Mindful Monday’s

Transcript

Michelle

Welcome to Mindful Mondays. My name is Michelle Precourt, and this is episode 24. I have a very special guest with us today. I'm going to tell you all about her and then she's going to help me with co-hosting today. This is the summer edition of Mindful Mondays. Before we tell you about this wonderful young lady beside me here, I invite our guests that includes you Petra, and all of our viewers calling in today to reflect on the Indigenous communities on where you're beginning your day or you might be mid-day throughout the rest of the country today. The Indigenous community where I'm calling in from is the lands of the Squamish people. I am quite privileged to live here on their lands to continue to learn from their teachings. And it's also known as Squamish, British Columbia. So with that, let me tell you about my co-host. This is Miss Clara. Clara is my niece she is from Winnipeg, which is Treaty One lands, and she is a Gordon Bell High School student soon to be starting in grade eight. Would you like to say hello, Clara?

Clara

Hello.

Michelle

Now, she's also going to be helping with our co-hosting today. And with that, Clara, I'd like you to introduce our guest.

Clara

Petra immigrated to Canada in 2001, after having lived and worked in Germany, the USA and Australia. While initially in a corporate business, Petra started her business in 2011. And has since completed many successful projects, project management, systems integration, learning and development strategy, and custom learning development. Welcome to Mindful Mondays, Petra.

Petra

Thank you, Clara. And thank you, Michelle, for having me.

Michelle

It's our pleasure. I want to check in with our viewers here today to see what is happening. What's happening here? Yeah, well, we are supposed to be here. Let's hang on a second. And we had an issue the last time with our Mindful Mondays as well. And the last time we were live, here we go. So we are in fact live. Perfect. All right. So to our viewers, please share in the chat where you're calling in from, we'd love to see your comments here. Petra is full of all sorts of wisdom around learning and development content strategy. And, in addition, fun facts. She doesn't live that far. For me, it's just a short ferry ride away. She's also a dog lover. She's also a dog lover. I'm a dog lover, and that might come up in our chat today. So if you are joining us love to see you. Please share your questions, and comments in the chat. And when you do that, we will bring them up on screen. Do you have a question? Clara for our guests? No question. Okay. Well, why don't we get into today's show, which is about customized learning programs? So would you like to start off our question here, Clara for Petra?

Clara

What exactly do you mean by custom learning programs?

Petra

Good question. So, a lot of times when companies want to train either their staff or other user groups, they can buy training that already exists. So they buy licenses or hire an expert to provide the training in their offices, or even to use their online training. But when we use customized training, then we can be very specific. We can create the training exactly, according to what our audience needs. So if you are a software company, and you have very specific software, and you need to train your users on the software, then you cannot buy that somewhere else because you've coded the software so you need to build your training specifically for the software. Or let's say you're a crochet business, a very specific product that you are producing. Maybe it's a dog collar or something like that. Now that is so unique, that you cannot buy a training program for all your staff or your team members, when you're growing the business, you then have to train them very customized in that service. Does that make sense?

Michelle

Yeah. So here's what I think I heard you say, Petra if I understand is that these customized learning programs can be very tailored, very specific to the niche market. Do I have that, right?

Petra

That is correct. So it's really important that we first understand the audience for whom we create training. As I said, it can be staff members. But it could also be, imagine you're an association, it could be the members of the association. Or it could be distributors of the product that need to know a lot about the product. Or it could also be that you're selling, it could be your clients who are buying the training programs. So depending on who the audience is, what they need to learn and how they need to be able to do the things that you're teaching them. You can customize the training specific to those needs.

Michelle

Okay? Okay. So let's say, Clara, you and your friends, Talia, right, you two decide to make these custom dog collars, right? And then you decide to also start teaching your other friends how to do this, but it takes a lot of time. Right. And I know this from you spending your time with me these last few days you like to be on your tablet. So maybe Petra helps you create some online learning. A 10-minute video that you and your friends can watch wherever you are. So that you're creating these dog collars in a uniform way that it doesn't matter where you are, that you're going to create them all the same. With that, would that be a good tool to have?

Clara

Yeah.

Michelle

Yeah.

Petra

And it could go even beyond that. So in this case, that is one lesson or one module, on how to create dog collars. But then afterwards, he can also have training about how you will be distributing it, how you do your pricing strategy, or how you do different design patterns. So you can start building enhanced training programs. And to the original training of how to do the train, the collar.

