TQS Myths (2) Don't spend much time on A0.

Ignoring or minimising the value of A0 is something that still happens quite a lot in provider organisations.

In some cases the reasoning is: there are no points for A0 so it can't be very important.

However, most people who have worked with the TQS for even a little while know that if you don't write the various parts of A0 effectively, you will have trouble writing A5.

Of course, if you don't have a strategy for working with employers then you will also have trouble stating the approaches you use to help you fulfil your strategy. This means you will struggle with A2, A3 and A4, too.

Anyone who is serious about gaining TQS certification needs to be clear that A0 is the bedrock of the application. Without sound information in A0 you will struggle with the rest of the application.

Yet, misunderstandings concerning the importance of A0 are not the only reasons why A0 is often neglected.

There is another reason why people choose not to spend much time on A0.

This is that they don't know what to write.

On several occasions when I have been working with providers on their applications they have said that they have left A0 because it is too difficult. They have explained that they didn't know what to write so they decided to leave A0 until the end.

This demonstrates a problem with understanding of the whole standard.

In fact, A0 - and B0 for that matter - are crucial to the application and to success in the assessment. These are the areas to spend time getting right.

So, the best advice is to address A0 fully and make sure you have both understood and addressed the requirements before you move on to the rest of the standard.

Ignoring A0 could make your whole application weaker.

Don't make this mistake.

Feature Article – What’s the real difference between Part A and Part B of the Training Quality Standard?

Reproduced below is the feature article from our January 2009: Achieving the TQS Newsletter. The article is about the different parts of the TQS.

I see a lot of applications. In quite a number of cases Part A and Part B have been written by different people without reference to each other.

Since the two parts of the application deal with different perspectives, that isn’t necessarily an issue, but sometimes the Part A and the Part B documents are contradictory. Sometimes they deal with the same material. In some cases individual Part Bs, written by the same organisation, say quite different things.

I have even seen one organisation’s application where A0 and B0 were exactly the same. Text had been carried forward from Part A to Part B.

It’s worth getting your application writing team together to think about the differences between the two parts of the standard and to make sure every one knows what belongs in Part A and what belongs in Part B before you actually start writing.

What are the different parts of the standard about?
When you are writing Part A you are considering how you help all the employers with whom you work. You are looking at how you work with your direct employer customers across all parts of your organisation.

Tip: Look inwards at your existing customer relationships.

When you come to think about Part B of the TQS you need to think not just about your organisation and your customers but also about sectors.

Each sector has numerous components. These encompass:

• local
• regional
• national perspectives.

In some cases international perspectives will also need to be included.

When you come to think about Part B, don’t just consider your individual employer customers in a sector. Look more broadly.

Tip: Remember that a sector sits outside your organisation. You are trying to build links with it.

Do you need to be involved at all four levels?
No, you don’t need to work with a sector at all four levels. (Local, regional, national and international)

You do need to know how the whole sector works and you do need to know what you are doing to help each sector with which you work.

Getting things right
Write about your work with your customers in Part A. Think about how you help them. Find your success stories and use them judiciously as you write.

When you come to think about Part B start with the Sector Skills Council’s “footprint” statement and then decide how you help the SSC to fulfil its objectives at the local, regional, national, and where appropriate, at the international level.

Beware of writing too much about your own customers here, unless the points you are making are linked to the work of the sector.

Remember that when a Part B application is submitted for assessment, it is sent to the relevant Sector Skills Council for review.

If what you have written does not state clearly how you support the work of the SSC, then you cannot expect the SSC to report favourably on the application.

Coming tomorrow . . .

Some of you know that I write a monthly Achieving the TQS newsletter for our subscribers.

Tomorrow I shall be publishing the feature article from our January newsletter.

Get in touch via our website if you would like to receive our newsletter on a regular basis.

TQS Myths (1) – Never mind about the application . . .

No prizes for working out when I took this picture.

The weather at the beginning of February was pretty bad.

If you look at the picture, you can see some spring flowers are coming through.

If you’re an expert in horticulture you might be able to work out what some of the flowers are by looking at their leaves, but it would be relatively hard work.

Even if you’re an experienced gardener, you won’t be able to work out what’s under the snow. You don’t have enough information.

The TQS application has a lot in common with this photograph.

If you write about things the certification body’s requirements do not ask for, for example, writing about your strategy, as opposed to your strategy for working with employers, you could be covering up your successes.

If you leave your good practice hidden in the snow, and don’t write about it at all, no one will see it. You know it’s there, but the assessors won’t, because they can’t move the snow and you can’t ask them to wait for the thaw.

The TQS application is a snapshot. It’s your snapshot of your organisation, and if you take your picture in the wrong way, or in the wrong circumstances, you won’t be able to make the points you wanted to make to the lead assessor.

The application matters; the snapshot matters. You won’t get a chance to take the picture again, so make sure you take the right picture now.

It could be years before I have another chance to take a picture of that flower tub at that time of the year, surrounded by that amount of snow. I took my chance, and I have the picture. Make sure you take your opportunity when it comes to writing your TQS application.

Planning the TQS Development Journey (7) – Writing mileposts?

This post will come as a revelation to most readers, it deals with mileposts that most people ignore.

Think about the time you have available to you to write your TQS application.

You have, of course, as much as you want, because you can start anytime. You don't have to wait until you have registered with a certification body.

However, assuming you are working to a deadline, think first of the total time you have available to you.

Then consider the following:

• After how much of the time available should you have the first draft finished?
• After how much of the time available should you have reviewed and updated the first draft?
• After how much of the time available should the application be reviewed by the senior team?
• After how much of the time available should you be doing the final review, proof reading and consistency checking?

For most people these questions are irrelevant. Everything is squashed into a very short space of time when they are rushing around trying to get words – any words - onto the computer screen.

However, if you want to make the best of the application writing process, you will establish some mileposts and they will look something like this.

The first draft will be finished when 35% of the total time available has passed.

Your first review and update will be completed after half the available time has passed.

Senior managers will have completed their review and revisions when two thirds of the available time has passed.

You should then make further revisions. At this point you will have used up about three quarters of the time available.

You should then wait for a few days before undertaking your final review, consistency check and proof reading. It’s amazing how many mistakes and inconsistencies you find if you leave yourself time to work in this way.

Here is the link to what Sue Lowe from Hugh Baird College had to say about the application writing process. It’s worth taking her advice.

Establish mileposts.

Create deadlines – and stick to them.