How to influence people, the right way!

Influencing styles can be difficult to master, we want to influence with integrity, and most of all we want the person we are influencing to actually get something done. There are many ways to go about influencing and here we are going to explore two of the most dominant styles.

How to influence people, the right way!

Assertive

The simplest and most common form of influence is assertion.  It works because it expresses conviction.  It challenges the other person to react.  As in the game of tennis, it puts the ball in their court, and demands a response.

It gets attention.

When the stakes are low for the other person involved, or when supported by authority, power or another means of intimidation, assertion often succeeds.

The short word for it is Push.

Responsive

The responsive style works by relying on the basic principle that people do things for their reasons – not ours.  The aim is to draw the individual into participating in the search for resolution.

It generates awareness, responsibility and commitment.

On the surface, the responsive style provides less control of situations – but they generally result in stronger and more lasting commitment.

The short word for it is Pull.

 

Push versus Pull

Specific research (Sheppard Moscow, 1983) focused on the “Push” and “Pull” strategies over several hundred interviews, role-plays and test situations.  The findings were:

Push

70% of attempts to influence consisted mostly – if not entirely – of Push efforts. 60% of those failed – even with positional advantages!

Pull

Of the 30% that were predominantly Pull attempts less than 25% failed completely. The majority achieved most of the objectives.

Observations showed that commitment to (or compliance with) a push demand may not last for very long after the pressure is removed.  Inner conviction, which is a typical result of pull strategy, tends to be more effective.

The results show that what we do most naturally does not produce acceptable results.  Why do we keep doing it?  When asked, those using the push strategy tended to make comments such as:

“It was the obvious way to present the issue.”

“I knew what I was talking about”

“Their perspective was wrong”

“It was necessary to keep the issue clear and simple, not get into details”

“There wasn’t time to go the long way round”

“Anyone could have seen my solution was the right thing to do”

“Why waste time?”

So, next time you need to influence, it might be worth considering your style before you proceed – focus on their reasons for doing something, not just your own.

Using a coaching style of management will help develop your influencing skills to draw more upon responsive rather than asssertive influencing.

 

Using coaching techniques to increase employee engagement

Employee engagement is what every manager wants from their teams.  Engagement means a fierce individual loyalty to the organisation, its mission and purpose, feeling that you are contributing ideas and skills, seeing where your own job fits in and being willing to make significantly more effort to satisfy the needs of customers than is strictly necessary.

Using coaching techniques to increase employee engagement

Using coaching techniques to increase employee engagement

Our natural instincts are towards the self-fulfilment that satisfies our needs for autonomy, connectedness with others and the opportunity to develop competence.  By practising coaching as the way to achieve all of this, a manager can facilitate the team member’s learning and release a whole lot of much-needed time for getting on with his or her own job.  When engaged in this way, people work hard without being prodded.  The evidence shows strong and direct links between this behaviour and bottom line success.  Coaching works as a way of creating engagement because it links to everything we know about what motivates us to work.

As your coachee’s line manager you have daily opportunities to observe the person in action and endless chances to discuss their behaviour, working with them to fine-tune it where necessary.  Unlike some forms of training, coaching is not a quick fix which is just as quickly forgotten.  It is about sustainability and long term impact on both the individual and the organization.

As a line-manager coach your role is to work with your coachees to establish what they want to achieve, to nail whatever they believe is stopping them from achieving it, to identify the options and then to take action.

Coaching in action: an example

Carl works for a food technology company which specialises in flavourings for fast-food brands.  He is a scientist by background and is in his first managerial role.  Here is his account of how his behaviour changes as his understanding about coaching is revolutionized:

I learnt about coaching on a course.  Originally I was highly sceptical and I didn’t want to spend time away from work.  But I became a convert.  Previously I thought I was already coaching my staff but when I remember what I did, the conversations would go a bit like this:

Team Member:  Can I have 5 minutes?

Me (frowning): Of course, come in.

Team Member: I’ve got this problem with the work we’re doing for Betsy’s Burgers.  It’s all coming in too expensive and I don’t think the client will like the extra costs.