Michelle

That sounds really, really fun. I'm going to check in with our audience members here. We have quite a few people here. Let's take a look at the beginning here. Oh, look here. Who do we have? We have Colette calling in from Treaty One. We know that this is a very special guest for Clara. And, oh, we've got this is a good one here. I like this. Thank you, Zeynep for saying Bravo. Wonderful. Who else do we have here? Whoo. All the way on the other coast. Nova Scotia, where I'm going to be heading that way in a couple of weeks going to New Waterford. Yep. We're all over the place today. We've got Hope, BC. That's wonderful. Well, thank you very much for chiming in. If you have any questions at all of Petra. Please do share these in the chat. Okay. So speaking of questions, how about we ask Petra the next question? This one is here. Yeah, that one there.

Clara

Who comes to you for support in this area of customizing learning programs?

Petra

Yeah, I work with all kinds of companies, organizations of all sizes. So it could be a small two-person team that wants to build, you know, create custom crocheted dog collars. But it could also be large organizations, even government organizations, municipalities, associations, corporations and nonprofits. And as I mentioned a moment earlier, they have very different audiences, for example, in an association, they have their members who are part of the association. And within the members, it could be management, as well as could be people that are working in operations. So it can be a really great variety of different organizations who come to me with this help. For example, I was working with a technology company last year, they're based in the United States. They have their own custom software. And we developed 23 training programs for them for that custom software and set them up with standards. So they can now start building their own software, their own software training internally.

Michelle

So that's, that kind of leads me to this next question. And you may not have a real specific answer to it. But what types of problems do your learning programs tend to solve?

Petra

So the custom learning programs that we're teaching our clients or working with our clients on can solve any problem. So the technology company, they want to teach their clients of how to use the technology in the most effective way. At the Association for Municipalities, we were working on project management training, and we were also working on regular onboarding training. So if you have very customized onboarding for your new team members coming on staff, you might have to get the onboarding done, and you want to do this consistently and effectively. So the problems can that's the great thing about custom learning, is that you actually customize the learning to the issues that you're trying to solve.

Michelle

Got it. Got it. Okay. It sounds really big. Does it sound really big to you? Yeah, it sounds really big. So I'm wondering, this might be another good question for Petra here.

Clara

It all sounds amazing, but it also sounded like a significant undertaking. Can you break down the steps for us?

Petra

Ah, yeah, breaking down the steps. Okay, so let's go to your crocheting business first. And think about if we wanted to create some custom training in your crocheting business, the first thing we need to think about is who is the audience who will go through the training. So you mentioned earlier that you and your friend Tanya, I think, what's her name?

Michelle

Your partner's

Clara

Talia

Petra

Talia. Okay, you and Talia are partners in this in this venture. And you want to train your various friends who will come on board. And they are the audience for your training. So you are now teaching your friends. And the first thing you want to teach them is how to make the dog collars. So we understand who the audience is. Once we understand the objective of the training overall, we then build our learning objectives. So how do you properly hold your crochet needle? How do you choose the right wool? How do you select a pattern? How do you start with your crochet? I have never really learned how to crochet, my sister's great crocheter. That's what I think I wouldn't need to learn because I really don't know how to do it. And so that's kind of the learning objective for the course overall. But we've also talked earlier about thinking about distribution, how do you want to get this to market, you might want to work with some specific pet stores where you might want to take it to the local farmers market. Or you might sell it to all your friends who have dogs. So that's your distribution. So we have another module on distributing the products. So we now want to now break down your training by module, and bring it into smaller units. And then we are thinking about how do we engage people in this learning, we don't want it to be boring, right? So we wanted to do an engaging. So how do we do that? So maybe we give them specific tasks, interactive tasks, create their own patterns for how to how to do really fun colours, or how to do them for really large dogs and really tiny dogs, different ideas of how to change that, and how to create a really fun poster that they can put up in the stores or at the farmers market. So that's bringing it down into smaller patterns. And then from there, we can start building the content, a little video perhaps, and maybe a cheat sheet, something that they can look up along the way. And then we bring it into your online platform so that it runs on the tablet. And so that's kind of the final piece of the development. We're implementing it into a learning management system.

Michelle

Got it got it. So I can think of one specific module that would be very, very important. What were we trying to do yesterday Clara, with the yarn, the ball of yarn?

Clara

Oh, my yarn gets all tangled and we're trying to wrap it unwrap and then wrap it back up.

Petra

Yeah, so that might be a very special bonus module that you add in. Do you ever struggle with your yarn, or maybe the cat steals it? And it might be a way. And so there's, there's actually, the real yarn bowls that you have the yarn in a bowl in a wooden bowl, and it unwraps itself and the yarn can go through a little hole and is guided through that would be cool, huh? That could be a bonus.

