Airplane Challenge Training Energisers

When your delegates are looking  sleepy or tired, an energiser can be used to get them moving and to give them more enthusiasm.

Short games can be used to help people think through issues and can help to address problems that people may encounter when they are working together. Games can also help people to think creatively and laterally.

I use games for a variety of different reasons, including :-

•        helping delegates to get to know each other better,
•        increasing energy or enthusiasm levels for sessions,
•        encouraging team building
•        or making people think about a specific issue as a group.

Energisers re-ignite the delegates oomph and
 the trainer's vigour for the next session 

The Air plane Challenge
Materials:
Each team needs 1 sheet of flip chart Paper
Some flip chart pens
reel of masking tape

Team Task:
Time : 10 minutes total : 8 minutes to design build and test 2 minute test in competition

To produce a paper plane using the whole sheet of flip chart paper
It is required to fly straight.
Marks will be awarded for aesthetic design
The planes will be thrown from a standing line
The plane is required to fly straight ( Your plane must fly and land within strict parameters of the test run way) 
If your plane lands outside the runway your team will  be disqualified
Marks will be given for  best distance 

A team of delegates work on the
aesthetics of their flip chart paper plane

Delegates are so creative. This team even created
team badges to match that on their plane's logo

Get the teams to present
 and explain their designs

This team spontaneously presented
the merits of their design to rival teams

Presenting the design to a judge

Delegate throwing team's plane trying
to keep it between the runway strips

Flying high at start (see top of photo) but where will it land ?

Tailor's Measuring Tapes make 

a colourful addition to the runway

Test runway made of 2" strips of masking tape.
Best to use a corridor or wide open space rather ha n a training room.
Measuring tapes use for marking the impact point of each teams plane

Should you need a rational explanation for energisers- Here's the Science bit !

 

or Why do we feel the need  of a siesta after lunch ?

Source:  05 June 2006   NewScientist.

The mystery of why we often feel sleepy after eating a big meal may finally have been resolved. Researchers have discovered that high blood glucose levels, similar to those after eating a big meal, can switch off the brain cells that normally keep us awake and alert.

The findings make evolutionary sense since sleepiness could be the body’s way of telling us to relax and conserve energy once we have found and eaten our food, says Denis Burdakov of the University of Manchester, UK, who led the research.

“It has been known for a while that people and animals can become sleepy and less active after a meal, but the brain signals responsible for this were poorly understood,” he says.

Burdakov’s team studied a group of brain cells called orexin neurons, which are found in the hypothalamus and produce proteins called orexins that are essential for maintaining normal wakefulness in humans. These neurons are less active at night and when they malfunction this can lead to narcolepsy, where sufferers cannot stay awake.

Firing rate

Previously, researchers have shown that orexin neurons can be inhibited by glucose, but it was not known how sensitive they were. Burdakov’s team exposed orexin neurons to subtle changes in glucose levels similar to those that occur in the blood during daily cycles of eating and hunger, then measured their firing rate.

“What we discovered is the activity of the neurons can be turned off by minute elevations in glucose associated with normal meals,” says Burdakov. The glucose is thought to act on potassium ion channels in the neurons’ membrane.

He believes this could explain why we naturally feel sleepy after a meal and also why it can be difficult to sleep when we are hungry, since the activity of the neurons would be higher when there is less glucose in the blood.

“We think orexin neurons make sure that we are awake and alert when hungry, in order to ensure optimal food-seeking,” Burdakov says. He adds that it makes evolutionary sense for animals to turn off their wakefulness and conserve energy once they have eaten their food, since it could be risky or wasteful to expend too much energy looking for more food.

Journal reference: Neuron (vol 50, p 711)

Take note ,the pen is mightier than MS WORD

A key skill for professional salespeople is to listen and learn. We are expected to 'take note' of what our client is saying.  Yet wow should we best take note in the world of laptops, tablets etc?

We are also expected to take notes at seminars , conferences and  training sessions

Is there still a place for pen and paper ? An old school notepad even ?

