HIGH-IMPACT E-LEARNING: Tell a People Story

Movies are typically about a hero and a problem. The setting may be war, Wall Street, or the 1950s in the South, but the story is about people. By focusing on a story about individuals an interesting thing happens: Not only is the audience much more involved, the film's statement about the setting or situation is made more powerful.

Bull Durham has been called the best picture ever made about baseball. It is really a love story, baseball only provided the backdrop and sub-plots. This open secret for engaging an audience, known to all successful screenwriters, can also be applied to e-learning: focus on the impact for one or two people. Give your learners a way to relate to your content.

Make It A Story About People, Not About Techniques

Rather than giving a demonstration about management techniques, show how an employee and her supervisor resolve a problem. Rather than offering product training that lists features and specifications, show how a product or service changed an individual's life. While showing how it's done, show an individual who benefits, while contributing to the benefit of others.

Singling out a person to demonstrate universal truths is a technique pre-dating written language, and is still more potent than any amount of special effects and snazzy graphics. Though a dramatization is the obvious format for people stories, any format can be enhanced through demonstrating how your message affects people. Interviews are more effective if the questions center on personal experience or add insight into someone else's experiences undefined rather than depending on opinion or abstract facts.

Even in a straight voice-over, with no specific reference to the personalities on the screen, a picture story can show specific individuals in a story that applies the ideas or techniques you discuss.

Example: For sales training on a national court-reporting network, we opened with a lawyer fielding several problems over the phone. During the show, the narrator explained all of the network's benefits, while the visual demonstrated how those benefits solved all of the lawyer's problems that were introduced in the opening. Sparse use of sound bites from telephone conversations increased the sense of urgency, introduced a touch of reality, and filled in the details we couldn't demonstrate visually. More than a parade of features and benefits, the e-learning became a story of a person solving previously insurmountable problems.

Give Them Someone They Care About

Content can be broken out into separate e-learning segments. Vignettes can alternate with commentary on what was just dramatized, or establish the problem that your product or service can solve. The critical thing is to give your audience someone with whom they can identify. One specific example, that's emotionally involving, has more power than any amount of reasoned analysis.

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John Morley is the author of Scriptwriting for High-Impact Videos, and an instructional designer working with Kaiser Permanente. He can be reached at John@OriginalVision.com.

What is Cultural Intelligence?

Several years ago, as an MBA student (the course was External Environment of Business), I was part of a group (there were three groups in all) tasked with developing a plan to introduce a U.S made and FDA approved pharmaceutical drug into several developing countries. We were to assume that we (the United States) were competing against other drug manufacturers from Asia and Europe. Essentially, we had to develop a sales strategy that we would use to negotiate with and penetrate the market in these developing countries (cross-cultural negotiation). Sounds like a simple enough project? It was not.

The results from all three groups were fundamentally flawed and filled with error. The problems were not with expertise, experience, or educational background of the group members. The problems stemmed from a lack of intelligence about the cultures of the economies/countries that were assigned to the group. In other words, none of the groups had adequate knowledge of the cultures of the developing countries. It was also clear that the groups believed (erroneously) that putting together a world class proposal would make up for the lack of cultural knowledge. In particular, the proposals did not address the perception of the potential consumers of the product, including how to dispel suspicion about U.S. made drugs. A case in point – polio vaccines made in the U.S. and Europe were rejected due to suspicions that they were actually drugs designed to sterilize men in the Muslim dominated part of a large West African country. This resulted in a polio epidemic several years later. 

In addition, the proposals did not address who was the target market – government, private sector, traditional rulers/monarchs, local doctors (who will prescribe the drug), or patients. This is critical because all these groups have subcultures that play an important role in successful cross-cultural negotiation. A lack of  adequate cultural intelligence about these subcultures may result in a failure of the business endeavor.

One look at the source of information about these developing countries told the whole story. The groups relied heavily on books (mostly outdated) written by local American writers and information found on the websites of the embassies of these countries available mainly for vacation destination advertizing. The problem is that without cultural intelligence that is up-to-date and accurate, it is virtually impossible to engage with people that have different cultural orientation without employing stereotyping – and that does not work successfully. So what exactly is cultural intelligence?

When an individual is culturally intelligent, it means that the individual has successfully absorbed the cultural nuances of other foreign cultures with the ultimate goal of facilitating positive outcomes and effective cross-cultural negotiations (Imai & Gelfand, 2010). It important to emphasize that cultural intelligence is critical, not only for cross-cultural negotiation, but also for cultural diversity in the workplace.

Becoming culturally intelligent is a development and learning process that involves understanding and using the four levels of  meta-cognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral components to enhance decision making and improve performance (Imai & Gelfand, 2010). Stay tuned for the second article in this three-part series, for information regarding these four components of cultural intelligence, and how they can be used as a four-step model to teach cultural intelligence.

