Creating a Culture of Productivity 5.16.13 Dallas

 

 

Click here to download a PDF invitation.

 Please call 214-387-9960 to RSVP (required).

 

For more information please visit our site: www.the5choices.com

 

 

Announcing the 2013 Facilitator Give-Back Offer

It’s time for our 2013 Facilitator Give-Back Offer! During this promotion, client facilitators receive a gift for every 30, 50, 100, or 250 participant guidebooks ordered. This promotion begins Monday, February 11, and ends Friday, March 1, 2013. There are four different tiers from which client facilitators may select gifts. Contact your client partner or client-service coordinator at 888-868-1776 if you have any questions about the 2013 Facilitator Give-Back Offer. As always, thank you for your continued business. We wish you great success in your training and consulting endeavors.

FranklinCovey Library Use this collection of FranklinCovey hardcover books to augment your professional library and increase your own content knowledge. The book collection includes The 4 Disciplines of Execution, The Speed of Trust, The 3rd Alternative and The Wisdom and Teachings of Stephen R. Covey. Facilitator Tool Kit In a jam? This simple yet vital tool kit includes a multifunction slide advancer and a travel power strip. Features a pocket-size laser pointer with 1GB of memory. Compatible with WindowsME/2000/XP. Includes USB extension cable. The travel power strip includes three AC outlets and one USB charge port. Compact design and built-in cord wrap. Leadership Modules Built from our flagship Leadership offering, these six separate Leadership modules are designed for flexible, short learning investments in all levels of your organization. Choose one of the six modules and receive a facilitator kit (with program videos included) and your first five participant guidebooks. Big Rocks Kit Make “Habit 3: Put First Things First” come alive with this Big Rocks kit. A must-have for 7 Habits, FOCUS, and 5 Choices facilitators, this kit is based on the demonstration in the famous 7 Habits “Elizabeth” video and allows you to demonstrate Habit 3 or Choice 3 in a live, interactive setting. Keurig® OfficePRO® Brewing System Perfect cup of coffee, tea, hot cocoa, or ice beverage in under one minute. Easy to make with just a touch of a button. Choice of three cup sizes (6 oz., 8 oz., and 10 oz.). 48 oz. removable water reservoir. Energy-saving mode. Drainable internal hot-water tank. USB Microphone and Podcast Package Studio condenser mic with USB interface. Captures high-quality vocal and acoustic instruments. 19mm internal shock-mounted diaphragm with a cardioid pick-up pattern. Works perfectly on any computer with a DAW software program. Record straight away, without the need for in/out boxes, expensive preamps… just a USB cable. Striiv® Smart Pedometer Striiv Smart Pedometer has a high-resolution, color touch screen and built-in apps that make fitness fun! Striiv’s activity-motivation system was designed by leading experts in game design and behavior change with one goal in mind: to get you to walk a lot more. Kindle Fire™ HD Always be in the know with the Kindle Fire that makes movies, TV shows, magazines, and books come alive on its 7" vibrant color multi-touch display. Features 8GB of storage plus free cloud storage for all of your Amazon content. Over 1 million books, magazines, and newspapers to choose from, plus movies and TV shows to stream, download, purchase, or rent. Upright Rolling Laptop Case Holds electronics and cords in the front pocket. Dimensions: 22"W x 14"H x 9"D. Holds 15.4" laptop. Top-quality leather. Mini Refrigerator Mini refrigerator is Energy Star-rated with a smooth black design. Measures 20 ¾" wide by 21 ½" deep by 33" high. Beats by Dr. Dre Premium Headphones Features overstuffed leather ear cups for comfort during extended listening sessions. Rotating ear cups allow one-ear listening for studio and performance use. Reduces outside sound for improved sound clarity. Offers a solid interior sound platform for crisp highs and deep, booming lows. Remote allows you to easily make and receive hands-free phone calls, skip songs, and adjust volume without having to locate your music player or mobile phone. Automatically switches the extra port to output mode when your headphone cable is attached, so you can share what you’re listening to. Apple® iPad® 16GB Retina Display 16GB black Retina display. The Apple iPad tablet has two cameras for FaceTime and HD video recording. Over 200 new software features in iOS 6—including iCloud. All in a remarkably thin, light design. Apple iPad mini 7.9" (diagonal) LED-backlit multi-touch display with IPS technology. 1024 x 768 resolution at 163 pixels per inch. Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating. FaceTime HD camera. 1.2MP photos. 720p HD video. FaceTime video calling. Wi-Fi or Cellular. iSight camera. 5MP photos. Autofocus. Five-element lens.

