Community Blog: American Society for Training and Development- Orange County

During the Needs Assessment I conducted for our chapter last year, one of the things I heard again and again was that our members would like us to arrange a CEO of a major company to speak to us about  his or her views on training.  At the time, I thought this might be a tall order, so I was delighted when the San Diego ASTD chapter referred us to Garry Ridge.

Gary Ridge is the CEO of WD-40, and he has transformed WD-40 into a learning organization by making learning the number one responsibility of each of his organization’s leaders.  He has coined the phrase, “The Learning Moment”—the point after execution when we can learn from what happened—and will discuss how he used the learning moment (and the Ridge Leadership Model in general) to dramatically change his organization.

The people I spoke with who attended Garry’s presentation in San Diego told me it was one of the best attended and best received of all the presentations in the chapter’s history; that Gary is a powerful and inspiring presenter; and that the presentation is perfect for training managers, directors and VPs interested in transforming their own organizations as well as for trainers, consultants and any who wish to influence the management personnel they interact with.  (On a side note, several also mentioned that Garry’s Australian accent makes him a pleasure to listen to; I’m not sure if this is an added draw for you, but I thought I would mention it just in case!)

Please note that this meeting will take place on November 18 th  from 6:00—8:00 p.m., a week earlier than our usual meeting due to the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday.  You can register for the event here.

I will very much hope to see you there.

Anthony Harmetz
President, ASTD-Orange County

By the way, we found a clip of a Garry Ridge presentation.  We included it here, on our site.  Click Play to hear more!

I spent last weekend in Washington D.C. at an ASTD Leader's Conference.  It's an inspiring place, and a great city to hold a conference for leaders. 

The opening keynote was Dr. Beverly Kaye, author of Love 'Em Or Lose 'Em, and Love It, Don't Leave It.  In this session, she asked the room of workplace learning and performance professionals (i.e., trainers), "We spend so much time developing others, what are we doing to develop ourselves?"

Dr. Kaye looked toward Generation Y, or the Millenials, for the wisdom of the emerging workforce.  More often we find these people saying: "I won't stay if there are no opportunities for me to grow here."  Dr. Kaye calls them self-powered careerists.

In this evolving workforce, Dr. Kaye sees a business world in which Enrichment is the most important aspect of a job in the coming years.  She sees that job satisfaction will come from a triumvirate of characteristics that address the employee:

Skills, which strengthen one's competence,
Values, which bolster one's commitment, and
Interests, which enhance one's enjoyment of the job. 

Dr. Kaye isn't the only one seeing the value of the self-powered careerist.  Petti Van Rekom and Ann Coil, guest speakers of ASTD-OC's Career Management Special Interest Group, ascribe to the idea that we are all "Self" employed.  That is, we are each the leaders of our lives. We are consistently representing our selves, and analyzing how we fit within an organization to which we belong.

Dr. Coil, this month's Career Management SIG guest speaker, recognizes that even as we adapt to the changing job market, we seek a constant to guide us in our career navigation. She has identified something that can serve as this guide, something that helps you maintain control of your career. Your own personal MasterWork©.

Dr. Coil developed the MasterWork© concept from 20 years of experience guiding people to change, re-direct, and manage their careers. According to Dr. Coil, we all have a MasterWork, our own personal fingerprint for attacking projects and solving problems. Defining our MasterWork© – what we do best and most enjoy doing – gives us a powerful tool for responding to changes in the workplace so we don’t get derailed, no matter who initiates the change.
 
It’s a foundation that anchors our career decisions and a beacon that points us in the right direction in all kinds of market conditions, so we can craft a satisfying and rewarding career and land on our feet when we need to.

P.S.: You can learn more about this month's Career Management Special Interest Group here.

Do you want to influence an individual, group or organization?  Most of us have a spouse, boss, friend, work-team or organization we would like to influence.  I’m not sure if you are familiar with VitalSmarts, the people who brought us two other excellent models:  Crucial Conversations and Crucial Confrontations, but they are a quality group which has brought us many practical tips, tools and techniques for positively influencing one-on-one relationships.  Now they have turned to influencing groups, and I, for one, am grateful.

