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November 2004

Welcome to the November issue of Word Smiths' monthly e-zine - WORD POWER. We are sending this on the third Friday of each month to keep you up-to-date with what we are doing and share some of our experience in writing, training design & delivery and publishing.

Thank you to all those who gave us very positive feedback on last month's issue. We're so glad you liked Word Power and found it useful. Welcome to 22 new subscribers this month.

In this issue:

Publications

Decision Making for Success - ebook

DM for Success coverDecision making skills have always been crucial to good management. But in these days of information overload, rapid change and time pressure it's even more important to make effective decisions as quickly as possible. Indecisiveness, uncertainty, failure to get others involved, taking an inappropriate approach - all these can lead to embarrassing, expensive mistakes and wasted time.

You can be confident that you have made the right decision every time by spending just a couple of hours with Decision Making for Success. In this practical ebook you will learn how to:

You can tackle any problem or issue with confidence, knowing that you can make the right decision - and stick to it!

Yours free if you buy 'Speed Reading for Success' - take advantage of our offer

Decision Making for Success costs just £4.70 if you want to buy it on its own. To order your copy of this valuable and exciting ebook, simply click on the link and follow the instructions. It will be delivered to your mailbox the very same day!

We are offering to give you a copy of this ebook absolutely free if you buy Speed Reading for Success from our website! You can have these two great products for just £14.85. If you've already bought the audio book we will mail Decision Making for Success straight to you - you don't even have to ask.

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Coaching and mentoring - book and CD

Jane Smith and Ann Holloway are the joint authors of Word Smiths' next major publication 'Coaching and Mentoring for Success'. This book will be of particular interest to anyone who is working towards NVQ accreditation in the coaching and mentoring units from the Learning and Development standards. But it will also be relevant for anyone who wants to learn how to help others to achieve qualifications and workplace goals. The idea is to provide you with the knowledge and understanding you need to be effective coaches and/or mentors. There is some theory, but we also we give lots of tips and examples of good practice. It's colourful, engaging, practical and fun to read. Watch this space - our target publication date is January 2005.

Just to whet your appetite, here's an interview with Ann Holloway on coaching and mentoring.

ann picAlways wanted to know what coaching mentoring are all about? Get the low-down on the key issues from this interview with Amethyst Learning & Development's Ann Holloway.

 

Ann, there's a lot of confusion about the differences and similarities between coaching and mentoring. Can you clarify briefly what the two terms mean?

The confusion arises because you have to use very similar skills when ever you are coaching or mentoring. The difference between the two, lies mainly in what you are trying to achieve and over what sort of time scale. If you are coaching someone, you are seeking either to build someone's confidence in order that they can achieve something or you are seeking to teach someone the skills or knowledge to be able to do something - or both. The time scale of the relationship can be quite short; less than a day or it can develop over a long period eg like a sports coach. Mentoring however is always going to take place over a longer time scale; often 6 months to years -or indeed a lifetime. The mentor is not usually a 'specialist' but is an expert in helping someone to learn, helping them to reflect and to make decisions for themselves. It may sometimes involve some specific coaching - but not always, the mentor often helps to identify an effective coach, if that is what is needed.

Why have coaching and mentoring grown in importance as effective ways of helping people to develop their skills?

People learn in different ways, and the group learning situation often fails to meet everyone's needs. Many people feel reluctant to ask for help, in case they appear to be 'a fool'. A coach or mentor works in a one-to-one relationship with the learner so they are often better able to meet individual learning needs and respond to concerns.

In which circumstances would coaching or mentoring (rather than going on a course or working through e-learning or open learning) be the best way for a person to develop their skills?

In the workplace, people often need to learn new skills at different times, depending on their individual job - so having a coach or mentor available means that they can learn when they need to and not wait for the course. Also, if the skill they need to learn is company-specific, courses may not be the total answer and may also contain irrelevant learning information. In other words, it can be a waste of time.

E- learning can be useful, but if the learner prefers some interaction and someone to show them how to do something, a real life coach or mentor can tailor the learning to meet the persons individual needs.

Who is the best person to be a learner's coach or mentor?

There is no one right answer to this question - it really depends on the needs of the learner and the knowledge, skills, and attitude of the potential coach or mentor. A colleague who has the skills and knowledge of a specific task or skill often makes an excellent coach, as can a line manager. However, there can be a conflict of interest with a line manager coach/mentor, who has to manage both performance as well as development. If this arises, it's better to maintain a more distant and objective relationship with their staff. But in other cases, managers have been able to sustain an excellent coach or mentor relationship with their staff.

A mentor can be from within the organisation or outside. Their expertise lies within their approach to the learner, they help facilitate learning, they have experience and 'wisdom' but they do not tell the learner what to do or how to do it!

What main skills and qualities are required by coaches and mentors?

The main quality of a coach or mentor is that they put the needs of the learner first and their own needs last. They must always find out what the learner actually needs to learn from the coach and what the learner wants from the mentor relationship.

Therefore they need to be excellent listeners and be skilled at asking effective questions and giving constructive feedback. They need to be flexible and open minded, they need to be patient and challenging, they need to be stimulating and interesting and they need to understand how different people learn. Above all they should be willing and able to adapt their approach to meet individual learners needs. They should not be looking for a pay back - just the joy of helping someone to learn and develop and in so doing, to grow as a person.

How can someone learn to be a coach or a mentor?

