Team members that support your development

Team members that support your development journey at the Vision Achievement Academy including your regular liaison team.

Social Marketing Managers

Our dynamic team of social marketing managers who provide the primary contact with subscribers to the Vision Achievement Academy.

image of social manager Ilinka Beckles
Connect with Ilinka
0191.818.8631
Connect with Heather
0191.818.8284
image of social manager Joseph Robinson
Connect with Joe
0191.818.8752

Executive Advisors

Our executive advisory team has decades of experience around the world in many different disciplines and roles. What we all bring to the table is our passion for developing others, as we do ourselves, and seeking ways to get improved skills more evenly distributed across the globe.


Ghadah Angawi
 
Kevin Miller
 
Zaher Hammouda
 
Kevin Rennie
 
Giles Watkins
 
Martin Hedley

Content & Regional Leaders

Highly experienced mentors and trainers who understand the variation in needs around the world and who contribute to both our strategy and course development

 
Sujatha Das
 
Santosh Vijay
 
Derrick McEachern
 
Joanne Douthwaite
 
AJ Goel

Operations

Our operational and learning coach team is growing around the world. Don’t forget to give us a shout if you’d like to be part of our great mission. It takes a set of team members that support your development journey at the Vision Achievement Academy.

Copyright © 1996 – 2021 Vision Achievement Limited

Home of the Achievement Academy

UK PRN: 10084809

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Clavering House, Clavering Place

Newcastle-upon-Tyne. NE1 3NG

United Kingdom

+44.191.818.8815

Facilitation

We specialise in helping your teams solve intractable problems, or develop new ideas.

The art of facilitation is to bring multiple people with different views together in a structured event that delivers an agreed approach and action plan. Whether you need a new strategy, some ideas for a new or revised product and service or to solve a seemingly unsolvable problem, try facilitation.

Facilitator Attributes

These attributes are what makes our facilitators successful in helping your teams come up with accurate, actionable answers.

  • highly curious
  • techniques to make sure everyone is heard
  • techniques to focus on priorities and consensus
  • knows the smartest people in the room are your teams
  • challenges ideas and answers positively
  • continuous summary and building from agreed positions
  • control of the room to ensure all perspectives are heard
  • open to helping others to learn how to facilitate
  • open to feedback from the assembled teams
  • willing to try alternative techniques until a good result is achieved
Where facilitation works best

We use a four point scale to classify our learning solutions so we can agree the right level to start with. Every one of us can be in any of these classes at any time depending on the topic. A construction manager, for example may be a masterfor project management, but also a novice when they start to design a website at home.

  • deep problem solving
  • generation of valid ideas
  • redesign of organizational processes
  • development of strategy
  • deployment of strategy

Online Learning

Learning on your computer, tablet or phone

Online learning represents a massive improvement in our ability to reach people wherever they are. Well designed, thoughtful and fun courses engage and teach at the same time. We use our online learning solution in conjunction with all other forms of development and it forms the basis of our extensive resource library of tools and materials. All our online resources are available in the Achievement Academy.

Our online services are always supplemented with live virtual seminars and support from our learning coaches. 

Online Learning Benefits

The ability to learn anywhere, anytime is great, but our online solution is more than that – it is a window into the world of learning, including access to seminars, coaching, mentoring, videos, podcasts, resources, live virtual training and instructor led courses as well.

The ability to learn anywhere, anytime is great, but our online solution is more than that – it is a window into the world of learning, including access to seminars, coaching, mentoring, videos, podcasts, resources, live virtual training and instructor led courses as well.

Online Learning Features

Easy to navigate, easy to work with, it’s the closest thing to having a trainer in your pocket.

  • learning whenever and wherever you need it
  • fun, engaging courses
  • well designed, thorough and easy to use content
  • courses designed around members needs
  • start and stop whenever you need to
  • submit questions or written solutions to faculty
  • go back over topics you have covered before
  • attend seminars and workshops through recordings
  • work socially with other participants

Seminars

Talks and presentations online or in person

Our senior team members enjoy giving talks and presentations on topics relevant to their experience. The goal is to enlighten, inspire and motivate through entertaining events. We establish our own online seminars and we attend external events, some of which can be recorded and placed in our online learning solution – the Achievement Academy. In person seminars have the benefit of networking with others who may be able to help or collaborate with you.

