Tag: Software Training

When you loaded you backpack for the first day of school, do you remember feeling that sense of excitement and endless possibilities opening in front of you? While we may not have been able to put it into words, we understood that, with everything we learned, with every concept or skill we mastered, we were changing the trajectory of our lives. Education opens doors to the future, to taking your destiny in your own hands, to undiscovered opportunities. As adults, it is easy to settle into our routines, to accept that today’s status quo was our yesterday and will be our tomorrow. But what would you do if you could recapture that sense of a new future unfolding before you? It is possible to, once again, use the opportunity to learn new skills and to open the door to new prospects.

AdvantEdge Training & Consulting is here to help you develop the skills you need to ramp up your career trajectory.

AETC’s computer training classes can give you the skills to compete in today’s business world. You can become a master of spreadsheets with our Excel classes, or even learn how to automate some of your daily tasks with our Excel Macros class, freeing up your time for more interesting and rewarding tasks. Our Access classes can teach you to set up and manage basic to complex databases. SharePoint training can show you how to set up and administer your company’s information platform. And Time Management with Outlook can give you the tools you need to maximize your productivity, without adding time to your work day.

AETC also offers professional development courses that can help you step into a new role at work or polish your skills to be ready to take the next rung up the corporate ladder. Interested in learning the skills to be a Project Manager? We have courses for that. AETC can also help you develop in management. We also offer a full slate of communication classes to help you get your ideas across effectively, and successfully navigate interoffice relationships.

Just like when you were a child, the fall is the perfect time to seek out the skills you need to open new doors for your career and your future.

Register for classes online, or contact our sales office for more information, including private group training, at (303) 900-8963, or info@advantedge-training.com

Because employees of a distributed workforce are in different locations, it is tougher for them to feel a part of the company and team, which is critical to their overall motivation and drive behind company initiatives.  That is why it takes a concentrated effort by remote managers to build a team community and culture for their employees.  Many remote employees feel left out when they hear of their office or others that have company events such as:  ditch days, breakfast or lunch brought in, costume contests, in office birthday celebrations, happy hours, bring your pet or child to work day, etc. . . These social engagements help to build that community in an office, but there are things that a remote manager can do to build that culture and community, for their team, as well. 

1. Create and encourage inter-team communication – Communication amongst a distributed employee base helps to build camaraderie.  This strengthens the team by fostering an environment where the team members rely on each other for help, support and ideas.  This helps build trust within the team and fosters internal team partnerships to make it stronger and more productive. 
2. Partner remote employees for projects – Find reasons to partner employees on the team, especially those that do not always work together, for projects.  This can include mentoring, developing best practices, or preparing topics to present to the rest of the team on a conference call. 
3. Create virtual water coolers – All of that time-consuming small talk that happens at the “water cooler” in office environments has an important purpose that is missed in distributed teams – it builds the team camaraderie and culture.  A remote manager can find ways to create virtual environment to foster this “small talk.” 
   • Plan a small amount of “open time” at the beginning or end of team conference calls for small talk.  
   • User ice breakers, openers, and getting to know you exercises and games during team gatherings, calls, interactions, etc. . . This can also include a virtual bulletin board to post “getting to know you” related info about team members.
   • Find opportunities to celebrate together virtually by sending out team congratulatory emails, or on conference calls.  One company sent out Starbucks gift cards for their next team call so everyone could have “breakfast together” on the call.
4. Re-live the past – Find opportunities to re-live shining moments from the team’s past.  This brings back positive memories of the group and will help to renew that feeling again.  This can be highlighting accomplishments made by the entire team, or even one employee.  Even funny things that happened to team members when they were last together.  Think of the memories that strengthen the bond with your group of personal friends.  Talking about these always bring back those happy feelings of belonging to something good.

One item to avoid that can be a common pitfall of new managers in building a team: avoid pitting the team against another in comments and remarks, such as “our team is better than theirs,” or “this is the best team in the company.”  This alienates other co-workers and the company.  Although competitiveness can be a strong motivator, competitiveness such as this within the company can have potential negative effects in the future.  What if a member of one of those other teams now becomes a member of yours, or vice versa?  It will make it that much harder to assimilate them into the new team that they are an “outsider” of.   Managers should tell a team how fantastic they are, but not at the demise or lacking of another.