by Brian Clark | DOTS LMS, DOTS webinar, LMS
We are pleased to announce our next client webinar is scheduled for October 8. We have had enormous interest in this topic so we decided this would be our next session. These sessions are recorded so our clients outside Australia will be have access via our client portal.
Everything About Managing Your Users, But Were Afraid to Ask
DOTS Webinar Details – 8 October 2013
• 11.00am AEST (Brisbane)
• 12.00pm AEDT (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra)
• 11.30am ACDT (Adelaide)
• 09.00am AWST (Perth)
We are focused on helping you get the most out of the DOTS LMS. We know how hard it is to juggle the demands of your position as well as knowing all the features and tools in DOTS.
This webinar focuses on Everything about managing your users, but were afraid to ask.
• Keeping your user data up to date via user imports
• Adding users manually
• Displaying your user admin processes within DOTS LMS
• Searching for users and performing user actions
Kathleen Bosworth of DOTS Talent Solutions will be hosting this session.
Block out one hour in your calendar on Tuesday 8, October.
You can register by sending an email to dotsinvitation@dotstalentsolutions.com
Your registration will be confirmed by email with a link to the online webinar.
by Brian Clark | coaching, DOTS LMS, Performance
The flexibility of DOTS makes it easy to manage your coaching and mentoring activities. There are a few ways to do this and I will go through some of the elements you can use to support coaching and mentoring programs. You can then explore these and see if they suit your requirements. If you would like to have an online session to explore these with a consultant then fire an email to use at contact@dotstalent.com
The first tool we recommend using in preparation for a coaching program is eDisc. eDisc is a sophisticated online behavioural assessment tool that takes only minutes to complete and produces an extensive in-depth report. I have found that the increase of self- understanding for both the coach and the person being coached increases the effectiveness of the coaching program. This tool also serves as a cross check for any potential factors that will compromise the coaching and mentoring.
Inside DOTS LMS are the following tools I use in setting up coaching programs. These include:
- Courses and course sessions. Courses are a flexible tool in DOTS LMS that are perfect to set up a registration and tracking system that automates these processes. Courses also permits the assignment of a coach who can then use the trainer/coach tools to interact with others as well as capture notes and assessments relating to the coaching program. Course sessions include the option to permit persons to add sessions themselves so this is one option that will automate tracking if you wish to use it.
- Courses also provide a coach/mentor to create content to support their programs as well as include existing content and courseware to their programs as needed. This content may be as simple as a PowerPoint presentation or something more sophisticated.
- Development plans are perfect for maintaining and adding to a database of activities that may form part of the coaching program. The development plan tools will track actions by hours and therefore provide another way to automate the tracking of hours committed in direct coaching or actions relating to it.
- Libraries provide a knowledge repository that can be accessed by specific persons or groups of persons during a coaching program. It may be used to supply reference material of all types. Library access is permission based and linked to Reports so you can see who is accessing the Libraries and control access.
- 360 Profiling is one of the tools in the DOTS LMS that is growing in popularity. The DOTS LMS 360 permits the creation of any number of profiles question sets and the whole process is automated and secure. This is a great before and after tool for both peer and personal feedback.
- Competencies may be used to set up goals for the coaching program with the awarding of competencies being an outcome of a successful program. The competency tools in DOTS LMS permit the competencies used in a coaching program to co-exist with other competencies of any types.
- And last but not least there are Surveys. I like to use the survey tools to enable a person to report back on how they are applying new skills, knowledge or ideas that are generated from a coaching program. Surveys are fast to deploy and re-usable so you can standardise your coaching program measurement criteria.
There are other tools in DOTS LMS that help to support and manage coaching and mentoring programs. One of these is the interactive Performance Appraisal tools that automate and capture performance appraisals in a secure online environment.
If you are interested in a walk-through of some or all of these tools get in touch. We can show you some workflow processes that may help you design a solution suitable for your organisation.
by Brian Clark | DOTS LMS, DOTS webinar, Updates, Webinars
—-Our scheduled webinar has been fully booked. We will schedule another to ensure you do not miss out. Please contact our office asap to express your interest. +61 7 3220 2229 or 1300 726 708
We are focused on helping you get the most out of the DOTS LMS. We know how hard it is to juggle the demands of your position as well as knowing all the features and tools in DOTS LMS. This webinar focuses on how to create great e-learning content that engages your target audience.
Let’s explore the components of great design for e-Learning to ensure that your organisation’s capability development needs are met, that your employees enjoy the learning experience and that the journey results in improved performance.
Think of good e-Learning as a finely tuned sports car.
- How do you choose your model?
- How can you give your employees a ride to remember?
- How can you add turbo boosters for extra performance?
- How can you ensure they will arrive at the right destination?