Typing on a keyboard is fast.

Handwriting on paper is slow.

My current Parker Ink Pen

 

Strangely, that’s precisely why handwriting is better suited to learning.

 Research psychologists Pam A. Mueller of Princeton University and Daniel M. Oppenheimer of the University of California, Los Angeles, investigated just how terrible laptops are for note-taking in classrooms in a fascinating study ( April 2014)

Previous studies have argued that laptops make for poor note-taking because of the vast array of distractions available on the internet

 

The experiments undertaken by Mueller and Oppenheimer yielded a counterintuitive conclusion:

Handwriting is better because it slows the learner down.

By slowing down the process of taking notes, you accelerate learning.

Transcribing is not the same as learning, it turns out.

The reasoning runs  something like this.

And yes, there are some who still "write in stone." on real tablets
This craftsman was at work on January 6th 2015 
at Southwark Cathedral, London

With typing  one is able record  almost every word that the client / lecturer utters. The point is, that transcription process doesn’t require any critical thinking.

So while you’re putting the words down on a  MS Word page, your brain doesn’t have to engage with the material.

Learning science reveals, if you’re not signalling that the material is important to your brain, it will discard the lecture from memory for the sake of efficiency.

But if you are taking notes by hand, you won’t be able to write down every word the speaker says. Instead, you’ll have to look for

•  Key points,

•  summarize concepts,

• and ask questions about what you don’t understand.

 

This requires more effort than just typing every word out — and the effort is what helps cement the material in your memory. The more effort you put into understanding something, the stronger signal you’re giving your brain that it’s worth remembering.

 Mueller and Oppenheimer conclude that for students, “transcrib[ing] lectures verbatim rather than processing information and reframing it in their own words is detrimental to learning.”

 The benefits of handwriting have been documented by lots of educational psychologists, who have found that handwriting engages parts of the brain that typing neglects, especially areas associated with memory formation.

 French psychologist Stanislas Dehaene told The New York Times, you may want to step away from the keyboard.

“When we write, a unique neural circuit is automatically activated,” he said. “There is a core recognition of the gesture in the written word, a sort of recognition by mental simulation in your brain, it seems that this circuit is contributing in unique ways we didn’t realize.”

The result?

“Learning is made easier,” he concluded.

Related Links

http://pss.sagepub.com/search/results?fulltext=The+pen+is+mightier+than+the+keyboard&submit=yes&journal_set=sppss&src=selected&andorexactfulltext=and&x=9&y=6

Mueller, P.A., & Oppenheimer, D.M. (in press). The pen is mightier than the keyboard: Advantages of longhand over laptop note taking. Psychological Science.

Selling a virtue ? Virtuous Selling Passionate Respectful Professional and Committed

A Good news story about Selling for August 2014

Last year the 108 outlets of Vertu Motors Group sold 120,000 cars.   The Group’s brands include Bristol Street Motors, Macklin Motors,  and Vertu Honda . ( well done all at Vertu group)

Predictably the Mail-on-Sunday’s Investment’s editor praise for a car salesman began her piece with a  sceptical back handed compliment.

“There are many adjectives associated with new and used car salesmen, but passionate, respectful , professional and committed are not usually among them. Yet these are some of the pillars on which Vertu   Motors aims to build its business.”

What are the adjectives one should associate with Salespeople? ‘Anatomy ‘ of Salesperson Attributes Skills and Knowledge

Investment editor Joanne Hart then continues then more straightforwardly praise founder Robert Forrester (“Chartered Account turned Car Salesman”) for the sales growth of his company since 2006. Of course Mr Forrester has a good record in the sector having been a former MD of Reg Vardy.

The board has been strengthened recently by the newly appointed chairman designate Peter Jones ( former CEO of New Lookers).

Sterling’s strength is helping the company’s procurement  as many of the cars  bought are made on the Continent and when the pound is strong euro-zone car makers pass the savings on to buyers to stimulate sales.