References
Imai, L. & Gelfand, M. (2010). The culturally intelligent negotiator: The impact of cultural intelligence (CQ) on negotiation sequences and outcomes. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 112, 83-98

Leading Change by Managing Stability

The soapy, wet rags slapped my front windshield as I drove into the carwash. Instantly, my 90-pound German Sheppard leapt from the back to the front seat. His big brown eyes screamed at me, "Dad, what's that?"

“It’s okay Comet." I stroked his head as the car darkened.

Within seconds those gigantic brushes attacked the car from all sides. Comet scrambled onto my lap, shaking. His eyes, glued to mine, cried “I’m not okay!"

I held him tightly, stroked his head, and sang our song, "That's our good boy Comet; Comet is a good boy..." He stopped shaking and calmed down.

Comet was able to handle change because I gave him stability. And the same is true for all of us. When we experience any change, researchers tell us that we tend to search for stability. So, instead of asking, "How can I get others (or myself) to change?" we should ask, "What can I give them (or me) to hold as I ask them to change?"

Communicate the Vision for Change
One of the best ways to help others feel secure during changing times is to communicate what the change is, why it’s important, and who supports the change. These issues were addressed by a client of mine in their Vision for Change document that I helped them write. At a recent Town Hall meeting, a few of their top executives highlighted key sections of this document in order to give everyone a bit more stability during their major initiative called,  Business Optimization Program (BOP).

What is the BOP Vision for Change Document?
The CFO explained that the Vision for Change document is collaboration among the technical team, their Organization’s Change Management (OCM) team (of which I’m the change consultant) and internal Change Champion Network (CCN). The document, she said, is a 10,000 foot view of the “what” and “why” of the BOP transformation. She also pointed out that the BOP Vision Statement, created by the CCN, is “Business made easier every day and every way!”

Why is the BOP Vision for Change Document Important?
The COO asserted that the Vision for Change document is important because it makes an excellent case that “the status quo is more dangerous than the change.” He highlighted a few of the scenarios in the document that demonstrate why many current inefficient processes can no longer be tolerated. He concluded by showing the last page of this document – the signatures of all the executive team members and vice presidents in the organization who support BOP (all of them!).

Who Benefits from Achieving the Vision for Change?
Finally, one of the VPs (and designated Change Champion) discussed a few of the many strategic and tactical benefits of BOP that are part of the Vision for Change document. She pointed out that BOP will provide:

• Standardized and optimized business practices
  
• Effective and efficient data retrieval/analysis for decision-making
  
• Clearly defined system and process ownership and accountability
  
• A transformation from being person-dependent to process-oriented

So, next time you feel like you’re on shaky ground because there’s too much change, look for something to hold onto. Maybe you can create a document that communicates what the change is, why it’s important, and who supports the change.  How surprised will you be that you can handle change because you manage stability?

Keep stretching when you feel pulled,
Dave

P.S. Dave Jensen transforms proven leadership tools into client success stories. Dave is an executive coach, leadership expert, and an engaging speaker at conferences, meetings, and retreats. He can be reached in Los Angeles, CA at (310) 397-6686 or http://davejensenonleadership.com/

THE LEARNING BLENDER

Figure 1: Blended Learning Combines Two or More Learning Modalities

Learning methods and delivery options are multiplying.  To get the most learning for their investment, organizations and individuals are seeking blended learning solutions that combine a variety of delivery options and learning methods that create a buffet of learning for all palates.

To avoid a blender blowout while creating exceptional blended learning, it is important to know how to blend various learning ingredients to accent the individual advantages of each.

What is Blended Learning?

Blended learning is any combination of classroom, e-learning, or non-formal collaborative learning that is intended to achieve the same outcomes as traditional learning.  Blended learning comes in many forms today with technology promises of new options in the future.  The most common learning elements that comprise blended learning are:

• Classroom instruction (97% of organizations still provide it)
• Asynchronous e-learning (on-demand, self-paced online)
• Synchronous virtual classroom (meeting together online)
• Individual coaching/mentoring (in-person or online)
• Formal education (degrees or certificate programs through colleges and universities)
• Social media (blogs, wikis, professional networks, communities of practice, m-learning)
• Self-study (books, podcasts, audio, DVDs)

How Does Blended Learning Work?

Learning experts have identified key psychological and mental processes that facilitate learning which can be reduced to five key processes:

1. Focus attention on the subject matter; learning cannot occur without full attention (just as our teachers admonished us as children).
   
2. Activate prior knowledge of the subject matter and connect to the current learning.  As adults, our long-term memory of past experience supports our current learning for new associations. 
   
3. Manage the cognitive load on our working memory with small, digestible chunks of learning (approximately five to seven items at a time).  Our limited working memory can easily become overloaded, leading to forgetfulness and incomplete learning. 
   
4. Promote retention in long-term memory through practice as we remember the things that we experience and do repeatedly.  Find opportunities to rehearse new skills to help us retain the learning over time.
   
5. Retrieve new knowledge when needed through testing, recall tools, job aids, and reference materials.  If we cannot recall our new knowledge, the learning becomes useless. 