Seminar Benefits

Hearing perspectives of others broadens our appreciation of a topic. Seminars are great for inspiring with new ideas, or consolidating our understanding of topics we already are familiar with.

  • talks and presentations based on real experience
  • enjoyable events to inspire and motivate
  • ability to talk to the presenter afterwards
  • meet others who have similar learning needs
  • hear about different approaches from peers
  • build your business or personal networks
  • meet people with similar interests
  • expand understanding, whether in person or online

Seminar Features

Short talks about specific topics through to complex all-day events with a series of speakers who can inspire, educate, and broaden our perspectives on any topic we are interested in.

  • subjects include up-to-date issues and common problems
  • hearing different speakers perspectives
  • time set out for meeting others in attendance
  • activities to meet others in attendance
  • access to recorded talks in the online learning portal
  • spread great ideas worldwide
  • virtual workshops arranged following a talk for global cooperation

Experiences

A benefit of working with us or being a member of the Achievement Academy is taking part in the experiences we design for people. These can be arranged in person or in a virtual format so sometimes you can participate with other members from all over the world.

Experience Benefits

Adults learn best through experience. A well designed learning experience really helps our brains put it all into context – purpose, activity, procedure, perspective, attitude and more.

  • learn and feel a new skill or attribute
  • self-discovery of solutions
  • self-resilience in learning and sharing
  • explore and master vulnerabilities
  • gain from shared learnings with a group
  • being with a group that wants to discover the same things as you do
  • learning from reflection on results
  • safe environment to experiement
  • helps decision making when data is insufficient

Experience Features

Our experiences are designed to meet the needs of the participants. We have proven learning models that are adapted to the specific participants needs beforehand. 

  • designed for you alone or as part of a group
  • activities that offer options to make the best device
  • benefit from every participants discoveries
  • risks presented for mitigation activity
  • shared learnings from group participants
  • decision making with imperfect information
  • learning to rely on team colleagues
  • tuning in to others needs and cultures

Coaching

Amateurs do it alone, professionals use a coach

We coach members to understand how they can achieve their potential. It is about reaching beyond their current comfort level, but with a guide. Many times our clients and members ask us for more training, but that’s not always the right way to proceed. Other people perceive us as having capabilities that do not match what we can really do. We need to adjust that perception. 

Book an appointment with Vision Achievement using Setmore

Note: Our online booking system is provided by third-party Setmore and privacy policies may differ. Please check the Setmore website for details.

Coaching Benefits

We can all benefit from good coaching, not just after learning but throughout our development journey.

  • expand to your full potential
  • shows others what you can do
  • build resilience to change
  • overcome your doubts
  • develop realistic optimism
  • freedom from other people's perception of you
  • see and develop latent talents in others
  • not waiting on others to start developing you
  • improve personal performance
  • more satisfaction in work and life
  • communicate with greater purpose

Coaching Features

What you can expect when you get coaching, especially when we guide you to the right coach.

  • consistent guidance over time
  • agreeing a process to move forward
  • format built around you
  • building self confidence
  • a safe place to try out ideas
  • identifying your full capability
  • building a way forward through change
  • working towards a specific goal
  • working towards a shift in mindset

Mentoring

Mentoring occurs at many different times and on many different levels throughout life. Do we recognize when it's happening and do we seek it out and why?

We believe in you. Do you believe in you? That question is not as crazy as it sounds. Many times our members ask us for training and all they really need is to hone some skills they already have or identify a few related skills that put their capability to the top level. For this, we provide mentoring.

Book an appointment with Vision Achievement using Setmore

Note: Our online booking system is provided by third-party Setmore and privacy policies may differ. Please check the Setmore website for details.

Mentoring Benefits

Mentoring occurs on many levels. A mentor encourages the personal and professional development of another through the sharing of knowledge, expertise and experience. The benefits for the person being mentored include …

  • developing existing skills to a higher level
  • identifying new skills that need to be acquired
  • ability to focus on your strengths
  • support in developing key relationships
  • assistance in presenting ideas with impact
  • increased confidence
  • ability to submit your ideas to independent challenge and to learn from feedback

Mentoring Features

Each mentoring engagement is different and is built around a common interest or experience that the mentor has and the recipient needs. It is not unusual to have many mentors throughout our lives as our need to gain from experiences of others changes continually.

