Part 1 of our Aged Care Quality Standards series

As of July 1st 2019, the new Aged Care Quality Standards will be in place across Australia. The standards will apply to all aged care services, including residential care, home care, flexible care and services under the Commonwealth Home Support Program. Now is the time to familiarise yourself with them.  

In order to meet the standards, staff must be well-equipped and feel confident in delivering the best possible care. To support this, Go1 has partnered with Australian training provider Aged Care Learning Solutions to bring you all the online training courses you need to be ACQS compliant.

We will also be looking at the requirements listed under each of the quality standards, exploring how aged care providers can go above and beyond to deliver the highest quality care. 

We begin with Standard 1, which looks at consumer dignity and choice.  This serves as a foundation for each of the standards regarding the consumer’s right to decision-making and choice.

Requirement 3c under Standard 1 is concerned with supporting consumers to maintain their independence. When those in aged care have agency, they are far more likely to remain both physically and mentally healthy.  

Although the extent to which an individual can maintain independence will depend on the level of care they need, independence, where possible, can make a huge difference to an individual’s sense of self-worth and mental wellbeing. 

Below is our list of top tips for aged care providers to use and to generate conversation around the topic. The advice we share is to be implemented at the discretion of those responsible for the quality of aged care provision. Staff wishing to implement changes should do so in consultation with colleagues and line managers. 

Top tips for supporting consumers’ independence 

 People who require the support of an aged care provider have wide-ranging needs.  Some individuals need round-the-clock care, while others are more independent and able to complete daily routines without assistance. It is very important to adjust conversation, tone and care services to suit the needs of different consumers. 

Where possible, ask consumers what they would like assistance with, rather than assuming what would be best. Providing unnecessary assistance can be demoralising and knock confidence. On the other hand, sometimes consumers will under-estimate how much support they need, so it is important to use your professional judgment.

Although the type and level of communication possible will depend on the needs of individual consumers, it is important to consider carefully how staff are speaking with individuals in their care.  Is the language pitched at an appropriate level for the consumer? How is information recorded to ensure different staff members are aware of an individual’s communication needs? Where language is a barrier to understanding, are other methods of communication used, such as non-verbal cues and gestures? 

3. Include family, friends and the wider community

Where possible, encourage consumers to maintain contact independently with their wider communities. This may include family, friends or anybody in their support networks. If an individual in your care stays in touch with others of their own accord, this will increase their sense of independence and connection to the outside world. 

Equally, if you are finding it difficult to communicate with a person you are caring for (and there are no medical reasons for this), a family member or friend might understand how to communicate with them better. The individual in your care might also be more receptive to communicating with somebody familiar. 

4. Focus on what consumers are able to do

 When encouraging consumers to be independent, it is vital to ensure that they continue doing activities they are able to do, and for this to be the focus.  It is also important to think about how to best support individuals to continue with daily routines and tasks by themselves for as long as possible. 

The Japanese village of Okinawa has the highest number of recorded centenarians in the world, and members of its community put this down to being able to maintain what is called their Ikigai, or reason for being.  This could be something as simple as growing vegetables in a garden to share with others, or taking part in a community association. If an individual has a sense of purpose, they are far more likely to be happy and healthy.

Speak to the individuals in your care and find out what they are good at or what kinds of activities they enjoy doing most.  If it is possible for them to contribute this skill to their community in a positive way, this will create a greater sense of belonging and help them to maintain their independence.

To learn more about Standard 1, Aged Care Learning Solutions has a video guide to help you.

If you have a Go1 Premium portal, log in to view. Here, you will also find learning resources related to Standard 1. 

False

How to support consumers with maintaining their independence under the new ACQS 

People who work in offices may be feeling a bit lonely these days. That’s because the number of people opting to work remotely is increasing. According to a report published by Flexjobs, 43% of workers in the United States work remotely at just part of the time. If your company outsources work to offshore companies, or simply has a global presence, you know that number increases significantly.

There are plenty of benefits to remote working. Businesses can source talent from all over the world. People who are able to work remotely are often more content and productive. There are even environmental benefits. Several companies including Dell and Xerox report a smaller carbon footprint thanks to telecommuting. 

There are also undeniable challenges. When a business has a distributed workforce, how do they maintain the level of cooperation, collaboration, and communication they need? How do they contend with different cultures? Even time zones can be an issue.

Centralization and continuity are key to success. By having apps and other tools in common, remote teams can establish the cohesive relationships they need. Here, we’ll go over the importance of these, common concerns, and some tools to help.

Ensuring that communication contributes to success

MaryAnne Ilfrey is a large projects coordinator for TopWritersReview. She heads up teams of writers and editors distributed across the globe. She says, “At the start of every major product we emphasize the importance of regular communication. This has been key in our ability to successfully close out important projects for our clients smoothly and efficiently. Keeping everyone on the same page ensures fewer misunderstandings.”

