What consulting skills will elevate your L&D performance?
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Learning and Development (L&D) professionals often focus on mastering L&D tools and technologies to enhance their performance. While these technical skills are undoubtedly valuable, there is another aspect that is often overlooked: the power of consulting skills.
L&D professionals who possess strong consulting skills have the ability to provide strategic guidance, drive organizational change, and deliver transformative results.
In this article, we will explore 4 consulting skills that can take your L&D performance to new heights, enhancing your existing L&D expertise.
In the realm of L&D, ideation goes beyond simply implementing existing learning solutions. It involves stepping into the role of a consultant who can envision and develop innovative approaches to address organizational challenges.
By fostering a mindset of curiosity and exploration, you can actively seek out new ideas, emerging trends, and best practices from a wide range of industries. This creative thinking will enable you to develop cutting-edge learning strategies that engage learners and drive sustainable business outcomes.
Consulting requires the ability to provide impartial advice and guidance, transcending personal biases. As an L&D professional, it’s important that you strive to understand the unique needs of your organization objectively. This involves conducting thorough needs assessments, gathering data-driven insights, and leveraging your expertise to offer unbiased recommendations.
By being a trusted advisor who provides objective perspectives, you can effectively guide decision-making processes and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
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While L&D professionals excel in designing and delivering learning experiences, integrating process improvement skills can significantly elevate their impact. By adopting a consulting mindset, you can analyze existing L&D processes, identify inefficiencies, and implement improvements that streamline workflows and enhance learning outcomes.
Utilizing process improvement methodologies, such as Lean or Agile, allows you to create efficient learning ecosystems that maximize resource utilization, reduce costs, and increase overall productivity.
Consulting skills empower L&D professionals to become catalysts for change within their organizations. By setting strategic objectives, aligning learning initiatives with business goals, and demonstrating the value of L&D outcomes, you can move the needle.
This involves tracking key performance indicators, evaluating the return on investment, and continuously adapting your strategies to meet evolving organizational needs. By showcasing the tangible impact of your efforts, you establish yourself as a valuable contributor to the organization's success.
Embracing ideation, objectivity, process improvement, and the ability to move the needle positions you as a trusted advisor who can drive meaningful change and deliver measurable results. By combining your L&D expertise with these consulting skills, you can become a strategic partner, influencing the organization's learning culture and contributing to its long-term success.
If you want to delve deeper into this topic and discover how to develop these consulting skills, watch this extremely insightful session “Beyond eLearning: Consulting Skills to Add Value Back Into the Organization” with Cara North , where she shares consulting techniques and proven activities to check and elevate your current skills.
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Director, Lighthouse L&D Consulting | Dynamic Learning Program Leader | Employee Development Expert | Learning Conference Presenter | Change Motivator | Outside the Box Thinker | Keynote Speaker
1 年iSpring Solutions makes pertinent points here which should resonate with their audience, whether they are instructional designers (perhaps one of many at their organization), or sole-proprietors/L&D consultants whose actions and mindsets ultimately determine the success or failure of their business. Having experienced both circumstances, I can say with confidence that my consultative skills have contributed more to my overall success in both arenas than my product knowledge or skills with L&D tools (and I have always been regarded as someone possessed of many, many skills!) Cara North offers far-reaching and practical advice in her webinar (which I enjoyed on the day she presented during #ispringdays2023). If you follow me or iSpring Solutions (or both ??) you will be hard pressed to find a better way to spend 45 minutes than learning from her. Thank you iSpring Solutions for continuing to advocate for the value well-rounded and business-savvy L&D professionals bring to their organizations - and for sharing insights like those in this newsletter that will help your audience join those ranks! #alwayslearning #lighthouseldconsulting #opentoconnect #consultationservices