Series 7 is under way.  The first episode on the current series was shown on 10 May.  Catch up on the first two episodes of The Apprentice.  Then, come back and join the debate here.

Allegedly, the Alan Sugar’s apprentices have been selected from the country’s top minds and sharpest entrepreneurial figures.  And, what do we get?  Read on.

Spoiler Alert: the first two episodes, including who got fired, are discussed below.  And, you can read more on BBC – The Apprentice.

Don’t tell me the sky’s the limit, when there are footsteps on the moon.

Surely, we think, they’re joking. I think the less drivel-spouting contestants may be able to survive the barrage of drivel by adopting some of Sarcastics Anonymous.  It’s a simple strategy (oh no, there’s another buzz-word!).

Either that, or I volunteer to run a five-minute workshop, to help contestants understand the concept of a metaphor.

Edward, who was fired in episode 1, seemed a likeable-enough guy, yet his mouth seemed to run away with him.  I counted three instances of the following phrase, within as many minutes.

You’ve just got to roll with the punches.

And, in defence of his action throughout that week’s task…

Not only am I the youngest in the team, I’m the shortest…

The others up for firing in the episode remained strangely controlled, revealing only the briefest of smirks.

His failure?  It came down to an inability to express himself clearly or succinctly.  Lord Sugar is known for curtailing pontificators, mercilessly.

Alex was fired in episode 2.  I blame the Welsh  sideburns – that’s all I have to say on the matter.

Most bizarre moment

Edna’s gloves distracted from what she was trying to say throughout her pitch.

Star of the show so far: Jim Eastwood

At Sensei Towers, our money is on the man from Cookstown, Jim Eastwood.  He’s referred to variously on the hilarious Apprentice Twitter streams as SoupMan, or as Allen prefers, JediJim.  Follow the brutal – but entertaining – live tweeting on The Apprentice.

Noobs may find the following useful:

PM Project manager.

“Group hug!”          Let’s indulge in some corporate bonding for the cameras.

OK, guys, let’s strategise We need to figure out what the heck we’re doing before the car reaches the market stall. Oh, we’re here.

Roll with the punches. Keep your chin up, even when you know you’ve in way over your head.

Are you following?  If so, have you formed any opinions yet on who might win?  Or, who might be fired next?  Answers on a comment below.

Image credit: jamescronin.

Since we started to tentatively promote the launch of BookCamp for March 2011, people have asked for more juicy details.  Let me oblige.

Is there a booklist?

In an attempt to make the choice of books objective and contemporary, I’ve decided to select from the New York Times Business Best Sellers list.

That way, BookCamp doesn’t collapse into a “let’s all study the books Allen likes best” club.

Once things get up and running, I want attendees to vote on the books we read.  But until that glorious day when democracy kicks in, I’ve picked the first four.  Here they are:

• March – Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
• April – Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath
• May – Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
• June – Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink

So now you know what to request from Santa this Christmas.

What about great books that aren’t on the NYT list, or have been but aren’t there now?

Good question.  Maybe there’s a book that has shaped or helped you in some significant way that you’d like a chance to discuss with others.  Or a well-known book that you detest and demand an opportunity to publicly mangle (constructively, of course).  So what I plan is this.

BookCamp | Promote your Page too

The majority of our time will be taken up discussing the selected book.  However, I will provide a slot where one person has an opportunity to talk about a book of their choice.  The only stipulations are that the book falls within the general parameters of books with business applications, and that you have strong views on it.

I’ll fulfil this role on the first night to model the format.  After that, its over to you.

Is there any sort of study resource available before the event?

A brief, downloadable study resource will be made available for attendees on registration.

It will provide information about the author, a summary, definitions, key concepts, web links, and further reading. It will also provide space for you to jot down some thoughts and notes to take with you.  So attendees are advised to print it out and bring it with them.

If you don’t have the book, or haven’t read it, are you barred?

That would be harsh.  So no, you aren’t barred.  However, I will be giving a chance for all participants near the start of each evening to say what they think about the book in a few sentences.  If you haven’t read it, you can’t do that, obviously.

Therefore, I would ask that those who haven’t read the book don’t come and ask questions like, “So what’s this book called again?  And what’s it about?”

I will facilitate discussion on the assumption that everyone has read the book and knows what it is about.  So if you haven’t had time to read the book but want to listen to the informed discussions of others, come along to learn and enjoy the networking.  You are very welcome.

Is there a dress code?

Yeah, right.  As long as your vital statistics are covered, I literally do not care.  However, wearing Man United sportswear will demean you in my eyes.  ;)

If you  have any other questions, please ask.

The strap-line for BookCamp is Read to Lead.  I hope you’ll find the time to take up this challenge and opportunity with us.  And that you’ll have a safe and relaxing holiday season.

Click here to read more and register.

Image credit: aheram.

I debated whether to call this blog post, Stand, Breathe and Deliver, or perhaps The Oxygenated Highwayman.  You figure it out!

What a Meeting is Not

A meeting is not:

• A talking shop, for discussing and debating.
• An opportunity to catch up with the social gossip within your organisation.
• A chance to bitch about the staff/management en masse.

If your meetings include any of these activities, eliminate them and reclaim your time.

At All Costs, Avoid Having a Meeting At All

Few people enjoy meetings.  Become the darling of your management team by suggesting sane alternatives:

1. Pick up the phone and ask a question.
2. Send an email with Voting Buttons or a Survey to elicit opinions or a series of swift decisions.
3. If you need only keep people informed or share documents:
   1. learn how to use Google Docs
   2. if you have more money to spend, ask IT to set up a simple intranet site
   3. if you fancy yourself a competent writer, start an internal blog.

