Sketchnotes from CIPD NAP Student Conference 2018

Rachel Burnham writes: It was lovely to have the chance to represent CIPD Manchester at the annual Northern Area Partnership (NAP) conference for CIPD students.  I got to meet lots of interesting students from across the whole of the North of England, from Liverpool to Humberside and from Sheffield to the NE. Why not check out the #CIPD18Student for tweets from the event? 

  

The speakers were excellent and the sessions covered a lot of ground from the ‘Future of Work and the People Profession’,  through to ‘personal resilience’ and ‘developing your networking skills and personal brand through the use of social media’.   Particular highlights for me were hearing the personal stories of Jennifer Hulme about heading up HR in a retail environment and Nicky Ingham sharing her story of developing personal resilience.   I thought the emphasis on the practical case studies in the event was very helpful.  It was good to hear from Mike Collins at River Island on how they have re- shaped Performance Management – which is a very topical issue and one that a lot of organisations are working on currently. 

But the stand-out session for me, was from Lisa Rigby and Helen Baggaley at Wigan Council, with how they approached transforming the culture at the council in the wake of the cuts from austerity measures.  I loved hearing how they decided not to use a ‘traditional training’ approach, but created an experience to engage employees instead.  This was a very unique ‘walk-through’ experience and involved colleagues acting as tour guides through a physical site showing the council ‘past, present and future’.  It included a film room showing videos with popcorn and everyone was encouraged to make pledges about what they would do differently as a result.  This wasn’t a stand-alone programme, but linked to many other supportive steps as well.   It was great to hear about the measurable impact this had.

This approach is very much what Nick Shackleton-Jones argues for - creating an ‘experience’ with an emotional impact and it was great to see this approach being developed as a practical response to addressing the particular concerns and needs within this council.

Here is my collection of Sketchnotes from the event: 

If you are a student studying CIPD courses and didn’t attend this year’s event, do look out for next year’s. 

Rachel Burnham

26/3/18

Burnham L & D works with individuals and organisations to help them learn and work more effectively.  As part of this I help L&D professionals to be even more effective through updating their skills and know-how.  I have a particular interest in curation and the use of digital technologies in learning.  I frequently Sketchnote at events and offer workshops in Sketchnoting.  

Networking: How my perceptions & practice have changed

Rachel Burnham writes: I am writing this post about networking, as a number of the L&D practitioners I am currently working with have recently raised the topic of networking and its value.

I used to see networking as one of those things I ‘ought’ to do as a professional.  It was always listed as one of those things that an effective and well-rounded professional ‘should’ do. And like many things one feels one ought to do, I could never quite see the real benefit – and just like cleaning out the cupboard under the sink, it was a task that I would put off until I really had to do it.  I saw it as a necessary evil, part of the downside of freelance work, as one strand of developing potential new clients. 

I always associated it with rather awkward events where a lot of strangers would gather eat canapes, exchange business cards and try to sell to one another.  (Or possibly exchange canapes, sell cards and eat … well may be not!) Definitely not part of my comfort zone.  Made worse, by a combination of introversion and lack of practice.  Rather a self-fullfilling, downward spiral.  Hideous.

But no more! Now I see networking rather differently.  Now, it is part of my day to day work.  And I even enjoy it!

So what has changed?

The key shift for me was when I started to see the purpose of networking differently and started to see it first and foremost as about learning.   More and more people are seeing the value of their personal network for learning and you now often hear people refer to their PLN or Personal Learning Network. Why not check out #PLN for many interesting links and references?

This shift enabled me to let go of a lot of baggage and distaste towards networking, as being all about selling yourself and seeking business benefit.  Instead I am able to focus on networking as learning, which fits far better with my values.   Paradoxically, this has also allowed me to reap immediate and ongoing benefits from networking, from the exposure to new information, exchange of ideas, access to resources and opportunity to test out my own experiences against other professionals in the same field.

I have also changed the way that I network.  Using social media is a big part of this.  Using social media to network and particularly Twitter, has enabled me to come into contact with a much greater variety of L&D and HR professionals than before, both here in the UK and across the world.   And, also to make contact with people in other fields too.

I find using social media works well for me as an introvert.  I have been able to build relationships with people at my own pace and switch off when I want to.  It gives me time to reflect before responding  to comments.  And it means when I do meet people in person, I feel far more relaxed and have much more interesting conversations that I ever did before, because we are often building on an existing relationship.  The foundation has already been laid.

