In Minneapolis, an instructor who led CEU training courses  for insurance agents was found to be providing 15 hours of accredited training (training that is necessary for agents to keep their license)… in a matter of minutes.

“It wasn’t bending the rules, it was blowing them away,” Huge told commerce investigators, according to their report. “How can I do it? Or why did I do it? ‘Cause I didn’t know you were in the room.”

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What are your thoughts? Is this story just an anomaly to training culture, or is this one of many? Why would a trainer choose to go and bend or “blow” the rules away? How does this impact the perceptions of employees on the role of training?

I’d love to hear your ideas, and see what questions this article brings up for you.

What New Years’ resolutions?

Remember?  New Years’ Day or slightly before or after, you set out some goals. Lose weight. Write a book. Learn karate.

Oh, yeah. Now I remember. But that was so long ago.

I know it seems like it, but… you still want to do those things, right?

I suppose so. But it’s another six months until next New Years’.

Why do you need to wait until next New Years’?

Well, because…they’re New Years’ resolutions. So, you know – I need to wait ‘til next January. Get psyched up for it.

But if you start now, you’ll get a six-month head start!

Doesn’t that defeat the whole New Years’ resolution concept? Won’t that cause chaos in the streets? Won’t that poke a hole in the entire space-time continuum and life, as we know it –

Hold on there, pardner. Wasn’t one of your resolutions to cut down on caffeine?

Oh, I said that out loud?

Look – if you think about it, every day is the start of a new year. So any day is a good time to start a new years’ resolution. Or at least check on your progress; get you back on track – that sort of thing.

Okay. But you’re sure the space-time continuum will survive?

I would answer that, but I just made a new new years’ resolution not to respond to silly questions.

Whether you have a large or small goal you wish to accomplish, if you make it a point to do five things every day geared toward that goal, you’ll find yourself reaching the finish line faster than you could’ve imagined.

Change can be stressful. Sometimes the unfamiliar leaps at us from out of the blue, and can be a bit scary. But change, as they say, is inevitable. So how do we manage change? Or better yet, how do we embrace change and make it work for us? One of the best ways to embrace change is to be prepared.

Be constantly learning new things. Read voraciously. Take courses. Use strategic thinking to anticipate change.

Those who best anticipate change and welcome it are often best prepared to take advantage of it in a way that can put them ahead of the pack. Remember that change is how we grow, whether it is in our work or our personal lives.

So the next time you feel a change coming, instead of shrinking away, you can say, “Bring it on!”

For example, say there’s a TTN course you really like and really want to not only get those principles down, but want your employees to learn them, as well. Of course, you can just have them watch the course, but why not make a project of it? Print out the accompanying materials and guide your employees through the course. Discuss it. Ask questions. Answer questions. This way, the material will gain a more solid foothold in everyone’s knowledge base.

Have you ever been driving when a small piece of gravel gets flung up by the vehicle in front of you, hitting your windshield and creating a tiny ‘ding’ in the glass? The best thing to do is get that small imperfection fixed immediately; have it filled in with whatever magic polymer the auto-glass companies use. Because what happens if we ignore it and let it sit? It grows. That little ‘ding’ is like a seed in the glass that sprouts roots – cracks slowly spread across your windshield until you realize the entire thing must be replaced.

This is much like letting things lapse at your workplace. Maybe there’s something you keep putting off, thinking it’s not a big deal, or it’s sort of a pain, and you’ll get to it later. It’s just a little ‘ding’, right? But if you keep ignoring it, that little ‘ding’ can grow into a big problem.

Tackling the little things before they grow into big problems is one way to keep your job less stressful and more productive.

So what turns a merely pleasant road trip into a super road trip? Planning!

Sure – it’s nice to come upon the unexpected. But when you take the time to do a little research – looking up restaurants, roadside curiosities and museums on the internet or in books – your experience will be that much more rewarding. Now you won’t miss the must-sees, the best burgers, the most awe-inspiring views. And the anticipation involved in the planning is nearly as much fun as the trip itself!

This type of planning – while perhaps not quite as much fun – can help make your workday a lot more pleasant and productive. By taking the time to plan out your day – making lists and prioritizing projects – you’ll be much less likely to miss those important tasks or run out of the time to accomplish them.

Brian Tracy offers a number of excellent time management courses on TTN’s LMS, which go into detail about effective ways to plan your day, whether it’s a workday, a weekend day, or a day for hitting the road!

A chapter in computer history has ended, and I am sure that many of you have both good, and bad memories of these devices. For myself, I can remember sitting in my dad’s office, and using his floppy disks as make shift building blocks, while the older kids got to play Kings Quest and Zelda.

Looking back on the floppy disk’s life, I can’t help but look at how much technology, and the way we do things changes.  A process or medium that is cutting edge one day, can become a child’s toy the next.

My question is, what are other “floppy disks” that are in our world? Do we too quickly get rid of the old in exchange for the shiny new and hip, or are we holding onto concepts a little too tightly for our own good?

For an organization that is either new to training, or hasn’t offered it in years there is a simple and successful marketing tool I suggest.

Offer free food, and they will come.

“Lunch and learns” are a great way to jump start your training culture. With many of my clients, setting aside one day a month to provide pizza and a training topic have changed the way their employees view training, and the way their company offers it.

And the ROI is impressive as well. In a recent Lunch and Earn with a sales staff team, productivity within the group increased 180% in the first day! That’s an impressive amount, for a few well spent dollars.

What makes a customer loyal?  Some experts say that it is based on trust and others may say that it is the relationships that you build.  In my opinion, it is both.  Everyone has satisfied customers, but do we all have loyal customers?  Do you have customers that keep coming back to you for products that they could easily get from someone else?

The little things do count.  For instance, by smiling and addressing your customers by name you make them feel as if you are paying attention and that they are your only customer.  If you talk to customers on the phone, they can hear that you have a smile on in your voice.  With all of the technology that we have today, some of us may have fallen out of the habit of sending a hand written thank you note.  Start at the top of the list and take a few minutes each day to thank someone for their business.  Pay attention to what your customers tell you.  This is key.  Once you have built the relationship and your customer trusts you and your products, they will start to tell you things about themselves.  Things they like, dislike, experiences with previous vendors, their family…you name it.  By taking the time to make note of this, you have something to reference on your next call.

I could certainly keep the list going.  What small item could you incorporate in your day today that would make a big difference in the service that you deliver?