happy Blogs

Happy's Trainers Recognised in 2019 Coursecheck Brilliance Awards

The quality of our training has recently been recognised in the Coursecheck Brilliance Awards 2019, with the Highest Rated Trainers award of their large learning providers.

Happy's January competition is back, with another set of fantastic prizes. In 2020 we are focusing on mental health — for a chance to win, tell us what you will do to improve your mental health this year. Closing date: midnight on 31st January.

Happy's Web Development Apprenticeship is a 2020 Learning Awards Finalist

Today we started the first Drupal pre-apprenticeship programme. The idea of the course is to find school leavers with an interest in and aptitude to coding/web development and help a young person get their foot on the ladder to employment. This intensive two week course will cover the basics of using Drupal, HTML, CSS, PHP and JavaScript. Currently four organisations have committed to taking on an Apprentice, so we will prepare this group of school leavers and get them ready to go out to an interview.

Mayden: Managing the Work, Not the People

Alison Sturgess-Durden is the Director at Mayden, a software business based in Bath with a staff of 80 people. Mayden’s software is specifically created for health professionals and patients. Their most prominent achievement is the creation of a patient management system that’s favoured by most psychological therapy services in the NHS. In 2013 Mayden became a self-managing organisation, comprised of autonomous teams. In this video from the 2019 Happy Workplaces Conference, Alison explains the reasons behind the switch, how they did it and how it works (and some of the challenges they faced along the way!).

How Mayden Got Rid of the Managers

In 2013, Mayden decided to become a self-managing organisation, comprised of autonomous teams. Their three line managers had left the organisation, gone on maternity leave or moved to a new role within the organisation, so it seemed like the perfect time. But it wasn't without some teething problems at the start. In this short video from the 2019 Happy Workplaces Conference, Alison Sturgess-Durden explains how they created the structures and processes to enable this system to be a success.

How Organisations Can Show Appreciation for Their Teams

At COOK, they believe that the key components of good working relationships at work are having a common purpose, clarity for staff on where they fit within the organisation, and finally by showing their staff that they are appreciated. At the 2019 Happy Workplaces Conference, Rosie Brown of COOK explained how they manage this at an organisational level in this short 2.44 minute video.

How COOK Places Relationships at the Heart of Their Business

At the 2019 Happy Workplaces Conference, Rosie encouraged people to return to work and look at their respective organisations through a relational lens. In Rosie’s view, looking at things through a relational lens is a wily method for figuring out what’s working and what isn’t. Watch the full video or read the transcript of her talk here.

How Mind Maps Can Help You to be Brave and Think More Creatively

You may have already come across Mind Maps in your day-to-day life or while at work. They are a great way to encourage creative thinking while brainstorming, as well as improving memory retention. In this blog, Paul talks about how he personally has used Mind Maps to help him to develop his career, as well as how you can develop your Mind Maps to be more effective.

How to Create a SharePoint System That Will Help You Work Smarter

So often a manager will hear or read how the competition is making great use of SharePoint and will ask for a library to be set up, without fully understanding its potential. In this blog, Darren gives five top tips to help you create a SharePoint 365 system that will help your organisation collaborate better, improve processes and work smarter.

How Many of These Mistakes Do You Make in Your Online Meetings?

Love them or loathe them, we go to more meetings than ever, especially as more work is done in collaborative cross business teams. There are some simple steps we can all take to improve these group conversations dramatically and create leaps forward in clarity and progress. Meetings are surprisingly complex human interactions so making them more purposeful, more honest and easier to follow can have a seriously helpful effect. Try these five simple ideas to start with.