Whatever you thought of the Chancellor's efforts this week, if you need to maximise what you get out of your training budget, some creative thinking may well help. So how can you
Be creative with your cash!
Think Differently
There are usually many ways to get results. Make the most of technology to cut basics like travel costs. The telephone is a highly efficient way of working with others if you use it well. If your conference calls are always tedious, share our free ‘Best Practice for Conference Calls' leaflet with your colleagues. Use de Bono's 6 Thinking Hats to structure creative thinking processes.
Involve everyone
Good ideas often come from the front line – they see the waste of resources and the missed opportunities everyday. Stand up meetings lasting just 10 minutes are great for grabbing a single idea that could make a difference.
Work Virtually
How many times do you and your colleagues say that you get a lot more done when you spend a day working from home? Stay focused on results and not ‘hours in the office' - productivity comes from people getting through a lot of work, not spending hours at their desks. Build the ability of you and your team to work virtually.
Coach, coach, coach
Coaching makes a big difference to performance. Use Phone Delivered Training to deliver short, powerful coaching sessions to your team on a regular basis. It's a low cost, easy option. A punchy phone training session delivered to any group, no matter where they are (although not whilst driving!) has huge impact on daily performance. Our clients tell us that they get about 30% more impact from a phone training session compared with a classroom workshop.
Creativity needs to be based in reality
We may not mean to waste money, time or resources, however, we often submit plans we know we can't really deliver. When under pressure for results, it's tempting to run after every idea, leading to exhaustion, chaos and resources dissipated across too many activities. Take your time, plan what is really important (remember the important vs urgent matrix from time management) and focus your resources appropriately.
Measure and manage
Measuring can seem a very uncreative (even dull) thing to do. Yet really understanding what is happening in a project or programme is the best way to find creative ideas to respond to budget challenges. Aim to find at least one new way of looking at your business, it may give you some great ideas for making your money go further. We can help you measure performance, capability, training and competency development.
