The clammy hands. The cracking voice. The flushes of red, repeatedly lighting your face. This is glossophobia, or the fear of public speaking.

Presenting can be a nightmare for many, many people. Rather than something to look forward to and anticipate, the act of presenting is instead filled with trepidation and horror. Rather than seeking out the limelight at a business breakfast, many hide from it.

The Presenting with Power course aims to give you the knowledge to approach public presentation feeling assured. Taking tip from the world’s best speakers will cool your nerves to allow you to perform to your best abilities.

As an often vital tool in your work skills armory, it’s important to be able to speak well.

While the benefits of presenting well may be obvious, here is a little run down:

Building credibility – A person who speaks well in front of groups automatically gains credibility. Others can see that you are listened to and respected, an important characteristic of leadership

Gain responsibility – A good public speaker is given more responsibility due to their greater credibility. This benefits both your personal and professional life.

Networking capabilities – A good public speaker always impresses, and this can be a great boon for expanding your professional network. You’ll see the benefits when strangers who have enjoyed your talk tell you about it afterwards.

The Presenting with Power course attacks the topic from a variety of angles and in new, novel ways. Here’s a brief breakdown of its methods.
Introduction: The Importance of Public Speaking – The best way is always to start at the beginning, and so the course does with an introduction explaining the importance of public speaking.

With a nod from the world’s first self-help book, this section sets you out on the path the communicating your thoughts in the most memorable and engaging way. Knowing what it is you are trying to get across is key to the audience’s understanding, as is the ability to distinguish clearly and succinctly.

But remember, rather than a natural talent as most think public speaking is, this is a skill to be trained and perfected. Your confidence will grow the more you do it.

6 Skills to Create Powerful Presentations – Here the course goes over the nuts and bolts of what it is you need to do to pull off a top-notch, quality presentation.
First of all comes the planning. This is vital because, as the course explains, the content of a presentation of is what should drive its design.

You shouldn’t simply be filling slides by numbers; each should have its place in the unfolding of the story you will tell.

The timeless truism of practice making perfect makes an appearance here. Practising your presentation over and over again produces a clean, confident product.
Also talked about is the “Three Act Story” method to offer a presentation that jumps off the page and attracts the attention of the audience. With this, you can keep them hooked.

And remember: have fun! Enthusiasm is contagious.

Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking – This section of the course may well be the most important for a lot of people. The blind fear of public speaking is what may be holding you back from your best.

But the point is this: public speaking is necessary at some point in life, so you can either choose to run from it or address it head on. There are ways and means to reframe your thoughts in regards to public speaking, and that is what this section will teach you.

The 10-20-30 Rule – The last section of the course wraps things up by explaining the fundamental approach to public speaking. Guy Kawasaki, a famed venture capitalist, has a solid gold way to go about this.

You will be taught Guy’s approach to understand how to implement it into your presentation giving. While it isn’t rocket science, some explanation as to why it’s so effective is needed. That’s what you’ll get here.

The Presenting with Power course offers core training to improve the quality of your presentation skills and give you the foundation upon which you begin to hone your skills.
One way that students on the course will learn and track their progress is through the completion of the 32-page workbook. The workbook is used to expand on what has been taught in the video lessons, and to give each student the room to apply their thoughts to what is being taught.

The videos are the core of the course and are the major source of teaching here. The videos are conversational in tone but also pack in information and suggestions to guide students in their personal improvement.

Last but not least, there are infographics to offer an alternative context to the main points taught in this course.

No matter what line of work your find yourself in, the ability to present with a flourish and distinguish yourself through it, is a huge advantage. Not only will you be considered someone who is capable of responsibility, but you’ll stand out from the crowd too.

The confidence you will gain from confidently speaking in public is also a great benefit. In your personal and work life, confidence can drive you on to the next challenge.
Completing this course gives you the tools to achieve great things. You know you’re up to the job.

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How to present with power at your next presentation

Cloud computing is a hot topic of conversation across all industries, with many business leaders talking about cloud technology and deciding whether to move their organization “to the cloud.” Yet some business owners and employers still have their doubts about moving to cloud technology. Often, they may not quite understand what the cloud really is, and are therefore unsure of how it can benefit their organization.