I recently attended an hour-long presentation on VitalSmarts’ Influencer model and left excited and stimulated enough to try it myself.  At the presentation I’d heard about how a small group had eliminated a horrible disease—the Guinea Worm—from African villages by implementing a key Influencer principle: to solve intractable problems; identify 2-3vital behaviors which will produce drastic change if rigorously implemented.

My first attempt to use the model was to influence a group of friends I’d had in high school that were still loosely connected (but non-functional as a group) due to long standing challenges such as grudges, resentments, etc. to become close, harmonious and well-intentioned again.  How we succeeded is a long story (involving some other Influencertechniques), but the key was identifying just 3 behaviors to rigorously implement:  (1) Speaking to the person you have an issue with first; (2) Asking permission before talking to a third party; and (3) Thanking anyone who brings you an issue to discuss. 

I am personally very impressed with Influencer and with VitalSmarts and sincerely hope you’ll be able to attend one (or both!) of our influencer events next Wednesday:

1.     Monthly Learning Event -- 11:00 - 1:30
The Influencer Model (plus lunch, structured and unstructured networking)

2.     Low-cost Influencer Workshop  ($20) 
2:00 – 4:00 -- Create your own personalized plan to use Influencer techniques in a real situation

The event will take place at the The Turnip Rose on Flower in Orange. Follow this link to register for the event.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Anthony Harmetz, President
ASTD - Orange County
Your Learning Partner

ASTD-Orange County is thrilled to announce the launch of its Mentoring Program designed to facilitate the formation of mentor-protégé partnerships among its members.  Applications for mentors and protégés are being accepted through November 3. 

Get more information about the program, as well as target dates for events by clicking here.

Consider being a protégé  if you

• have identified a specific area in which you want to grow professionally
• need help pursuing your chosen career path
• want honest, constructive feedback

Consider being a mentor if you

• have a special expertise in the learning and development field which you would like to transmit to someone else
• have experienced the benefit of being mentored yourself
• want to strengthen your coaching and leadership skills
• want to help expand the learning and development profession’s collective body of knowledge

Apply online by clicking this link.

Pairings will be announced by November 8.  Please hold November 12 (from 6:00-8:30 p.m.) on your calendar for the kickoff event, where you’ll meet your mentoring partner and begin to create the framework and agreed on expectations for your mentoring relationship.

Get more information about the Mentoring Program on the ASTD-OC Website.

Here's a story about a hospital employee who instilled a culture of safety and mutual respect in an organization that sought to save lives at all costs -- including the emotional well-being of fellow workers.

This case study highlights a man who sought to help the working poor in Utah County develop the vital behavior
of investing rather than spending their tax returns.

There's another tale about a parent who transformed his district's worst-performing school to a nationally-recognized institution.

Each of these case studies comes from Vital Smarts, the organization that brought us Crucial Conversations and Crucial Confrontations.  Here, rather than helping us address those intimidating conversations that need to happen, authors Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, et al share ways one can influence in others behaviors that lead to the success of a project, the reaching of a goal, or the opportunities of a lifetime.

As in this story about a woman who sought to lose weight and lead a healthier life for herself and her family.

My goals are not so grandiose (although I could stand to lose a few pounds).  Rather, I struggle to influence people in my organization in simpler ways.  For instance, I'd like attendees of my SystemVue classes not to call me to handle their login or password problems. I've told them that I'm not their man but, to paraphrase Dr. Harold Stolovitch, tellin' ain't influencin'.  There appear to be other motivators that I need to employ to convince my learners to consider the existing, approved methods to request a password reset.

The authors of influencer identify six sources of influence, some or all of which should be addressed in order to change behaviors in others.

