We don’t have to look far to see organisations going through major adaptations and changes: restructures, downsizing, changing business practices and processes. As a people manager you have probably had your hands and head full, getting to grips with what’s happening in your organisation. If you...

Three years ago, my colleagues and I delivered our first virtual training event for participants from around the world. It certainly was a steep learning curve and pretty much everything that could have gone wrong did – including the MD of the Moscow office taking...

What’s the worst question you’ve ever been asked at interview? Or the worst question you’ve asked a candidate? On our Recruitment and Selection Skills courses, participants tell us about a whole host of inappropriate, seemingly irrelevant and unhelpful questions. Candidates find this very frustrating as...

  When you go into a recruitment interview, as the recruiting manager, do you know exactly what you’re looking for or do you rely on ‘knowing it when you see it’? Many managers tell me that they get a gut feel for the right candidate pretty much...

Have you ever wanted to involve the team or a group of peers in collaborative problem solving but worried about the chaos that would ensue? Have you wished there was a simple problem-solving structure you could use that wouldn’t take forever, but would give everyone...

Picture the scene – you’ve had a full-on day; your head is spinning with a jumbled to-do list and you’ve still got work to do before you can head home and make that all important gym session / parents evening / drink with friends. Then out...

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve sat through presentations where the presenter came across as confident and engaging right from the start and demonstrated genuine enthusiasm for their subject. Then the first slide goes up. We immediately focus our attention away from what the...

  Do you have to deliver ‘virtual’ or ‘remote’ training as part of your role?  Or maybe it’s something you know you’ll have to do one day and the thought of it fills you with dread.  Last year, that’s exactly how we felt when we were...

How often to you get to the end of the day and ask yourself “where’s the day gone?”, “how did I achieve so little?”, “how did I manage to waste so much time?” Let’s be honest – we all have days where we’re not as...

The email about the large networking event dropped into my inbox and I knew I ought to go, it would be a great opportunity to expand my network for my business...

What are the important one-to-one conversations you’ve had recently, perhaps as a professional, as a friend or as a parent? How could you have got more from that conversation, especially if it was with someone where the relationship is currently difficult? A conversation between two people has...

As you walk away from yet another meeting where you feel personally underwhelmed by the quality of ideas, are you convinced that with a bit more time you could have all come up with something a bit more creative? How do you achieve meetings that create...