Portland Program
May 18, 2004

Three Key Competencies to Become a Business Partner:
Achieving Superior Results as a Trainer, Subject Matter Expert or Internal Consultant
with Mareen and Kimball Fisher

Overview

In today’s fast-paced organizations, the roles of internal trainer, consultant and SME are becoming ever more critical. Whether they are working with Engineering, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, much of the success of trainers and technical experts hinges on his/her credibility and his/her ability to establish strong  rapport with the internal client base. This session covers three competencies that can increase the effectiveness of trainers, internal consultants and SMEs and help them build a reputation as a full business partner whose focus is on improving business and individual performance. These competencies include:

1. Capability Builder (developing the skill sets and knowledge of others by effectively sharing personal expertise)
2. Business Partner (being well-versed in all aspects of the business, including financial matters, market demands and industry trends)
3. Technologist (continually striving to improve their training skills and knowledge).

From attending this session, you will learn how to:

• Increase your credibility as a full business partner within a client's organization.
• Market your services to your internal client base.
• Improve your effectiveness by contracting with internal clients as a way to ensure that expectations are agreed upon and met.

Although this program is a great fit with trainers and training directors, it is also a session we recommend you invite any of your internal Subject Matters Experts to as well - no matter what department they sit in within the organization. External consultants will also gain additional skills and tips from this session.

The workshop will be action packed and hands-on and will include a 2-part simulation entitled Virtual Crossbow, which illustrates how the trainer or technical expert can improve his/her effectiveness and contribution. The exercise allows attendees to experience firsthand how stronger alignment with organization goals and a personal paradigm shift from Staff Professional to Business Partner and Capability Builder can enhance his/her performance. In addition, throughout the workshop there will be the opportunity for role-plays, discussion, self-assessment tools as well as a case study to illustrate the three competencies. 

A longer version of this program was presented at the ASTD International Conference in 2003. The Cascadia Chapter is fortunate to have the Fishers as Portland residents and we are able to offer this program at a significant savings compared to their national events.

Speakers

Mareen Fisher
The Fisher Group
Beaverton, OR
www.thefishergroup.com

Mareen Fisher is a nationally recognized consultant, trainer and author that is based in Portland, Oregon. She is co-author of The Distance Manager (McGraw-Hill, 2001), and The Distributed Mind: Achieving High Performance Through the Collective Intelligence of Knowledge Work Teams (AMACOM 1998) with Kimball Fisher. Mareen has a Masters of Organizational Behavior degree from Brigham Young University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Utah. Mareen has been selected as an honored member of the International Who's  Who of Entrepreneurs. 

As well as being regularly published in well known journals on team issues, Mareen does consulting and training with managers and teams on the implementation of high performance work systems throughout the US, Mexico, Canada, Europe and South Africa. Her client lists includes Capital One, Chevron, Delphi Automotive Systems, Ethicon-Endo Surgery, Hewlett-Packard, Owens Corning, State Farm Insurance, and Tropicana. In addition, before founding The Fisher Group, Mareen held OD and HR roles with local companies Weyerhaeuser and Tektronix.

Mareen is a popular national speaker and has made numerous presentations in the U.S. and Canada. She has addressed audiences at the Hewlett Packard WIN conference, Ecology of Work, STS Roundtable and Canadian Ecology of Work Conferences, The Personnel Testing Council of Southern California Training Conference, The University of North Texas Skills Conferences for Effective Teaming, the University of Washington School of Management, and the Association of Quality and Participation Conferences.

Kimball Fisher
The Fisher Group
Beaverton, OR
www.thefishergoup.com

Kimball is the co-founder of Fisher Group and is also a nationally recognized consultant and author of the best-selling Leading Self-Directed Work Teams: A Guide to Developing New Team Leadership Skills (McGraw-Hill, 1993). He is co-author of The Distance Manager (McGraw-Hill, 2001), The Distributed Mind: Achieving High Performance through the Collective Intelligence of Knowledge Work Teams with Mareen Fisher (AMACOM, 1997), and Tips for Teams (McGraw-Hill, 1994).

As a leading authority on managing self-directed work teams, he has been quoted in Fast Company, Training, The Los Angeles Times, The San Diego Tribune, USAToday.com and has appeared on CNBC. Kimball is also regularly published in Sustaining Teams, Leader to Leader and At Work. He also spends much of his time traveling the globe doing consulting and training work with clients such as Apple Computers, Chevron, Corning, Hewlett-Packard, McDonald’s, Nike, Tropicana and Weyerhaeuser. Before founding the Fischer group with Mareen, Kimball worked for Procter and Gamble and Tektronix in team leader and internal consultant roles.

Kimball has a Masters of Organizational Behavior from Brigham Young University (1980) where he was the first recipient of BYU’s William G. Dyer Distinguished Alumni Award (1997).

He is a popular national speaker at conferences on teams, leadership and organization design. He has addressed audiences at the Linkage International Conference and Exposition, AFSM International European Symposium, the Association of Quality and Participation Conferences, the American Production and Inventory Control Society Conference, Chief Executive Forum, the Ecology of Work and Canadian Ecology of Work Conferences, and the Scanlon Plan Associates Conference. He also speaks frequently at company and university sponsored conferences.

Details

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