teamwork Archives - Empowered Development Consulting

How to Develop Training Objectives

May 9, 2022April 6, 2022 by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments

After reading the last post on the power of objective-based training, I hope I have you convinced it is worth your time to create and use objectives to drive your training. You might now be asking yourself, “how do I start when writing training objectives?” You want clear, concise objectives; for this, I love the ABCD model presented by The University of Connecticut’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. This acronym stands for audience, behavior, condition, and degree. Audience When thinking about your audience, you will want to consider who is coming to your training and what are their academic and experience backgrounds. You may also want to consider what are their cultural and linguistic backgrounds. For the objective statement, you will most likely use a noun like participants or attendees. Behavior Behavior is the part of the objective that describes what you will observe and measure. You want to strive to use the most accurate and specific verb. Vague verbs like know or understand are nearly...

The Power of Objective-Based Training

April 25, 2022April 6, 2022 by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments

How many times have you been to a training where the instructor or facilitator dives right into the material, and you are so confused about what will be covered and why you are even trying to learn this in the first place? I know I have been to many of those and have, unfortunately, probably led a few of them too. That was before I started using objective-based training. Objective-based trainings are trainings designed around desired outcomes or objectives. These trainings clearly state the goals, identifying what trainees should be able to do after completing the training. Here are the three reasons I love this style of training so much. First... Objectives force an instructor to get real with the constraints they are dealing with for a specific training. Many outcomes that you might want are entirely unreasonable if you do a one-hour virtual training. The outcomes shape what you will teach, but the constraints shape your results.Things to consider when looking...

How a Wardrobe Change Built My Confidence

April 11, 2022April 6, 2022 by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments

Here is the story of how a wardrobe change built my confidence at work. Spoiler: it isn’t what you would expect. In 2015 after the birth of my first daughter, I found myself in a difficult situation, one which many moms will understand – none of my clothes fit. I also didn’t have a lot of money. People had warned me that kids were expensive, but I didn’t fully understand what they meant until I was there. So, with the need for new clothes and the limitations of my budget, I looked for options. At the time, I had a very stylish coworker who I admired a lot. So I asked her if I was creating a new wardrobe, what were the key pieces she would recommend? She had a shortlist for me, but she also suggested I google capsule wardrobes. Capsule wardrobes are interchangeable base pieces that you can mix and match to create numerous looks for various needs....

To Remote or Not to Remote; That is the question.

February 28, 2022February 21, 2022 by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments

As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to shift and change, companies are left wondering whether or not to allow teams to continue remote work or to mandate a return to the office either in a full or hybrid model. A recent study in the journal Nature Human Behavior explored remote work's impact on over 61,000 Microsoft employees. Here are some of the key findings: Organization-wide remote work reduced the collaboration network of workers.The reduction decreased new connections and worsened "siloed" connections. The timing of communication shifted from synchronous communication to more asynchronous communication. The issue is complex. Although the study discusses some significant limitations and reinforces the need for future research, it is clear that these three critical challenges with remote work may make it harder for employees to collaborate. The end goal of the collaboration is the ability to acquire and share new information across the network, and this study indicates the changes that exist in this area. Companies must also weigh the benefits of remote...

Improv’s “Yes and…” to Improve Brainstorming

February 14, 2022February 14, 2022 by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments

I have always loved brainstorming. There was a time when my team seemed to sour on brainstorming, and I was heartbroken. I was determined to understand why. With a few minor tweaks, I improved the quality of our brainstorms and decreased resistance to them. Have you ever been in a brainstorming session where ideas seem to propagate more great ideas, and the energy in the room feels like it is sizzling? Picture that brainstorm session, and now picture a brainstorm that you have been at that felt awful. When done poorly, brainstorming sessions can drain the energy from the room and have a lasting impact on morale. How do you develop a team that is good at brainstorming? Here are a few of my favorite ideas: 1. Practice “yes and” skills through improv. By playing improv games that encourage your team to practice a “yes and” mentality, you will create a team that can take risks and is resilient when brainstorming. This article lists some...

Barriers to New Things

January 31, 2022February 1, 2022 by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments

Recently I tried a new product, detergent strips. They were great, and I think I’m a convert from conventional liquid or powder detergent. I couldn’t help thinking, why did it take me so long to try these! They are much more environmentally friendly, extremely efficient, and take up hardly any space on my laundry room shelf. So why did it take so long to try them, and what can we learn from this when thinking about training and staff development. Knowledge of a Different Way The first thing is the knowledge that there is a different way of doing things. These laundry strips are not sold at the grocery store and are still relatively unknown. Because of that, one of the barriers to starting to use them was even knowing they existed. I can’t remember where I heard about them first, but the company had to spend money to help get the word out that this even was an option when thinking...

Improv to Build Resilience

December 27, 2021November 16, 2021 by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments

With the rise of social media, we forget how edited everything that we see often is. It appears that creators are doing one take, and they're done, right? My husband is a social media content creator. He often gets a lot of criticism that his job is easy and he should be putting out more content. What they don't realize is that it usually takes hours of multiple takes and then lots of editing to create the final product. TEDx and standup specials are also great examples of media that we are exposed to subconsciously erodes our confidence. TEDx and standup specials are highly scripted, rehearsed, and edited but appear off the cuff or improvisational. These polished final projects that we are bombarded with constantly eat away at our Resilience. They send our brain the message that you should present to peers or clients flawlessly every time. The truth is that you will make mistakes when giving, and it is...

Improv for the Reluctant

December 13, 2021November 16, 2021 by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments

I I think nothing I have done has been met with more resistance than making people do improv activities! The amount of resistance that I am met with dramatically varies depending on the group dynamics. Here are a few things that I have observed about reluctance to do improv. Introverts = More Resistance The more self-proclaimed introverts in a group, the more resistance there will be to doing improv activities. Introverts generally need more processing time, so activities like improv games that require them to think and respond quickly are not typically their favorite thing. They also tend to like smaller groups or one on one interactions over larger group activities. Improv muscles are like the muscles in your body; the more you work them, the stronger they get. Group trust is critical. There is less trust within newer teams, and therefore members are often more resistant to these activities than with more established teams. If you, as a facilitator, are experiencing pushback around doing improv activities,...

Improv as a Training Tool

November 29, 2021November 16, 2021 by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments

I My high school theater teacher would never let us do improv games or activities; he said they were reserved for advanced theater students. This was at the height of the popularity of the American version of "Whose Line is It Anyway," and I honestly felt a bit irritated that he was preventing me from getting to try my hand at improv. I continued to view improvisational skills as desirable and took any opportunity to practice and improve my skills. As my career has progressed, I see how they benefited me as an educator and museum professional and as a team member and entrepreneur. Early in my career, I got involved with the National Informal Science Education Network (NISEnet), and leaders in that organization professed the powers of improv. They gave me opportunities to not only practice these skills but learned to facilitate them in my museum. I have since used them as a crucial part of my training programs to break...