If you’re still a bit confused by all this mysterious cloud talk, it’s worth taking the time to understand the many benefits it can bring to your business. You might be surprised to know that you’re probably already using cloud-based technology in your everyday life. Posting a status on Facebook? You’re using the cloud. Scrolling through Twitter while listening to your favorite band on Spotify? You’ve definitely got your head in the cloud. Gmail accounts, internet banking apps, Instagram… all of these services utilize cloud-based technology.

In the same way that these apps and services help to keep you connected and entertained, cloud computing is a very effective form of technology for your business needs. To help you feel more informed and comfortable when making your decision, here are 5 key benefits cloud computing can bring to your business.

Cloud Computing Allows You to Work from Anywhere

One of the greatest benefits of cloud computing is that it allows you to easily access cloud-based applications and services from anywhere in the world.

With any internet connection and your device, you (and your employees) can simply open a web browser, log in, and get to work! With the rise of remote workers across the modern workforce, your staff can have reliable, secure access to their work documents – whether working from home, at a different office, or on the road.

Many cloud-based services also offer mobile-friendly apps, so users aren’t restricted to working from one device. This way, employees can access the cloud from their desktop computer, laptop and even mobile phone. Wherever and whenever they need.

Better Collaboration and Document Control

Collaboration is also greatly improved with cloud computing, as the technology allows workers to easily access, edit and share documents and data. Regardless of whether your team is located all together in one office, or spread out across the world working remotely, collaboration across documents couldn’t be easier.

Working without cloud technology, employees would have to rely on emailing documents and attachments to one another for edits or approvals. This can often lead to confusion with versions and document control, while also meaning that only one team member can be working on the data at any time. By using cloud computing to store and manage documents, you’ll increase efficiency and save time when collaborating.

By creating a single source of truth, with the one document version saved centrally in the cloud, you’ll also have less problems with conflicting file formats and content. Each person will be able to see the revision history and previous versions of each document, making the process very transparent and clear for everyone.

Worried about security? Some business owners still think that cloud computing presents more of a security risk for important company files. However, this is not the case, with cloud data being better protected than many local computers, networks and servers.

When employees use a laptop computer for work purposes, there’s always a risk of it being lost, broken or stolen – allowing sensitive or confidential data to disappear with it. When information is stored securely within the cloud, there’s no way it can fall into the wrong hands, as the data is stored in the cloud rather than the device itself.

Cloud computing can give you even greater security, by allowing you to log in and remove data from any stolen or lost devices. Cloud service providers may also have more money to allocate to their security budget, which can be an affordable and reliable security solution for business owners.

Convenient, Cost-Effective Tech Solutions

With cloud computing, you’re cutting out the need for expensive software, which can save your business considerable amounts of money. Cloud services are run on subscription, allowing you to pay as you go, for as long as your organization and staff require the service.

This means that you don’t need to invest any time in managing, maintaining or updating services – cloud-based technology takes care of any software and security updates in the background, so you can get on with your work without interruption.

Because the cloud is basically infinite in size, there’s never any need to worry about running out of room. As your organization grows, you can easily increase (or decrease) the size of your cloud capacity to accommodate these changing needs. No need to purchase expensive new software or hardware.

Cloud Technology is Better for the Environment

Finally, if you’re green minded you will be pleased to know that cloud computing offers a more environmentally conscious alternative. Particularly if you’re moving from a paper-based document control process.

But also, when you move your data from on-site facilities to the cloud, it’s similar to moving your home electricity from an on-site generator to a power company. As we mentioned before, your cloud capacity can be increased or decreased to suit your business needs. This means that the server you’re using can scale up and down to fit this, drawing only the energy you need. With cloud computing, you’ll be using less energy than before, while also helping to reduce pollution and your organization’s carbon footprint.

As you can see, cloud computing can offer many benefits for your business, improving the way in which your employees work, as well as your bottom line. If you’re looking for greater organizational flexibility, collaboration and security, it’s worth considering making the move to cloud technology.

5 benefits cloud computing brings to your business

In life there are irritations and upsets that we simply cannot avoid. These can be destructive for our friendships or the relationship with our significant other, but they’re generally resolved over time and leave no lasting damage. After all, these are the people we love and care for deeply.

The workplace, however, offers different sets of problems and disagreements that need to be resolved. There are some benefits of conflict, but if they’re allowed to spiral out of hand, then the consequences can be costly.

For this reason, taking a course in conflict management is a wise investment. The course teaches individuals, from top to the bottom, how to identify and react – healthily and fairly – to conflicts that they become involved in.

