Is it Kind? Is it True? Is it Necessary?




Joanna Sharp
Training & Development Specialist, Fremont Bank

Shola asked us to consider these three age-old questions as we look at how we’re working. The conversation that followed was insightful and challenging, and offered ways to work towards a kinder and more inclusive workplace and world.

In exploring these three questions Shola generously shared his deeply personal experiences, learnings, and teachings. Highlights for me included the story of the buffalo and the cow, and how we can choose our response to stimulus.

Shola’s father told him to be the buffalo, not the cow – when the storm rolls in, the cow turns and tries to outrun the storm, to get ahead of it, which never works. The buffalo turns towards the storm and pushes through, knowing that it will be difficult and uncomfortable, but also that it will be in the storm for a less time. In these very challenging times be the buffalo – face into the fray and get comfortable with being uncomfortable. (more…)

Reimagining Remote Training with Learning in the Flow of Work





Joanna Sharp
Training & Development Specialist, Fremont Bank

How many applications did you use today to do your job?  5?  10?  More than you can count?  How does the number of applications you use impact you?  These were the questions that kicked off the our Monthly Chapter Program on Wednesday October 21 – Reimagining Remote Training with Learning in the Flow of Work.

The digital worker is feeling technostress, with individuals using on average 14+ applications. Companies have increased IT spend on applications to bring about efficiencies, but more often than not individuals are not receiving enough training to make the most of those efficiencies – an average technology has a 15% adoption rate in the first year. Compounding this is the current situation of increased remote working, and classroom training no longer being an option. So how can companies support associates by providing learning where they are, when they need it? (more…)

Learning while doing – how to make lemonade out of lemons





Joanna Sharp
Training & Development Specialist, Fremont Bank

I had the pleasure of attending the Chapter’s semi-annual Instructional Design Workshop, run by Kris Schaeffer, this month. In prior years, it’s been held in a face-to-face environment, but as with all other events since March, this was not possible. Instead, the group met on Zoom for three 3.5 hour mornings on alternate days early in October. The benefit of this was we got to experience what we’re now having to do in our work, create new VILT classes or transform classroom sessions into virtual sessions.

The Training Plan provided the structure for the three days, with plenty of time for practice, questions, and knowledge-sharing. Some of the most fun parts of the training were the ice breakers and recap sessions; playing Jeopardy at the start of the day to recap knowledge learned and getting us back into the session following a break by discussing questions such as ‘what’s a great meal you’ve had recently’ and ‘what show have you binged lately?’. (more…)

Looking at my own Biases





Finan Hagos
, Training Specialist
Provident Credit Union

I had the opportunity to attend a virtual event on the topic of “Exploring Diversity and Inclusion”. Lisa Fairchild, a Life Coach, Public Speaker and Workshop Facilitator uses ‘Faces’ from Points of You® tools and methodologies to explore how we view ourselves and others. We were asked to share one word that came to mind when we think of the word Inclusion and my word was “openess” because we should be open to the differences in others. The exercises that we did followed Points of You® methodologies of Pause, Expand, Focus and Doing. My highlights of each methodology include:

Pause: Points of You® always start with Pause to music. While we were listening to a song, I had to ask myself “how do I feel physically? “What are my thoughts and emotions?” At first, this was a little uncomfortable because of the silence but it made me realize after a moment that it allowed me to focus on the present and relax my mind. (more…)

Adding Improv to your Leadership Skills




Joanna Sharp
Training & Development Specialist, Fremont Bank

On Thursday, June 5 ATD Golden Gate members virtually gathered for a fun filled zoom training where imaginary balls were dropped, a small red ball became a meatball and a basketball for pixies, and we learnt how many ways you can make the letter T out of the top half of your body. Gary Ware, founder of Breakthrough Play, took the group through five different games that opened up our imagination and got us energized. He then helped us connect how we can bring our experiences into our jobs and lives. One of our realizations, especially relevant for now, is how adaptable and agile we can be in situations where there isn’t much time to think. Mistakes are opportunities to learn and grow, and there is always time for fun. (more…)

Public Speaking – Recap from the Presenter




Scott Stiefvater

I had of pleasure of leading a mini-workshop for ATD Golden Gate on November 14, 2019. The title was “Speaking in Line with the Brain’s Design.” For those of you who were unable to attend, here is a recap of the main ideas:

There is not a neuron in the brain for public speaking. There is not a neuron in the brain for presenting or giving speeches. There ARE neurons in the brain for one-to-one conversations. In fact, there is a precise brain coordination system for talking to another human being, but almost no one is taught how that system is designed to work.

Instead, those of us that want to speak with more power get caught up in the public speaking paradigm. We are taught to talk to a room – an aggregate of the human beings in the audience. We talk to everybody and nobody at the same time. Our heads swivel like a lawn sprinkler, spraying our gaze around as if to tell the audience, “I haven’t forgotten you are there.” (more…)