Corporate Training
I have created and now teach a series of classes for the central IT function for one the world's largest companies. These classes span from one day to three and a half days each. I love being able to apply what I have learned in thirty years of IT work to help others.
The current roster of classes below can be adjust to fit the needs of other clients, large and small, and can be tuned into one hour "snippets" to illustrate key points.
Remote Teams
While with HP's Agilent Technologies Global Infrastructure Team, I formed a global team of Project Managers and Service Delivery Managers who were located across the US, and in Germany, India, China, Singapore, and Japan.
Using the experience gained in creating and leading the team, combined with current theories from practitioners, I created a class that uses presentations, videos, discussions, and hands-on workshops to provide the tools to effectively guide remote teams.
Abstract and Visual Thinking
The Enterprise Architects at Company "X" frequently act as internal consultants. Their managers want them to be able to step into any situation, quickly analyze the environment, distill the essential elements, and communicate their findings to a wide audience.
Using Dan Roam's Back of the Napkin series of books as the foundation, we have a day-and-a-half class that starts with brain theory, and works the students through a series of applied tasks to enable them to take the visual thinking concepts back to their next assignments.
The class' stated goal "Release your inner McGyver – enter any situation and use the tools and knowledge that you have to create a solution."
“Any problem can be made clearer with a picture, and any picture can be made using the same simple set of tools”
- Dan Roam - The Back of the Napkin
Visual Communications
The follow-on to the Abstract and Visual Thinking class, Visual Communications teaches the elements of good presentation structure, and effective PowerPoint design.
The class is not a PowerPoint how-to class, but does teach some basics in graphics design and layout as a means to creating effective presentations.
“The ability to communicate in pictures is a key leadership skill.
. . . You need to be able to rapidly help your boss understand the issue (whatever it is), visualize it, and understand your course of action.
. . . The people who can communicate in pictures can convey an incredible amount of information in a short period of time and will save themselves time in the end.”
- Rollin Ford - Walmart Executive
"Just a note to thank you again for the excellent course you presented last week.
I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and am looking forward to putting my new-found insights into practice."