UPwords Inc - Training & Workshops

UPwords Inc. motivates business growth and career advancement by partnering with forward-thinking companies to advance organizational talent through Professional Development Workshops.

People Development is essential for successful companies. Statistics show: the majority of companies that invest in the growth and development of their people have lower turnover; positively impacting customer satisfaction and profitability. These savvy companies are smart about how they invest their training and development dollars, investing in what yields the best return – human capital.

Not all professional development is created equal. We have found through our research, and our own professional experience, lecture-type-sit-in-a-classroom-and-listen training programs are the least effective. This is why our programs are activity-oriented workshops. Even in the most traditional settings, our training involves learning models, exercises, activities, and processing time.

Our programs are experiential. The UPwords Inc. programs are dynamic, high involvement learning environments designed to bring the learning to life. We motivate participants through impactful, interactive, action-learning exercises balanced by meaningful reflection and processing time. Participants are motivated to “own” their learning in these structured experiential environments to maximize growth and development. Concepts are learned that cannot be taught…and more deeply rooted. The effect is longer lasting, motivated from within, and much more gratifying. For example, if you have children, (or know any!) you already understand this concept.

Imagine trying to teach a tween about supply and demand. You’ve taught the definition, talked about the concept, you’ve used coins to simulate a model, and maybe you’ve even drawn some cool diagrams. If there was a test, they would pass. They seem to understand. There’s still something missing. Compare this method of learning with “the experience”. You take them to the store to buy the hottest new “thing”. You find out it is out of stock and only the discounted-older-version is sitting on the shelf. Complete the process with a discussion about the concepts they just learned, add in a little processing time about why this happened ….and you have experiential learning. Their comprehension, now that they have experienced it, is deeper, more complete. More effective.

Our participants experience models – Kilman Conflict Model, the Comfort Zone, Kolb’s Learning Model, the Communication Model, the Ladder of Inference, and many more. Participants step in and around the life-size interactive models to enhance their learning.

Our programs also include thought-provoking, inspiring activities not found in traditional training settings. Engaging, processing, and “experiencing” is a powerful learning technique. Our design gives participants the opportunity to take ownership of their development.

We’re creating an environment and a structure to ensure your learning can happen – YOU are responsible for the learning.

“Straight talk” is part of our workshops. During our workshops, we are not afraid to take the participants out of their comfort zone – asking them to stretch. We ask tough questions. We make our participants think. We interact in a way that surfaces the “aha” the participants need to progress.

A shift-in-thinking is the crux of professional development. Too many development organizations are more focused on the training than the learning. These programs look great on paper, are logical in their design but either do not engage the participant, or do not shift participant thinking. We approach each interaction with a fresh perspective and a “group coaching” mentality. The goal is “how can we reach, and most positively impact, each person on an individual level, who is attending this group program?” Our programs are customized to maximize participant learning.

We approach our workshops as a form of “group coaching”. There are definite similarities between our program design and our coaching process. During our workshops, we initially ask participating business professionals to assess where they are on the given topic – what’s really going on. Once we have established the starting point, we determine where they would like to end up – the participants determine their potential, and what skills are needed to close the gap. To complete the learning process, we teach and practice the skills the participant will use to integrate the knowledge into the business environment. Uncover, Discover, and Recover.