2017 ILLINOIS PARK & RECREATION CONFERENCE ATTENDEE
Workshop Topics
Our trainings give your teams the chance to learn new skills and get their hands dirty putting them into practice so that they leave with new perspectives and the ability to put them into action. Some of our most popular content covers topics such as:
DOING MORE WITH YOUR DATA
Help your staff see data as a tool for providing better service.
Connecting the dots between your strategy, your work, and your data
How to dive into your data without drowning
Soft skills required to lead data-driven efforts
Bringing more equity to your evaluations
CRITICAL THINKING, CREATIVITY, & INNOVATION
Expose your team to the tools and actions that create a more proactive culture.
Growing creativity and innovation in your organization
How to “fail forward”
Tools that help you break down and tackle big problems
DEVELOP YOUR PROFESSIONALS
When every individual works up to their potential, the whole team rises.
Using your personal strengths to succeed
Setting your goals on F.I.R.E.
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE & TRENDS
Get your staff to step out of their job descriptions and into your customers’ shoes.
Why great customer service isn’t enough
What current consumer trends tell us about today’s customers
Designing exceptional experiences with customer journey mapping
How 2020 has changed us as customers
SKILLS FOR SUCCESS
Learn the science and techniques behind the skills we all need every day to succeed.
Smart moves for successful projects
How to plan through uncertainty
The art of gaining consensus and getting things down
How to move your messaging from information to inspiration
How to teach and train without lectures
What are the trainings like?
Superintentdent of Buildings & Grounds
Park Ridge Park District
Our training philosophy is simple. It starts not with what we can teach you while we're there, but instead what you want to accomplish once we're gone. This desire for action and long-lasting change (and to help you create and sustain it) is the underlying theme of all of our trainings.
Luckily, no-nonsense practical advice doesn't have to mean boring. With a background in recreation, we understand the art of learning through play. In presentations given across the country, our workshop attendees have built with LEGOs, conducted science experiments, played customized board games, and other interactive activities to drive home key learning objectives in fun and memorable ways.
How long are your workshops?
Although we’re not believers that longer is always better, the fact is that group trainings are often the only time that teams carve out of their busy schedules to stop, take a breath, think about, and discuss the topics that are critical towards moving your organization forward. People don’t necessarily hate long workshops—they hate long, boring, unengaging workshops that don’t feel applicable to their own work and goals. We are always happy to work with you to customize a workshop to your needs and timeframe, but encourage you to realize that devoting some extra time can result in bigger walls being broken down, increased collaboration, and an opportunity to walk out of the workshop with some actual work being initiated, whether in-person or in a virtual setting. Based on our experience with teams across the country, here’s what you can realistically expect from a few popular workshop lengths:
OPEN YOUR EYES
1-1.5 HOURS
Your team will learn some new concepts, see things in a new light, and start the important process of thinking about how the training can be applied on the job.
GET YOUR FEET WET
2.5-4 HOURS
Beyond getting exposed to new ideas, your team will also get the chance to actually practice putting them into action through hands-on activities in order to get comfortable and gain confidence in using them on the job.
GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY
1-2 DAYS (or multiple, shorter sessions)
Your team not only gets to learn and practice new concepts, but will have the time and space to dig deeper, working through struggles and challenges in a safe space, and come up with an action plan so that they can hit the ground running after the workshop is over.