© FranklinCovey | 2200 West Parkway Blvd. Salt Lake City, Utah 84119 | 1-888-576-1776

PM Tip 4

Project Management Tip #4

Plan a Risk-Management Strategy. A few potential risk sources include operational, financial, natural, and reputational. You can use the risk-assessment matrix to quantify risks.

IMPACT  X  PROBABILITY = ACTUAL RISK

Look at the chart below.  On a scale of 1-5 with 1 = Low Risk & 5 = High Risk, anything over a 12 is considered a high risk.  High risk items should be considered and dealt with quickly or it could negatively impact your project and risk project failure. 

 

 

Want to learn more about FranklinCovey’s approach to Project Management?  Join us on Feb 8^th or Feb 22^nd for a 1-hour introductory webcast to introduce this newest solution: Click here to register now.

Next in the series is Risk-Management Strategies.
Be sure to check back next week!

PM Tip 3

Project Management Tip #3

Constraints are the restrictions or limitations (either internal or external) that affect the project.  You must identify and rank them according to key-stakeholder priorities. 

Here are six of the most common constraints:

Scope: The sum of the products, services, and results to be provided.

Quality: The degree to which project characteristics fulfill requirements. 

Resources: People (individuals or teams), equipment, services, or supplies needed to fulfill requirements.

Budget: The approved estimate for the project.

Risk: An uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has an effect (usually negative) on project results.

Time: The deadlines by which products, services, and results are to be delivered. 

 

Want to learn more about FranklinCovey’s approach to Project Management?

 Join us on Feb 8^th or Feb 22^nd for a 1-hour introductory webcast to introduce this newest solution:

Click here to register now.

PM Tip 2

Project Management Tip #2

When interviewing key stakeholders, use the Question Funnel model.  This allows you to begin with a very broad conversation and move to identifying specific, actionable results, criteria, and constraints.

Open: Gather general information (what, when, where, who, why, and how).

Detailed: Gather specific information and measures of success learning what you learned during the opening.

Closed: Elicit a clear yes/no response to specific measures and definitions so you have a shared understanding of expectations for the project. Document these items as part of your project plan.

Watch this video titled,

“Project Management in the 21^st Century - It’s Unofficial”

Want to learn more about our special certification promotion that ends on March 1^st?

Contact us to learn more now.

 

PM Tip 1

Project Management Tips

Between today and the end of February, we’ll be posting Project Management tips a few times a week.  With organizations with knowledge workers working on projects on a regular basis, we’ve discovered a big need to develop these “unofficial project managers” with a basic understanding of effective project management principles.  With our new solution, Project Management Essentials for theUnofficial Project Manager the right mind-set, skill-set and tool-set to increase overall project effectiveness, productivity and employee engagement. 

Below is our first tip of the series.  We hope this helps!

Project Management Tip #1

Differentiate stakeholders from key stakeholders.  Be sure to interview the key stakeholders.  While all stakeholders are important, with limited time and resources, you must focus your energy on understanding the needs of the key stakeholders.

Stakeholder Definition: A person or organization that is involved in the project or that is positively or negatively impacted by it.

Key Stakeholder Definition: Any person who determines the success or failure of the project. Key Stakeholders generally have one or more of the following attributes – budget, authority, direct need, connections, and positive or negative energy.

 

Learn more about FranklinCovey’s NEW program, Project Management Essentials for the Unofficial Project Manager byfollowing this link.

Watch this video titled,

“Project Management in the 21st Century - It’s Unofficial”

Want to learn more about our special certification promotion that ends on March 1^st?

Contact us to learn more now.

