immediate impact - endless possibilities

April, 2016

In This Issue

Practitioner Education Update

Important Dates

Giving Feedback

All Star Award

Join Our Mailing List!

Quick Links

Our Website

How We Help

Insights Global

Insights Discovery

"A gush of bird-song, a patter of dew,

A cloud, and a rainbow's warning,

Suddenly sunshine and perfect blue--

An April day in the morning."

~ Harriet Prescott Spofford

The past month has been very busy for many of us, and it looks like April will continue the pace. In this edition of our monthly update, we've got news about upcoming practitioner events (if you are planning on attending the Insights Discovery Accreditation in Vancouver in May you'd better hurry - there are only 2 seats left), a great article on giving feedback in organizations where everyone 'is just so nice', updates on upcoming Insights events in Western Canada, and more.

So we invite you to take five, and catch up on the latest news and information from Insights Learning and Development.

Practitioner Education at Insights

An update from Cathy Anderson

How is it April already?! Amazing! The sun is shining, the snow is melting (melted?!) and we are making some great progress on our Practitioner Education Strategy. We have established a Practitioner Advisory Council (PAC) who have offered their time to share their thoughts, opinions and ideas about how we can best serve our Canada West Practitioner community.

First things first then, a quick shout out and thank you to the amazing crew of practitioners participating in this year's PAC - Melinda Drewe, Gail Hunter, Deborah Edwards, Maria Watts, and Kim Karrer. We, myself and Glenda Johnston from our Canada West team, are gaining powerful insights and appreciation for just the kind of education our practitioner community needs and wants from Insights Canada West.

We are focused on developing and refining a practical, aligned to your organization's strategic goals, easy to engage with and well organized education program. Whew! And you will be the first to know when it's ready! In the meantime, there are some events we want you to mark in your calendar, and (ideally!) attend:

Webinar: Exploring Your Practitioner Resources (with a focus on touring Connections) - led by Glenda Johnston on Thursday, April 21st at 12:30 - 1:15 Mountain/ 11:30-12:15 Pacific

Please register here if you're interested (we'll be recording the webinar if for some reason you are not able to join us

Renewals: Has it been a little while since you attended your IDA (or your last renewal)? We've got a few events planned this year, please join us at one of them!

Calgary - June 7th
Regina - June 14th
Vancouver - October 4

Connecting Customers Conferences - these will be full day, face-to-face events where you will have an opportunity to engage with Insights and your community of practitioners ...more information to follow and you may as well save the date, right?

September 22nd in Calgary
October 5th in Vancouver (This replaces our annual December conference)
Note: If you're attending the October 4th Renewal session, why not stick around for the Conference on the 5th and make a two-day Insights Learning event?

Thank you for being a part of our practitioner community. We are excited to work with you and serve your educational needs as a practitioner of Insights Canada West. And remember, watch this space!

Cathy Anderson

Manager, Learning Services

Upcoming Events

Insights Discovery Accreditation

Vancouver - May 10-13, 2016 (M-Th)
Calgary - September 27-30, 2016 (T-Fr)

There are now over 30 public and internal Accreditations every year across North America, which demonstrates how many organizations are choosing to bring Insights Discovery 'in house'. In Western Canada, we always end up with a waiting list for IDA sessions, so if you're considering attending either the IDA session in either city, don't hesitate. Register today.

Note: Deadline for May Vancouver is April 8, 2016 and there are only 2 seats remaining, so don't miss this deadline.

Full details and registration information is located here.

CP Resource Webinar

An on-line session focusing on Practitioner Resources - What we have available for you and how to use it to leverage success in your organization.

Thursday, April 21 at 12:30 PM Mountain/11:30 AM Pacific

More details and registration links are located here.

CP Renewals

A one-day interactive session for Insights Discovery Client Practitioners committed to keeping their learning alive.

Calgary - Tuesday, June 7th

Vancouver - Tuesday, October 4th

More details and registration links are located here.

Connecting Customers Conference

This one-day event will connect Insights practitioners and provide new learning opportunities. Agendas and details are still being finalized, but mark the date in your calendar for the city nearest you. Vancouver friends please note: This Connecting Customer Conference replaces the annual December conference.

Calgary - Thursday, September 22nd

Vancouver - Wednesday, October 5th

More details and registration links are located here.

Giving feedback in a 'nice' organization

What is the shortest word in the English language containing the letters A,B,C,D,E and F?

Feedback

A recent Harvard Business Review article explored how difficult it can be to give honest feedback in an organization where people actually get along and have a mutual respect for each other.

We know there are two types of feedback; Acknowledging feedback, which is given to acknowledge appreciation of a particular action or behaviour, and Developmental feedback, which is given to correct or bring attention to a particular action or behaviour that has been identified as ineffective.

The Insights D-4 Model provides a simple yet effective way to give and receive feedback of either kind.

The D-4 Model is the perfect tool if you're one of those 'nice' organizations with a culture that is respectful, cordial, warm, relationship-focused, and calm. While these are great strengths for any organization, they can also create barriers to candor and feedback.

The D-4 model looks like this:

D-1: Data.
What are the facts? What happened?

D-2: Depth of Feeling:
How do you feel?

D-3: Dramatic Interpretation:
What is your interpretation of the situation?

D-4: Do.
What actions do you suggest?

If giving or receiving feedback is important in the work you do (and it very likely is) consider using the Insights D-4 Model. To learn more about the D-4 model, or to discuss some practice exercises around this model, contact your Client Manager or the Insights office.

The complete Harvard Business review article is located here.

We couldn't have done it without you!

Thanks for making us a 2015 All Star

Last week, Insights Learning and Development was awarded a 2015 All-Star Award by the folks at Constant Contact. We wanted to share the great news and express our gratitude to you, our loyal customers, for helping us receive this honor. Our emails and events are made with our customers and supporters in mind, so thank you for engaging and interacting with us.

We're happy to share upcoming events, items of interest, and stories that showcase how Insights Discovery is helping individuals, teams and organizations across Western Canada. We look forward to continuing our Insights journey with you. And remember, if you have an item you think the broader Insights community should know about, send it along, and we'll be happy to share!

So thanks again and we look forward to more interactions in 2016!

Let's Be Social

Join us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. We'll be using these links to provide updates in-between our monthly newsletters and we'll also be re-posting or re-tweeting stories and articles we find interesting.

If you have comments or suggestions for articles in upcoming newsletters, please contact me directly.

Dale Nelson,

Insights Learning and Development