As of July 1st 2019, the new Aged Care Quality Standards will be in place. The Aged Care Quality Standards will apply to all aged care services including residential care, home care, flexible care and services under the Commonwealth Home Support Program. 

With eight new standards, a stronger consumer focus and clearly articulated care and service expectations, now is the time to familiarise and educate yourself with the new standards. To help you prepare and meet the new standards, Go1 has partnered with Australian training provider Aged Care Learning Solutions (ACLS) to bring you all the online training courses you need to be ACQS compliant. 

To help you prepare for the new standards, ACLS has created the "About Me" series, which contains nine highly engaging 10-15 minute videos introducing the new standards from the consumer perspective. 

The first free introductory video introduces your workforce to the concept of the consumer being at the centre of the new standards. The learner will gain a practical understanding of the Aged Care Quality Standards with scenarios that facilitate the application of their learning. 

You can watch the first video of the ACLS "About Me" series right here:

ACLS | Standards Introduction

Don’t be caught out when the assessment and monitoring against the standards takes effect. Stay tuned on the Go1 blog each week to see our next installments of the "About Me" series, as well as more information around each individual standard. We are ready, are you? 

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Are you ready for the new Aged Care Quality Standards? An introduction to our Aged Care Quality Standards series

New Aged Care Quality Standards at a glance for your workforce

We have all been there - a deadline for a long report or project is looming. Although you have known about it for months and have a week left to complete it, somehow any distraction seems preferable to making a start.  The sheer scale of the task at hand is overwhelming, and the thought of working on it induces panic. 

Procrastination, when left unchecked, can become a chronic problem. When we don’t feel like completing a task in the moment, we are unable to see the impact of avoiding it long term, or how failing to do the work will stop us from reaching our goals. This can create a negative downward spiral, which becomes difficult to get out of and reset.  

While delaying work is seen as a net negative, historically, the ancient Romans and Greeks valued thinking over doing. When looking at procrastination from this perspective, it could be viewed as an opportunity for a big idea to come to the fore. Yet, for those focused on a productive working life in the modern world, it is definitely seen as the enemy.  

So, where does procrastination come from?  And how can we learn to recognise and manage it?  

Human beings have a long evolutionary history of procrastination, and the proliferation of technology in our world today has made overcoming it all the more difficult. 

Initially thought to stem from a lack of self-control, latest research reveals that procrastination it is more an issue of emotional regulation. In other words, we hesitate to avoid negative feelings associated with a task, such as fear, and opt instead for the momentary relief other activities can offer.

On the flip side of this, Wait But Why author, Tim Urban, explains that while some people claim to be procrastinators and others do not, those who claim to never procrastinate simply have a better control over their impulses.  A key factor in the process is what he calls the ‘instant gratification monkey’, who is secretly trying to sabotage all of us when we need to be getting on with something important, but perhaps a little scary.  Of course, there are many things we would much rather be doing than work, and our brains are very good at tempting us into doing these first,  like catching up on Instagram or grabbing a coffee.  

Another piece of the procrastination puzzle is motivation.  Not every activity or task we do is naturally enjoyable or rewarding, and whether or not a task is enjoyable will depend on individual preferences. When we are intrinsically motivated to complete a task, we want to do the work because we naturally enjoy it or find it satisfying.  

When a task does not motivate you in this way, it can be helpful to find a way to extrinsically motivate yourself to do it.  This simply means building in a reward for completing the task, or a section of it. The reward then becomes the motivation, and you have created your own incentive for getting the work done. 

Cast your mind back to the school classroom, and you will likely remember many ways you were extrinsically motivated by your teacher to do things you didn’t enjoy much.  Stickers, prizes, praise - you name it. Your teacher would have tried everything.  As human beings, we are hard-wired to seek out rewards and can use this psychology to our advantage. 

If procrastination is impacting negatively on your life, we have a few simple tricks to help you get around it. The goal is to trick your brain into getting some momentum without the psychological battle. Remember, starting the task is usually the biggest hurdle.  Once you are over this, you may well find that the work is not quite as challenging as it originally seemed. 

Getting started: Making a start on a task, however small, is always beneficial.  This will begin a positive feedback loop in your brain, and give you the all-important momentum you need to see the work to its completion. As with exercise, putting your runners on is usually the hardest part of the workout!


The ‘Pomodoro Technique’: This is a time management trick developed by Francesco Cirilllo in the late 1980s. The idea is to tackle a piece of work you need to get done in 25 minute intervals, followed by a short break.  Why does it work?  This comes back to our reward systems.  If we promise ourselves a reward at the end of completing a section of work, we are extrinsically motivated to complete the task.  This can be very helpful for getting started, particularly with tasks you are not intrinsically motivated to do.