1. Personal Motivation
2. Personal Ability
3. Social Motivation
4. Social Ability
5. Structural Motivation
6. Structural Ability

Reading how others have successfully applied these sources of influence is inspiring.  It'd be preferable, however, to practice applying them in my own life.  Fortunately, ASTD-Orange County is providing that opportunity.  On Wednesday, October 28, Cricket Buchler, a Vital Smarts facilitator, will join ASTD-Orange County for its Monthly Learning Event to introduce Influencer to our participants.  Better yet, she plans to hang around a few more hours in the afternoon to guide participants through the six sources of influence as we apply it to a real-life situation we're working through.

If I've influenced you at least to learn more about the event, feel free to check it out on our website at www.astdoc.org.

 

Time Magazine's May 14, 2009 issue covered "The Future Of Work."  In it, articles addressed such topics as: "The Way We'll Work," "The Search for the Next Perk," and "The Last Days of Cubicle Life."  Four months later, Time Magazine had "Out Of Work In America" emblazoned upon its cover.

This isn't a reflection of suddenly changing times, nor an acknowledgement of economic realities.  The Future Of Work acknowledged that unemployment was at a 25 year high.  Part of the May 14 message was that corporations will begin focusing on finding essential people and outsourcing the rest. The September issue showed the various faces of unemployed people, each seeking an employer who would find them essential.

Petti Van Rekom, guest speaker at ASTD-OC's Career Management Special Interest Group meeting this October, sees this as evidence of a cultural shift in the workplace. The last cultural shift happened in the 1970s, as employees started viewing work less as a means to an end and more of an opportunity to performing something meaningful.  The current shift isn't well defined yet, but Petti believes that the new work model should be something the employee addresses while corporations are figuring things out.

We often make plans for our career. These career plans tend to be linear outlines of where we see ourselves this year, next year, five years down the line.  The proposal in October's SIG Meeting was that each person should develop a Self Employment plan.  This is not to say that each person needs to become self employed, but that each Self is in charge of his (or her) employment.

A Self Employment plan is a holistic approach to one's career.  It addresses both the internal and external needs of the employee.  An analogy used by Petti:  a Career Plan is akin to MapQuest directions; a Self Employment Plan is akin to a Travel Guide.

Here in Southern California a tourist has all sorts of options: amusement parks, museums, the beach.  As a tourist, well armed with a book filled with options, would you go where someone tells you to go? 

Probably not. You would evaluate where you want to go based upon your like and dislikes, and plan accordingly. Even should you follow a tour guide, you would have chosen the specific tour that you wanted.

There is a chance that the answer to that question might be "yes."  For example, you may end up in an amusement park even though you wanted to go to the beach, because you travelled with family.  Even so, you PLAN to go to Laguna Beach during your travel, meander through the art shops in the late afternoon, dine in a restaurant overlooking the ocean at sunset.

We began work on our Self Employment Plan by assessing our purpose for working, an acknowledgement of our current search for meaningful work.  From there we addressed the expectations we had for work, both external and internal. We compared these expectations to what our workplace currently delivers.

Why consider all this if we're just looking for a job?  
Because you want to make sure that you work for an employer whose values match yours.  Once you identify that you don't like amusement park environments, you'll avoid positions in companies that seem like a bunch of clowns (I just HAD to work that into the analogy).

Why consider a Self Employment Plan if you're currently employed?
Because if your workplace doesn't match your internal and external expectations, why are you there?  The answer to that question seems as obvious as a magazine cover: you're lucky to land a job at all. And that's fine. However, assessing these expectations allows you to PLAN for your future should you find yourself in need of employment, or in a position to further your career elsewhere.  Because whether you are currently employed or no, you (not the person signing your paycheck) are in charge of your career.  As such, we all are Self Employed. 

There you are.  A member of a project team.  You represent the Training division of the project, charged with the assessment, design, and delivery of the material that will go out to your organization once the project is piloted. 

With you on the project team is the IT Special Projects Manager, the Corporate Communications team, and department heads of the three departments that will be impacted.

You've got two months.

