3 Tips for Conducting Large Scale International Employee Training

With employees wearing more hats than ever in the workplace today, it’s imperative that proper training sessions be implemented.

Workers in the 21st century are expected to show bigger results with fewer resources, know more with less educational opportunities and work faster with less time.

Basically, the more skills you can provide your employees with, the more effective they’ll be at tackling these substantial challenges.

This is the reality of the workforce after the recession, but there’s no reason that you can’t utilize the latest technology in business communication to make sure that all of your employees are highly trained and skilled in a cost effective manner.

This is where live streaming comes in, which allows employers to broadcast training to hundreds, if not thousands, of teams all around the globe. Whether your staff is international or interstate, live streaming technology is one of the most revolutionary innovations to hit the video conferencing industry in recent memory.

Here are four tips on how to maximize its effectiveness for your business.

1. Finding the Right Space

 As you develop an employee training program, All Business highlights the importance of finding the right space, such as allowing participants to spread out materials and ensuring a room is equipped with the proper technology for the materials that you’re presenting.

However, when it comes to using video conferencing, you can follow this advice while taking it up a notch into the virtual space.

While there are many free live streaming services, if you’re really serious, you need a professional like BlueJeans. BlueJeans primetime was announced last year as one of the newest services from the well-known video conferencing company, and it delivers.

This is the type of virtual space that you’ll need to give the most effective training, which ensures that information won’t be lost over a faulty connection or due to poor resolution. Using a professional video conferencing provider with extra features for presentations arms you with all the tools necessary to ensure that your training sessions will have maximum impact.

2. Know Who You’re Training

While many businesses currently go after the much sought after talents of Millennials, you can’t forget about your loyal mainstays. Business News Daily advises that you need to be aware of generational differences in your staff.

This is a great way to not only take some time to understand the dynamics of your team, especially for employees who are spread out over wide distances, but also encourage them to assist each other. There’s no better way to encourage team building than to have your employees help one another and overlap different skill sets.

The older generation has a wealth of knowledge based on irreplaceable real-life experience, whereas the younger, entry-level part of your staff may have a superior grasp on technology. This is the perfect opportunity to have a meaningful exchange of information that will benefit your workplace in the long run and strengthen coworker bonds.

3. Bring In Guest Speakers and Experts

Training Mag recommends that in addition to standard employee training, video conferencing in particular can also be used to deliver presentations by guest speakers and experts that can be broadcast across a wide channel to your staff.

While at one time bringing in experts to provide training sessions may have been cost prohibitive due to expenses such as accommodation and airfare in addition to any speaker fees, using live streaming makes it possible to amplify an expert’s presentation across multiple channels.

This is a chance to provide your staff with the rare opportunity to take advantage of the knowledge of a leader in your industry, which may otherwise have been inaccessible. Knowledge is very valuable, and using this type of technology also makes it affordable.

Make sure you also encourage your staff to ask questions. Part of the revolutionary part of live streaming technology is its participatory nature.

Whereas it was once impossible to try to interact with a large group of people via a presentation on camera being delivered to a huge group, you can now use the more dynamic platforms that exist to address questions from participants.

Live streaming technology basically not only helps you to amplify information across a distances, but also makes it a more meaningful experience by encouraging employees to actively engage with the training itself.

—

Once you have live streaming technology at your fingertips, the key to using it effectively is mastering the different options and features offered. While broadcasting a training session to hundreds of people may sound impressive to begin with, you need to go above and beyond.

Just as you would with a traditional training session, make sure that your presentation materials are engaging. Use visuals and voice, and invite participation at appropriate junctures. The bottom line of effective employee training, with or without live streaming, is engagement.

However, with the combination of live streaming technology and exciting training material, you’ll be able to give your staff the ultimate edge.

(Photo by Susana Zamora / CC BY)

7 Tips to Stop Micromanaging

Were you one of these people who listed “being a perfectionist” as one of your weaknesses in a job interview?

If yes, you’re probably already dealing with a common problem that stems from “perfectionism” and “need for control.”

