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WORKSHOPS FOR YOUR
ORGANIZATION
Our approach is to structure the workshops to meet the specific
requirements of our clients. We don't just teach skills, we actively
demonstrate how to apply the concepts and skills to the
participant's specific business environment. We bring the everyday
problems and business issues managers and staff face into our
workshop environment. Here, we use them as living examples of how to
translate theory and skills into specific actions that benefit
individuals and organizations. We actively engage participants in
discussions on how concepts and skills apply to their business and
personal environments.
We provide engaging, interactive workshops for executive management,
middle management and staff to develop and strengthen
skills and results throughout your organization.
Our seminars are customized to
meet your specific requirements.
WHAT ASI
OFFERS:
We work with you to identify the
training needs of your organization.
We develop and deliver customized
workshops and programs aligned with your organization's business
needs.
Areas addressed include:
Training
Methodology
Our approach is to structure each
workshop to meet the specific requirements of our clients. We don't
just teach skills, we actively demonstrate how to apply the concepts
and skills to the participant's specific business environment. We
bring the everyday problems and business issues managers and
employees face into our workshop environment. Here, we use them as
living examples of how to translate theory and skills into specific
actions that benefit individuals and organizations. We actively
engage participants in discussions on how concepts and skills apply
to their business and personal environments. Participants also learn
much from each other. Frequently we ask participants to develop, in
the workshop, specific plans and actions that they can implement in
their work environment. Often this information is shared with the
entire workshop group.
Below we describe both our
Design and
Implementation methodologies. We also take advantage
of
Activity-Based Learning principles to make the
workshops even more interactive and participative. Our objective is
to make a difference for individuals and organizations. After
attending a workshop, we don't want participants to go back to the
workplace and do what they always did before. We want them to
implement the new actions and behaviors we introduced. We put them
in the strongest position for success.
DESIGN
Customized Content
The content of each session is
designed to meet the specific needs of your business. Proven
methodologies are used to present the material and engage the
participants in a manner that results in learning and causes
follow-on action to occur. The individual agendas are designed to
build on the experience of participants. The agendas strongly
consider the need for businesses to manage change and turn it into a
competitive advantage. We focus on the skills, behaviors and actions
required to successfully carry out change, foster continuous
improvement and make progress toward achieving the vision.
Directions, such as employee involvement and being customer-driven,
are an integral part of workshop design.
Integrated
Curriculum
Workshops are fully integrated. They
build on the content of each other to provide you a cohesive focus
leading to the desired outcomes. We ensure that the skills and
behaviors introduced align with your goals. These common interest
areas provide opportunity for individuals to put into action what
they learn in the workshops. As thoughts, ideas and strategies are
introduced, they are related to participants' requirements through
general and individual team discussions. Actual work products are
produced in the workshop by participants. These work products are
designed to give participants direction and to help them implement
what is learned in the workshop environment.
Individual and
Group Activities
The workshops are also designed to
allow participants to express their views and introduce ideas and
suggestions. We foster an environment that promotes learning from
each others’ experiences. One technique we implement allows
participants to apply what is learned in the workshop through
brainstorming sessions, where individuals and teams develop ideas
and generate action-item plans to be evaluated later.
Action-Oriented
At the conclusion of each major topic
area within the workshop, a "Great Ideas for Action" brainstorming
activity is sometimes conducted. The objective of this activity is
to identify actions that participants feel should happen when they
return to their work environments. We begin this activity by asking
each participant to give thought to the following question: "Based
on the topic that was just presented, the examples referenced and
the workshop discussion, what changes do you think should be made in
your organization?" The participants are asked to record their ideas
in their personal journal. After we give the group a few minutes to
develop and record their thoughts, they are asked to share their
thoughts with the rest of the team at their table.
Leading You to
Self-sufficiency
Inherent in our approach is a strategy
that assists your organization in becoming self-sufficient in many
key areas. Our approach is to provide participants with
methodologies and implementation strategies that allow them to lead
and to support such key activities as process management,
facilitation, teamwork, strategic planning, employee participation,
leadership and more. During the workshop we also focus on skills
transfer activities with participants.
