6 steps to more productivity

Every one of us needs to organize his/her workload in order to be more productive below is a summarized steps on how to reach that. (summarized from reference below)
1-make a daily list: make a daily list of what you are going to finish today.
2- Segregate time for each task: give each task of your daily list a specific amount of time to be finished.
3- focus: The instant we break concentration, the entire problem that we were modeling in our head drops on the floor and shatters into a million pieces.
4- Take breaks: When you can’t figure out a problem, it’s time to put it on your mind’s back burner for a bit. Or, right after you solve a problem, have a 10 minute celebration before moving on to the next thing.
5- Take care of your equipment: Most of what you’re paid for is produced by your brain, so treat it like your most important piece of equipment. Caffeine may put some spark in it, but overdoing caffeine may make you think less clearly. Beer as well causes neurotoxins (nerve cell damages)
6- Follow through: If you have a choice between working on two projects, choose the one that is nearly finished even if the other one is more fun. When you complete a project, it creates momentum and reduces that long to-do list.

Reference: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/project-management/?p=193&tag=nl.e108

Today, soft skills are required in all functions of the workplace

Today, corporates are increasingly relying on e-learning to improve the soft skills of their employees. Until a few years ago, soft skills training was offered only to the sales team as these skills were equated to training in communication and client interaction. But now it is a prerequisite to all categories of employees.


A full study made by HR Magazine about e-learning and soft skills through a sample of big companies such as Reuters, Delaware North Companies Inc, US Bancorp and others stated that companies nowadays rely more on technology ways to deliver soft-skills to their employees. Globalization has played a major rule in this expansion as many companies have multinational employees and they want to teach them all sorts of soft skills in order to develop their productivity and teamwork efficiencies.

For example, more than half of the employees at Reuters News Agency are Non-native English speakers and operate in non-English native countries. That motivation created the need for developing their language skills, the reason that Reuters chose to contract with an e-learning company GlobalEnglish Corp to deliver online virtual classes and customized courses for their employees. The feedback of the program was positive and the cost of teaching each employee is about $500 a year.

You will find interesting information about more examples in this report.

http://brandguidelines.elementk.com/HRMagHTML/January%202008%20HR%20Magazine%20Hard%20Facts%20About%20Soft-Skills.htm


Amjad Alqaisi

E-learning reaches out to Soft-Skills students

An article from: Talkibie

- February 19th, 2008
- Haley January Eckels

Businesses have increasingly turned to online training methods in recent years, using technology as a way to better serve the needs of their employees’ professional development. This is especially true for those employees who need help with “hard skills,” such as computer training, operating machinery, or safety standards. Now, HR departments are starting to look to e-learning as a means of teaching “soft skills” or “people skills,” like communication, conflict resolution, management techniques, teamwork, and foreign language. This trend is still in its infancy, and some business are scratching their heads and asking, “Can you really learn people skills online?”

Employers are turning to e-learning to ensure that younger workers are developing the soft skills they need as they take over the work force. Baby boomers are slated to retire soon, and companies are worried that their experience and knowledge will go with them. Younger workers are accustomed to using computers, cell phones, and social networking websites in their everyday activities, and e-learning advocates hope that these two groups can be linked through online mentoring and training programs.

U.S. Bancorp has begun using a software package called Open Mentoring which connects workers across the organization for personalized training and mentoring services. Open Mentoring matches up employees based on demographic and competency information, and helps them connect through phone calls, online chats, and forums. The strategy may help preserve some of the organizational knowledge and memory that would otherwise be lost when experienced employees retire.

Employers are also using e-learning technologies to improve the language skills of their increasingly diverse workforces. Many companies who use an outsourcing employment model or who operate overseas are finding it increasingly important to provide language training to employees at locations all over the world. E-learning tools can help make that experience uniform and ensure the quality of teaching is the same across the company. One leader in this market is GlobalEnglish, which boasts clients such as Reuters, Mitsubishi, Nestle, General Motors, Canon, and Hilton International. They offer customized programs which will allow for specific problems or challenges to be addressed depending on the native language of the employee.

Online training has also come in handy for companies who need to give seminars on ethics or sexual harassment laws. During my tenure at a major publishing company with thousands of employees worldwide, we were required to participate in a web-based sexual harassment course. The 60-minute interactive class included a pretest, videos of real-life scenarios, test questions, and follow-up material that could be printed. Rather than attending a crowded meeting with a frustrated HR rep trying to shout over the chatter of bored employees, we were able to complete the training on our own schedule without the distractions of our immature coworkers.

So how do we know if online training is appropriate or effective for soft skills development? Many organizations are attempting to answer the same question. A number of online training models include follow-up meetings and sessions to allow trainees to interact and test their knowledge. This means that local HR reps have a chance to evaluate the effectiveness of the training, if only on an informal level. Metrics for soft skills learning are hard to define, but many programs use a survey/user satisfaction model to collect data and measure success. However, with the incorporation of more and more Web 2.0 tools into e-learning programs, people skills can indeed be exercised online. Between blogs, WIKI, social networking/bookmarking, and video sharing, employees really are able to communicate and learn in a group setting from the comfort of their cubes.

Enjoy,
Ana

Play & Learn @ Soft Skills.

One of the effective ways to grasp knowledge is an online simulation.
Get to know what are your soft skill capabilities in sales!

Enjoy,
Ana

Speed Reading and E-Learning

In this blog we are trying to give you the skills that will help you to develop your learning through e-learning concepts. One of the most important soft skills that will help in your development is the ability to read in a fast way.
I created a presentation about how to start reading in a fast way, what to do in order to reach great results.
And by this speed-reading will allow you to read more materials in the same time that you spend reading now.

You can download the presentation from here.

Enjoy fast reading and fast e-learning

Fadi

Soft skills & E-learning: A new revenue streams!

Recently I have visited many e-learning websites, and found that most of them offer variety of soft skills training courses!

Usually soft skills courses used to be taught traditionally face-to-face not online, as they involve a lot of oral communications and body language arts and tools. The question is what made a lot of big corporations and companies to accept to train their employees by courses offered online? Do e-learning really help increase the efficiency of teaching soft skills? If yes, is there any proof that can we present and rely on?

The answer is yes, yes, and yes! According to an independent study made by Development Dimensions International addressing this issue and implementing a full survey on it, they found back in 2002 that e-learning is contributing to more than 42% of the learned soft skills in the sample they drawn! Imagine how it should be right now in 2008! At the very same study, they have shown a bunch of detailed pros and cons of e-learning, and how they suggest overcoming the problems companies faced in order to get the maximum benefit of it.

Please try to go through this PDF file if you are interesting and take a quick look on it…it is very useful to know generally.
www.ddiworld.com/pdf/ddi_stateofe-learning_rr.pdf

My interest overall is to realize the size of the market that we are talking about, and the huge amounts of money that companies are willing to spend in order to get their employees capable and handling enough skills to carry out their jobs and their lives either. No one can deny the advantages of teaching courses online being cost-effective and cutting big efforts for all parties. Nevertheless, the new commented trend is that companies more than individuals are more willing to engage online training. That is why we see many companies surviving and end-up with more profits from online training courses that relates to soft skills such as http://www.balancelearning.co.uk/. and there where the money is.

Amjad Alqaisi

Online-learning.com

I have done an analysis about www.online-learning.com which concern pure virtual play company which teach courses online as well as doing business with other companies and universities.
Please find the study results of that website on the following link.

http://ait.softskill.googlepages.com/E-Business.doc

Also please take time to fill our survey.









Regards,
Amjad