What Makes a Partnership Truly Powerful? Is it careful planning and strategy, or is it something more unpredictable a chance meeting, perhaps, on a rainy November day? Collaboration is more than just working together; it’s about combining strengths to achieve something greater than what could be done individually. At its core, collaboration involves two or [...]

There are pros and cons for each of these learning methods. A pro for e-learning is it can be done at any time anywhere and can be repeated easily. However it can be expensive and may go out-of-date or not even be used depending upon the culture of the organisation. Generation Y will love it, especially [...]

So much has been written about Virtual working or remote working and in particular in my learning and development sector. We have a virtual team for marketing, support and website updates and I see the team face to face 2-4 times a year because one is in the wilds of Essex and the other in [...]

“First seek to understand and then be understood” – Habit #5 from the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People from Steven Covey.  This is what we do. A trainer is a complex creature with many skill sets.  Whatever their field, their knowledge is wide ranging and to a great depth, enabling them to pull [...]

As a trainer and training manager involved in Microsoft and Bespoke rollouts of systems I become involved in change management.   We work alongside and contribute as much as I can to help speed up integration of content/ideas. Over the years I have seen tools and heard many theories to make changes more successful.  I do [...]

I was recently interviewed by The Reinvention Diva Sharon! http://www.thereinventiondiva.com/podcasts/valerie-merrill/ Sharon got me talking about my life, it is so strange to go back 25 years to review what happened and what did I do and why did I!? […]

With over 30-years of experience, Valerie has run the gamut of training and dedicates Merrill Consultants to one simple task; doing it better than the other guys. This blog distils the experience she's gained into palatable posts on how to better manage training and achieve the work/life balance myth that eludes so many of us. [...]