Learning and Development News and Interviews - Leadership Development

How clients can improve their outsourcing practices

Based on his experience as a client, Joe Windham, Principal Curriculum Developer at Citrix, offers these suggestions for improving outsourcing practices.

Is there work-life balance?

Is the quest for work life balance an impossible, unattainable goal, a challenge or an elusive state? Senior Instructional Design Consultant Rick V. shares his experience in the quest for work life balance.

Outsourcing vs. insourcing

A discussion about trends in outsourcing with one of our senior consultants...

Expertise on demand--strategic insourcing

Maximize training resources and return on investment with strategic insourcing, a unique model that provides learning and development expertise on demand, tailored to your industry and culture. When needs are pressing and resources are scarce, mission-critical projects can still be successful with the skillful deployment of specialized consultants—YOU maintain control.

How managers identify and develop employee expertise

In a world where technologies, business strategies and products seem to change on a daily basis, the need to constantly develop new areas of expertise is no longer a luxury but a requirement for survival. And helping your employees gain new areas of expertise is a central part of your job as a manager. In this article, you'll learn how to this manager identifies and develops employee expertise.

How Clarity partners with clients

In circumstances where an internal training department is unable to meet new curriculum project requirements, one cost-effective strategy is to outsource all or part of this function to external learning service providers. In this article, you'll learn how Clarity partners with clients in order to fulfill project requirements.

How to effectively manage virtual teams

Whether you realize it or not, you probably already work virtually. So it’s not a matter of whether or not you will work virtually, but how effectively you will manage your virtual work flow. In this article, you'll learn how to successfully select and manage your virtual team.

How to keep the peace with SMEs

Subject matter experts, or SMEs, can make or break your project. How do you cultivate positive relationships with your SMEs that will produce successful projects? In this article, you'll learn the top 10 things to do in managing SME relationships.

How to budget/schedule projects with unclear priorities

In a perfect world we would have all of the information we need to scope and plan each project we work on. More often, we are asked to sign on to projects that are not clearly defined, but need to be completed nonetheless. In this article, you'll learn how to handle projects that do not have clear budgets or deadlines.

How to prevent/minimize scope creep

Scope creep occurs when the parameters of a project unexpectedly expand. This article defines ways in which scope creep can be effectively managed.

Effective communication with subject matter experts

Subject matter experts are important contributors to any training project. In order for a project to be a success, relevant, accurate information is critical; this makes effective communication with SMEs so essential. This article provides some strategic insights into communicating with SMEs.

How to successfully manage an L&D consulting firm

In order to reap the full benefits of a L&D consulting firm, you will need to effectively manage them over the course of your project, from initial selection through post-project debriefing. In this article you'll learn how to leverage a consulting firm's strengths and build a strategic, long-term partnership.

Tips for selecting a training consulting firm

Training consulting firms are typically evaluated based on experience, process, differentiating competencies, and references. Learn other tips for selecting the right learning and development consulting firm in this article.

Benefits of training contract learning and development consultants

The use of consultants is taking an ever more important role in organizations. In this article we explore how much time and money you should invest in training a consultant.

Developing and building a business case to hire L&D consultants

Creating a business case helps CLOs demonstrate how a learning endeavor adds value to the business and ties it to the overall goals of the company. The guidelines presented here give a template that can be used to draft a business case that provides compelling justification for the use of contract L&D resources.

Pros & cons of using contract training consultants

This article addresses the reasons to consider contract L&D consultants, and the benefits associated with employing them for complete learning and development projects.

Differences between a vendor and a partner

Discover how to turn vendors into partners. Successful partnerships allow you to remain agile and grow more quickly without having to take the time and expense to develop new competencies in-house.

Best practices for onboarding consultants

How to onboard consultants smoothly to ensure a successful project outcome.

Advantages of using virtual consultants

An exploration of the benefits of working virtually, both for the organization and the employee or consultant.

Reasons to use consultants for change management

Change Management is a process of involving, informing, and preparing the organization for what will be different. In this article we explore reasons why it makes sense to employ external consultants to spearhead change.

Reasons to use consultants for L&D project management

Project Management is about serving a customer need and creating business results to support the company’s short- and long-term objectives. In this article we explore reasons to use use external consultants to lead L&D project teams.

Using consultants for emotional intelligence

Why are companies calling in consultants with expertise in emotional intelligence? It is a smart way to improve team relations. Read about these and additional benefits in this article.

Interviews and L&D articles