The Learning Quotient Suite is a collection of tests to help individuals understand their learning preferences. It consists of:
- Learning Interventions Analysis: Designed to help discover the right sort of interventions through which individuals will best learn, this will assess a person's learning preferences as an activist, theorist, pragmatist and reflector scales.
- Cognitive Learning Profile: Based on the work of Jung, the Cognitive Learning Profile helps to understand individuals' ways of taking in and processing information which directly affects how they learn and therefore determines which sort of learning processes, interventions and activities will workbest for their learning style.
- Preferred Coaching Interface: Maximise learning and to ensure the best results for individuals and organisations by assessing just what sort of coaching approach, coaching style and coaching process would be right for them.
How Does Your Business Benefit:
- Supporting coaching interventions
- Inform decisions when selecting a coach or purchasing coaching services.
- In preparing and designing training activities.
- Understanding approaches to tasks and learning
- Building and developing teams
- Management development
- Learning needs analysis
Our Clients Experiences:
The client challenge
The client, an NHS Primary Care Trust, presented blackswan with two challenges:
- Communications - how can 300 commissioning staff spread over 5 locations in County Durham be kept up to date on key issues and topics? This was a particular issue for staff as many felt they were missing out on information. The aim was to have an effective (or as effective as possible) system of keeping staff up to date and involved with what is going on in the organisation.
- How can the client reduce the amount of meetings? It was recognised that people spend a significant amount of their time in meetings and that their very committed staff were spending too much time at work or working at home. The aim was to reduce the amount of excess hours staff work to improve their work/life balance.
The blackswan solution
blackswan worked with the client to create a workshop which created a ‘safe’ environment for the attendees to think creatively and differently. The teams were tasked to identify what each could do to improve communications and reduce the amount of time spent in meetings.
The workshop incorporated a series of proprietary systematic innovation tools. These were introduced to help people think from a completely different way and challenge the thought processes, giving people the energy and impetus to do something different.
The Senior Managers on the workshop worked on the ‘Ideal Final Result’ to help identify what ‘good communication’ looks like. The workshop also equipped them with a set of systematic innovation tools which could be replicated back at the office.
The ‘on-your-feet’ approach to tasks and creative thinking ensured that ideas were bounced around and by working with each other, the participants ideas went from one extreme to another. By working through the communication and meetings issue and taking the problems to the extreme, the Senior Managers then worked backwards from the extreme ideas to get to a position where these ideas and recommendations could easily be implemented back at the office.
The client outcome
The results from conducting the workshops:
- Implemented a new set of “meeting rules” which have been signed off by the board and outline the roles and responsibilities of everyone attending internal meetings.
- People are thinking differently and using some of the tools in the workplace to think through solutions and options. Thinking to the ‘Ideal Final Result’ means that rather than taking small steps to improve things, you actually look beyond that and see what the other possibilities are.
- People within the organisation have a stronger understanding of their own individual style, what motivates them and how they approach work.
The client challenge
Our client from the hotel hospitality and leisure industry was looking for something completely different.
All 19 senior managers have spent many hours working through management development and training programmes. They did not want the ordinary and the mundane and were keen to avoid the same approach that has been used internally.
They challenged blackswan to transport their key Directors to a different level and for them to broaden their horizons. The objective was to create a session which was thought provoking, fast, furious and fun.
With some key decisions to be made following the session it was critical to cover the key issues, understand whether the team members were bought into the vision and strategy for the business and to gain a commitment to build and grow the business.
The blackswan solution
blackswan delivered a short, sharp and impactful 2 hour session for 19 of the senior managers. 80% of the Managers polled at the beginning of the workshop felt that their customer service scores were not acceptable. However 87% of these managers felt that they personally had the capacity and ability to change theses scores.
We compared the reviews of the hotel versus the best in the world. We compared the language. We looked at the differences.
How could the client transport itself to be the best of the best? We transported the team to 2013. A letter was delivered to them from their CEO: “Congratulations, you have been awarded the Top European Hotel of 2013”.
So, what does it feel like? How are you now operating? What does it feel like to work here? We looked again at the scores on the doors for staff, systems and customer experience and really challenged each other to believe that this was real.
There were no boundaries, no rules and regulations and no constraints. Everything was possible!
The client outcome
At the end of the session, each team member left with personal list of actions to take away that would transport them from 2010 to 2013.
Being the best feels fantastic, it is achievable and by looking beyond the horizon a whole new world of opportunities and options open up to individuals.
A clear understanding of what ‘REAL’ success could look like. Without focussing on the short term, the workshop was designed to transport people to a different place where the ultimate success was theirs.
What did it feel like? What does it look like? Then coming back to the day-today reality; what should they be doing today, tomorrow and the next day to ensure this success happens.
The client challenge
Our client from the extractive industries a 55,000 employee strong organisation, identified that their global training budget exceeded $200m annually - a level 3 times higher than the industry benchmark practice for training spend.
The corporate Learning & Development (L&D) function was perceived a ‘Corporate Ivory Tower’ with little operational knowledge of the business and unable to communicate in business language. As a result, the ‘business’ had simply gone and managed their own training themselves resulting in over 550 trainers within the business. Significant inefficiencies were evident due to the semi-autonomous operating units driving their own silo-based training strategies. Often with little or no available reporting information on how much the business was spending, training investment decision making was virtually impossible.
To address such a critical area of the business ‘operating needs to ensures the lives, health and welfare of its employees working in hazardous and dangerous environments required a new approach.
The blackswan solution
blackswan brought together a unique combination of people, process and innovation expertise to develop a solution to deliver training within an annual budget of $60m.
To avoid the familiar project challenges of running out of time/budget/resources/energy/passion etc, blackswan used its innovation expertise to identify what the end result should look like. With representation from across the business, a shared vision and target solution strategy was created with a corresponding implementation plan for swift execution.
The solution strategy was further strengthened using ‘Lean’ enterprise principles. Entire end to end business processes were re-mapped and documented to ensure the right training course ,at the right time, via the right delivery model and at right cost to the business were met.
Through clear and consistent communications and engagement, stakeholders were made integral to the process to warrant high levels of customer participation and ownership.
The client outcome
The result of the Hyper Lean process is an organisation that leverages its global reach, knowledge and expertise across the entire Learning & Development community.
A single, world-class technology platform facilitates best practice design and delivery and a corresponding cost model aligned to global benchmark levels having achieved significant cost savings and operational efficiencies.
The results for our client have been
- Direct positive bottom line impact
- Right time, right place, right cost delivery
- World-class technology platform
- Powerful management information on activity, costs, and impact.
Significant levels of re-use of training courses were achieved using the core course content with the ability to customise specific needs according to local requirements.
Find Out More:
If you would like some assistance with an organisational deployment of these tools, please contact us.
