Leadership & Management Training - Grant Funding

The Leadership and Management scheme offers grant funding of up to £1,000 for small and medium scale businesses.  It is branded at “Leaders First” by Train to Gain.

With the new financial year funding appears to be refreshed. £4.9m has been allocated for organisations in the Sout East.  In the East Midlands there is a little more flexibility when it comes to companies with just 3 or 4 employees (previously 5 was a strictly imposed lower limit).

Focus has been able to help many smaller organisations access funding for accredited training courses such as PRINCE2.

>> Find out about the scheme and how to access your £1,000 grant
>> PRINCE2 Training Courses

Blogalot - May 2010

Time Management – Tips

At a time when we are all coming under huge pressure to improve efficiency then a very good place to start is in how we use our own 1,440 minutes each day.

If you’re leading a team you will also find that the way you allocate your time will have a direct bearing on how others around you behave.

1. Schedule your priorities
- very different from prioritising your schedule!
- don’t let the urgent tasks displace the important
2. Plan your time – both business and private
- don’t be driven by random events or the whims of others
- align the time you spend on a task to its importance
3. Moderate your standards
- sometimes you just have to spend however long it takes
- usually 90% will do, will take half the time - and will allow completion of other tasks
4. “Results” not “Activity”
- Work smarter, not harder
- Achieve the maximum possible with the minimum effort
5. Delegate
- remember this may be downwards, sideways or upward
- in a structured way – and avoid checking/duplicating activity
6. Be prepared to say “no”
- justify the basis on which you allocate your time
- propose alternative approaches or timescales where relevant
7. Stay focused
- think how you blast through your “to do” list when you’re on holiday tomorrow
- ignore petty distractions

Try these simple techniques to improve your time management performance.

1. Survey yourself
- for 2 weeks, in 15 min increments, track how you use your time
- compare this to your personal or business objectives
2. Draw a 2×2 grid for “urgent” and “important”
- position tasks in each quadrant
- plan how to avoid tasks becoming both urgent and important
3. Stay on top of e-mail using the Donaldson-Fielder approach
- Delete: half or more emails can go immediately
- Do: if the email is urgent or can be dealt with quickly
- Delegate: if it can be better dealt with by others
- Defer: set aside time at a later date for emails that need more time to action

And make certain you schedule non active time.  You need time to think and reflect.  This is when you are most likely to work out your true priorities.

Still think you or your team need help with Time Management?
>> Find out about Focus on-site Time Management training
>> Book a public scheduled time management course

Blogalot - March 2010

Ten Linked-In Tips for Professionals

Project management and IT professionals can use social networking site Linked-In to build successful careers or businesses. Ian Brodie offers some great advice on how to get the most from your presence on Linked-In.

Top Ten Tips
1.  Make your profile client focused
2.  Get connecting but…
3.  Choose your connection strategy carefully
4.  Use search to find potential clients and business partners
5.  Give testimonials to get them
6.  Have a helpful headline
7.  Join Linkedin Groups to connect and interact
8.  Use your Status Updates to subtly remind your contacts what you do
9.  Watch other people’s status updates to see what they do
10. Proactively link others together who you think may benefit

To read the full article click here. 

>> Join Focus on Linked-In

Blogalot - December 2009

Funding Crisis at the Learning & Skills Council

Oh dear.

“The Learning and Skills Council exists to make England better skilled and more competitive.” It’s England’s biggest quango with an annual budget of £12 billion. Unfortunately it seems that it can’t do is own sums.

New schemes are announced with a fanfare. Learners and providers react with enthusiasm. Then the plans are scaled back or aborted. First it was the capital building programme for many colleges; now its the adult apprentice scheme.

Fortunately, it seems that the highly targeted funding scheme to help small and medium sized businesses with Leadership and Management training is running smoothly - though qualification criteria are being applied more strictly than when first launched. Focus has been able to help clients with training such as Project Management (PRINCE2), IT Service Management (ITIL), and IT governance. 