Many managers, team leaders and bosses in general face it — being a maniacal micromanager.

If you’re still lost about whether or not this is one of your characteristics, consider this example:

You ask an employee to do an assignment that has a deadline. You know you can trust this employee, because he has always handed in good work on time.

However, you keep stressing over the things that could go wrong, and you ask the employee to give you updates about the progress after each completed task — and when he doesn’t, you personally go and check.

If this sounds a lot like you, then you are certainly guilty of being a micromanager. An effective manager, on the other hand, would allow the employee enough discretion to complete the task on his own, without too much interference.

Micromanagers are also guilty of avoiding delegation, nitpicking, stressing over tiny details, overseeing projects of others and always making sure that decision-making takes place in their presence or with their consent.

Here are a few ways you can avoid becoming micromanager and nip this evil in the bud before it starts to grow. Your subordinates will thank you tons for it!

1. Hire Only the Best Of the Best

One reason why you could spend your time excessively worrying about what others are doing is if you simply can’t trust them — and for all the right reasons. This would clearly mean that your employees are incompetent.

This calls for being more selective during the recruitment process and ensuring that top talent is retained. Look for people you can trust!

2. Delegate More Often

Micromanagers are also highly reluctant to delegate tasks to other employees. As a result, they are always overworked and frustrated about meeting deadlines.

Learn to trust more and delegate work to employees who are a fit for the job. The more you delegate and “let go,” the more you’ll realize you aren’t the only person in the organization who knows how to his job.

3. Clarify Your Expectations

If you’re running into problems with delegation, it could be that you’re not clearly articulating your expectations. It’s best to take time to draw up the requirements of the project beforehand, rather than communicating those expectations as chunks of information relayed from time to time.

If need be, write it down — on paper. Just like a school instructor would detail the requirements of an assignment or project due at the end of the semester.

However, unlike a school instructor, you might want to “keeps checks” to ensure the project is headed in the right direction — but that doesn’t mean repeatedly checking several times a day. Once or twice during a short-term project should be enough.

4. Allow Them to Make Decisions

Avoid thinking that you’re the only one around who needs to put a stamp to decisions. Let your employees “own” their work and have discretion over what they do.

In many cases, employees know more about what should or shouldn’t be done to move toward a goal from first-hand knowledge and experience. Don’t act like you’re their mother.

5. Try to Look at the Big Picture

Avoid pointing out small details that have nothing to do with how a project was achieved. Recognize the fact that there are several ways to approach a problem or fulfill a goal.

Your way doesn’t have to be the right way if the results are the same and no organizational policies are being violated.

6. Know Your Employees Better

With time and experience, you should be able to learn which one of your employees is best at what.

Every employee has a special set of skills and strengths that can be useful for different tasks and in different situations. Recognizing these skills and strengths will allow you to delegate better and score better results.

7. Reflect on Why Micromanaging Is Bad

Some micromanagers not only realize that they are micromanagers, but also wrongfully take pride in it. They give excuses for why micromanaging is the correct approach.

These excuses usually include the following phrases: “being detail-oriented,” “saving time” or “making sure nothing goes wrong.” While these are thoughts any responsible manager would have, they can’t serve as an excuse to over-do the part where you manage people.

So, instead of focusing on ways micromanaging could help you or your team, think of ways it could do the complete opposite. For example, your team will not be able learn and grow. Or, it will detract your focus from important issues that are your job by being too involved in things that aren’t.

—

We know it’s difficult when you’re held accountable for the actions of others. But think of it this way: Does your superior have to micromanage you to get the job done?

Most likely, the answer is no — what’s even more likely is that you wouldn’t appreciate it one bit. Learn to give that freedom to your employees as well.

(Photo by cpowell2 / CC BY)

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5 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Workout

Exercising on a regular basis is linked to a long list of physical, mental and emotional health benefits, but it can still be difficult to remain motivated and stay on task with your fitness goals.

Fortunately, there are numerous methods that you can use to keep you moving in the right direction.

To help you get started, we have compiled a list of proven techniques that can make it easier for you to stick to a workout regimen.

