The Mindtools L&D Podcast

In learning science, there are certain ideas that have leapt the fences of academia and seeped into the public consciousness. Often, these ideas gain traction because they feel intuitively true. But what does the data say? And how should we apply these ideas as learning professionals?   This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross Garner and Ross Dickie are joined by Jane Bozarth, Director of Re...

In the UK, 84% of workers who had to work from home because of the Coronavirus pandemic have said they plan to continue working at home, at least some of the time, in the future. That poses a problem to those of us responsible for workplace learning. This week on The Mind Tools Podcast , Ross G and Ross D are joined by Phill Miller, Managing Director of Open LMS, to explore solutions. We discuss:...

Here at Mind Tools Towers, we love podcasts. We've produced our own for six years! But what role do they have to play in workplace learning? This week on The Mind Tools Podcast , Ross G and Owen are joined by Adam Lacey from podcasts-for-learning-provider Assemble You. We discuss: The evolution of podcasts as a technology and as a market The solutions that now exist to organisational security barr...

Once upon a midnight dreary, Ross G pondered, weak and weary Whether Ross D might consider him a dry and awful bore— If he proposed some gentle chatting, sprinkled with some caveating, A pod with almost no formatting, on an essay he'd adored. "'Tis about unity of effect in learning design," he muttered, "by Edgar Allan Poe— Only this and nothing more." We discuss: why we are dedicating our Hallowe...

As learning professionals, we can rely on people always needing support to do their jobs more efficiently and more effectively. We can also rely on the hows, whats, whens, and wheres of that support changing. It's up to us to make sure we have the skills, knowledge and attitude to keep pace with changes in learning science, technology and learner demands.  This week on  The Mind Tools L&D Podcast...

English is the world's lingua franca, but the 400 million native-English speakers are a minority compared to the 2 billion people who learned English in a classroom. With these numbers, it's no surprise that most people speak English 'badly'. The problem is that, when people speak with a strange accent, pronounce words wrong, or use unusual grammar, we form an impression of their intelligence and...

How do you set your projects up for success? Does the SME and learning designer relationship really follow the buddy cop movie trope? In this episode of the Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Claire, Sean, Tracey and Ross G share their experiences of working with SMEs and their insights into what makes a great working relationship. We discussed:  How to build a solid learning designer and SME relationship W...

How is it possible to learn faster than external world changes? What do we need to do to purposefully protect ourselves against irrelevance?    Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Gemma and Ross G are joined by author of Learning at Speed , Nelson Sivalingam, to discuss how organisations, L&D teams and individuals can upskill and reskill efficiently.   We discussed:    What learning at speed means   The barr...

Our brain is a 'prediction machine' that responds to and interprets reality based on what we expect. This is the claim of science writer David Robson and, this week on The Mind Tools Podcast , Ross G, Owen and Nahdia plan to exceed your expectations by discussing it in our book club.   We discuss:   examples of the 'expectation effect' in action   the strengths and weaknesses of Robson's argument...

This week The Mind Tools Podcast team are travelling through another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop: Extended Reality. In this episode, Ross G and Nahdia speak to technologist, TEDx speaker, author and designer Myra Roldan about how new technologies are shaping the way we interact with the world, and with each other. W...

What's the evidence telling us about effective questions for learning? How can we apply it?   In this week's episode of  The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Gemma is joined by fellow Custom team members Ross Garner, Sam and Alison to discuss key takeaways from Patti Shanks' book, Write better multiple-choice questions to assess learning .     We discussed:    The role of questions in learning    What mak...

Will avatar-based training replace virtual classrooms? Would it make any difference if L&D didn't even exist? In this week's episode of  The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross D, Owen and Nahdia tackle these questions from listeners Ian Younger ( @ian5611 ) and Craig Taylor ( @CraigTaylor74 ). In WILTW, Owen mentioned the article 'Good' posture doesn't prevent back pain, and 'bad' posture doesn't cause...

Here at Mind Tools Towers, we've been supporting L&D teams for years – and that's given us plenty of time to reflect on things we could have done better! So this week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross G, Owen, Sean and Ross D are sharing the advice that they wish they'd had when they started out in their careers. We discuss: The importance of gathering diverse work experiences How to define a p...