Break the work down: Thinking about the enormity of a task before starting it can also trigger procrastination and anxiety. A great way around this is to think about how you could break the task down into smaller chunks.  For example, if you have to write a report, aim to write the first 100 words, and then have a short break.  It might also be helpful to plan out the task first, with headings and bullet points to guide you through each step. 


Take breaks regularly: This is a must for beating procrastination.  Going for a quick walk or a coffee when your attention begins to wane can re-energise you to continue. While it may seem as though you’re wasting time, you will come back to your desk more focused, and less likely to be tempted by other activities.


Switch up your tasks: If you find that your productivity on a task has reduced (or you find yourself meandering to other, less productive tabs open on your laptop!), switching to a different task can help to keep your mind fresh and improve concentration levels.  You might only need to break from your original task for 15 minutes or so, and find that you come back to it rejuvenated and ready to complete the next goal you have set yourself. 

The ultimate guide to beating procrastination

Think about an average day in your working life.  Your work might be diverse and include a variety of activities, but, no matter how spontaneous you are, there are some things you will do every day without fail.  Some of us enjoy getting a coffee from the same place every morning, while others always like to wake up with a shower. 

Whatever your day looks like, rituals are proven to help shape your day and provide structure. You can also use them to improve your productivity or even make you feel more relaxed (1). When you know what to expect and when to expect it, your brain expends less energy and becomes more efficient, leaving more time for problem solving and creativity.

So, why is it that rituals benefit us, and how can we use them to our advantage?  

In human civilisation, the use of rituals can be found across history and continents. Many religions recognise the importance of ritual and structure to organise daily life, and to mark important occasions. Athletes are also known for their interesting, repetitive quirks; Rafael Nadal brings two drink bottles with him to every tennis match, and places each of them in the same, specific position to help find his competitive mindset.

Rituals differ slightly from routines in that they have a meaningful intention behind them. When you need to complete something quickly or you have a goal to achieve without too much thinking, you are completing a routine task with little awareness behind it. You might be on autopilot and strive to get it done as quickly as possible. 

When you are completing a ritual, you will likely be more aware of the intention behind it, feel internally motivated to complete the task and focus on how you are performing. Of course, we don’t need to pay this level of attention to everything we do, but awareness can help to make tasks more enjoyable and easier to complete. 

Legendary tidying expert, Marie Kondo, brings ‘the magic of tidying up’ to our screens on Netflix, and the rituals she follows (such as thanking her home before beginning to tidy it) are rooted in the Shinto beliefs she was exposed to growing up. Shinto is the traditional religion of Japan and built upon ritual-based practices to create a connection between the Japan of today and its ancient past.

Creating rituals, particularly to help with the boring but essential tasks you would rather not do, can also reduce stress and anxiety levels. How often do you find yourself thinking about the mountain of emails you need to reply to? If you have a ritual in place for when you look over them and keep in mind why you are doing it, you save time and energy for crafting responses. 

A great place to begin when establishing rituals for yourself is to target aspects of daily life which you find more challenging. Once you have picked an area to focus on, choose a time in your schedule to work on it.  Like dealing with the ever-growing mass of unread emails, if you say to yourself when you are going to work on a task, and then allocate the time to do so, you are much more likely to succeed. 

The next step is to make sure you include an intention behind completing the ritual.  An intention could be to reduce your stress levels, or to ensure you are doing your job to the best of your ability.  Understanding the purpose of a task is key, as you will then be able to see why it is beneficial for you, another colleague or your team, and you will naturally be more motivated to do it. 

It is also good to make sure you include a reward for yourself once you complete the task, especially if you don’t enjoy doing it much.  Your brain will then learn that completing this task results in an activity you enjoy afterwards, which will give you an incentive to tackle it in the first place.

When you are trying out new rituals, it is important not to overload yourself or to take it too far at the beginning.  You want each ritual to become a habit, and once it becomes ingrained you will hardly have to think about it, which is the desired effect! However, if you try to do too much at the start, you are unlikely to keep your rituals going and lose interest altogether quite quickly. Aim to try out one new ritual each week, and see how you go from there. 

A particularly good ritual to start your day with is to ensure you have a tidy workspace. Having a clean desk makes us work more productively and ready to tackle the other tasks ahead. Most of us wouldn’t consider allocating time for this every day, yet it can significantly reduce stress levels knowing that the space around you is organised. Minimising stress means more mental energy for unexpected problems or difficulties which might come your way during the course of the day.

It is important to mention that there is a spectrum of personality types, and, although there are those who prefer to plan their lives out a little more, and those who love to go with the flow, rituals can help everybody to flourish. 