 

Trust and Employee Engagement

Over the years, there have been several studies that show a direct correlation from employee engagement and business results.  Engaged employees are more innovative, give their best at work, take less sick time, stay with companies longer and the list goes on and on.

I recently came across an infographic on Inc.com that shows the real costs of bad bosses.  There were several parts that caught my attention.  Here are just a few:

·         Three out of four employees report that their boss is the most stressful part of their job

·         65% said they would take a new boss over a pay raise

·         The average cost to replace a minimum wage employee is $3,500 (includes recruiting, interviewing, hiring, training and reduced productivity). 

Keep in mind It’s much higher for a knowledge worker! 

If you want to view the full infographic, followthis link.

So why am I writing about this?  Because there is a real need for leadership and a real value to an organization that has it.  At FranklinCovey, we believe that there are 4 cores to a great leader:

 

·         Inspire Trust

·         Clarify Purpose

·         Align Systems

·         Unleash Talent

The first of the 4 Cores is Inspire Trust.  The reason that this is first is because trust is The Performance Multiplier that affect everything in your organization.  Trust is the number one leadership competency needed today.  It is a measurable, trainable and learnable skill.

We also know that trust has a direct correlation to employee engagement.  The number one driver of employee engagement is trust!  The most leverage can be found between a supervisor and their direct report.  If organizations focus on instilling trust in their culture (beginning with the leaders), they can dramatically affect their speed and cost!  Read an article titled, How the Best Leaders Build Trust, written by Stephen M.R. Covey, author of the best-selling leadership book, The Speed of Trust.

Lastly, when organizations are going through change (downsizing, merger, systems, etc.) the leaders that focus on exhibiting trustworthy behaviors during the change, yield the best results.  Click here to watch a video that will explain more.

If this intriguing to you, then consider joining us for one of our complementary executive sessions titled, Creating a Culture of Trust  February19th - Dallas.

 

Seats are open to senior leaders and executives and training decision makers and HR leaders.  Please contact me today to RSVP.

Growing trust one organization at a time,

John Vakidis

214-387-9960

LinkedIn Profile

Creating a Culture of Trust 2.19.13 Dallas

 

Click here to download a PDF invitation.  RSVP Required.

Click here to watch videos on The Speed of Trust related to Performance, Change and Employee Engagement

Project Management Essentials North American Tour

In more than 50 cities in North America, FranklinCovey will be holding exclusive 3-hour previews of our newest business solution: Project Management Essentials - For the Unofficial Project Manager. We would like to invite you to be one of the first to preview this Project Management Institute accredited workshop in Dallas on Tuesday, February 5th and Oklahoma City  on Friday, Feb 8th, 2013.

Project Management Essentials is designed for unofficial project managers - nearly every knowledge worker in organizations today oversees projects of some size. Not understanding how to do this effectively leads to increased costs, slow results, and damaged relationships between colleagues.

These event are not meant as a complete training solution, but rather an opportunity for industry leaders to evaluate FranklinCovey's new approach to the topic, and discuss if it makes sense to bring the full solution to your organization.

Please contact me directly to RSVP, or if you have any questions.

Thanks for your consideration.

John Vakidis
214.387.9960

john.vakidis@franklincovey.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrvakidis/

 

 

 

LEARN VALUABLE REAL WORLD SKILLS FROM FRANKLINCOVEY
Today’s knowledge workers have quietly slipped into the role of the unofficial project manager. Stakeholders, scope creep, no formal training, and a lack of process all combine to raise the probability of project failure, costing organizations time, money, and employee morale.

 

People + Process = Success
Project management isn’t just about managing logistics and hoping the project team is ready to play to win. The skills of “informal authority” are more important than ever before, so team members are inspired to contribute to project success!

 

 

This overview session is designed for decision-makers and leaders to evaluate the relevance of the Project Management Essentials™ For the Unofficial Project Manager Solution in their organizations.

Project Management Essentials for the Unofficial Project Manager

In today’s Knowledge Worker Age, virtually everyone manages projects of some type, big or small with little or no formal training, raising the probabilities of project failure. Pervasive and sustainable project success will come to those who intentionally choose to implement a disciplined process and master the skills of informal authority.

