How can you Improve the Decision Making Skills of Your Leadership Team?

by docgate

The ability to make the right decisions is vital for any business leader. Leaders then of course need to be able to implement these decisions, often requiring a high level of leadership skill. So how do you improve the decision making skills of your leadership team? How can you help to ensure that your team is making the best possible choices for your organization?

Decision making techniques range from identifying any sources of bias to learning how to assess situations objectively. But what is the best way to equip your leaders with the skills they need to make sound decisions?  By helping your leadership team to hone their decision making skills, you empower them to make the best decisions possible for your company, something that could well be the difference between success and failure.

Identifying sources of bias

Decision making is often coloured by various biases. We all have inherent biases, triggered both by our environment and our personalities. But when it comes to your leadership team though, it is not enough just to accept this facet of human behaviour. Instead you have to identify these biases and find ways to combat them.

The first stage is to identify any biases your leaders have, this requiring a mixture of observation, questioning and for the leaders themselves, a deal of heart searching.

By finding the factors that are influencing their decision-making, you are in a better position to help them combat their biases, thus enabling them to make better decisions.

Learning how to assess situations objectively

When making decisions, it is essential to be able to evaluate a situation objectively and without bias. This can be difficult, especially when there is a lot of pressure being applied to go down one particular path. Your leaders must therefore be able to break down a situation and analyse it objectively so that they can make the best possible decision.

To learn how to assess a situation objectively, they must first be taught to take a step back from the situation and remove any emotions from the process. This can be done by reflecting internally, taking a walk or engaging in other activities like Yoga or deep breathing exercises that allow them to detach themselves from the situation.

Once they have cleared their heads, they will be better able to examine the situation objectively, breaking it down into sections and identifying all of the factors that are at play. This will help them to make an informed decision without any biases or emotions clouding their judgement.

Developing problem-solving skills

Leaders have to constantly deal with problems, problems that often have to be solved quickly. It is therefore, essential that you instil the skills necessary to solve these problems into your leaders.

Otherwise, because they cannot quickly deal with the issues that crop up, they can end up holding their entire team back.

Basically put, problems can only be solved when a leader can look at a situation objectively, is able to assess all of the factors involved, and then come up with a solution that solves the problem without creating new issues.

Understanding the importance of collaboration

Successful decision-making often requires a deal of collaboration. If your leaders are working without any form of additional, external input, they can miss out on valuable insights that could help them make better decisions. You can ensure that your leaders and teams are collaborating effectively by setting guidelines on how everyone should approach the problems that they face.

This can be done in a number of different ways, such as holding regular brainstorming sessions and team meetings. You can also encourage collaboration by setting up a suggestion box where team members can share their ideas and insights about the company.

By ensuring that your leaders collaborate with their teams and other leaders, you enable them to draw on the full pool of knowledge and expertise that is available, which should help them to make well-informed decisions.

Developing communication skills

The best leaders instinctively know how to communicate clearly and effectively. This is important, as good communication skills are essential to resolving conflict, leading a team and making sound decisions. If your leaders are struggling to communicate effectively with their teams, you can help them improve their skills by developing an awareness of their communication style and improving their approach to listening.

Analyzing the risks of a decision

There is no doubt that making decisions can be a challenging process, especially when you have to take the risks associated with those decisions into account. The best way your leaders can be helped here is to show them how to break down the decision-making process into steps. At every step the dangers can be assessed and dealt with, perhaps by brainstorming ways that would mitigate those risks.

It is quite a task

Empowering your leadership team to make the best decisions is not an easy task. But there is one very easy way of covering all of the above, and this is by training your leaders and their teams using a simulation. By placing everyone in a situation that requires decisions to be made and enacted, you allow your staff to better understand the entire decision-making process while also appreciating the impacts of their decisions. This can not only increase the decision-making ability of your leaders, but will also foster a higher level of communication and improve team work.

Prendo have years of experience in constructing and running the very best business simulations available today, so if you want to improve the decision-making skills of your leadership skills, check out prendo.com today.

