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Amanda Holm

Amanda Holm is a creative, organized, self-motivated individual who is able to understand and manage multiple details while concentrating on the whole picture. She is a natural communicator with results-driven skills and the ability to build, produce, and succeed. She is energetic and team-oriented, with proven expertise to think strategically, overcome obstacles, and initiate action to meet deadlines. She has more than 20 of experience in creating and executing marketing strategies and initiatives.
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Recent Posts

10 Consultative Skills that Drive Better Learning Programs

Posted by Amanda Holm on May 27, 2014 10:27:00 AM

These tips on using consultative skills in learning initiatives were pulled from  blog posts, white papers, and case studies.

1. Build relationships with all stakeholders involved in decision-making, and continue to network with stakeholders to stay current on their strategic business needs.

businessmenmed2. Come into the dialogue as an advisor and business partner, not as an order taker. This means coming prepared with information and ideas and then setting expectations and goals.

3. Be prepared to discuss the impact of your recommended solution; don't assume your stakeholders will understand what you are trying to accomplish. Avoid training jargon; help your partners understand how this will help their business.

4. Ask questions about business goals, not just training goals. Demonstrate your understanding of the business strategy and your interest in connecting learning to that strategy.

5. Analyze information about the current state and the desired future state to identify performance improvement opportunities beyond what your business partners are asking for.

6. Provide proactive recommendations that target specific performance gaps and link them to the specific business outcomes you are trying to achieve.

7. Collaborate with your stakeholders on their training requests to offer guidance that shapes their thinking and helps you reach a consensus regarding the most appropriate solutions.

8. Cultivate your expertise in subject areas that add value to your business goals.

9. Position yourself as a resource that your partners can trust for a range of needs related to performance improvement–not just learning programs.

10. Be willing to tell your business partners if training is not the answer and be prepared to help them find the most appropriate performance improvement solution.

 For additional information click on the following links: 

 

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Amanda Cushman Holm is the 

Sales and Marketing Specialist at 
Performance Development Group
Onboarding Financial Advisors

Topics: Consulting

The Business of Learning: Top 5 Things Your CEO Wants From Your Learning Capability

Posted by Amanda Holm on May 2, 2014 9:12:00 AM

Based on research, what do top executives value?

  1. Performance - CEO’s don’t value learning they value the increased performance that learning can bring.

  2. Business Results, not Learning Results - Instead of measuring learning, measure the results learning brings. Skills and knowledge are the fuel that takes the business where it needs to go.

  3. Drive top business initiatives - Most businesses have a small number of top-priority initiatives each year. Demonstrating how learning helps drive those initiatives creates a clear picture of how you are driving value.

  4. Manage your demand and supply chain - Business needs change over the course of the year, and business expect departments to be responsive. Planning for your learning demand and having a supply chain in place to respond to change helps guarantee to you will drive business goals.

  5. Return on Investment –Measuring the return on the investment in learning programs validates why it is important to build the skills and knowledge of the organization.

PDG has a number of white papers and case studies with examples of programs that drove top business goals for our clients. They include: 

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Amanda Cushman Holm is the 
Sales and Marketing Specialist at 
Performance Development Group

 

 

Topics: Measurement, Business Issues in Learning

12 Reasons to Use Games for Learning

Posted by Amanda Holm on Apr 10, 2014 4:38:00 PM

  1. The value of a game-like experiences used for learning is becomingJumbled Cube hand puzzle more evident with benefits such as improved: performance; decision making; leadership skills.
     
  2. Games can be designed to help lead the player into discovering skills and solutions without giving the player the answers. In addition, getting a great game experience doesn’t have to be hard.
     
  3. Players gain a sense of accomplishment each time they finish a level, which does not seem much like “training.”
     
  4. Employees clearly benefit from the knowledge and skills they can learn in their employer’s courses.
     
  5. Games can make training more enjoyable. Because they are interactive, games can keep the interest of the players throughout the program.
     
  6. Games are an effective performance improvement methodology for almost all audiences—even senior executives — especially senior executives. Your audience may be more receptive to using games for training than you think.

  7. Today’s Role-Play Games and Alternate Reality Games are not the single-user joystick games of years past. They require collaboration, team building, as well as smart use of resources, strategy, and follow-through. The most successful Role-Play Games players also tend to be great leaders and team-builders.
     
  8. Competition: Every business is a competition. Many internal functions are a competition, too; competition for attention, scarce resources, funding, etc. Games are inherently competitive. Learning how to be a better competitor will also make you a better business person.
     
  9. Engagement: I can’t learn anything if I’m not paying attention. Why teach me an abstract skill when you can get me to engage in the actual behavior? Games get me involved, give me a goal, and help me understand what I have to do to hit that goal. All fairly painlessly—in fact, I might not even realize that I’m supposed to be learning.
     
  10. Social learning: Whether we’re playing our game in a real-life room or playing online in a virtual space, we’re still working in a social environment. That means that we can create our own experience (within the rules of the game, of course), and the experience changes based on the people present. We can share our knowledge, experiences, assumptions, and learn from and teach each other. We may be playing a game, but what we’re learning from each other is very real.
     
