The Training Life
T is for Training 41 Happens Tomorrow
Mar 11th
Tomorrow marks the 41st episode taping of the Library Training Podcast, T is for Training which is sponsored by the ALA Learning blog.
Detailed notes about the podcast are visible here: Gearing Up for Tomorrow’s T is for Training
You can listen to past episodes of the podcast by clicking on the widget on the top right side of this page.
Thanks for listening!
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...T is for Training 40 will be created tomorrow
Feb 25th
Tomorrow marks the 40th episode taping of the Library Training Podcast, T is for Training which is sponsored by the ALA Learning blog.
Detailed notes about the podcast are visible here: Trainers Assemble! (Up next on tomorrow’s T is for Training)
You can listen to past episodes of the podcast by clicking on the widget on the top right side of this page.
Thanks for listening!
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...On Sunshine, Smiles and Kittens
Feb 18th
This post is not going to be about workplace violence, even though it’s recently been heavy on my mind. On February 17th, an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at The University of Alabama in Huntsville opened fire in a staff meeting killing three coworkers and injuring three more. Dr. Amy Bishop is now charged with those crimes. My library is in Huntsville, everyone who works here knows someone at UAH.
Nor is it going to be about conflict management, though I’ve got a fairly good presentation on that topic and can talk about it for hours.
While this post is about workplace etiquette, it’s not a broad guide. There are plenty of those available. I’d like to step back even further and discuss one small thing we can do at work to reduce daily stress and create a better work environment for everyone.
I remember staying after school one day in elementary school to help a teacher pack up her room at year’s end. As I said goodbye, the teacher handed me an old poster with ragged corners. “If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours” quoted the poster, complete with rays of sunshine on a kitten. She told me she wanted me to have it because she’d noticed how quick I was to smile at the other children, always cheerful and ready to help. She spoke of kindness and courtesy, manners and graciousness. It has a huge impact on me, I would even call it empowering.
In 2006 I attended a SirsiDynix Webinar with Pat Wagner called “Library Conflict Management for Consenting Adults Turning Enemies into Allies” in which she mentioned that libraries should have a “civility clause” for employees. Soon after, I conducted a little experiment in the staff-only halls of the library. Moving through the building, I pulled up my the corners of my mouth and set a smile there. Every single person who passed said hello or wanted talk about something. The next day, I set a frown before I roamed the halls. A couple of people said I looked tired, one even asked what was wrong. It was as if the energy around me changed instead of just a few facial muscles, I was really struck with the results. Many times since I’ve heard someone make a nasty remark or slam a door in anger at work and wish we had a policy for Being Nice.
Call me Pollyanna, it’s been done before. I’m a firm believer in the power of positivity. When doing research on a class for managers on giving evaluations, I relied heavily on The Power of Positive Criticism by Hendrie Weisinger. He writes of emotional intelligence, being improvement-oriented and guarding self-esteem in those around you. The book had a profound effect on the way I deal with people in every aspect of my life and I recommend it often to others.
Too often we forget simple courtesy in the workplace. Don’t wait until you have to bring in a conflict resolution arbitrator or consult the attorneys on harassment law. It’s too late when you’re forced to hire grief counselors.
You have the power to give someone a smile today. It’s free and it feels good. Who knows? You might just get one back in return.
Funeral services for Dr. Adriel Johnson, Dr. Gopi Podila and Dr. Maria Ragland Davis begin today.
Image credit: The Huntsville Times
Information about UAH’s Department of Biological Sciences Memorial Scholarship Fund may be found here.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...What would Seinfeld do?
Feb 9th
I love the image of the fantasy eager student in Cathy Moore’s Dump the Drone. This learning nerd looks blissfully at his computer screen and exclaims, “I love to sit at my computer and read read read!”