Me (feeling annoyed and probably showing it): <Asks a few questions about the project, establishes the potential overspend> Yes, I don’t think the client will like that, we need to find a way of reining in the costs.

Team Member (timidly): No, I know, that’s why I thought you’d know what to do.

Me: Have you thought of doing ‘x’?

Team Member: Oh no, I haven’t – that’s a good idea!

Me: Or ‘y’ might also work <Describes y in some detail>

Team Member (exits as quickly as possible): Great – I’ll try those – thanks, Boss!

I honestly thought this was coaching and that I was being helpful.  I was certainly pleased with myself for generously granting the team member a few minutes of my time.  In fact after the training I quickly realised that what I was actually doing was undermining him because I had done every bit of the thinking and he’d done none.  Also I hadn’t really listened to him at all – I was too wrapped up in my own anxiety about the cost overrun and how this might reflect badly on me.  I felt stressed and irritable because I didn’t really want to be interrupted and it’s exhausting thinking through other people’s problems for them all the time.  In my new guise as a manager-coach, I now assume that the team member is perfectly capable of thinking it through for themselves, so the conversation takes a different tack

Team Member: Can I have 5 minutes?  Is now a good time?

Me (smiling): Of course, come in.

Team Member: I’ve got this problem with the work we’re doing for Betsy’s Burgers.  It’s all coming in too expensive and I don’t think the client will like the extra costs.

Me (patiently): Tell me where things currently stand…

Team Member: <describes the potential overspend; sounds alarmed>

Me (calmly): You sound worried about this but I’m sure it’s sortable.  What help do you need from me in this conversation?

Team Member (hesitant): I’ve got a few ideas about what we might do, but I’m not sure whether they’re go-ers or not.

Me: So – you need from me…?

Team Member: Just discuss with me whether you think I’m on the right lines or not then I can get on with it

Me (aware I need to summarise what he wanted): So you’d like me to review your ideas with you?

Team Member: Yes.

Me: OK – let’s get into it: tell me what your thoughts are about how to solve it.  What are the various options as you see them?

Essentially this guy already knew the answers and all I did was ask at each stage, ‘So what are the choices and what would be the pluses and minuses of each of those choices do you think?’  Once he’d described them and we’d briefly discussed them, I said, ‘OK so which do you think is the best option?’  Actually my own view was that there was nothing much to choose between them, so I just agreed that his choice was the one we’d follow.  He left the room beaming and telling me he’d report back in two days.  He did and he got the project back on track.  The conversation did take longer – about 20 minutes instead of 5, but what I noticed was that his confidence increased hugely and from that point on he began to come to me less and less on that kind of problem and only with the really major stuff so in the long run I saved a huge amount of time.

Notice that the critical differences in Carl’s accounts of the two conversations are that first, he understood that it was not his role to solve the problem because the team member was perfectly capable of solving it himself, and that secondly he asked the powerful question, What help do you need from me in this conversation?  This allowed the team member to set the goal for the discussion and then to take the major part in how it ran.

This is why the skills of line-management coaching are about creating empathy and trust, listening more than you talk, setting clear goals, asking powerful questions, giving and receiving feedback and staying non-judgemental.  This kind of conversation is rare, because as a boss it can feel as if there is enormous pressure to find the solutions for the people we manage.  It can come from a genuine desire to help, but it is help of an unhelpful kind, leading to unconfident staff, too timid to think for themselves.  It results in managers who are doing too much of the work of their team members as well as desperately trying to find the time to do their own.

Excerpt from Manager As Coach: The New Way to Get Results (2012) by Jenny Rogers, Andrew Gilbert and Karen Whittleworth.

 

Infographic: Asking Coaching Questions Using The OSCAR Coaching Model

Infographic_Asking_Coaching_Questions_Using_The_OSCAR_Coaching_Model

Infographic_Asking_Coaching_Questions_Using_The_OSCAR_Coaching_Model

Using Self-Coaching To Gain Clarity and Boost Your Own Performance

The OSCAR Coaching Model is very easy to follow, which means that all of us can learn to use it to improve our personal effectiveness, problem-solving and decision-making ability. The model works whether you are a newly-appointed team leader needing to improve your problem-solving skills, or whether you are a senior executive needing to develop the vision and strategy for your business.

