Our projects and the nature of our work often means Ceed Learning is working with associates or external experts. Each associate we work with is skilled in different areas of learning and development, performance support and change management (click here for more on our services). Ceed collaborates with various associates on specific projects requiring their expertise. These associates each contribute, in their unique way, to the company’s core capabilities, share Ceed’s culture and way of working, and are highly knowledgeable and proficient in what they do.
But working with associates as and when needed can be challenging. Each person has a unique perspective, different project strategies, and may have other commitments. To facilitate a meeting of the minds and to ensure consistent delivery to Ceed’s clients, Ceed uses a number of principles to bridge the gap of working with diverse associates.
These are our four top tips for working with associates:
1. Ensure extensive and regular communication: Make sure that everyone in the team working on a project chats a lot, using whatever medium works best, anytime anyone feels it’s necessary. We talk to ensure that we are all on the same page, all time, with every aspect of the project.
2. Carefully match the associate to the client and task: Ceed ensures that the associate complements the team and is equipped to meet both the client’s and the project’s needs. This means our associates have the necessary interpersonal skills, as well as key abilities and experience, to develop and maintain a positive and fruitful relationship with the team and client.
3. Effectively prepare the associate: Ensure an associate is adequately prepared for the project and has access to clearly defined and detailed tools, templates and standards. It is also important for the project to be managed by a strong leader who can ensure that we deliver consistently and to the required standard.
4. Keep in touch often and on all levels: Touch base with all associates on a regular basis in order to:
a. Keep the team informed of Ceed’s projects and achievements
b. Share lessons learned, tips, ideas and best practices
c. Grow and develop the relationships between Ceed and its network of professionals
d. Maintain a caring relationship with each other, facilitated by respect and a deep passion for what we
do professionally
For top tips from our instructional designers on creating well-designed, functional courses read this post.