If you are more spontaneous, you can use rituals to facilitate your more creative and adventurous moments - it doesn’t need to be stifling. If you love order and like things organised, the chances are you’re already way ahead of us, but you might need help connecting with tasks on a more meaningful level. 

In the week ahead, think about a new ritual you could include to make your time flow that little bit easier. 

Hobson NM, Bonk D, Inzlicht M. 2017. Rituals decrease the neural response to performance failure. PeerJ 5:e3363 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3363

How rituals at work can help us perform better

Learning more about your personality can be a huge advantage at work, both for your own benefit and for your colleagues. At some point, most of us have been asked to complete the hugely popular Myers-Briggs indicator tests, but implementing changes afterwards isn’t always easy. 

A key part of the testing process is knowing where you are placed on the introversion-extroversion spectrum.  Understanding this aspect of your personality can help you to make simple changes to your working day, and ensure that you are getting the most out of your environment.

Celebrated psychoanalyst and psychiatrist, Carl Jung, introduced the terms introversion and extroversion to the scientific community in the early 20th century, but their meaning has been simplified over time. Those classified as extroverts are thought to be more outgoing, talkative and energetic, whereas those who are introverted are more solitary and reserved in nature. 

A main difference between the two groups is that they are re-energised and motivated in different ways. Current research indicates that the reason for this could be linked to the way individuals process rewards. Those who are more extroverted respond more strongly when a risk pays off, which means they are driven to engage in adventurous behaviour, such as making themselves the center of discussion in a large group.

In the general population, extroverts are estimated to make up 50-74% of people, and dominate social situations.  This puts the responsibility with leaders to ensure introverts are also given the opportunity to thrive. From working environment to meeting set up, carefully considering personality types is crucial to getting the most out of yourself or your team. 

Supporting different personality types in the workplace

In her book, Quiet, author and proud introvert, Susan Cain, discusses the fact that so much potential for collaboration is being lost in the modern workplace, which is organised in favour of those who are more extroverted. She argues that this imbalance extends back to the school classroom, which is open-plan and involves a significant amount of group work and class discussion. Introverts generally prefer to be alone more often and spend a lot of time thinking.  So, what can employees and managers do to make working environments more suitable for a wider range of people and harness new ideas?

Use of space: Think about how your workspace is set up. Do you work mostly from home, or are you in a busy, open-plan office? If you are more introverted, think about ways you can find time for quiet during your working day. Perhaps there are meeting rooms you can book, which will allow you two hours of uninterrupted time to focus.  Of course, depending on the kind of work you do, this isn’t always possible, but look for opportunities throughout the day.  If you are more extroverted, you could organise more collaborative work sessions to boost energy and creativity.     

Communicate your needs: Once you have an idea of where you lie on the introversion-extroversion spectrum, it is important to communicate what you need to those you work with.  If you are in an open-plan office, it might be the norm for others around you to interrupt for a quick chat.  If you need to focus on the task you are doing, it is important to set boundaries and organise an alternative time to talk about a project.  If you set boundaries, your colleagues should respect this, and will most likely appreciate some quiet time to themselves when they need it! 

Respect your colleagues’ time and space: It is important to remember that this works both ways.  If you need to ask a colleague or manager a question, be mindful and ask them when they have time to talk.  Try to be specific and action-oriented when you are asking for a colleague’s time; they will appreciate your efficiency. 

Thinking time: Introverts often work best when given time to think and respond to a question.  Engaging an introvert in quick decision making can be anxiety inducing, and won’t result in the best outcome.  This doesn’t mean that introverts are unable to manage thinking in this way (just as extraverts are able to sit quietly and think through responses). It means they will function best and more naturally when given the time to process their answers. If you are more introverted, you can use this knowledge to your advantage, and where possible ask for more time to respond if you need it.

Meeting set up: Meetings are an important time for your team to come together and work through issues that need to be tackled. However, they are notoriously unproductive, with as many 92% of people multitasking whilst attending a regular team catch-up. This is particularly true for introverts, who are less likely to speak up in front of a large group of people. As a leader, being aware of this is particularly important when communicating in groups. Is every person present at the meeting given the opportunity to speak or put forward their ideas? How is this organised? Is it absolutely necessary to have a meeting? These questions will help you to guide the different members of your team and bring them together. 

Option to work remotely: The option to work remotely can also be a great way to keep the more introverted members on your team happier.  If it is possible in your workplace, think about offering it, while ensuring that your employees remain engaged and productive.  You will soon know if a team member isn’t pulling their weight if their assigned tasks don’t get done! 

Respect your employees’ time and space: Although sometimes as a leader it is necessary to interrupt your employees to ensure everything is running smoothly, if you can respect their time where possible this will go a long way, particularly for those on the more introverted end of spectrum.  Catching people off guard to discuss an issue, particularly if it is sensitive, is unlikely to produce the best outcome. Set up meeting times with your employees where possible and they will thank you for it. 

