Author: Dr. Geoff Cox

In the last days of September 2023, at a large, elegant Victorian mansion in the Highlands of Scotland, a diverse group of people will come together to celebrate an anniversary. Across a long weekend the discussions they have will inevitably keep returning to the key events that have shaped the 20 years that they have worked together, and above all... Read more...

I’ve given significant attention in recent postings to the huge importance of ensuring that the content and design-methodology of any event that brings people together to learn is carefully chosen. I’ve given particular attention to the need to avoid anything that could be learned just as well without bringing people together in the ... Read more...

I wrote last month about the resurgence of face-to-face learning interventions after such a long hiatus. The conversations we had at the ATD Exhibition in San Diego were immensely heartening as L+D professionals were not only talking enthusiastically about these events but recognising the importance of using them well, and in many cases this ... Read more...

My last blog was about how the RSVP Design team were heading for the ATD23 Conference in San Diego and what I anticipated the conversations at our booth would be all about. We’re back now after a very successful and sociable conference, and I thought it would be worth continuing the theme by checking whether things went as I anticipated. Did... Read more...

RSVP Design has a team out at the ATD23 Conference in San Diego soon, and we’re getting ready for a lot of good conversations packed into a very short time. A big international conference is always a buzz, meeting customers, distributors, colleagues whom we haven’t seen in so long, and hopefully attracting many new people to our stand. ... Read more...

What happens to a group of participants in a learning programme once they’ve gone back to their workplace? Assuming we’re not contracted to engage in structured follow-up this is probably a nagging and persistent question. If the group are in the same organisation as us then it’s relatively easy to find out - perhaps as easy as ... Read more...

One decision that faces designers of learning experiences in organisations is how to integrate and include the leaders of the groups involved. Do I ignore the workplace hierarchy and simply integrate the leaders into the experience? Do I mirror the workplace and have the leaders continue in that role during the activity? Do I create a special place... Read more...

When I wrote the last posting for 2022 I suggested that, when it comes to designing learning programmes ‘It’s all about the endings’. Now we’re into 2023 I’m going to recognise that there’s a whole new year ahead of us and we need to accept that, while it’s got huge potential for reward, it also needs some ... Read more...

Think of your favourite films, or your favourite books, what is it that sticks in your mind the most? Plot? Characters? The quality of the cinematography or writing? All of these tend to draw us in and make reading / watching a pleasurable experience, but what’s most often cited as making the experience stick in the mind are the opening ... Read more...

I often need to persuade clients that the ‘future-focused’ element of a learning initiative (call it action planning, visioning, learning transfer etc etc) can be, indeed should be, delivered in exactly the same way as the ‘developmental’ elements. There seems to be a strong desire to isolate the action planning phase from ... Read more...