I recently read a blog posted by Seth Godin (a very popular marketing blog) and a question in his blog resonated with me.   He asked a very simple question: “Are you better at what you do than you were a month or two ago?” We can and should all ask ourselves this question from time to time. It’s good to get the reminder.

However, the follow up question for me is “How do we get better at what we do?” The first thing I point to for Microsoft Dynamics users is CustomerSource. (CustomerSource is an online resource for Microsoft Dynamics customers who are enrolled in a Microsoft Dynamics service plan.) It can be a tremendously valuable resource if you take the time to complete an ELearning course or download a training manual, search the Knowledge Base for the answer to a question or review a technical white paper. There are a myriad of other possibilities for gaining more information to help you be more productive and get better at what you do.

But the reality is that one of the best ways to get better at what you do is to learn from other people – to share what you know and ask questions of others. To be a part of a community where you can engage in the dialogue.

With this blog posting, I’d like to encourage you to engage in this community. Here are a few ideas:

• Actively use CustomerSource. Give us feedback on what you like, what you need more of and how we can make the web site better for you.  
• Take advantage of the Microsoft Dynamics Finance, Sales & Marketing, or Customer Service Communities. Just as we state on our web site, these communities can help you “find tools and resources to help foster community collaboration with your peers and industry experts.” But those promises can’t be delivered on, if you don’t engage in the communities. 
• Join a local user group in your area for your products where you can get together on a regular basis with others to share and learn.  I recommend AXUG, GPUG, CRMUG, NAVUG, and the user group for SL as good starting places, depending on which products you use.
• Attend a Convergence event where you can network, share ideas and participate in detailed product demonstrations and hands-on learning sessions with other customers from around the world. There are two every year. The next Convergence events take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, Nov 19-20, 2008; and in New Orleans, U.S.A.,  March 10-13, 2009. 
• Take advantage of our newsgroups where you can ask questions of others, or subscribe to RSS feeds where information on topics of your choice can be sent directly to your desktop each day.
• Respond to this blog with your own ideas for ways to get better at what you do.

The key word here is ENGAGE. The more you engage with us at Microsoft and with other Microsoft Dynamics users, the better you can get at what you do, and the better we can get at providing you with the tools to do your job better.

Take the time to engage. We’d love to hear from you.

Christine