Cultural understanding is important when projects involve workers from multiple places

 Teams are now more culturally diverse than ever. Because remote work brings people together from all over the world, people working together on the same project may come from starkly different backgrounds. While ethnic, religious, and other forms of diversity are wonderful, success depends on Cultural literacy and understanding.

All of the above is true for people who work in offices together. With remote teams, it’s even more so. That’s why respect and understanding are so important. Cultural differences, without understanding, can lead to issues with communication and friction between team members.

Some managers admit, for example, that Americans tend to be a bit bold. They believe in being direct and putting conflicts out on the table to be worked through and solved. That can be a problem if they are working with people from a culture that values the concept of saving face, or that takes a more subtle approach to conflict.

There are several things that managers can do to help. The first is to encourage people to come to them with questions and concerns, then be able to address those concerns with knowledge and sensitivity. Another is to encourage friendly relationships among team members. Cultural misunderstandings happen, but when the people involved have an underlying trust and respect for one another.

Communicate more often than you think you need

I don’t need to get into a lot of detail.

We can cover these points later if we need to.

There are plenty of excuses to delay or skip communicating with others. The problem with this is that with distributed teams, often working across time zones, communication is already a challenge. It’s always better to err on the side of communication overkill than not. Think of it like this, whatever it is you are working on, somebody in an entirely different region may have to pick that up and run with it. 

Enabling teams to collaborate regardless of location

What is the biggest difficulty teams face when multiple people, in multiple locations must work cooperatively on the same parts of a project? When people work hard on something, they take ownership of that. When others make changes, they get territorial. Keeping change logs that focus on the benefits to the client and the project as a whole helps track changes. 

Team building can be a challenge when team members are scattered across the globe. There are no weekly happy hours. It’s virtually impossible to plan any sort of get together either. What teams can do is find ways to connect without meeting face to face. For example, you can have meetings twice each quarter via Skype that all of your associates and freelancers are invited to attend. It’s a bit of a get to know you session. Yes, it’s a bit corny at first, but once everyone loosens up a bit, it really turns into a positive thing.

Conclusion: tools to make remote teams more successful

Helping remote teams collaborate successfully is a real challenge. To succeed, you need great management, understanding, and people who are willing to work together. Fortunately, there are some tools that can help.

Slack is a communication app that makes it easy for remote team members to communicate with one another individually or in groups. This is a great alternative for keeping team members who don’t work in the same place engaged with one another.

Skype may not be the most exciting tool. However, it is effective and familiar, and in a remote work situation, that can be ideal. When a team needs to get together, video conferencing is often the best way to go. With Skype, most people understand how to use it. There’s no learning curve involved, so most users can just jump in.

 Google Drive a simple and easy means for remote team members to access shared documents, make edits and suggestions, and to share their documents as well.

Christopher Mercer is a blogger and freelancer. Web developer by day and writer by night, Chris enjoys the ever-changing world of web content. His in-depth articles have been featured in a variety of online publications. You can connect with Chris on LinkedIn. 

Centralizing collaboration in remote workers 

As of July 1st 2019, the new Aged Care Quality Standards will be in place. The Aged Care Quality Standards will apply to all aged care services including residential care, home care, flexible care and services under the Commonwealth Home Support Program. 

With eight new standards, a stronger consumer focus and clearly articulated care and service expectations, now is the time to familiarise and educate yourself with the new standards. To help you prepare and meet the new standards, Go1 has partnered with Australian training provider Aged Care Learning Solutions (ACLS) to bring you all the online training courses you need to be ACQS compliant. 

To help you prepare for the new standards, ACLS has created the "About Me" series, which contains nine highly engaging 10-15 minute videos introducing the new standards from the consumer perspective. 

The first free introductory video introduces your workforce to the concept of the consumer being at the centre of the new standards. The learner will gain a practical understanding of the Aged Care Quality Standards with scenarios that facilitate the application of their learning. 

You can watch the first video of the ACLS "About Me" series right here:

ACLS | Standards Introduction

Don’t be caught out when the assessment and monitoring against the standards takes effect. Stay tuned on the Go1 blog each week to see our next installments of the "About Me" series, as well as more information around each individual standard. We are ready, are you? 

Are you ready for the new Aged Care Quality Standards? An introduction to our Aged Care Quality Standards series

New Aged Care Quality Standards at a glance for your workforce

We have all been there - a deadline for a long report or project is looming. Although you have known about it for months and have a week left to complete it, somehow any distraction seems preferable to making a start.  The sheer scale of the task at hand is overwhelming, and the thought of working on it induces panic. 