Michelle

It could be a bonus training module

Petra

Bonus training.

Michelle

Yeah. Why don't you show our viewers what you created there, bring your water bottle a little bit closer? And you can see here?

Petra

Yes. Cool. See, you can diversify your products. So that's that training. So now we're not talking about one course, but maybe multiple. And you start building out your academy. And that is again, something that you can start building out on your online platform an academy where you have different courses for different audiences.

Michelle

Sounds really fancy Clara? Yeah, something for you to think about. Right? You can start thinking about that when you fly home Clara's flying home today. So she can think about that. Maybe she can start writing down some things or

Petra

Or writing your business plan.

Michelle

There you go. There you go. Okay, I'm going to check in with our audience here because I've seen a whole bunch of chats here in the comments. Okay, there's a good question here. Let's see here, right here. This one, can you read this question out for Petra, please?

Clara

Petra, who are your favourite clients to work with? And why? Or type of clients?

Petra

Excellent. That's a really difficult question. I like to work with nice people. So they are often clients who really want to get stuff done, they really want to get results. And they're doing the things that need to be done to get to those results. That's really important to me because I'm action focused. And other than that, I just want them to be nice people, it doesn't matter in which industry they work. While there are some industries I might not want to work in. Tobacco I don't want to work in. So there are some industries that don't want to work in but overall, it doesn't matter if it's a for-profit, nonprofit, if it is a small company or a big company. It is about the people that you build relationships with. And so that's really important to me, more so than the type of business they're in.

Michelle

Okay, so I think that Clara would be a good client of yours because she's a pretty kind person.

Petra

Yeah. Okay, there's another girl having dog collars and maybe bow ties, and I can see that on Cricket.

Michelle

That'd be really fun. Yeah, well, she did make you as you know, this, Petra, my dog's name is Chickpea. And she did make Chickpea, a bow tie this weekend. Very cute. So you're, you're in the right, you're you got the right mindset, that creative mindset, right? That's what you need. Okay, we have another question here. Oh, thank you. Thank you. That's There we go. Not that one. I wanted to bring up this one here. So this one is again from Ksenia. How? Go ahead, read this question, please.

Clara

How long do you usually work on a project? Do you charge by the project value? Not time?

Petra

Hmm. And that is a really good question. So when I said, I typically work with nice people. And I tend to really have long client relationships, but they come to me for one project. And then from there, it goes into another project. Very often, clients approached me because they want to have a learning management system. They either have already signed up for one and they need it implemented, or they don't know yet which one they want. So they need help in selecting it, or they have one and it doesn't work for them. So they need some changes to be done. And so I work with them on the selection of a learning management system and the implementation. Those projects can be quite complex and long. Sometimes we work together for nine months on a project like that. But if it is around building a custom learning program, it depends on the complexity of the training program, and on the availability of my clients to be participating in this. So on how much they are contributing versus how much we're taking over from our end, those projects can be eight weeks, 12 weeks, and they can be longer. And often it's not one program. It's multiple programs. But we also try and help our clients and their subject matter experts to learn how to build their own programs, because we want you to be self-sufficient. And we want you to have the ability to create training programs when needed and make adjustments as well so that you don't have to go out and get a supplier. So we also work with clients to help them with curriculum development and adult learning principles.

Michelle

That makes sense. So I think one of the things, the key takeaways, when you talk about people that really are engaged in the process if you were to work with Clara and her team, I would suggest not during the summer time because there's way too many other fun things going on. Right, Clara? Yeah, yeah, more fun things going on. That's great. Thank you for those really great questions. I'd like Clara to ask you one more question here. I think that's really, I think will be really fun to highlight your work, Petra.

Clara

Can you share one of your favourite success stories with our viewers?

Petra

Hmm. Of course, I can yes. Okay, which one do I pick? So I want to talk about the Municipality Association of Canada, they call me in to help them to do a review of the learning management system. And when we started reviewing that, it became clear, they didn't actually even have a learning and development strategy that was helpful for the internal team to move forward with any of their learning and development projects. So from that review, we worked started working on developing the L&D strategy. And then while we were working on that one of the participants in the discovery phase there, asked me if I could help some of her internal subject matter experts to build our training programs. They were experts in what they were doing. But they had a hard time putting that into a plan for a training program. And also to understand how to put these training programs in their learning management system. So we took them, those five individuals, I took them through my Big League Bootcamp, which is a training program I do to help subject matter experts in a corporate setting to develop their training curriculums, as well as to consider how it works with the learning management system. So again, I'm all about custom. I'm all about, you know, making it work for you and for your organization. So when I work with Clara, and Clara tells me you know, summer is really busy, and we need to navigate around summer, then we'll plan around that so that it works with your needs and your team's needs. And in that case, we would be probably working in small groups. And so you will be teaching them crocheting because I don't know that I'm not a subject matter. Crochet, you are. But I am a subject matter expert in how to develop the training program and how to put it on the LMS.

