Kategori: Leadership Challenge

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Tehcnology in modern mentoring

The last blog post from Sodexo´s 2013 Workplace Trends called: Modern Mentoring, some of the big thing was modern technology brought to mentoring. In this blog post I will talk more about the technology.

Technology plays a large role in enabling this to happen because it allows organizations to view mentoring as a “for the masses” practice that harnesses the collective knowledge, skills, abilities and passions of an

organization’s entire workforce. Employees can create their own personal learning and advising networks that grow and flex as their individual needs and strengths change. This adaptability means insights are shared and applied on the job in a just-in-time manner, with people seeing real work results from their mentoring activities.

Adults want to drive their own learning, and as they address their own personal real-time learning needs by connecting with colleagues from anywhere in the organization, they are in control of their learning. These

knowledge-sharing connections help break down silos and spread expertise and innovation quickly across the enterprise, which can spark new solutions and creative ideas among employees that they can then bring to the job.

An ideal mentoring and knowledge-sharing network is:

• 5-15 people

• Learners and advisors come from across functions, locations, generations, etc.

• People shift in and out of the network and of the roles themselves, as learning needs and knowledge strengths evolve, creating a diverse, fluid and dynamic network

 

The diverse networks that people form can help them generate creative solutions, novel ideas, and unique approaches to organizational problems or issues they are facing. In fact, researchers Christoph Lechner, Karolin Frankenberger, and Steven W. Floyd found that among colleagues who are collaborating for work, the more diverse the networks were in terms of values and viewpoints, the more they increased their performance

Tips:

In light of this result, organizations looking to foster and encourage major creative solutions and thinking among workers, as well as innovative improvements in current processes throughout the business, would do well to encourage more diversity in individual learning networks. This type of inclusive knowledge sharing thrives at Sodexo, where they actively support learning connections across generational, geographical and organizational boundaries.

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Modern mentoring

Mentoring has proven again and again to be a powerful and effective workforce development tool, and the need for mentoring, knowledge sharing and skill building continues to grow.

However, traditional mentoring is no longer adequate in today’s hyper-connected and fast-paced world. Companies today must embrace a new form of mentoring and knowledge sharing that allows workers to find and connect with their colleagues so they can learn while on the job, share best practices throughout all areas of the business, and collaborate with people no matter where they may be located

As you can see from the figure traditional mentoring with standard meeting between the mentor and the mentee ones a month at the same place and the new mentoring mindset. Where it could be one mentor and one, two or more mentees, and different kind of meetings. Meetings could be Skype, Chat as well as face-to-face meetings.

With the help of technology, the age-old practice of mentoring is being redefined into modern mentoring that centers around connecting people across an organization to share critical knowledge and skills. Virtual relationships and multi-participant engagements form the basis for modern mentoring, which incorporates a more inclusive mindset about who should participate, a broader scope for making meaningful learning connections, and an open flow of knowledge among participants. No longer just about one-to-one relationships between senior leaders and potential successors, today’s mentoring is focused on removing the barriers between people and engaging them in rich learning and teaching opportunities in a broad, networked manner so that knowledge can flow to the point of need.

More about the technology in the next blog post.

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Accenture Skill Gaps Study

One of the studies that Sodexo is looking too is the one  Accenture did in november 2011, where they found that 55 percent of workers in the U.S. reported they are under pressure to develop additional skills to be successful in their current and future jobs, but only 21 percent said they have acquired new skills through company-provided formal training during the past five years.

They concluded that to support workers for future challenges, the organizations must:

• Plug into and leverage the collective intelligence of the enterprise through learning connections.

• Encourage creativity and innovation through diverse learning networks.

• Accelerate speed to competence through self-directed approaches that generate real-time learning content.

 

Well I see lot of  mentoring programs in U.S both in past and in future…

 

Reference:

Accenture conducted an online survey of 1,088 employed and unemployed U.S. workers to assess skill development. The resulting Accenture Skills Gap Study is part of Accenture’s
ongoing research into the workforce challenges faced by employers today. 

Accenture

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How do I plan for 2013

Going from 2012 to 2013 got me to think about Confucius when he talked to his student about planning.

The student: Where do you think I should go?

Confucius:It depends on where you wanna go

The student: It doesn´t matter that much

Confucius: Then it doesn´t matter where you go

It´s a good story about planning and I am sitting and planning my 2013, wanna know where I want to go. First of all I think it is important to know where you come from and what you have in your baggage. Therefor i use «The wheel of life».

This one I found here

 

This is my platform, this is where I come from. I find myself between 1 and 10, and even if it´s only 3, that is my baggage. I have to start from there…

I then start by brainstorming the 8 dimensions of my life that is important for me. When you do the same you can put in and take out which dimensions that are important for you.

My dimensions are: Business/Career – Finances – Health – Family and friends – Romance/My marriage – Personal growth – Fun and recreation – Physical Environment.

I will then have identified all the dimensions and I will find areas that need attention, meaning below 7. I will then find actions needed to work on regaining balance and there is where most of my goals for 2013 are.

F.ex. if I don´t spend enough time with my friends one of my goals for this year would be to find more time to meet my friends. And on Business/Career I put in my two big projects for 2013. Then I take f.ex. one of the projects and set up goals on short and long terms.

 

This is one way to do it, earlier I wrote about a Life Plan, thats also a very good way to do it. I guess the most important here is that you actually do it, planning there is…

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mentoring combined with training…

Every no and the I see different statistic all over the world, this one is from USA and from mentoring point of view it´s very, very good.

According to a study by the American Society for Training and Development,
training alone increased managerial productivity by 24%.
When training was used in combination with mentoring and coaching,
productivity increased by 88%.

