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Session Descriptions
Pre-Conference Workshops
Certification Workshop, CASS
Monday September 23 & Tuesday September 24, 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Tom Jensen
This 2-day workshop, led by Tom Jensen, will enable participants to receive EIA´s designation as Certified Administrator of Suggestion Systems. All material necessary for completing the examination at the end of the session will be received in class. Participants will leave with a notebook of useful material to take back to their workplace. Successful participants will receive their certificates at the Awards Banquet Thursday evening.
How to Start an Employee Involvement Program
Tuesday September 24, 8:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Philip Preston
This session will cover the basics of starting an Employee Involvement Program in your organization. Some of the topics that will be covered include determining which type of EI Program is right for your organization, how to market your plan to senior management and your employees, what things you should avoid, how to successfully launch your program, and how to measure your results and present them to management.
Understanding Basic Concepts of Leadership
Tuesday September 24, 1:00PM - 4:30PM
Stephen Ansuini
This workshop will take a three-prong approach to basic concepts of leading others within your organization. Resistance to change, leading meetings, and presentations skills will all assist you in being a more effective change agent in your organization. 1) Understanding Resistance to Change will explain how to deal with resistance from others regarding initiatives you lead. Accomplishing the objectives of an initiative and maintaining good relationships is emphasized throughout this part. 2) Effective Meeting Facilitation is designed to develop skills needed to effectively lead a group through a meeting aimed at group consensus. Emphasis is placed on the roles to perform key responsibilities of the facilitator, recorder, and group members. 3) Effective Presentation Skills - everyone who teaches, presents to groups, or trains others can be more effective in accomplishing their presentation goals. The session will focus on principles of adult learning; tools for presentations; and techniques for effective delivery.
Post-Conference Workshop
Certification Workshop, CEIP
Friday Sept 27, 1:00 PM-5:00 PM & Saturday Sept 28, 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Tom Jensen
This 2-day workshop, led by Tom Jensen, is the newly revised version of the CEIP level of certification. Participants will examine the advanced concepts of employee involvement programs and suggestion systems to earn the designation as Certified Employee Involvement Professional. All participants will be acknowledged during the Awards Banquet Thursday evening, and certificates will be presented at the successful completion of the exam on Saturday.
2002 Concurrent Sessions
Tracks (Color Key):Suggestion Systems/Business Skills/Personal Development
Wednesday, Sept 25, 2002
1:30 - 3:00 pm
It¹s Not Just Money
Andrew M. Wood; Awards & Recognition; Beginner - Advanced
Many people are so aware that a common way to handle idea awards is to pay a percentage of savings that they overlook other options. Some of the questions that will be tackled are - Do we even need awards for ideas at all? Who should be awarded? What should be awarded? This workshop will explore with attendees the options that are available. It will also examine money, and its relationship to the idea; alternatives to money; valuing ideas; calculating the effects of awards; and matrix applications that work.
Creativity Camps
Janet Dean; Creative Thinking; Beginner - Advanced
Learn how to conduct a creativity camp for your organization or community group. You will receive a model for setting up and delivering an effective brainstorming session, new concept development program or corporate retreat, including check lists, and sample activities. Learn how this model has made a difference in other organizations and how you can make it work for you too. Try out some of the activities yourself!
Comparing Web-based Suggestion Systems
Bob Tacy; New Program Start-Up; Intermediate
If you are thinking about starting an online suggestion system or converting your existing system to the web, this session offers you a means for evaluating the leading alternatives. In this session, the advantages and disadvantages of web-based suggestion systems will be presented including a review of your options for launching one at your company. You will learn the pros and cons for building in house, building custom with a web developer or licensing existing software.
Feedback for Champions
Patty Bender; Basic Program Operation; Intermediate-Advanced
Are you looking for ways to improve performance? Do you feel like you´ve tried everything only to find you´re still getting mediocre performance? Have you fallen into a rut where you´re providing information, even posting performance data, but see little changes in the results? If yes, then this session is for you. You will learn the two most important functions of feedback, characteristics of effective feedback, and ways to implement a systematic feedback process. Feedback: With it improvement is probable; without it, improvement is impossible; remove it and regression is inevitable.
Marketing Your Suggestion Program
Ellen Jackson/Cindy Mussman; Marketing; Beginner
This marketing session will discuss various marketing techniques that are appropriate for various audiences, including obtaining support from supervisors. Presentation will include a sample briefing of suggestion programs that can be used to publicize your program. Marketing should include recognition of suggesters and evaluators. Participants will develop a sample marketing plan.