1. Exercise with a Friend

Social obligations are a compelling force — they can make you leave the house when you would much rather spend the entire day binge watching your favorite TV show on Netflix.

It makes perfect sense to recruit your significant other or a friend to regularly workout with you. Experts have said that those who exercise with a partner have an almost 90 percent higher adherence rate to their scheduled routines.

Giving yourself a social obligation just might be the biggest motivator of all time.

2. Use Brain & Body Supplements

Nootropics are popular among people who wish to improve their cognitive performance. There have also been several studies that have shown the right combination can be beneficial for athletes and others who need to remain motivated throughout a rigorous physical activity.

One of the most popular stacks includes Sulbutiamine, Phenylpiracetam and Cocoa. Scientific research has found that this particular combination may help boost your mood, increase your memory retention and enhance your overall cognitive functionality.

Each of these components renders most people more capable of remaining motivated, and they may also enable you to more easily memorize and recall each portion of your workout routine.

3. Pay for Your Workouts

Signing up for a gym membership may have once been famously satirized on Friends, when Ross and Chandler wanted nothing more than to quit, but the reality is that most people are highly motivated by money.

Consider for a moment other situations in life when you’ve invested $20 or more into a planned outing and then felt obligated to go even if you were sick. This same principle applies to a gym membership.

After all, if the gym is taking money out of your account every month, it will feel more necessary to actually use your membership.

4. Keep an Exercise Log

Whether you use an app, a physical calendar or post about each workout on Facebook, it’s a good idea to keep a visual record of your accomplishments. Not only will this make you feel good about each time that you exercise but it’ll also give you a healthy dose of shame when you fail to follow through with a planned workout session.

Make sure your log exists on or in something that you look at on a daily basis in order to get the best results. If you want to use your Facebook profile without becoming annoying to your friends, you can change the privacy setting for each of your workout posts to “only me.”

5. Use a Rewards System

Do you have a favorite piece of chocolate or other small indulgence that you typically try to avoid? As long as it has a minimal amount of calories, fat and sugar, you can use it as a reward you allow yourself after a successful workout.

You can make this process as healthy as possible by choosing the smallest serving size. For example, if you love Hershey’s bars, make sure you purchase the miniature size and only have one after each session.

—

Research indicates that a lack of regular physical activity causes approximately 3.2 million preventable deaths every year. Living a sedentary lifestyle can also lead to diabetes, cancer, depression and heart disease.

With this in mind, it is critical to do whatever is necessary to keep yourself motivated not only throughout each workout but also to start exercising in the first place. Turning to easy-to-use techniques like those listed above could make the difference between a long, happy life and an early, preventable death.

(Photo by skeeze / CC BY)

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How Small Steps Equal Big Success

Do you hate being rejected? I do.

Who doesn’t?

It used to bother me a lot. From not being invited to certain parties to being overlooked for a job to not have the person you like, like you back.

When people say no to you, it feels like they are saying no because you suck, you are not good enough, you are not deserving. You cringe at the thought of being rejected.

The reality is when people say no, it is not always about you. When I look at the times when I have said no to people or things, it’s not always because I’m not interested. I just know what I want or I’ve got other commitments.

Don’t Take it Personally

So when someone says no to you, don’t take it too personally. There could be a slew of reasons that have nothing to do with you. For example, you went for a job interview and it went great but the company never called you back.

It may be because they decided to go with someone else and that you are not a good fit. But it could also be the company decided to do some re-organization and not fill the position.

Sure, a part of the no may be directed at you, but not all of it. There are times when the situation is out of your hands and out of other people’s control.

Consider Yourself Lucky

Dalai Lama said, “Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.”

And this is true. When I look back at the things that didn’t work out for me, I am so grateful they didn’t.

So nowadays I’m better at handling the “no’s”. Don’t get me wrong, I still get disappointed but I’m better at bouncing back.

The Game of No

If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.” — Nora Roberts

A big part of what I do aside from coaching is write guest posts. A lot of times I get rejected. So I’ve started playing The Game of No.