Selling servicing - 

100% absorption rate

Selling cars is a low margin business but good profits are made from servicing vehicles. Three years ago Vertu set up a monthly service plan to help their customers spread the cost of servicing. It has grown a customer base of 60,000.

This focus on customers Vertu invests in staff training  and analyses positive and negative feedback on a weekly bases.

Sales Leadership support from the top

Forrester hand writes congratulation notes to dealers who are complimented by customers.

The 160 strong call centre in  Team Valley, Gateshead addresses queries, complaints and boosts sales.

As an investment the newspaper’s Midas verdict concluded:

“Turning round under performing  dealerships takes three to four years. About 70 % of Vertu’s outlets are in that process so there should be plenty of profitable growth  as these businesses improve. The firm is gaining from growing consumer  confidence too. At 59p the shares are a long term buy.”

Virtuous selling has a long term future it seems even to the sceptical investment community.

Good selling to all at Vertu and other proponents of Virtuous Selling.

Related Links

Vertu Motors Group

Dale Carnegie in our Digital Age Book review

Engagement Selling in 2014

Selling services

This is money - Mail on Sunday sister website

Learning how to learn MINDFULNESS, Disruption and Instructor-led-Training 3.0 Learning Technologies Show 2014 Day two @LT14uk

"Out of mouths of babes and sucklings"

Reflection on Day 2 of Learning Technologies Show 2014 , London

I am in a Cafe Nero writing up my blog.

Musing for today :
 Why do they place the spoon on the left side of the handle?

Across the cafe from were I am sitting with my 'flat white', the spoon is placed on the left hand side of the handle – (why do they do that?) a mother is playing with her baby. 

It turns out actually it is the little boy’s nanny.

He is eight months old and is veritable learning ‘machine’.

 The nanny is playing with a plastic blue handball catching his eye and moving it about.

She tickles him with the ball, playfully drops it, and simulates the ball bouncing on the back of the sofa above his head .He turns rounds his head to follow it.   His eyes follow the journey of the ball. When the boy grabs the ball himself he brings it to his face. 

He licks the ball and even attempts to chew it.

As the play continues he smiles, he beats his arms simultaneously up and down with excitement.

 What I do observe is that from time to time he looks away from his Nanny.  He disengages from the game. His brain needs a rest. Then when he is ready he looks back for further stimulation. The child teaches his Nanny when to teach him. ( learner centric learning)

Training Surrogacy

In our adult world we often use the word to Nanny in a pejorative sense as in ‘Nanny State’. Yet nannies take on a responsibility for a child’s safety in subtly different way from the parental possessive responsibility and love of the child.

They also guide, care for (curate) and facilitate their learning. 

The Nanny I am observing also follows the little boy’s searchlight gazing. Sometimes she follows his eye line and looks out of the window to see what attracts his attention in the frantic outside world..

Donald Taylor of Learning Technologies introducing Brian Solis

The cafe is on the roadside opposite a huge modern hospital. His search light eyes have now have a fixed gaze on me.! 

His stare locks on me even though a deafening ambulance siren is wailing along the road with a blue flashing light. The adults are distracted but he is not distracted.

 He gaze fixes on me like a heat seeking missile. ......

As adult learners our 'blue plastic balls' are many and various. Tablet screens, smart phones, PCs, video, chat .......The inexorable waves of technological advance in business learning are having significant impact on how we all learn and how those of us who share, curate and facilitate content must now act.


"Corporate Creationists" versus "Digital Darwinists "

 We can mimic those reacting sycophants in the boardroom who assure their CEO Canute sitting on his throne ( usually a 'he')  that the tech. tsunamis will not reach the executive suite floor and won't disrupt the business.. This 'not invented here' corporate creationism vies with the Digital Darwinism that most recognise as what is going on today !

Perhaps we can wait for the tech. waves wash over us and see whether we are lucky enough to survive the onslaught and then hope natural buoyancy will keep us afloat. 

We may find the subsequent treading water can even be recorded by ROI  metrics. This may gives us a sense of being busy and the illusion of  'control'  and evaluation but is questionably productive from a true learning perspective.