Many organizations responded to the global pandemic by adopting digital technologies that enabled different ways of working. This sudden, unanticipated change has created opportunities for L&D, but it's also posed challenges.  This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross D is joined by Owen and Anna to dive into this year's L&D Benchmark Report: 'Is your learning culture keeping pace with rapid...

Have learners engaged? Learnt what we set out for them to learn? More importantly, have they bought that learning into how they perform? Is this having the wider impact we wanted? All the questions. So, how do we, as learning professionals, measure the impact our learning experiences have? This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Gemma discusses with teammates Claire, Sean and Tracey, about measu...

Rather than defaulting to pre-pandemic habits, or continuing with pandemic arrangements, we now have an ideal opportunity to rethink how and where we work. This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Nahdia and Gemma talk to Gem Dale, author of How to work remotely , about working well, in and out of the office. We discuss: why we need to be strategic and purposeful in how and where we work challeng...

People are more satisfied by explanations that contain neuroscientific jargon and images. Why? Because dopamine fires up the hippocampus, and that's a fact! (Warning: It's not.)   This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Owen and Ross G are separating fact from fiction as we discuss neuroscience with Amy Brann, author of Make Your Brain Work .   We discuss:   The meaning of neuroscience (as a dis...

Who knows why anyone does anything? Well… people who craft psychometrics claim that they can answer this question. And this week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Owen and Ross G are going to find out how! We're joined by Lucie Ilbury, a Chartered Occupational Psychologist and Head of Client Enablement at Sova Assessment. We discuss: What psychometric assessments are for The characteristics of an ef...

Since the dawn of history, people have been telling stories. Obviously, because the recorded history we have is in the format of a story. Now Ross Garner, Ross Dickie and David from the Mind Tools L&D Podcast crew are applying that technique to learning.   We discuss:   The benefits of storytelling for learning   Examples of effective storytelling at work How new technologies give us exciting oppo...

Our mental wellbeing can depend in part, on our role at work. How do stress levels of colleagues, managers and directors compare, for instance? What is it about those roles that influences stress levels? In this week's episode of  The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Emotion at Work's Phil Willcox shares the findings of his latest research report "Managers feel the pinch". We discuss: The research finding...

In our 300 th episode of The Mind Tools L&D podcast, we are LIVE from London!    Owen, Nahdia and Gemma were joined by two special guests, Julie Dirksen and Phil Willcox, and a live studio audience buzzing after Day 1 of the Learning Technologies 2022 conference and exhibition.   There was something for everyone! We spoke about:   Perspectives on the LT conference and exhibition   Designing learni...

We're all familiar with one-off learning events like e-learning modules, workshops and virtual classrooms. They're common because they're logistically easier for everyone, but how we can adapt these to embed learning after the event? To discuss, Ross G and Owen are joined by Paul 'Westy' Westlake, Digital Director at PeopleUnboxed, and host of the PeopleUnplugged Podcast. We discuss: Problems with...

Back in episode 279 of this podcast (February 1, 2022: 'Why work is the ideal place to talk about race'), we spoke with authors Margaret Greenberg and Gina Greenlee about their book The Business of Race. But while we talked extensively about personal experiences and inner work, we didn't have a chance to dig into what L&D can do to promote an anti-racist workplace. So this week on The Mind Tools L...

Gamification promises fun activities, increased user engagement and – ultimately – better workplace learning. But do points and badges really make a difference? In this week's episode of  The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Ross G, Sean, Tracey and podcasting n00b Sam Brown tackle this issue. We discuss: The difference between 'gamification' and 'game-based learning' Good and bad examples of gamification...

There are more and more people working in a hybrid way. What does this mean for how we meet, develop relationships and support learning? In this week's episode of  The Mind Tools L&D Podcast , Gemma T and Owen explore these questions with  HR for Hybrid Working author and Director of Epic HR, Gary Cookson. We discuss: What makes for an effective hybrid meeting Experiences that tend to be better 10...