Imagine, if you will, the challenges that arise.  This project involves some significant integration into existing systems, so IT warns that they'll be cutting things close, that key components of the program integration will not be available until last minute.  The Department Heads are still trying to wrap their hands around how the project will impact their divisions. Corporate Communications wants to promote this pilot as quickly as possible, asking for at least 30 days lead time to announce the schedule for the pilot, including training. And of course, you, Training, need at least 45 days for the analysis, design, and development of the material.

What is your goal?

You'll probably want some commitment from the department heads to identify key training objectives.  You'll probably want from IT access to a development site so you can begin creating training materials with the necessary screen shots.

According to Raymond Burch, presenter at ASTD-OC's September Learning Event: "Tribal Warlords or Executive Teamwork," that's not your goal. Remember: you're on a team.  And while it's easy to tap into your strengths in order to identify and promote your needs for the accomplishment of your component of the project, that is not your goal.

Your goal is the successful implementation of the pilot throughout your organization.

This is Ray's first theme for Leadership Success (for all six of his themes, check out our Twitter feed) -- that as a team, you focus on a clear and common purpose. If each person on the team focuses on that purpose, they often finish the project successfully.

This, Ray says, is exactly what the Legends Volleyball Team does each time they participate in a tournament.  They do it without practicing as a team throughout the year.  In fact, Ray shareS that while most of the Legends team resides in Southern California, a few others are scattered throughout the nation. Add that to his schedule taking him to Indonesia, South Africa, and a  bevy of other international venues, any practicing Ray does to keep at the top of his game has to be done without his teammates.

Yet when they convene, they perform at a gold medal level. Consistently.

The sports analogies abounded, but with the specific relevance to the Legends team experience.  The game changes, Ray shared.  Be ready to accept different roles.  Rebound convincingly, but don't overextend. Play with passion and win wounded.  Within each of the analogies resided a corporate corollary. 

• "Create legends because reputation scores," prompted this question: Has your leadership team built a good image in the organization? 
• "Play with passion and win wounded," caused us to ask: Do your team members bring a spark to your discussions?
• "Know where the talent is and harness their egos," challenges: Can your team members humble themselves for success?

It's a discussion worth serving up for that project team of yours.

If you liked this post, you might like:

• Tribal Warlords or Executive Teamwork?
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Survivor held its Samoan season premier last week.  If there's ever been a show that models corporate teamwork in its rawest form, Survivor is at the top of the list.  As tribe members, each individual works towards a common goal, at the same time operating with a bias towards intra-team alliances.  Each tribe member has a not-so-hidden agenda -- to win at whatever cost.  After all, nobody on the set is there to make friends.

I observed this in a leadership exercise conducted at my work.  We were all given pieces to a puzzle, and told to form a square.  The activity was not completed until everyone at the table had finished their square. 
The catch was, there was more than one way to make individual squares, but only one way to make all the squares on the table.  So there I sat, confident that I had completed my task, while the others on the table suffered interminable minutes as the facilitator intoned that there was more than one way to solve the puzzle, and that we weren't done until everyone was done.  When I noticed that someone needed one of my pieces to finish her square, I finally got the picture. 

Our natural instinct is a competitive one, to win at all costs.  We find that this may help us personally, but it can hinder an organization's common goal.  Ray Burch, the presenter at this month's ASTD-Orange County Learning Event, has noticed this as well.  In his presentation: Tribal Warlords, or Executive Teamwork -- Insights for Becoming a Legendary Leadership Team, Ray observes:

"Almost all organizations espouse teamwork as a cardinal value. Fortunately or unfortunately, the executives of these organizations very visibly model very good or bad teamwork. Too many executives—and other leaders across the corporate spectrum—behave like tribal warlords."

Ray pulls from his experience as a gold-medalist volleyball player to identify key tips for team building.  From victories at the U.S. Open and World Championships, Ray was inspired to synthesize his teams’ success into six key insights that help executives become legendary teams: focus, talent, change readiness, recovery, reputation, and passion.

So: invite your boss out to dinner this Wednesday (Sept 23, 6 - 8 pm), and treat him or her to a night with ASTD-Orange County.  Together, you'll be able to take to your organization a strong message to share with its executives and other leaders.

