Why Appreciation is Vital to Understanding and Success

By Thelma Tippie

C.A.R.E. – that is what The Computer Workshop is all about. Last month we looked at the ‘C’ for Consult – meaning us listening to your situation and helping you build a meaningful training program.

This month we are looking at the ‘A’ which stands for ‘Appreciate’. The Computer Workshop appreciates every client that comes through our physical and now virtual doors. If you find a company that truly appreciates its customers and recognizes the importance of their contribution to their success, you will find a company that will grow during the good times and makes it through the bad times.

Two years ago, the world had to find new ways to work – our lives and work environments were turned upside down within a matter of days. In those moments, we saw "Appreciation" firsthand. Our clients knew the mountain we had been asked to climb and every last one grabbed their gear and started the trek without a second thought. There was a level of understanding that transcended the facts. With the help of our fantastic instructors and staff, we expanded all our classes into the virtual space in a way we never thought possible. This was a huge learning curve for everyone as in-person classes were now "live" classes. For the past 33 years, our company has been and continues to be built on establishing the human connection. Together, with our clients, we were able to keep that core value. We had hundreds join our free webinars on how to use Teams – now it is second nature to set up a meeting or attend a training event and never leave your office (home or otherwise).

Our classes became hybrid and continue to flow between our formally exclusive offering of the in-person experience to simply: the personable experience. As we thrust deeper into the technology, our family realized that "technology" did not mean "cold" and "online" did not mean "distant." We have come to appreciate technology in a way we had never considered and are thrilled to share that with our clients.

This understanding, of course, brings us to the second half of appreciation, and that is empathy. Choosing personal solutions with you, not for you means more than listening to your needs. We must understand. Consulting, the first step in C.A.R.E. brings knowledge. However, it is Appreciate that tempers knowledge with understanding and allows us to consider those possibilities that few others would.

As we find our way through the woods of the past two years, we have come to another realization: getting together is not only nice, but a necessity, and it is time to PARTY! So that is exactly what The Computer Workshop is going to do! Come join us on June 29th from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm for our Summer Party as we show appreciation to all our clients, partners, and students for your contribution to our success! 

Over the years, we have had many fun events – one that I remember very well was in the middle of a late '90s Winter - we had a Beach Party! Each student got to take their picture on our ‘beach’ with palm trees, beach chairs, beach toys, and the sun shining brightly in the corner. While they were in class, we made a screensaver for them and stored it on a diskette to put on their work or home PC. Now, some may not have been exposed to a ‘screensaver’ or ‘diskette’ for that matter – but at that time, you really needed a screensaver if you left your computer on and idle to prevent phosphor burn-in on CRT or plasma computer monitors.

What will The Computer Workshop come up with for our Summer Party – Check out our latest newsletter and follow us on social media to register and find out! Just one small way for us to show you that we appreciate having you as a customer!