Benefits of knowing how to manage a conflict professionally are:

Improved Output – Departments and individuals can dramatically improve their effectiveness if they are working in harmony. Conflicts cause breakdowns in communication which can be detrimental to working lives.

Fewer Sick Days – When people are under immense stress, they need days off to recuperate. When conflicts are resolved quickly, there is a drop in levels of stress and a drop in sick days taken.

Employee Retention – Employees leave organizations when they don’t enjoy the working atmosphere. A major reason for a sour working environment is ongoing conflict. Resolve them and you retain your work force, particularly the highest performers.

How Conflict is Perceived – The course begins by explaining that conflict is a fact of life, it’s unavoidable. But how we feel when we are involved in conflict? Does our heart race, do we find ourselves shouting over the other people? Is all you do in a conflict react and attack? If so, you do need to improve this.

In this introductory section, students will be propelled to question their own reactions and gut feelings in conflict situations. Do they view see conflict as an obstacle, or as an opportunity?

Conflict Fables – This section looks at the common mistakes people make when in conflict. Common reactions to conflicts are refusing to listen and demanding to be listened to. Often people refuse to even consider the opposing person’s point of view.

None of these approaches are helpful. Rather than use force, this section of the course suggests that persuasion is the more powerful tool for peace.

This section advises learners on how to avoid the common pitfalls of conflicts and change their patterns of behavior when engaging in disagreements that are in danger of overheating.

Conflict Conversations - This section also looks at roots of most conflict and explains that in reality, most are down to either poor communication or an inability to control emotions. How can we change this?

By following a guide based on Steven Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, learners can re-evaluate what a conflict means to them and whether this negative can have a positive outcome.

Through following Covey’s lead, we are able to rework how a conflict affects us. Among the habits are picking your battles, knowing the outcome you want before you enter into a conversation, and understanding first, before seeking to be understood.

All of these tips are accompanied by practical advice so that the suggestions can actually be applied in a real-life situation.

Though conflicts are usually unpleasant experiences, this section explains that the outcome can help improve all parties within concerned with it.

In the 21st Century, laws and rules for employers are rightly tighter than they ever have been. The risk for an employer of falling foul to regulations intended to protect individuals in the work place is higher than it has been at any point. With problems like workplace bullying on the rise, a proactive approach is needed from employers if they hope to avoid problems for their own organization.

So why take such huge risks for the reputation and finances of your company when there are options out there to deal with this exact problem?

The inability to manage conflict is not a healthy position to be in, regardless of any employer’s position in a team. From the executive board to the cleaning staff, all individuals should know how to appropriately go about resolving work or personal disputes.

Without this knowledge, that small staff dispute that has been rumbling on may turn into a ticking time-bomb.

Become a better manager by harnessing, managing, and controlling conflict

I just returned from a great learning conference that included lots of “hot topics” surrounding Digital Learning and vendors with cool ideas. But l left feeling that we are missing the core question: What is Digital Learning and how do we actually implement the transformation?

To me, Digital Learning is a matter of math.  Digital Learning is:

More than Training                       ■ More than Technology

More than Curation                      ■ More than Mobile

More than Micro learning           ■ More than Learning Paths

More than Content                       ■ More than pushing out courses

In Math terms, Digital Learning is greater than the sum of its parts.  It is all about all the pieces, but put together in a custom blend, driven by user experience.  It brings the right learning to the right learner, easily.

User experience is what creates the need, the formats and ultimately, the success.  Creating this environment means that we need to be immersed in the learners’ journeys and also provide solutions for managers that complement the experience.  We need to think like a digital native.

Digital learning is as much about culture as it is about technology.  Of course, technology is involved, but to create a great user experience involves process, people, business needs, and organizational culture that’s willing and able to embrace it.

Let’s focus on the learner of today for a minute.  I am not telling you anything new when I say that we are all busy, overwhelmed, distracted and constantly bombarded for information.  I am sure you have seen the statistics that tell us that today people spend 1% of their time on “training.”  But learning is more.  Learning today is continuous, but only if we provide the right tools, content and can measure it.

In today’s environment, people have access to instant information on all sorts of devices.  We have become accustomed to finding what we need.  But that means we spend large chunks of time searching.