Why ESG Matters

by docgate

Why ESG Matters

To say that we’re living in challenging times would be an understatement. We are just coming out of a major global health crisis, armed conflicts and civil unrest are affecting countless lives. Also, climate change and its effects are getting more alarming with each passing year. With such a context, it’s only natural that society is asking its most prominent actors (mainly governments and companies) to come forward and start devising solutions to overcome those issues.

In that light, people are forcing companies to abandon their lifelong pursuit of profit and embrace a more caring approach to doing business. Several signs of this push include people refusing to work for companies that don’t align with their principles, investors increasingly betting on “conscious” businesses, and brands embracing environment, social, and governance (ESG) practices.

The latter is a fascinating phenomenon that’s been growing over the past few years. With corporate social responsibility (CSR) philosophies losing steam and ebbing away, ESG feels like a better approach for companies. That’s because it provides numerous benefits for everyone involved. ESG strategies pave the way for more eco-conscious business practices while also unlocking many advantages for the companies that use them.

What is ESG

Environment, social, and governance (ESG) refers to an approach to assessing and conducting businesses with their ecosystem in mind. In other words, it’s all about considering and understanding how internal and external factors affect companies and what those companies can do to optimize their operations while contributing to improving that ecosystem in which they are immersed.

As its name indicates, there are three major components to ESG:

  • This aspect deals with the relationship between the ecosystem and businesses and how they influence each other. It focuses on factors such as greenhouse gasses, pollution, waste, and energy consumption, among others.
  • It delves into the business relationships with both internal and external stakeholders. This means dealing with wages, diversity and inclusion, pay gaps, human rights, wealth generation, and safety.
  • As its name suggests, this aspect focuses on how companies operate at their highest levels. Basically, this implies looking at executive pay, ethics, taxes, and overall political involvement, among other factors.

As the three components of ESG show, this approach aims to provide a multifaceted framework to rethink how a business operates, considering its overall impact at both internal and external levels.

Why should you care about ESG

Though some cynical business people might see ESG as yet another inconvenience they have to deal with, the reality is that it is the proper approach to the current global challenges. Given the difficulty and complexity of the solutions we need to overcome those challenges, all societal actors must play their parts in developing those solutions. Businesses, with their profits and resources, are in a key position to help with that.

So, the first (and probably most important reason) why you should care about ESG is a profoundly humane one. Companies need to carry part of the weight of dealing with the environmental and societal issues we’re facing while ensuring more transparency in their operations.

This means considering multiple issues through the lens of ESG, from contributing to the fight against deforestation, pollution, and similar problems to having a hand in initiatives against wealth, racial, and gender disparities. Ideally, this would be enough for companies to adopt an ESG-driven approach to business decisions. However, some other factors that should convince even the most skeptical business owners are worth mentioning. Some of them include the ones below.

New business opportunities

Younger generations (millennials and centennials) are more likely to sympathize with companies that define their operations through an ESG approach. Aligning your business with their principles of environmental preservation, social justice, and corporate accountability can turn your brand into a more appealing alternative for the consumers belonging to those generations. Using an ESG approach can meet the needs and aspirations of an increasingly conscious audience.

Cost savings

ESG can help you save some money in two different ways. The first and most apparent is by helping you reshape your operations, products, and services to turn them into more sustainable alternatives. This can lead to reduced waste, a more efficient workflow, and fewer lost business opportunities. ESG can also help you avoid potential fines stemming from a lack of regulatory compliance with environmental or workforce regulations, as you’d be rethinking your operations to benefit all stakeholders.

Better talent recruitment and retention

With more and more people aiming to work for a company with a people-first philosophy, embracing ESG can positively impact your recruitment and retention efforts. Adopting an ESG-driven approach would show potential team members and collaborators that you’re valuing something else aside from profit. In fact, you’d be showing people that you care about inclusion, diversity, accountability, and equity. That can be a decisive factor when people are considering whether to work with you, something you shouldn’t scoff at, given the precarious state of employment these days.