Using_Self-Coaching_To_Gain_Clarity_and_Boost_Your_Own_Performance

Using_Self-Coaching_To_Gain_Clarity_and_Boost_Your_Own_Performance

The ultimate purpose of coaching is to help raise awareness and responsibility, and this is true when coaching ourselves as well as when coaching others. A good coach asks effective questions and actively listens to the answers, i.e. they listen without judgement, reflect back and clarify understanding – whether it is listening to their own self talk (answers to their own questions) or to the answers given by others.

Ultimately the quality of our lives is determined by the quality of the questions we ask ourselves. Imagine the different lives that would be created by a person asking themselves everyday ‘why is my life so rubbish?’ compared to someone who asks themselves everyday ‘what can I do today to make a difference and bring joy to myself and others?’

The ability to ask effective questions of ourselves is the key to personal effectiveness and OSCAR provides us with the perfect framework not just to coach others, but to self-coach as well.

Outcome

To become truly effective the first question we need to ask ourselves is:

What is my outcome?

By focusing on the outcome we desire, it is much more likely that we will find ways to overcome difficulties or problems. If we focus on the problem then it is often too easy to forget about the desired outcome and put all our energy into the problem, which will stop us generating innovative and creative solutions to the problem.

If you have more than one outcome, you need to prioritise them. You must be clear about your outcome(s) and their order of importance to you. People with well-formed outcomes achieve much more than those without clear outcomes.

People who have achieved success in many different walks of life have well-formed outcomes or precisely written goals. Of course, having such goals does not guarantee a successful result. However, it does lead to significantly better results by clear goal setters than similar people with vague goals, and a significant number of people actually achieving ambitious outcomes. It’s also important to define what achieving that outcome looks like, as outcomes need to be measurable so that you know what success looks like. Ask yourself:

How will I know when I’ve achieved my outcome?

Situation

Next, we need to take a look at our current situation. Questions to ask yourself are:

‘Where am I right now?’

‘What is there about this situation that I can control?’

‘What and who can I influence?’

A lot of the time the only thing you can influence in the current situation will be yourself. But acknowledging this is a massive step in right direction. By asking much more empowering questions of yourself you will be able to put yourself back in the driving seat and stop yourself from blaming external factors, and from feeling like the ‘victim’.

Choices and Consequences

Once you are clear about your outcome and the current circumstances, you can decide to make some better choices for yourself. You can start taking control, and the first step here is to start to define what options you have to help you achieve your outcome.

What choices do I have?

What options can I choose from?

What are the consequences of each choice?

Which choices have the best consequences?

Self-coaching using these questions ensures that your self-talk directs you towards what you can control and influence, and ensures you minimise the time spent thinking about the things that you cannot control or influence.

It is also worth remembering that one option is always available to you no matter what. The option to do nothing, i.e. to continue as is. Although this sounds strange, it is worth noting that this is by far the most regular choice that people make! However, people don’t consciously decide to do nothing. What happens is they decide to do something, and then fail to actually do it – which is the same as the choice to do nothing!

By starting to generate lots of options, you will suddenly feel much more in control and really energised. The process of brainstorming is most often associated with group work. However, to be truly effective we need to give ourselves time and space to be able to generate a whole range of options for ourselves – using our self-talk.

Once you have all of these choices, the next step is to begin to evaluate the choices. This is where the consequences part of OSCAR comes into play. Go away and think about them in greater detail and look at the pluses and minuses (consequences) of each option. A pros and cons list is a really simple and effective way to evaluate and compare the choices that you have available.

Sometimes one choice is clearly the best to deliver your outcome. However, as with this case, very often it is a combination of choices that will best deliver the outcome.

Actions

The next step is to develop a detailed action plan for each of the choices that you are going to take. It’s hugely important to come up with measurable actions and timeframes – actions without a timeframe are simply a wish list.