Given these key learning principles, blended learning can provide multiple opportunities, through multiple sensory inputs, for learners to experience new knowledge and skills.  With different exposures to learning types, our knowledge accumulates and our retention and retrieval of the new knowledge improves. 

As an example, consider the roll-out of a new computer database.  The traditional way of learning the new system would involve scheduling all users for a one- or two-day class with intensive experience of the new system through demonstrations and hands-on practice for 12-16 hours.  This type of learning experience typically leads to cognitive overload, limited skill practice, poor retention, and poor retrieval when employees start to use the new system on the job.

A blended learning alternative might start with the use of social media to introduce the new database and the organization’s rationale and goals for the new system.  This gets people to start paying attention and buying into the idea. 

Next, an online self-paced tutorial could give a high-level overview of the new database with explanations about how it differs from existing systems, what its features and benefits are, and the plans to implement it throughout the organization.  This information helps to activate prior knowledge and continues to build attention and support. 

Third, users might be brought into a classroom or learning lab for hands-on demonstrations and guided practice in the key elements of the new system, under the guidance of a database expert or systems trainer.  The classroom time could be substantially reduced from the two-day class of old by focusing on high priority tasks while using online tutorials to cover more detailed and less important aspects of the database. 

Finally, users could receive job aids in the form of checklists, step-action tables, flow charts and on-line technical references to improve retrieval on the job.  This learning could also be supplemented by using job coaches to assist employees individually who are still having problems learning the new system.

It is clear from this example that blended learning can combine the advantages of different learning modalities while mitigating their respective weaknesses.  This results in more effective learning that has a higher likelihood of impacting the organization positively.

What Are Some Favorite Blends?

While blended learning has many advantages, it also presents challenges to learning professionals.  If we blend learning in the wrong combinations, we may actually undermine our very purpose and produce worse results than a classroom-only approach.  For example, if we use online tutorials to overwhelm participants with massive amounts of static knowledge (aka “e-reading”) or use classroom time to lecture ad nauseam about “nice to know” but largely useless knowledge, we will produce little or no learning.  We also leave employees struggling on their own when they have to use the new knowledge on the job.

As learning professionals gain more experience with blended learning, several blended learning models are emerging as best practices.  Here are three that have demonstrated excellent results when properly implemented.

Bookend Model

In this blended model,  classroom instruction is bookended on the front with pre-work that is often delivered on-line and on the back with on-the-job training (OJT) bthat may come in the form of knowledge management systems or job coaches.  This is a great model for skill acquisition. Visually, the model looks like this:

Figure 2: Bookend Model Combines Pre and Post Classroom Learning

The advantages of this model are numerous.  It reduces classroom time, thus saving money on training delivery.  It engages learners over a longer period of time and allows for greater individualization.  Finally, it increases skill transfer to the job, which is the whole point of corporate training.

Competency Model

When learning requires the acquisition of complex competencies based on tacit knowledge, a competency-driven blended learning model works best.  This is based on the need to capture and transfer tacit knowledge from experts over a long period of time.  Learners interact with and observe experts on the job.  This model depends on a variety of learning events - online, classroom and experiential – spaced over time which is often supplemented by assigning mentors to learners.  It also supports developing knowledge management systems as repositories of tacit knowledge that can be accessed when needed.  Social networks can be deployed to create communities of practice within various disciplines to encourage knowledge creation and sharing.

Attitude Model

When learning requires the adoption of new attitudes that lead to new personal behaviors, peer interaction in a low risk environment is required.  The traditional way to change attitudes relies on motivational group presentations followed by intense one-on-one interpersonal interaction.  The blended approach relies more on peer-to-peer interaction in a risk-free environment to create the motivation to change, while using coaches and mentors for individual follow up.  The blended approach to attitude change may employ one or more of the following learning strategies:

• Hold synchronous Web-based meetings (Webinars) to introduce the new attitudes and their related behaviors
• Assign group projects (to be completed offline) to get peers working together and demonstrating the new behaviors
• Conduct role-playing simulations either in a classroom or via computer simulation to rehearse new behaviors and fine-tune them
• Assign mentors to coach and monitor attitude and behavior change
• Use incentives and rewards to drive organizational change and individual behavior change

Conclusions

Blended learning is here and as a phenomenon is likely to have a greater impact on the way learning professionals work in the future.  From mastering new technologies to creating new solutions and working in entirely new ways, blended learning offers the potential to revolutionize our field in ways we are only now beginning to grasp. 

So, go out there and blend some learning!  Don’t be afraid to experiment with new approaches and learn from these experiences.  After all, that’s what we ask our learners to do every day.

Donald J. Ford, Ph.D., C.P.T.
President, Training Education Management LLC and
Adjunct Professor of Management, Antioch University Los Angeles

One of the main reasons people seek out coaches is to drive accountability on some sort of pressing goal or ambition. I am a “recovering perfectionist” and I am certainly “Type A.” I love checking things off the list and feeling a sense of accomplishment. That said, many coaches miss the boat by only focusing on accomplishing goals. I have found that my coaching is most effective when I help clients focus on “the doing and being” while achieving important milestones. We can check many things off the proverbial “to do list”; who cares if we are miserable?!

