Moving Forward Together

Recently Iowa has endured one natural disaster after another.  The floods washing through our state have likely impacted you in one way or another - even just through price increases, lack of goods, etc.  The stories and pictures will stick in our minds for years to come.

However, in the face of all the devastation and bad news you see people pulling together to move forward. Working hand in hand to help out their friends and those in need. Working together to move forward, to rebuild, and to make things better than before.

We could certainly use this same behavior in our organizations couldn't we? How often are we hit by something unexpected? How often do we need to scramble and help others? How often do we look at something and say we should reengineer to make things better?

No matter what your situation, looking forward and working together is the answer.

I hope you enjoy our short newsletter this month. We're proud to share with you some of our news with the hope it will help you move forward and create even greater success in what many are calling "interesting" times.

Here's to keeping everything afloat!

Todd McDonald
President - ATW Training & Consulting, Inc.

• ATW Training & Consulting and Phasient Learning Technologies Team Up to Develop New eLearning Courseware
• "Lighting the Fire" at Y-Camp
• Featured Product: One for All - Teamwork the Meerkat Way
• Upcoming Training Opportunities

By Ronnie Miller/The Tribune Beverly Gillis, left, president of Phasient Learning Technolgies, works on an eLearning course. with vice president Denise Link, center, and Cathy Harman, from ATW Training and Consulting in Des Moines.

ATW is excited to announce that we have teamed up with Phasient Learning Technologies of Ames, Iowa, to develop a series of eLearning courses based on ATW's proven workplace training content. This intellectual property has been developed and tested through years of practical application with our clients in a wide-range of industries.

When it comes to innovative eLearning techniques you can't beat the quality and innovation that Phasient brings to the table. We're excited about creating a series of products that are unparalleled in the industry. Our content, linked with Phasient's expertise in creating highly interactive eLearning courses, will provide engaging training that meets the needs of today's learners in your workplace. We see this as a tremendous addition to our services. The online courses can stand alone, but can also be utilized pre-classroom or as a follow up to classroom training.

"Phasient is excited to work with ATW in creating effective and engaging eLearning courses that feature proven content and realistic scenarios. The hands-on training gives learners the opportunity to apply the knowledge they've learned with activities that model their job experiences," says Beverly Gillis, President of Phasient Learning Technologies.

The first set of eLearning courses will address leadership topics. These courses will feature business simulations, virtual role-play and other forms of interactive leadership activities to assure effective, engaging and successful learning. If desired, you will have the option to customize these courses to match your unique company culture, products and business scenarios.

We anticipate the first online courses will be available to you in Fall '08. For more information, contact Cathy Harman at ATW.

Cathy Harman
cathy@atwtraining.com

One of the components to having a highly aligned team is to have team members with a positive outlook who will do almost anything for the team.

ATW presented our highly successful "Lighting the Fire" program to Central Iowa YMCA Staff in May at the YMCA Camp in Boone, Iowa. The presentation was used to motivate the summer staff members for the busy summer months of camp, as well as energize the year-round staff in order to avoid "burn out." In total, there were about 80 YMCA staff that attended the training.

"Lighting the Fire" is a motivational session that is geared to help us think more positivity and to avoid "downward spiral" conversations, these kinds of conversations waste time as well as bring down the morale of a group. This session focuses on positive thinking such as not getting down on yourself (or others) when mistakes are made, choosing to plan an active role in your life, ignoring that voice in your head that whispers negative thoughts, and choosing to focus on contributing instead of playing the success/failure game. All of these concepts are important to individual success as well as team success.

Just weeks after this session, the Y-Camp was faced with flooding that could have closed the camp for weeks. Together the YMCA team persevered, working day and night as the water receded to prepare for their summer campers. It was the teamwork, positive attitudes and sense of accountability that took a potential crippling situation and turned it into a proud moment for all team members.

For more information on ATW's "Lighting the Fire" program, contact Trayla Carter at ATW.

Trayla Carter
trayla@atwtraining.com

 
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