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The 4 Steps to Finding Your Voice

“One word expresses the pathway to greatness: voice.
Those on this path find their voice and inspire others to find theirs. The rest never do.”
Stephen R. Covey

 

I read an article on Stephen R. Covey`s blog and wanted to share some of the wisdom from him about mentoring. Read this short story and learn from one of the best.

I think if you care about people genuinely, you listen to them and observe them; because this is more than just hearing them speak, it is observing them-observing where their excitement is, where their enthusiasm is; observing where you sense they have potential. Sometimes it is very powerful just to say to them in sincerity, “I believe you have great potential in this area. I see real strengths in you that you may not see in yourself, and I would like to create an opportunity for you to use those strengths and to develop this potential. Would you be interested in that?” Most people are so flattered by someone who sincerely cares for them and affirms their work and potential that they are moved and inspired by that kind of input. It’s very powerful and it can make all of the difference, particularly with people who grow up with a confused lifestyle, bad modeling, and basic education. Often they have no clue as to what life is about or what they are about until someone becomes a teacher to them-a mentor, a confirmer, and a coach. This kind of mentoring is becoming increasingly important in education, in relationships, and in work environments. It can make all of the difference as to whether a person takes a higher road to his or her own voice or a lower road to where he or she is swallowed up by the priorities and voices of others.

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With unemployment at current levels, why would any manager focus on mentoring? Why spend money on current employees when they should be happy to have their job?

Guest Blog: Kim Wise, the founder of Mentor Resources

As an observer of the business environment, I find myself startled at the short-sightedness of managers who make comments like these.  These questions are short-sighted and reflect the commentator’s own fears.  Any company that expects to stay in business for the long haul needs to be constantly monitoring and upgrading its skills.

It is well documented that an outstanding manager (or employee) will contribute significantly more than an average employee in the same position to the firm’s bottom line.  Thus, it should be obvious that leveraging your best employees impacts the bottom line in a meaningful way. Today especially, every manager needs every one of his or her employees to be a better than average employee.  Rather than taking employees for granted (“since there are no jobs out there”), managers should be focused on increasing engagement, efficiency and proficiency at the job.

The impact can be meaningful: In a Harvard Business Review article on Employee Engagement, BestBuy shared that a 0.1% increase in average employee satisfaction within a store increases revenues, at that store, by $100,000 per year.

Mentoring is the fastest way to share the perspective, insights and knowledge of the outstanding employees.  Tacit knowledge is the counterpart to classroom learning.  It’s the subtle lessons of experience and observation over time.

When an employee who has been successful in the organization agrees to mentor a less experienced employee and they click – creating a good mentoring experience – the perspective of the successful employee is leveraged and magnified.

There are software tools that can help the mentor matching, to cost effectively maximize the mentoring program.  The market leader is Mentor Resources, which provides software for the administration of formal mentoring programs. WisdomShare™ is a proprietary algorithm which matches Mentors and Mentees to create a good match, where the pair share personality traits. This software is often supplemented by Mentor Training by a consultant like Thor-Erik Gulliksen.

Kim Wise is the founder of Mentor Resources, a premier provider of tools for formal mentoring programs, using WisdomShare™ an artificial-intelligence matching system. The software has been selected by a number of European-based multinational corporations because it generates the best possible match for the Mentor/Mentee pair, with clear guidance and measurable goals which are strategically aligned with the organization’s long-term goals.

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21 Great Ways to Manage Your Time and Double Your Productivity

I am always struggling to get more productive and to get more things done in less hour.  Right now I am trying Brian Tracy´s «21 Great Ways to Manage Your Time and Double Your Productivity». i would also like to share the book with you.


Like Having 48 Hour Days

How many times have you exclaimed, «There just aren’t enough hours in a day?!»  21 Ways to Manage Your Time and Double Your Productivity  by Bryan Tracy will show you prioritizing your tasks can make you 2 to 3 times more productive.

 

21 Great Ways Double Your Productivity

21 Ways to Manage Your Time and Double Your Productivity is the fast-track to your goals and dreams.


Become Faster and Better

In this program I give you 21 iron clad methods to speed through your «to do» list and still have time to relax with your family and friends.

It’s easy to do once you start! 

In this program I teach you how to:

  • Double your productivity
  • Speed through your «to do» list
  • Overcome procrastination
  • Make more money
  • Spend less time at work

If you want to by the book, click here:

http://www.briantracy.com/catalog/product.aspx?pid=4

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Getting things done

Every no and then I got across people who uses David Allen´s «Getting things done», so I would like to introduce him for my readers.

This is some of the reviews on Amazon.com.

David Allen, a management consultant and executive coach, provides insights into attaining maximum efficiency and at the same time relaxing whenever one needs or wants to. Readers learn that there is no single means for perfecting organizational efficiency or productivity; rather, the author offers tools to focus energies strategically and tactically without letting anything fall through the cracks. 

 As whole-life-organizing systems, David Allen’s is pretty good, even fun and therapeutic. It starts with the exhortation to take every unaccounted-for scrap of paper in your workstation that you can’t junk, The next step is to write down every unaccounted-for gotta-do cramming your head onto its own scrap of paper. Finally, throw the whole stew into a giant «in-basket»

That’s where the processing and prioritizing begin; in Allen’s system, it get a little convoluted at times, rife as it is with fancy terms, subterms, and sub-subterms for even the simplest concepts. Thank goodness the spine of his system is captured on a straightforward, one-page flowchart that you can pin over your desk and repeatedly consult without having to refer back to the book. That alone is worth the purchase price.

Start with ordering the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248197209&sr=8-1