One of the things I do now as I network, is to share what I am currently working on. This Working Out Loud (WOL) can give networking much more value and interest.  For me this changes networking from a ‘promotional’ activity in which a glossy front is maintained, with perhaps rather superficial exchanges, to something that is a bit more real, messy and hair let down.  Not that every networking conversation is a deep exchange about L&D practice – sometimes I’m discussing growing carrots or dandelions in the lawn or what music I’ve been listening to (‘cause I’m into gardening & jazz)  – but often when we do talk work it is a bit more honest in my experience, than in those traditional networking events.

My other revelation in relation to networking, is that it is possible to network and meet up one to one!  Not sure quite why the penny took so long to drop for me with this!  I now have lots of one to one networking meet ups for tea/coffee and cake or lunch.  I find I have much more productive conversations one to one or in a small group.

But the funny peculiar thing is, now I have made those changes, I now am much happier in group networking events and so now participate in far more than I ever did before! 

I will write more on this topic shortly and explore the second part of my Sketchnote, which covers some practical tips for networking.

Rachel Burnham

30/10/16

Burnham L & D Consultancy helps L&D professionals update and refresh their skills.  I am particularly interested in blended learning, the uses of social media for learning, evaluation and anything that improves the impact of learning on performance. 

Social - it's a little bit like water

Photo: Berit Watkin under Creative Commons Attribution License

Rachel Burnham writes: In February I took part in the Curatr based MOOC #exploresocial, in which we were examining what social learning is and why it is valuable to organisations right now.   I got thinking about this again yesterday, after reading Mark Britz’s post ‘Social Inconvenience is Important’ which was all about when and where people connect.   And suddenly, I was thinking about social learning and social networking as being like water.

Ubiquitous

Water is everywhere around us on this planet. In the sea, the rivers, the air and in living things, including ourselves.  Social is a bit like that too – it isn’t just limited to social media or the use of technologies in learning – it is there every day, everywhere, every time we have a conversation. 

I remember when it suddenly became fashionable to drink bottled water in the UK and we were all urged to drink up to 8 glasses of water a day, as though we had never drunk a glass of water before and as though every cup of tea or coffee isn’t made with water!  And that is where we are at the moment with social learning – we are in danger of bottling up social with technology and fancy labels, when what we need to be doing is recognising where it already is and how we can simply make better use of it.

Powerful

Water is an incredibly powerful force.  Water has shaped our planet. Ice and rivers have carved out valleys and rearranged the landscape.   The sea and tides have changed the shape of this island and continue to do so – cutting away at cliffs and creating new land spits.

Social is powerful too.  We are only just learning how powerful it can be in shaping our political & social landscape.  We are only just exploring how social can enable people to work and connect together within and without organisations in new networks and formations.  If you want to read more about this then I would recommend Harold Jarche's blog.

The drip, drip effect  

One of the ways that water acts is by the slow accumulation of individual droplets of water that gradually seep through seemly impenetrable surfaces; that in caves make beautiful rock formations – stalactites and stalagmites – reaching out almost as though trying to connect.

Through social we are influenced one conversation at a time, one droplet of information, one tweet, one blog at a time.  But together the cumulative effect, the overall learning can be immense.

And the tsunami wave

Sometimes water is overwhelming and devastating in its almost instant impact.   And social has its nasty, destructive side too in trolling and social bullying – leaving wreckage in their wake.

Water flows

Water flows where it will, working its way gradually downhill.   It follows the gradient.  Rivers, streams, brooks, becks and burns all flow downwards. 

 

Which brings me back to Mark Britz’s post yesterday.  You can’t force people to connect in one place or another.  An organisation can’t mandate the use of an enterprise social network.  People will connect when they find it brings value to themselves - when it makes their lives easier or helps them learn or is fun. People will go where the flow is.  

Moving water up a slope is tricky and hard work.  Getting people to connect when it doesn’t meet a need for them, will need the equivalent of an Archimedes' screw, the ancient technology which it is thought was used to water the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Social is a bit like water. 

Rachel Burnham

16/4/15

Burnham L & D Consultancy helps L&D professionals become even more effective.  I am particularly interested in blended learning, the uses of social media for learning, evaluation and anything that improves the impact of learning on performance.