So, what does all of this disruption and change mean to Learning?  We need to find the right blend to provide information (learning) that is easy to find, easy to access, personalized and designed to be a great user experience that helps them grow.

Simple, right?  Well, just like any transformation, we need to find a way to get from here to there.

Through our clients and contacts, I hear many questions about how to actually get from here to there.  The answer is quite individual, but it can be found in the new blend and a new mindset.  We will need a blend of technology, curation, micro learning, macro learning and more.  We should adapt a new mindset of user experience (Ux) that uses design thinking.

What is here?  Most corporate learning environments sit on an LMS with tons of content.  Most of the content has become somewhat easier to find through the use of corporate university interfaces or new front ends.  Most of the content would be expensive to redesign but is often in need of refreshing.  In most cases, we are not tied to our HRIS system nor to any job family or competencies.  How do we adapt to cloud, mobile and user experience?

The first step is to design new learning with the future in mind: make sure it is in a format to be responsive and, where possible, in chunks.  This effort changes the role of an Instructional Designer and of the vendors you use.  It means learning new tools and concepts.

Secondly, take a long look at the user experience you want.  Research new technology that will provide the interface to all types of learning, from formal to informal, internal and external, libraries of content and custom programs. Most of these solutions are cloud based and do not require a long-term commitment.  More on these products later in this blog and in a future posting.

Next, work with IT to tie in your learning and HR systems so that you can take personalization, machine learning and people analytics to a new level.

We need to adapt to our mindset to create, curate and deliver all types of learning.  Adapt new models, incorporate new methods and respond with a better user experience.  As learning professionals, we learn about other people’s jobs, the best methods and tools to help them learn, grow and perform.

A vision and a strategy to new opportunities

OK, off the soapbox, on to making it work.

For some, the first instinct when confronted with this kind of disruptive change is to play defense and protect existing business.  But now is the time to go on the offensive, to experiment, to create new offerings, and push into the opportunity. Match consumer behavior.

Be prepared to hire the right outside people to drive the operational changes.  Get your team excited about the opportunities Digital Learning brings to their work.  Focus on people who can adapt and think beyond traditional models and look at what is possible.

For example, One revelation that many have recently expressed is that the old standard LMS cannot get you there.  It is fine for compliance and some certifications, but it cannot be the center of the corporate learning experience any longer.  Some of new LMS/LRS/portal vendors are adapting.  Look past your traditional solution.  I suggest adopting technology that allows several key additions:

Integration with HRIS and Performance Management systems

Not all solutions offer every addition, but these technologies often sit on top of a LMS, a LRS or some other hosting system.  A few can host as well.  These companies include Pathgather, Go1, Degreed, EdCast and more.

Another change that is in the center of the tech revolution is the move from SCORM to xAPI.  Long overdue, xAPI gives us the analytics we need to personalize and track all forms of learning.  Everything someone does can be logged and tracked.  Internal recruiting and managers will get better views of performance, as will the learner.  Most platforms can deliver better suggestions to learners that reach into what people are really doing every day to learn.

Back to reality of today.  Overwhelmed learners, small budgets, user demands.  How can we move to Digital Learning?  One step at a time.  The world has changed, with new models and ways to learn.  In my next blogs, I will go through actions, ideas and how we can meet the disruption.

Becky Willis has a mix of executive leadership in sales and marketing and deep learning strategy and development experience. Known for strategic and innovative solutions, Becky is an organizational leader who thinks about learning with a business mindset.

Today, Becky is a co-founder of WilLearn Consulting, where she focuses on helping companies, plan, design and develop high performance learning.

For more insights, subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.

What is Digital Learning and how do we actually implement the transformation?

What is Digital Learning and how do we actually implement the transformation? We'll explain everything you need to know. 

Over the past year the Go1 team have been working hard to bring to you the next generation in online learning tools. Building off our previous platform, we are excited to introduce the Go1 2017 Learning Platform.


All the features that you know and love about Go1 are still here, we have just made them all bigger, better and even easier to use! With a bright new look and intuitive design, Go1 2017 really pushes forward with our mantra that you shouldn’t need to learn how to learn. Our goal with each release is to make learning easier for both administrators and learners, and we’re excited to unveil Go1 2017.

Let’s look at some of the top features of the platform:

Learning should be easy, and our new intuitive interface means that anyone can pick up Go1 and starting learning straight away. Navigation for both administrators and learners has been simplified so that nothing is further than a few clicks away!