I define the “doing” as tactical steps that need to get accomplished in any given task. The “being” aspect of any task involves clarifying one’s mindset about how one wants to “show up” during that task or event. I ask clients to define their total intention and consider not only what they want to get at the end of the interaction, but how they want to feel and be perceived throughout.

This is a client situation I encountered recently:

I partnered with a client who was preparing to turn in the second half of her thesis project for her master’s program. She had shared that she felt remorse and self-doubt after turning in the first half of the thesis and this sparked much negative thinking and judgment.

My intuition told me that she knew all the tasks and tactical steps needed to prepare in order to send in the second half of the project. What was equally important was for her to get clear on the how she wanted to conduct herself during the preparation and delivery of the thesis. What kind of experience did she want to have?

We did some perspective work where she played with a variety of intentions. She decided to play with a perspective she created that we called the “dancing perspective.” This included allowing for flow, movement, and recognizing when she needed to take a break after “sweating” from working many hours. She decided to choose Elton John’s classic song “Tiny Dancer” to help ground her in this perspective any time she did work on her thesis.

She reported to me that this point of view helped her enjoy the experience.  She felt calm and at ease as she prepared and sent in her thesis – success with both the doing and being of this important project!

It is imperative to guide clients to set meaningful goals that align with their values and then focus on who they are being in the process. Ask them to consider their intentions and their mind-set. For example, let’s say a client is focusing on preparing for a job interview. She can have the perfect resume and be dressed to the nines; however, all her efforts will be for naught if she comes with a defeated attitude that screams, “I am desperate!” She will sabotage herself unless she considers her mindset during the interview. When I am helping clients prepare for interviews, I ask them, “Who do you want to be in the process? How will you define success other than getting the job? What does success look like in terms of who you are being?” Examples of intentions during an interview include: being one's authentic self, interviewing the company as much as they interview you, asking for what you want in terms of responsibilities and benefits, being curious, etc.

Helping clients focus on the “doing and being” creates deeper experiences and helps them get results while enjoying the journey… What a concept!

Rachel Karu, MS, ACC, is a professional and personal coach as well as an organization consultant specializing in training and development. She has more than 18 years of professional and personal development experience. With primary expertise in coaching and training people in the areas of intra/interpersonal skills, she provides counseling in areas including: career management, communication and listening skills, team effectiveness, life balance, value clarification, communicating boundaries, providing/receiving feedback, setting expectations, corporate leadership development and time management.

To find more information on Rachel, please visit her website or join her on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Website: RAE Development – Reflect, Act, Excel
Phone: (310) 441-1104
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelkaruraedevelopment
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/raedevelopment

My sister-in-law's mom, Ruth, died not long ago. She had been ill for some time and required 24/7 healthcare. She spent the last week of her life calling old friends and writing thank-you notes to those who had cared for her over the last several years. It seems to me that she died the way she lived – counting more than just her blessings.
Ruth's wonderful life teaches me that it is easy to be thankful when things go my way, but hard when people or circumstances fail to meet my expectations. Ruth wasn’t thankful just for her blessings, she was thankFULL for everything. She didn’t just count her blessings… she counted everything.

It is also easy to mourn someone with tears, but hard to honor them with action. This holiday season, I'll try to honor Ruth by practicing what she lived – being thankful all the time. Here are a few examples of everyday “difficulties” for which I choose to be thankful:

1. Traffic
2. Dirty dishes
3. Tough times

1. Traffic

I hear people complaining about traffic and long commutes all the time. Of course, Los Angeles traffic bothers me too at times. Yet, it was those hours in traffic that drove me to turn my car into a rolling university 25 years ago when I worked for Siemens. I've listened to thousands of hours of educational audio programs during long commutes, traffic jams, and airport delays. I attribute a significant portion of my “success” to my dedication to lifelong learning… in my car and elsewhere. I invite you to check out www.teach12.com and learn from the best teachers in the world.

2. Dirty dishes

I used to hate washing dishes. My attitude changed one year when I realized that Ruth couldn't do the dishes because of her failing health. In that moment I decided that dirty dishes, especially during the holidays, represented an abundance of food, friends, and family. There are many who do not experience abundance during the holiday season. Those serving in our armed forces, suffering ill health, dying of hunger across the globe would do anything to wash dishes after a Thanksgiving meal. I encourage you to dirty a few extra dishes this holiday season by inviting someone who may have no place to go.

3. Tough times

The management of anxiety is the essence of growth. Nature, life, and research all teach us that hardship is critical to leadership. The ocean's reef is more spectacular on the side where the waves crash; those who fail to learn from difficulties are doomed to repeat them; eXtraordinary leaders understand that 70% of professional development occurs during challenging assignments.

