By Charlotte on
25/11/2009 22:54
I am a school governor and I have just returned from a school governor meeting. I want to be useful to the school I support and I like being involved but I have no idea why I am supposed to attend. Tonight was a classic example. All the reports had been sent out beforehand, from the head teacher and the policy writers and yet again they are read out to us in case we hadn’t read them. We are asked if we have questions or comments. Most of the comments from my fellow governors are simply to say how well it’s all seems to be going. I can do that in an email. I can read reports at home, I can ask questions on the telephone or by email, I can send praise and compliments again in a card on through email so why am I there in person?
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By Charlotte on
18/11/2009 10:08
I am often asked to go into companies to run an appraisal or performance review day for their managers. This is because many managers despair at the thought of stopping their important work to have to run the annual appraisal. There are the usual mutterings about it being a waste of time, or they lack the lack skills or time to prepare or……..and the response from the top - ‘let’s patch it up with a one day practical workshop’. Later most companies realise they need two days training simply because their paperwork is so onerous and complicated. There is also fresh training required in handling the documentation for any new managers who have joined during the year.
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By Charlotte on
12/10/2009 16:36
An interesting piece in the Times this week reported that “The written English of British undergraduates is significantly worse than that of overseas students". Apparently the British students make 52.2 of punctuation, grammatical and spelling errors per page on average, whereas international students make just 18.8.
How frightening is that? People who do not know how to write their own language?
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By Charlotte on
04/10/2009 15:12
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By Charlotte on
22/09/2009 10:26
For those of you in the UK enjoying the last of the Indian summer I am writing this in the real India. The monsoon is over but the tourist season has not yet started so I am alone save for a lifeguard at the pool of a glamorous hotel in Powai, Mumbai. The hotel’s guests are mostly singles here on work contracts and out all day. It’s a typical hotel so I could be anywhere in the world but it’s hot, it’s sunny and I need to keep my shoes on to get to the water’s edge.
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By Charlotte on
29/08/2009 18:09
Being self employed means you are responsible for your own learning and your continuing professional development as well as everything else in the business. If you have been used to someone else helping you to identify your learning needs perhaps through performance reviews its often difficult to decide what, how and when you should be learning new skills.
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By Charlotte on
24/08/2009 12:51
“These workbooks compliment our “Do it Yourself Promotion Programme” This quote is straight from my meanderings through competitors’ websites. An advert for elearning marketing and it turns out they were not offering free workbooks at all.
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By Charlotte on
07/08/2009 16:23
Finding someone to talk to about your ambitions, goals and ideas is difficult if you work in a smaller business. Finding time to develop the skills you need to run your business effectively is even more difficult. That’s why so many managers and business owners turn to a coach for help when the going gets tough or you just cannot see the wood for the trees.
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By Charlotte on
03/08/2009 09:29
If you are filled with dread every time you look at your long list of emails in your inbox Read On…………. Someone once told me that keeping emails you have read in your email box was equivalent to opening your post each morning and then throwing all of it on the floor by your front door together with the envelopes. After a while you wouldn’t be able to open the door….and it’s the same with your inbox if it is clogged up your computer will not cope. So if this is reminds you of you here is a proven technique for managing your emails and therefore your time.
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By Charlotte on
30/07/2009 17:23
Are you are filled with dread at the thought of speaking in public? If you get nervous or sweaty palmed you need to do something about your confidence levels before you can begin to prepare and deliver a sales presentation or public speech.
So are you ready to have some fun? Are you ready to try out a great confidence building exercise?
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