Details on our site:  www.astdoc.org.

ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) has been in the news recently, the subject of a scandal erupting from some hidden camera videos posted on YouTube, showing ACORN employees engaged in the same type of fraudulent act that a portion of subprime mortgage brokers were guilty of. While that's ironic, it's not surprising.  This kind of behavior is found in many fields, including: accounting, education, and healthcare.

What this indicates is that the awards set for achieving desired business goals sometimes do not include ethical behavior.  Put another way: the reward for performance outweighs the reward for truth.

Here's the statement in today's Morning News that did surprise me.  "She (ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis) says the group is reviewing its training procedures and will have an independent investigator look into what happened. " 

"Review its training procedures?" I'm trying to figure out what this will accomplish.  I don't know what is included in ACORN's training, but I'll gather that there's something in there about compliance.  That bit about compliance may infer that one should go about behaving ethically, not lie, do the right thing, etc.  Would showing that such information is included in training exonerate ACORN as a whole, backing up the claim that only a few employees were guilty of this behavior?

Perhaps ACORN's planned investigation of training procedures will show that the employees caught in the video did not receive their Compliance Training. One could assume, then, that these errant employees did not receive any instruction at all on what they could or could not advise.  "Nobody told me that I had to stick to talking about tax laws and how to legally qualify for a home loan," the ACORN ex-employee could say.

Perhaps it will reveal that the guilty employees did indeed receive Compliance Training when they first joined the organization, but hadn't received a refresher course in a year or so.  This might be a more damning statement of the group -- an indicator that although one may be given the knowledge necessary to perform one's duties, one is placed in an environment where that knowledge is not applied or reinforced.

In a statement on Sept 16, Ms. Lewis ordered "an immediate in-service training for all frontline staff."  (A side note: I think all frontline staff has probably received quite enough training on not what to do just by watching the news, and the YouTube video.)

Would the installation of more thorough ongoing training procedures ensure that this would not happen again?  I would argue otherwise.  It is not the training that should concern us, but how that training is followed through on the floor. 

Again, this is not restricted to ACORN.  It's endemic in many fields where the reward for performance outweighs the reward for truth.  Thus, training advises one thing, and management does what it needs to do to meet goals.

For ACORN, a review of their training procedures will likely reveal nothing important about the organization, merely that their performance issue exists outside training.  Hopefully this will indicate to Ms. Lewis the need for ACORN's Training Department to partner with their Leadership Team, to find ways to ensure that management backs the standards set forth in training.  Such a partnership would help both parties identify at an earlier time that the information taught is not being practiced, and to find a solution to address that.

Last year, when I was let go from my job, I was given the opportunity to work with a career transition coach so I could land a new job.  The coach spoke of career transition in steps -- research (both myself and prospective companies), crafting the resume, interviewing, negotiating, and, finally, landing.  It was the last stage that caught my ear -- what to do when one lands the job.  I mean, besides not Tweeting my displeasure about the commute, they spoke of maintaining an Accomplishments Log (the better to proclaim your achievements to your new boss), and of continually maintaining your network.

This sparked a discussion within ASTD-OC's Career Management Special Interest Group (SIG) leadership.  Often, when we think of Career Management, we think of dusting off that resume, activating the network, figuring out which tie to wear to the next interview.  My career transition coach convinced me that career management is an ongoing process. One's resume should never get that fine patina of dust associated with career complacency. One's network should always be active.

Petti van Rekom, Ed.D., CPT, thinks that career management should even be more than that.  "The workplace has changed. Your job expectations have also changed.  Therefore, the biggest mistake you can make is to believe that you work for someone else. You need to take control of your career and recognize that you are Self-Employed," she shares.
 
"Whether you work inside an organization or for yourself, you’re the leader of your life.  Finding financial security, job satisfaction, meaningful work, etc. – is an ongoing journey, not a destination.  As such, you need a travel (i.e. career) plan that allows for detours and unexpected situations."