>> £1,000 grants for Leadership & Management training
>> Listen to BBC’s File on 4 investigate the LSC funding crisis

Blogalot June 2009

Leadership & Management Training Grants

Have YOU claimed your £1,000 from the Government?

There is a really good scheme operating across England which is designed to help organisations with 5-250 employees improve their management and leadership skills.

It’s flexible, fast and not too bureacratic. In conjunction with your specialist skills advisor YOU choose the training which is right for you. This might well include accredited project management and service management courses such as PRINCE2, MSP, MoR and ITIL. Equally it might be tailored training, coaching or mentoring.

You can get £500 free training with no strings - and £500 on a matched funding basis.

The only disappointment is that there’s only one allocation per organisation.

It was launched as part of the Train to Gain initiative - though this is now being integrated with business support services co-ordinated under the Business Link umbrella.

>> FIND OUT HOW TO APPLY FOR YOUR £1,000

Blogalot May 2009

ITIL Implementation – Top Tips

In just 20 years ITIL has come to guide the IT service management practices which underpin the performance of successful organisations worldwide.  Not surprisingly those organisations which have not adopted ITIL are looking to do so – and those that have are looking to extend or enhance their ITIL processes. This article looks at what determines whether an ITIL project succeeds or fails.

The experiences of more than 10 organisations were presented at the 2008 itSMF Conference in Birmingham.  The projects ranged from application of specific ITIL tools such as Service Catalogue through to trans European ITIL adoption by a major financial institution with the goal of achieving ISO/IEC 20000.

1.   Start Right

First and foremost understand where you are now and develop a vision of where you want to be.  Use customer surveys and ITIL maturity assessments to objectively define gaps. Develop a vision  which is meaningful for your organisation and which can be clearly articulated and communicated. Refer to the “Continual Service Improvement” element of ITIL; this is precisely where the alignment of IT Services and Business Needs should take place.

2.   Organisational Change

Recognise that adopting ITIL is as much about organisational change as it is about processes and technology.  This is not surprising; IT services are increasingly at the heart of how organisations deliver to their external customers – and are also central to how organisations themselves operate.  ITIL projects which are simply based on mechanistic adoption of new processes or software systems will have limited impact.  Real success comes when ITIL touches hearts and minds – both within and beyond the IT community.

3.  Engagement

Organisational change demands engagement.  You have to look beyond the ITIL core reference manuals for creative ways to win support and commitment.  Effective communication is essential. Engagement also applies to external providers.  When analysing, communicating and driving change make sure that third party providers and advisors are also involved.

4.   Share

A theme of successful ITIL adoption is an increased willingness to share.  A structured approach to IT services means less duplication of services and roles.  It means use of a common language.  It means working to meet wider organisational goals.

5.   Right People

Your project will fail if you do not have the right skills and right experience in the right place. All of the projects reviewed involved redeployment and training of those involved.  One pushed IT personnel out amongst the operational teams to break down barriers and improve response. Most involved the appointment of owners for all key ITIL processes affected.  All used ITIL training to ensure a common language and understanding of best practice.

6.   Momentum

There is a natural cycle to most initiatives where early enthusiasm fades once the easier wins have been banked, more intractable tasks loom, and other competing projects appear.  There is no easy answer.  Do publicise successes unashamedly.  Do ensure there is a senior management champion who can maintain project profile.  Try to avoid breaks in the implementation programme.

7.   Project Management

Project Management goes hand in hand with most of the rest of these tips and failure to take a structured approach to ITIL implementation is inexcusable.

The approach you adopt may be PRINCE2 or your own equivalent.  The key point is that there is a clear definition of business case, responsibilities, resourcing, work plans, stage reviews, risk, and escalation procedures.

8.   Business Relevant Results

Some of the projects examined put a strong reliance on ITIL maturity assessments.  These can undoubtedly be helpful but only in conjunction with before and after measurement of criteria which have real impact on the business.  These will include activity specific measures such as Service Desk rate of first time fix, and customer rating of satisfaction with IT.

