I had the distinct pleasure of hearing Simone P. Joyaux and Tom Ahern speak today. It is amazing how much one can learn in a single day. It definitely made me want to sign up for an AFP Greater Detroit membership, that's for sure!
Check out Amy Eisenstein's interview with Tom called Make the Donor the Hero of Your Case Statement with Tom Ahern.
I could listen to this dude all day.
Showing posts with label Training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Training. Show all posts
5/12/16
11/30/09
In management, learning always keeps it interesting...for everyone involved.
Management is thrilling. It has been enormously fun and interesting, but my favorite part is how much I've been learning. I got a call from a colleague that I was going to be a member of CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education). This was great because I've always been involved with professional organizations. I had left academia for a couple years and I think this is a great way to re-introduce myself in a formal way. Professional organizations are always worth it and this one appears to have a lot of interesting and relevant resources.
Also, last week I went to a Fred Pryor seminar called "Essential Skills for First-time Managers or Supervisors." I went on the recommendation of a colleague and it was awesome. It was particularly awesome because in three months I got a smorgasbord of issues to deal with as a manager and heard about how to handle them at this seminar. I was happy to hear that in a lot of ways I was actually doing okay. Afterward, I was looking through my notes and found a few quick snippets that were covered at the seminar:
My favorite part of the seminar was the importance placed on reading. One of the essentials was "Read, read, read." It made me think about how I could role that into an employee incentive. By giving them time to read, they can back away from the computer and learn on company time should the week's workload allow for it. Giving them this time could also lead to increased creativity and enhance their knowledge on topics like philanthropy, business and higher education.
Inspired by the message to read, read, read, I totally got pulled into buying something. It seems "too good to be true" but this is my second Fred Pryor/CareerTrack and I've heard amazing stories about the Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics System. Both speakers said they've shared this with their families; both swore it changed their life and one of them told me they've never, ever had one returned. It's supposed to drastically improve your reading speed and, more importantly, increase your retention. So I went for it. I love reading, but I use that lame excuse "There's no time to read." I've been trying to carve in time, but now I'm going to try to take it one level further and give this a shot. I will definitely post my experience once I'm done with the program.
Also, last week I went to a Fred Pryor seminar called "Essential Skills for First-time Managers or Supervisors." I went on the recommendation of a colleague and it was awesome. It was particularly awesome because in three months I got a smorgasbord of issues to deal with as a manager and heard about how to handle them at this seminar. I was happy to hear that in a lot of ways I was actually doing okay. Afterward, I was looking through my notes and found a few quick snippets that were covered at the seminar:
- One must be CRYSTAL clear.
- Document everything.
- Give employees the priority list.
- Get creative with incentives for your employees.
- Hire people smarter than you.
My favorite part of the seminar was the importance placed on reading. One of the essentials was "Read, read, read." It made me think about how I could role that into an employee incentive. By giving them time to read, they can back away from the computer and learn on company time should the week's workload allow for it. Giving them this time could also lead to increased creativity and enhance their knowledge on topics like philanthropy, business and higher education.
Inspired by the message to read, read, read, I totally got pulled into buying something. It seems "too good to be true" but this is my second Fred Pryor/CareerTrack and I've heard amazing stories about the Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics System. Both speakers said they've shared this with their families; both swore it changed their life and one of them told me they've never, ever had one returned. It's supposed to drastically improve your reading speed and, more importantly, increase your retention. So I went for it. I love reading, but I use that lame excuse "There's no time to read." I've been trying to carve in time, but now I'm going to try to take it one level further and give this a shot. I will definitely post my experience once I'm done with the program.
3/9/06
Creating a Training Manual for Incoming GSAs
When I was hired at the end of last summer to be a Graduate Student Assistant, the training was very limited. Two of my coworkers and I sat in on a incoming regular student assistant training, but it wasn't particularly helpful.
It came time to (wo)man the reference desk. Brian, the other new GSA, and I just jumped right into the work. Everything was hands on experience. I was new to the campus, so it was a bit difficult when the directional questions came up. Yet, we got those so much that I quickly learned. This type of "training" if you want to call it that, is bad form.
Now, Brian and I are going to be the only GSAs left and we have to develop a training manual for the three newbies coming in the summer. It will be easier to show them the ropes in the quieter spring/summer semesters (Brian and I were thrown in the fire of fall semester - eeek!)
One of my biggest problems with libraries sometimes is the atrocious communication. For example, three campus police cars were present yesterday in front of the building and no one at the checkout counter would tell me what was going on. They asked, does it have anything to do with your desk? I'm the f***ing INFORMATION desk and people were asking me about what was going on, which is still considered information. It was ridiculous.
Anyway, the only way to get stuff done around here is to do it yourself. Hence, Brian and I are going to try to make the transition of three rookies a bit easier.
Some of the important parts of the manual would include:
- important phone numbers
- what each GSA job consists of (desk manager, statistics manager, schedule maker, exhibit designer and there's one more I'm not clear on)
- security measures, what DO you do when the gate alarm goes off or there are rowdy patrons.
- layout of the library
- frequently asked questions
- taking breaks
- making up and trading hours
- what services are offered (get this button, ILL, MEL, remote access databases)
There are more, but for now, that is all.
It came time to (wo)man the reference desk. Brian, the other new GSA, and I just jumped right into the work. Everything was hands on experience. I was new to the campus, so it was a bit difficult when the directional questions came up. Yet, we got those so much that I quickly learned. This type of "training" if you want to call it that, is bad form.
Now, Brian and I are going to be the only GSAs left and we have to develop a training manual for the three newbies coming in the summer. It will be easier to show them the ropes in the quieter spring/summer semesters (Brian and I were thrown in the fire of fall semester - eeek!)
One of my biggest problems with libraries sometimes is the atrocious communication. For example, three campus police cars were present yesterday in front of the building and no one at the checkout counter would tell me what was going on. They asked, does it have anything to do with your desk? I'm the f***ing INFORMATION desk and people were asking me about what was going on, which is still considered information. It was ridiculous.
Anyway, the only way to get stuff done around here is to do it yourself. Hence, Brian and I are going to try to make the transition of three rookies a bit easier.
Some of the important parts of the manual would include:
- important phone numbers
- what each GSA job consists of (desk manager, statistics manager, schedule maker, exhibit designer and there's one more I'm not clear on)
- security measures, what DO you do when the gate alarm goes off or there are rowdy patrons.
- layout of the library
- frequently asked questions
- taking breaks
- making up and trading hours
- what services are offered (get this button, ILL, MEL, remote access databases)
There are more, but for now, that is all.
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