Yorkshire Museums Libraries and Archives Council (YMLAC) is always on the look out for training courses to develop managers across its region, explains Neil Bennison.
With this in mind, and tasked with driving first class management throughout YMLAC?s member organisations, Jane Walton, Director for learning, access and skills, is now piloting online study through management training provider, Cambridge Online Learning (COL). 16 managers are on their way to completing their studies, and the benefits of a course that combines online and action learning ? namely flexibility, minimal costs and relevance ? are already evident. Improvements in cross team working and increased networking outside of the heritage sector are also to be seen.
George Candler, arts and entertainment manager at Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council and Karen Belshaw, a manager at Calderdale Museum, have been studying through YMLAC, since April last year. They both strongly endorse online Learning Sets in which candidates from various sectors interact via a global campus ? incorporating an online meeting place and chat-room ? to nurture team and leadership skills. Both find the chat-rooms effective for sharing problems and seeking solutions. George comments: ?We have a diverse range of backgrounds ? builders merchants, museums, local councils ? it is enlightening to get perspectives from those working within and outside the public sector.?
Action learning enables candidates to act as in-house consultants and test their management skills regularly, developing live solutions to the challenges of each new assignment. Working on an Information Management assignment, George recently identified and then reduced the duplication of effort and expense across his organisation: ?I discovered that a whole range of divisions ? from the box office and marketing department, through to finance ? were operating their own show diaries. We centralised this and networked each department to it, saving valuable time and money in the process.?
One of the main attractions of online learning for Jane Walton was its cost-effectiveness. Using a virtual study platform means that organisations don?t lose valuable time travelling to lectures, whilst online materials such as the EBSCO library, which contains some 3,000 business journals, minimise the expense of reading materials. The journals are particularly useful for comparing and contrasting different management styles, and George uses them to direct his theoretical learning: ?I do some 80% of my reading online. Pretty much everything I have learned on the theory side has been from journals.?
Managers are motivated by the relevance their learning has had in the workplace, and Karen emphasises flexible study time as a key benefit: ?I commute a long way to work and have a family to look after so I really appreciate that this course allows me to get the balance right.?
Cambridge Online Learning offers management certificates and diplomas accredited by Cambridge International Examinations, and MBAs accredited by the University of Action Learning at Boulder, Colorado. Contact Neil Bennison t: 01226 321717
e: nbennison@cambridge-online-learning.co.uk.