Trintecher Spotlight – Deanna Flanagan

Blog post

Meet Deanna Flanagan

Deanna Flanagan is an instructional designer for Trintech’s Customer Enablement team. She helps design and develop self-study and instructor-led training content for our large enterprise customers. Deanna lives in Plano, Texas and loves bicycling, traveling, and woodworking. She lives with her husband and has two adult children: the eldest is a banker for Merrill Lynch, and the youngest is a licensed commercial pilot.

Mike: Congratulations on being selected for the Trintecher Spotlight for September!

Deanna: Thank you. I’m very excited about being selected!

Mike: You mentioned that you love to travel. What is the most memorable trip that you’ve taken?

Deanna: That would have to be our trip to the Galapagos Islands. It was amazing. We took a 10-day trip to five different islands via catamaran. The diverse animal life, including meeting Lonesome George, who was the last known tortoise of his species, and the volcanic formations were amazing.

Mike: Wow, that does sound amazing. Outside of travel, what other hobbies or interests do you have?

Deanna: I love bicycling, and two years ago, I completed the RAGBRAI, which is a seven-day bicycle ride across the state of Iowa. I have also had the opportunity to help adults learn how to ride a bike. It is one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done. I mean, you’re helping someone develop a life skill!

Mike: Sounds like you really enjoy helping people. Shifting topics, COVID-19 continues to impact businesses across all industries—especially in the areas of training. As a Learning & Development (L&D) professional, can you tell us what changes you’ve seen in the L&D industry as a response to the pandemic?

Deanna: Learning has shifted, almost exclusively, to a virtual delivery method. This has presented new challenges and opportunities. Many parents are encountering these challenges firsthand with their school-aged children, and adult learners are also facing the same challenges. With the shift to virtual as the primary delivery method for learning, more responsibility now falls on the learner to ensure they access the tools and resources needed to be successful. I would encourage learners to advocate for themselves, as this helps an instructor deliver more impactful and useful training.

Mike: Indeed. That can be a difficult transition for many learners. How has Trintech responded to this shift in learning?

Deanna: Trintech has invested time and resources into the development of role-based eLearning content for all of our applications. These can be accessed at any time and allows a learner to quickly navigate to the exact content they need to learn more about. In addition, we’ve also introduced Virtual Instructor-led Accreditation courses for our Cadency suite of applications. Virtual Instructor-led training is conducted remotely by a live instructor. It provides attendees with the same hands-on experience in the software as they would receive with in-person classroom training. I would recommend our customers visit the Trintech Success Center to view and register for any of our available offerings.

Mike: That’s outstanding! Self-study content is a vital resource, especially when you’re a global company and have customers all across the world. So, what makes you successful in your role?

Deanna: I feel like my positivity and enthusiasm for the work helps me to be successful. I’m always pushing myself to grow, learn, and share more. Also, I would consider my openness to collaboration a strength. Here at Trintech, I have opportunities every day to work with our amazing subject matter experts when developing training content, and it has been an extremely positive experience. We have a wealth of product knowledge within the organization, and it benefits our customers when we tap into that source when creating our content.

Mike: Collaboration is definitely encouraged and promoted within Trintech. One last question, what advice would you give your younger self?

Deanna: I would tell her that life is all about change and to embrace that change. Always be willing to learn new things and keep growing.

Mike: Excellent advice. Deanna, thank you so much for speaking with me today.

Deanna: Thank you, this was fun!