WORKSHOP IMPLEMENTATION
Execution - The
Environment
Each workshop is carried out as a
carefully orchestrated event. We pay attention to the details with
the objective of not only creating a productive learning environment
but also creating a exciting experience for the participants. We
create energy, momentum and enthusiasm. We engage attendees in
activities that cause everyone to participate and that afford them
the opportunity to contribute and make a difference. We continually
build on the knowledge and experiences of participants to complement
the workshop content and make the experience "real" for those
involved. We leave participants with specific thoughts and ideas for
actions that they can implement after the workshop.
Throughout all interactions we
practice leadership, teamwork, empowerment, employee involvement,
continuous improvement and customer-focus. We emphasize all skills
and behaviors associated with organizational and individual success
as we go through every module of each workshop. There is a high
level of continuity and consistency within any given workshop and
between workshops.
We suggest casual attire for most of
the workshops. You should plan to cater lunch and coffee and soda
breaks. Appropriate music is used frequently during breaks and
during selected workshop activities. We create an overall
environment that gives participants both the opportunity and methods
to grow professionally and personally.
Room Setup -
Creating a Team Environment
One of our objectives is to use the
workshop environment to its fullest advantage. We want to establish
individual and team working relationships that will continue and
grow after the conclusion of the workshops and throughout strategic
planning, process management and other team activities. To
accomplish this, we organize the room in table groups by teams. Each
table group normally has from six to ten people. Organization may
differ for each type of workshop.
Use of Videos
Throughout the workshops we make use
of videos and video clips. The objective of the videos is to show
vivid examples of how the topics discussed in the workshop actually
work in both the business and personal environment. We find that
these tend to be very meaningful from the standpoint of reinforcing
learning points, as well as highly entertaining for the
participants.
Inherent in the design of many of our
workshops are videos by nationally recognized individuals that focus
on specific examples. We also make use of other recognizable videos
that clearly highlight learning points.
ACTIVITY-BASED LEARNING
Our workshops take advantage of
activity-based learning. Activity-based learning occurs when
individuals engage in an activity, evaluate the experience, extract
useful insights and identify how to apply these insights in their
jobs on a day-to-day basis. Actions need to happen for any
organization to achieve its vision and objectives. Often the
required actions are different from those that were previously
required. Activity-based learning is used to help the participants
identify the new behaviors based on workshop activities and
translate this experience into meaningful actions that they can
perform when they return to the work place. The four stages of
activity-based learning are:
| 1. |
Experience
|
| 2. |
Observations
|
| 3. |
Insights |
| 4. |
Implications/Relevance |
Let's look at how each stage will be
addressed in your workshop.
1. Experience: Participants do a team
or group activity. For example, they put together a puzzle or build
a tower with blocks under conditions that simulate a work situation.
This experience provides information about what the individuals and
teams do, think and feel in a particular situation.
2. Observations: Participants reflect
on and write about the activity in their journals, then discuss
their observations as a team and/or in a full group debrief. The
prompt questions at the top of each journal page, combined with the
facilitator's questions and observations during the debrief, help
focus observations on issues that relate to the workplace.
3. Insights: On the basis of their
experience and observations about that experience, participants draw
conclusions or formulate working principles about what works and
what doesn't. For example, they may conclude, "People need to feel
trusting before they will take risks." Through skillful questioning,
the facilitator helps participants gain insights during the debrief
of each activity.
4. Implications/Relevance:
Participants focus on how they can apply these working principles in
leading and managing within their organization. During the debrief,
the facilitator asks about the implications and relevance of
specific insights. "How can you apply this to your work
environment?" "What are the implications in your organization?"
After the debrief, participants are asked to develop "Great Ideas
for Action" for their organizations. These ideas are recorded on
charts and shared with other participants.
Activity-Based
Learning – How It’s Different
There are some important distinctions
between activity-based learning, traditional education and training.
In traditional education, the student learns and the teacher
transmits knowledge. The teacher is the expert, the student the
novice. The focus is usually on the what and the why of the subject.
In more traditional training, the focus is usually on the practical
application of knowledge. The trainer is the expert who passes along
techniques and skills to the trainee. The trainee is often familiar
with the what and the why, but needs to learn the how.
Activity-based learning is
significantly different from traditional education and training.
Here's how:
-
Organized around experience.
Through a high degree of participation, direct "hands on"
experience provides the data for powerful learning. These
experiences have been called "serious play," based on the
premise that this type of learning can be fun.
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