Just consider how we humans adapt to tech currently. 

For example some have developed ‘seek and peck’ typing skills, others  have developed their thumbs to such an extent that their thumbs can virtually tap dance, others stroke and caress their tablets with grace of an exponent of tai chi.  

Brian Solis presentation
via satellite theatres at
Olympia 2 exhibition Halls

Keynote speaker Brian Solis at LT14uk suggested a significant change in tech introduction is that formally it was imposed / introduced from above from the C suite. 

Now with an era of BYOD of demand for mobile tech introduction is bottom up. Such democratic access the learner is in the driving seat is a game changer.

Whether this is all completely new, I am not so sure.

 Change is inevitable but we need the likes of Brian Solis to shake us out of our complacency of lethargic reaction to technological change. To relearn the lessons of disruption, innovation and their effect on  the status quo.

 My coaching experience has taught me that  you cannot really ‘teach’ adults  anything . 

If they don’t want to learn they won’t.  Learning is a voluntary process. Much of learning is driven by self motivation and expectation.

If you as a learner come with an expectation to a training interaction with a driven hope  that ‘you  will conquer mountains’  the interaction probably will do this. 

If you come to an interaction with a mindset to expect a tedious and boring waste of time it probably will turn out to be so.

 If you come with the thought that they may be one or two things that might help it will as likely as not turn out to be so.

It is Brian Solis’ belief that the next decade must be willed instead of unveiled . This proactive effort will be set alight by innovation that disrupts thinking, behaviours and markets.

Solis considers that ideas are merely a commodity these days. He reckons the next decade will be defined by those who do more than innovate. The future lies in those who disrupt markets and industries.

Technological waves disrupt the current Business world status quo  to clamour for :-

• ·         An upgrade
• ·         Reboot
• ·         Complete refresh

"To every season turn, turn turn...."

Solis sees 'our Now' - A time when anything and everything can be re-imagined.

"The way things are , doesn't necessarily reflect the way things ought to be."

"We have an opportunity to change the world and it starts with the way we see it for what it is and what we can make of it."

Innovative , disruptive companies  are more than great ideas. They solve problems that fundamentally change behaviour. They introduce a deviation in our current path to lead us in a new direction .

The Why difference ? Apple as a Disruptive Innovator par excellence

In everything they do they believe in challenging the status quo. The believe in thinking differently. The way they challenge the status quo is by making their products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly.

They just happen to make great computers.

All they have done is reverse the order of what and how Apple sells to start with why.

Brian Solis' video presentation was
cut off 16.50 hrs on the Thursday Day 2

By starting with why , before the how and what  of your product or service Brian Solis argues  the you can build something bigger  than what you may originally  set out to create or discover something altogether new to pursue.

Unfortunately the video to Brian Solis’ presentation overran the period allotted for the satellite theatres in the hall so I and the many watching in the various satellite theatres did not see the conclusion of Brian’s presentation.

Earlier in the afternoon I attended two talks on human centred learning rather than tech driven learning.

Mindfulness is being taken up by more and more folk. For example at the 2014 World Economic Forum at Davos  this January, there were daily morning mindfulness sessions and even a presentation to conference by actress Goldie Hawn on the subject.

Michelle McArthur-Morgan Jigsaw@work

At LT14uk I attended a session on Mindfulness Based Emotional Intelligence by Michelle McArthur-Morgan of Jigsaw@work  Jigsaw@work . Contrary to what we may believe our brains generate 10,000 new brain cells each day.

With 1 in 4 people likely to suffer mental illness looking after our mental health  becoming increasingly important with the desperate attempts to keep on message.

Michelle asked if we wake up and immediately check facebook, emails etc. and last thing at night do we just check facebook , emails etc. once again.

Yet our bodies need to take breaks.

We need to take time out. Michelle took her audience through a few simple but effective exercises to focus on the moment not worry about the past or fret about the future.

