Soft skills are often actually the hardest to master. Here we offer a suite of workshops designed to enhance and improve all staffs competence for the critical elements of the difficult aspects of functioning at a higher level within your organisation. These are representative of our more commonly requested topics – please speak to us about your specific requirements and challenges.
Communication & Assertiveness
Who will benefit?
- Everyone can benefit from understanding how we communicate and learn to improve ones’ own communication for more effective interaction.
- New teams or employees, or those dealing directly with the public, may benefit. Staff with line management responsibility and staff having to deal with difficult individuals, need to use assertive behaviour to achieve desired outcomes when dealing with people.
Why choose this course?
Any organisation relies on people within it to shape and drive objectives, which need to be clearly communicated. All personnel must increasingly be aware of communication styles and the importance of appropriate communication for the benefit of both the individual and the business. Assertiveness is about “getting things done” while respecting the rights of others.
Benefits include being able to give and receive constructive criticism and producing joint solutions to problem areas and issues in a clear and speedy manner.
What delegates will learn
- An appreciation of the goals of communication and the different types of communication
- How to recognise and employ the key communication skills in the workplace
- Transactional analysis theory and principles
- How to give and receive feedback from colleagues
- How to recognise different types of behaviours
- Be able to define Assertiveness and learn how to be assertive
- Understand the advantages of behaving assertively and the consequences of other types of behaviours
Coaching Skills
Who will benefit?
- All personnel with responsibility for training and developing others.
- Field training/coaching staff.
- Managers at all levels.
Why choose this course?
Coaching is about helping workers to perform better within their current role. This aids skill development, motivation and goal achievement, which benefit the individual and the organisation.
What delegates will learn
- The difference between training and coaching.
- Coaching and leadership styles.
- How to drive performance improvements through coaching.
- The coaching model with practical application.
- How to conduct accompanied visits.
Negotiation Skills
Who will benefit?
Any salesperson or buyer involved in selling services/products where flexible approaches are required to close a deal.
Why choose this course?
Being able to negotiate well does two things for your organisation;
- It ensures that both parties get a fair deal and
- It enhances your credibility with customers.
Good negotiators strive always to achieve a Win-Win scenario, which leaves both parties feeling good about the process and the outcomes.
What delegates will learn
- What negotiation is and is not.
- A 6-step process for negotiating.
- Competent negotiation leads to effective use of your Company resources with better returns, which clearly impacts PROFITABILITY.
Presentation Skills
Who will benefit?
Anyone involved in presenting to groups.
Why choose this course?
Good communication is the art of making ones’ self understood by others – regardless of an audience member’s expertise or knowledge of the subject matter being presented.
An integral part of modern communication is the ability to effectively present ideas, plans, recommendations, proposals and training material to groups of people.
This course is very practical in nature with delegates receiving detailed feedback after each presentation exercise. Video recording and playback can be used on some courses to demonstrate delegates’ progress throughout the course.
What delegates will learn
- How to prepare and structure presentations.
- Presentation delivery.
- How to manage the environment.
- Group control techniques.
- How to cope with nervousness.
Train The Trainer
Who will benefit?
Anyone responsible for training, coaching or mentoring work colleagues.
Those on a management career pathway expecting to be in a management position in the near future.
Why choose this course?
A business will be successful when its workforce is well trained and motivated. It is vitally important that those responsible for ensuring that workers have the skills to do the job, understand the best way to do that. This course ensures trainers will have the skills to do this professionally.
What delegates will learn
- The difference between teaching and coaching.
- The adult learning process.
- How to identify the different learning styles.
- How to set learning objectives.
- Facilitation skills for dealing with groups.
- How to use personal development plans.
Creative Problem Solving
“Some men see things as they really are and ask, why? I dream of things that never were and ask, why not?”
George Bernard Shaw
Who will benefit?
- Any individual involved in planning and leading discussions designed to propose solutions to overcome potential hurdles.
- Managers at all levels.
Why choose this course?
The ability to look at things differently and to generate solutions to problems is a key attribute for any manager and organisation. Your ability to problem solve may well determine future success.
What delegates will learn
- How to be a creative thinker.
- Understand the natural mental locks which stifle creative thinking.
- Tips for undoing mental locks.
- Various problem-solving techniques.
Project Management
Who will benefit?
Managerial staff and individuals or groups assigned to project work.
Why choose this course?
Successful project management enhances individual credibility and ensures the presentation of material to decision-makers in a workable format which allows appropriate decisions to be made.
What delegates will learn
- What constitutes a project.
- The stages of project management.
- How to collect data for interpretation.
- How to benchmark.
- Business writing and effective report writing skills.
Running Effective Meetings
Who will benefit?
Managers and staff involved in regular group meeting situations.
Why choose this course?
Conducting, facilitating and chairing meetings are an important yet often under-valued skill. In order to maintain focus and generate outputs, skilled facilitators need to be disciplined, organised and display leadership qualities. At the same time, successful meetings require input from all attendees and skilled facilitation ensures appropriate participation. If most of your staff feel that most meetings are a waste of time – perhaps you could benefit from training designed to give you the key skills of running effective meetings.
What delegates will learn
- Recognise the negative aspects of some meetings.
- Understand the key behaviours required of a chairman / leader.
- Be introduced to a model of effectiveness.
- Learn skills of effective chairing, appropriate structuring, delegate participation and how to generate winning outcomes.
- How to use a 7-step effective meetings framework.
- Opportunity to practise these skills.
Stress Management
Who will benefit?
Staff at all levels
Why choose this course?
Stress in the workplace is a major contributor to loss of efficiency, absenteeism and lack of team working. A clear understanding of what the likely stressors are, how to recognise them and ultimately how to adopt coping strategies can be a major step towards reducing workplace stress levels. Managers in particular should be aware of the causes and effects of stress and be placed to make decisions regarding appropriate support for their staff
What delegates will learn
- Recognise potential sources of stress & stress reactions.
- Learn the value of developing stress resistance resources.
- Consider the merits of stress support systems.
Time Management
Who will benefit?
Staff at all levels.
Why choose this course?
Time management is one of the key skills needed in the fast-paced lifestyle we have today. Our ability to make the best use of time through analysis, planning and prioritising has beneficial effects on work outputs and personal organisation. Better use of time enhances quality of life and can be a major step towards increasing efficiency and indeed reducing workplace stress levels. Managers in particular should be aware of the advantages of good time management as often the demands on their time is greater than others in the workplace.
What delegates will learn
- Recognise time traps and time robbers.
- Understand how to set personal objectives.
- How to prioritise and schedule work appropriately.
