks, such as CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and FOX. Tulsiani teaches leadership at his own consulting firm, Training EDGE. Effective Leadership, Manager’s Guide to Workplace and Safety, and Time Management in the Workplace are all books also penned by Ravinder Tulsiani.
Ravinder Tulsiani: How to Evaluate the Impact of Training
In these tough economic times there are many companies that feel that they are wasting money on training their staff. They feel that it is only a necessary luxury when things are rosy and when there is plenty of money to burn. This is a wrong notion as training is the lifeblood of any business. If you increase the capacity of those who work for your company, you invariably increase the potentiality or value of your company. #training
And this has become crucial for sustainability in the marketplace. You need to adapt and remain competitive if you want to be in business for the long haul. And this starts with equipping your staffers with skill sets and attributes for the journey that lies ahead. But how do you know that the money that you spend is put to good use? How do you evaluate the impact of training organized for your workforce? If you work in a department responsible for this, how do you defend yourself against having your budget allocation trimmed down or scrapped altogether? #leadership
There are some smart ways that you can evaluate training results. Firstly, make sure that you can gauge participant satisfaction at the end of the learning period. Printed or electronic surveys can be handed out to attendees to find out how they felt about the course. Did you enjoy the training? How is the course relevant to your work? Would you recommend this course to someone else? These are some of the questions that you can ask to evaluate a participatory response. #shrm
The second level of evaluation should be an examination. It is important for an examination to come after the training to help determine if knowledge was acquired or not by those who attended. Many training specialists try to avoid this in order to justify their pay check and prove that their session was not an epic failure. However, this evaluation needs to be considered. It points out the people who have acquired knowledge and points out people who need extra #coaching or #mentorship.
If participants know that there is an examination at the end of a course, they tend to take it more seriously. If they know that after a week of training, they will be tested and their grades would be forwarded to their superiors, they brace up. #business
But when it comes to evaluating the impact of a training session, you need to look beyond surveys and examinations. You need to measure the impact that it would have on a business. This is a long term evaluation. But it is easily the most effective. In this case, you find out if what has been learnt is being applied in the workplace. In addition, you confirm if behaviours and skills are being adapted or altered towards the benefit of the organization. #HR
This demonstrates how well participants can apply their knowledge in the real world. And help management realize the people who are adding value to the organization and the people who are liabilities. Training is all about generating an improvement for your business. Ensure that you use key performance indicators (KPIs) to improve the results of your training.
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