Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Throwing Yogurt: what if the only ammo was Greek?
......Why couldn't we just throw yogurt? In the anthropology of possibilities, wouldn't we all be better off to emulate the Greeks at their protests earlier this month? I mean we are more than happy to reinvent the gifts of the Greeks in every "Western Civ" class that I have ever encountered. And we loved the hell out of them in "My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding". Plus, I understand that Greek yogurt sales are way up in America over the past two years. The package pictured above was purchased at our new Whole Foods with a dollar off coupon....see, we can get it on sale and it might even be cheaper than that other kind of ammo. And...it washes out.
What would it take us to "go Greek"?
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Top 10 Providers Of Free Online Training
From e-Learning
- How to Create a Cartoon in After Effects: Excellent and detailed tutorial showing how you can create funny and semi-complex cartoons using Adobe After Effects.
- CBTcafe.com: Some great free training demonstrations. They also resell inexpensive e-Learning tutorials.
- GCF Learn Free Organization: GCFLearnFree.org® is supported by the Goodwill Community Foundation, Inc.
- Free Microsoft Office Online Training Courses (by Microsoft): Courses developed and offered by Microsoft.
- Small Business Association (government): SBA is dedicated to helping you and your small business succeed. There are a variety of online trainings which cover many business topics for you to learn.
- Free Online Conversvation Training: Learn more about this facinating subject. This conservation training is an online course system focused on conservation-based training, created and maintained by the Nature Conservancy in partnership with other conservation organizations.
- Lynda: A popular provider of e-Learning covering a wide range of areas
- Free OSHA Training: OSHAcademy online safety and health training is endorsed by theNational Safety Management Society and approved for the accredited Associate Safety Health Manager (ASHM) certification through the Institute for Safety and Health Management. We provide free online safety courses and low cost certificate programs. We also conduct training throughout the world by independent Authorized Trainers.
- Free Training Power: TrainingPower is committed to connecting individuals and companies to valuable free resources, getting them started with long-term training initiatives. TrainingPower has added valuable usability and effectiveness functions to free government-published content and is offering a selection of free courses to workers, trainers and employers on its FreeTrainingPower.com web site.
- Online First-Aid Training: Everyone who loves someone should know first-aid. Do you and your fellow employees need or want first-aid training? Try this great free resource.
- Free Online Safety Training: Offering a wide range of free and fee-based online Safety courses.
- eLearning Center
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Gen Y and Customer Service:
Gen Y, the Millennials, Young Un's whatever you want to call them are your youngest employees. The oldest ones turned 30 in 2010 (I wish I turned 30 in 2010!). And some of them just might need a little help in the people skills department. Now, let's not stereotype an entire generation, but let's not ignore what obsessive use of technology can do. If you grow up communicating primarily via text and e-mail, how can you master crazy skills like making eye contact? After all, you haven't looked anybody in the eye since that mean man at the hospital spanked you into existence. It doesn't even occur to you that texting at work is inappropriate you've been doing it at the dinner table for years.
Most of the workforce consists of Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, and depending on what business you're in, probably most of your customers as well. These people expect their co-workers and the people who serve them to have some people skills. If you are a manager, it is up to you to make sure your youngest employees have these skills.
Why People Hate Training
Why People Hate Training By Denise D. Ryan
Commentary: Well, do people really hate training? I don't know. I suspect the author is tilting at straw men to mix metaphors, but, this article contains some useful hints about how to get better results from seminars.Most employees view training as medicine or worse, as punishment. As an outside trainer, I work with hundreds of groups in a wide variety of industries and most people enter the training room as if they are going to the gas chamber. They might not expect death, but clearly some horrible form of torture. There are exceptions to this rule, but they are few and far between. Why is this and what can we do about it?
It starts at the top. Too many times managers blow off the session because they don't need it (of course). This sends a strong message to all their followers: this training is not worth my time. If leaders haven't attended the training themselves, how can they reinforce the message? I see this in medical environments all the time - the nursing staff has to attend customer service training, not the doctors - they are way too important. Guess who treats both the nurses and the patients poorly? The doctors. What kind of message does this send to the nurses? No wonder they don't want to go to training.
Make it better: If you are going to have training for your people, you should go through it yourself. When you are there, support the trainer and your learners.
Exception: The only time you may want to consider not attending is if you want your people to interact freely with the trainer without your possibly intimidating presence. This is a very valid reason for not being there. If that's the case - tell your people. Tell them you think the training is important and why you are not going.
No one likes boring training. Make sure the training is good and has value for the attendees. I know this seems obvious, but something horrible has happened to people. They have had to sit through boring sessions and they hate it. There are enough good presenters out there that you can find someone with high energy, humor and great information. Take the time to check out your trainers. If you are using internal trainers, make sure they don't get burned out and bored with their own material. Take good care of them-they have a big impact on your employees.
Make it better: If you people are laughing, they are not in pain. Good training can help with morale and retention. Don't settle for boring.
They don't want to be embarrassed. Make it fun, but don't make attendees feel stupid or uncomfortable. I do a lot of customer service training. Very few attendees are excited about coming. Leadership is seldom there and it's often held after hours. People think they are somehow being punished for not doing their jobs. It's a tough crowd and I know I have to win them over and get them to drop their defenses fast. That's why I have my Elvis theme. Right away they know this isn't going to be like any customer service training they've had before. And before they know it, they're laughing. I do not make them do any Elvis impersonations; they are never embarrassed or made to do anything that would make them uncomfortable. It's interactive without putting anyone on the spot. If anybody acts silly, it's me.
Make it better: Most adults are terrified of looking like idiots. Training should be fun and safe or your people will dread it.
Attendees-you are not off the hook! You should come with an open mind. Hey, if you have to be there, you might as well have fun! Most of us have never been to a class where we learned nothing. In this life, you're either growing or you're dying. Take the chance to grow and learn. It's the best way to improve.
Denise Ryan, MBA, is a Certified Speaking Professional, a designation of excellence held by less than 10% of all professional speakers. She is a blogger http://motivationbychocolate.blogspot.com Her website is http://www.firestarspeaking.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Denise_D._Ryan
http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-People-Hate-Training&id=1694740
Cognitive Anthropology
Cognitive anthropology expands the examination of human thinking to consider how thought works in different cultural settings. The study of mind should obviously not be restricted to how English speakers think but should consider possible differences in modes of thinking across cultures. Cognitive science is becoming increasingly aware of the need to view the operations of mind in particular physical and social environments. For cultural anthropologists, the main method is ethnography, which requires living and interacting with members of a culture to a sufficient extent that their social and cognitive systems become apparent. Cognitive anthropologists have investigated, for example, the similarities and differences across cultures in words for colors.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cognitive-science/#Ima
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cognitive-science/#Ima
Cognitive Science & Learning
Its intellectual origins are in the mid-1950s when researchers in several fields began to develop theories of mind based on complex representations and computationalprocedures.
Its organizational origins are in the mid-1970s when the Cognitive Science Society was formed and the journal Cognitive Science began.
Since then, more than seventy universities in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia have established cognitive science programs, and many others have instituted courses in cognitive science
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cognitive-science/
Tracking Employee Training - Measuring Training Effectiveness with KPI's
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)