I did this once before where I spent a lot of time preparing and hardly anytime presenting. It fell apart because of this, as when we are busy the preparation that takes hours, takes a back seat. We are going into an age of unprecedented growth and I want to spend a hour a week with staff going through a learning program. I can't find people as it is now, so, why not make the ones we have better? In a perfect world, I would have something for the staff to watch or a canned program to speak and demonstrate from and then have a discussion period before heading out for the day. I know I am not going to find that for all that we do, such as the 3D printing and modeling for 3D printing, but, I am hoping to find something that already exists to use as a basis. From how to mark stakes (huge argument and discussion to follow), to site safety, to boundary law, to scan cloud modeling, to GPS tech, more practical theory than push this, then that, in other words not really software dependent. I don't even have to agree with the presentation, as it is very important to assess two different opinions to come to your own conclusions. So the question is "does anyone know of a canned curriculum for sale like I am looking for?" I did look for a thread on this subject, so, if I missed it, .. sorry.
Not sure there is a "canned cirriculum". Many of these tasks are vendor and/or software specific. For instance I have workflows for the Topcon products, Bentley Microstation/InRoads, and Pix4D products. But that won't help much if you are using Trimble, Civil3D and AgiSoft PhotoScan.
Lee, I think you are at the center of the issue I am trying to avoid. I would like it to be non vendor reliant, so, it just may not exist. One of the things I did before was buy a large supply of the Schaum's outline on surveying. They are actually very good for the basics, it was getting beyond the basics where it got time consuming. I want curriculum that makes the chainman pester the PC all day with questions, .. OK, pipe dream engagement.
Your point is definitely valid, so, maybe this is an opportunity for a business model, if there is enough interest
Whenever possible, get your staff to teach the things you want them to know.
Keep the topics succinct.
Keep the training time short.
Assign topics to folks that know that topic fairly well (but aren't experts) and you'll find that they fill out their knowledge.
Have the presenter give you an outline the day before the presentation - the outline helps them consolidate their thoughts and you can make sure that the info they present is in-line with the message that you want your staff to hear.
When someone who isn't an expert teaches they bring a perspective of a new learner - this makes the info relatable.
This also helps all of your staff become better communicators.
Remember who stepped up to the plate when giving out bonuses and raises - these folks are helping to develop a culture of learning.
Yes there is cost associated with this - but I believe it's money well spent.
Something like his may require pizza and/or beer. If done first thing Monday morning, coffee, donuts and bagels are an alternative.
Paul in PA
What's wrong with pizza and beer first thing Monday morning?
Beer Legs, post: 406692, member: 33 wrote: What's wrong with pizza and beer first thing Monday morning?
Because at 7:30 AM most beer is warm and flat and the pizza is cold.
I know. It's what I had for breakfast.
Norm Larson, post: 406649, member: 7899 wrote: I did this once before where I spent a lot of time preparing and hardly anytime presenting. It fell apart because of this, as when we are busy the preparation that takes hours, takes a back seat. We are going into an age of unprecedented growth and I want to spend a hour a week with staff going through a learning program. I can't find people as it is now, so, why not make the ones we have better? In a perfect world, I would have something for the staff to watch or a canned program to speak and demonstrate from and then have a discussion period before heading out for the day. I know I am not going to find that for all that we do, such as the 3D printing and modeling for 3D printing, but, I am hoping to find something that already exists to use as a basis. From how to mark stakes (huge argument and discussion to follow), to site safety, to boundary law, to scan cloud modeling, to GPS tech, more practical theory than push this, then that, in other words not really software dependent. I don't even have to agree with the presentation, as it is very important to assess two different opinions to come to your own conclusions. So the question is "does anyone know of a canned curriculum for sale like I am looking for?" I did look for a thread on this subject, so, if I missed it, .. sorry.
Norm,
First off something jumped off your post at me: "How to mark stakes.." I've got a simple answer for that...mark them like the boss wants them. Next subject?
What I've found really effective (once you can corral everyone into one room) is to zoom-in on specific problems rather than attempt to find or create an entire agenda. Something as simple as 'how and what the field crews turn in to whoever's next' if the entire office is involved. Keeping it to the point can be like herding cats, but "one subject" I have found to be more effective and gets more people involved.
Safety, on the other hand, should really be a weekly discussion with the field hands.
Herding cats, .. yes, I have done this before and know how wonderful cats are with direction. Unfortunately, since we have crews it has to be done first thing in the morning so pizza and beer are out and in with biscuits and gravy.
If I can't find an itinerary, I will have no choice but to go to the scholar of the week type schedule.
Norm,
There are PDH providers out there who have compiled tons of this stuff. McCissock is one that comes to mind. I'll bet if you contact them they will suggest some good stuff.
That sounds like what I am looking for, thanks!
McCissock is, at least, kicking the idea around about making content for a weekly presentation for the staff. I bet they would do it if more inquired.
You might want to check this out:
http://www.geo-learn.com/course-catalog/
I have not yet taken one of their courses, but having folks like Dave Doyle as part of their teaching team has gotten my interest.
