Personal Development
Effective Communication Skills
Effective communication is an essential skill for personal & organisational success. We are all in the relationship business & communication is the glue that holds relationships together. Interpersonal Communication Skills are vital for relating to others in both the social & work setting. Effective communication is a ‘life-skill’ upon which sound relationships are established.
Workshop Outline
- Understanding the key elements of the communication process
- Ways & means by which we commonly communicate
- The benefits of effective communication
- Things that get in the way
- The power of body language – it’s impact & usage
- The 5 key dimensions of effective communication
- The 5 key communication skills
- Active listening
- Questioning
- Paraphrasing/summarising
- Assertiveness
- Feedback
- Raising delicate issues (Full day option only)
- Requesting a change in behaviour (Full day option only)
- Giving & receiving feedback (Full day option only)
Duration
Half day option: 3.5 hours
Full day option: 7.5 hours (Includes content italics)
Presentation Skills
Enhance your skills & ability to communicate & educate, through the design & delivery of effective & impactful presentations. Build your confidence in delivering brilliant presentations & in engaging with your audience to ensure they understand & connect with your message. This highly interactive workshop gives you, as a presenter, the opportunity to practice your presentation skills, design & deliver a series of presentations in front of others with confidence & to build your skills & knowledge of connecting with your audience.
Workshop Outline
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Designing an effective & engaging presentation
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Using visual aids including PowerPoint, flipcharts & whiteboards
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Using notes
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Knowing your material
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Connecting with your audience
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Using your voice effectively
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Body language
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Dealing with nerves
Duration
Full day option: 7.5 hours
Creating "Zero Tolerance to Workplace Bulling"
Bullying can have a major negative impact on employees & an organisation’s performance. It is one of the largest Health & Safety issues in workplaces in New Zealand. It can lead to stress related illnesses, poor performance, absenteeism among workers & increased staff turnover.
The following 2 workshops are designed to educate & empower employees, team leaders, supervisors & managers by increasing awareness & providing a positive & proactive step-by step approach to the prevention of workplace bullying & steps to “zero tolerance”.
This a must for all Health & Safety Training in your Workplace.
Workshop One
Employee awareness & response to workplace bullying
Workshop Outline
- Defining bullying – what it is & what it isn’t
- How to distinguish bullying from proper management control & direction
- Signs & symptoms of bullying
- Examples of workplace bullying
- Who are often the bullies & the victims?
- What to do if you feel bullied or witness bullying in your workplace
Duration
Half day option: 3.5 hours
Workshop 2: “Zero tolerance to workplace bullying”
Roles & responsibilities for managers & team leaders
Workshop Outline
- Defining bullying – what it is & what it isn’t
- How to distinguish bullying from proper management control & direction
- Examples of workplace bullying
- Who is often involved in bullying
- How to know when bullying exists – signs & symptoms
- An organisation’s obligations to prevent bullying under Health & Safety
- How best to deal with bullying within your team & workplace
- How to empower others to deal with bullying
- How to maintain a “bully free” workplace
Regular education & training is essential for the legal protection of you, your employees & your business. It is vital for businesses/organisations to develop a workplace culture that has a zero tolerance to workplace bullying if everyone is to feel safe, motivated & engaged within their work environment.
Duration
Half day option: 3.5 hours
Please note:
Some clients have chosen to blend the 2 workshops together with both management & staff attending 1 combined workshop. This has also proved to be an incredibly powerful & proactive approach with some staggering results. References from such organisations are available upon request.
Managing Conflict - Positively & Proactively
Conflict is not only inevitable in a team environment but a natural & positive element of success for high performing teams. Conflict gives us the opportunity to see things from a different perspective, to challenge ourselves & others to continually learn & improve. It is not the conflict itself that is the issue but the way in which we manage that conflict creates barriers.
This dynamic & interactive workshop redefines the power of conflict & therefore provides participants with opportunities, tools, skills & processes to proactively & constructively deal with conflict & to both manage & benefit from the conflict issue.
Workshop Outline
- Defining conflict
- The beauty & the beast of conflict - & what it has the power to do....
