I’d like subject you, for only a moment, to an analogy. An analogy linking a similarity between sports and business.

If you’re thinking that a sports analogy is uncreative, you may be right, but here goes ...

See, I volunteered to coach my son’s team a few years back and am now somewhat stuck in the system. They sort of list you as a coach, the players sign up for your team again, and before you know it, you’re the coach. So, every season, I try to improve myself by providing nuggets of coaching gold. I stumbled across the following contribution about maneuvering around a defender. It comes from a YouTube soccer coach guru by the name of Mike Hefron:

“In any beat the man move, in order for it to work effectively you’ve got to sell the move … There are three components to a beat the man move:

1. Change of Speed
2. Change of Direction
3. Element of Surprise"

So, there’s the analogy. Consider the execution of a “next generation” software product launch to be comparable to maneuvering a ball past an opponent. Whether the opponent is a competitor, time itself, or some other condition of concern, each new launch presents challenges.

Our hypothesis is as follows:
If you include a learning strategy in your “Next Generation” initiative, you will turn the corner with beneficial gains.

The Venza Group’s proposition is simple, when organizations strategically position training and customer-service as the business opportunity that it is, company goals will be achieved with efficiency, efficacy, and advancement.

Let's look at how ...

Strategically incorporating technology-based training and communications solutions can streamline your organization.

Well-architected web-based training modules, for example, can supplant on-site training calls, reducing the days and nights members of your team need to be at customer locations.

Electronic job-aids and learning management portals can provide just-in-time information for users. That way, your customer-service call center staff aren’t spending their hours giving tutorials, but rather, they are spending their time having revenue generating, up-sell conversations.

Also, the implementation of communications mechanisms can enhance the effectiveness of your organization. For example, measuring learning performance in a training simulation of an application provides valuable insight into the usability of that very system.

Also, offering multi-language versions of the training initiatives assures the success of your system use internationally.

I’d like for us to stop here for a moment and take note. Optimization efforts, such as we’ve discussed in the previous slides, are worthwhile. I mean, who doesn’t like the idea of cutting cost?

But can cost-cutting promise growth?

There is a Systems Theory term that addresses that question: sub-optimization. Sub-optimization occurs when different sub-units each attempt to reach a solution that is optimal for that unit, but that may not be optimum for the organization as a whole.

For example, the quality control department of a light bulb factory may want to introduce a program that will guarantee the perfection of every light bulb produced. However, the higher cost and the resulting high price would lead to disaster for the overall company in the form of lower sales. Another example might be the reduction of on-site installations at client locations to save on travel costs only to be overloaded with customer service calls and, heaven forbid, disenchanted users.

Thinking of training services as initiatives that are designed to cut costs, alone, may help your organization optimize. However, I’d like you to consider training and communications initiatives to be the innovative enhancements that help your company win.

This is where the kiddie-soccer analogy comes in handy. If you recall, there are three components to selling your move:

1. Change of Speed
2. Change of Direction
3. Element of Surprise

Training and Communications initiatives provide an opportunity for advancement, for that element of surprise. Managing organizational change, whether within your company or with your customers, brings your users up-to-speed in a systematic fashion. Secondly, adopting a variety of training deployment methods accounts for your variety of system users, spanning generations, communicating with them on a variety of devices. And thirdly, by recognizing the value that your customers place on the training of their people, you can create new streams of revenue.

Kenneth Burke's notion of "Terministic Screens", where our claims, interpretations, and orientations constitute `conceptual fabrics' that weave together contingent sets of beliefs and social practices, is significant to any organization that is committed to effective change management. For example, even the phrase "effective change management" frequently constructs an interpretation of challenge, where a problem must be controlled ... the proverbial taming of the bucking bronco of progress. Shall we, instead, use a phrase such as "progress fast-tracking" or "rapid innovation adoption"?

The opportunities of the present can, and will, manifest themselves precisely as we language them.

"As we meet new challenges that echo the past," writes Ross Wolin, "Burke's inquiries into meaning, orientation, faction, communication, and rhetoric are as urgent today as when Burke raised them long ago and for decades after."

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference/tradeshow, at which we exhibited this week, was phenomenal. There was so much talk about electronic medical records (EMR or EHR) systems. We were there, as you can guess, to talk about training hospital/medical practice staff on those and other like systems.

Interestingly, there was a report on National Public Radio (NPR) yesterday morning that had many HIMSS attendees and exhibitors talking about privacy and electronic health records. If you had missed the report, the link is below:
(http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123977187)

Since compliance training is a considerable part of what the Venza Group has to offer, I’m convinced that our efforts to prepare clinicians and healthcare industry staffers for this brave new world of paperless and transparent healthcare information will make a considerable difference for generations.

In the past few months, the Venza Group has experienced explosive growth, becoming a market leader within the technology-based training space.  Much of this growth has come by way of referrals from satisfied clients and industry contacts.  In recognition, the 5-for-5 Program has been established to acknowledge and reward such referrals going forward.

Simply stated, for every $5,000 of incremental Venza Group business that results from a referral, the referring party will receive 5 minutes of Just-in-Time Training (a.k.a. eGuides) from the Venza Group - developed to their custom specifications - at no cost.

To refer a colleague, just complete the form available at http://www.venzagroup.com/5-for-5 .  Should the colleague subsequently take advantage of any of the products or services offered by the Venza Group, a member of our team will contact you.  Program terms and conditions are specified on the website.

Growing your business, in the simplest of terms, requires the ability to do more. That may mean sharpening skills; developing your team, or streamlining your processes. It may mean doing all of these AND making sure your organization is compliant.

Knowing that a continuation of today’s status quo can’t possibly achieve tomorrow’s growth, set your business on the path of development. And if you’re new to technology-based training, ask about the JumpStart Program where the Venza Group can get your organization into an LMS and eLearning package at a reduced price.