Michelle

That sounds really fun. Does that sound fun? Clara? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Someone who could actually help you build out your products, sell them and get more bow ties on more dogs? Could be pretty fun. Yes, that's right. Okay, I'm gonna check in again, with our viewers here. See? We have one more question here for you. Let me find it here. Right here. Petra, do you maintain the LMS? Are you handed over to your clients?

Petra

Yeah, again, depending on client needs, so I do for one of my clients, I've been helping him deliver his training programs for three or four years now. So I maintain his platform for him. And now even project manage the team that is delivering the training. But for most clients, they want to bring their project and their learning management system in-house. And we're, we're training people in the house to how to handle the the the LMS. So we've done that as well for a school, where we had educators that needed to be trained on the use of their new learning management system. So we build out the training, and then we hand that over again, for the organization to be able to do this internally. So we work with the client and around the client's needs. We define it around their needs, and that's the first step of any project is to get really clear on the needs of the project and what will really help the organization to move forward.

Michelle

Thank you so much, Petra. I always enjoy your conversations as you know. There's always lots of learning. We do have a couple of minutes left. If there are any questions from our viewers. We'd love to get those in before we close. If we don't if there are more questions, of course, you can connect with Petra here on LinkedIn. I shared her information here in the chat, you can find her here on LinkedIn. You can also find me here on LinkedIn. I will tell you about what's coming up next. We're taking a break in August for our next Mindful Monday. We won't be hosting one in August, but we will be back in September. So stay tuned for more information on that. I'd like to thank Clara very much for her support today. It was great having you co-host today. Would you like to come back?

Clara

Yeah,

Michelle

Yeah. Okay, great. That would be great. So maybe another summer edition of Mindful Mondays next year when you come back? With puppies? This is what she's saying about puppies. Yes. Excellent. Okay, so she can come. Chickpea could come? That's right. Yeah. Yeah.

Clara

And Cricket, too.

Michelle

Oh, yeah. That would be great. That would be great. Let's see here. I think we have another question here. Oh, this was just Thank you, Vraya for working behind the scenes, Vraya is our Marketing Manager. And she's been sharing these posts here. So if you haven't signed up for our newsletter, this is one of the ways that you can do that. And our August newsletter will be coming out very shortly. Thank you so much for sharing all of your questions here. Ksenia, these are really great questions. Really appreciate your participation.

Petra

We have one final question, Michelle from Phillip Svehla, is just a little above there. What trends do you see in the custom training space?

Michelle

Yeah, that's a great question.

Petra

I would say there is a, there is a higher demand for custom, because we have very customized needs, and organizations really want to customize and stand out. They don't really want to just pick off-the-shelf training, they want something that is very, very specific to their needs. So I think there is an increase in custom training. But there's also a demand and making them faster, be more agile in the development side of things. There is more software available to do them faster, because in the past that used to take very long and be very expensive. So nowadays, we want to create these trainings quicker, faster, maybe even less, less formal, and but more of it and be very, very updated, always updated. So I think that's what I'm seeing in the customer training space.

Michelle

So more agile learning is what I'm hearing you're saying. Yeah, yeah, that's great. Thanks very much, Phillip, for sharing that question. We are coming up to the end of our time here today. So I just want to share some of these comments here from our viewers. Great job, great co-host that's excellent. Thank you. Colette, Great job! We can add Mindful Monday co-host to your resume. Another amazing job. They think you have a bit of a niche here of being a co-host there. Thank you Greg for showing up today. Clara was amazing. Love it. I think she was amazing too. So that the other person that was amazing was you Petra, thank you so much for being our guest and for sharing your wisdom with us today.

Petra

Thank you, Michelle, and special thanks to Clara and I look forward to working with you and your friends on your crocheting business.

Michelle

Sounds great. Okay, Clara's got some closing words for us here.

Clara

Until next time, be well

Michelle

Be well, everyone.

Petra

Thank you.