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Users Roundtable -
June 17-18, 2010
Our Users Roundtable will be held
in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Hotel on the strip. More details to follow.
Connections Online 4.0 New Features Webinar
Wednesday, March 10th at 1:30 EST
or Wednesday, April 14th at 1:30 EST
This 30-minute training webinar highlights advanced functionality of Connections Online 4.0 and Q&A.
Click here to register for March
Click here to register for April
Connections Online 4.0 Application Training Webinar
Wednesday, March 24th at 1:30 EST
or Wednesday, April 28th at 1:30 EST
This 60-minute training webinar dives deeper into an overall “how to use” Connections Online 4.0.
Click here to register for March
Click here to register for April
Jim Cardwell’s Educational Webinar
Tuesday, March 30th at 1:30 EST
Guest Speaker, Steven Stapp, CEO, San Francisco FCU. Discussion on “Linking Connections to Performance Evaluation and Compensation”.
Click here to register.
Past Educational Webinar Recordings - Go to http://www.connectionsonline.net/news Then click on the Events tab for a listing of our past Educational webinars.
Training Library
Click here to link to our Training Library.
Informational Webinar
If you know someone outside of your company who may be interested in learning more about Connections Online, we have an informational webinar scheduled on Thursday, March 25th at 1:30 PM EST - Please pass this link on to them to register: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/588994138
Client Care Notes
To view previous Connections Online Newsletters, go to http://www.connectionsonline.net/news and then click on the Newsletters tab for a listing of our past newsletters.
Connections Online Migration
If you have not already done so, and are ready to migrate to 4.0, please contact Karla Norwood at 800.395.1410.
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Jim Cardwell’s Educational Webinar –
“Linking Connections to Performance Evaluation and Compensation” with Guest Speaker,
Steven Stapp, CEO, San Francisco FCU
Tuesday, March 30th at 1:30 EST
Connections Dialogs (at all levels) are focused on performance coaching. That was no accident.
Performance Coaching reinforces the things that are going well, and it provides people and teams with the positive support they need to work through shortfalls. In this kind of an environment, the overarching theme is the assumption that everyone wants to win—and that everyone wants to be on a winning team. It takes everyone working together to make that happen. The focus is on learning, growth and success.
This kind of environment builds clarity and trust. You need both of these elements for high performance. They are fundamental to a culture of teamwork, accountability and innovation.
In building this kind of environment you need to take the old performance evaluation model out of the equation.
That being said, Traditional Performance Evaluation is a good idea; it is just poorly executed. If people feel like they are consistently being evaluated, performance will go down, not up.
Performance Evaluation has its place. Periodically any good leader needs to ask, are we making progress on our BHAG, strategic focus and goals at the organization, department, and individual levels?
We are very pleased to have Steven Stapp, CEO of San Francisco FCU as this month’s guest speaker. I have enjoyed working with Steven and his team in clarifying the link between Connections Online and two important elements: Semi-Annual Performance Evaluation and Compensation. I think you will really like this, and encourage you to bring your CEO to this session.
I hope you will join us. Click here to register for this webinar.
Jim Cardwell’s February Educational Webinar – “Individual Dialogs”
The term “Individual Dialogs” sounds a bit ordinary on the surface. But after attending the most recent “Connect with Leaders” webinar (Feb. 25) entitled, “Individual Dialogs,” it’s anything but ordinary. It’s actually extraordinary and quite in-depth – and can dramatically boost your organization’s level of engagement, motivation and productivity.
The creator of this process, Jim Cardwell, explains how Individual Dialogs can enhance organization-wide communication and align the company for success.
According to Cardwell, the general intent of an Individual Dialog is threefold:
1. Performance – Individual Dialogs are monthly, holistic discussions that reinforce accountability, recognize successes and foster problem-solving through performance coaching
2. Collaboration – It is a focused, private session that fosters two-way dialog — a collaborative environment where Players and Coaches work together to win
3. Development – Individual dialogs provide a mutual focus on personal development. The monthly dialogs are used to continuously revisit expectations, lessons learned, and the personal growth achieved
Cardwell explains that these three dialog elements create a paradigm shift within your organization. A “paradigm shift” reframes the way we look at something. This is much like when folks thought the world was flat and they were proven wrong by 15th century explorers or (using a more recent example) the transformational redesign of today’s light bulb compared with what it looked like just a few decades ago. These events caused a dramatic change in our point of view. Consistently-held Individual Dialogs create the same kind of shift in thinking – especially in today’s workplace.