Procrastination, when left unchecked, can become a chronic problem. When we don’t feel like completing a task in the moment, we are unable to see the impact of avoiding it long term, or how failing to do the work will stop us from reaching our goals. This can create a negative downward spiral, which becomes difficult to get out of and reset.  

While delaying work is seen as a net negative, historically, the ancient Romans and Greeks valued thinking over doing. When looking at procrastination from this perspective, it could be viewed as an opportunity for a big idea to come to the fore. Yet, for those focused on a productive working life in the modern world, it is definitely seen as the enemy.  

So, where does procrastination come from?  And how can we learn to recognise and manage it?  

Human beings have a long evolutionary history of procrastination, and the proliferation of technology in our world today has made overcoming it all the more difficult. 

Initially thought to stem from a lack of self-control, latest research reveals that procrastination it is more an issue of emotional regulation. In other words, we hesitate to avoid negative feelings associated with a task, such as fear, and opt instead for the momentary relief other activities can offer.

On the flip side of this, Wait But Why author, Tim Urban, explains that while some people claim to be procrastinators and others do not, those who claim to never procrastinate simply have a better control over their impulses.  A key factor in the process is what he calls the ‘instant gratification monkey’, who is secretly trying to sabotage all of us when we need to be getting on with something important, but perhaps a little scary.  Of course, there are many things we would much rather be doing than work, and our brains are very good at tempting us into doing these first,  like catching up on Instagram or grabbing a coffee.  

Another piece of the procrastination puzzle is motivation.  Not every activity or task we do is naturally enjoyable or rewarding, and whether or not a task is enjoyable will depend on individual preferences. When we are intrinsically motivated to complete a task, we want to do the work because we naturally enjoy it or find it satisfying.  

When a task does not motivate you in this way, it can be helpful to find a way to extrinsically motivate yourself to do it.  This simply means building in a reward for completing the task, or a section of it. The reward then becomes the motivation, and you have created your own incentive for getting the work done. 

Cast your mind back to the school classroom, and you will likely remember many ways you were extrinsically motivated by your teacher to do things you didn’t enjoy much.  Stickers, prizes, praise - you name it. Your teacher would have tried everything.  As human beings, we are hard-wired to seek out rewards and can use this psychology to our advantage. 

If procrastination is impacting negatively on your life, we have a few simple tricks to help you get around it. The goal is to trick your brain into getting some momentum without the psychological battle. Remember, starting the task is usually the biggest hurdle.  Once you are over this, you may well find that the work is not quite as challenging as it originally seemed. 

Getting started: Making a start on a task, however small, is always beneficial.  This will begin a positive feedback loop in your brain, and give you the all-important momentum you need to see the work to its completion. As with exercise, putting your runners on is usually the hardest part of the workout!


The ‘Pomodoro Technique’: This is a time management trick developed by Francesco Cirilllo in the late 1980s. The idea is to tackle a piece of work you need to get done in 25 minute intervals, followed by a short break.  Why does it work?  This comes back to our reward systems.  If we promise ourselves a reward at the end of completing a section of work, we are extrinsically motivated to complete the task.  This can be very helpful for getting started, particularly with tasks you are not intrinsically motivated to do.


Break the work down: Thinking about the enormity of a task before starting it can also trigger procrastination and anxiety. A great way around this is to think about how you could break the task down into smaller chunks.  For example, if you have to write a report, aim to write the first 100 words, and then have a short break.  It might also be helpful to plan out the task first, with headings and bullet points to guide you through each step. 


Take breaks regularly: This is a must for beating procrastination.  Going for a quick walk or a coffee when your attention begins to wane can re-energise you to continue. While it may seem as though you’re wasting time, you will come back to your desk more focused, and less likely to be tempted by other activities.


Switch up your tasks: If you find that your productivity on a task has reduced (or you find yourself meandering to other, less productive tabs open on your laptop!), switching to a different task can help to keep your mind fresh and improve concentration levels.  You might only need to break from your original task for 15 minutes or so, and find that you come back to it rejuvenated and ready to complete the next goal you have set yourself. 

The ultimate guide to beating procrastination

Think about an average day in your working life.  Your work might be diverse and include a variety of activities, but, no matter how spontaneous you are, there are some things you will do every day without fail.  Some of us enjoy getting a coffee from the same place every morning, while others always like to wake up with a shower. 

Whatever your day looks like, rituals are proven to help shape your day and provide structure. You can also use them to improve your productivity or even make you feel more relaxed (1). When you know what to expect and when to expect it, your brain expends less energy and becomes more efficient, leaving more time for problem solving and creativity.

So, why is it that rituals benefit us, and how can we use them to our advantage?  