Introverted or extroverted? How to make the best of your working day

In 2019, the digital age is very much upon us, and the workplace is unrecognisable when compared with 20 years ago. From open plan co-working spaces, to being able to work from anywhere in the world, communication, expectations and the nature of work are rapidly changing. 

In this shifting landscape, the ability to hold your attention on a task is becoming ever more challenging. Being able to multitask was previously worn as a badge of honour, yet research tells us that the brain, unlike a computer, is incapable of running too many complex tasks at once. Mental overload at work can seriously affect productivity, wellbeing and safety (1). 

While social media connects us to friends and family across the world, instant messaging is making it increasingly difficult to complete everyday tasks and to remain focused (2). US author and blogger, Mark Manson, explains that we now live in an ‘attention economy’ (3). With endless knowledge now available at the click of a button, our attention is of high value to advertisers, companies and organisations. 

In this environment, it isn’t surprising that we struggle to hold our attention on certain activities. Becoming completely immersed in the task at hand, or finding your ‘flow’ is proven to increase contentment at work and improve the quality of work produced (4). This state becomes ever more difficult to attain with so many distractions competing for our attention. 

So, what can you do to improve your focus on tasks? 

Setting up routines you can stick to is a good way to begin. 26th president of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt, is said to have worked at the same time, in the same place every day, and would work ignoring all other distractions that came his way. It was impossible to distract him. Although he would only spend a quarter of the average day working, he completed all of the tasks he needed to by using his time effectively.

In his 2016 book, Deep Work: Rules For Focused Success in a Distracted World, Georgetown professor and author, Cal Newport, explores Roosevelt’s ‘deep work’ ethic.  He defines deep work as:

“Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.” (5)

Granted, Roosevelt lived in a world where fewer distractions were competing for his attention, but with discipline it is possible to be more attentive. The key is to identify your main distractors and to be aware of them.  These might be thoughts, notifications or particular people! If you sit back and think, you will know straight away what distracts you. Finding a way to block out and manage these temptations is the is the more difficult step, but the rewards will speak for themselves. 

Go1 top tips for maintaining focus at work

Prioritise: Write a to-do list, but only for the day ahead.  An endless to-do list without any consideration for the time you have will not be effective.  If you can write out what you need to do that day, along with your top three priorities, you will have a greater sense of accomplishment when you reach the end of your list. Using a traditional to-do list can easily lead to procrastination and make you feel as though there is a huge, unmanageable mountain of work to do. 

Stick to daily routines: doing tasks and activities at the same time each day can help you to stay focused and make your day flow more smoothly.  When your brain knows what to expect, and when to expect it, it can focus on other processes, such as creativity and deep thinking. 

Manage expectations: Other people, no matter how well-intentioned, are a huge source of distraction, particularly in the workplace. If you are working to a deadline or really need to get started on a task, you need to be sure that your team members are aware of this.  Let them know when you are available for meetings and schedule them in, or arrange a time to catch up with them over coffee. You need to be responsible for communicating your needs to others and making yourself available to them only partially. This might also mean booking yourself into a private room if it is available, or taking yourself off to a quieter area, depending on your office layout.

Manage notifications: research shows that every time your phone goes off, you are distracted by it and taken away from the task you are focusing on. 6 Set aside specific times during the day to respond to emails and messages if possible. 

Meditate: the brain is plastic, meaning that at any point in life we can teach it new things or learn healthier habits.  Focus is a skill that we all have the capacity to develop, and meditation is a fantastic way to practice it. Meditation involves training the mind to focus on the breath, and this focus can translate to your daily life long after you stop practising (7). You will also be able to catch yourself when you are thinking about how cute your dog is or what you ate for breakfast, instead of writing up the report due at the end of the day. 

Rubinstein, J. S., Meyer, D. E. & Evans, J. E. (2001). Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27, 763-797.

Vitak, J., Crouse, J., & LaRose, R. (2011). Personal Internet use at work: Understanding cyberslacking. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(5), 1751–1759. 

Davenport, T. H., & Beck, J. C. (2001). The attention economy: Understanding the new currency of business. Harvard Business Press.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2013). Flow: The psychology of happiness. Random House.

Newport, C. (2016). Deep work: Rules for focused success in a distracted world. Hachette UK.

Iqbal, S. T., & Horvitz, E. (2010, February). Notifications and awareness: a field study of alert usage and preferences. In Proceedings of the 2010 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work (pp. 27-30). ACM.

Wax, R. (2013). Sane new world: taming the mind. Hodder & Stoughton.