She quoted data from Health and Safety executive

Apparently our brains need a break every ninety minutes or so.

One provocative challenge Michelle posited that Multitasking is actually less productive . she supported this from findings from Prof  Meyer of Michigan University .

Michelle gave us much to think about.It proved useful counter to Digital Darwinism in the short term we must centre ourselves more and focus on the present. Good advice to all in Sales about to meet with clients.

I thought you might like to her 5 simple ways to remain calm and have clarity of thinking when all around are losing it ( echoes of Rudyard Kipling's If ?)

1. Pause and Breath   STOP what you are doing. Become aware of your breathing and do nothing intentionally
2. FOCUS - DO NOT Multitask, focus on one task at a time
3. BE PRESENT in the moment - Take notice of your internal early warning system, experience sensations as they arise in your body.
4. BE AWARE of ASSUMPTIONS - check what assumptions and judgements you are making and challenge their helpfulness.
5. BE KIND and COMPASSIONATE - remember to be kind to yourself and others. Do not have unrealistic expectations of self or others.

Jon Knight , Collaboration Specialist of Smarter Interactive

The second seminar I attended on Day Two of LT14uk was entitled " How do you delivery high quality instructor led training in a global recession and a competitive market?"

Jon talked us through a large scale project with IT Training Company Global Knowledge

Jon describing the features of the
master broadcast classroom

Having developed a successful system of satellite classrooms with interactive whiteboard connectivity for real time connection with the master classroom. 

The second stage of the project  enabled people to connect from home / office via a headphone pc kit live to the classroom. 


The next stage is make the system work on a mobile solution.








My 'flat white is consumed' it's time to publish thuis post.

Now that the Neuro Scientists tell us of the plasticity of the brain even in adults perhaps we could learn to learn again form the best of learners - babes and their skilled learning facilitators Nannies.

For now it’s time to leave the coffee shop.  

The boy needs to be helped to put on his coat, be strapped into his  Maclaren buggy  with the hood up for the challenges in the outside world beyond the warmth of the Cafe Nero  and  its safe training environment.

 It is raining outside in the street.

Why not observe a Nanny or Mum at work next time you are in a coffee house as see the parallels of how to guide our delegates  or lead colleagues  as we facilitate, lead and learn from them.

We all need to learn how to learn again 'out of the mouths of babes and sucklings'......

Time to let go of the  spoon puzzle for today after the new age of digital learning is not about 'spoon feeding' !!!

Learning Technologies Show 2014 MOOCs, Mobile's Moment is NOW

In the Editor’s comments for the Special Show Guide issue of Inside learning Technologies and Skills Donald Taylor summarises

“The classroom is no more deceased than the paper magazine. But like contemporary publishing, learning is now a wider, more electronically enabled, more powerful field.

This magazine , the conference, the exhibition and the Learning and Skills group all celebrate learning’s  wider reach. Long may it flourish..."

The dreadful  unceasing cold rain on the Wednesday of the show did not put off the visitors to Olympia 2.

 Indeed Plastic bags for your wet umbrellas were provided on arrival  most welcome!

The technologies section seemed somewhat busier than the skills section.

For Report on Day Two of LT14uk

Thomas Weber and
 Joanna Koni  TATA TOPSIM

The free lectures throughout the day in the ten bear-pit theatres were full. 

The first of three I attended was Thomas Weber and Joanna Koni  of TATA TOPSIM  entitled Blended Business Solutions on a flipped learning approach.

The Pedigree of the Flight simulator as a learning method is well established in the Aero industry:

Thomas argued that Learning business by doing business  is best learned by practice of decision making through a simulation where consequences of the learner's decisions could put to the test and the consequences revealed through a simulated cased study whose model is continuously updated from experiences of TATA’s case work.

Thomas Weber 

Different approaches could be tested out by the learner. This was illustrated on a Change management case for a newly appointed manager 'Natalie'.

  Based on a change management model 1. Contentment 2. Denial 3. Confusion 4 .Renewal integrating day to day management of the team learners act as ‘mentor /adviser’ guiding the new manager ( Natalie) through and suggesting decisions.

