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December, 2004 -by Peter C.
Brinckerhoff
This Month's topic:
Life-Long Learning
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Blog!
Problem: There is so
much going on in our field that a once-a-month communication doesn't seem
adequate.
Solution: The Mission-Based Management
Blog. I am trying to post every day with something of value to
nonprofit board, staff, volunteers, and funders.
Check it out, see if
you find things that can help you. My postings are in no particular order, just
what's on my mind, or what has crossed my desk or monitor that I think you
should be aware of.
And, like any blog, you can comment right on the blog
for others to see. If you agree, disagree, or have other resources to share,
please do! |
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| This Month's Topic: Life Long Learning |
Each month, this area provides with a
number of my favorite and most helpful sites regarding the topic of the month.
|
Management
Tip of the Month
Each issue, I start with a discussion
of my management perspective on the month's topic, and give you a few hands-on
ideas to consider. |
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Recommended Publications
Here, I provide you with my
recommendations on the best printed materials available that can help you
become more mission-capable in the area of lifelong
learning. |
Technology
I provide you with some good ideas for
uses of tech to better your organization in the area of lifelong
learning.
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Marketing
Tip
So much to say, so little space to say
it.....
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Next
Issue
In January we'll examine an old issue through
new eyes. How do you go about strategic planning in such chaotic times?
I'll show you. |
Websites of the
Month
This section includes websites of interest on this
month's topic, Life-long Learning. There is so much on-line in this
area, the problem was winnowing it down to the best of the best!
Back to
Top
Management Tip of the Month
Life - Long Learning - an Organizational
Must.
There is no place to run. There is no place
to hide. Adapting an organizational priority for lifelong learning is crucial
to your organization's success and directly linked to the quality of the
services you provide. While travel and training are two easy targets when
budgets are tight, remember that a cut in training now directly affects the
people you serve in 6-12 months. Here are some other things to think
through:
1. Constant learning brings a new flow of ideas
into the organization. This helps the organization as a whole to be more
flexible, and more able to respond to changes in methods of service, community
needs, etc.
2. Just like everything else in our bodies, our
brains need exercise. New stuff (and reviewing old stuff) is that important
workout. Use it or lose it.
3. Your staff WANT to grow while they are with
you. Train, train, train.....and retain. 4. If you want state of the
art service, you need to make sure that your staff are up on the best ways
to provide that care, and that they get refresher training regularly as well.
There was a time when training was too expensive. No
longer. You can start book club, you can go on-line to dozens of places, you
can take a course in your local community from the hundreds of organizations
that now provide such training. The biggest inhibitor to training these days is
the time of the participants. So make sure you carve out time for yourself and
your staff to train, and retrain, and retrain.
Finally, remember that this is an area where you
need to lead from the front. Find one or two days of training (no, not
the annual conference where you hang out and drink coffee with your friends,
but real training) to attend each year. Focus on learning, and then come back
and share what you've learned. People will watch what you do, and imitate your
actions more willingly than they will willingly heed your words.
One other thought: Be flexible in your approach to
training. and cost effective in your approach. Perhaps you should start with a
review of training efforts that need refreshing (CPR, or supervision, or
conflict of interest, budgeting, or other in house training). Then branch out
to new ideas. Here, you can start an internal book club, or have staff
subscribe to and read certain print or on-line publications and report out
every month what they learn. There are on-line courses, in community classes
through your United Way, or community foundation, college or university, or
Management Service organization.
And remember, the people at the line of service are
the people who need to most training. Don't just train the management team and
board!
If you found this hint helpful, there are
lots more management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas"
section at www.missionbased.com.
Check them out--they're free.
And, remember to take a look at the
Mission-Based Management
Blog.
Back to
Top
Print Resources
My recommendations in
Life-Long Learningare shown below. All three are excellent tools, but I
am partial to "The Dance of Change".
If you want more information on these
recommendations, click on the cover image. You will go the page about the book
on Amazon.com. There, you can look at more info about the book, and read some
reviews before you decide whether or not to purchase or look for this book at
your local library.
Note: If you want more
recommendations on publications in a wide variety of areas, including life
long learning, go to the publications section of my website:
http://www.missionbased.com/publications.htm
Again, If you don't find enough choices there, type
"lifelong learning" or "Learning Organization" at Amazon.com and you'll
have more choices than you probably want!
Back to
Top
Technology Ideas .