Our challenging economy continues to cause anxiety in many hearts and homes. I, too, was anxious when I lost two of my largest clients three years ago. I channeled my anxiety into positive energy by creating my new website (http://www.DaveJensenOnLeadership.com/), the eXpansive Leadership Model (XLM) assessment tool (http://xlmassessment.com/), and a first draft of my new leadership book. I am very thankful that these have been instrumental in the upswing in my business this year. It may be a stretch to say I am “thankful” for tough times, but it’s not a stretch to say that I choose to GROW through turbulent times instead of merely going through them.

The holidays begin by giving thanks. I'm thankful that Ruth touched my heart. I am thankFULL that she taught me to count everything, not just my blessings. How about you?

Happy Easter & Passover,
Dave

P.S. Dave Jensen transforms proven leadership tools into client success stories. Dave is an executive coach and an engaging speaker at conferences, meetings, and retreats. He can be reached in Los Angeles, CA at (310) 397-6686 or at http://davejensenonleadership.com/.

What’s the difference between an instructional designer and a course developer?  This question came up during a recent search for a contractor to help one of my clients with a rush training project.  I had asked which they needed and my question prompted the question above in response.

It made me realize that many learning professionals don’t know the difference between the two.  Although instructional design is generally considered a unified field of practice, it is really divided into two sub-disciplines: instructional design and material development.

So what is the difference?  The instructional designer is the architect of learning, creating a detailed blueprint based on a training needs assessment.  The course developer takes the blueprint and constructs learning materials of all types – print, video, audio and combinations of all three – following the specifications created by the instructional designer, much like a general contractor builds a house following the architect’s detailed plan.

To better understand these two roles, let’s consider the work that typically occurs in each of the “D” phases of ADDIE.

Design Phase
As the name implies, design is the heart of the instructional design process.  Trainers can use the term “design” loosely, sometimes meaning a specific phase of the training process and sometimes using it as a shorthand way of referring to the entire process, we can easily get confused.  It helps to specify what the design phase of training is responsible for creating.  This usually consists of the following:

The instructional track starts by:

1.  Establishing the objectives

• Based on a needs assessment, which occurs during the analysis phase
• Instructional designers may or may not be involved in the analysis
• Needs analysis, especially job task analysis, is the input for objectives

2.  Selecting appropriate strategies and methods that are most likely to produce      learning of the objectives

• Knowledge objectives are often paired with lectures and paper or group exercises
• Skill objectives are paired with demonstration and hands-on practice 

3.  Producing a prototype, a small working model of the instruction to illustrate what the final training will look like

• Useful when e-learning is the delivery media, since it is inherently more complex to envision and develop

On the project management track, designers:

1. Specify the deliverables for the training, including all print, video and audio learning materials, plus any tests, exercises, pre-work and post-work assignments. 

• Typical classroom deliverables are participant guides, facilitator guides and slides
• Typical e-learning deliverables are storyboards, video clips, audio narratives, graphics, photos and animations.

2. Develop a budget and schedule for the instructional design and development phases

• Include work assignments and milestones
• Manage labor and material costs
• May also help to prepare the budget and schedule for delivery of the learning

3. Lead project teams or assist in putting together the project organization that will design, develop and deliver the learning.

• Project management planning and monitoring
• Project management implementation

All of these six tasks then merge in a training blueprint, a document that summarizes all the decisions made about the training.

Development
Though the training development phase is often lumped together with design, in fact it represents a distinct phase of the training design process with its own unique tasks and characteristics.  Furthermore, it is quite common to have entirely different people working on the development phase. For these reasons, it must be considered its own training phase. The development process consists of four major tasks: 

• Drafting learning materials
• Developing tests and exercises
• Pilot testing materials
• Full-scale materials production and implementation

Materials Development Process
The development phase of training design is the time to roll up one’s sleeves and begin to produce training materials in volume. It has all the hallmarks of a production environment:

• Large volumes of material, including text, audio and visuals,
• Intensive effort by many people
• Tight deadlines
• Lots of stress for everyone involved

To get through this phase unscathed, it is essential to have a good plan of attack. This should start with a clear notion about the key components of the development phase of training.  Here’s how they look in the development model below.

  DEVELOPMENT PROCESS MODEL
 
 

Materials development occupies the most time in the process.  Today, it often involves multiple specialists working together to achieve a common learning aim.  For example, a technical writer may develop written content, a graphic artist may create and capture custom images, a videographer may record and edit video segments, a narrator may record audio tracks and a computer programmer may take all those materials and combine them in an online learning program that relies on an IT technician to load onto a Learning Management System.  With so many different material developers at work, each dependent on the other for input, the detailed training blueprint design is the best way to keep all the moving pieces aligned. 

So, back to the first question – what is the main difference between instructional designers and course developers?  Designers are experts at learning theory and at translating that theory into practical, effective plans for instruction.  They are often also responsible for front-end analysis to ensure training meets business goals and the content is job-related. 

Developers are experts in translating training blueprints into learning objects, whether text, audio or video.  They must be excellent at interpretation, writing, drawing, recording and editing the materials they are working with.  They often use specialized computer software to help them accomplish their work.

So, the next time you need help with a training design project, stop and consider what kind of help you really need.