I first learned about this game through Rich Litvin, author of The Prosperous Coach. The concept behind this game is to get you out of your head and beyond your comfort zone.

You work past the fear of rejection — the thing that so often hinders you taking action to create whatever it is you want in your life.

How to Play

The idea is to get out there and start working it.

• Making pitches and proposals
• Asking for information or leads
• Doing the task you need to do to get traction

The more you do, the closer you will get to a Yes. You start to focus on the things you have control over — the task you need to do to get results.

The twist, of course, is you can’t control how people will respond, so be prepared to get a lot of “no’s”. And in collecting the “no’s,” it becomes a game.

You start to become numb when people say no to you. And you start to look at “no’s” as a win, because every no you get, you track. It becomes a point and inches you closer to a yes.

Daily Progress

The best part is along the way, as you start to take action, you start to practice your skills — be it writing, pitching, proposing — and you start to tweak how you do it.

You start making progress. According to Harvard Business Review, making daily progress doing meaningful work is one of the most important things to boost internal motivation.

James Clear, researcher on behavior psychology, wrote an article about how improving every tiny thing by 1 percent can add up to extraordinary improvement in the long run, helping you achieve your objectives.

He talks about Dave Brailsford’s approach behind the concept of aggregation of marginal gains in 2010. This concept led him to lead the British cycling team (Team Sky) to win the Tour de France three years later using this concept.

Under Brailsford’s lead, he looked for 1 percent improvements everywhere, from cycling-related areas to other aspects that can affect the cyclists’ overall well-being. Every small gain led to the success of Team Sky.

Make Better Daily Decisions

As Clear puts it, “It’s so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making better decisions on a daily basis.”

While improving by just one percent may not seem to make a difference daily, the overall result of choosing to develop and practice daily successful habits can be astounding.

Success is a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day.” — Jim Rohn

Attaining success is not an overnight process. It takes time.

So every day choose wisely to master habits that are important to get you closer to achieving what you want. When you find yourself stuck or not making progress, ask yourself what can I do differently to make a change?

Look for the 1 percent improvement you can make get a better result leading you to success versus failure. And keep on collecting those “no’s.”

(Photo by skeeze / CC BY)

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5 Reasons No One Wants to Join Your Meetings

If we were on Family Feud and the category was Things People Complain About at Work, I would be willing to wager a hefty amount that Meetings would take the top spot.

Just the word “meeting” can get people’s blood boiling and quickly raise the tension in a room.

Originally meant to indicate a gathering of people with a common goal, meetings have taken on a connotation that suggests large amounts of wasted time and little productivity.

The thing is, meetings will never go away. We live in a world that is more connected than ever, and collaboration is a critical component of most successful business operations.

What can be particularly frightening is when you are personally responsible for planning and directing the meeting. No one wants to be that guy who causes people to groan when they get his meeting invites, so here are some common missteps. Avoid these and you’ll be nicknamed the Master of Meetings.

1. There are No Defined Goals

If you don’t set the stage and give specifics about what you are trying to accomplish, you are already headed down a path to meeting implosion.

Start an effective meeting by stating your objectives to ensure everyone is on the same page about why you have gathered them. If you’ve really got it together, you can put the goals in your meeting invite so people show up ready to rock.

2. There is No Agenda

Have you ever been to a graduation ceremony, auction or other seemingly endless event and not been given a program to follow along? Frustrating, isn’t it?

Don’t let this happen in your meetings. An agenda allows people to stay focused rather than disengage, thinking about when they can get back to their own to-do list.

Agendas can also keep others from hijacking your meeting for their own needs. “Let’s stick to the agenda,” works best if there is, in fact, an agenda to stick to.

3. The Technology Doesn’t Work

With today’s highly mobile workforce, it’s more likely than not that someone or several people will be joining your meeting virtually.

I find it perplexing that we are currently living in the “Connected Age,” and yet with all the technological advancements we have achieved over the last decade, having an online meeting is still often a big pain in the backside.