Your avatar is priceless ... and thank you very much for the link
I ended up showing Geolearn by turning one of my monitors around to show the troops. They break their presentations down to roughly 15 minute movies which works very well for a discussion about it. We had very interested and questioning chainmen and PC's, as we were covering things they had never been exposed too. I am getting requests for what they thought we need to have covered as well, which is just great. I didn't see in the Geolearn legal stuff that I couldn't show it while I watched, so, I am going with it. All of the office staff skipped it, .. bastards
Maybe if I add the PancakeBot and print some pancakes for breakfast while we learn. I could grab a quick outline of the presenter and serve them, LOL
Any locals are welcome to attend, 6:00am on Wednesdays
We got a message from one of our project managers a few weeks ago. Some things to ponder that you may or may not find pertinent, but should find interesting either way.
Lots of pontification about communication recently. The effectiveness of toolbox meetings, annual review feedback, etc., etc. Some interesting research on communication:
Visual observations account for 55% of how a message is received/perceived/understood
The biggest part of communication is reading body language.
Want some freakish examples on the power of visual observation? See the examples below from the book ÛÏBlinkÛ. WOW!
Audio/tone of voice accounts for 38% of how a message is received/perceived/understood
This is voice inflection/volume/tone. Think about the copilot communicating ÛÏWeÛªre just running out of fuelÛ over the radio. Would different volume, inflection and/or tone have helped the control tower pick up on the emergency that was unraveling?
Content accounts for 7% of how a message is received/perceived/understood
Content is the text or actual words we say or write. Handouts, emails, information on power point slides etc. This is where people typically focus.
Compare communication to football. Think in 100 yards vs 100%. If visual observations can gain you 55 yards and audio cues can get you 38 yards, why on earth would someone spend all of their time and energy focusing on a play that can only get you 7 yards? DonÛªt get me wrong ÛÒ you have to have an accurate and factually correct message to have credibility. You CANNOT score a touchdown without those last 7 yards. But, get as many yards as you can and at least kick a short field goal!
Think about the impact you want your message to makeÛ?.not about the time you may or may not have to communicate the message. The impact of your message will be drastically different whether that same exact message is delivered via email, via phone call or in person.
Some other tidbits along the same lines (If you are still reading this far):
Excerpts from ÛÏBlinkÛ
How long, for example, did it take you, when you were in college, to decide how good a teacher your professor was? A class? Two classes? A semester? The psychologist Nalini Ambady once gave students three ten-second videotapes of a teacher - with the sound turned off - and found they had no difficulty at all coming up with a rating of the teacherÛªs effectiveness. Then Ambady cut the clips back five seconds, and the ratings were the same. They were remarkably consistent even when she showed the students just two seconds of the videotape. Then Ambady compared those snap judgments of teacher effectiveness with evaluations of those same professors made by their students after a full semester of classes, and she found that they were also essentially the same. A person watching a silent two-second video clip of a teacher he or she has never met will reach conclusions about how good that teacher is that are very similar to those of a student who has sat in the teacherÛªs class for an entire semester. ThatÛªs the power of our adaptive unconscious.
The Theory of Thin Slices: How a Little Bit of Knowledge Goes a Long Way
Couples were led into a small room on the second floor of the nondescript two-story building that housed GottmanÛªs operations, and they sat down about five feet apart on two office chairs mounted on raised platforms. They both had electrodes and sensors clipped to their fingers and ears, which measures things like their heart rate, how much they were sweating, and the temperature of their skin. Under their chairs, a ÛÏjingle-o-meterÛ on the platform measured how much each of they moved around. Two video cameras, one aimed at each person. Recorded everything they said and did. For fifteen minutes, they were left alone with the cameras rolling, with instructions to discuss any topic from their marriage that had become a point of contention.
The Love Lab
How much do you think can be learned about a marriage by watching that fifteen-minute videotape?
To make an accurate prediction about something as serious as the future of marriage - indeed, to make a prediction of any sort - it seems that we would have to gather a lot of information and in as many different contexts as possible.
But John Gottman has proven that we donÛªt have to do that at all.
Gottman has proven something remarkable. If he analyzes an hour of a husband and wife talking (video only-no sound), he can predict with 95 percent accuracy whether that couple will still be married fifteen years later. If he watches a couple for fifteen minutes, his success rate is around 90 percent.
Students then looked at only three minutes of a couple talking. They could still predict with fairly impressive accuracy who was going to get divorced and who was going to make it.
LOL- if this interests you we can talk in more detail J Also, for clarity, I didnÛªt add the standard 17 yards from the line of scrimmage for a typical field goal.
Here is a link for some Emergency planning safety free courses, your staff will probably fall asleep and then hate you but it does have safety tips in there somewhere and you can print out certificates that make your office appear better educated lol. https://training.fema.gov/emi.aspx
I think you may win longest post, LOL I am with what you said, but, I have to temper it with certain realities of time and resources. In keeping with what I have to work with, the fifteen minute sessions keep wandering attention spans back with the discussions. Not having to prep for every presentation is huge, as when I did this in the past, that was the deal killer. I used to own a local semi-pro football team, so, I caught some humor in the football analogies.
Ruffbrew, post: 409578, member: 9449 wrote: Here is a link for some Emergency planning safety free courses, your staff will probably fall asleep and then hate you but it does have safety tips in there somewhere and you can print out certificates that make your office appear better educated lol. https://training.fema.gov/emi.aspx
LOL, actually that's not bad to sprinkle in. If I wanted them to go to sleep, I would just start reading Clark ...