There are many ways, through reading, listening, watching and of course doing. People should acquire the knowledge in the way that best suits them and then develop the skills by practicing and getting feedback from the learner. Ideally they would have a 'real' coach or mentor to support this learning - there's nothing quite like learning from experience!

Finally, every-one who wants to remain an effective coach or mentor should continuously review and develop their own skills, knowledge and attitudes. We can always get better.
Or you can read our next publication “Coaching and Mentoring for Success' - out in January - order your copy now!!

Ann Holloway is a management and organisational development consultant, trainer, coach and mentor. She has clients in many sectors, including manufacturing, distribution, education, local government and health care. Over the years she has helped countless managers, training provider staff, careers advisors and professional people to develop their coaching and mentoring skills.

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Speed Reading for Success - audio book

SR CD wrapperThere's good news about our first publication, the audio book Speed Reading for Success. It's selling on Amazon and has received some five star feedback. Gardener's the book wholesaler have bought a large batch and is marketing them to the high street bookshops. Look out for this title in WH Smith, Blackwell's, Waterstones and independent bookshops. Or click here to buy it direct from the Word Smiths website - and get ebook 'Decision Making for Success' free.

In addition, three professional journals have agreed to review it: Training Journal, People Management and the website magazine, Training Zone. Not sure when the reviews will be published - but we'll keep you posted.

Many thanks to those of you who have bought the audio book - and given us such great feedback. Ryan says, "I didn't used to read (I finished one book in my life by Geoff Thompson!) but I have started to realise the value of books and thanks to you I am starting to easily 'get into' a book a lot quicker and understand it better."

Training news

walkgrove logoWord Smith's mainstay for the last 12 years has been designing and delivering training, and this continues to be one of our core activities. Both Nick and Jane are currently working with major associate Walkgrove Ltd to develop open learning packs for a large central government organisation. The challenge is write in a style that is clear, plain and easy to read - while maintaining complete accuracy of organisational, technical and legal material. The interactive design is also crucial. If activities/exercises are too simple, they don't reinforce readers's learning- and the credibility of the materials is undermined. On the other hand, learners must have the information - or know where to find it - to provide complete responses without resorting to guesswork. We also try hard to bring the material to life with relevant case studies/anecdotes and quotes from real people.

On the workshop/delivery front, speed reading, business communication and Mind Mapping continue to be hot topics. This month, Jane has been working with Kennedys Solicitors, the Life Insurance Association, Hampshire and Dorset Learning and Skills Council and Aston University.

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handbag logoHandbag.com

Handbag.com has just celebrated its 5th birthday - with canapés, cocktails and a comedienne at the Cafe de Paris in London. You don't find those in Abergavenny.

jane picJane is one of the founding contributors to this leading women's website magazine. Each month, she writes articles and quizzes for handbag's careers channel. She is also a judge in handbag's annual Business Plan of the Year Award.

Her latest contribution is a quiz about your attitude towards risk. Want to have a go? Click here to find out whether you dare to take risks to move your career forward, or if you are really much happier to play it safe.

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Nick's grammar slammer

NickIt seems that this feature has hit a spot that many of you feel is important. Here are some of your positive reactions to Issue 1's comma feature:

"This looks great - the grammar section is really clear and helpful - have never been too sure about some use of the comma - looking forward to the next instalment!"

"Thanks Nick, I loved the comma section. Well done!"

"Can't wait for the semi-colon. And over-use of the exclamation mark!!!!!!!!!"

We agree that good punctuation is vital. It gives our sentences and paragraphs the proper flow, makes our messages & products clear and helps to impress our clients. But perhaps we do need to get out more.

Now for this week's offering: the humble, but often misunderstood, apostrophe.

Part 2: the apostrophe

Possessives

The ending 's is used to indicate the singular possessive of any word that does not end in s:

For the possessive of singular words that end in s, the traditional rule is to use 's:

However, some writers now adopt a more streamlined approach and prefer a bare apostrophe for all words ending in s. For example:

Note that the possessive form of it does not take an apostrophe - in fact, the only personal possessive pronoun with an apostrophe is one's.

Use a bare apostrophe for regular plural possessives:

For irregular plurals, use 's:

Elision

The apostrophe is also used to indicate that part of a word (or words) is missing. Examples are I've, didn't, can't, it's and doesn't.

Plurals

Never use apostrophes to make a plural:

However, some people argue that apostrophised plurals should be allowed where they make the meaning clearer. For example, how would you write p's and q's, or do's and don'ts? But as a general rule, the grocer's plural is unmatched in its power to undermine the credibility of both message and writer.

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More about the comma

Sue Heathcote (a friend and English teacher) liked our piece on the comma but noted that we didn't mention the use of commas at the start and end of direct speech. Although direct speech is not used much in business communications, it's worth being aware of the rules if you want to include a quotation in your report.

Here's what she says:

Before writing a passage of direct speech, insert a comma after the 'He said', or other appropriate speech tag:

Also use a comma at the end of a passage of direct speech, before the closing quote marks:

There isn't space here for more about the fascinating subject of direct speech punctuation (eg where to put the full stop, nested quotations), but it will explored in a future issue of Word Power.

Once again, remember that keeping your sentences short and simple will help you to avoid many punctuation errors. In next month's 'Grammar Slammer' I'll be looking at colons and semi-colons.

Need more help with writing or communication? Check our in-company writing courses.

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