- Typical sources of conflict
- Typical responses to conflict
- Proactive & constructive responses to conflict
- Mediating conflict
- Raising delicate issues
- Having those courageous & challenging conversations
Duration
Half day option: 3.5 hours
Effective Telephone Techniques
The key to excellent customer service is understanding & appreciating the needs of the customer & the customer relationship. This focused & interactive workshop captures that exact relationship plus overarching service concepts in relation to both internal staff & external customers. The end result being positive, proactive staff who have the confidence, appreciation & tools to build & maintain professional & productive relationships with customers & staff within your organisation.
Workshop Outline
- Understanding & appreciating the role of the customer in your organisation
- Defining positive & excellent customer service
- Managing attitudes & feelings to ensure positive & excellent service
- How to professionally present yourself on the telephone
- Tips to ensure you leave a true lasting impression
- How to effectively make or receive calls from internal & external customers
- Communicating effectively with customers & other staff in your organisation
- Responding positively with difficult customers & complaints
- Actively listening & using effective questioning skills to accurately ascertain your customer’s needs
Duration
Full day option: 7.5 hours
Creating a Workplace Cultural of Respect
Personalities, attitudes, experiences & belief systems of individuals create the culture of an organisation. This thought provoking & empowering workshop identifies for individuals what that culture looks & feels like along with providing tools & techniques to create & nurture a positive culture within their team, workplace & organisation.
Respect more often than not becomes the cornerstone for all cultures – once that is defined for each individual & the team or organisation as a collective – the results in terms of staff positivity, morale & engagement can be astounding.
Workshop Outline
- Defining what respect looks like & feels like for each individual
- Understanding respect in terms of cultural diversity within the workplace
- The importance of respect for work colleagues, customers & others
- Understanding your role & responsibilities within the workplace
- Tips for demonstrating respect at work
- Building & maintaining effective relationships within your organisation
Duration
Half day option: 3.5 hours
Professional Presence
In these challenging & changing times you need to stand out from the crowd. Your professional image will give you a powerful edge over your competition. Research indicates first impressions are made within the first 3 minutes & 67% of first impressions do matter. This interactive & engaging workshop highlights that there is a great deal more to professionalism than an expensive suit. Success in modern business is determined by a combination of confidence, competence, attitude, demeanour & communication. In other words, by our professional presence.
Workshop Outline
- Defining professionalism in today’s challenging & changing times
- Understanding what professionalism means for you & your organisation
- Presenting yourself in a manner that is both true to your self & valued by others & the organization
- Tips & techniques on leaving a positive lasting impression
- Recognising behaviours that both reflect & undermine your credibility & the credibility of others
- Maximising your professional presence
Non-verbal presence - build rapport with colleagues & customers by developing strong non-verbal skills
Social presence — project a professional image at conferences & meetings
Virtual presence — use communication tools confidently & persuasively i.e. fax, e-mail, text, video conferencing & voice mail to project a winning image
Duration
Half day option: 3.5 hours
Building & Maintaining Positive Workplace Relationships
Having positive working relationships between staff is more than ‘nice to have”; it can significantly improve your bottom line! Up to 65% of performance problems result from strained relationships between staff. (Dana, 1990)*.
Building & maintaining positive workplace relationships is vital to creating growth in any organization as well as to your own career success. This workshop provides tips & techniques to build & maintain those working relationships by strengthening interpersonal communication skills, networking to form new relationships, reinforcing existing partnerships, & foster collaboration among leaders, team members, & key business partners.
Workshop Outline
- Recognising the importance of making a good positive lasting impression
- Respecting other people within your workplace
- Introducing different networking techniques
- Differentiating between strategic & unanticipated networking
- Overcoming the fears you may have about talking to strangers at a business or social event
- Preparing yourself to communicate effectively
- Building rapport with others comfortably & effectively
- Tips to maintaining positive ongoing workplace relationships
- Tips to creating a positive & supportive work environment
- Tips to building collaborative relationships
Duration
Half day option: 3.5 hours
Full day option: 7.5 hours
*Dana, D (1990) Talk it out. Kogan Page Ltd
Stress Management
Stress is a part of everyday life. It motivates & focuses us to achieve our goals. However excessive stress can be both unhealthy & unproductive. This practical interactive workshop focuses on identifying signs of stress & the effects it has on you as an individual, how to proactively & constructively manage this stress through the use of effective stress coping strategies.
