January 17, 2005 -- East Lansing, Michigan

Randall Dean, a 1986 graduate of Pennfield High School and 1991 graduate of Western Michigan University’s Haworth College of Business and former resident of both Kalamazoo and Battle Creek, will return to the area in February, March, and April to conduct his highly regarded training programs on time and project management and advanced PDA (personal digital assistant) usage.  His training programs will take place at Kellogg Community College’s Regional Manufacturing Technology Center (M-TEC) on Hill-Brady Road in the Fort Custer Industrial Park near Augusta (about a 20-minute drive from downtown Kalamazoo). Dean, who also has an MBA from Michigan State University, started his own training and consulting firm in 2004 with a focus on time management and PDAs.  Says Dean, “I’ve been teaching in these areas for more than 10 years for the many companies that I’ve worked at, and I just felt it was time to share the information with a broader audience.”  

Dean, now based in East Lansing, has previously spent time in professional marketing and management positions with firms including Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio, Michigan State University’s Broad Graduate School of Management in East Lansing, and The Fetzer Institute here in Kalamazoo, and has had the opportunity to conduct versions of his training programs for all three organizations while working there.  Since starting his new firm, he has had the opportunity to conduct very highly rated training programs for several organizations, including some of the top business schools in the country.  In the past several months, he has taken graduate business students from The Katz School at the University of Pittsburgh, The Fisher School at The Ohio State University, and The Broad School at Michigan State University through his programs.  The participants in these programs have consistently given high marks to his programs, with more than 50% rating the program as “Excellent”, and fully 97% of attendees rating the program as “above average” or “excellent”.

Cathy Vargo, Assistant Dean of MBA Programs at the University of Pittsburgh, had this to say about the program he recently taught there, "Randy’s program was interesting, thorough, and practical.  I’m leaving here feeling motivated and optimistic.  Thank you!” Colleen McCafferty, a center administrator for U. Pitt, had this to say, "This is an excellent summarization and synopsis of the key issues in time management.  He takes an innovative and creative approach to complete what is important and fulfilling in life.”  Click here to read other attendee comments

On February 9 and 18, and on March 18, Dean will be conducting several two-hour courses on the topic.  He will be offering two different versions of his program – one a general time and project management training program, and the second a program that covers the same material but is specific to PDA users.  On April 22, he will also be offering a much more in-depth full-day seminar on time and project management, with the goal that those leaving the program that day will in essence have a fully operating personal time/project management system.  The programs are very affordable, with his two-hour programs priced at $39, and the full day session in April priced at $89 (including lunch). (Sign up here!)

In his courses, he talks about some of the key principles to good time and life management, including a discussion on how very successful people use and spend their time differently than the average person.  He also discusses and compares the different popular time management tools available, including calendars, planners, and PDAs, and provides guidance on which of these tools will work best for each individual.  He then helps participants actually get started on developing their own time and project management system using their tool of choice.  He even explains a system on how to deal with information overload, including e-mail, voice mail, “snail” mail, and all of the articles and reports that people have to deal with on a daily basis.  There are even some very fun and very practical tips that help both at work and at home.

More information on Randall Dean and his programs can be found on his Web site at www.randalldean.com, or by visiting the KCC Web site (www.kellogg.edu), and clicking on “Lifelong Learning/Business & Professional Development”.