Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Attending Development Days Increases Your Sales

A blog entry from Trainers Training supports one of the rationales behind Development Days: meeting and hanging around with other trainers leads to mutual exchanges of work.

I have passed on work myself to colleagues who have joined us on Development Days, and I know other people have too. The unique opportunity we get at Development Days to see each other in action makes it easier to develop that confidence you need to be able to put someone in front of one of your own clients!

If any of you are reading this, please comment to give examples of any work you've gained or given through attending Development Days.

All the best

Dave

Monday, November 17, 2008

Praise for Development Days

"Just wanted to thank you for another great day on Friday, really well organised, great feel and a super learning experience.  Looking forward to the next one."
 
Zanneta Neale, WHE (UK) Ltd

Tone, Plain English, MBTI, and Great Buffet

Hi folks! Once again a great day as we met for the 16th Development Day for consultants and trainers:  
  • another first as we meet at Team Coaching Network's new larger office; 
  • two more new members, both really pleased with the beenfits they got from the day;
  • a really tasty lunch provided by Its A Wrap;
  • useful DVD feedback provided to each attendee.
Professionals who attend these days say:
  • great opportunity to meet other professionals, especially when you work on your own
  • forces you to have some "me" time - you know you're going to benefit from it
  • we each learn something new and useful every time
  • the chance to test material and techniques in front of a knowledgeable audience is invaluable
So get your 2009 diaries out now, here are the dates for 2009:
  • 9th January
  • 6th March
  • 8th May
  • 10th July
  • 18th September
  • 13th November
All the best

Dave Bull

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

it's not unusual...

..or is it? Apparently so.

I am talking about my training methods. I regularly meet other trainers who say they are also using interactive, coaching- and facilitation-based, participant-led, experiential training methods, and then I read an article on trainingzone that suggests these methods are new and revolutionary and all made up by this professor bloke.

I just can't believe that after all this time there are only a few of us in the world doing this stuff? Surely everyone has realised by now that chalk 'n' talk is a waste of time effort and money?
  • I train interpersonal skills by creating repeated learning loops based on practical experiences reflected upon and learned from.
  • I teach finance by cracking open their real documents and coaching them through how to question and make decisions guided by the data.
  • I teach coaching skills by getting participants to coach each other in how they are going to use coaching skills with their own teams back in work.
  • I train trainers to be better trainers by making them train other trainers. That's what Development Days are all about, and participants constantly rave about the experience.
Easy. Obvious. Effective.

It's really really sad to me that any of this stuff is still being described as "revolutionary". Or is it the influence of accrediting and awarding bodies and formulaic Train The Trainer courses in the training "industry" that keeps Chalk 'n' Talk so prevalent?

Hm.

Dave

Thursday, July 24, 2008

September Venue Arranged

Our next Development Day for Consultants and Trainers will be on 9th September 2008 at the Office Space development Riverside Court, near the roundabout where the link road south from Chepstow meets the M48, on the western side of the Severn Bridge. We had an excellent Development day a this venue in March. it is bright and modern with a fresh feel, which will no doubt help proceedings!

We are meeting at 9:30 for a 10am start and running through to 4pm. Refreshments and lunch will be provided as usual, and your contribution is £35 plus VAT (£41.13).

Please confirm your attendance, volunteer for a slot, and pass this blog address to anyone you think may be interested in joining us at Development Days.

All the best

Dave

Monday, July 14, 2008

Review of July Development Day

Hi Folks. Rachel Kelly, the Cogent Coach, has agreed to write this month's review of the Development Day. Here it is!
Team training day at Ystrad Mynach, 4th July 2008

Dave started the day in his usual relaxed style and set the tone for the day. Everyone was willing to share and explore ideas. Our introductions on the theme: ~WAS, ~AM, ~WILL BE, produced a variety of responses.

The theme of the day became STORIES

We all told stories about ourselves which helped everyone learn a little bit more about each other.