Increased innovation

This might not be evident initially, but ESG can drive innovation up. How come? When you start walking down the ESG path, you’ll begin uncovering issues you never paid attention to before.

For instance, new environmental regulations might force you to change how you manufacture a specific product. Instead of seeing that as an inconvenience, you can frame that as an opportunity to innovate. Given that embracing ESG will present you with multiple friction points, you’ll have to innovate quite often, pushing you to develop an innovation process that can benefit your operations, products, services, and clientele.

Contributing to a better world

As you can see, there are powerful reasons to consider developing an ESG strategy. From a business perspective, this approach can vastly improve a brand’s reputation in the eyes of customers, investors, employees, and society as a whole. Additionally, it can help you increase your operational agility, forcing you to develop a framework with continuous evolution at its core.

But, in my eyes, that’s all additional to the most important benefit of ESG: contributing to a better world. By considering environmental, societal, and governance factors in your everyday decisions, you can create a more sophisticated business strategy that provides you with profits and helps improve the world around you. So, if you’re asking yourself why ESG should matter, keep that in mind: because it can help us fight the issues of today’s world.

3 Trends in Education in the Post Pandemic Era

by docgate

The COVID-19 crisis had a major impact on the global education sector. And even as the pandemic slowly subsides and things return to “normal,” there’s no denying the impact of the virus on our modern way of life will persist for years to come.

Let’s talk about learning. Both students and teachers need to adapt to the demands of the new normal and realize that education may be a little different than it used to be. For example, as online learning takes on a new frontier, cyber security for both teachers and students is now a more significant issue than before. The pandemic has dramatically changed the digital landscape and directly impacted the way we learn.

How the Pandemic Affected Education

Most governments decided to temporarily halt face-to-face learning to curb the spread of COVID-19 at its peak. In January 2021, approximately 825 million learners were affected by school closures in response to the pandemic. According to UNICEF, 23 countries simultaneously implemented nationwide lockdowns, and 40 enforced local lockdowns, affecting about 47% of the global student population.

Families with fewer financial resources were highly affected by school closures. Online educational programs shifted the job of teaching from schools to families and individuals, resulting in greater challenges for those who relied on schools as caretakers for their children.

Daycare and school closures affected students, teachers, and families and had far-reaching economic and social impacts. School closures shed light on a range of social and economic issues, including the digital gap, food insecurity, homelessness, childcare costs, healthcare disparities, and lack of access to disability services. The impact on disadvantaged children and their families is more severe, leading to learning interruptions, malnutrition, childcare problems, and the resulting economic costs for families unable to work.

The following learning trends emerged following the decline of the pandemic. They are reshaping the education scene in many places.

Individualized Learning

Individual learning has been on the rise in recent years. It aims to tailor education to each student’s strengths and weaknesses, needs, abilities, and interests. It encourages student progress so that each child can move at an appropriate pace, and no one is left behind.

Flipped Classrooms

In a flipped classroom, teachers share material with students in advance so that they can review it at home and discuss the topic the following day. Teachers can also focus on individualized instruction for students. Such interactive learning models improve problem-solving skills.

Students can work in groups, analyze material in depth, take comprehension tests, and collaborate with teachers and students on individual tasks. Inverting the classroom creates an active environment where students can learn at their own pace.

Flipped classrooms combine online and face-to-face classes to provide an unparalleled educational experience. Schools that have adopted a flipped learning model use artificial intelligence to help students boost their strengths and focus on their weaknesses. AI-powered classrooms also allow teachers to tailor learning materials to student needs, giving equal attention to fast and slow learners.

Combined Learning

Online learning is not disappearing. However, it is also not subject to be the dominant form of education. Schools around the world have reopened. However, a hybrid form of learning, where teachers teach both online and offline, will prevail. In the first months and possibly years after the pandemic, a mix of remote and face-to-face classes is useful to minimize the risk of infection and to ensure access to education for high-risk groups.

