Netcheck
By Garry Platt (March 2004 Issue)
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A new year is well underway and another ‘Netcheck’ rolls off the production line. Looking back at the last 18 months of writing this column, the expansion of the Internet and the resources and help that it can provide appears to be increasing exponentially. Managers (if that’s what they can be called) who still ridicule the Internet and label computer users as geeks must be feeling the icy wind of change beginning to slice into their lives. The Internet is, without doubt, among the most under utilised resources in the trainer’s armoury. There is plenty of material freely available out there that will save countless hours of work and will probably expand the horizons of the searcher. I know my job is made much easier because of it.
I have written about this website previously and gave it a glowing reference. It is so chock-a-block with information and is constantly being developed that it’s worthy of a second, third, fourth, fifth, etc visit, especially to a trainer looking for content and information. The website is called businessballs. No, honest, it is. I’m not making this up. Just see for your self at www.businessballs.com
The introductory text at the top of the home page says it all: ‘free materials, ideas, samples, templates, for personal and organizational development, free team building games, exercises and activities’ and in this case it does exactly what it says. Visually, this website (put together by Alan Chapman) is about as exciting as a two-day-old cheese and ham sandwich. It has black, blue and red text on a white background with a couple of graphics, although this does improve the deeper you get into the website. But don’t worry about that because although the visual side of this website is fairly poor, the content is simply stunning with masses of material, freebies, articles, diagrams, jokes, advice, stories and weapons of mass destruction. (That last one was a joke, but don’t let George Bush know.)
The material can be downloaded and used by companies for training purposes. Commercial training providers, however, should not download all the material and then proceed to sell it on; they should check with Alan Chapman. I spoke to Alan in the process of writing this piece and he is extremely amiable and helpful. Be aware of the copyright of the website as outlined at the bottom of the home page: ‘The use and reproduction of this material is free for research or organizational development purposes, provided copyright (Alan Chapman 2001-4) is acknowledged and reference or link is made to the www.businessballs.com website.’ This seems more than reasonable to me and, for such a resource, totally acceptable.
There is so much material here that I really can’t do justice to it. I can’t even give you an index of material because that would fill the rest of this article. So, instead, I just want to cherry-pick one or two juicy bits that might wet your appetite enough to visit the website. Starting on the home page, the top article is about Neuro Linguistic Programming (a favourite topic of mine) and this overview, written by a Robert Smith, is a competent piece of work introducing the topic. A little further down is an article on the model developed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, the Johari Window model. For those not familiar with this model (how has the far side of the universe been the last 500,000,000 years?), the Johari Window model explores the concept of self-awareness and how subtle changes in this schema might be helpful and increase personal effectiveness. It’s an interesting and useful model for the HR developer to be able to draw upon in certain situations. Johari’s Window is illustrated with an Adobe PDF document and these diagrams are well worth getting. You will find that many of the models outlined on the website are supported with high definition diagrams that you can download straight onto your computer. These are in Adobe PDF format and the programme for viewing this type of document is free and can be downloaded directly from www.adobe.co.uk/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Another useful resource on this website is a range of acronym and abbreviation dictionaries for training and business. Browsing through these I found several abbreviations that I’d come across but didn’t know what they meant. For instance, ROTFL has appeared on several e-mails I have received. I didn’t dare ask what it meant and so reveal my cyber ignorance because if word got out I might be barred from the local Society of Anarchists (we meet the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month at the Dog and Parrot – bring a friend). Anyway, apparently ROTFL stands for rolling on the floor laughing. And how about BOHICA? Well, that means bend over here it comes again. (Who said this wasn’t an informative and educational column?)
There is also a section on free tests and indicators. I could imagine these being used in a classroom environment in order to initiate or open a discussion on a particular topic. McGregor’s XY Theory is represented here, as is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need. There are also a couple of excellent sections on Transactional Analysis (TA) at http://www.adobe.co.uk/products/acrobat/readstep2.html and http://www.adobe.co.uk/products/acrobat/readstep2.html These two subsections look at the original theory and the new or current concepts in TA. They are extremely clear and easy to understand, and together constitute an excellent set of handouts that you could use on training courses.
There’s one other section that I would like to draw your attention to before moving on: Training Process Overview. This is a one-page overview that looks at how training might be utilised or employed within an organisation. It’s quite simple and easy to follow, and, if only it were true to the letter, I am quite certain the skills shortage in the UK would evaporate within six months (ah, if only). Anyway, I can’t say enough about businessballs. It’s truly excellent and well worth a visit for materials. Superb!
Now before the fly-swat of the word count smashes down on the bluebottle of verbosity, I’d like to quickly review part of a website dedicated to helping strategic-level management teams (senior executives and boards of directors). This area is something that is coming under increasing scrutiny and you can’t help but think not before time, especially if you’ve watched TV’s ‘Boss Swap’ where managing directors swap jobs and see how well they can manage someone else’s business. What is exposed here is a frightening lack of understanding of basic management skills. The individuals highlighted are undoubtedly highly motivated and entrepreneurial in style and attitude, but in some cases their management skills are seriously flawed.
The web page I would like to draw your attention to is at http://www.adobe.co.uk/products/acrobat/readstep2.html and it covers many of the essential requirements and strategic issues that this level of management faces and needs to address. I think it probably contains more content than businessballs, although it addresses the topics in a much drier form. Content has been provided by numerous writers and is not just the product of one person. Permission to use the material has to be sought from each author and details for contacting them are included. Once again, the content is so broad and vast that I cannot provide a true picture of the depth of coverage and to give an overview/index of the site would fill this page and probably another. The nature of the topics it addresses and the range of content is extremely impressive and anyone working in this environment would be paid dividends if they paid this website a visit. Visually, the website is stultifying: content-wise, however, it’s excellent. GP
Our thanks to Garry for two more enlightening Internet reviews. Clare Forrest will be back in the ‘Netcheck’ reviewer’s chair for the April issue.
Ratings
http://www.businessballs.com
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www.managementhelp.org/boards/boards.htm#anchor580514
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Quick hits
http://www.cc.ysu.edu/~mnwebb/critique.htm***
Here’s an interesting website that was sent to me by Roger Greenaway. It contains a detailed analysis of the experiential learning cycle and a critique of this model. I have not read the work from front to back, but from the pieces I have gone through the writer, Miriam M Webb, has undertaken a review of this almost sacrosanct model which seems to be quoted in just about every other article written on the topic of training or development. Her findings are that this model is not perhaps a true reflection of how adults learn and indeed may have some inherent flaws. I always think that it is a good idea to challenge some of the more revered systems and models just to see if their robustness is as sound as we accept at first. This can create a lot of dissonance for people and learning. Do take a look at this paper. It is certainly an interesting document, and thank you to Roger for bringing it to my attention.
http://www.expedia.co.uk****
Wanting to book a hotel, a train ticket, a flight or rent a car? Expedia is your one-stop-shop for all these travel needs. I use it quite frequently for booking internal UK flights and for train travel. It is easy to use, well laid out and extremely comprehensive. It also offers special deals. If you’re regularly travelling to and from different places, the Expedia website is a useful website to have in your favourites list.
This month’s ‘Netcheck’ is compiled by Garry Platt, a senior consultant at the Woodland Grange Management Centre in Leamington Spa, where he plays a key role in the Centre’s provision of ongoing management training and development across the public and private sectors. If you think this edition of ‘Netcheck’ is good, bad, ugly or simply an affront to 10,000 years of human progress, do let Garry know at garry.platt@wgrange.com
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