In human civilisation, the use of rituals can be found across history and continents. Many religions recognise the importance of ritual and structure to organise daily life, and to mark important occasions. Athletes are also known for their interesting, repetitive quirks; Rafael Nadal brings two drink bottles with him to every tennis match, and places each of them in the same, specific position to help find his competitive mindset.

Rituals differ slightly from routines in that they have a meaningful intention behind them. When you need to complete something quickly or you have a goal to achieve without too much thinking, you are completing a routine task with little awareness behind it. You might be on autopilot and strive to get it done as quickly as possible. 

When you are completing a ritual, you will likely be more aware of the intention behind it, feel internally motivated to complete the task and focus on how you are performing. Of course, we don’t need to pay this level of attention to everything we do, but awareness can help to make tasks more enjoyable and easier to complete. 

Legendary tidying expert, Marie Kondo, brings ‘the magic of tidying up’ to our screens on Netflix, and the rituals she follows (such as thanking her home before beginning to tidy it) are rooted in the Shinto beliefs she was exposed to growing up. Shinto is the traditional religion of Japan and built upon ritual-based practices to create a connection between the Japan of today and its ancient past.

Creating rituals, particularly to help with the boring but essential tasks you would rather not do, can also reduce stress and anxiety levels. How often do you find yourself thinking about the mountain of emails you need to reply to? If you have a ritual in place for when you look over them and keep in mind why you are doing it, you save time and energy for crafting responses. 

A great place to begin when establishing rituals for yourself is to target aspects of daily life which you find more challenging. Once you have picked an area to focus on, choose a time in your schedule to work on it.  Like dealing with the ever-growing mass of unread emails, if you say to yourself when you are going to work on a task, and then allocate the time to do so, you are much more likely to succeed. 

The next step is to make sure you include an intention behind completing the ritual.  An intention could be to reduce your stress levels, or to ensure you are doing your job to the best of your ability.  Understanding the purpose of a task is key, as you will then be able to see why it is beneficial for you, another colleague or your team, and you will naturally be more motivated to do it. 

It is also good to make sure you include a reward for yourself once you complete the task, especially if you don’t enjoy doing it much.  Your brain will then learn that completing this task results in an activity you enjoy afterwards, which will give you an incentive to tackle it in the first place.

When you are trying out new rituals, it is important not to overload yourself or to take it too far at the beginning.  You want each ritual to become a habit, and once it becomes ingrained you will hardly have to think about it, which is the desired effect! However, if you try to do too much at the start, you are unlikely to keep your rituals going and lose interest altogether quite quickly. Aim to try out one new ritual each week, and see how you go from there. 

A particularly good ritual to start your day with is to ensure you have a tidy workspace. Having a clean desk makes us work more productively and ready to tackle the other tasks ahead. Most of us wouldn’t consider allocating time for this every day, yet it can significantly reduce stress levels knowing that the space around you is organised. Minimising stress means more mental energy for unexpected problems or difficulties which might come your way during the course of the day.

It is important to mention that there is a spectrum of personality types, and, although there are those who prefer to plan their lives out a little more, and those who love to go with the flow, rituals can help everybody to flourish. 

If you are more spontaneous, you can use rituals to facilitate your more creative and adventurous moments - it doesn’t need to be stifling. If you love order and like things organised, the chances are you’re already way ahead of us, but you might need help connecting with tasks on a more meaningful level. 

In the week ahead, think about a new ritual you could include to make your time flow that little bit easier. 

Hobson NM, Bonk D, Inzlicht M. 2017. Rituals decrease the neural response to performance failure. PeerJ 5:e3363 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3363

How rituals at work can help us perform better

Learning more about your personality can be a huge advantage at work, both for your own benefit and for your colleagues. At some point, most of us have been asked to complete the hugely popular Myers-Briggs indicator tests, but implementing changes afterwards isn’t always easy. 

A key part of the testing process is knowing where you are placed on the introversion-extroversion spectrum.  Understanding this aspect of your personality can help you to make simple changes to your working day, and ensure that you are getting the most out of your environment.

Celebrated psychoanalyst and psychiatrist, Carl Jung, introduced the terms introversion and extroversion to the scientific community in the early 20th century, but their meaning has been simplified over time. Those classified as extroverts are thought to be more outgoing, talkative and energetic, whereas those who are introverted are more solitary and reserved in nature. 

A main difference between the two groups is that they are re-energised and motivated in different ways. Current research indicates that the reason for this could be linked to the way individuals process rewards. Those who are more extroverted respond more strongly when a risk pays off, which means they are driven to engage in adventurous behaviour, such as making themselves the center of discussion in a large group.

In the general population, extroverts are estimated to make up 50-74% of people, and dominate social situations.  This puts the responsibility with leaders to ensure introverts are also given the opportunity to thrive. From working environment to meeting set up, carefully considering personality types is crucial to getting the most out of yourself or your team. 