Closing Thoughts

The novel coronavirus impacted education systems around the world. Schools, colleges, and universities closed down to curb the spread of the virus, which created challenges for students, teachers, and parents. Distance learning is, therefore, a solution for ensuring some form of continuity. However, a lack of internet infrastructure, computers, and digital materials poses challenges for distance learning in developing countries. Here, security and privacy are also major issues.

As such, countries need to develop strategies to use educational technology, digital resources, and more to prepare for the next time things grind to a halt. Many governments are looking into alternate methods, such as educational television programs. They are also equipping students with laptops and tablets so they won’t have to share devices with their siblings and parents. Suffice it to say, the modern education landscape might look very different in a few short years.

 

The Benefits of Upgrading Your Nursing Career with RN to BSN Program

by docgate

A registered nurse (RN) with a bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN) may be better qualified to earn higher pay, better job security, and the prestige of being an advanced practice nurse than an RN with only an associate’s degree in nursing (ADN). To be considered an advanced practice nurse, you’ll need to meet the specific qualifications set by your state. In some states, this means earning a bachelor of science in nursing.

1.    Enables You to Access More Career Advancement Opportunities

As a registered nurse, you may feel like you have hit a glass ceiling in your career. If you want to advance in your nursing career, you may consider upgrading your RN credential to a bachelor of science in nursing. With a BSN, you will be able to access more opportunities for career advancement.

Pursuing a bachelor of science in nursing will help you increase workplace options, such as hospital ambulatory care centers, rehabilitative centers, school nursing, and administration. You can also take advantage of many universities’ graduate or Ph.D. programs. These programs offer specialized training in health care administration and infection control.

2.    Preparation for the Future of Healthcare

Healthcare is constantly changing and evolving; as a nurse, it’s essential to be ready for the future. That’s why upgrading your nursing career with an RN to BSN program can be beneficial. With a bachelor of science in nursing, you’ll have the knowledge and skills to adapt to the ever-changing healthcare landscape. Plus, you’ll be able to provide better patient care and positively impact the lives of those you care for.

The upgrade will equip you with the knowledge and training you need to prepare for tomorrow’s health challenges, enhance your leadership skills, increase your value in the job market, and become eligible for more opportunities within the industry. In addition to gaining new expertise, a bachelor of science in nursing also provides credibility that could help boost your salary over time.

3.    Helps Increase Your Opportunity to Work in Magnet Hospitals

One of the benefits of upgrading your nursing career is that it can help you increase your opportunity to work in Magnet hospitals. Magnet designation identifies hospitals that meet specific standards for nursing excellence. To be eligible to work in a Magnet hospital, you must have a bachelor of science in nursing degree.

Working at a magnet hospital increases your chances of continuing in this profession and earning higher wages and bonuses. You can acquire your BSN by completing an online program through an accredited university or college. A bachelor’s degree prepares nurses for leadership roles and other specialties such as research, public health, nurse education, and more.

4.    Helps Expand Your Knowledge of Evidence-Based Practice

If you’re looking for ways to improve your career and patient care, consider upgrading your nursing education from an RN to a BSN. A Bachelor of Science in Nursing can provide you with the knowledge and skills needed to provide evidence-based care. It will also prepare you for administrative roles such as staff nurse supervisor or unit manager.

You will be able to acquire critical skills in case management,  critical thinking, research methods, health policy, and leadership which are not part of an Associate Degree of Nursing (ADN). That way, you can increase your ability to practice across various healthcare settings.

5.    Helps Broaden Your Advocacy Skills

Advocacy is an integral part of nursing. It is the act of speaking up for patients, whether they are your own or someone else’s. It can also be speaking up for the profession as a whole. Upgrading your nursing career to a BSN program can help broaden your advocacy skills. As you learn more about medicine and science, you will access new information that could impact your patient care.

You will have more excellent knowledge of how to affect change in the healthcare system and how to advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves. You will become a better advocate for your patients by becoming knowledgeable about all aspects of their treatment and not just what is happening at their bedside.

6.    Enhanced Credibility

As a registered nurse, you have already worked hard to earn your degree and obtain your nursing license. But upgrading your education to a bachelor of science in nursing can boost your career. Not only will you be more credible in the eyes of potential employers, but you will also have access to more job opportunities and higher salaries.

