How many of you enjoyed math in school? If you did, you will represent the one person in my example. For me, in school, I hated math class. I also hated the lone person in the class who liked it. Hate may be a strong word, but I just could not understand the appeal. I felt as though the rest of my class was on my side on this one. Each day there were audible sighs when we were told to open our books to the next “exciting chapter” of math. Those sighs seemed to fuel the appreciation even more for the one student and the teacher. I thought to myself on many occasions what it would be like to love the subject of math as much as these two did. Would the overall class experience be better?

Let’s take this a step further, and probably more applicable. In your current role/department/team, how well does a process or project work when everyone is excited about the process/project? In my own experience, the times when I have worked on a project when everyone on the team was excited and provided input and creativity, the time passed incredibly well and we were successful! In a way, it felt as though we were a community rallying together to accomplish the same goal. The term “strength in numbers” probably applies here.

I’d like to explore this “community” a little more. There is an industry term, “Community of Practice”, that you may be familiar with. This community is a group of like-minded, often similar in role and responsibilities, that strives to help one another in their respective work-environments. They share best practices, discuss difficult situations that they have worked through or overcome, and bring new innovative approaches to the group to improve industry standards. Think back to the math class. How do you think math would have improved for you with a community like this to assist? We’d probably all be in math-related fields of work!

What does all of this mean for the ATD Valley of the Sun chapter? Well, simply, we’d like to be that community of learning and talent development professionals. Imagine an organization with members that can improve their understanding of a specific topic, probably job-related, by communicating in an ongoing format. This format would allow for the asking and answering of questions, knowledge management and sharing, stealing borrowing ideas, problem solving, etc. Your membership in ATDVOS should include this community and we’d like to establish it. Soon, we will be posting a series of blog communications for you to interact with, begin to establish a regular cadence of communicating as a community, and begin solving problems for one another to build-up our career aspirations.  In the interim, take a look a Stan Garfield’s Communities of Practice article, posted on LinkedIn in 2016. There is a great deal of information to learn about how communities will benefit us. Stay tuned!

Measuring the impact of learning is something all learning and development professionals struggle with on a regular basis. Microlearning is at the forefront when it comes to learning strategy and yet it still comes with its struggles in the impact game.  Karl Kapp and Robyn Defelice discuss the elephant-sized impact that microlearning can have on your learning strategy and programs.

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Sue Barenholtz is realizing her dream of being a Michigan-Arizona snowbird. While she will stay engaged with Valley of the Sun chapter, she will be leaving her role as Membership Director on the Board. We thank her for her service and enthusiasm, congratulate her in this next life step, and look forward to working with her in new capacities! Here's a note from Sue:

Transitions and Changes

I love ATD! When I started my first training company in Detroit 35 years ago, I did not know about ATD (known as ASTD in those days). A couple years later I found ASTD and got involved right away because I thought it was the best way to meet people and feel comfortable attending meetings. For the next 14 years I was on every committee and held almost every board position. I was chapter president in 1996, which is when I knew I would be moving to Phoenix in a couple years. I joined the VOS chapter and planned my vacations to Phoenix around ATD meetings. I got to know people in the local chapter and got involved the minute I arrived in 1998. I continued until I “retired” my company in 2002.

I went out of the training field until 2015 when I went to work for the Supreme Court. Of course I joined ATD and was all set to get involved again, however my job was all encompassing so I could only attend meetings occasionally. When I left my job 9 months ago I wanted to get involved again. I remembered when the Valley of the Sun chapter was an active,  large chapter with monthly meetings. I wanted to see that happen again and I thought being in the membership role on the board would allow me to help.

I’m really proud of the effort the membership committee put in to pull off the March Network Learn and Grow with ATD event. We had almost 100 people in attendance and everyone had a great time networking, learning from our past presidents and getting to know about our chapter. I want to give a very special thank you to the committee; Justin Fulton, Alisa Fleming, Jane White, Nicki Lomibao, Terry Dellosa, Kathy Koultourides, Maria Gay, Kimberle Schumann and Marybeth Luczu. We could not have created such a special event in such a short time without you.

I have loved serving the chapter, but I’ve decided to become a snow bird (coming back for clients during the year and full time in the winer), so I am stepping down from my board position this month, although I’ll still be active in the chapter as much as possible.

I’m really excited to pass the baton to your new Interim Director of Membership, Linda Dausend, CPLP. Linda is Senior Consultant and Account Manager at Flashpoint Leadership Consulting. Linda has been active in ATD and has held the membership role for SHRM for the past 10 years, both at the local Indiana level and on the state level there and here in Arizona, which she currently does. I know she will do an excellent job to help build the membership at ATD VOS.

My parting thought is to get involved in the chapter. You will make friendships that can last a lifetime, build your professional skills and network with some of the best people in the field. I hope you can join us at the July 9^th networking event and meet Linda. I look forward to seeing you at a meeting soon.

Sue Barenholtz

Developing a strategy can be a daunting task that often feels like unreachable goals. A Learning Strategy for your company/team can feel the same way, especially in our world of ever-changing technology. Sarah Mercier specializes in mobile learning technology strategy, design, and development at meLearning Solutions. She provides steps to developing a learning strategy that focuses on technology. In the article she asks, "Have you identified the specific drivers for focusing on technology as part of your learning strategy?" A wonderful process is provided to help you establish the right goals to put into your learning technology strategy within the article.

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Tim Slade is an author, speaker, and award-winning designer. He is well-known for his Articulate knowledge and has spoken on many occassions on how to best utilize Storyline to its fullest potential. Tim has a blog which he posts quite frequently toward, and recently shared his favorite instructional design books for new eLearning designers. eLearing is a common instructional design modality, used for assessing knowledge gaps, introducing skillsets, and providing a self-paced environment for the learner. Take a look at what Tim has to share about improving your eLearning skills.

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The ATD National site has a blog where visitors can learn about learning technologies. It gives on insight on what techniques/resources are popular and what techniques are tried-and-true. This article discusses gamification and how it is improving the learning experience.

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Adobe Captivate or Articulate Storyline? Which is the tool for you? Both tools have great features and raving fans. Both tools also have “quirks” and critics. So how do you decide? In this session, you'll watch the same three slides built in both authoring tools so you can see for yourself how they compare.

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There are so many modalities for delivering training. Often we find one, two, or even three methods that we gravitate toward and use frequently, maybe to a fault. This article provides an overview of a variety of these training deliveries from in-person to computer-based.

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Managing learning programs is a focus for us at ATDVOS this month. To kick things off in that direction, we are highlighting the ATD Certificate Program of the same name. The Managing Learning Programs Certificate is a three-day program that provides the critical leadership necessary to develop the learning function and have a meaningful impact on the overall strategy in your organization.

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Preparing New Leaders for Frontline 

There's a lot of hoopla right now about the strengths and weaknesses of the Millennial generation as they continue their steady entrance into the workforce. But one thing is clear: as Baby Boomer retirements continue (19,000 a day for the next decade), our firstline leaders and team managers likely will be drawn from the Millennial ranks.

Organizations that have not developed retention plans for their Millennial workforce are already experiencing the cost of churn as these workers leave their first jobs. Seeking continuous learning, as well as the opportunity to lead meaningful projects that make an impact in the world, Millennials intend to go where thier skills are valued and developed. It can cost $25,000 to replace a Millennial employee, but the retention solution is right in front of any forward-thinking organization; develop the skills of your emerging leaders now and prepare them for increasing responsibility in their first management roles.

Join Cynthia Clay as we explore the path to leadership for our next generation of leaders.

After this one-hour webinar, you'll be able to:

Who Should Attend