Technology and Life-long Learning: An
easy mix
The obvious match between tech and
learning is the ever growing number of on-line courses that are flexible,
useful, and well presented. On-line learning was all the rage in the .com era,
and overstated in its quality, like so much else during that time. But, in the
last year or so, on-line learning actually has come of age. The courses are
good, the materials abundant, and with higher bandwidth, the access times are
lower. On-line learning has a couple of downsides, the most important being the
social interaction and learning from peers. As someone who has done stand-up
training 20-30 days a year for 25 years, I well know that the group
discussions, and coffee breaks are often much more important to people that
just hearing me speak. That's pretty much lost when you sit in front of a
computer screen, as is the chance to ask immediate questions and follow-ups
from instructors. But, on-line learning is flexible, can be done on ones own
schedule, etc.
Another way to get information on-line is to
subscribe to electronic newsletters, some of which are great, some of which are
truly awful. (I won't ask you to rate the one you are currently reading!) One
that I read every week is the "By the Cup" from
techsoup. It is amazingly informative.
I'm sure you can find others. The best newsletters do the work of culling the
net to keep you informed of good articles, research and websites of importance
in your area of work.
Lastly, make sure you allow the people you serve to
be educated as well. On your website, include educational information on the
issues you are passionate about. Don't just educate your employees and board.
Education is good for everyone, and your website is a great, inexpensive place
to offer access to more knowledge.
If you found this hint helpful, there are lots more
management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at
www.missionbased.com. Check them
out--they're free.
Back to
Top
Training
Schedule for Peter Brinckerhoff
Below you'll see the date, location, and topics
of training I'm scheduled to do in the first three months of 2005. For more
information on a particular speaking engagement, get in touch with the contact
person listed in the right hand column, or
email me.
For more information on my availability throughout
the next 12-18 months, available topics, sample agendas, and fees go to
www.missionbased.com/training.htm
Marketing Tip
Marketing and Life-Long Learning --
where's the fit?
Does marketing have an impact lifelong learning?
Well, perhaps, but more importantly, adopting a policy of lifelong learning in
your organization helps you market in a bunch of ways to a number of key groups
who also happen to be some of your key markets.
1. Your employees. Staff want more training.
Staff want to grow. Staff want to do things right, do things better, and your
best employees want to try new things. Trained and capable employees are
happier. In "First Break All the Rules", Marcus Buckingham and his
colleagues reported on world-wide research in what made employees satisfied.
They came up with 12 questions, the first of which was "Do I have all the
resources and training to do my job well?" So train.
2. Your funders/regulators. While many
funders don't pay for training, or avoid paying for administrative costs that
often include training (shame on them) the do want to see growth in
organizational capacity and sustainability, which includes intellectual
capital. Hint: Work with your funders to assure that training is included in
direct costs, if that is an issue for them.
3. Your board. This is a two-part benefit.
First, your board members (again, particularly the good ones) want more
training in how to be a better board member, how to do the best job possible.
Second, boards are always pleased to see continued growth in staff, as long as
the expense is reasonable. Boards do not like to see staff members going on
what they perceive as junkets! Suggestion: Work with your board to establish a
lifelong learning policy, but remind them that learning (on-line, in house, in
the community, or out-of-town takes time, and that they board needs to
accommodate that in the budget and in the strategic plan. You can't ask staff
to do 2.4 FTE worth of work AND go to class 4 hours a week.)
4. Your community. IF you let people know you
are training, IF you let the press know when people complete particular
courses, IF you address the constant training in your newsletter and on your
website, THEN the community will know and they will be pleased. But you have to
take credit.
So, training is good for key markets, in addition to
all the service good it does.
Finally, use your marketing skills to ask the people
who will be trained how they would like it best. Some people prefer solo
learning (which allows for reading, for on-line learning, etc.) Some have to
learn in groups. Talk to your markets. Try to the extent you can to match the
market wants with available training and with your budget.
If you want to see more about this in detail, take
a look at more about my book
Mission-Based Marketing; Second
Edition
If you found this hint helpful, there are lots more
management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at
www.missionbased.com. Check them
out--they're free.
Back to
Top
Future Topics in 2004
and 2005 for the Mission-Based Management
Newsletter....
| January |
Strategic
Planning |
| February |
Leadership |
| March |
Core
Competencies |
| April |
Expanding to New
Markets |
| May |
Endowments |
| Send me
your topic suggestions at peter@missionbased.com |
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You asked, so here they are:
Past Single-Topic Issues of the Mission-Based Management Newsletter...
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Copyright 2006,
Corporate Alternatives, inc. |
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