Here at Silicon Beach Training we offer a wide range of Management Training & Leadership Training courses, and a topic that regularly appears in a lot of them is SMART objectives. So what are SMART objectives? In this post we take a look at how you can use them effectively.
Some of the training courses that look at SMART objectives in more detail include Management Skills for New Managers, Leadership Skills Training, Performance Management Training & Appraisals Training.
Goals, aims and objectives are often confused. All describe things that you want to achieve, however I see goals and aims as broader, more aspirational intentions whereas an objective is a narrower more defined task you need to achieve in order to meet your long term goals and aims.
All managers and leaders must be able to set effective objectives for their staff, whether they are to achieve project or task objectives, personal development objectives for people to grow in their role or performance standard objectives aligned with a competency framework, values or behavioural guidelines.
When setting objectives for your team you will need to ask yourself:
- What are my team’s targets and goals for the coming period?
- What standards do I need the team to maintain / improve?
Read the rest of "What are SMART Objectives?"
Posted by Alistair Wylie in Appraisal, Business Skills, Management & Leadership, News, Personal Development on March 14th, 2011| 3 Comments »
think outside the box
Great leadership is not just about managing and maintaining what is. To be a Great Leader you need not to be afraid to make mistakes. Leaders have the confidence to take risks. Our Leaderships training in Brighton, Sussex, will help you develop your outside of the box thinking. We also offer a range of Management Training, and Project Management Training courses, including PRINCE2 Training.
Consider the following quotes:
“Theoretically, television may be feasible, but I consider it an impossibility -a development which we should waste little time dreaming about.”
- Lee de Forest, 1926, inventor of the cathode ray tube
“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
- Thomas J. Watson, 1943, Chairman of the Board of IBM
“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.”
- Western Union internal memo, 1876
“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”
- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962
“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”
- H. M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927
“640K ought to be enough for anybody.”
- Bill Gates, 1981
Leadership Skills and Thinking Outside the Box
It is important not to look beyond the present and into the future. Today organisations need to be organic, adaptable in order to grow and change. When the movie camera was introduced, the camera did not move! The actors would run around the static camera like they were on a theatre stage. The idea that the camera could move around the actors took time to realise. To identify great opportunities you need good leadership skills. Great Leaders look beyond current practises and markets.
leadership test
Try this test to see if you can think outside the box! – Draw nine dots to make a square – three rows of three. Try and join the nine dots with 4 straight lines.
Do you need 5 lines?
The correct answer is shown here in this diagram
Did you restrict yourself?
Did you impose the restriction that lines cannot go outside the box?
Try not to give yourself self imposed restrictions that prevent you and your organisation from reaching your goals and developing new ideas, as mentioned before businesses need to be adaptable, to be open to change and be continuously developing in order to survive and grow.
This way of thinking is commonly called thinking outside of the box. Inside the box thinkers are very skilled at killing ideas. For example, Charles H. Duell, Director of the US Patent Office, said in 1899, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.”
Here’s a list of ways in which Leaders think outside the box:
- Listening to others
- Supporting others when they come up with new ideas and respecting them
- Valuing new ideas and not being afraid to act on them
- Willingness to look at new perspectives to day to day work
- Openness to different things
- Openness to doing things differently
Posted by Heather Buckley in Business Skills, Human Resources, Management & Leadership, New Free Resources, News, Personal Development on November 22nd, 2010| 3 Comments »
How often have you been at a networking event or facilitating a meeting and forgotten somebody’s name? It’s not only embarrasing, but can harm your credibility, especially if you are a leader or manager.
Here are our top tips for making sure you remember people’s names in important situations. A host of other useful articles and tips are available in our new Leadership Skills resources section. For really comprehensive coverage of Leadership Skills we also offer a 2-day Leadership Skills training course.
Read the rest of "Top Tips for Remembering People’s Names"
Posted by Andy Trainer in Management & Leadership, New Free Resources, Personal Development on October 19th, 2009| No Comments »
In the current economic climate businesses are having to rethink and redefine the role of leadership. Leadership is commonly defined in terms of individual traits rather than institutional ones and as a role reserved for those who were born to lead.
However Leading leadership guru Warren G. Bennis thinks:
“The most dangerous leadership myth is leaders are born–that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.” Read the rest of "Leadership Skills – Are Great Leaders Born or Made?"
Posted by Heather Buckley in Management & Leadership, New Free Resources, Personal Development on September 24th, 2009| No Comments »
“I just wanted to to thank you for the course (Leadership Skills Training) held yesterday. They have all come back from the day enthusing about both the course and the trainer. They certainly seem to have gained a lot from the day and are confident, motivated and excited about putting the skills they have learned into practice.” Derinne Pargiter – DPAS - Leadership Training course in Brighton, Sussex.
WHAT MAKES A GREAT LEADER?
1. Good Judgement
The ability to evaluate facts to com up with possible courses of action in order to make sound decisions. Sound judgement allows leaders to make suitable decisions in the direction and training employees.
Posted by Heather Buckley in Management & Leadership, New Free Resources, Personal Development on September 24th, 2009| No Comments »
Resolving conflict 5 top Tips.
There is nothing more destructive and unhelpful to a project or working environment than conflict and if not resolved quickly or efficiently it can often get out of hand and make working together very difficult or in some cases impossible. Here are some quick pointers in how to resolve conflict:
Organise a meeting.
Intervene! Don’t just stand by and let the situation get worse, nip it in the bud before it gets out of hand. Arrange a meeting between the two different sides, with you there, so that they can talk out their problems in a measured and responsible way.
Try to understand.
Make sure that you know what the cause of the confrontation is, the more you understand the more you will be able to help and more quickly resolve the problem. Not only this but you will have a far greater chance of making sure it doesn’t recur.
Posted by Heather Buckley in Management & Leadership, New Free Resources, Personal Development on September 17th, 2009| No Comments »
THIS FUNDING STREAM IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE – DETAILS OF THE NEW LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT TRAINING GRANTS SCHEME FOR 2011
To help businesses in the South East, Train to Gain are offering flexible training grants of up to £1,000 for organisations who employ between 5 and 249 staff.
Train to Gain funding can be used on any of Silicon Beach Training’s courses
Read the rest of "FREE Training Grants Available"
Posted by Andy Trainer in News, Offers, Train to Gain Funding on February 12th, 2009| 2 Comments »
