Steal These Thoughts 17.01.23 | The Solo L&D Pro Guidebook

͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ 

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The lonely road...

Also, not forgetting the usual dose of weird, wonderful and what I hope is helpful content from the rest of planet earth in my curated roundup.

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Want to learn how to create your own USP to stand out in your career?

 Check out the latest episode of the STT podcast where we'll explore this in detail.

The big thought

Being a one-person L&D team is not easy.I know how hard this is. I’ve been here many times.These 4 steps will help you move in the right direction from day one.

The 4-step solo framework

1/ Get to know key players outside HRBefore talking about strategies, requirements or learning technology. You should go out and talk to key people in the business.Learn their view on the L&D department today. What’s their understanding of a modern L&D function? What culture exists today?Before you can do anything you need to build relationships and understand the game you’re currently playing. Don't make the mistake of building behind closed doors.You can't afford to do that as a one-person show.2/ Get clear on your company’s strategy and goalsTo effectively support a business one must understand it at a core level.You won’t get far in building a performance function if you don’t understand how the business works and what it wants to achieve.If you want your L&D function to truly deliver value, it must be connected to business goals.A common reason workplace L&D is an afterthought is when it does not align with what a business is trying to achieve. Get this right from day one.3/ Build partnershipsBeing a one-person team means being strict with what you can actually do.People will have a thousand requests and you can’t do this alone. Building key relationships across these teams will help you do more with less:

• People Team

• Internal Comms/Employee Experience

• Marketing - particularly brand and copywriting

• Infrastructure - the team that controls all the workplace tech.

• Product

Prioritisation of requests will be your most important skill. With support from these partnerships, you'll be able to deliver more impact.I'll break down my approach to building better learning strategies in a soon-to-be-released podcast episode and in this newsletter.4/ Learn what the department is doing today (good + bad)This will apply if you’re inheriting an established function. For those who are building from scratch, don’t worry, I got you. I’m building a step-by-step guide on that as I type (in my head of course, I can’t multitask).Like our first point, you cannot assess what to do unless you know what’s here today. This means spending time talking with customers of L&D services and a full review of current products. Don’t break stuff if it’s working just because. That’s not a good way to start.Review, reflect and decide what needs work.

Content that has caught my attention and might interest you too.

If you're curious, here's two ways I can help you 👇

1/ My L&D toolkit stack with 20 free tools.2/ My How To Win In The Careerverse playbook where you can learn the tools and tactics to navigate the game of careers.That's it for this week. Please do share your thoughts with me on these pieces or anything I share on the Twitterverse and LinkedIn. Chat to you soon.

“Nobody panics when things go “according to plan”. Even if the plan is horrifying!”The Joker (Heath Ledger)

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