How to maintain your focus in the ‘attention economy’ 

It is Monday morning. After struggling for a few hours to get started with your day, you eventually get going with the first item on your to do list. Although it doesn’t always happen, you find yourself diving into the task, and, before you know it, a few hours have passed by. Was it pure luck or is there a reason you felt so immersed in your work? 

Although it may seem to occur at random intervals, being entirely focused on the job you are doing is in fact a state you can aim towards. In modern science, the experience is referred to as ‘flow state’, a term coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihályi in the 1970s.

Despite being a relatively new area of research, historically there are references to this sensation across the Eastern philosophies. Athletes also talk about ‘being in the zone’ when they are completely focused on their movement and immediate goals.

In Japanese culture, the first step towards reaching ‘flow state’ requires an individual to discover their ikigai, or reason for being. An ikigai could be something as simple as gardening or cooking, but it will be a task that the person is both good at, and one in which they can become purposefully engaged (1).

The first step towards finding your flow in any task is to first ensure that the assignment is within your range of capabilities. Ideally, what you are doing will allow you to confidently use skills you already possess, while challenging you to learn something new. At this point, you will be able to meet your edge, and will be far more likely to become fully immersed.

If you are able to reach this sweet spot, what you produce will also be of a higher quality, meaning you can go home at the end of the day with a greater sense of satisfaction and of having achieved something meaningful. 

As human beings, we are driven by the need to learn, grow and discover more, both about the world and ourselves. When we experience growth and learning, it can be difficult but, ultimately, the satisfaction of having completed a new challenge will outweigh the scary part of taking the first few steps towards it! We are happiest when we are both open to new opportunities and given the chance to explore. 

For managers and employees alike, this has real implications for productivity and could be used as a starting point for communication on which tasks are allocated to who.  Managers, are you setting your employees manageable tasks which enable them to find their flow?  Employees, are you communicating with your manager? Is the task too easy, or too difficult? 

Of course, in an ideal world, we would be completing tasks that engage us at all times, and it is important to be realistic. However, if you could reach ‘flow state’ even a few times per week, you are far more likely to be happy in your job.  Sometimes we need to get down to the nitty gritty and complete the mundane yet necessary tasks that every organisation requires for daily operations, but this could improve morale and make the workplace better for everybody. 

Whether you see flow as an exciting area of scientific research or a snippet of ancient wisdom, here are our top tips for working towards it, or supporting others in your team to do the same: 

Think about where your strengths and weaknesses lie.  What are you really good at?  Which areas might require a little more attention? 

Are the tasks you are being set playing to your strengths?  If not, think about ways you could communicate this to your manager and see if there is any room for change.

If being allocated different tasks isn’t an option, which areas of learning or personal development would you like to focus on? How could you apply these to your current tasks?  For example, if your goal is to communicate more clearly, you could challenge yourself to complete a course on communication skills and apply what you learn to the emails you send. 

If you really can’t connect with an activity you have been set, the chances are it is either too challenging, too easy or not interesting to you personally. If the task is too easy or uninteresting, think about how you could make it more challenging, either by checking with your manager if there is anything additional you could be doing, or setting yourself a personal goal within the task.  If the task is too difficult, you could break it down into more manageable steps or ask for further clarification. 

Sometimes, an activity will be pitched correctly but we are fearful of getting started and procrastinate.  If you think this might be a problem for you, say to yourself that you will spend 25 minutes on the task and then take a break.  More often that not, you will find that the 25 minutes flies by once you get started. 

So, next time you find your mind wandering and you can’t connect with a task you are doing, think about how you could find your flow and make everyone’s day a little bit better!

Looking for more training materials? You’ll find thousands of online courses in the Go1 marketplace. Or use our 24/7 Go1 Training Assist - the easier way to source, book and deliver training for your team. 

(1) Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life, Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles, 2016, Penguin Books, New York.

Finding your flow: why focus is a skill that can be learned

Welcome to our second episode of The eLearning Assist Podcast for 2019!

In this episode, Go1’s VP of Marketing Scott Cooper talks to Jacque Lachmund about the importance of domestic and family violence (DFV) training in the workplace. 

Jacque is the CEO of Australia's CEOChallenge (ACEOC) - an organisation that provides domestic and family violence training for companies all across Australia. ACEOC is a recognised, award-winning charity that supports the business sector to help break the silence surrounding domestic violence. Their aim is to make sure workplaces are aware and responsive to domestic violence, and have in place a strategy to raise awareness and support their staff who may be living with violence, abuse and control at home. 

At Go1 we truly believe that workplaces can play a critical role in responding to DFV, which contributes to ACEOC’s vision of a world without violence. Last year, we partnered with ACEOC to deliver a Workplace Domestic and Family Violence Training Package to ensure that organisations are getting a succinct message, and a succinct way on how to respond to colleagues and to others. 