A good method to use when planning your actions is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound). If you’re not familiar then look it up with a quick Google search.

One of the key aspects of taking action is that it is best to take that action within 24 hours. After 24 hours it starts to slip further down the to-do list until it becomes one of those items that just never gets done.

Review

After coming up with an action plan, the next, and sometimes most difficult step is to actually take those actions. Unfortunately, for many of us, we are full of good intentions but other things frequently get in the way.

This is where the Review part of OSCAR comes into its own. One of the key benefits of coaching is that it is an ongoing process. Therefore, actions are continually reviewed. In other words you continually notice whether the actions are being taken and whether the actions are moving you towards your outcome – or not.

It is of vital importance that you know what actions you are taking and why you are taking them. This is the only way that you will ultimately take responsibility for the actions you have agreed with yourself.

You could even get someone else to hold you accountable for your actions. When you know for sure that lack of action will get noticed during a review meeting you will likely just get on and do it! Whilst there are no immediate consequences to not taking those actions it’s very easy to just ignore them. During the review stage it is important to notice if the actions have been taken and if they have ask yourself:

Have the actions delivered the results I wanted – and if not, why not?

If the agreed actions haven’t been taken ask yourself:

Why haven’t they?

What stopped me from taking the action?

Was it lack of time, fear or other priorities?

What choices are there to ensure the actions get taken between now and the next review?

It will often be the case that you go through the self-coaching process several times whilst making any significant decision. Don’t be afraid to review your initial outcome, explore the choices and consequences of changing circumstances and then tweak your action plan accordingly. Self-coaching is meant to be a flexible and adaptive technique that you can call on as often as you need it.

Mastering the self-coaching process is a significant step in leading a less stressful life, as well as becoming more efficient and performing at your best.

If you’re interested in learning more about coaching and the OSCAR Coaching Model we run regular courses both in person and via distance learning. You can find out more by following the link below:

 

What’s Your VAK Learning Style Infographic

Whats-Your-VAK-Learning-Style-Infographic

Whats-Your-VAK-Learning-Style-Infographic

When coaching tools and techniques won’t help

It is important that the coach knows their limitations and recognises situations that are better addressed by another route. For example, someone may have issues better addressed by a therapist, or their underperformance at work may be better addressed by a capability approach.

When coaching tools and techniques won't help

When coaching tools and techniques won’t help

Coaching is often referred to as being ‘for the worried well’. The focus on coaching is on the future – what do you want to achieve? It is suitable for people who have the inner resources and willingness to move forward, it is not suitable for those people who do not have the inner resources or the willingness to change.

Julie Starr (2008) suggests that a coach with no relevant counselling skills should avoid the following issues:

  •  where someone has (or the issue relates to) on-going dependency on alcohol or drugs.
  •  where someone has experienced abuse of any type.
  •  where someone is abusing others.
  •  where someone suffers from mental illness (extreme mood swings, on-going depression etc).

It is important to remember that there are some individuals for whom coaching may not work. This may be because their ‘problems’ are best dealt with by another type of intervention (e.g. counselling, occupational therapy, capability or disciplinary) or, it may be because their attitude may interfere with the effectiveness of coaching.

Examples of when using coaching tools and techniques may be suitable include:

  •  helping a competent technical expert develop better interpersonal or managerial skills.
  •  developing an individuals potential and providing career support.
  •  developing a more strategic perspective after a promotion to a more senior role.
  •  handling conflict situations so that they are resolved effectively.

Always carefully consider whether coaching is the right approach. The good news is, more often than not coaching will be a valid and useful techinique!

