Dr. Jim Anderson Addresses Verizon IT Mgmt Team
Dr. Jim Anderson Delivers A Keynote Address To The Verizon IT Mgmt Class
On Wednesday, October 28, 2009, Dr. Jim Anderson presented a complete training program to Verizon’s internal IT management class. The presentation consisted of a keynote speech, a team building exercise, and a wrap-up presentation.
A Keynote To Remember
Dr. Anderson’s keynote presentation focused on providing the IT managers with a clear understanding of how they could use the skills and training that they had developed during their 9-months of intensive study.
Stories were a key part of the presentation. Dr. Anderson started off by relating the story of the 1986 Piper Alpha oil rig disaster and how individual decisions to take action determined who lived and who died. He also included the story of the life of Dr. Normal Borlaug who used his special knowledge about how create crops that could grow quickly just about anywhere to save the lives of over one Billion people.
Team Exercise: Let’s Build A Catapult
Realizing that he was dealing with a group of engineers, Dr. Anderson decided to include a team building exercise that required four teams of students to use Popsicle sticks and rubber bands to construct a working catapult.
The teams then used their catapults in a competition. The teams had to try to land a marshmallow into another team’s landing pad. Final results were based on how many shots it took for the team’s catapult to land a marshmallow in another team’s landing zone as well as how many shots it took for the the team that was aiming for the landing pad that the team had built. A great time was had by all.
The Big Wrap-Up
In his concluding remarks, Dr. Anderson provided the management class with an understanding of what the real purpose of the exercise was: to show how important communication was both inside teams and between departments. Everyone agreed that the teams that communicated the best had ended up winning the competition.
In his closing remarks, Dr. Anderson encouraged the class to not return to work as usual. He pointed out that just by participating in the training they had been changed. He encouraged everyone to use the information and skills that they had developed in order to make their IT departments run better and do more.
What This Means For You
Dr. Anderson is available to provide this type of focused motivational speech to any IT team. The speech is always customized to meet the specific needs of every unique group.
Team building exercises that are designed to expose team issues and identify ways that they can be solved can be included in any of Dr. Anderson’s programs.
If you are interested in finding out more about how you or your team can become energized about solving your IT challenges, get in contact with Blue Elephant Consulting in order to find out how a speech or training program could be customized to meet your unique needs.