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Training Budgets Go Further When Its Hot!

Tuesday, June 5th, 2012

Are you currently making your summer plans? Maybe a drive down the coast with Jimmy Buffet blasting is in your future? Or will you be found sipping a Corona on the beach? Whatever your summer plans, ASPE wants to be included. Take advantage of our July and August specials and train with us this summer!

All companies need training from time to time. For some, training is an ongoing business function. For others, training fills a critical juncture during important projects or initiatives. But one thing is true for all companies: it’s important to get the best value for your training dollar.

Believe it or not, the summer months offer a great opportunity to get the most out of your training dollars. Because the business world slows down during the summer, several opportunities open up for anyone who needs training. While the slowdown can present a challenge, savvy folks can actually take advantage of it. Here’s how:

  • Your competition is sluggish during the summer slowdown. Get an edge going into Fall.
    Remember, all companies deal with the summer doldrums. Some make cutbacks or generate busy work to keep the gears turning until business picks back up. Naturally this creates a lag when business picks back up in the fall, because people lost their momentum filling time with busy work. It also dulls employee enthusiasm. You can gain a competitive advantage by maintaining a productive pace until the fall. Training your people is a perfect way to do it, since it builds enthusiasm and gives your people fresh new skills. By the time business begins to pick back up, those skills have really been mastered and integrated into the organization. You’ll enter the fall market with an edge, while your competitors are busy trying to shake off the lull of the summer blues.
  • When business is slow, employees have time to pick up new skills.
    With a decade of experience training all sectors of the corporate world, we’ve found that employee flexibility is at its peak during the summer months. When projects heat up later in the year, sometimes training can be more of a distraction or burden than an aid. But if your people experience a lag in their schedule, backfilling that time with new skills or certification training is a good move.
  • Training doesn’t just improve your people. It upgrades your business processes.
    A potential slowdown can offer an opportunity to upgrade processes, as well as employees. Employee training almost always goes hand in hand with adjustments (usually improvements) in business processes. If there is a new methodology to adopt or software to deploy, the summer months provide a good time to make the transition. Your busy time of year isn’t the best time for such a rollout. If you have a bit of summer flexibility, you can afford to upgrade without disrupting your business flow.
  • Virtual training allows you to train at any location.
    Many times the date or location of training conflicts with schedules. With virtual training you can keep your summer schedule and fit in training. It’s a win-win for you. ASPE can offer you Agile training as you lounge by the pool, or if you’re really ambitious, teach you how to be a SharePoint Power User while you’re on your Hawaiian cruise. Our virtual training goes anywhere you go. So take ASPE to the beach with you this summer!

You can currently save 24% on July and August sessions or 20% on other sessions if you book your upcoming training this summer. Learn more about how Training Budgets Go Further When It’s Hot!

Posted in ASPE, ASPE-IT, ASPE-SDLC, Agile, BA, Business Analysis, Business Process, Business Process Improvement, Business Requirements Training, Education, ITIL Training, Kanban, PMI-ACP, PMP, Project Management, Project Managers, SDLC, Scrum, Scrum Certification, SharePoint, SharePoint training, Software Development, Software Testing, Special Offers, VCL, certification, courses, e-Learning, live online courses | Comments Off

The [Hidden] Benefits of Virtual Training

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

Business analysts and project managers communicate virtually all the time with co-workers, clients, stakeholders and a number of other people to deliver results. Why is learning in a similar environment still thought to be sub-par to traditional classroom training? On Tuesday, the IIBA sent out its BA Connection newsletter, which had an interesting article about the benefits of virtual training by Barbara A. Carkenord, CBAP and PMP®. In the article, Carkenord describes six benefits of virtual training, and why virtual training is a valid method and alternative to instructor-led, classroom training:

  1. Provides an opportunity to practice virtual elicitation
  2. Creates an environment where you can ask questions with less risk
  3. Allows you to get focused training on particular skills as you need it
  4. Gives you a chance to meet BAs in other locations
  5. Provides access to experts
  6. Improves your certification testing skills

All of these are great benefits. ASPE instructor Billie Johnson, CBAP, particularly agreed with number four, “I have had folks outside the US that provide interesting and enriching perspectives.”

Teaching more than 1,000 students in more than 100 virtual training sessions in the past two years, ASPE has a unique perspective and some additional benefits of virtual training. The instructor-led, online training ASPE provides is usually a half-day and allows students to stay connected and still have part of their day for actual work. Jon Blevins, a business information analyst from Des Moines, Iowa, and a recent student of ASPE’s virtual Developing Requirements with Use Cases course commented, “This is the first time that I have taken an online course, and I plan to take more due to the ease of use, and the ability to stay connected to work.”

