Training? Coaching? If you can't decide which is best it's probably because the answer is "neither".
The solution? A hybrid that combines the best of both to deliver the results you want, fast.

View an animated version of our hybrid approach

You may be thinking that there's no panacaea for learning - that learning something well takes time and there are no shortcuts. Well, you're right. There are, however, many ways that you can remove the barriers and obstacles to learning, making it fast, effective and fun.

Have you ever learned something really important to you, something that you remember really easily? Can you remember when you learned it? Did it take a long time?

Conversely, what can you remember from the last training course you went on?

Getting results

Training has to lead to better results - to tangible business benefits. Plan training like every other investment you make, with an expectation of better results and a way to measure that benefit. Many training providers simply don't have the business skills or experience necessary to help you plan that return on your investment.

The bottom line is this: How will developing your skills lead to business results that are more valuable than the cost of training?

Your greatest asset

"People are our greatest asset" is something we hear a lot in organisations. Actually, what I think people mean by this is "knowledge is our greatest asset but we don't know how to get it out of people's heads".

In fact, transferring even the most complex behaviour is ultimately a matter of knowledge transfer. The key is extracting that knowledge and packaging it in a way that other people can understand. Just like loading some new software onto your PC, this new knowledge will enable people to do things that they couldn't do as easily before.

Imagine doing your accounts with a pen and paper. You can do it, but it takes longer and is not as reliable as using a spreadsheet on your PC. Similarly, every Human can do everything they need to do to survive, otherwise they wouldn't! In business, some people seem to have acquired naturally elegant skills, whereas other people perform the same task in a less reliable way. If you could somehow model people's intuitive talents for getting exceptional results, you could load those models into other people so that they could benefit from running the same software.

What's wrong with training?

Nothing really, it's fine for transmiting information to a large group of people. Traditional training has many benefits and is definitely the right tool for many purposes. Where training struggles to work effectively is in quickly changing behaviour based on individual needs. Simply, training is not designed to offer an individualised service. Some people, through the application of learning styles or personality type information, attempt to tailor content and delivery, but tailoring training to fit a handful of stereotypical pigeonholes cannot deliver the results you need for your high achievers. Training is therefore effective for some people and ineffective for others.

What's wrong with coaching?

Nothing really, it's fine for enabling an individual to achieve their best. For organisations, coaching has many benefits as well as two key drawbacks. Firstly, being individually driven, the coaching process could lead anywhere. If you start to dictate the subjects that a person can be coached in, then it's not coaching anymore. Secondly, coaching comes from a therapeutic background and the cost of the service is based not on results but on time. The longer the relationship lasts, the better it is for the coach. The coach isn't necessarily focussed on delivering results for the business quickly.

So what's the secret of the hybrid approach?

Simple - our hybrid approach is not about teaching, training or coaching - or, indeed, any of those traditional practices. Our hybrid approach is about learning. It's driven by the learner, it provides a framework that guides the learner's exploration and it works because it fits any learner. There's really no secret to the effectiveness of the approach - it's simply a fusion of state of the art learning methods and real world experience, from both sides of the "fence". Above all else, the hybrid approach works because it focuses not on the trainer or the information, but wholly on the learner.

What components work well in the hybrid approach?

Our hybrid approach takes the content and cost efficiency of volume training and combines it with the individual attention and fast behaviour change of coaching. Wrap this inside your business objectives and aspirations and the outcome is the results you want, quickly and effectively.

View an animated version of our hybrid approach

The learning revolution

People are changing, our society and economy are changing and our demands and expectations are changing. The learners of tomorrow want the information that they want, when they want it, and only as much as they need. On demand learning does not mean e-learning - it means learning by any and every means, as and when needed. In fact, the learners of tomorrow are already here. How do you spot them?

They don't read the user manual for software, and they don't go on software training courses. They know that software is designed to be intuitive, so they play with it. When they finally want to do something that isn't intuitive, they read the help file.

They rely on their peer group for support and use Internet discussion boards regularly. They don't go to academic experts for help, instead they seek out people who have already done what they want to do. When they ask for advice they seek out "peer mentors" - people at their own level who have learned from experience.

They value experiential learning over theoretical knowledge.

They are culturally and socially trained to challenge authority, ask questions and demand proof. They don't believe what they're told just because the person doing the telling is older or more "senior". They want to "know" for themselves. This isn't arrogance - it's an ability to transcend hierarchy to get to the information they need.

With technological tools like the Internet, SMS and mobile applications, DVD and broadband they expect information that's mass customised and available anywhere.

They are prepared to change their minds, quickly and frequently. They don't hold on to information or knowledge if it no longer has any value to them.

The beliefs of hybrid learning

We use the most advanced coaching and training tools around to deliver a unique and powerful learning experience. By constantly learning and developing the most advanced personal development tools, we have developed this unique hybrid training approach that saves you time and leads to the results you want, quickly and effectively.

All of our workshops and open courses operate at an advanced level - because you already operate at an advanced level. Other training providers often assume that you know nothing about the skills you need, and you must be taught them from the most basic level. We believe that, from the age of about 2 onwards, you were already the world's most skilled and flexible communicator, negotiator, influencer and learner. Therefore, our workshops concentrate on aligning and refining the skills that you already have, so we can cover exceptionally advanced material and build learning at many layers to create a learning experience that changes behaviour and leads to the results you want, more easily and more often.

The learning revolution

The agricultural revolution allowed people to settle and build communities

The industrial revolution allowed people to build prosperous societies

The communications revolution allowed people to build knowledge

The learning revolution is allowing people to build the world that they want

The learning revolution is here, right now. Which side are you on?

To learn more, contact us right away

View an animated version of our hybrid approach

 

 

 

 

 

 

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