  • personal mentoring for people who are already highly competent
  • group mentoring to provide validation and challenge to ideas from peers who have common development interest
  • provision of accurate and objective feedback on progress rather than advice
  • moving from a problem solving perspective to a vision or mission based solution
  • a journey of variable length with regular or irregularly held contact with mentor
  • an opportunity to gain from the experience of others

Resources

Learning is not an event, you will need support.

A key asset with Vision Achievement and the Achievement Academy is our extensive library of further reading, case studies, tools, templates, videos, audios, quick tests and examinations that are available to members. There is a mass of information (mainly good) on the internet and keeping up with blogs and articles always keeps you up-to-date. But when you are developing your understanding of a topic it’s good to have a set of guided references that point directly to what you are learning, curated by our instructional designers. You have access to these resources regardless of whether you are a direct client of Vision Achievement or a member of the Achievement Academy.

Resource Benefits

Having guidance to further reading, tools , templates, studies, blogs, seminars, podcasts, recorded talks and many more ensures the learning will stay with you and help you improve skills every day.

  • quick access to tools you know you need
  • continued access as long as you are a member
  • materials that are curated for your learning plan
  • no wasted time researching the enormous amount of information on the internet or in libraries
  • practical focus over an academic focus
  • guidance from your Learning Coach on additional resources
Resource Features

Well organized, easy to search and readily available tools. Direct links to tools atet support your personal learning path.

  • quick and easy access through our online learning portal
  • easy to find categories
  • wide range of media
  • well researched and tested case studies
  • games and tests to help facilitate learning
  • references to academic material when needed
  • repeat exercises from workshops as a reminder or to consolidate learning

Virtual Workshops

In Person, facilitator led experiences

Our facilitators lead virtual workshops with one goal in mind – to allow participants to experiment and discover knowledge, skills and attributes that they can use immediately after. By presenting key ideas and then letting the team respond to those ideas, the facilitator guides participants to the learning points without direct instruction and with very little lecture.

Virtual Workshop Benefits

The main benefit from a facilitator led workshop is the ability to learn and question throughout. Our workshops are designed to take a topic that you already are familiar with and build on it, reinforce it or show you new ways of working with it.

  • learning new topics or enhancing existing skills
  • learning to critique the work of others respectfully
  • learning to accept critique graciously
  • developing inspiration from shared ideas
  • team inspiration and motivation
  • expanding knowledge in the topic in question
  • learn from peers and colleagues
  • expert facilitation keeps it practical
  • attend from anywhere
Virtual Workshop Features

Highly interactive, very little lecture, plenty of exercises and quizzes, plenty of time to engage with the facilitator and work with your fellow participants to develop a shared understanding – anywhere in the world.

  • short presentations designed to spur thinking
  • plentiful exercises to challenge and build knowledge
  • pre workshop assessments option
  • tools and templates provided that can be used afterwards
  • mixed media including audio, video and discussion
  • participant challenge to find best solutions
  • references to further personal study
  • virtual breakout into smaller groups for deeper thought
  • case studies, examples and quick tests
  • can be recorded for later replay

Workshops

In Person, facilitator led experiences

Our facilitators lead workshops with one goal in mind – to allow participants to experiment and discover knowledge, skills and attributes that they can use immediately after. By presenting key ideas and then letting the team respond to those ideas, the facilitator guides participants to the learning points without direct instruction and with very little lecture.

Workshop Benefits

The main benefit from an in-person facilitator led workshop is the ability to learn and question throughout. Our workshops are designed to take a topic that you already are familiar with and build on it, reinforce it or show you new ways of working with it.

  • learning new topics or enhancing existing skills
  • building your business or personal network
  • learning to critique the work of others respectfully
  • learning to accept critique graciously
  • developing inspiration from shared ideas
  • team inspiration and motivation
  • expanding knowledge in the topic in question
  • learn from peers and colleagues
  • expert facilitation keeps it practical
Workshop Features

Highly interactive, very little lecture, plenty of exercises and quizzes, plenty of time to engage with the facilitator and work with your fellow participants to develop a shared understanding.

  • short presentations designed to spur thinking
  • plentiful exercises to challenge and build knowledge
  • specially designed rooms to enhance the group learning
  • pre workshop assessments option
  • tools and templates provided that can be used afterwards
  • mixed media including audio, video and discussion
  • participant challenge to find best solutions
  • references to further personal study
  • breakout into smaller groups for deeper thought
  • case studies, exercises and quick tests

Our Difference Explained

We are building a new way of learning - our difference.