As Jacque says, "We're called Australia's CEOChallenge, because we challenge CEOs to address this issue and be a responsible organisation. It starts from the top." Together, we can make our workplaces safe environments where conversations about DFV can take place, without creating further stigma, shame and fear. 

Throughout the podcast, Jacque shares her tips around how to provide effective training on sensitive topics. She also touches on some general rules about what support services organisations can offer internally, as well as how as a collective, both in community and business, we can all work together to tackle this issue. 

So without further ado, let's dive in and get some valuable insight from Jacque on this important topic. Listen to the podcast here:

In this episode, GO1’s VP of Marketing Scott Cooper talks to Jacque Lachman, CEO of Australia's CEO Challenge, about the importance of Domestic & Family Violence training, and give some tips of how to provide better training around sensitive topics.

The eLearning Assist Podcast: How to provide training on sensitive topics by GO1

You can also hear more about the company’s experience with Go1 in our upcoming case study, which will feature Jacque and Scott talking more about Australia's CEOChallenge’s experience in using Go1 and how it has impacted their employee learning experience. So stay tuned for that!

Jacque Lachmund, Australia's CEOChallenge and Scott Cooper, VP of Marketing at Go1 

Don’t forget – the Go1 eLearning Assist podcast is available through iTunes, making it even easier for you to keep up-to-date with our episodes.

What’s the Go1 eLearning Assist all about?

Go1 eLearning Assist is a monthly podcast covering trending industry information.

With each episode of the podcast you’ll hear from a different member of the Go1 team or industry expert, sharing their knowledge and expertise. Through the sessions, we’ll cover all aspects of learning and development from:

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Subscribing to Go1 eLearning Assist is easy. Simply go to the iTunes store on your device and enter ‘Go1’ in the search toolbar. When you see this image, you’ll know you’re onto the right one!

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If you have any questions about any of the items covered in the podcast please let us know as we’d love to help you out!

Also, feel free to contact us if there are any topics that you would like to see covered in future episodes. That way, we can make sure we’re talking about things that are important to our listeners!

Our eLearning Assist podcast will feature regular interviews with industry experts. If you think you'd be a good fit to be a guest, get in touch!

The eLearning Assist Podcast: Tips from Australia's CEOChallenge around providing effective training for sensitive topics

This is part 2 of a two-part series. To read part 1, click here

Welcome back. Previously we discussed some of the basic certifications you will need to jump start your journey into the IT Security field and open many opportunities for you. But what if you want to take it to the next level. Perhaps you are aspiring for a Director of Security or CISO role. What certifications lay the foundation to purse that direction?

There are actually many other specialty areas in security available for us to discuss (like those created by industry leaders like Cisco, GIAC, SANS, ISACA, (ISC)2 and many others). But for the interest of brevity, I’d like to highlight some of the more popular ones. The first two I’d like to introduce are from ISACA and are favorable certifications for those who wish to move into management positions. Those two are: Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and Certified Information Security Manager (CISM). 

There are more than 140,000 professionals certified globally with CISA and it is one of the top paying IT certifications of 2018 as reported by Global Knowledge. As companies are faced with increasingly more security challenges including new global threats (e.g. ransomware), new government regulations (e.g. GDPR), and new technologies to secure; they are under enormous pressure to hire the right talent to manage it. With the CISA certification, you will be recognized as someone that can take a comprehensive view of information systems and their relationship to a success business-wide security initiative. In addition to passing the exam, this certification requires the submission of a formal application which requires certain levels of education and work experience. Check out their web site for more information.

The CISM certification is different and comes at security from a company policy standpoint. It covers four key areas: information security governance, Information risk management, information security program development and management, and information security incident management. Passing this certification demonstrates that you understand security and how it relates to the overall business goals. It shows that you not only understand security, but also how to build and manage an information security program within the company. 

But perhaps you’re looking to achieve an even higher position, one that leads all of the company’s security needs, such as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Director of IT Security. Moving into these roles require digging much deeper into all the individual niches in the security field. The first one to consider is CompTIA’s Advanced Security Practitioner (or CASP). CASP is a relatively new certification from CompTIA and is meant to test the student on a broad range of security skills. In fact, it meets the ISO 17024 standard and is compliant with regulations in the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).

Once you pass the CASP certification, you’ll likely be feeling pretty good about your skills, a Luke Skywalker of Security experts if you will. But what if you want to go for Yoda status? One of the top respected certifications is undoubtedly the (ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Practitioner (or CISSP), which is not your average certification and will require significant work to achieve. It is meant to demonstrate a clear and deep knowledge of all things security and is fast becoming a requirement for many of the very top positions in IT security. 