Change challenge for a Sales Team

Thomas mentioned the TATA Topsim simulation approach had been adopted by a healthcare company in the States. An established sales team had to engage in selling a new range of products unfamiliar to them. In addition the new range had to be sold in a limited selling window of six weeks. 

This simulation model enabled the team to hit the ground running after the training interaction.

The blend of case studies, videos  fast tracked their learning time.

There has been much of a buzz about MOOCs recently – As I know little about MOOCs I took advantage of Ben Betts  of HT2’s excellent introduction on the subject. 

Ben Betts of HT2  in fervent epiphany enthusiam of things MOOC

Ben’s direct, lively and knowledgeable presentation aided by two guys who had set up a Curator MOOC was excellent.

Ben’s  3 Cs model Connect – Create – Curate looks interesting and simple to apply

 Ben Betts  said he measured the effectiveness of MOOCs  mostly by new ideas generated or ‘epiphanies’ , learners' personal development as much as traditional sign-up and stick- with-the-programme metrics. 

This open and democratic approach may go against conventional  current ROI learning metrics.

Ben’s counter was that Drop Out rates don’t necessarily tell you all. After all , plenty of folk learn by aredropping in and out of You tube or Wikipedia and learning loads.

Game-ification- rewarding learners for reading content ( e.. 3 points, and submitting answers 5 points and leader boards  are used to encourage active contribution and sharing behaviours.

This something I am going to look into more  Do I feel a selling MOOC rising to the surface.

The third session I attended was Alex Mackman of CG’s  Pactical Mobile learning.There were some interesting case studies on Luminosity shared by Alex .

Mobile's  Moment is NOW

2014 is a particularly apt time for mobile learning. Platforms such as I pads I phones etc , Androids and Windows 8 are well established in the market. The improvements in bandwidth and connectivity over the last year along with improved HTML5 authoring tools and delivery via the cloud or Experience API / Tin Can make this the Mobile moment

Alex Mackman  of CG group downloading
 from a QR code  live on Luminosity

Alex courageously finished with a  alive system  QR code download of an App to a mobile.














Related Links

Report on Day 2 @LT14uk

Train-the-Trainer Control and participation balance

Spice up Your Training  - Spice up their Learning

Training can be monotonous if things get predictable.  Keep the interest high by using a variety of methods and moving delegates around the room or building –particularly if they are unused to sitting at a desk all day!  How many of these do you use?  This is not a full list!

                                                                        TRAINER          PARTICIPATION

                                                                      CONTROL                   LEVEL

1.         Lecture                                               High                           nil

2.         Step by step presentation               High                           Moderate

3.         Guided discovery                             Moderate                   High

4.         Reading                                             Nil                               High

5.         Programmed learning                     High                           High

6.         Demonstration                                 High                           Moderate

7.         Directed discussion                         Moderate                   High

8.         Buzz groups                                     Low                             High

9.         Free group discussion                    Nil                               High

10.       Case studies                                     Low                             High

11.       Brainstorming                                   Low                             High

12.       Drama                                                High                           Low

13.       Problem centred groups                 Low                             High

14.       Syndicate method                           Low                             High

15.       Seminar                                             Low                             High

16.       Individual /group tutorial                 High                           High

17.       Individual task                                  Low                             High

18.       Projects                                              Moderate                   High

19.       Practical session                              Variable                     Variable

20.       delegate presentation                     Low                             High

21.       Audio tapes                                       High                           Nil

22.       Tape/slides                                        High                           Variable

23.       Video or film presentation              High                           Variable

24.       Delegate Video recording              Low                             High

25.       Role play/ Skills  Practice             Low                             High

26.       Computer assisted learning /

            Computer based training /

            Technology based training

           e-learning                                           Variable                     High

27.       Simulation and games                   Moderate                   High

28.       Action mazes                                    Variable                     High

29.       Interactive video                               Variable                     High

30.       Training instruments                       Variable                     High