　
Project management isn’t just about managing logistics and hoping the project team is ready to play to win. Project Management Essentials strengthens a participant’s ability to implement a powerful process framework AND engage a team around project accountability.

Project Management Essentials for the Unofficial Project Manager is FranklinCovey's newest solution and we are happy to announce that this program is available for onsite deliver and licensed certification. Whether a FranklinCovey Consultant or someone from your organization facilitates, it can be facilitated traditionally in the classroom (1-day or 2-days), online through a series of LiveClicks Webinars or through blended learning. 

 

  

 

Download a program slipsheet here.

Learn more about this content during one of our many upcoming webinars in November or our LIVE executive showcase coming to Dallas on Nov 13th.

Visit our program site: http://pm.franklincovey.com/.  For more details about partnering with FranklinCovey, please contact us to learn more.

The Webinar Manifesto

Franklin Covey Co. Releases New eBook: The Webinar Manifesto: Never Design, Deliver, or Sell Lousy Webinars Again! – Authors Offer 7 Principles for Creating Best-in-Class Webinars

Franklin Covey Offers Free Download of The Webinar Manifesto on October 22-23, 2012

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Franklin Covey Co. (NYSE: FC) announced today the release of a new ebook, The Webinar Manifesto: Never Design, Deliver, or Sell Lousy Webinars Again!, published by Franklin Covey Publishing.

Franklin Covey is offering a FREE downloaded copy of The Webinar Manifesto on October 22 and 23, 2012. On October 24, the ebook will be on sale for $6.99 (retails at $9.99). (www.thewebinarmanifesto.com)

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheWebinarManifesto
Twitter: www.twitter.com/learningexplosn
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mattmurdoch
linkedin.com/in/treionmuller

The Webinar Manifesto is co-authored by Matt Murdoch and Treion Muller. Murdoch is the Global Director of Online Learning and Muller is the Chief E-Learning Architect for Franklin Covey. The two are industry leaders in e-learning and webinar design and delivery. They have been responsible for transitioning Franklin Covey’s own world-renowned content from the live classroom to the virtual classroom, as well as creating Franklin Covey's best-in-class on-demand, self-paced offerings.

In The Webinar Manifesto, which premiered at #3 in all Internet books on Amazon.com’s list, the authors declare war on bad webinars, mundane talking head PowerPoint presentations, working in silos and doing things the way they have always been done in webinar creation. They invite readers to join their revolution by applying their 7 Webinar Manifesto Principles for creating best-in-class webinars.

Guillaume Privat, Director, Adobe Connect, said, “Whether you are running webinars for sales, marketing, or e-learning, your ability to create rich and engaging experiences for your audience directly impacts the ROI of your event. The Webinar Manifesto provides a set of principles and tools that will help you transform flat and boring webinars into rich and engaging experiences.”

“The Webinar Manifesto is for anyone who uses webinars to present, teach, inform or engage employees, customers or vendors. It’s especially written with HR professionals, trainers, instructional designers, marketers, and sales people in mind,” said Murdoch. “It’s for those who want to transform their webinar design and delivery. We’ve all tolerated boring and wasteful webinars for many years. Of course, we’ve made some real advances. But we still have a long way to go.”

Muller said, “Webinars can’t continue to evolve incrementally. We want to help readers of The Webinar Manifesto to speed up the evolutionary process, whether it’s in the virtual classroom, on a webcast, or in an online conference. We offer proven principles and tools to help readers captivate audiences with webinars which are beautifully designed, push the limits of technology, are eloquently delivered and create the best experiences possible for their audience.”

In The Webinar Manifesto, the authors outline 7 Webinar Manifesto Principles for creating best-in-class webinars focused on next-generation design and delivery:

Principle 1 – Connect or Die: Survive the constant evolution of webinar platforms, influx of new studies and information, and best practices by tapping into the online network of relevant thought leaders and communities.

Principle 2 – Don’t Default: Be aware of everything your platform will do, attempt and assimilate new ideas, discard those that are irrelevant, and keep a manual with best practices for engaging your learners.