Supporting different personality types in the workplace

In her book, Quiet, author and proud introvert, Susan Cain, discusses the fact that so much potential for collaboration is being lost in the modern workplace, which is organised in favour of those who are more extroverted. She argues that this imbalance extends back to the school classroom, which is open-plan and involves a significant amount of group work and class discussion. Introverts generally prefer to be alone more often and spend a lot of time thinking.  So, what can employees and managers do to make working environments more suitable for a wider range of people and harness new ideas?

Use of space: Think about how your workspace is set up. Do you work mostly from home, or are you in a busy, open-plan office? If you are more introverted, think about ways you can find time for quiet during your working day. Perhaps there are meeting rooms you can book, which will allow you two hours of uninterrupted time to focus.  Of course, depending on the kind of work you do, this isn’t always possible, but look for opportunities throughout the day.  If you are more extroverted, you could organise more collaborative work sessions to boost energy and creativity.     

Communicate your needs: Once you have an idea of where you lie on the introversion-extroversion spectrum, it is important to communicate what you need to those you work with.  If you are in an open-plan office, it might be the norm for others around you to interrupt for a quick chat.  If you need to focus on the task you are doing, it is important to set boundaries and organise an alternative time to talk about a project.  If you set boundaries, your colleagues should respect this, and will most likely appreciate some quiet time to themselves when they need it! 

Respect your colleagues’ time and space: It is important to remember that this works both ways.  If you need to ask a colleague or manager a question, be mindful and ask them when they have time to talk.  Try to be specific and action-oriented when you are asking for a colleague’s time; they will appreciate your efficiency. 

Thinking time: Introverts often work best when given time to think and respond to a question.  Engaging an introvert in quick decision making can be anxiety inducing, and won’t result in the best outcome.  This doesn’t mean that introverts are unable to manage thinking in this way (just as extraverts are able to sit quietly and think through responses). It means they will function best and more naturally when given the time to process their answers. If you are more introverted, you can use this knowledge to your advantage, and where possible ask for more time to respond if you need it.

Meeting set up: Meetings are an important time for your team to come together and work through issues that need to be tackled. However, they are notoriously unproductive, with as many 92% of people multitasking whilst attending a regular team catch-up. This is particularly true for introverts, who are less likely to speak up in front of a large group of people. As a leader, being aware of this is particularly important when communicating in groups. Is every person present at the meeting given the opportunity to speak or put forward their ideas? How is this organised? Is it absolutely necessary to have a meeting? These questions will help you to guide the different members of your team and bring them together. 

Option to work remotely: The option to work remotely can also be a great way to keep the more introverted members on your team happier.  If it is possible in your workplace, think about offering it, while ensuring that your employees remain engaged and productive.  You will soon know if a team member isn’t pulling their weight if their assigned tasks don’t get done! 

Respect your employees’ time and space: Although sometimes as a leader it is necessary to interrupt your employees to ensure everything is running smoothly, if you can respect their time where possible this will go a long way, particularly for those on the more introverted end of spectrum.  Catching people off guard to discuss an issue, particularly if it is sensitive, is unlikely to produce the best outcome. Set up meeting times with your employees where possible and they will thank you for it. 

Introverted or extroverted? How to make the best of your working day

In 2019, the digital age is very much upon us, and the workplace is unrecognisable when compared with 20 years ago. From open plan co-working spaces, to being able to work from anywhere in the world, communication, expectations and the nature of work are rapidly changing. 

In this shifting landscape, the ability to hold your attention on a task is becoming ever more challenging. Being able to multitask was previously worn as a badge of honour, yet research tells us that the brain, unlike a computer, is incapable of running too many complex tasks at once. Mental overload at work can seriously affect productivity, wellbeing and safety (1). 

While social media connects us to friends and family across the world, instant messaging is making it increasingly difficult to complete everyday tasks and to remain focused (2). US author and blogger, Mark Manson, explains that we now live in an ‘attention economy’ (3). With endless knowledge now available at the click of a button, our attention is of high value to advertisers, companies and organisations. 

In this environment, it isn’t surprising that we struggle to hold our attention on certain activities. Becoming completely immersed in the task at hand, or finding your ‘flow’ is proven to increase contentment at work and improve the quality of work produced (4). This state becomes ever more difficult to attain with so many distractions competing for our attention. 

So, what can you do to improve your focus on tasks? 

Setting up routines you can stick to is a good way to begin. 26th president of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt, is said to have worked at the same time, in the same place every day, and would work ignoring all other distractions that came his way. It was impossible to distract him. Although he would only spend a quarter of the average day working, he completed all of the tasks he needed to by using his time effectively.