Wednesday, Sept 25, 2002
3:30 - 5:00 pm
It Works For Me
Heidi Lynch; Basic Program Operation; Beginner - Advanced
This is a forum for the sharing of ideas for running a successful suggestion program. Attendees will be encouraged to describe techniques that have worked for them in the following areas of their programs: publicity, general administration, awards, and training. These techniques will be captured, documented and mailed to each participant following the conference. Every suggestion program is different, but everyone should be able to leave this session with at least one "gold nugget" that can be used to benefit their company´s management of ideas. Come prepared to share and learn.
Unleashing Results-Oriented IdeasSM
Russ Selinger; Other; Intermediate
All organizations need energy and ideas to grow and succeed and yet many companies don´t actively and consistently encourage employee suggestions. Some have lots of suggestions, but not new ones that will translate into specific business results. This workshop introduces the 5 key activities that when implemented in a coordinated way can have a significant and immediate impact. For each activity, you will get a clear understanding on what needs to be done, lots of examples from other companies and time to discuss and think about how you can unleash Results-Oriented IdeasSM and creativity in your organization.
The Great Suggestion Race
Tom Jensen; Basic Program Operation; Intermediate
Are you finding that your allotment of time and energy for the day run out before your list of tasks needing completion? Are you spending too much time on one area, when you´d rather be focusing on another? Do you feel like you�re on a treadmill, going over the same area and never getting ahead? In this high-energy session, the presenter will show you many solutions to your time management problems. The key technique in this training will be the "Suggestion System Time Mapper". This tool will enable you to prioritize your workload, make better use of technology, have written goals with an agenda, and develop an overall time management strategy.
Ensuring the Future: Turning your Suggestion Program into a Profit Center
Matthew Greeley; Managing a Budget; Beginner - Advanced
The slow down in our economy has placed increased pressure on suggestion program coordinators, forcing coordinators to defend their function and budgets. This interactive discussion will focus on making your suggestion program a profit center. The discussion will introduce basic financial metrics for your program such as: hard savings, soft savings, cost of implementation, cost/benefit analysis, IRR and ROI. Participants will be shown how to apply the metrics to the ideas they handle to increase the financial impact of their efforts. The discussion will also focus on year-end reporting to assist coordinators in clearly demonstrating the program�s contribution to the company�s bottom line.
Going Beyond Participation � EISP (Employee Innovative Solutions Program)
Kami Hickman, Ann Soltau, Ricky Agnew, Harry Ashby; Basic Program Start-up; Intermediate
A complete system revamp from a successful Committed to Action program driven by high participation rates with incentives and quarterly awards given freely to those who were active in the program to a new EISP rewarding only the most innovative solutions. The EISP mission is to motivate employees to be involved in the continuous improvement of Saint-Gobain Abrasives through innovative solutions. With the maturity of the CTA program there developed a desire for quality solutions in place of suggestion quantity. EISP encourages an innovative workforce to think "outside of the box".
Thursday, Sept 26, 2002
1:30 - 3:00 pm
Your Creative Side
Mary Ellen Dolan; Motivational Skills; Beginner
This workshop is designed to provide participants with skills to open up their creative sides and unlock their potential. Topics will include definitions, determining creativity levels, breaking down blockades, results from creativity, four hats of creativity, having fun at work, techniques for generating ideas, and action planning. The workshop will be active and entertaining to encourage application in the workplace to unlock potential success.
The 3 R´s to Business Success: Recognition, Reinforcement, Reward
Patty Bender; Motivational Skills; Beginner - Advanced
Do you find yourself running in circles to improve and maximize performance? Are you doing everything you can but still aren´t seeing results? If "YES" is your answer then this session is for you. This workshop will present a proven management system that ties the 3 R´s (Recognition, Reinforcement, Reward) to your strategic business initiatives; helping lead the way to "WANT TO" performance. Do more than just survive in the 21st century, learn how to "Manage with Excellence".
The 5 Keys to a World-Class Suggestion Program
Tom Jensen; Basic Program Operation; Intermediate
As program administrator, your understanding and proficiency on all facets of a suggestion program will ultimately decide how successful it can and will become. To help you gain a thorough understanding of exactly what makes a suggestion program highly effective, the presenter will take you inside some of the world�s most prosperous ones. He will show you many of their best practices and will provide you with a simple, five-step blueprint of what all flourishing suggestion programs have in common. Regardless of prior experience or training, the informative workshop will give you countless ideas on how to take your suggestions program to the next level!
