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The latest thinking from across business, in brief.
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What Is Included

Hot Topic
& Checklist

A key topic for great leadership, right now.

High performance
management

The latest ideas and fresh thinking from around the world.

Innovation
leadership

New findings on building the innovative enterprise.

Expert
Viewport

Guest expert shares their latest insights on the future of leadership

Recent Hot Topics
Research

Using The Ishikawa Diagram for Decision Making

The Ishikawa Diagram, also called a fishbone or cause-and-effect diagram, helps teams explore why a problem is happening before choosing a solution. It organises possible causes into clear categories, such as people, process, technology, information, measurement and environment. This research explains how the tool supports better decisions by turning opinions into evidence, helping teams prioritise actions and avoid quick fixes.

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KnowledgeBrief

Using The Ishikawa Diagram for Decision Making

User Adoption, Accessibility and AI Automation in Practice
Research

User Adoption, Accessibility and AI Automation in Practice

Automation only delivers value once people actually use it. This research explains why understanding your users, their skills, confidence and access needs, is as important as choosing the right tool, and how to design AI and digital workflows that people can and want to adopt.

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KnowledgeBrief

User Adoption, Accessibility and AI Automation in Practice

Testing, Integration Risks and Platform Constraints
Research

Testing, Integration Risks and Platform Constraints

Automation and AI solutions rarely work the first time. This research explains how to test a solution properly, the most common reasons integrations fail, and the constraints that come with cloud, on-premises and third-party platforms. It helps organisations judge whether a proposed solution is genuinely ready to go live, and where the platform itself may limit what is possible.

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KnowledgeBrief

Testing, Integration Risks and Platform Constraints

Organisational structure, strategy and purpose
Research

Organisational structure, strategy and purpose

This Hot Topic explores how structure, strategy and purpose connect, helping learners recognise priorities, understand decision-making and align everyday work with wider organisational goals.

  • Organisational structure shows how work, authority and communication are arranged.
  • Strategy explains the direction the organisation is taking and how resources will be used.
  • Purpose explains why the organisation exists and who it serves.

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KnowledgeBrief

Organisational structure, strategy and purpose

Motivation at Work: From Herzberg’s Hygiene Factors to the Pygmalion Effect
Research

Motivation at Work: From Herzberg’s Hygiene Factors to the Pygmalion Effect

Motivation at work is shaped by conditions and expectations. Herzberg separates hygiene factors that prevent dissatisfaction from motivators that build satisfaction. The Pygmalion Effect shows how a manager's expectations can influence confidence, behaviour and performance. This Hot Topic explains both ideas and shows how fair working conditions, meaningful work and positive expectations support collaboration and team effectiveness.

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KnowledgeBrief

Motivation at Work: From Herzberg’s Hygiene Factors to the Pygmalion Effect

Morville's User Experience Honeycomb
Research

Morville's User Experience Honeycomb

Morville's User Experience Honeycomb sets out seven qualities a system needs in order to deliver genuine value: useful, usable, desirable, findable, accessible, credible, and valuable. Rather than treating usability as the whole story, it asks leaders to weigh several factors together, helping teams judge where a product, service or internal tool falls short and where to focus improvement effort.

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KnowledgeBrief

Morville’s User Experience Honeycomb

Low-Code and No-Code Automation Platforms
Research

Low-Code and No-Code Automation Platforms

Low-code and no-code platforms let organisations build workflows and simple apps using visual builders instead of programming languages. Understanding how these tools are structured, triggers, actions, logic and data, helps organisations choose the right platform and use it safely.

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KnowledgeBrief

Low-Code and No-Code Automation Platforms

Connecting Systems with APIs and Connectors
Research

Connecting Systems with APIs and Connectors

Every day, organisations rely on information moving between different systems, from CRM platforms to finance software to HR tools. APIs and connectors are the technologies that make this possible, letting applications share data automatically instead of relying on manual re-entry. This topic explains what an API is, how requests and responses work, common use cases, and how connectors simplify integration without writing code.

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KnowledgeBrief

Connecting Systems with APIs and Connectors

Automation Platform Comparison and Recommendation
Research

Automation Platform Comparison and Recommendation

Automation platforms differ widely in capability, cost and complexity, from simple no-code connectors to full enterprise process platforms. Choosing well means comparing options against real organisational needs rather than marketing claims. This topic profiles widely used platforms, including Power Automate, Zapier, Make, n8n, Copilot Studio and Notion, and sets out how to weigh capability, cost, scalability, risk and organisational fit before committing to a solution.