6 Traits That All Great Managers Have In Common

Following up from last weeks article ‘6 Traits That All Great Leaders Have In Common’ we thought it would be a good comparison to come up with 6 traits that all great managers have in common. It would feel unfair to write about the qualities of great leaders without considering the equally important qualities of great managers. These are often the people following the leader, making sure that what they promise actually comes about, and cleaning up the trail of destruction! There’s a big difference between leading and managing, and although both disciplines are usually required it’s pretty common for a person to fall more solidly in one camp or the other. We covered the difference between leading and managing in our article ‘Leadership vs Management’. So, let’s take a look at some of the qualities seen in our greatest managers:

6 Traits That All Great Managers Have In Common

1. Structure

A brilliant manager knows their organisation inside out. They are familiar and comfortable within the various structures and processes of the organisation, and most importantly, they know how to work effectively within their confines. They contribute actively to improving the structure, streamlining processes and making them more efficient based on their own experience.

2. Flexibility

A good manager knows that structures and processes, as well as people, will have to bend and flex in order to take positive steps. Managers who are flexible do not fear change, they are happy to question how it’s always been done and to rewrite the rule book. If they cannot achieve their goals within the existing structure then they will look for a way to adapt it, ultimately helping the organisation to implement progressive change.

3. Knowledge

Any manager who wants to excel in their position needs knowledge. Technical knowledge of the product or service, as well as knowledge of how to manage the people and processes. This knowledge base is usually what gets a manager their job in the first place, especially if they have risen through the ranks. They also accept that their learning is never finished and stay active in terms of CPD. Additionally, modern managers need to be technology savvy in most cases, as like it or not, so much of a manager’s job is now technology dependent.

4. Intuition

Intuition is usually considered as more of a leadership trait, but it’s absolutely vital for managers too. Being able to spot an opportunity to improve a process, or to know when a project just isn’t going to work is an essential trait for managers. The greater insight the managers has, the more valuable an asset they are to their team and organisation. If a manager has good knowledge, as above, they will inevitably start to gain a greater insight and use their intuition more effectively.

5. Discipline

A great manager commits to a set of actions and delivers on them, however big or small. They do not slack on a project, even when times get tough and other commitments pull them in different directions. If the team sees the manager as lazy, and that the manager views their own actions and deadlines as optional then they will follow suit. When exceptional managers lead by example, their team will follow them anywhere, and successful projects will become a natural consequence.

6. Developing Others

The best managers know that they are nothing without their team. A good team cannot continue to perform at its best in our rapidly changing world if they are not developed. Excellent managers will identify and understand the skills/ knowledge gaps present in their team. However, they won’t use them as a reason to criticise, they will provide their team with the necessary mentoring or training needed to get team members performing at their best.

6 Traits That All Great Leaders Have In Common

Great leaders come from a wide variety of different backgrounds, achieving wildly different definitions of success in many different industries. However, there are certain traits that all of these leaders share in common, here’s a few of them:

6 Traits That All Great Leaders Have In Common

6 Traits That All Great Leaders Have In Common

1. Persistence

It often goes unnoticed, due to the enormous amount of success that some of the world’s greatest leaders have achieved, but a good number of them have experienced failure along the way. For example, Walt Disney was once fired because “he lacked imagination and had no original ideas”. Richard Branson launched Virgin Cola, which failed to take any significant market share from Coca-Cola. Henry Ford was left broke after trying two other motoring companies prior to founding Ford.

Many great leaders failed at some point, often in a very public and sometimes painful fashion. But the point is that they never gave up, they did not allow failure to distact them from their greater vision.

2. Resilience

This links to the previous trait, as overcoming failure and persisting requires a great deal of resilience. Great leaders are able to rationalise and understand that failure is not the end, just another learning experience in the greater journey. Resilient leaders know that everyone isn’t going to be their number one fan, success will also breed it’s critics.

Resilient leaders work within their circles of control and influence, they do not give time to what they cannot change. Then when negative things happen, whether the events are within their control or not, they do not dwell, they do not take it personally, they put every step they can in place to fix the situation and remember the old adage “this too shall pass”.

3. Fearlessness

Great leaders are not afraid to take risks! Fear of failure is one of the main reasons that holds people back from taking the actions that they would otherwise like to. They believe in their vision and know that the cost of doing nothing is often far greater than the cost of taking a risk.