Suggestion Systems Health Check
Bernie Sander; Program Benchmarking Techniques; Advanced
If the suggestion system were a business would it be successful�would it survive? While many organizations are improving - with a suggestion system they may improve at a faster rate. This workshop will introduce and analyze a series of screening tests, examination criteria, creativity indices and questions we must ask from a customer´s perspective.
Training Workshops Increase Employee Involvement
Wayne Niebroski/Robert Zaciewski; Personal Development; Beginner - Advanced
This session will describe the General Motors Quality Network training workshop process that accelerates team suggestion activity. Groups of employees not only learn the fundamentals of key strategies such as problem solving and workplace organization, but also work on a current problem within their area. These workshops provide a great forum for listening to and implementing the ideas of employees, as well as stimulating formal team suggestions. Conference attendees will learn how the training workshop process functions, how activities are set up for different business units, and the lessons learned and insights gained from two years of implementing this process.
Thursday, Sept 26, 2002
3:30 - 5:00 pm
Managing the Process
Andrew M. Wood; Basic Program Operation; Beginner - Advanced
Whenever we come up with a basic program design we have to consider many aspects. It is easy to visit locations of other people and copy what they do and make their system yours. That has serious pitfalls. Few people will tell you of their mistakes, or things that they would prefer to do better. Starting from scratch and examining the real ingredients of success can mean that a program is designed the way that will work for you. For those running programs they often hear of programs run in different ways but do not know either how to make the change or whether this would work for them. This workshop takes you back to basics and looks at the elements that should be built into designing or redesigning a program.
Who You Gonna Call? - Stress Busters!
Janet Dean; Stress Management; Beginner - Advanced
"When there�s something wrong in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? Stress Busters". Examine some simple, fun but effective strategies for removing stress from your work life. Learn how to capture the "stress energy" and convert it to the powers of good! Build your own protective suit to ensure stress doesn´t "slime" all over you.
Top Line Innovation: Harnessing Idea Management to Grow Your Business
Mark Turrell; Basic Program Operation; Advanced
Historically, suggestion programs have focused on cost reduction and neglected ideas that deal with more intangible issues such as customer service and new product development. Many companies are now looking for ways to expand through top line growth, generating revenue from new products and services. There is a tremendous opportunity for all organizations to harness the brainpower of all employees - together with suppliers and business partners - to fulfill these growth objectives. We will discuss the differences in approach between top line and cost reduction programs, and provide a framework to implementing growth-facing systems. We will describe how advanced idea management systems can support these initiatives, taking advantage of knowledge management techniques and collaboration tools to energize corporate creativity. Finally, we will provide examples of successful projects from companies in pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, financial services and consumer goods.
Evolution of Involvement - The Honda Way
Walt Furrow/Dawn Burris; Benchmarking; Beginner- Advanced
In this session you will see how Honda has kept the involvement programs successful and thriving over its twenty-year history. Learn how to effectively align employee involvement to daily goals and objectives. Importance of ingrained philosophy to support activities, how to maintain enthusiasm and renew interest and how marketing plays a key role. You will also get the opportunity to view Honda's highly benchmarked award and recognition structure.
Executive Leader Forum
Facilitator - Stephen Ansuini
This session will host corporate level executives and leaders from the US. Invited guests at the time of printing include Denny O�Neill, Lockheed Martin; Guy Morgan, Delphi Automotive. A forum of managers from various organizations will discuss suggestion plans, gainsharing programs, and other Employee Involvement processes. These leaders will touch on their views of employee involvement and the issues faced at the executive level of their organizations. The audience will come away with an understanding of what it takes to make an organization successful, and new ideas and thoughts on how to make your employee involvement system more effective. Be prepared with questions to ask of these executive leaders.
Friday, Sept 27, 2002
1:30 - 3:00 pm
Group Roundtables
Facilitated by EIA Board Members
An informal round table of participants divided into groups with a board member/other EIA leader as moderator. Items to be discussed are many, but questions about the broadening of the Industry codes to include technology, food services, shipbuilding could be addressed. Also, the participants could be charged with coming up with their own set of industry codes. A set of questions will be identified to serve as discussion starters and could expand into things they wanted to see at future conferences, ideas to spark membership, future meeting sites, how to start a chapter, newsletter enhancements, etc.
If you would like additional information or
have any questions about participating,
please contact Lona at 515-282-8192 by phone or
email to: [email protected]
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