Presenting this special webinar will be Richard Stubley, Founder and Director of OpenLearn Pty Ltd. OpenLearn is a multi-award winning content development company based in Sydney with a reputation for innovation and quality. OpenLearn has worked with leading organisations of all types to deliver results with eLearning.
Kathleen Bosworth of DOTS Talent Solutions will be hosting this session.
by Brian Clark | DOTS LMS, learning management systems, LMS, Performance, performance management
In DOTS LMS you have the option to use the Performance Management module. This module has a number of features that help support performance with tight integration to learning. This integration includes the Position Management module that acts to link learning and performance for each and every person in your organisation. The position management module must be used in order to use the DOTS performance module. When building a position in DOTS you are creating the inputs necessary to activate and execute the automated online performance appraisal. Position management includes the position description and the elements including environment, decision making, relationships etc.
The primary linkages between learning and performance are established when the Key Result Areas are added including ratings for the various levels of performance. I recommend the Key Result Areas include learning objectives for the position. You can add any type of learning objective including those that are achieved in the LMS environment as well as external formal, informal, social and conference based learning activity. By adding these as Key Result Areas with performance indicators you are driving home the message that learning in all forms is important to the organisation and aligned with its culture and values. I also recommend you align these Key Result Areas to your strategic objectives and definitely include the learning areas in this alignment.
Behavioural performance may also be included in the Position Description and Performance Management module. You achieve this by adding your behavioural performance criteria in the DOTS Competencies module. You should consider how you group these competencies [as well as all the others] to ensure greater accuracy and efficiency using the LMS. You assign behavioural competencies to each position. These may be universally shared or specific to business units, departments, groups or individuals. These behavioural competencies will also be linked to a rating scale to permit the manager to provide feedback and comments to the employee. You align the behavioural competencies to your strategy, your values and other cultural and business initiatives that may be active in the organisation.
There is no hard and fast rule that you must do performance reviews annually. If you can convince your managers to retain a more interpersonal coaching style to performance you can set dates or time cycles in DOTS LMS to remind persons that they are due to have a meeting to review performance and progress. It is important that you not use the technology as a ‘crutch’ to simply tick the box for performance management. The DOTS LMS needs to be a support tool and not a replacement to effective interpersonal relationships between managers and employees.
by Brian Clark | DOTS LMS, Performance, performance management, strategy
As more and more organisations adopt technology solutions to support performance management there are also an increasing range of options available in how to structure your performance management processes.
There is one area that I find to be incredibly useful in aligning learning and development to performance. I would go further and say that this alignment will extend to the strategic level if you design it to do so. The majority of performance management processes I come across are still using Key Result Areas and Key Performance Indicators as the primary means of measuring a person’s performance. I also find a splash of behavioural indicators that are usually linked to a mission, vision and values document somewhere.
If you are not including competencies (skills) as a factor in measuring performance you are missing a vital piece to sustaining a learning organisation and one that has a broader scope in developing its people as opposed to simply measuring performance. It is input vs. output.
The measurement of a person’s development in your organisation is a measure of a valuable input. The measurement of key performance indicators is a measure of an output. You cannot ignore either one. In an era when we hear approximately 70% of workers in the United States Gallupare not engaged in their work, we may like to find ways to develop frameworks to encourage greater engagement and the benefits that accrue from it.
Start at the beginning. Each job title in your organisation has a purpose and to meet or exceed that purpose the person must have the competencies to undertake the work. Therefore we start at building competency frameworks at the Job Title level. People who join the organisation to assume a job title may not necessarily have all the needed competencies at the start. Having the framework in place provides a path to achieving them.
In the performance area, the competencies achieved that are directly part of the Job Title framework are usually considered essential. If there are gaps in achieving these essential competencies then these need to be picked up and addressed in a performance appraisal. With an LMS or talent solution this is made much easier with data capture and automated notifications.
If you take this further and permit people to explore other learning and development opportunities then you are creating the scenario whereby a person makes themselves more valuable to your organisation and this should be linked to performance appraisals. I like to include a large section of the Performance Appraisal that is capturing the learning undertaken by the individual [competencies achieved] and weight these results at least on par with other measures. You can increase or decrease weightings as needed to encourage learning outcomes.
The Performance Appraisal now has a forward looking perspective. We are acknowledging learning and development and hopefully gaining some insight from the person on how they applied their learning in their work. A manager should also be seeking feedback on learning activities and resources during the appraisal and ensure this information is captured. A new Development Plan can now be discussed and in most cases I encourage the employee to create their development plan first and then have it reviewed by their manager as necessary. This ensures individual stewardship and responsibility for their career development.
If you would like to see how this can be set and structured in the DOTS LMS you are welcome to make contact with me [Brian Clark] by calling our Brisbane office or submitting a form on this website.