Getting started with Go1 has never been easier! Once you signup up you can import your users with the click of a buttons, find courses using the course marketplace, and enroll users based on their role of job function. Simple user management tools mean that you can quickly and easily find the information you need, when you need it.


The Go1 Platform is perfect for teams of all sizes, and designed to grow with your business. Adding new users to your plan is simple, and with our low cost per user per month pricing you are never going to be in for a shock when it’s invoice time. We’re here to help you scale your learning to provide the training you need as you grow.

Need content? We’ve got you covered! With over 100,000 courses in the course marketplace, finding the course that you need has never been easier. Search the top course providers in the world to find exactly what you want, then add it to your current learning management system or your Go1 Learning Portal.

Embed courses and content on your website

- Implementation of module dependencies within courses
- Portal administrators can add tags to course for filtering
- GST support for Australian based portals
- Manual payments within portals are now enabled
- Course completion page are available
- Improved administrator interface for creating long answer questions
- Grouped bar charts are now available in reporting
- Language options including English, Deutsch, Portuguese and Vietnamese

These are just a few of the exciting new features in Go1 2017, but don’t take our word for it:

Sign up for a free trial today and try it out for yourself!

If you have any questions about any of the updates and improvements listed above, please let us know and our Customer Success Team can help you out!

The Go1 2017 release may be brand new, but with the new architecture we now have the ability to accelerate our product release process. This means every fortnight to month (on average) we will be sharing updates on new features and learning tools that will come as free upgrades for all Go1 users. 

Teaching in a classroom where both teacher and student are sitting face-to-face is hard enough, but when teacher and student are miles apart, things get a little trickier.

That said, the benefits of virtual classrooms are many.

High efficiency - the learning environment that is entirely focused on the improvement of workplace performance

A variety of highly-trained professionals able to transfer their knowledge to those learning

Clear ways to monitor the progress of individuals – everything being done online

But despite these benefits and the earnestness of your students, the teaching of any course needs to be interesting or even the most diligent student will struggle. So how can you make this happen?

The planning you do to improve your virtual classroom is what will make the difference between success and failure. Thankfully, there are easy ways to ensure you’re as prepared as possible.

In this post, we’ll offer some tips for interactive design in your virtual classroom, to give a helping hand for a difficult proposition.


A good first step would be to defining the intended outcomes of the course. What do you want your students to walk away with? What should your students be taking into their professional lives?

Finding a balanced mixture of theory or book work with real-life practice is an important aspect of virtual classrooms. An imperative outcome is that students can use what they have learned, so you should first search your professional history and what you know about the industry of the course you will teach, to create practical, appropriate content.

Once the decision has been made on what to teach, ensure that both yourself (as instructor) and students can easily access a course plan.

The course plan should explain the steps that the class will take to teach the practical, appropriate content that has already been decided upon.

This plan should be structured in a way that gives a logical, step-by-step path to follow. This ensures that both the teachers and students of the course understand where they are and why they are learning what they’re currently learning.

It should also point out how this related to the practice of the workplace, to ensure that the students understand the importance of this point to their job.

An accessible plan will ensure everyone is on the same page when taking virtual classroom training.

This may come as a surprise to some, but not everybody finds pouring over books of business best practice as fascinating as you do. For employees who aren’t as interested in learning intricate theoretical details or memorizing law, other means are necessary.

Use infographics to explain important points in novel ways, set up role-plays to demonstrate on the job scenarios, and try to keep things light. After you’ve been speaking for some minutes, ask questions to ensure that students have understood the point you’re making.

You can also use pop quizzes to keep the employees on their toes. The pop quiz may not be used in the overall marking of the course, it’s just for fun, but it will mean learners stay alert and engage in the class.

Classroom discussion also helps to build a rapport between the group and yourself. Co-operative learning has been shown to improve the performance of students, so make sure of it in your classes.

Interactiveness is important for virtual classrooms due to their nature. Without a physical focal point in the room, students have a tendency to drop focus and let their thoughts wander. Therefore it’s vital that you provide enough challenging and engaging twists on your teaching technique to keep them interested.

In a traditional classroom the understanding of students is easier to determine. In a virtual classroom however, the lack of body language and eye contact can make this more difficult.