Principle 3 – Shut Down the Ugly: Shut down the creation of webinars which are ugly or boring to encourage engagement and behavioral change. Keep four key touch points in mind:

• Marketing Communication – To market your webinar, use the right communication channel to invite the right audience with creatively designed invitations that feature simple messages and beautiful graphics.
• Presentations – Keep visuals simple, refrain from regurgitation, use creative approaches on slides, and cater to the culture and generations to whom you are presenting.
• Handouts – Handouts should be beautifully designed, have a purpose, be relevant, and properly messaged.
• Webinar Experience – Break up content into chunks with segments to engage and keep learners focused.

Principle 4 – Captivate or Alienate: To captivate a virtual audience, apply the following guidelines:

• Verbal Accountability – Give participants opportunities to contribute.
• Visual Accountability – Provide a visual content roadmap, use storytelling, and vivid images instead of text.
• Kinesthetic Accountability – Use platform tools to involve participants, provide downloadable materials, opportunities to engage, breaks to work offline, and utilize accountability measures.

Principle 5 – Humanize the Screen: Create a face-to-face virtual experience by mastering four humanizing skills:

• Skill One – Look at Me: Create a persona that is human and engaging.
• Skill Two – Talk to Me: Converse naturally, as if talking to a friend face-to-face.
• Skill Three – Listen to Me: Listen and speak variably to encourage dialogue and discourse.
• Skill Four – Let Me Think: Allow time for participants to think, process and reply.

Principle 6 – Crack the Feedback Code: Don’t just rely on visible feedback, such as forms and Q&A. Learn and decipher four invisible feedback codes:

• Invisible Code #1: Poor Attendance – To encourage maximum attendance, use the right invitations, sent to the right audience, with the right value proposition at the right time and at the right price.
• Invisible Code #2: Dropoff – Avoid dropoff rates by applying Principles 1-5 in the book. Once attendees are logged in, it’s too late to design a better experience.
• Invisible Code #3: Silence – Silence may occur because of technical issues, prior experiences with talking heads, feeling too uncomfortable to contribute, the presenter lectures, there is no opportunity given to comment.
• Invisible Code #4: Poor Feedback or No Feedback Scores – Feedback from attendees should be gathered before they log off, with follow up via e-mail, phone or questionnaire. Clarify with attendees why there is a lack of feedback submitted (e.g. confusing, complicated, takes too long or confusing and too time-consuming.)

Principle 7 – Cage the Monsters: Content, technology and delivery are the three biggest monsters that can destroy a webinar:

• Content Monster: Content overload (too much content in one webinar), content block (subject matter expert doesn’t keep to time deadlines), and content stink (boring).
• Technology Monster: Disruptions because of technology issues.
• Delivery Monster: An unprepared or unskilled presenter.

“Webinars are the fastest-growing form of corporate learning event, yet they are often too boring, too long, and invite multi- or even triple-tasking. The Webinar Manifesto is an important and brave look at redesigning and refocusing our online connected learning time,” said Elliott Masie, Chair, The Learning CONSORTIUM.

The Webinar Manifesto authors, Murdoch and Muller, also co-authored The Learning Explosion: 9 Rules to Ignite Your Virtual Classrooms, published by Franklin Covey, which serves as a resource and guide for training professionals charged with the task of introducing virtual learning into their corporate environment, specifically through the use of virtual classrooms.

The authors are available for consulting, as well as speeches and keynotes on any number of topics related to online learning and training and are listed on the Franklin Covey Speakers Bureau at www.franklincoveyspeakersbureau.com.

GET YOUR FREE COPY NOW

About Franklin Covey

Franklin Covey Co. (NYSE: FC) is a global company specializing in performance improvement. We help organizations achieve results that require a change in human behavior. Our expertise is in seven areas: leadership, execution, productivity, trust, sales performance, customer loyalty and education. Franklin Covey clients have included 90 percent of the Fortune 100, more than 75 percent of the Fortune 500, thousands of small- and mid-sized businesses, as well as numerous government entities and educational institutions. Franklin Covey has more than 40 direct and licensee offices providing professional services in over 140 countries. For more information, visit www.franklincovey.com.