With that spirit of career management, we've invited Petti to speak at our October Career Management SIG meeting.  This kick-off meeting, held in Santa Ana on October 6, is titled: "Launching  Your Business."  We'll discuss the components of a self-employment (i.e. career) plan, focusing on your personal work expectations. Resources you can use to put together your plan will be suggested.  You’ll have the opportunity to assess what you like and don’t like about your current workplace – and discover your work preferences.

Some of this sounds very similar to the career coaching I received at the end of my previous job.  It will be refreshing to have a similar discussion while employed, an eye-opener to taking the reins of our career.

 

Yes, you read correctly. Our very own chapter will be included in Fox 11 News segment ‘Job Shop’ to be aired on Monday, September 7 at the following times:

• 5:45 AM
• 8:30 AM
• 10:00 PM

It will also be made available by the following weekend online at kttv.com.

And why were we chosen for this honor? It is because of our ability to think outside the box and held a monthly learning event titled: ‘Knots, Nails and Egg Grenades’ in the comfort of a city park.

Fox News 11 was so intrigued by our out-of-the-box event that it will feature us on TV as part of a series Fox is running on Job Seeking in Southern California. The segment will focus on how in today’s economic climate, joining professional organizations is one way to help you in your search, and the segment will focus primarily on ASTD-Orange County.

At the event, four professional team building facilitators shared a variety of team building activities which can be conducted indoors or outdoors. We all left with some best practices, new ideas, and (most exciting) six budget-friendly, easily facilitated activities that can focus on communication, problem-solving, teamwork, perception, leadership, focus, and more!

So, watch for us on KTTV, Monday, September 7 at 5:45 AM, 8:30 AM, and 10 PM and later at kttv.com.

Judith Norton
Vice President, Communications
ASTD-Orange County
Your Learning Partner

 

Yes, you read correctly. Our very own chapter will be included in Fox 11 News segment ‘Job Shop’ to be aired on  Tuesday, September 1  at the following times:

5:45 AM

8:30 AM

10:00 PM

It will also be made available by the following weekend online at  kttv.com .   

And why were we chosen for this honor? It is because of our ability to think outside the box and have a monthly learning event ‘Knots, Nails and Egg Grenades’ in the comfort of a city park.

Fox News 11  was so intrigued by our out-of-the-box event that it will feature us on TV as part of a series Fox is running on Job Seeking in Southern California.  The segment will focus on how in today’s economic climate, joining professional organizations is one way to help you in your search, and the segment will focus primarily on ASTD-Orange County.  

At the event, four professional team building facilitators shared a  variety of team building activities  which can be conducted indoors or outdoors.  We all left with some best practices, new ideas, and (most exciting) six budget-friendly, easily facilitated activities that can focus on communication, problem-solving, teamwork, perception, leadership, focus, and more!

So, watch for us on KTTV, Tuesday, September 1 at 5:45 AM, 8:30 AM, and 10 PM and later at  kttv.com .   

 

(that are true of children too!)
Adults learn best when…

1. They are interested in a topic or need the knowledge in order to do something
2. They have some (or a lot!) of control over the learning experience
3. The learning draws on their past experience
4. They are actively involved in the learning
5. Learning is real world oriented and addresses real world problems
6. The environment is safe
7. There is an informal feel to the learning
8. There is repetition involved in the learning process
9. They have a chance to immediately apply what they learned
10. They learn one thing at a time and then apply it before using the next

We share this as a peek into Day One of Total Trainer, which will cover many aspects of adult learning that the workplace learning and performance professional should be aware of as they step into the training room.

The Total Trainer Workshop is led by senior training professionals from ASTD-OC. It is designed to help you develop, facilitate, and implement training programs.
The program is suitable for:

• Instructional designers
• Those wishing to enter the training field
• Training coordinators, specialists and managers wanting more formal training in program design and implementation

Become the total package! 