A great way to get around this is to use feedback tools like polls and surveys. These tools will help you as a facilitator to get the best impression of how your students are handling the course and what their most pressing needs are.  You can request feedback on questions that you most need to know, and use them as a way to judge your classes understanding.

Remember that when teaching adults it is easy to miss someone struggling if they don’t ask for help. Feedback tools can make sure no one gets left behind.

So there you have it. Some tips and tricks to make a virtual classroom a runaway success. These are just a few simple suggestions that all good virtual classrooms should implement.

Given the thriving market in virtual classroom training, getting things right now should kick you on to ensure you can be a success.

Tips for creating an interactive learning experience in the virtual classroom

One of the most valuable skills possessed by successful entrepreneurs and business leaders is the ability to make clear, calm and effective decisions. In fact, decision making is a vital component of almost every job, with the decisions you make daily having a direct impact on your organization or employer.

With many business decisions often involving difficult topics and short timeframes, it’s important to know how to feel confident, capable and clear-headed when faced with complex decisions. Are you confident in your own decision making abilities?

If this is something that you feel a little unsure about, the good news is that you can improve your decision making skills and techniques.

The Importance of Strong Decision Making Skills


In a recent article for Forbes, Lynda Shaw writes of the importance of effective decision making in the workplace. As a business neuroscientist, offering solutions to improve work relationships, communication, and problem solving, Shaw believes that “effective decision making is more important today than ever before.”

It’s important that “everyone in your team is able to make decisions quickly and skillfully,” she says. “If you or your people hesitate for too long, money can be lost and morale can plummet.”

Try 'Six Thinking Hats' for Better Decision Making

Employers and managers can help staff to develop better decision making skills and become more confident in their own abilities. One of the most popular ways to assist staff in decision making is through Dr Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats.

Since 1970, Dr de Bono has been a world leader in organizational innovation, strategic leadership, individual creativity, and problem solving. His methods have been used by many organizations, large and small, to deliver improved training solutions.

The Six Thinking Hats is a simple, effective technique that can help employees to become more productive, by learning how to separate their thinking into six distinct categories. Each category is symbolized by a different colored ‘hat.’

The White Hat calls for information known or needed.

The Red Hat signifies feelings, hunches and intuition.

The Black Hat is judgment – the devil's advocate or why something may not work.

The Yellow Hat symbolizes brightness and optimism.

The Green Hat focuses on creativity – possibilities, alternatives and new ideas.

The Blue Hat is used to manage the thinking process.

By mentally wearing and switching the colored hats, you can learn to focus or redirect your thoughts, to get to the right solution faster and more easily. This can be incredibly beneficial for teamwork, allowing groups to tap into their collective wisdom and function more effectively.

Use eLearning to Learn More About Decision Making

Keen to learn more about how you can apply the Six Thinking Hats technique to your work? Take a look at the popular online course Decision Making Excellence.

During this short eLearning course, you’ll learn about the different types of decisions we make every day, particularly in the workplace. The course also gives insight into how our thinking processes work and provides best practice tools for better decision making.

Who Can Benefit from Improved Decision Making?

Becoming a better decision maker isn’t just a smart investment for managers and leaders. Everyone, at all levels of an organization, will benefit from improving their decision making abilities, in both their personal and work life.

Taking this course may just help get you selected for a leadership role, or better placed in terms of a promotion at work. Learning more about what’s behind your own individual thinking processes, and how this affects your decision making, helps to make you more confident, empowered and effective in your choices.

Enrol today, and get started online, all in the convenience of your own home – in just 30 minutes!

How to improve your decision making skills

What are the things you must do to succeed when recruiting talent across borders? Here, I share the key lessons from my startup’s expansion into international markets and building a global workforce.

Hiring and managing talent is a challenge for all companies. As a startup looking to develop a global workforce, you have the added challenge of operating with more limited resource than larger organisations, which makes things even harder.

If you’re going global, you also have to compete for the best talent in an arena that includes international stars like Google, Facebook and Microsoft.

So what’s the best way to succeed as a little fish in a big pond? Being as creative and flexible as possible is vital.

For example, in some countries, opting to use contractors and remote workers may be a smarter option than engaging employees on the ground. In this case, you may not even need to set up shop overseas at all. However, there are plenty of circumstances where having a local presence is essential, and understanding how to effectively manage a global workforce can be the difference between success and abject failure.