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KnowledgeBrief

Automation Platform Comparison and Recommendation

Training Colleagues in CR&S Practice
Research

Training Colleagues in CR&S Practice

Understanding how adults learn, communicate, and engage gives a CR&S practitioner a clearer picture of how to train colleagues well. This Hot Topic explores how that understanding helps you design tailored CR&S learning that trains colleagues efficiently, reduces resistance, embeds a genuine CR&S ethos, and sustains people’s effort to develop their own practice over time.

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KnowledgeBrief

Training Colleagues in CR&S Practice

How we can help

Become a Leader Your Employees Want To Follow

Become a Leader Your Employees Want To Follow

What makes a great leader?

Creating a Happier and Healthier Workforce

Creating a Happier and Healthier Workforce

Sustain a positive and psychologically healthy workforce

Better Management Training, Better Results

Better Management Training, Better Results

Our professional development courses are available to individuals or teams. Funded via the apprenticeship levy, the UK’s government apprenticeship scheme.

Essential Training to Grow Your Small Business

Essential Training to Grow Your Small Business

You can now get the same leadership, management and customer service training as the world’s most successful companies – funded via the government apprenticeship levy.

Maximise your Apprenticeship Levy

Maximise your Apprenticeship Levy

The Apprenticeship Levy, now in its third year, can on the face of it appear complex and inflexible and is often overlooked as a solution to recurring HR and L&D challenges. The good news is, the Levy doesn’t have to be disruptive at all.

Trusted by Over 700 Organisations
and More than 2,000 Learners

“The quality of support I have received from my coach has been extremely high. His coaching is considered, tailored and aligned to my personal experience, career stage as well as my day-to-day balancing of responsibilities. My apprenticeship has helped to bolster my confidence that I am taking a reasonable approach with some challenging clients.”

Liane Langdon

Director

Clarity Consulting Associates

“The apprenticeship with KnowledgeBrief was transformative, improving my leadership, strategic decisions, and confidence. I gained skills in planning, change management, financial acumen, and stakeholder engagement. Completing with distinction, I secured a new contract and expanded my consultancy.”

Sally Kee

Programme graduate

Grosvenor Health and Social Care

“The coaching course through KnowledgeBrief was well-structured, balancing theoretical and practical knowledge. The platform is easy to navigate, providing access to support and promoting a solid understanding of coaching fundamentals. The resources provided have been comprehensive.”

Sandra Ajidahun

Senior Talent Partner

Publicis Groupe

“KnowledgeBrief has great content and is detailed in the area I am developing in. The system is very clear and easy to use and navigate. Thanks to my Skills Coach for his support and guidance. I apply my course knowledge and experience, such as team performance, leadership styles, and the Eisenhower Matrix, to manage tasks effectively.”

Jonny Burrows

Assistant Manager

Cheltenham College

“The apprenticeship has greatly enhanced my understanding of strategic work and how different areas of the organisation operate. It has boosted my confidence to ask questions and take on senior-level tasks. Studying has pushed me out of my comfort zone, showing me my capabilities and improving my overall performance.”

Lauren Mitchell

HR Manager

Canterbury Oast Trust

“The support has been timely and professional and, since starting, I have increased my knowledge through the online platform and workshops. I'm covering subjects like business understanding, communication, and operational plans - which has boosted my confidence. I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would recommend it.”

Jason Windsor

Operations Manager HVAC

DENSO Manufacturing UK Ltd

“As a result of this apprenticeship, I have gained confidence at work. I've developed key skills in project management, communication, and technical processes, and have improved my performance through focused feedback. I am now better prepared to contribute to the team's goals and tackle future challenges.”

Cristian Condurache

Software Engineering Team Lead

Reach

“I have seen positive work improvements using what I’ve learnt about leadership, communication, and decision-making. I highly recommend the easy-to-use KnowledgeBrief platform with visual progress tracking, extra resources, and valuable information.”

Sharon Boia

EHS Manager

Abcam

“This journey has strengthened my strategic vision, stakeholder management, team and organisational influencing skills, and, most importantly, my confidence in communication. The structured learning and the tailored guidance has proven invaluable in giving me direction and purpose as a senior leader.”

Sam Dykes

Accounts Manager

Milling International Marketing Ltd

“This course improved my performance by helping me create strategies, demonstrate values, develop my team, identify growth areas, and gain leadership principles like communication, conflict resolution, and strategic thinking. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to strengthen their leadership abilities and make an impact.”

Linda Evans

UK Head of Product, Pricing & Marketing

Ferdinand Bilstein UK

Equip your employees with the skills to increase results

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