The picture in this post has a great back story. It was taken in 2002, and featured in the local press, recording the opening, by the then Mayor of Bracknell, of one of my first Knowledge Management Centres in Berkshire, here in the UK. At that time, I was Head of Organisational Development in the NHS, here with my team realising the OD and Training strategy that I produced as part of my own Post-Graduate Masters in HRM dissertation (proof that you can turn an academic idea into working practice). The resulting project channelled nearly £250k of grant money over a three-year period into creating a series of the very first Knowledge Management and E-Learning Centres in the National Health Service. Not only did we provide innovative training solutions, but we also put in place a way to capture the learning and measure the difference it could make to health management services. Trying new things can be both challenging and sometimes met with resistance, and we had plenty of that, but we kept going with the plan.
Since 2005 I’ve been a senior lecturer at a University Business School in London (0.3wte), and I’m looking forward to a semester with my new group of Post-Graduate students, all wanting to learn about great training design and delivery. We’ll address how to approach design and how to provide innovative training delivery and look at training needs analysis, different instructional design models from around the world, learning technologies, assessment and validation approaches. And then comes their assessment, when they have to stand up and deliver the design they have produced. Exciting stuff!
Perhaps one of my students will also create a training design that will encourage their workforce to try new things and transform their organisation.
Until next time ~ happy learning!
Józefa Fawcett
Professional Trainer, Learning Specialist Designer & Voice-Over