Be like juror #8: essential management lessons from Twelve Angry Men

Twelve Angry Men is a courtroom – or rather, jury room – drama from 1957. It is a taut, claustrophobic thriller in which a jury debates the case of a young man from a slum who is accused of murdering his own father – which, if he is found guilty, would carry an automatic capital… Continue reading Be like juror #8: essential management lessons from Twelve Angry Men

Tools for audience interaction: Mentimeter vs AhaSlides

​Update, November 2023: both services reviewed in this post have changed their subscription tiers and models. Mentimeter has adjusted the restrictions on each level, and AhaSlides no longer offers per-event pricing. I previously wrote about the critical need for adding audience interaction to presentations – particularly important for remote audiences, but also suited to larger in-person seminars… Continue reading Tools for audience interaction: Mentimeter vs AhaSlides

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Categorised as Learning, Work

Organisational learning as artificial intelligence

A recent webinar by the APM was titled “Project knowledge management​”, but took a very different approach to our regular understanding of that term. The speaker was Dr Atif Ansar, a specialist in understanding the performance of major projects. His lecture compellingly framed organisational learning as being akin to machine learning. As an experienced academic, the lecture was… Continue reading Organisational learning as artificial intelligence

Effective webinars (APM volunteering)

This week, the APM is running a ​virtual volunteering forum for participants in its outreach schemes. Their session on effective webinars was yesterday. Normally, I’d wait until they circulated the slides and supporting material before blogging about it, and especially to have time to reflect on the lessons. But the fact is, so many of our… Continue reading Effective webinars (APM volunteering)

One space or two: has the great debate finally been resolved?

In my Effective Writing training course, I pose a provocative question. After a full stop, should there be one space or two? It’s provocative because there’s no correct answer. Everyone will have been taught a particular way is correct, and many people get quite angry that not everyone else agrees. I then present this XKCD… Continue reading One space or two: has the great debate finally been resolved?

What’s the plural of OS?

By virtue of my ever-popular Effective Writing training course, and despite no formal education in English above GCSE level, I am somewhat known for being a style and grammar authority / pedant. This means two things: first, my mother is very proud; and second, I get the occasional request to arbitrate on particular language usage.… Continue reading What’s the plural of OS?

The extraordinary, everyday technology that’s making the lockdown bearable

Last night, a small group of my friends tried a virtual games night for the first time. The template was very helpfully set for me by a lunchtime social that a colleague ran last week. The key elements are: Video conference so that we can see each other and the game screen. Third-party hosted game that… Continue reading The extraordinary, everyday technology that’s making the lockdown bearable