If only training were that easy. Whether it’s online or on-ground, for most training sessions, the audience is a little lower down on the engagement scale. They may be skeptical that the session will be of any benefit to them; or they may feel obligated but not motivated to be there. I’ve been cogitating on just that kind of situation, fretting about an upcoming presentation. I want to prepare myself and my audience in advance to set the stage for success. I wondered what would Seinfeld do? Or what would any comedian with years of experience in front of tough audiences do? So, I googled for lessons from the world of comedy. Whether or not these comedians are memorable, their advice is:
1. Where’s the passion?
If passion is contagious, the converse—a passionless presentation—is deadly. If you’re not jazzed about delivering your material, how can you expect your audience to be? Simon Dunn says, if you’re dying on stage, “you’ve only got yourself to blame.” Vince Martin tells wannabe comics that you need to bring the energy to the audience yourself, “to give away as much energy as you can.”
How to surface your enthusiasm? Back in December, Peter Bromberg (who’s a bit of a comic himself) blogged about Kevin Eikenberry’s post on Unlocking the Passion Paradox. Read it and then go look for your passion. “Passion is something we want, but we don’t always know how or where to find it.”
2. You talkin’ to me?
When asked by Larry King what makes a comedian really good, Seinfeld replied that it was a comedian who cared about his audience. Comedians will often sit at the back of a club before their act just so they can watch people enter and note their dress, demeanor, and demographic. The more you understand about your audience, the better prepared you are to play to their diversity, arouse their attention and respond to their tough questions. But Seinfeld didn’t say “understand,” he said “care” about the audience.
Trainers often have an advantage over stand-up comics in that they know ahead of time who is registered for the event; you can do your audience analysis before the moment when you’re standing in the spotlights. You can look for their commonalities, their differences, anticipate potential questions and formulate answers. But take it a step further and try to imagine their frame of mind when arriving at the training. What might they be expecting, what might disappoint, how will they have the opportunity to interact and make the material their own?
John Cleese says, “If you get too neurotic about making mistakes, you’re unlikely to make anything.” Anticipating a tough audience or a difficult training can be stifling. The fear of not connecting, not achieving learning objectives, and basically “bombing” makes it hard to prepare for a presentation. You need to let go of some control. Be prepared to be flexible in response to your audience and to change gears when it’s clear that something’s not working. Vinnie Favorito is known for extemporizing with his audiences. He’s also been known, when meeting with tepid response and weak laughs, to stop his routine and ask “Guys, what’s the matter? What’s going on?” It’s more important to admit that there’s a disconnect and enlist the audience to help fix it than it is to stick to a script.
Well, that’s three good pointers to calm my trepidation and help me prepare. There’s a whole other set of lessons on how to pull off the live performance. That will require a lot more study and practice.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...27 Questions with Lori Reed
Jan 28th
1. Your One Sentence Bio
- Lori Reed, mom, library enthusiast, lifelong learner, passionate about helping people, team Edward!
2. Do you blog? If yes, how did you come up with your blog name?
- I moved my blog from LibraryTrainer.com to LoriReed.com yesterday. I chose my name because it will remain constant. I want the freedom to change directions with my blog as needed.
3. What is your professional background?
- I worked for several years as a firefighter/EMT and discovered that I love training. I conducted training for firefighters and EMTs for a while then moved to computer training (better hours and pay). I worked for a few for-profits and found that I really missed the environment of public service. A job came open at the library in Charlotte for someone to do computer support and training and it seemed like the perfect fit. 10-years and three jobs later and it’s still a great fit!
4. What training do you do? staff? patrons? types of classes?
- I coordinate the staff development at my library. This means that I don’t get to do as much training anymore. Instead I do more strategic planning. I look at the mission and vision and goals of the library and translate those back into competencies that staff need to achieve the library’s goals. I work with managers and staff to see what skills our staff need to accomplish the library’s goals and to get their jobs done well. I rely on a core group of staff trainers to facilitate most training sessions. I also serve as an internal consultant to help staff trainers develop their courses and materials.
5. What training do you think is most important to libraries right now?
- I think the most important thing is that we be strategic with our training. If you align your training with your library’s vision, mission, and goals then you are right on track.
6. Where do you get your training?
- Wherever I can! North Carolina State Library’s Master Trainer Program, Mecklenburg County, InSync Training, Learning Round Table, ASTD, ISPI, conferences, blogs, Twitter, friends…maybe the question should be where don’t I get my training.
