by Brian Clark | Uncategorized
There are two features in DOTS LMS that are certain to make the user experience more streamlined as well as providing administrators/course creators the ability to eliminate manual processing. These two features are Pre-requisites and Completion Actions. Pre-requisites in DOTS LMS are used the same way they are in any learning pathway. In DOTS LMS you may set pre-requisites for any course. In addition to courses you may also set pre-requisite competencies in DOTS. The learner is able to see a clear path of learning and the adminstrator/course creator is able to ensure that the instructional design is followed. You can establish pre-requisites at any time using one of the DOTS LMS course dashboards. Have a look at this image and you will note that pre-requisites and completion actions are tools listed in the Secondary menu on the right.
You will see below that you may add both course and competency pre-requisites.
The Completion Actions add even more flexibility by linking a course result to a next action in DOTS LMS. You can set the automated completion action to initiate an action based on both successful and unsuccessful completions. You may use as many completion actions as you wish to generate a learning pathway. The completion action is a tool that is in addition to the DOTS Course Plan feature.
These two built in feature of DOTS LMS provide so much scope for administrators and content creators to ensure both a great learning experience as well as an automated process flow that enhances productivity. If you require any assistance with these features or you would like to learn more, please give us a call or email us.
by Brian Clark | Business Process, Knowledge Management
DOTS LMS can be an integral component to the business process management for knowledge workers in your organisation. There are many facets to knowledge work; from individuals working alone to collaborative groups of all types and sizes. Aligned with this spectrum there is a range of complexity in knowledge work that spans routine activity to work that requires expertise and judgment. DOTS LMS provides a number of key capabilities to support process management in knowledge work, among these are:
- a tool to capture knowledge from thought leaders and ‘experts.’
- encourage and support self- publishing.
- support collaboration among learners and subject matter experts.
- a means of training knowledge workers in transactional and/or routine work.
- provide process based training that may include process capture and measurement.
- identify persons for collaborative teams to develop content.
- track and measure based on the DOTS competency toolsets.
- map the business processes in your organisation to learning pathways and competency structures.
One key concern among clients is the ability to measure work output by knowledge workers. We have used the Performance Appraisal and DOTS Profiling tools to address this issue to some degree. The use of these automated, confidential systems ensures there is a regular interactive review of work quality and output. The DOTS profiling system permits self assessment as well as peer review.
by Brian Clark | Marketing
I have a client about to begin content -marketing that expressed a sentiment that I think may be very common, “why would anybody read what I write? I have nothing new or exciting.” These feelings are not conducive to a good start at writing content.
I will admit that I have often had the same feelings. There are times when I am writing a blog or article and thinking, ‘this is common sense stuff, no person will care about reading it.’ My experience and those with whom I collaborate confirm a different scenario entirely. There are a number of points I would like you to consider if you feel your writing and content will not be read or dismissed.
· Your ideas, observations and comments are as valid and worthy as any other persons.
· If you really look at what is included in the avalanche of online information, there is rarely anything truly new or ground breaking.
· People read online content for a number of purposes. These may include learning, confirming, questioning, innovating, and sharing. You do not need to write the ‘theory of everything’ to make an impact in the online world.
· Once you begin it is important to get in the ‘flow’ of content creation. You will make an impact on others when they know you are a producer and the time spent reading your material is worthwhile for whatever purpose they are after.
· Write from personal experience and you will instantly have people interested. There is nothing better than something written in first person to capture attention. We are all interested in other people’s experiences as opposed to general information or theory.
· My clients are in business. If you read business blogs can you count on more that one hand the numbers of time you read something truly new or earth shattering. It is the same with business books. The ideas and information are re-purposed for the audience and you can make even the most commonly understood business ideas more interesting by telling a story.
If you are stuck and you need some help getting those fingers tapping on the keyboard, you are welcome to contact me and I can give you some ideas to help you get started.
by Brian Clark | Uncategorized
Imagine if you were a judge in a business competition that measures your business across dimensions such as financial results, people, processes, technology, innovation, leadership and overcoming obstacles. Detach yourself from your business physically, intellectually and emotionally and view your business as a judge would do when comparing your business to others. I know how hard this is as I am both a business judge and a business owner.
