Everyone who has qualified as a Coach with a recognised Coach training company should now take the opportunity to register. This will dramatically cut down on any misrepresentation that goes on within the industry. Many people have websites and call themselves a Coach but have no actual qualifications. The register will stop these people and raise the profile of genuine Coaching and how it can transform people’s lives.

President of the IIC Gerard O’Donovan said “the register has been administered by the IIC for the benefit of the world of Coaching and Coaching clients. It is also a great way for Coaches to get business as members of the public can search for registered Coaches in their area. It brings Coaching transparency at last.”

As a Member of the IIC, Have you published your details on the International Coaching Register, at no charge?
To do so:

Login to the IIC Members Area, and then select the ICR Register Edits menu option on the left hand side of the screen.

Create your entry by selecting:

Insurance - enter your Professional Indemnity Insurance details here. Training - enter the details of all the training courses you have completed here. Workshops - enter the details of all the workshops you have attended here. Accreditation - your IIC Accreditation details will automatically be included here. You also have the opportunity to enter the details of all the accreditations/credentials you have been awarded, as an independent verification of your Coach training and experience. Business Details - select or enter all types of Coaching you include in your Coaching Business/Practice. Organisation Membership Details - enter the details of all Business Organisations in which you hold a Membership -these could be other Coaching Bodies, Chamber of Commerce, or any type of organisation that is appropriate to your business. Display - do not forget to DISPLAY your details.Selecting yes your details will be displayed on the International Coaching Register. For IIC Accredited Coaches, your details will also be displayed on the IICs Coaching Referral programme.

We look forward to seeing you on the International Coaching Register.

So getting back to setting your computer up to suit you.  When you first open Windows Explorer you’ll see the two columns. 

Let’s first customise the number of columns and the information you want to see:

1. At the top of the screen under the toolbar you will see a button called ‘Organize’.  Clicking this button gives you a menu option which includes ‘layout’ and ‘folder and search options’. 
   
   
2. The menu option we want to select first is the ‘layout’ option – so select this.  Selecting the ‘layout’ option gives you a sub-menu of ‘menu bar’, ‘details pane’, ‘preview pane’, ‘navigation pane’ and ‘library pane’ .
   
   
   • Menu bar – this is the bar at the top of the screen that shows us the ‘File’, ‘Edit’, ‘View’, ‘Tools’ and ‘Help’ bar.  When you select the ‘layout’ option you will find that this sub-menu option will be ticked.  Un-ticking it removes the menu bar.  Not a problem as you can come back into this sub-menu and tick it again and the menu bar returns.
     
     
   • Details pane – on Windows 7 this is one of the most useful things I have found.  The details pain shows you a summary of your drive or folder.  (OK so what is the difference between a drive and a folder?  A drive is recognised by a letter i.e. all computers have a C-drive.  A folder is a classification of data within the drive i.e. IIC, Madeira, Nyasa.)  The sort of detail you will find displayed in relation to a drive will include how many folders you have on the drive.  The soft of detail you will find displayed in relation to a folder will include whether the folder is shared with another computer, who it is shared with (everyone or someone specific), and the date the data in this folder was last changed (modified).  Selecting to highlight a document within a folder will display a lot more information about the selected document and may include the author, the date it was modified (created or updated), the size.  Again to select to show this information you need to make sure that the ‘details pane’ on the sub-menu is ticked.
     
     
   • Preview pane – does just what ‘it says on the tin’.  If you select a document  - for example a word document – by ticking the preview pane option on the sub-menu your computer will show you the first page of the document.
     
     
   • Navigation pane – this is what I would normally call the left hand column.  If this option is not ticked on the sub-menu then the left hand column on Windows Explorer will not display.
     
     
   • Library pane – something new in Windows 7.  This just displays which library you are in at the top of the right hand column – useful or not.  I’ll leave you to decide.
   
   
3. Now let’s go back to the ‘Organize’ button and on its menu select ‘folder and search options’.  Selecting this will display a new window with a number of tabs along the top.
   
   
   • General tab allows you to select how many open windows you will have when you are working with Windows Explorer.
     
     
     • Open each folder in the same window or Open each folder in its own window. 
       
       
     • Single click to open an item or Double-click to open an item.
       
       
     • Navigation pane
       
       
       • Show all folders?
         
         
       • Automatically expand the current folder.
     
     
   • View tab allows you to select how you want your folders and files to be displayed. 
     
     
   • Search tab allows you to select how you want to search your computer for folders and files. 

It is important to remember that for each one of these options the decision you take at the time is changeable.  If you find when you are working with a specific decision you have taken and this is not working for you – just  go back and change it.

Favourites

The great thing about Favourites is that is just a short-cut to your documents.  For me I work with a specific client every week and the work I do for them I always do on a Friday.  To make it easier for me to find the files I need on a Friday I created a Favourite in the folder I need – in my terminology in the right filing cabinet draw.  How did I do this?  It’s really very simple.  If you click on the folder that you want to use regularly (sadly you can’t do this with documents) you just ‘drag’ it into the Favourites folder at the top of Windows Explorer.

To work with the Favourites folder, just select the word ‘Favourites’ in Windows Explorer and right click on your mouse.  This will bring up a sub-menu of options.  You will only need these if you want to restore system defaults, or re-organise your favourites .

Two useful tips:

• If you want to rename your Favourites link so that you truly know what it will link you to – select the link and right click.  You will then see the option to ‘rename’.  Select this and type in the new name for this link.
  
  
• If you want to delete a Favourites link, select the link that you want to delete and right click.  You will then see the option to ‘remove’.  Select this and your favourite link will be deleted.  Please note this does not delete the folders or files – it only deletes the link in the Favourites folder