In his 2016 book, Deep Work: Rules For Focused Success in a Distracted World, Georgetown professor and author, Cal Newport, explores Roosevelt’s ‘deep work’ ethic.  He defines deep work as:

“Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.” (5)

Granted, Roosevelt lived in a world where fewer distractions were competing for his attention, but with discipline it is possible to be more attentive. The key is to identify your main distractors and to be aware of them.  These might be thoughts, notifications or particular people! If you sit back and think, you will know straight away what distracts you. Finding a way to block out and manage these temptations is the is the more difficult step, but the rewards will speak for themselves. 

Go1 top tips for maintaining focus at work

Prioritise: Write a to-do list, but only for the day ahead.  An endless to-do list without any consideration for the time you have will not be effective.  If you can write out what you need to do that day, along with your top three priorities, you will have a greater sense of accomplishment when you reach the end of your list. Using a traditional to-do list can easily lead to procrastination and make you feel as though there is a huge, unmanageable mountain of work to do. 

Stick to daily routines: doing tasks and activities at the same time each day can help you to stay focused and make your day flow more smoothly.  When your brain knows what to expect, and when to expect it, it can focus on other processes, such as creativity and deep thinking. 

Manage expectations: Other people, no matter how well-intentioned, are a huge source of distraction, particularly in the workplace. If you are working to a deadline or really need to get started on a task, you need to be sure that your team members are aware of this.  Let them know when you are available for meetings and schedule them in, or arrange a time to catch up with them over coffee. You need to be responsible for communicating your needs to others and making yourself available to them only partially. This might also mean booking yourself into a private room if it is available, or taking yourself off to a quieter area, depending on your office layout.

Manage notifications: research shows that every time your phone goes off, you are distracted by it and taken away from the task you are focusing on. 6 Set aside specific times during the day to respond to emails and messages if possible. 

Meditate: the brain is plastic, meaning that at any point in life we can teach it new things or learn healthier habits.  Focus is a skill that we all have the capacity to develop, and meditation is a fantastic way to practice it. Meditation involves training the mind to focus on the breath, and this focus can translate to your daily life long after you stop practising (7). You will also be able to catch yourself when you are thinking about how cute your dog is or what you ate for breakfast, instead of writing up the report due at the end of the day. 

Rubinstein, J. S., Meyer, D. E. & Evans, J. E. (2001). Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27, 763-797.

Vitak, J., Crouse, J., & LaRose, R. (2011). Personal Internet use at work: Understanding cyberslacking. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(5), 1751–1759. 

Davenport, T. H., & Beck, J. C. (2001). The attention economy: Understanding the new currency of business. Harvard Business Press.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2013). Flow: The psychology of happiness. Random House.

Newport, C. (2016). Deep work: Rules for focused success in a distracted world. Hachette UK.

Iqbal, S. T., & Horvitz, E. (2010, February). Notifications and awareness: a field study of alert usage and preferences. In Proceedings of the 2010 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work (pp. 27-30). ACM.

Wax, R. (2013). Sane new world: taming the mind. Hodder & Stoughton.

How to maintain your focus in the ‘attention economy’ 

It is Monday morning. After struggling for a few hours to get started with your day, you eventually get going with the first item on your to do list. Although it doesn’t always happen, you find yourself diving into the task, and, before you know it, a few hours have passed by. Was it pure luck or is there a reason you felt so immersed in your work? 

Although it may seem to occur at random intervals, being entirely focused on the job you are doing is in fact a state you can aim towards. In modern science, the experience is referred to as ‘flow state’, a term coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihályi in the 1970s.

Despite being a relatively new area of research, historically there are references to this sensation across the Eastern philosophies. Athletes also talk about ‘being in the zone’ when they are completely focused on their movement and immediate goals.

In Japanese culture, the first step towards reaching ‘flow state’ requires an individual to discover their ikigai, or reason for being. An ikigai could be something as simple as gardening or cooking, but it will be a task that the person is both good at, and one in which they can become purposefully engaged (1).

The first step towards finding your flow in any task is to first ensure that the assignment is within your range of capabilities. Ideally, what you are doing will allow you to confidently use skills you already possess, while challenging you to learn something new. At this point, you will be able to meet your edge, and will be far more likely to become fully immersed.

If you are able to reach this sweet spot, what you produce will also be of a higher quality, meaning you can go home at the end of the day with a greater sense of satisfaction and of having achieved something meaningful. 

As human beings, we are driven by the need to learn, grow and discover more, both about the world and ourselves. When we experience growth and learning, it can be difficult but, ultimately, the satisfaction of having completed a new challenge will outweigh the scary part of taking the first few steps towards it! We are happiest when we are both open to new opportunities and given the chance to explore. 

For managers and employees alike, this has real implications for productivity and could be used as a starting point for communication on which tasks are allocated to who.  Managers, are you setting your employees manageable tasks which enable them to find their flow?  Employees, are you communicating with your manager? Is the task too easy, or too difficult? 