There are many points of consideration, but getting the process right can yield huge benefits for your organisation. Here are some things to keep in mind when you’re looking to expand your geographical footprint.

(Struggling to find local talent to meet your needs? Read about the benefits of hiring foreign workers)

1. Know when you really need a physical presence

It is imperative to understand why you’re looking to open a new office and think critically about whether there is another way to achieve the same goal. As mentioned, another alternative could be hiring remote workers and contractors, or using a startup hub.

You don’t always need to set up an office to enter a new market. In the US, my organisation originally sold our services through our website and hosted (very late night) webinars. This was a great starting point as we were able to get a feel for the market’s response without wasting tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on unnecessary overheads.

However, once we had confidence in our model we were better placed to make the decision to open an actual sales office to further tap the American market. Similarly, we opened an office in Kuala Lumpur only once it was clear that we needed a local support team who could speak Bahasa Malaysia for our 200,000 learners there.

Any new market will have local quirks, that are guaranteed to be different to the markets you already operate in. It’s easy to be lulled into a sense of a “global culture” but on the ground things are often very different.

For example, it’s easy for things to get lost in translation when opening an offshore office for a team in your global workforce. When we opened our office in San Francisco, we still used Australian terminologies for training. After several meetings with confused locals, we realised that new employees are “on-boarded” in the US, and never “inducted”. Our customers thought induction training was for cults! Having a local who is familiar with the context is a critical part of any new market entry.

Expectations around working hours, holidays and benefits also differ between countries. For example, in the Middle East the weekend is often Friday and Saturday rather than Saturday-Sunday. Staff won’t want to work on their equivalent of Sunday, so you need to accommodate this.

It’s also imperative to be aware aware of religious and cultural festivals.

On the other hand, it’s important to maintain consistent standards across markets. Quality, integrity, respect and teamwork should be applied consistently and without variation.

For example, in Vietnam we had to reconsider our bonus structure because people observe a 13th month of pay in the Tet holidays (Lunar New Year). As there are only 12 months in the year, we had to grapple with whether our bonus structure should be based on performance (as it is in Australia) or a cultural norm.

Communication is made more difficult by cultural differences, and this issue exacerbated by distance and time zones. There is no shortage of apps and collaboration systems that try to overcome these barriers, and it feels like we’ve tried them all.

But even in this era of virtual reality telepresence, nothing beats face-to-face communication with a global workforce. Email, instant messaging, and even phone or video calls can’t build the same rapport as actually hopping on a plane and talking directly to people.

(Thinking about taking your HR talents abroad? Find out more about becoming an HR volunteer).

As a manager, it’s easy to recognise the hard work of the person sitting next to you.

But it’s just as important to be aware of and to recognise the hard work of those you haven’t physically met in your global workforce, working with you half the world away.

A tactic should try is a weekly whole-of-company video call (timezones permitting) to provide updates on the week and shout outs to people who have gone above and beyond.

There are many other things to consider when it comes to managing a distributed global workforce and operations, including legal and tax – just to name a few!

However, these five lessons have helped my team kick goals together, across oceans and time zones.

This article was originally published on HR Magazine

Building a global workforce? What you need to know to be successful

If you’ve just enrolled in an online course, you might be wondering what to expect from the eLearning experience. Online learning offers students and employees a very flexible, convenient way of acquiring new skills and knowledge. But it can require extra levels of self-motivation, discipline and time management from participants, as opposed to teacher-led training.

When it comes to studying, do online courses require the same kind of commitment as traditional classroom learning? The answer is yes. Knowing how to study effectively for your course will really help maximize your online learning experience and results.

To help you get the most from your course, we’ve put together a list of our top 5 study tips for online learners.

First things first, make sure you have a designated space for your study. As an online learner, you’ll need to create your own learning environment, as you don’t have the physical presence of the classroom.

Having an established study space that’s yours, whenever you need it, will help you to get into the right headspace for your study sessions. Whether you have an actual home office or study you can use, or your space is simply a desk in your bedroom or living room, make sure it’s quiet, uncluttered and free from distractions.

Let housemates, relatives or partners know that when you’re in that study space you’re not to be disturbed or interrupted. When you sit down to work in your space, switch off from social media and your phone, to concentrate solely on your course materials.

Having a reliable internet connection is absolutely essential for online learning. Studying online means you need to have access to course materials, modules, assignments, online exams and discussion boards.