9.   Best is the Enemy of Better

For those new to ITIL there is a temptation to want to adopt every process in the book.  In the real world, resources are limited and there will be a better return in some areas than in others.  Those nearer the start of an ITIL journey are typically starting with Service Desk and processes such as Incident, Problem and Change Management.  Also increasing in popularity is creation of a Service Catalogue as part of the task of “understanding what we’ve got”.

10.  Business As Usual

Look beyond the project.  In several of the case studies below care was given early in the project as to how improved service provision would be carried forward into BAU.  This is an unglamorous part of the work and one which is often ignored.  Improved service levels and efficiencies start to decay once the energy associated with the project is withdrawn.

Note
Additional information on what causes ITIL projects to succeed or fail can be found at:
http://www.focus-on-training.co.uk/wp_itil_implementation/

Blogalot - 19th January 2009

Why “Best Practice”?

There is an increasing array of Best Practice Guidance, Qualifications and Training.  It covers everything from very specific skill sets  (eg ISEB Software Testing), through to management methodologies (eg PRINCE2 Project Management) and Personal Skills (eg ILM Coaching & Mentoring). 

The Credit Crunch and its fallout will prompt fundamental reviews of how organisations operate.  Terms such as “Best Practice” and “World Class” will come to the fore over the coming months as organisations seek to ensure they are working in the most efficient way - and that they are adhering to appropriate standards of management and governance.

For individuals, maintaining and developing qualifications has a major impact on job prospects.  In this period of uncertainty and change it’s the right time to invest in Best Practice skills training.

Businesses

1. Don’t Re-invent the WheelJust 10 years ago most project based businesses had developed in-house methodologies for project management - drawing on their own experience of successful and unsuccessful projects.  Many have now switched to a methodology based on a generic standard such as PRINCE2. Many of the core governance and planning processes will be similar.  However the advantages of a technique such as PRINCE2 are compelling:
- It draws on the experiences of many more projects and businesses and is regularly updated
- There is a large pool of project managers familiar with the approach
- There is a widely available training and certification scheme  

2. Concentrate on Business Critical

There are many aspects of management and individual performance that could be targeted for Best Practice approaches.  At time of limited resources make sure that training and development funds are concentrated on areas which are essential:

- Project & Programme Management where effective delivery of benefits to time and budget is essential
- IT Service Management which forms the backbone of most modern organisations
- IT Technical training which is essential to deployment of new technologies which will differentiate your business

3. Ensure Critical Mass

Best practice approaches depend on significant teams (or the whole organisation) working in a co-ordinated way.  There is limited value in an isolated group of 3 or 4 project managers working to a PRINCE2 methodology if other project team members are not briefed and if senior managers do not understand their role within the wider process.

1. Understand where you are going

There are different reasons you may choose to follow Best Practice approaches:

- Extend your range of skills to enhance career/job prospects

- Obtain certification for existing skills (to strengthen your CV and personal credibility)

- Enhance your personal efficiency and provide a shared team approach and language

Where do you want to be in 12 month’s time?  What training or qualifications will help you get there?  If you have been a project manager with a long-term employer but want to be able to prove yourself to new employers then obtaining PRINCE2 certification may be a very wise move.  If formal recognition of existing skills is less important then broaden your horizons: an IT specialist might develop ITIL skills as a route to broader business management responsibilities.

2. Prove You Can Put it into Practice

Attending a course and passing an exam is only the first step. Your current or future employer will be much more interested in how you have been able to take the principles learned and use them to deliver benefits for your organisation.

3. Refresh and ExtendThe business environment is constantly changing and skills learnt 5 years ago will be of limited use today.  Keep refreshing and extending your Best Practice skills both through training and practical application.  Increasingly there is linkage between the Best Practice approaches which makes this easier.  For instance ITIL approaches underpin the ISO20000 certification for service management quality.  Likewise there is increasing commonality between PRINCE2, MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) and M_o_R (Management of Risk).

Blogalot
www.focus-on-training.co.uk