Empowering Your Team through Knowledge

  • Article

My 3 year old boys are like little sponges. They’re amassing information about the world around them at an astounding rate and recently they’ve started to apply that knowledge in situations. For example, they’ve known for a while that when they eat, they use a dish. They’ve even figured out where the dishes are kept (at least the unbreakable ones that I store within their reach). Now they’ve figured out how to “set the table” while I’m making dinner. It gives them a bit of control – they can pick which dish they want to use and where they want to sit at the table. They can apply the knowledge they have to customize the situation to maximize their benefits. From my perspective, their engagement with the dinner process means they’re more likely to want to sit at the table and eat what I’m cooking. It’s win-win!

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Now I’m not saying that the people on your team are 3 year olds. Far from it! But the satisfaction we get from applying our knowledge to our circumstances is the same no matter how old we are. And the more engaged we are, the more empowered we feel, the more likely we’ll want to sit at the table (or stay at the company) and eat.

Everyone is talking about cloud computing but practical knowledge – actual learning that your team can apply to your IT environment – has been hard to come by. Until now. The Microsoft Virtual Academy is a free online resource made of easily consumed, modules made up of videos and screencasts on topics such as:

  • Office 365 for the IT Pro
  • Microsoft Virtualization for VMware Professionals
  • Planning, Building and Managing a Private Cloud
  • Introduction to Windows Azure
  • …and much more.

Your team gets the knowledge they need, at the pace they dictate. Plus, we’ve put together an incentive contest with a “Tech-Tastic” prize pack including a Toshiba laptop, an Xbox 360 with Kinect and a Samsung HDTV among other things.

Here’s what they need to do:

  1. Register for the contest . They have to enrol in the contest first for everything to count.
  2. Register for the Microsoft Virtual Academy. They can check it out here, but be sure to get them to register for the contest first before registering for MVA (see step #1).
  3. Download product evaluations from the TechNet Evaluation Center and, besides getting hands on experience with the latest technologies such as Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1,  Windows 7 Enterprise edition, and System Center products, they can get more chances to win in the contest. They can check out the eval center here, but be sure to get them to do #1 first before downloading product to be part of the contest.

 

MVA

Through the Microsoft Virtual Academy, your team gets knowledge they can use to apply to the IT environment they work in. You get help in creating an engaged, satisfied team of individuals who want to work your company even when other opportunities may come knocking. It’s win-win!

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