There have been many improvements in course quality over the past twenty years. Similarly the evolution of the internet has allowed online learning to grow massively. What has not changed very much is the approach to learning – the process itself – and that is where our difference stands out. Some people are fortunate and have access to learning planners in the Human Resources team, but the vast majority of people do not. For most people, once they leave formal eduction, learning takes the form of brief events with little or no follow up. Each event is often unconnected to any other. As a result, we are changing that and we look to our clients and members to help us achieve a more effective process and result.

Adult Learning Challenges

Adult learning is generally considered to be all learning once a person has left formal education. It’s not a precise definition at all. Even the title ‘adult’ can vary by region and formal education may end at many different ages. Our difference is we approach a number of challenges that exist with adult education differently. 

  • allowing an adult to be involved in planning their learning path and the events they take part in
  • the cost of both formal education and training which is a major barrier to the adult participation
  • we learn a lot by experiences as a baseline to development but few courses engage with our experience
  • other than training on very specific topics, learning events are not of immediate value
Our Difference

Our difference is also that we solve a number of challenges that exist with adult education. We address the need for adults to be involved in their development planning, to use their experiences to empower learning and growth, to learn through problem solving and reasoning and to make development immediately relevant to what they are doing. In summary, six things differentiate us from others.

  • match development plans to your needs and desires and do not offer a bewildering catalog of courses
  • look at skills that are closely related to those you are studying, skills that are known to enhance the core (unique)
  • make learning affordable by identifying people with similar needs and grouping them for study (unique)
  • assess your current capabilities first so we can match you with people in a similar position
  • give you live Learning Coaches to help plan your development roadmap, encourage you through the process and check up that you have attained the skills you wanted (unique)
  • build courses that our members want and for courses we don't have material for, we find the best one to match the need

Are we a match?

Our approach is different. Read on and decide: are we a match?

It takes a certain type of person to work well with us and to be successful. Here we describe some of the attributes of our most successful members. Do any of these success attributes sound like you? Are we a Match?

Success Attributes

Check if these attributes describe you now, or in the future because people with these attributes achieve great things with us.

  • ambitious
  • believe in lifelong learning
  • willing to try new ways of learning
  • like to share your experiences with others
  • get involved in your own learning
  • link your learning to the real world
  • practical, wanting to apply new skills
  • open to helping others to learn
  • open to feedback
  • willing to try something else until you get a good result
Readiness Levels

We use a four point scale to classify our learning solutions so we can agree the right level to start with. Every one of us can be in any of these classes at any time depending on the topic. A construction manager, for example may be a master for project management, but also a novice when they start to design a website at home.

  • novice (new to the topic)
  • developing (some experience in the topic)
  • competent (capable in most aspects fo the topic)
  • master (capable and performing at a high level in all aspects)

Total Solutions

We are building a new way of learning and developing

There have been many improvements in course quality over the past twenty years. Similarly the evolution of the internet has allowed online learning to grow massively. What has not changed very much is the approach to learning – the process itself.

Business Imperative

We have spent 20 years looking at what works, and what does not work in adult education, especially as it applies to organizational effectiveness and return on investment for training. Here are some of the differences that we deliver for you.

  • allowing a team member to be involved in planning their learning path and the events they take part in
  • aligning the development needs with that of the organization and the individual team member
  • reducing the cost of both learning and development which is a major barrier to organizational participation
  • design experiences as a baseline to development so that courses will engage with team member experience
  • staying with your team members so that training is not a single event
  • complete organizational delivery of the learning and development program for a fraction of the cost of full time staff to do this
Our Approaches

We deliver services to your staff directly as individuals or we can custom design a complete solution for your organization. Here are some of the options that might benefit your organization by developing your people effectively and raising their level of engagement with the organization too.

  • we offer an advisory service to determine how effecte your organizational learning and development plan is
  • we perform assessments designed to identify knowledge gaps but which also detect lack of engagement
  • we manage learning and development as a full outsourced service
  • we design collaborative learning events - essential when the topic needs to key in to the industry or the organizational mission
  • we put your team members into our Achievement Academy so they can learn and be supported over time
  • we work with you to develop a complete learning and development strategy if you don't have one, or you have one that is out-of-date