 

In addition, you will be better prepared to handle the challenges of the ever-changing healthcare landscape. The breadth of knowledge and perspective obtained through a BSN degree can help you give more informed input on medical research initiatives, drug company policies, hospital administration decisions, insurance coverage issues, and other vital issues that affect health care today.

Conclusion

One of the best ways to advance your career, whether you’re just starting or a seasoned professional RN, is by enrolling in an RN to BSN program. It will give you hands-on experience and enhance your skills, knowledge, and resume. You’ll also be eligible for more positions and may find promotions easier. It’s an excellent choice for lifelong learning and continuing education, which nurses and employers should applaud. With so many benefits, it’s worth considering if you want to upgrade your nursing career!

Tools that Make Android Phones Faster for Students

by docgate

Smartphones are an important part of our lives. They keep us connected to the world and make it easy for us to stay on top of our work and studies. But sometimes, our phones can be a bit slow, especially when we need them to be fast. If you’re a student, here are some tools that will help make your android phone faster.

1. Phone Cooler Pro

Phone Cooler Pro is a great tool that can help make your Android phone faster. It does this by closing down any unnecessary background apps and processes, thus freeing up memory and resources. This can result in a significant increase in speed and performance, especially when compared to running the same apps on a phone that doesn’t have Phone Cooler Pro installed.

2. SD Maid

SD Maid helps you to clean up any unused files and folders that are taking up space on your phone, which can help to improve its performance. It also has a handy feature that allows you to backup your data so that you can restore it if anything goes wrong.

3. Advanced Task Manager

Advanced Task Manager is a great tool that can help make your Android phone faster by killing any unnecessary or unwanted processes and apps. It also has a handy feature that allows you to schedule when certain apps should be closed so that they don’t use up too much of your phone’s resources.

4. Cache Cleaner Pro

Cache Cleaner Pro is a great tool that can help to clear the cache on your Android phone, which can help to improve its speed and performance. It also has a handy feature that allows you to schedule when the cache should be cleared, so that it doesn’t build up over time and cause problems.

5. Greenify

Greenify is a great tool that can help to improve the battery life of your Android phone by hibernating any apps that you’re not using. This can be really useful if you find that your phone’s battery is draining too quickly. It also has a handy feature that allows you to whitelist certain apps so that they’re not affected by Greenify.

6. FPS Unlocker

If you’re a gamer, then you’ll know that one of the most important things for a smooth gaming experience is a high frame rate. Unlock FPS for Android and it will allow you to increase the frame rate of your phone so that games run smoother and faster. This can make a huge difference to your gaming experience, and it’s definitely worth trying out if you’re looking for ways to improve your phone’s performance.

7. Clean Master

Clean Master is one of the most popular Android optimization apps and it’s not hard to see why. It can help to clean up your phone’s memory and storage, as well as kill any unwanted or unnecessary processes. It also has a handy virus scanner that can protect your phone from any malicious software.

8. SwiftKey

SwiftKey is a great keyboard app that can help to improve your typing speed and accuracy. It does this by learning your typing style and predicting the words that you’re likely to use next. This can be really useful if you find yourself making a lot of typos when you’re typing on your phone.

9. Tasker

Tasker is a great app that can help you to automate various tasks on your Android phone. It can be used to do things like turn on WiFi when you’re near your home, or turn off Bluetooth when you’re not using it. This can be really useful if you want to save battery life or just make your life a little bit easier.

10. Nova Launcher

Nova Launcher is a great alternative to the default launcher that comes with your Android phone. It offers a range of customization options so that you can make your phone look and feel exactly the way you want it to. It also has some handy features like the ability to hide apps that you don’t use often, which can help to declutter your home screen.

 

There are lots of other great Android optimization apps out there, but these are just a few of the best. All of these tools can help to make your Android phone faster and more responsive. If you’re struggling with a slow or laggy phone, then it’s definitely worth trying out some of these apps and seeing if they can help to improve your situation.