Physical location can be a hindrance of time and money. As Carkenord said, the virtual environment allows access to experts. You don’t need to fly across the country or wait for a specific course or instructor to come to you when you can get the training online, sitting right at your office desk or even on your couch at home. Not to mention it’s a lot easier to get training approved and paid for by your company if you don’t add the expense of travel.

ASPE President David Mantica also emphasizes that at ASPE, everything you get in classroom training is provided in virtual training: content, labs, interaction and a live instructor. Some people (and approving managers) have the misconception that when you take a virtual class you don’t pay attention. With the tool we use, Webex, our instructors can monitor student involvement. They can see when a person isn’t looking at the presentation window and are trained to know how to re-engage him or her.

So, is there a valid reason for people not to want virtual training? No. At least not from ASPE. It’s the same course, same instructor and same activities you would get in a physical classroom. It helps professionals work on the ever-growing need to practice electronic communication they use on-the-job every day. It’s cost effective. It gives you access to experts and colleagues outside of your geographical location. “Most people think virtual training is less effective or less valuable than the traditional brick-and-mortar learning environment, but it’s quite possibly better,” stated Mantica.

Posted in Business Analysis, IIBA, Project Management, Project Managers, VCL, Virtual Training, business analyst, e-Learning | Comments Off

Live Instructor Led Virtual Training – How does it compare to the Traditional Classroom?

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

A virtual classroom provides the same four pillars of learning that a traditional classroom provides.  First, a live expert instructor – Technology now empowers the live instructor to be heard and interacted with in real-time.  Second, content – For a virtual classroom, the content is easy. Just a slight adjustment to ensure few talking points per slide for more interaction.  Third, labs – Labs can be done in virtual breakout groups or with real equipment.  Fourth, peer interaction – If you can talk and hear your instructor in real-time that means you can talk and hear your peers in real-time.

Between security issues, administrative rights problems, bandwidth challenges, and VoIP concerns, virtual training proved to be a hurdle to knowledge instead of a bridge.  The technology was not ready for the intended use. However, now the technology is an enablement – This is the major difference in Live Instructor Led Virtual Training in 2009 as compared to previous years.

The technology works.  You get the same product whether live or virtual so what is slowing down the adoption of virtual training?  The answer is trust.

Taken directly from the feedback we’ve received from customers and our advisory board, management does not trust that their employee is “actively” paying attention and learning in a virtual classroom.  They believe this to a point that they value a virtual training class about half as much as a traditional classroom training program.  We were very surprised to hear this feedback.

First we thought that in a live classroom there is just as much chance the employee is “zoning” out as in a virtual classroom – actually there is more of a chance.  Virtual instructors are taught how to push interaction as a systematic practice in their training.  They work harder at forcing interaction than a physically live instructor does.  As a result, we hear feedback from instructors who say they get more student participation in virtual classes compared to the physical classes.

Also, we thought maybe the concern is interruptions – if they are at their desk, there are more opportunities for interruption.  Actually we have found that in today’s world there are fewer interruptions.  With today’s technology, such as mobile data devices, employees now have the ability to take all aspects of the office virtually anywhere which leaves more concentration time in the office.

So if you have some time, take a look at Live Instructor Led Virtual Training.  You will be very happily surprised at what you find.

Posted in ASPE-SDLC, VCL, Virtual Training, e-Learning | Comments Off

LIVE Instructor Led Training over the Internet Introduced

Friday, January 9th, 2009

ASPE SDLC Training is excited to offer you a new option in receiving our quality training. We now offer LIVE Instructor Led Training over the Internet utilizing Cisco’s WebEx technology. The great thing about this tool is that, while you attend via your computer, the voice side is done over a phone conference bridge, which greatly reduces the technical hurdle a learner has to take in attending a class. These virtual classes will use the same content as our classroom courses, and offer the same labs and breakout groups through WebEx’s technology. You get everything you would from our classroom course at a reduced price, while saving on travel time and costs.

We currently have 4 sessions scheduled, including 1 FREE pilot session. We have sent an email out to the ASPE database about the FREE session.

For more information on our LIVE Instructor Led Training over the Internet, visit http://www.aspe-sdlc.com/VCL.html.

Posted in ASPE, ASPE-SDLC, Free, Pilot Session, VCL, Virtual Training | 1 Response »