Multi-Tasking My Way Through Life.

I have had a day of multi-tasking.

I’m not sure what I have achieved but I’ve certainly sent out a vast amount of e-mails, “tweeted” a good deal, checked my LinkedIn connections, put up some new videos on You Tube, made some appointments, written a short report for a client, written a proposal including an outline course programme, checked that others are doing what they said they would be doing, talked with my Marketing Manager, arranged a telecom, had five minutes for a sandwich lunch, created a new one-day course, sought some content from a valued colleague, arranged a training webinar demo, and finished the design of my daughter’s wedding invitation!!

And you know what - I feel like I have achieved nothing!

When it comes to multi-tasking there are two views of it summed up by the following quotes:

Positive View

“If you can’t ride two horses at once you shouldn't be in the circus.”

Negative View:

“Multi-tasking is the art of distracting yourself from two things you’d rather not be doing by doing them simultaneously.”

The way I feel I’ll maybe settle for the popular view – “Not doing a particularly good of anything simultaneously!”

Maybe Henry Ford was right when he said that “A weakness of all human beings is trying to do too many tasks at once.”

I rest my case.

Short Term Pain For Long Term Gain

Last week was a particularly demanding one with pretty much all of it taken up with writing a tender document. One of those opportunities you cannot pass up even though you have no idea of the odds on being successful.

It has led me to conclude, once again, that in today’s highly competitive market-place how much more effort you need to put into business development to get results which are often not proportionate to the energy expended.

Is this a good equation? For the buyer, probably yes, more for less is certainly a win for them. For the poor vendor however it’s certainly not a healthy direction in which to go.

Have we the courage to stay true to our values and not work for unreasonable prices or should we simply be driven by market-forces and go with the flow? My heart tells me one thing, my head another.

My conclusion? Make the best possible job of all that you do and your worth will be valued in the longer term, it’s just that we have to succeed in the short term!

Working in an inter-dependent world

I always knew that to move from working with an independent mind set to working with an interdependent mind set was a challenge for many managers, particularly those working in complex organisations, but that truth has become even more apparent this week as our political leaders grapple with this concept.

Perhaps they should think through in more detail these six ‘C’s of interdependent working.

Collaborating (versus compromise)
Co-existing (working together for the common good)
Co-creation (of innovative solutions)
Compensating (for each other’s weaknesses)
Co-operating (to satisfy the electorate i.e. their customer)
Continuously Improving (working on the electoral and political process for long term change and improvement)

If they don’t know how to do this I have a diagnostic which might help them!

Rhema expands global presence to over 60 countries

Rhema Group's aspiration has always been to be a global provider of HR Development Solutions. Our aim is to deliver training and consultancy for our clients anywhere in the world. In the first quarter of 2010 we added a further 18 countries to our network which means we can now cover the whole of Africa and South America.

Cambridge University Press addresses its global training needs with Rhema Group Training Webinars

Global publishing specialists in the area of English Language Tuition has appointed Rhema Group to use its Training Webinars to train their global population of managers in soft skill areas to support their continuing professional development. Topics include Coaching and Mentoring Skills, Building High Performance Teams and Time Management.

Rhema Group is appointed a supplier of Fort Hill Company products in the UK

Fort Hill is a world leader in the transfer of knowledge/skills into the market-place products which also measure the ROI on training programmes.

Rhema Group can now offer their full suite of products and services which is a real value add for our clients.

The future of e-learning threatened?

Is it my imagination or is the demand for e-learning gradually being replaced by the demand for training webinars?

We introduced soft skills training webinars on topics such as Coaching and Mentoring Skills and Building High Performance Teams last year and we have seen a steady growth. On the other hand the demand for our e-learning offerings has slowed considerably.

Perhaps the ‘Y’ generation combined with the needs of organisations for cost effective, highly interactive remote training solutions is driving the change.

The USA is ahead of us in the UK but we see UK organisations increasingly showing an interest. This is good news for suppliers like ourselves who never did regard e-learning as an appropriate medium of delivery for soft skills training.