Donald J. Ford, Ph.D., C.P.T.
President, Training Education Management LLC and
Adjunct Professor of Management, Antioch University Los Angeles

As many of you know, Terrence was a thought leader not only for the Los Angeles learning community, but throughout the world.  He had a particular passion for social media as a tool for learning.  We were lucky to have him as a regular contributor to our chapter newsletter.  Here is the final article he wrote on the subject.  Enjoy!

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“Build it and they will come.” This adage from the book Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella may work for building magical baseball fields (or soccer fields for that matter), but it hardly works for most business applications. However, in its own right, it is a start. After all, if you don’t build it there is a guarantee: they won’t come. The same holds true for social media. The concept is hot in today’s business world but it is more involved than simply building a platform, opening access and expecting the masses to suddenly want to communicate and share. Building a social media community requires a strategy and a purpose.

First, let’s put everything into the right perspective. It’s important to ensure we are communicating in the same context. So let’s define a key term. Wikipedia.com defines social media as:

“Media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses web-based technologies to transform and broadcast media monologues into social media dialogues. They support the democratization of knowledge and information and transform people from content consumers to content producers.”

The activities we engage in while using social media are not new, unique, or dependent on technology. These activities are a part of being human and communal.

As members of an organization with or without technology, we have been performing these now labeled “social media activities” since we uttered our first words (or grunts) as a species. The technology of social media makes the potential reach of our efforts exponential, unlike any other time in our history. Therein lies the true value of social media.

Today, we can collect, share, collaborate, grow and engage our network with unprecedented speed and reach. A problem in a corporation can be experienced in China and solved in Brazil. A question can be posed in India and answered in Turkey. The intellectual capital of our communities is now captured and accessed via social media.

Brian Solis, the author of Engage, calls social media “the redistribution of influence.” Traditionally, influence and information were centralized. As learning professionals, we held the keys to influence. If a manager wanted a training class, the training department would create it. If an employee needed an answer to an HR question, he would use his chain of command until the answer was found. In this structure all answers lead to the top of the pyramid, as if a deity or wizard were present at the highest level with all the answers. Although this system has worked for decades, that monopoly on influence is decaying and will soon be as ancient as the Egyptian pyramids.

Influence is no longer exclusively in a hierarchal structure. With social media, it has transformed and we are all interlinked. Influence is based on one’s content and not position. People follow those with solutions and not titles (for the most part) in the social media realm. The advantage of this structure is that an employee is no longer limited to a chain of command structure but can search for answers to work challenges within the context of his extended network. The “chain of command” structure is limiting because the solutions are restricted to the intellectual capital of that command body. With Social media, the resources multiply exponentially as the network spreads throughout the organization and even beyond as firewall security is relaxed. People save time and discover abundant options. Therefore, our first point is, every organization should be developing a social media infrastructure for their employees, customers, and every stakeholder in the organization to share knowledge.

If that hasn’t convinced you to use social media within your organization, here are ten additional points about why you should.

1. Internet transparency allows you to hear what your employees and customers are saying about you but not to your face.
2. Employees can access subject matter experts directly, saving time and money.
3. The backchannel becomes a form of assessment, steering your organization to solutions.
4. Employees become engaged and influential.
5. Networks of collaboration form to solve organizational problems without guidance.
6. Best practices spread exponentially across the organization or even industry.
7. The organization has another option for sourcing potential new hires by witnessing their influence in the network.
8. Training is no longer limited to the instructor’s knowledge, but now grows to include the intellectual capital of the community.
9. Solutions are globally created and centrally catalogued.
10. Intellectual capital is not lost with turnover. Once information is shared, it becomes the property of the community and the organization for future employees to use.

This list can go on and on. Most would declare that social media is not a fad. Instead, social media is an integrated learning, communication, assessment, and team-building system. The catalogue of Social media tools is literally hundreds. To add relevance, let’s look at one of the most popular social media tools, Twitter.

Twitter, Inc. defines its product Twitter as “a rich source of instant information.” Common perceptions about Twitter lead outsiders (non-users) to believe this social media tool is about people sharing irrelevant information like laundry dilemmas and gossip. Truth be told, there is a fair amount of useless information circulating the Twitterverse. But what else does that sound like? The Internet has an abundance of useless information dancing from server to server. Would anyone recommend they isolate themselves or their organization from the Internet? That’s not likely. Internet use is as common as most appliances these days. As savvy Internet users, we have learned to filter the Internet just like we did a newspaper, or a library for that matter. Not everything that is published is relevant to us at any given time. Therefore we filter what we want. Twitter is no different.

Twitter is an amazing search engine as well. Sites like www.search.twitter.com can yield content as strong as a Google, Yahoo, or Bing search. The difference is Twitter doesn’t gather the information. Instead, it gathers users who share information. That information then becomes part of an extensive database everyone can access for free. Some of the information can be more useful than a traditional Internet search. For example, if you were wondering how your employees felt about a new compensation package, you would not be able to do a Google search to find that information. However, if you had a robust Social media network (like Twitter) in your organization, you would have a level of transparency that not even surveys contain. In addition to the transparency, you also get immediacy. The data are current, unsolicited, and typically authentic because of that transparency. How much would you pay for an assessment company to create a survey to do this same thing?