Richard Branson is a good example, he has made a career out of taking risks, trying to shake-up industries that most other people wouldn’t dare to make an attempt on. Sometimes it’s worked out for him, sometimes it hasn’t, but overall I think we can say he’s done OK out of it!

Fearless leaders don’t mind challenging the status quo and they won’t let people tell them ‘no’.

4. Accountability

Great leaders make themselves accountable for their own actions, even if those actions result in failure. They understand that acknowledging one’s own mistakes is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength and leadership. This can earn them the respect of their peers just as much as their successes can.

Publically apologising for a mistake shows that the leader cares about the people who have been affected. Trying to cover it up, or to shift the blame onto someone else just makes the leader come accross as a person who cares only for themself.

5. Focus

Unwavering focus on a singular vision is something that is seen in the most successful leaders. For example, Colonel Sanders (KFC) had his chicken recipe rejected many times (some say over 1000) before he finally founded KFC at the age of 65.

Successful leaders have confidence in their vision, and will pursue it far beyond the point that most people would have dismissed it as a failure.

6. Passion

It’s almost impossible to maintain any of the other five traits if you do not have an absolute passion for what you do. Passion drives everything else, if you love what you do then you are going to pour your energy, care and creativity into it.

Steve Jobs loved the simplicity, functionality and beauty of Apple’s products. Richard Branson loves to challenge the status quo in various industries and bring better experiences to the customer. I’d imagine Harland Sanders was pretty keen on his chicken too!

Without passion, every step taken will be ten times harder and more painful. Without passion, it will not matter how successful you are at exhibiting the first five traits, you will never have the fire inside that allows great leaders to overcome all obstacles and achieve amazing things.

6 Simple Ways To Reduce Stress By Improving Your Work-Life Balance

For many of us, getting our work-life balance right can be an ongoing struggle. Perhaps you feel that you’re putting too many hours into a job that doesn’t satisfy you, but you’re too afraid to step out of your comfort zone and take the leap into the possibility of a career change. Perhaps you love your job but it encroaches too much on your personal life, taking time away from other things that are important to you. Either way, getting your work-life balance in check is vitally important to a happy and successful lifestyle that will give you the confidence to make the right decisions for yourself.

6 Simple Ways To Reduce Stress By Improving Your Work-Life Balance

6 Simple Ways To Reduce Stress By Improving Your Work-Life Balance

So, here’s 6 really simple things you could be doing to help get the balance right:

 

1. Allow yourself to leave the office at a reasonable time

It’s so easy to get caught up in what you’re doing that you forget that you have a life outside of work. Yes, your job is important and it’s great to go the extra mile, but what good is being excellent at your job if you neglect the other areas of you life? Many people often feel pressured into staying late at the office if their colleagues do, as they feel that they will be judged for leaving earlier than them. If this sounds at all like you, break out of that mind set. At the start of the day, give yourself a realistic deadline, by which all your tasks for the day can be comfortably achieved, then stick to it. This way you give yourself a structure to work by and can leave at a reasonable time, knowing that you’ve done a productive day’s work. Walk out of the office knowing that you’ve already achieved more than those staying late, because you worked more efficiently all day.

 

2. Give yourself a break

Concentrating on one task for a long period of time can be tiring and draining on your brain, and will often lead to you working less efficiently and becoming distracted. Allow yourself a 15 minute break every couple of hours. Go for a stroll, maybe get a drink and something to eat (try to avoid going to the vending machine and getting yourself a chocolate bar – you may think this is what you need but the sugar will only give you a temporary buzz of energy, after which you’ll feel more tired than before!). This break will allow you to recharge your batteries and clear your mind before you get going with your next task.

 

3. Don’t bite off more than you can chew

Most of us strive to do well at work, impress the boss, get better job satisfaction and progress to a higher level. However, it’s often the case that we attempt to do this by taking on more projects than we can physically handle, forcing our work to creep into our personal life. This is done with the intention of improving our circumstances, though more often than not the stress that comes with being overworked makes life worse, and also has an impact on the lives of those around you. It’s worth stopping for a moment and considering whether the number of projects you have commitment to are actually helping your career progression and overall happiness, or are they stressing you out to the point that there are negative consequences, both in work and at home. A more effective way to prove your skills is to excel in a smaller number of projects – it’s about quality, not quantity!