Venue and Registration Details

Twitter continues to be a phenomenon that receives mixed reviews from those trying to "get it."  David Letterman got some buzz when he and Kevin Spacey discussed using Twitter on Late Night.  In impeccable Letterman form, David called it a "waste of time."  A Time magazine article described Twitter more poetically, as a "serendipity engine."  And from another blog that I follow, I read the following:  "I get on Twitter. ... I decide that I am going to officially give up 'marketing' in favor of hanging out. Which is kind of what I was leaning towards anyway."

Like many "Tweeps," I once signed up for Twitter, didn't "get it," so I didn't do much with it for a while.  I began using Twitter again this year, inspired by a keynote speech in which New York Times tech columnist David Pogue (@pogue on Twitter) discussed the power of Twitter.  During his speech, he demonstrated how he could get an answer for a question within 10 seconds of his asking.  Mind you, it wasn’t a complicated answer; he asked how he could get rid of his hiccups.  But literally, within 10 seconds, he had several responses.  You can read about his Twitter experiment here. 

I thought: “I want to be able to do that with eLearning.”

Separately, I had also StumbledUpon a list of eLearning specialists who use Twitter. Thinking about who I wanted to have as my network of experts, I started following the first few pages of people on that list.  Not all of them, mind you. I did make a point to check their bios, and see what they posted on Twitter.  If their posts weren’t related to eLearning, or training design in general, I didn’t follow.  If they were, I began following.

Some of these people followed me in return for my following them.  Presumably, this is because they saw something interesting in what I tweet(Twitter-speak for a post on your Twitter feed).  In all probability, most of these people followed me just because I chose to follow them, an acknowledgement that perhaps there would be something mutually beneficial for the two of us to share information. 

The key to Twitter is relevance. 
     First, know who you are.  
     Second, know what’s important for you to know. 

We'll discuss this a bit more in the second of our Summer Social Series (facilitated next Monday for free to ASTD-OC members).  This will be a seminar that blends setting oneself up on Twitter, getting Tweeps, sending Tweets to those Tweeps, and discussing how to apply this social media resource to fit your needs. 

Perhaps the challenge in "getting" Twitter is that there’s no formulaic model that expresses the one thing Twitter is.  It’s not about being something;  it’s about what it can be.  And that’s what you make of it.

More information:

• Details on the Twitter seminar:  www.astdoc.org
• Yes, you can follow us @astdoc.
• Our Twitter co-facilitator, Mel, has a BusinessCasualBlog where he shares more insights on the matter.

Do you remember, back in school, when the teacher would decide that it was just TOO NICE A DAY to be cooped up in a classroom, and take class outside, in the quad, in the sun and semi-fresh air?  Perhaps the teacher didn't spend a lot of time lecturing and writing stuff on the blackboard, perhaps the lesson plan shifted a bit, but the discussions that you had about the whatever you were supposed to learn were the best ever, heightened by an appreciation for the season, and the weather, and the teacher's willingness to think outside the box that was the classroom.

This month, ASTD-OC seeks to recapture a bit of that.  We're taking our Learning Event outside with: "Nails, Knots, and Egg Grenades: Team Building in the Park."

We'll stimulate creative problem-solving and challenge perception with little more than 13 nails.

With one hula hoop we'll get people talking about teamwork, focus, communication, leadership, and more.

We'll address problem solving and project management using eggs.

All in all, four local specialists in team building will provide you with six budget-friendly, easily facilitated team-building activities designed to focus on true team-building, with objectives appicable to your team's day-to-day work. 

A few logistics:

• The event will be held outdoors.  Our networking and boxed lunch portion of the event will be conducted in a covered area.
• Come in your business clothes or if you prefer, dress down for the day!  While we will be doing the activities outdoors, all can easily be done indoors – so whatever you are wearing will be fine!
• The event will last until 1:30 to give us enough time for participation and debrief.

We invite you to join us for a spirited discussion on problem solving, building relationships, creativity, communication, leadership and teamwork!  You'll walk away with instructions on how to facilitate each of these activities, empowered to take your own team out of their box.

You can register for this event here at www.astdoc.org.

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