Of course, in an ideal world, we would be completing tasks that engage us at all times, and it is important to be realistic. However, if you could reach ‘flow state’ even a few times per week, you are far more likely to be happy in your job.  Sometimes we need to get down to the nitty gritty and complete the mundane yet necessary tasks that every organisation requires for daily operations, but this could improve morale and make the workplace better for everybody. 

Whether you see flow as an exciting area of scientific research or a snippet of ancient wisdom, here are our top tips for working towards it, or supporting others in your team to do the same: 

Think about where your strengths and weaknesses lie.  What are you really good at?  Which areas might require a little more attention? 

Are the tasks you are being set playing to your strengths?  If not, think about ways you could communicate this to your manager and see if there is any room for change.

If being allocated different tasks isn’t an option, which areas of learning or personal development would you like to focus on? How could you apply these to your current tasks?  For example, if your goal is to communicate more clearly, you could challenge yourself to complete a course on communication skills and apply what you learn to the emails you send. 

If you really can’t connect with an activity you have been set, the chances are it is either too challenging, too easy or not interesting to you personally. If the task is too easy or uninteresting, think about how you could make it more challenging, either by checking with your manager if there is anything additional you could be doing, or setting yourself a personal goal within the task.  If the task is too difficult, you could break it down into more manageable steps or ask for further clarification. 

Sometimes, an activity will be pitched correctly but we are fearful of getting started and procrastinate.  If you think this might be a problem for you, say to yourself that you will spend 25 minutes on the task and then take a break.  More often that not, you will find that the 25 minutes flies by once you get started. 

So, next time you find your mind wandering and you can’t connect with a task you are doing, think about how you could find your flow and make everyone’s day a little bit better!

Looking for more training materials? You’ll find thousands of online courses in the Go1 marketplace. Or use our 24/7 Go1 Training Assist - the easier way to source, book and deliver training for your team. 

(1) Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life, Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles, 2016, Penguin Books, New York.

Finding your flow: why focus is a skill that can be learned

Welcome to our second episode of The eLearning Assist Podcast for 2019!

In this episode, Go1’s VP of Marketing Scott Cooper talks to Jacque Lachmund about the importance of domestic and family violence (DFV) training in the workplace. 

Jacque is the CEO of Australia's CEOChallenge (ACEOC) - an organisation that provides domestic and family violence training for companies all across Australia. ACEOC is a recognised, award-winning charity that supports the business sector to help break the silence surrounding domestic violence. Their aim is to make sure workplaces are aware and responsive to domestic violence, and have in place a strategy to raise awareness and support their staff who may be living with violence, abuse and control at home. 

At Go1 we truly believe that workplaces can play a critical role in responding to DFV, which contributes to ACEOC’s vision of a world without violence. Last year, we partnered with ACEOC to deliver a Workplace Domestic and Family Violence Training Package to ensure that organisations are getting a succinct message, and a succinct way on how to respond to colleagues and to others. 

As Jacque says, "We're called Australia's CEOChallenge, because we challenge CEOs to address this issue and be a responsible organisation. It starts from the top." Together, we can make our workplaces safe environments where conversations about DFV can take place, without creating further stigma, shame and fear. 

Throughout the podcast, Jacque shares her tips around how to provide effective training on sensitive topics. She also touches on some general rules about what support services organisations can offer internally, as well as how as a collective, both in community and business, we can all work together to tackle this issue. 

So without further ado, let's dive in and get some valuable insight from Jacque on this important topic. Listen to the podcast here:

In this episode, GO1’s VP of Marketing Scott Cooper talks to Jacque Lachman, CEO of Australia's CEO Challenge, about the importance of Domestic & Family Violence training, and give some tips of how to provide better training around sensitive topics.

The eLearning Assist Podcast: How to provide training on sensitive topics by GO1

You can also hear more about the company’s experience with Go1 in our upcoming case study, which will feature Jacque and Scott talking more about Australia's CEOChallenge’s experience in using Go1 and how it has impacted their employee learning experience. So stay tuned for that!

Jacque Lachmund, Australia's CEOChallenge and Scott Cooper, VP of Marketing at Go1 

Don’t forget – the Go1 eLearning Assist podcast is available through iTunes, making it even easier for you to keep up-to-date with our episodes.

What’s the Go1 eLearning Assist all about?

Go1 eLearning Assist is a monthly podcast covering trending industry information.

With each episode of the podcast you’ll hear from a different member of the Go1 team or industry expert, sharing their knowledge and expertise. Through the sessions, we’ll cover all aspects of learning and development from:

With our iTunes podcast you can tune in and catch up at a time that suits you.