In fact, some of the mistakes people make when networking is that they try to sell themselves, rather than being themselves, so just tell some STORIES!

Peter took the second slot and was very brave to show an hour long video entitled 'Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes'. This showed the experiences of a 3rd grade teacher in the USA called Jane Elliot who used an experiment in her class to show the effects of discrimination and how she now runs training and speaks on discrimination across the world.

It generated discussion in the group about ethics and training style in a modern environment in comparison and how kinaesthetic learning is so powerful, by experiencing the situation rather than just talking about it.

After lunch, David told us STORIES about his rather varied life, from Hell in Bratislava to waste management in Bahrain and chairing the Monmouth Chamber of Commerce. In the feedback, we all commented on what we had learned about cultural differences, picking your partners and barcodes in the UK.

Robert rounded off the day with a presentation on pressure and stress. What is the difference? Stress is the reaction people have to pressure. Robert also explained all the chemical things that happen to each of us when under pressure that can cause the physical stress reactions. This led to more stories being shared amongst the group.

I also learned that you can 'white' out a Powerpoint by pressing W during the presentation and 'black' out by pressing B! So useful.

It was another great day.

After 'giving out' all week it is so refreshing to have some time to oneself to share some STORIES.

Come along in September and hear some more STORIES.

Rachel

Rachel Kelly
The Cogent Coach
rachel@thecogentcoach.co.uk
01600 860497
07813 787637

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Yet Another Fantastic Development Day!

Hi Folks!

Once again, we all met up for a Development Day and a great time was had by all. The success of these events is entirely down to the people who attend so massive plaudits to regulars, Sarah Hollyforde, Sue Turner, Andrew Scowcroft, Rachel Kelly and special mention with honours to first-timers Jackie Hooper, Jan Hill and Zanneta Neale.

Sue introduced us to a book which has recently given her new insights into her craft, took us through a guided coaching process based on it, and led a discussion on how we can each apply it for ourselves and our clients. The books is Solution Focused Coaching by Anthony Grant.

Andrew very cleverly showed us a model about facilitation which enabled us to see some very easy traps that we can all fall into when working with a group. The lively debate about the meaning, purposes and scope of facilitation that followed showed how much Andrew had stirred us up and how important the right attitude and perspective is to working effectively with groups.

Rachel led the group in trying out and then examining in detail an exercise designed to encourage openness and participation in a group.

Please make sure you have the rest of this year's dates in your diary, and invite friends and associates who may be interested in joining us. Our next event is 6th May, and is likely to be somewhere between junctions 24 and 30 of the M4.

All the best

Dave

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Our next Development Day for Consultants and Trainers will be on 14th March 2008 at Beaufort Park, on the roundabout where the link road south from Chepstow meets the M48, on the western side of the Severn Bridge. This is a new venue for us, and a bright modern fresh building which will stimulate new and creative thoughts! Venue website here.

We are meeting at 9:30 for a 10am start and running through to 4pm. Refreshments and lunch will be provided as usual, and your contribution is £35 plus VAT (£41.13).

Please confirm your attendance, volunteer for a slot, and pass this blog address to anyone you think may be interested in joining us at Development Days.

All the best

Dave

Monday, February 04, 2008

Diary Dates for 2008 including Non-Fridays!

Hi everybody!

Part of January's fantastic Development Day was given over to discussing future improvements to these days. one is to make sure we have dates plenty in advance and to mix up the Fridays we have always had with alternating Tuesday events.

So get your diaries out and block out these dates now:

Friday 14th March
Tuesday 6th May
Friday 4th July
Tuesday 9th September
Friday 14th November

Venue for March will be announced soon - somewhere near Chepstow is likely this time. Please volunteer for your slot now - remember you can present some material, run an exercise or lead a discussion on an area of interest to you. Everyone who has taken a slot has found the experience and the feedback invaluable - and you now get a DVD of your slot to analyse at your own private leisure!

I will email you for attendance confirmations once the venue is arranged. All the best!

Dave