Workshops Outline
- Defining stress in general & for you as an individual
- Typical sources of stress
- Typical responses to stress
- Understanding the impact of stress on both yourself, your work & others around you
- Proactive & constructive stress coping strategies to both reduce & manage stress in our personal & professional lives i.e.
- Expanding your circle of influence
- Creative visualisation
- Diet
- Learning to say “no”; negotiating boundaries
- Physical exercise
- Quietening the mind
- Living in the now
Duration
Half day option: 3.5 hours
Full day option: 7.5 hours
Time Management
Time is our most precious resource & the most profound investment we will ever make. We are all given the same number of hours in a day but how we choose to invest that time is unique to each & every one of us. This practical & thoughtful provoking workshop empowers each of us to value our time as much as we do money – to invest it wisely & make the most of each moment. A toolbox of powerful time management models & techniques are used to assist you in maximising your time to ensure a healthy balanced approach to an enriched personal & professional life.
Workshop Outilne
- Valuing time as a limited resource
- Identifying how we currently use our time in both our personal & working lives
- My various roles & responsibilities – a holistic approach
- The time management matrix
- Identifying our own key time wasters
- Planning & goal setting that works
- Workload planning & prioritising our time
- The art of delegating
- How to say “No” that works for you
- Finetuning our assertiveness
Duration
Full day option: 7.5 hours
Skills of the Effective Team Leader
This dynamic & interactive 3-day workshop aims to increase confidence, skills & potential in one’s role as an effective team leader. Targeted at emerging leaders & leaders/supervisors of teams within your workplace, this informative workshop builds on participants existing skills, knowledge & experience & heightens this to a new level of confidence & understanding of their role as a team leader.
All participants will have the opportunity during the 3 days to not only learn new skills & tools but to actively apply these skills & tools to their specific work & team environment through role plays, scenarios, peer interviews & self assessment opportunities. This highly interactive approach ensures maximum learning is transferred back to the work environment.
Workshop Outline
Day 1: The essential attributes of team leadership
- Characteristics & attributes of an effective leader & manager
- Your role as a leader & manager in your organisation
- Leadership versus management
- Exploring Leadership Styles
- The Power of Situational leadership
- The new age of Leadership in the permanent white water
- Identifying you own key strengths & natural contributions as a leader & team member using Belbin’s Team Type Assessment & Profiling.
Day 2: The essential skills of effective team leadership
- Developing a strengths based high performing team
- Exploring the 4 stages of team development
- The importance of TRUST
- Time management & workload planning
- The art of delegation
- Managing performance & setting performance objectives
- Requesting a change in behaviour
- Managing conflict positively & proactively
Day 3: Transitioning from being in the team to leading the team
- Identifiying your key roles & responsibilities
- Establishing your authority & role right from the start
- Building professional, positive & productive working relationships
- Having those challenging conversations – raising delicate issues
- Communication with confidence & purpose
- Finetuning your assertiveness
- Motivating & influencing others
- Training, coaching & mentoring
Duration
3 full days: 21 hours
9.00am - 4.30pm each day with 30 mins for lunch
(A light lunch, morning & afternoon teas are provided each day)
Motivating & Influncing Others
Motivation is the spark that drives passion, inspires achievement & ignites energy & positivity in both our personal & professional lives. Research suggests high employee motivation is strongly linked to organisational excellence & profitability.
This dynamic & interactive workshop is therefore designed to identify what motivation means for you & what it potentially means to others. Plus how as leaders, mentors, supervisors, coaches, partners & parents we can key into this spark, this drive to ultimately achieve fulfilment, achievement & success for all.
Workshop Outline
- Defining motivation
- Understanding what motivates you & others
- Keying into culture & values
- Theories of motivation & how you can apply these in your workplace
- The synergy between motivation & leadership
- Empowerment as a tool to motivate & influence
- Tips to creating a motivating & inspiring work environment
- Tips to maintaining morale & motivation in a recession
- Building & maintaining positive relationships in the workplace
- Giving & receiving feedback to motivate, engage & inspire
- Setting goals that motivate
- The art of delegation as tool to motivate & engage
Duration
Half day option: 3.5 hours
Full day option: 7.5 hours