  11. Informal Learning: Game environments create wonderful opportunities for informal learning. As a team of people driving towards a goal, we inevitably share all kinds of knowledge. All the notebooks in the world won’t drive knowledge like an experienced colleague sharing a great story.
     
  12. Collaboration (or lack thereof): Great games for learning use goal-based scenarios where teams of people need to collaborate to achieve success. This is a great opportunity for participants to understand what each role brings to the table, how collaboration drives a better outcome. Learning this kind of behavior in a game is “sticky;” it will stay with you long after the game is over.

These tips were pulled from a number of our blog articles on using games in learning. For additional information click on the following links: 

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Amanda Cushman Holm is the 
Sales and Marketing Specialist at 
Performance Development Group

 

Topics: Gamification

12 Tips and Tactics for Creating Effective Mobile Learning

Posted by Amanda Holm on Mar 21, 2014 3:16:11 PM


1. Don’t just repurpose e-learning, design a program for mobile device.Mobile Learning on the ipad

  •  If you deliver learning to a mobile device the same way you deliver it to a desktop computer, you miss the point of having a mobile device to begin with.

2. Design learning for mobile learning in a method that fits it best, because people tend to use mobile devices:
  • In short intense bursts
  • When they need information right away
  • In down-time, such as between appointments
  • To retrieve information that may not be at their fingertips
  • To get information that is current or time-sensitive
3. Use mobile devices to provide information to help people to perform better.
  • For example a major car manufacturer uses mobile devices to support mechanics certified to repair their cars with tips and reminders at the moment of need
4. Design learning that can be used during “in between” times in 3-5 minute intervals
  • Try using smaller chunks of context-independent content that can be understood out-of-order

5. Consider delivering content in stages and over time to build awareness, learn, apply, and reinforce.

6. Integrate mobile learning into actually doing the job, providing performance support for different phases of key tasks

7. Deliver a stream of constantly updated content that builds capabilities, skills, and knowledge over time

  • Your goal is to use mobile devices to provide information for better job performance

8. Combat the Forgetting Curve by providing reminders and reinforcement over time

9. Game-like approaches can work very well—people love playing games on their devices

  • However, games often require a bigger investment of time than your learners can provide

10. Make sure the content is relevant and immediate-- mobile is not the tool for deep thinking

11. Replace learning objectives with What’s In It For Me (WIFMs)-what will I be able to do by using this tool?

  • By the way, this works for NON-mobile learning, too!


12. Make sure the technology used works on the appropriate platform or platforms for your target users

These tips were pulled from PDG resources on mobile learning. For additional information click on the following links: 
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Amanda Cushman Holm is the 

Sales and Marketing Specialist at 
Performance Development Group
The Mobile Learning rEvolution

Topics: Mobile Performance

Using Performance Improvement to Drive Business Metrics

Posted by Amanda Holm on Mar 12, 2014 2:23:00 PM

business_seminarmedI recently attended Performance Development Group’s Performance Consulting Workshop, and found it full of valuable information. I work in a marketing role at PDG, but I thought the information I learned at this workshop would be helpful to our customers and others in the field. So here’s a taste of the insight I gained from the PDG performance consultants.

Do businesses value "learning results?" No, businesses want business results. What’s the difference? Learning results show that the participant has learned the content. Business results demonstrate that the new knowledge actually impacts the business goals and objectives of the company. The goal of learning is not just to make people smarter; it's to provide them with new skills and behaviors that drive success in the initiatives of the company. Using learning to improve business and help reach business goals is more important than ever before.

To gain “a seat at the table” and the ability to have input into developing business goals and decisions, Learning and Development departments need to show how their plans for workforce performance improvement impacts business goals. They need to identify metrics to assess changes in behavior, ways to link behaviors to measurable business outcomes.

Steps to Improve Performance

  1. Define the desired level of performance: use competency models, job descriptions, and metrics related to business goals.
  2. Determine the current level of performance: review data sources and personal experience of those on the job.
  3. Identify the factors impacting performance: analyze incentives, capabilities, motivation, and the availability of resources.
  4. Map the Gap. Identify the gap between the current state and the desired state, and analyze the causes of the performance gap.
  5. Architect a solution that will bridge the performance gap: learning does not exist in a vacuum; determine the methods that will address the specific performance gap you have identified. One size does not fit all!

Always start with the business metrics. Determine what the business is trying to achieve, identify the skills, behaviors and competencies that are likely to achieve those goals, and design learning interventions that address those skills, behaviors, and competencies. This approach allows you to create an evaluation strategy that demonstrates how learning initiatives drive business performance. When looking at improving performance it is necessary to focus on the business goals, objectives, and standards to determine the business need for the performance improvement.

This is a portion of what the workshop covered. The next steps are to go much deeper and look at the business goals and think through how you will get from the business goals to the performance goals. Check out our other blog articles on Performance Improvement. If you‘d like more information on running a Performance Consulting Workshop, contact us at info@performdev.com.

 AmandaHolmPhotoBlogImage

Amanda Cushman Holm is the 
Sales and Marketing Specialist
at Performance Development Group

Topics: Performance Improvement