If a meeting is still considered necessary, hold a Stand-Up Meeting – see below.

There are only three rules. Stand, Breathe and Deliver.

Hold a Stand-Up Meeting

Stand-up meetings are characterised by the following:

• Invite the team involved on a project, not every manager in the building.
• Attendees stand, rather than sit.
• Meetings are generally brief (5-15 minutes), due to the eventual discomfort of standing so long in one place.
• There are no life-draining, convoluted series of welcomes, points arising, matters pertaining thereunto, thank-yous, discussions, deliberations or any other such nonsense.

I reserve my right to indulge in a little sarcasm, having once worked for an organisation where full-day meetings (with tea-breaks and specially ordered-in lunch) were too regular to dismiss as anomalies; they were planned this way.

• All members are encouraged to speak (briefly), sometimes using a visual prompt (such as a conch, as in Lord of the Flies).
• Updates state progress, impediments to progress and prompt immediate solutions.  I have seen this format work extremely well in  software development companies, where it has been adopted enthusiastically, probably because it fits snugly with the Agile project management style.

Have a Meeting in a Forest (or Other Non-Man-Made Location)

Get your staff or managers out of the office for an hour, and into nature.  I highly recommend beside a gushing waterfall.  You can almost get drunk on the high oxygen in such places.  Oxygen, exercise, and space are all essential for energy, creativity, problem-solving, motivation, brainstorming, and those of us who are right-brain dominant (for which our schools, colleges, workplaces and world have no place to play).

If this is impossible (due to narrow-mindedness, what else?), a local cafe might provide at least a walk in the fresh air, which always invigorates thinking.

Insist on Delivery

Assign tasks to named individuals.  Ensure everyone is sent a summary of the main points by email.  I recommend a massively pared-down version of minutes, if at all.

Insist on Delivery Before the Four Horsemen of Armageddon Arrive

Interpret this how you will.  Insist on delivery of the tasks assigned to individuals before either the universe implodes, the staff retention rate reaches unacceptable levels, the FSA sends their men in black coats, profits sink, or Friday is upon you.  In other words, date tasks.

Further, ask for a (not necessarily written) report on how the task went at the beginning of the next meeting. Slackers and procrastinators will soon get used to being held accountable to their peers. When you encounter persistent, malignant non-compliance, train or fire.  It’s a simple deterrant.

That’s about all I have to say.  Trust me.  I’ve been there.  Think of what my new BFF Richard Koch would say.

Koch would say 80% of meetings are a waste of time.  And, 80% of time your spent at meetings is wasted.  He’d tell you to prioritise and choose the 20% of meetings that are a effective use of your time, and attend those.  And, be aware that while you’re there, you’ll only find 20% of THAT time is actually effectively spent.

In other words, go back to where I said, At All Costs, Avoid Having a Meeting at All.

Notes and checklists, calendars and appointment books, project timetables and reminder systems – should managing time require so much… time? And once the training session is over, how many of these tools do we actually employ to effect in our working lives?

Workshop takes place this Wednesday, two places remaining.

Statistics tell a grim tale: most Time Management training is ineffective and therefore literally (and ironically) a waste of time.

So this workshop will take a radically different track.  The course will commence with deep and personal questions about how each of us views and values our time.

This perspective is often neglected in traditional time management courses in favour of scheduling and arranging techniques.  This is in keeping with the latest research, which shows that the ultimate time management device for busy managers is… themselves.

We will then focus on two proven techniques that yield maximum results for time-poor managers and business people.

The first is the revolutionary ‘80/20 Principle’ as radically interpreted by Richard Koch, self-styled ‘time revolutionary’ and serial entrepreneur.  The second is the ‘Quadrant 2’ system developed by Stephen Covey, author of the famous Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  Between them, these ideas will radically alter how you view and use time – from a quantity to a quality perspective, from spending time to investing time.

This is a wide-ranging and stimulating course, designed to provide managers and professional people from all sectors with real-world tools for everyday use.

It will endow newcomers with an excellent overview of the best in Time Management techniques.  And it also offers fresh stimulation and focus for those with previous training in the subject.  No prior knowledge is assumed.

Venue: Queens University Belfast  -  Cost £210  -  Speaker: Dawn Baird

To book your place, please contact QUB CPD Short Course Programme on 028 9097 5260 or cpd@qub.ac.uk.

Image credit: foxypar4.

They both have stuff to teach businesses, that’s what!  There have been quality BBC articles and vids recently on new sources of inspiration for business development.  One was comedy.  You don’t have to think too hard to realise that the skills necessary in stand-up – creativity, improvisation, confidence, communication – are directly transferable to the world of work.

Neil Mullarkey leads the way here.  You can read about his training organisation – called Improvyourbiz – and workshops here.

The next was about the use of wolves to model leadership and team-working skills! I noticed that several other coaching and training blogs have flagged up this remarkable story.  However they didn’t provide any more information than was in the original article.

Using my amazing research skills I’ve managed to track this story to its source.  The organisation who runs the training is called Team Venture.  The exact name of this course is ‘Natural Leaders – Trainings with Wolves and Horses for Executives’.  Chief instructor Dr. Janet Nagel, an Outdoor Trainer with a PhD in Engineering and project management experience at executive level.

As a trainer, I find both these directions extremely exciting.  It makes me wonder, What other untapped areas of learning experience exist out there?  Anyone for Star Wars?

Image credit: belgianchocolate.