Although CASP and CISSP are great options for some of the top IT positions and cover a broad range of security topics, they are very different in what the exam covers. The CASP exam tests whether you know HOW to implement many of common security concepts, so their questions will be mostly unambiguous. For example, “what command line tool is used to create a 128-bit hash?” The CISSP exam, on the other hand, tests whether you know what the best practices are when dealing with complex security situations. Here, the options available to choose from may, in fact, all be technically correct. For example, take the following question, “Which of the following is the PRIMARY advantage of data classification for an organization?” Here, all the options could be valid examples of legitimate advantages, but the correct answer is the one that has the most advantages. 

Be sure to check out many of the training titles we have in security, and good luck my young Jedi.

Vice President of Technology | LearnNowOnline | Eden Prairie, MN

Martin Schaeferle is the Vice President of Technology for LearnNowOnline. Martin joined the company in 1994 and started teaching IT professionals nationwide to develop applications using Visual Studio and Microsoft SQL Server. He has been a featured speaker at various conferences including Microsoft Tech-Ed, DevConnections and the Microsoft NCD Channel Summit. Today, he is responsible for all product and software development as well as managing the company’s IT infrastructure. Martin enjoys staying on the cutting edge of technology and guiding the company to produce the best learning content with the best user experience in the industry. In his spare time, Martin enjoys golf, fishing, and being with his wife and three adult children. 

Navigating your IT security certifications, part 2

According to research, employees who have friends at work are seven times more engaged. People are social creatures and good relationships with colleagues make them feel more satisfied with their job. Good relationships make work more meaningful, which is very important because many people spend more time at their jobs than with friends and family.

Good relationships in the workplace can make a big difference, increasing commitment and creating more opportunity for career development. Good relationships among colleagues are also the key to creating strong teams because employees don’t waste their attention and energy on solving personal problems and can focus on what is really important.

Why Relationships Are Important and What to Focus On

Although the need for good relationships in the workplace is rather obvious, not all businesses manage to create a comfortable emotional environment for employees. The main reason is that we all see the concept of good relationships differently. There are many kinds of business relationships. Quite often, they are purely transactional, only consisting of the necessary interactions. In turn, transactional interactions can be either competitive or collaborative. Collaborative interactions imply that both parties are satisfied with the results of their collaborative efforts, while competitive relationships are often associated with unfair treatment and have a very negative impact on teams.

There are also relationships of another kind — relational interactions, where both parties care not only about the outcome but also about each other. Relational interactions take collaboration to a new level. To build relations of this kind, employees should realize the long-term benefits of such interactions, prioritizing the quality of the communication process.

The main distinctive features of good relationships in the workplace are trust, mutual respect, and mindfulness. Employees should be responsible for their actions and words, understanding that their negative emotions impact the whole team. Strong teams also welcome diverse people and opinions, understanding the benefits of diversity for decision-making. The last but not least feature of good relationships is open and honest communication.

How to Establish & Maintain Good Relationships in the Workplace

Conflicts are natural, and it’s impossible to avoid them forever, especially in a stressful business environment. According to statistics, American employees spend about 2.8 hours a week solving conflicts. At the same time, 37% of leaders feel uncomfortable when dealing with conflicts and communicating with their employees. Therefore, supervisors and managers should pay particular attention to de-escalating conflicts and recovering relationships, acting as mediators and showing an example of respectful behavior.

Honest communication is crucial for any relationship. It only becomes possible when people appreciate each other for who they are and don’t try to change others. The first step towards honest, open communication is acknowledging what you know and what you don’t. It’s better to honestly say that you don’t know an answer to a question than to make things up, undermining your own credibility.

Sometimes, your intonation, facial expression, and gestures can say much more than your words. People don’t use verbal communication only. If you’re being sarcastic, a person you’re talking to understands it. The same way, if you don’t feel respect for people, they also understand it. To ensure the right type of nonverbal communication, companies should build their corporate culture around respect.

Employees should clearly understand what to do, as well as when and how to do it. This way, a company can eliminate many conflicts between individuals. Therefore, it’s very important for leaders to set clear, measurable goals and to explain how every employee can get the necessary help.

According to statistics, two-thirds of millennial employees feel stressed out most of the time. The main causes of stress in the workplace are an inability to maintain a healthy work-life balance and communication problems. Stress leads to employee burnout and numerous negative consequences for both physical and mental health, making companies lose up to $190 billion a year. Therefore, companies should create opportunities for cognitive, emotional, and physical relief.

The best way to build strong relationships within a team is to recognize and reward every member’s contribution to the overall success of the company. Employees should feel valuable, regardless of their position. Leaders should make sure that every member of their team understands their importance and the importance of teamwork, creating a motivational environment. An individual growth of every employee benefits the whole company.