7. How do you keep up?
- The first rule of … wait … wrong question. I follow other people who keep up with subjects I’m interested in. It saves me a lot of time! I live by GTD principles and use my Outlook calendar and tasklist religiously. It also helps to have a clear personal definition of keeping up. For me keeping up means keeping my inbox at or near 0 and having some idea of what is going on in the world. For other people keeping up may mean knowing about every new idea or gadget that is coming out.
8. What do you think are the biggest challenges libraries are facing right now?
- I think traditionally libraries have been slow to adapt and change. The world around us is changing at a faster and faster pace. To remain relevant and cherished by everyone in our communities we need to adapt faster. We need to take risks and be willing to try new things that might fail. We need to look at failure as a success and staying the same as a failure. We need to reduce the digital divide that exists among libraries. We need to continue to market our services. We’re being asked to do more with less–maybe it’s time to get more creative with funding and partnerships. We desperately need a new universal brand that reflects 21st century libraries!
9. What are biggest challenges for trainers?
- Training is not always the solution. Training does not solve problems that stem from poor management or software that’s not intuitive. These are bigger issues at an organizational level. Traditionally trainers have not been in a role to contribute to organizations at that higher level. That needs to change. Trainers need to be part of the strategic planning of libraries and need to have the flexibility to implement complete performance solutions. When training is called for, developing quality training takes time. It’s more than happy butts in seats. Like everyone else, trainers are being asked to do more with less or worse to deploy bandages that will not solve long term performance or organizational issues.
10. What exciting things are you doing training wise?
- We recently implemented a curriculum for staff training. We also received a generous donation of Lumenix (a learning content management system) from Handshaw, Inc. I’m working with my staff trainers to convert existing face-to-face training into self-paced, online training. It’s a very slow process because it takes exponentially more time to create self-paced modules that replace what we were doing face-to-face. I’m hoping to implement live, online training this fall. Fellow ALA Learning blogger Paul Signorelli and I are co-authoring a book on leadership for trainers that should be available this summer.
11. What do you wish were you doing?
- I’m doing everything that I want to be doing, I just wish there were more hours in the day to do more and to sleep more.
12. What would you do with a badger?
- Recruit it to the Learning Round Table and teach it to fish!
13. What’s your favorite food?
- Anything that is shared with good conversation and good company.
14. If you were stranded on an island, what one thing would you want to have with you?
- A lifetime supply of insect repellent.
15. Do you know what happens when a grasshopper kicks all the seeds out of a pickle?
16. Post it notes or the back of your hand?
- Post in notes are a GTD nightmare! I use my Outlook/Blackberry tasklist to action items. I use eWallet on my PCs and Blackberry for random information that I need to remember like passwords, printer IP addresses, security codes, etc. eWallet is well worth the small cost!
17. Windows or Mac?
- Doesn’t matter just give me a browser.
18. Talk about one training moment you’d like to forget?
- Potty training!
19. What’s your take on handshakes?
- Ackward early in my career, but now I’m comfortable with them. If I know you though, watchout, I’m more likely to hug you than shake your hand!
20. Global warming: yes or no?
- Ask him.
21. How did you get into this line of work?
- See question 3.
22. What is the best part of your job?
- Just about everything! Seeing the ripple effect that occurs as a result of good planning and strategy. Seeing staff whom I’ve worked with get promoted to new jobs. It’s all good!
23. Why should someone else follow in your shoes?
- Everyone else has a good point of wearing your own shoes, but if you have a passion for learning, love helping people, don’t mind public speaking, and have good problem solving skills then you might want to consider a career in training workplace learning and performance.
24. Sushi or hamburger?
- Hamburger.
25. LSW or ALA?
- I belong to both, and they both have pros and cons.
26. What one person in the world do you want to have lunch with and why?
- Only one? I’m going to break the rules and say the ALA Learning bloggers. I think it would be amazing to get these 12 people all in the same place at the same time. I can’t imagine what the energy would be like!
27. What cell phone do you have and why?
- A pink Blackberry Curve. I really wanted an iPhone but I can’t get a signal in my house using the Blackberry Storm or the iPhone. Verizon gives library employees a 19% discount which is substantial off a bill with two phones and two data plans. I also must have a phone that syncs directly to Outlook (See questions 7 and 16).
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...
Recent Comments