Twitter is a platform for the learning professional as well. Since Twitter, the backchannel has become a well-established entity in many classrooms. This pipeline of informal dialogue adds another dimension to training events like seminars and conferences. At the recent ASTD International Conference and Exposition (or most large conferences for that matter), people used the backchannel to gather feedback about speakers before they joined a session or provide feedback to allow others to avoid being trapped in a session that wasn’t going well. Comments and links from many presentations were being shared and expanded upon by conference attendees and even those who were unable to attend. The network of users of this Backchannel even coordinated a “Tweet-up”, an informal gathering of Tweeters (a name for those using Twitter).

Best Buy (electronics retailer) in the United States realized the potential of social immediacy and real-time feedback. They created Twelpforce (@twelpforce on Twitter). They saw a need to develop a stronger relationship with their customers. Best Buy empowered their tech support to unmask the corporate logo and simply go into the Twitterverse with their own identity and address customers’ concerns and problems. At the end of 2009, @twelpforce had provided 19,500 answers to customer questions. Additionally, every answer provided now has become part of a searchable database that everyone on Twitter can use.

Perhaps the marketing aspect of the @twelpforce initiative is evident. But, at first glance, to HR professionals the usefulness may seem evasive. Depending on the size of your organization, your employees are talking about you on Twitter and other social media sites. Some use their own name, others whimsical usernames but many are giving you one of the most valuable gifts an employee can give you, feedback. The opportunity is for your organization to start listening. What could they be talking about?

• Attitudes about the organization
• Logistical issues creating obstacles
• Problem solving
• Gossip and rumors
• Competitive intelligence
• Best practices
• Collaborative efforts

These are just a few. Many HR professionals have wondered what it would be like to be a fly on the wall by the water cooler where employees gather. With social media tools like Twitter, now you are that fly. You can hear what your employees are concerned about. This isn’t a license to abuse, though. Big Brother scenarios will cause a stampede out of a social network. Employees must be free to share without retribution or retaliation.

Security should not be discounted but it doesn’t have to shut the door to social media in your organization either. IT’s concerns are legitimate and should be addressed. Employees need training on what is appropriate to discuss on open networks like Twitter. There are several Twitter-like platforms that are either password-protected or installed behind your firewall (Yammer.com is an example). If you have an email policy, you have a social media policy, or at least the start of one. Some could argue that email was one of the first social media tools along with the telephone. Emails can leak information just as easily as social media. I encourage and recommend consulting your IT and legal departments.

You’ve been listening to an army of evangelists over the years touting the value of social media. The technology is very effective. However, the value of the site lies almost entirely with the community. First comes investing in the tools. Investing in the community is paramount. Content won’t show up magically. It has to be seeded and harvested through user engagement.  You still must build it for them to come.

Ruth's wonderful life teaches me that it is easy to be thankful when things go my way, but hard when people or circumstances fail to meet my expectations. Ruth wasn’t thankful just for her blessings, she was thankFULL for everything. She didn’t just count her blessings… she counted everything.

It is also easy to mourn someone with tears, but hard to honor them with action. This holiday season, I'll try to honor Ruth by practicing what she lived – being thankful all the time. Here are a few examples of everyday “difficulties” for which I choose to be thankful:

1. Traffic
2. Dirty dishes
3. Tough times

I hear people complaining about traffic and long commutes all the time. Of course, Los Angeles traffic bothers me too at times. Yet, it was those hours in traffic that drove me to turn my car into a rolling university 25 years ago when I worked for Siemens. I've listened to thousands of hours of educational audio programs during long commutes, traffic jams, and airport delays. I attribute a significant portion of my “success” to my dedication to lifelong learning… in my car and elsewhere. I invite you to check out www.teach12.com and learn from the best teachers in the world.

2. Dirty dishes

I used to hate washing dishes. My attitude changed one year when I realized that Ruth couldn't do the dishes because of her failing health. In that moment I decided that dirty dishes, especially during the holidays, represented an abundance of food, friends, and family. There are many who do not experience abundance during the holiday season. Those serving in our armed forces, suffering ill health, dying of hunger across the globe would do anything to wash dishes after a Thanksgiving meal. I encourage you to dirty a few extra dishes this holiday season by inviting someone who may have no place to go.

3. Tough times

The management of anxiety is the essence of growth. Nature, life, and research all teach us that hardship is critical to leadership. The ocean's reef is more spectacular on the side where the waves crash; those who fail to learn from difficulties are doomed to repeat them; eXtraordinary leaders understand that 70% of professional development occurs during challenging assignments.

Our challenging economy continues to cause anxiety in many hearts and homes. I too was anxious when I lost two of my largest clients three years ago. I channeled my anxiety into positive energy by creating my new website (http://www.DaveJensenOnLeadership.com/), the eXpansive Leadership Model (XLM) assessment tool (http://xlmassessment.com/), and a first draft of my new leadership book. I am very thankful that these have been instrumental in the upswing in my business this year. It may be a stretch to say I am “thankful” for tough times, but it’s not a stretch to say that I choose to GROW through turbulent times instead of merely going through them.