For example, the old corporate paradigm promotes a hierarchical boss/employee relationship, where the Boss decides what needs to get done and the Employee carries it out. Cardwell pointed out that this archaic parent-child association doesn’t work as well in today’s workplace because it takes away the real contribution of the employee. He suggests creating a more collaborative and empowering relationship where the boss transitions to a Coach and the employee to a Player. The Coach is on the sideline; the Player is on the field of play. It takes both to win the game. The resulting symbiotic, adult-to-adult relationship brings out the best in both parties.
The Coach/Player paradigm shift empowers the Player to take action and be personally accountable. The Coach provides the latitude and general guidance for the Player. It’s the “we’re in this together” philosophy that sets up people to win. As a result, these new Individual Dialogs create a better working relationship within the organization’s departments, giving everyone a part to play, and the recognition for doing it well.
Defining the work of the organization starts at the top. The CEO is responsible for the success of the overall organization. To achieve this, CEOs need to effectively align the work of those who report to them. This structure trickles down the corporate ladder from there: vice presidents aligning with managers, managers aligning with directors, directors aligning with coordinators, coordinators aligning with representatives, and so on. Ultimately, the entire company is aligned with the same strategy, goals and expectations. Everyone plays a specific part. It is the consolidated work that leads to organizational success.
There is a lot more to this. The information we have presented is just the tip of the iceberg. For the rest of the story, click on the link below. You will be directed to the Connect with Leaders Educational Webinar on Individual Dialogs. You will see all of the slides and listen to Jim Cardwell explain the philosophy behind these highly productive, paradigm-shifting dialogs.
For more information on building effective, high-impact Individual Dialogs, contact Jim Cardwell or Karla Norwood at Cardwell – 1-800-395-1410 or info@connectionsonline.net.
Click here for a recording of the webinar.
4.0 Tips of the Month
New Reports Update
Go to this link for an overview of the update to new reports: http://www.connectionsonline.net/docs/Update_to_COL_2-8-10.d oc
These reports are covered in a New Features webinar. Click this link for a recording of the webinar: http://www.connectionsonline.net/docs/2-10-10-COL-New-Featur es-Webinar.wmv
Color Printing of Reports
You need to enable background printing for the color boxes on the Connection reports to print in color.
Instructions for IE7/IE8:
§ Open Internet Explorer browser
§ Go to Tools
§ Choose Internet Options
§ Choose the Advanced Tab
§ Scroll down to Printing
§ Check the box – Print Background Colors and Images
§ Click OK
Instructions using Firefox:
§ Open Firefox browser
§ Choose File
§ Choose Page Set-up
§ Choose Format and Options
§ Under Options
§ Check the box – Print Background Colors and Images
§ Click OK
Adding back an employee into Connections
When adding new users to the site, if an email address for an employee results in the message “this name is unavailable”, it is because the user name was previously in the system and then deleted. A User is not technically “deleted”. See notes below to solve this:
If they have already been deleted - Add them – just add the number 1 after their name for the email address – like Linda.Smith1@abcdcu.org. You can put their correct email address in the email field, but the user name is the data that doesn’t ever really get deleted.
Better Option - If they have not been deleted yet – Change their old user name before deleting them. Then add them back in under their correct user name.
Project Tasks Numbering
On the People (purple) Connection Tab, project tasks module, all columns can be sorted by clicking on the header. Example: If your projects are not numbered properly, to get the projects in numerical order, just click on the # symbol in the header row of the column and projects and project tasks will sort numerically.
Monthly Calendar of Webinar Events Link:
Go to this link and click on the Events Tab - then choose Calendar of Web Events from the list:
http://www.connectionsonline.net/ShowNews.aspx?id=245
Connections Online
24481 Detroit Road, Suite 300
Cleveland, OH 44145
(440) 892-1410 or (800) 395-1410
www.connectionsonline.net
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