Being a business judge has been responsible for some of the most powerful insights and learning in how to improve my own business. As a judge I also know how difficult it is to detach yourself from your business to gain a clear view of what is looks like to others, be they judges or customers. Despite the difficulty, detachment is absolutely necessary to gain a fresh perspective to inspire new ideas and the motivation to change. Without detachment you can often be defensive and prone to rationalize your status quo.
There are a few ways to make this process effective. If you are a sole operator you probably have the toughest challenge but you can do your research and analysis yourself or get help from a consultant, business coach or fellow business owner.
- Establish your judging parameters. It is hard to benchmark your financial performance against competitors but can base your judging on the health of your finances and rate of growth.
- Do your research on competitors and similar organizations. You can do this online and in person by visiting their premises. In my judging we look at the office layout, cleanliness, ease of access, and other elements. You can visit websites, visit forums, look through social media (Linked In, Facebook, Twitter) for insights into the profiles of your competitors and feedback from customers.
- Set up a scoring scale and use it. For each judging parameter use a scale and score each company you research as well as your own. I suggest you score your own business first and last.
- Judge the business and not the product or service. There is an inclination to rate businesses that are engaged in exciting and/or interesting products and services higher. I remember an instance of this with a comparison between and event management firm and a robotics firm. Many judges could not comprehend how the event management firm scored higher. The robotics firm was not as well managed, had immature processes, could demonstrate no focus on people development among other factors that were attributes of a model business.
When you have performed your research and filled in your score cards, it is time to go and spend some time thinking and planning. You do this part of the process away from your business and distractions. I cannot help but give a tip that describes all the contestants in the contest that I judge, ‘focus on the basics and the detail.’
In our next blog we will explain how to convert your business judging to creating better results in your business.
by Brian Clark | Uncategorized
There is an increasing number of our user community using DOTS as the portal to initiate, support and manage coaching in their organisations. There are a number of ways this is being done and below I will highlight one. Firstly, the coaching may be an independent initiative or linked to a Performance Review and/or Development Plan.
- Create competencies that are aligned with the objectives of the coaching program. These need not be competencies in the formal sense but rather skills, behaviours, activities that are the focus of the coaching program.
- Set up a Course as a Coaching program. There are numerous course settings but the one I use consistently permits the learner (coachee) to set up their own sessions. You can also permit the coach to set up sessions as well. You do not need to use this feature but I like it as a means of tracking the sessions and ensuring they are included in the Calendar so a manager may view the progress of the coaching.
- Link to Development Plans. I always use the Development Plans so I have the most flexibility for the different actions and learning assignments included in the coaching program. You can add anything to a Development Plan and the person being coached can record time spent and outcomes of the different actions.
- I use the 360 Profile tool to create and deliver self – assessments at various stages of the coaching program.
- I support my coaching with a specific Library for each person being coached. This permits both parties to add materials and information in a central repository for collaboration and reference.
- The Assessment Builder in DOTS is great to get feedback from the persons being coached as well as providing a means to test new ideas and get feedback on tasks undertaken.
- The competencies are added to the persons profile as we progress in the coaching program. This keeps an ongoing real time record of progress as well as great information for the Performance Reviews. DOTS will include the competencies in the Performance Review dashboard so they can be discussed.
- Learning content is included in many coaching programs. I create learning content that is both specific to the person being coached but also have a range of general courses that are applicable more widely. For instance a recent addition to the courseware is a short course on creating ‘vision boards’ for strategic business and personal planning.
- I have recently been using the Course and Enrolment system in DOTS to canvass interest in coaching and permitting those with an interest to register. The registration usually has an approval process so a manager or other interested person is aware of the interest and can approve or not approve the coaching program.
As indicated this is one way to set up Coaching in DOTS. If you are interested in looking at how you can support coaching in DOTS please let us know – you can reach us
here.