Quite often, an office environment prevents employees from demonstrating their highest productivity. Gossipy coworkers, social media, office noises, and other factors are the most common causes of distraction. The more your employees get distracted, the less productive they become, and the higher the stress level. In turn, stress leads to conflicts in the workplace and makes employees feel unsatisfied with their job. Therefore, companies should create a comfortable environment, motivating employees and setting clear goals, instead of encouraging multitasking and micro-management.

A positive work environment and good relationships in the workplace are crucial for any business. If your employees are unhappy, their productivity declines, they get sucked into conflicts and lose their motivation. To cultivate positive relationships, companies should create an atmosphere of mutual respect. Team leaders should ensure open communication and recognize each employee’s contribution. It’s especially important to create a strong corporate culture based on respect and honesty, setting clear goals and minimizing stress.

Ester Brierley, a competent virtual assistant and a content creator for College-Writer, knows the secret for balancing freelancing and her full-time job as a QA Engineer in a software outsourcing company. She enjoys researching cutting-edge digital trends and sharing them in her writing pieces. Follow her on Twitter.

You can do it: how to establish & maintain good relationships in the workplace

You don’t have to read too many news articles to know that Internet security is on everyone’s mind. Even Hollywood knows this and is trying to cash in with hit shows like Person of Interest, </Scorpion>, and the Emmy-winning Mr. Robot. Major corporations are also taking notice. Gartner is forecasting worldwide enterprise security spending to total $96.3 billion in 2018, an increase of 8 percent from 2017. 

It is no wonder with 50% of respondents reporting an increase in the number of cyberattacks from last year and four out of five indicating it was likely or more likely their enterprise will experience a cyberattack in 2018 (according to the 2018 ISACA State of Cybersecurity Study). Even this past election cycle isn’t immune to accusations of stolen emails and hacked servers.

But not all is doom and gloom; for the IT professional, this is a great climate for those looking to update their skills and join the relatively new and growing sector of IT security. Don’t believe me? In a March 2018 article posted by Forbes, five of the top 15 most valuable IT certifications are security based, and all had an average salary north of $100K. Security certification has become a serious and well-respected career.

Now you are probably wondering, where does one start in getting a piece of this lucrative cyber pie? As I quickly found out myself, this is not an easy answer. There are many different certifications around security to choose from and many different companies and organizations offering them. But don’t fret; let me help you carve the right path and get you on your way.

Being a security professional is not about finding the one perfect certification; it’s more about finding the right combination of certifications. What certifications you seek depends on what areas of security you’re most interested in and how high up the corporate ladder you wish to climb. The most popular certifications are those that are relevant to all areas of IT security.  But before we get into too much detail, I think it is important to establish some baselines. One does not simply jump immediately into security without a solid background in the general IT hardware and networking field.

If you’re going to attempt entering a security field and IT is not a current profession or hobby of yours, then I’d suggest tackling a couple of certifications to get you started. The first is CompTIA A+ where all IT begins by focusing on learning the standard computer hardware, basic operating system functionality, and general troubleshooting. From there, I’d recommend getting certified in CompTIA Network+, which will get you familiar with basic networking concepts like IP addresses, DNS, domains, routing—essentially everything that defines the framework that Internet security relies on.

Okay, you are now an IT expert. So, what next? It’s good to start with the basics of security, and the best certification for that also comes from CompTIA. Their Security+ covers all the core concepts in IT security from Wi-Fi passwords and firewalls to employee best practices. Although this doesn’t necessarily go deep into any one area, it provides an excellent starting point and a balanced overview of the major topics. 

So, what next? After you have Security+ under your belt, you can start considering some specialty certifications. One of the most popular next steps is EC-Council’s Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification and Certified Security Analyst (ECSA). One of the best ways for a company to ensure that their systems are hardened (or secure) is to hire someone to try and break in. And since recruiting hackers from the Dark Web is considered very unwise (really, don’t do it), they instead look for those trusted individuals who are trained to think like a hacker. Based on that premise, the ethical hacker certification was born. Once certified, you will understand the tools (like Kali Linux) and the techniques (like penetration testing) that you can use to assure companies that their systems are indeed secure.

Another very popular certification is EC-Council’s Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) certification. Like the television show CSI, it is an area of the security field that focuses on how to collect and analyze digital evidence to detect when something is about to or has happened. Most companies know that it’s not if you will be hacked, but when. And with any hack or attack, there are always telltale signs or fingerprints that are left behind, leading companies to hire professionals to look for these to identify areas that may need more hardening, to avert an pending attack, or to clean-up after the damage is done under document what happened. This certification is about learning the skills for detecting or mitigating the aftermath of a successful hack.

That’s all we’re covering in this post, stay tuned for part 2 where we will continue down the road to more advanced IT security certification…

Navigating your IT security certification, part 1

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