Although I work full time at the University of Nottingham, I have the capacity to undertake a limited amount of external work each year. I need formal approval for each piece of work and need to undertake it in my own time \u2013 almost always annual leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s what I can offer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Training:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Grant Getting Tips and Strategies<\/strong>. Designed for all levels of experience and discipline-agnostic, but particularly suitable for those just starting out. This session explains how funding decisions are typically made in practice, and the implications for writing competitive proposals. This session can be orientated more towards the mechanics of grant writing or towards strategic approaches for individuals and teams. It can also incorporate an overview of the UK funding landscape. I\u2019ve delivered versions of this internally, at a Universitas 21 conference, and for two other UK and one other European university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interdisciplinary Research: More and Better. <\/strong>This session starts by exploring why interdisciplinary research is hard, and given that, what the reasons are for attempting it. If those reasons are compelling, the session goes on to cover how to do more and better interdisciplinary research. This session includes hints and tips on how to maximise your chances of success, including one basic, fundamental thing that\u2019s at the heart of everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Networking for Introverts (or just those who don\u2019t enjoy networking<\/strong>). I\u2019m not a natural networker, and if I\u2019ve become more effective, it\u2019s as a learnt skill. This session addresses the role of \u2018(self-)confidence\u2019 so-called \u2018charisma\u2019 and presents a new framing of networking transformed my approach. This session can cover online network building as well as in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All of my training has two things in common:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lively, engaging, informal, playful<\/strong>. If a presenter can\u2019t hold attendees\u2019 attention in the room, the chances of positive learning outcomes are negligible. With the distractions of laptops and smartphones within easy reach, it\u2019s become even more important to hold a room\u2019s attention. Look, I\u2019m not saying I\u2019m a stand up comedian or a motivational speaker, but I did once get laughs during a talk about REF publication portability rules. You can get a sense of my style\/approach from this (2023) webinar that I recorded for the ARMA conference<\/a> on the role of research development managers in promoting better research cultures. It\u2019s dated slightly (though perhaps anticipates some of the backlash, Donalan-gate etc) but it\u2019s a reasonable example of my presenting style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Work with clients\u2019 research development teams and leave their visibility\/status enhanced<\/strong>. I hate it when external consultants and trainers ignore or sideline or (worse) belittle or undermine the institutions\u2019 own capacity. Often, it\u2019s an attempt to make themselves appear indispensable or raise their own status. Because I don\u2019t need to chase repeat business (I have a day job), I\u2019m able to \u2018teach to fish\u2019 and make myself redundant. Rather than boast about all the fish I\u2019ve caught in the past. I want to find ways to incorporate your team in any event or programme, and leave their internal reputation and visibility enhanced as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Facilitation and Coaching<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Advanced\u2019 Research Development: Building Relationships, Increasing our Influence. <\/strong>I instigated and co-convene an ARMA peer-learning training session of the same name<\/a> (now on its fifth iteration), and I can deliver a version of it for your research development team. Because this is primarily facilitated peer learning, this builds on your team\u2019s experience and expertise. This works best with one or two of your more experienced team members presenting short provocations alongside my own. I can run a version of this as a straightforward training course, but I think this would be less effective, especially for experienced colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Idea development clinics\/\u201dDragons Den\u201d. <\/strong>I\u2019ve been involved in a few activities where researchers talk about their ambitions, and I support them with developing the next steps. I use coaching techniques and ask a lot of questions. I can help individuals and teams craft their narrative and think about next steps. This works best alongside subject\/funder specialists who can provide funder-specific advice and institution-specific support or further development<\/p>\n\n\n\n Group coaching for research development managers. <\/strong>As a group coach, I can offer group coaching sessions for 2-4 research development managers per group. This would involve a number of meetings (usually 6) over a period of months, in which each member brings some work-related challenges to the group and we explore them together, with other group members playing a coaching role. This works best with RDMs from different institutions, or who at least don\u2019t work closely together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What I can\u2019t, don\u2019t, or won\u2019t do:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Support individual research grant proposals that might (even theoretically) be in competition with bids my own institution. <\/strong>This is a conflict of interest, and I won\u2019t be granted permission to do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Provide detailed training courses on specific funders\/academic disciplines.<\/strong> In my current role I no longer focus on specific funders or academic disciplines, so my knowledge is somewhat dated. This kind of training is best delivered in house, since it can incorporate details of next steps\/individual support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Work for free or for \u201cpublicity\u201d or \u201cexposure\u201d<\/strong> Engage in long email correspondence and\/or meetings that lead nowhere and then go silent<\/strong>. I understand that some of these discussions are just a cost of doing business. But\u2026 I\u2019ve had a lot of my time wasted. I seem to get approached by different people at the same institution every couple of years, only to get ghosted. Again. So I\u2019ve written this to avoid repeating myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Run training that\u2019s outside my sphere of expertise.<\/strong> It\u2019s important to me that anything I offer is good, and value for money. If I\u2019m not convinced that I can do that, I\u2019m not going to risk your money or my reputation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spend more time chasing payment than preparing the session.<\/strong> This has happened to me several times now, and I\u2019ve learnt my lesson. Twice I\u2019ve been told that what was agreed can\u2019t be delivered without endless workarounds requiring more work from me. Whether that\u2019s having to plough through web pages about a foreign country\u2019s tax regulations, or spend weeks trying to extract myself from being auto-enrolled into a pension scheme, it’s been… annoying. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As a result, I now deliver training with new clients through Smart Lark Training<\/a>, who offer an outstanding range of outstanding researcher development training programmes that you should definitely check out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Happy to discuss options within the parameters above. You can contact me via email<\/a> or find me on LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Although I work full time at the University of Nottingham, I have the capacity to undertake a limited amount of external work each year. I need formal approval for each piece of work and need to undertake it in my own time \u2013 almost always annual leave. Here\u2019s what I can offer: Training: Grant Getting … Continue reading “Training and Consultancy”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-963","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n
I use annual leave to prepare and deliver training, so I need to charge a fee. One possible exception might be for extra-institutional networks where my institution allows me to participate as part of my standard workload allocation and as part of institutional contribution towards the network. One recent example is the British Academy Early Career Researcher Network<\/a>. Otherwise, your lack of budget does not oblige me to give up my free time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n