Follow me on Twitter @BurnhamLandD

Taking a Big First Step

Rachel Burnham writes: Yesterday’s conference on Social HR organised by CIPD Manchester, brought together people from with a very wide range of HR backgrounds – generalists, recruitment specialists, L&Ders, equality & diversity consultants and so on, not only from Manchester, but farther afield.  Some were brand new to social media and a little bit sceptical; some participants had done some social media, but didn’t really get it; some wanted to build on what they are already doing; and some of us were social media enthusiasts.  A wide spectrum of experience.

The thing that struck me both on the day and afterwards wasn’t the tremendous range of social media tools out there – though there are a staggering array of different tools.   It wasn’t the many, many different ways that you can use social media in HR.  It wasn’t even the amazing energy present amongst participants as we got working together in the event and sharing ideas & asking questions.

What struck me the most is the big difference it makes once you get a sense of how social media can be useful professionally.  The crucial difference I noticed was not really between social media users and non-users (although there is an overlap with this), or even to do with levels of expertise in using social media, but between those who’ve grasped something of the possibilities that social media opens up for working life and those who currently see social media being just personal and probably rather fluffy.  (And of course with all those animal photos being shared and all that discussion of chinchilla’s there is definitely some fluffiness!)

If you aren’t using social media at all or are using it just for personal use, it can be hard to imagine just how much it can be used professionally. 

I think this is the big first step.  The bit that requires the leap of faith.  The step into the unknown.  Because until you give it a try, you can’t really work out just how social media can be useful for you, in your particular work, in your specific context, and just how it can fit into your already busy day.

That’s where I was 18 months ago. At that stage the only social media, I made use of was LinkedIn and that was only very feebly, as I had a limited CV held on it.  And then everything changed and I decided I really needed to give some ‘new’ things a go – well they were ‘new’ to me.  Over about a fortnight, I set up a personal Facebook page, a professional Facebook page, updated my LinkedIn account, began using Twitter and began writing a blog, which because I decided to publish on Blogger, meant setting up on Google+ too.  

And breathe! That was a busy fortnight! 

And I was rather scared doing this.  It was a step into the unknown for me.  

I had resisted Facebook for ages – my main concern being how to keep a professional approach if my clients were mingling with my friends – many of later are Viking re-enactors & frankly a bit unusual – I solved that by having the two pages and simply not letting professional contacts become Facebook friends.  You can probably tell that I’m feeling much more relaxed about that issue now.

With Twitter I simply couldn’t see how it could be useful professionally.  Prior to the decision to join, I only knew two things about Twitter – 140 characters and that Stephen Fry tweets a lot.  I am forever grateful to the Certificate in Learning & Development Practice (CLDP) students who introduced me to using Twitter professionally – I always to say to new CLDP groups that I will learn lots from them & I think they often don’t believe me, but it is inevitably true.   

At first I did find Twitter confusing – it is a bit like jumping on a crowded commuter train, in which lots of travellers are all talking at once and usually to someone at the other end of the carriage.  Since you have missed the beginning of the conversation and have no idea who any of these @XXX’s are, or what RTs and DMs are, it can be hard to unravel.   From listening to the stories told yesterday, I think this is what often gives people a bit of a wobble.  So stick with it.  Because there are lots of friendly HR & L&D people out there who will only be too glad to encourage and help you to make sense of it.

I can’t believe what a big difference social media has made to the way I’m working, the work I’m doing, the people I’m in touch with, the growth in confidence and thirst for learning I’m feeling now.

There is a lovely jazz piece ‘The Computer Age (In Motion)’ by the singer Susannah McCorkle, who wrote the very funny lyric to an infectious tune by the Brazilian drummer, Thelmo Porto.  She wrote the lyrics before the impact of social media and so the refrain goes:

‘Here in the computer age, where we heading for?

Internet is all the rage, where we heading for?’

Now, we might sing to the same beat:

‘Here in the so-cial age, where we heading for?

Collaboration’s the rage, where we heading for?’

And we don’t know where we are heading for – but if you want to find out, you need to take that seemingly big first step and join in.

If you do take that first step, there will be lots of hands outstretched to welcome you.  So, why not take that step now?

Rachel Burnham

17/10/14

Here are some resources to help you take that first step in using Twitter for professional development.

Burnham L & D Consultancy helps L&D professionals become even more effective.  I am particularly interested in blended learning, the uses of social media for learning,