THE IMPACT LEAK - Not learning in meetings? “Training” is about learning to DO!
Updated: Jan 31
- What impacts the good we do?
Many, many of us have been attending all of our meetings online since Covid shut down our workplaces. People have improved some of their skills but not their attention spans and while employee productivity has been constant, how we ‘feel’ about our work has seen some decline.
Not all of our current work worlds have negatives because of Covid-19, but research showed that a lot was laid bare when we were no longer face-to-face with our co-workers and managers. One of the worst issues seemed to be how people were managed and how they were learning to do their jobs. “Just figure it out” became proxy for “I have no idea; you take on that responsibility.” This left workers wading through copious amounts of information and ‘online supports’ but without direction or a sense of how to solve problems. While some learned how to manage themselves, for others there was a sense of feeling lost at the workplace.
Because of the need to stay at home, all of our learning came from online events but there is an art to holding a beneficial, memorable event and learning objectives are not always met. Pre-recorded courses shot up everywhere, but many people felt unable to complete courses and lost motivation without interaction or anyone else in attendance. Some people do alright in these situations, but many more people need stimulus and inter-activity to anchor their learning. Being lectured to, reminiscent of university, doesn’t work well with adult learners. Retention is often low and the chance to practise is absent, so the format doesn’t serve for true professional development. An easy fix? Yes, you can find that on the internet but being better at your job? You need to work on that over a period of time, with good support and colleagues to push your knowledge further.
“… presentations involve "learning about", while training involves "learning to do" (The Training World). When you need professional development, it’s training that you need to seek out. The style of training varies with each instructor, but you should finish your session with several ‘new’ pieces of information that you’ll integrate immediately into your work. You should have the opportunity to practise with the content and most importantly, you should be challenged to solve one or two directly applicable problems with a group of colleagues because then, you truly know if you’ve learned something and if you have a valuable ‘take-away’ instead of a literal ‘take-home’ fact sheet.
ANSWER.it is providing an upcoming training session for ‘Advanced Grant Writing’. It’s for fundraising professionals and EDs who have experience with grant writing. It’s not a beginner ‘how-to’ online event; it’s for professionals who need to up their game and get a whole lot better at their work! Covid kicked our butts and ‘same old’ is not going to fly. Competition is up; the number of orgs applying for grants is up; Service requests are up but donor giving is down. Of course, it is! Covid walloped our collective wallets and with everyone being online continuously for more than 18 months, the ability to compare charities has increased, meaning the need to professionally improve is tantamount to the success of our organizations. Yes, we might have adapted and created great new service delivery models but without money to keep the doors open, no one is getting that great new service. And it is you, dear grant writer, who is often overlooked and not honoured for your contributions to the org, who must improve to keep those doors open. The test is on; it’s not open book, so it needs real learning to help your charity survive!
ANSWER.it presents 1/2 day grant training for nonprofits "Beat the Bot: Tech is your first reader". Get your application seen! Tickets $95
You'll learn:
How funders use technology and what they look for in applications.
The key technical errors that most nonprofits make.
How development of projects and knowing what's happening in your sector impact your success.
Other ways to seek funding from government outside of RFPs.