 The holidays begin by giving thanks. I'm thankful that Ruth touched my heart. I am thankFULL that she taught me to count everything, not just my blessings. How about you?

Happy Thanksgiving,

Dave

P.S. Dave Jensen transforms proven leadership tools into client success stories. Dave is an executive coach and an engaging speaker at conferences, meetings, and retreats. He can be reached in Los Angeles, CA at (310) 397-6686 or http://davejensenonleadership.com/

Many professional trainers, consultants and coaches have built their careers on personal relationships, word of mouth and reputation. For those who have always depended on offline methods for reaching new clients, the new rules of marketing and business development may at first seem overwhelming. There are simply too many tools available, and no real roadmap for how to use them effectively.

Without a solid plan, it's too easy to become preoccupied with technology like social media, video and webinars without first having a strategy for what type of content your market will value most. Facebook pages, Youtube channels and SlideShare accounts do little good if all they push out is generic, self-serving company “news” and sales pitches disguised as articles.

By starting with the following basic model and rolling it out in manageable steps, you?ll have a strong infrastructure in place from which to share content that makes an impact with your audience and leads to new business.

Step 1: Your Content Strategy

At the beginning, it's best to keep all the moving parts as simple as possible. Focus on what B2B marketer Eric Wittlake (b2bdigital.net) calls Stage Zero Content.

“Stage zero content is intended to establish your brand, your expertise or your perspective in the mind of your target market, when they are not researching or considering solutions. This content is valuable to a far broader audience than even early stage buying cycle content.”

Stage Zero Content deals with the same problems as your area of expertise, targeting the very companies and people who are most likely to also be your best prospects. A solid core strategy is made up of answers to the following five questions:

• What are all of the problems our expertise solves? Think high level problems, low level problems and everything in between.
• Who do we solve them for? How sophisticated and experienced is our target market with the solutions available? Content that?s valuable to one may be useless for another.
• What?s our content?s style and personality? The fatal flaw of most B2B marketing is the incorrect assumption that all business purchasing decisions are made purely by logic. This often leads to some pretty boring, bloated stuff. The best B2B content is written for human consumption and connects with us both emotionally and logically.
• Who will create our content? Everyone in your firm is a potential contributor of ideas and articles. Your sales, customer service and account management teams have the most day-to-day contact with your customers as well as intimate knowledge of the challenges they face. Your executive team understands big picture trends, opportunities and insights. By incorporating a broad range of perspectives, you?ll have a deeper understanding of the problems your readers face and the type of content they?ll find most useful.
• What topics should we write about? Close your eyes and pretend that you?re a fly on the wall, inside the offices of your ideal customer. What do you see and hear? How do they define the problems you solve? What type of information are they looking for?

Step 2: Your Blog

Your blog is the primary hub through which to share your content and begin attracting readers. Start by committing to at least one post every week, increasing that output as your editorial process evolves. The more quality content you publish, the sooner you?ll build an audience.

Your blog should be easy to find from every page on your site, preferably with a dedicated link on the main menu. Don?t make visitors search for your content. Most won?t.

Step 3: Your First Level Follow-Up Offer

Picture a B2B content marketing campaign as an ultra high-end retail store. If the internet is the sidewalk traffic, your blog is the window display that gets people to stop and look, and your first level follow-up offer entices them to walk into your store.
End each blog post with a soft offer for more detailed content like a white paper, guide or e-book. There are two basic strategies for this step, and both have the same goal of creating opportunities for further engagement. You can offer additional resources in exchange for joining your email list or as an instant download with no sign up requirement, instead ending each piece with another strong call-to-action (Step 4).

Step 4: Your Second Level Follow-Up Offer

Now that you?ve engaged readers and earned some trust, your next call-to-action (through emails or at the end of your first offer) delivers even more value but in a more personalized, interactive way. By moving from highly convenient but static information to interactive, real-time content like webinars and seminars, you?ll begin conversations that help you learn more about each potential client?s needs and how to best serve them.

Step 5: Add More Channels

Once you?ve set up your foundation of blog content and follow-up offers, you can begin to expand your reach by linking posts and offers to your company?s LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter pages.

Different readers have their own preferences for how they consume content. Some may like blogs, others Tweet or stick with Facebook. Many like a little of each.  Each type of social media has its own quirks, processes and best practices and require consistent daily attention. While blog post comments make it possible to begin interacting with your audience, other social media platforms take it a step further and are best used as a conversational medium, not just a one-way syndication portal.

Marcus Schaller is the author of The Lead Ladder-Turn Strangers into Clients, One Step at a Time (McGraw-Hill, 2006). He?s a contributor to various B2B publications including CMI, Brainshark.com and B2Bbloggers.com. Marcus can be reached at B2BforHumans.com or on Twitter @b2bforhumans.