Subscribing to Go1 eLearning Assist is easy. Simply go to the iTunes store on your device and enter ‘Go1’ in the search toolbar. When you see this image, you’ll know you’re onto the right one!

Press 'Play' to start listening. And don’t forget to click the ‘Subscribe’ button, to stay up-to-date with new podcasts as they're released.

If you have any questions about any of the items covered in the podcast please let us know as we’d love to help you out!

Also, feel free to contact us if there are any topics that you would like to see covered in future episodes. That way, we can make sure we’re talking about things that are important to our listeners!

Our eLearning Assist podcast will feature regular interviews with industry experts. If you think you'd be a good fit to be a guest, get in touch!

The eLearning Assist Podcast: Tips from Australia's CEOChallenge around providing effective training for sensitive topics

This is part 2 of a two-part series. To read part 1, click here

Welcome back. Previously we discussed some of the basic certifications you will need to jump start your journey into the IT Security field and open many opportunities for you. But what if you want to take it to the next level. Perhaps you are aspiring for a Director of Security or CISO role. What certifications lay the foundation to purse that direction?

There are actually many other specialty areas in security available for us to discuss (like those created by industry leaders like Cisco, GIAC, SANS, ISACA, (ISC)2 and many others). But for the interest of brevity, I’d like to highlight some of the more popular ones. The first two I’d like to introduce are from ISACA and are favorable certifications for those who wish to move into management positions. Those two are: Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and Certified Information Security Manager (CISM). 

There are more than 140,000 professionals certified globally with CISA and it is one of the top paying IT certifications of 2018 as reported by Global Knowledge. As companies are faced with increasingly more security challenges including new global threats (e.g. ransomware), new government regulations (e.g. GDPR), and new technologies to secure; they are under enormous pressure to hire the right talent to manage it. With the CISA certification, you will be recognized as someone that can take a comprehensive view of information systems and their relationship to a success business-wide security initiative. In addition to passing the exam, this certification requires the submission of a formal application which requires certain levels of education and work experience. Check out their web site for more information.

The CISM certification is different and comes at security from a company policy standpoint. It covers four key areas: information security governance, Information risk management, information security program development and management, and information security incident management. Passing this certification demonstrates that you understand security and how it relates to the overall business goals. It shows that you not only understand security, but also how to build and manage an information security program within the company. 

But perhaps you’re looking to achieve an even higher position, one that leads all of the company’s security needs, such as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Director of IT Security. Moving into these roles require digging much deeper into all the individual niches in the security field. The first one to consider is CompTIA’s Advanced Security Practitioner (or CASP). CASP is a relatively new certification from CompTIA and is meant to test the student on a broad range of security skills. In fact, it meets the ISO 17024 standard and is compliant with regulations in the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).

Once you pass the CASP certification, you’ll likely be feeling pretty good about your skills, a Luke Skywalker of Security experts if you will. But what if you want to go for Yoda status? One of the top respected certifications is undoubtedly the (ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Practitioner (or CISSP), which is not your average certification and will require significant work to achieve. It is meant to demonstrate a clear and deep knowledge of all things security and is fast becoming a requirement for many of the very top positions in IT security. 

Although CASP and CISSP are great options for some of the top IT positions and cover a broad range of security topics, they are very different in what the exam covers. The CASP exam tests whether you know HOW to implement many of common security concepts, so their questions will be mostly unambiguous. For example, “what command line tool is used to create a 128-bit hash?” The CISSP exam, on the other hand, tests whether you know what the best practices are when dealing with complex security situations. Here, the options available to choose from may, in fact, all be technically correct. For example, take the following question, “Which of the following is the PRIMARY advantage of data classification for an organization?” Here, all the options could be valid examples of legitimate advantages, but the correct answer is the one that has the most advantages. 

Be sure to check out many of the training titles we have in security, and good luck my young Jedi.

Vice President of Technology | LearnNowOnline | Eden Prairie, MN

Martin Schaeferle is the Vice President of Technology for LearnNowOnline. Martin joined the company in 1994 and started teaching IT professionals nationwide to develop applications using Visual Studio and Microsoft SQL Server. He has been a featured speaker at various conferences including Microsoft Tech-Ed, DevConnections and the Microsoft NCD Channel Summit. Today, he is responsible for all product and software development as well as managing the company’s IT infrastructure. Martin enjoys staying on the cutting edge of technology and guiding the company to produce the best learning content with the best user experience in the industry. In his spare time, Martin enjoys golf, fishing, and being with his wife and three adult children. 

Navigating your IT security certifications, part 2

Welcome to the Go1 blog. Helping you to achieve your L&D goals through the latest learning and development insights, trends, and technology.

Blog

petrol_green

Have you caught the latest episode of L&D in 20? Don't miss an episode. Subscribe now!