People shouldn’t have to download software, remember and dial numbers and passcodes, log into online and audio, or do any of the various annoying and error-prone tasks required to join a conference call or web meeting.

It should be, and can be, simple. There are many available solutions that have simplified the process of joining and managing an online meeting.

Research them and get familiar with any technology you plan to use in order to significantly decrease the possibility of something going wrong.

4. There is No Opportunity for Interaction

Most people don’t enjoy simply being talked at, unless they have plans to zone out or covertly watch the basketball tournament from their tablet while you speak. It’s your meeting, so you need to lead it in a way that encourages engagement.

Ask questions, solicit input and assign responsibilities. You decided that a meeting of these particular people was necessary, so make sure that decision holds true.

If you are just presenting, then you likely could have sent a document. And don’t forget those folks who are joining from other offices or locations.

It’s difficult to be the person who isn’t in the room. Make sure your meeting tools have options for engaging in the conversation, like video chat and document sharing.

5. There is No Follow Up

So you avoided all the pitfalls above and had a super productive meeting that left everyone feeling inspired and enthusiastic when they returned to their work day. Don’t lose that momentum by failing to put ideas into action.

Provide attendees with a brief recap of the important points established and include action items with owners for any necessary next steps.

—

I don’t expect that the feelings of dread toward meetings will disappear overnight, but a little preparation can go a long way in terms of having coworkers leave your meetings feeling like they accomplished something. If all else fails, you can always hand out donuts.

(Photo by World Bank Photo Collection / CC BY)

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5 Tips for Creating Trust at Work

Trust is probably the most important aspect of creating a harmonious and efficient workforce.

If employees feel secure and trust you and your company, they will work to ensure it thrives.

There are two stages to success: creating trust and maintaining it.

These must be established through example, with the management setting a standard for honesty and transparency that should be emulated by every member of the workforce.

Here are some tips I’ve learned for building trust and keeping it as well as some red flags to keep an eye out for:

1. Establish Integrity

Integrity forms the foundation of trust. Integrity means keeping your word and being completely transparent, even in difficult situations. If your employees have confidence in your word, this will be reflected in their approach to work and the image they project to the outside world.

On the flip side, nothing confuses people more than inconsistency. If your employees can’t trust your word and are unsure of where they stand, they will start to feel insecure. This in turn will lead to a secretive work force. They will be afraid to disclose mistakes for fear of how you might react and will be constantly on the lookout for new jobs.

2. Don’t Withhold Information

Communication is the key to any successful relationship, working or otherwise. Setting out the company’s vision of where it wants to be and communicating core values allows employees to work toward shared goals.

Conversely, if information is withheld, rumors start and information can be misinterpreted, leading to false truths and staff insecurity. Use all opportunities to share information, good or bad, and provide forums to discuss. This will create an open and unified workforce that is on board with the direction you are taking

3. Consider Everyone an Equal

Trust is established — or blown — from the moment a new starter enters the team. Lead by example and welcome each new recruit so they feel valued as soon as they walk through the door.

Maintain this by continuing to take an interest and treating them with genuine respect. In return respect will be reciprocated and you will have a loyal, fulfilled member of staff.

All your employees should follow your example. Be vigilant of any instances of exclusion or bullying and take pains to encourage a supportive and friendly culture.

4. Open Your Mind

When employees feel they have a role to play in a well-oiled machine and are working together to achieve a shared goal, trust ensues.

No matter the position or how long an employee has been in the company, give everyone a voice. If they feel like they are being heard, trust will only bloom. Plus, you never know how your business might benefit from the wisdom your most junior team member might impart unless you ask.

5. Avoid Lies or Half-Truths

We all inherently know what’s “right” in any situation we face. However being truthful about the motive for a decision is not always easy. Sometimes it feels easier to bend the truth or tell the version you think people want to hear. Don’t.

By being transparent you will ultimately gain respect and prevent being discredited when people uncover the truth later down the line. Choosing the easy route is a false economy. Instead by being honest, no matter how hard, you will maintain trust.

(Photo by Ibrahim Adabara / CC BY)

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