 

4. Turn off your work phone

Allow your personal time to be personal time. If you can, turn off all technology that connects you to work once you’ve left the office for the day. You don’t need work calls and emails preventing you from relaxing in your time off. If you don’t get a chance to recharge your batteries at home then you’re not going to be able to perform at your best during work hours.

 

5. Give yourself a project outside of work

It is important not to let your work become the only important and significant part of your life. Give yourself something else meaningful and fulfilling to focus on outside of work. It could be joining a sports club, or renovating your home, maybe you could start a blog on a topic that interests you. Anything that excites you and is not tied in with your job.

 

6. Relax and get some sleep!

We’ve all sat up late at night, unable to sleep because we’re too busy worrying about what we’re doing the next day at work, or stressing about an uncomfortable conversation we had with a colleague earlier in the day. Find a distraction, such as reading a book to help take your mind away from work related issues and to a more comfortable and relaxed place, where you stand a chance of actually getting some sleep. Never underestimate the value of a good night’s sleep. It will leave you feeling more refreshed and energised for the day, your concentration levels will be vastly improved and you’ll feel much healthier and happier.

Why Now Is The Best Time To Take Your Leadership Training Online

Do you ever wonder whether you should be taking your classroom-based leadership training online? Well, the answer in most cases is a resounding ‘yes’! Customers are crying out for ways in which they can cascade training through their organisations without breaking the bank. Add to this desire a rapid improvement in Internet speeds and widespread acceptance of mobile computing. You can really start to see why the online world is jam-packed with more valuable training resource than ever, and it’s growing daily.

Why Now Is The Best Time To Take Your Leadership Training Online

The Internet is now the go-to place for learning just about anything, and as companies that make a living delivering learning; we need to be taking part. The following statistics will help indicate why:  

 

  • eLearning represents £33.1 billion of corporate training. This will grow into a £63 billion market by 2015. (Global Industry Analysts)
  • eLearning is proven to increase knowledge retention by 25% to 60%. (Corporate eLearning Exploring a New Frontier, WR Hambrecht)
  • eLearning can help companies boost productivity by 50%. Every $1 spent in eLearning results in $30 of productivity. (IBM)
  • Around 23% of all employees leave their job because there aren’t enough training or learning opportunities. Companies who offer eLearning and on-the-job training generate about 26% more revenue per employee. (Training Industry)
  • eLearning participants learn nearly 5X more material without increasing time spent training. (The Information Daily)

You get the idea. Once again we are hearing why we should be strongly considering online training, but how feasible is it? How do the smaller players compete in such an established market, is there even room for them? Again, the answer is yes. In fact, a huge opportunity is currently presenting itself in the eLearning market and it’s all focused around quality of content. Consider the following statistics:

  • 70% of organisations use eLearning. However, only 43% said it was very effective. (CIPD)
  • eLearning represents £33.1 billion of corporate training. This will grow into a £63 billion market by 2015. (Global Industry Analysts)

In summary, organisations are not seeing the return they expect from their eLearning investments but are still willing to spend billions on eLearning. What’s the missing piece for the organisations that aren’t seeing their return on investment? Quality content! Too many companies are taking their classroom-based learning and turning it into lifeless point and click interactions. The learner is presented with pages of textual content that have clearly been lifted from the classroom manual and dumped rather unappealingly into a small window on their computer screen. Once they read it they can click ‘next’ and are presented with a further mountain of boring content – we’ve all experienced it.

At Worth, we are on a mission to create content of the highest possible quality, designed specifically for online delivery. This is where we believe the smaller training companies can score in the online training world. As training companies, we know our content, we know how to engage our learners and wouldn’t dream of presenting them with dry, static content. This passion towards the subject matter, coupled with the increasing accessibility of online delivery methods is, in my humble opinion, where companies will find the return on investment they’re looking for from their online leadership training.