New Bitesize Short Courses – Up To 3 Hour Duration
If you haven’t got the time to send either yourself or your staff on a day long course but you still want the same impact then try our Inspire Sessions. Only of up to 3 hours duration but with a significant impact given the opportunity for a follow up. These can be breakfast sessions, half day or twilight sessions so can be fitted around your working day. Also the subject matter is different in that they are unusual subjects but ones which have day to day relevance to the workplace but are often overlooked with more traditional development programmes.
The list includes:-
- Gravitas
- Social Implications of Change
- Who Cares Wins
- Conflict as a Management Tool
- Moving From Novice to Expert
1. Gravitas
This session is designed to introduce the group to the concept of Gravitas. Leaders and managers in organisations must accept that they are constantly ‘on show’ to their staff.
Their body language, personal presentation, presence and behaviour should reflect their standing in the organisation. Every leader and manger has a responsibility for the well being of their team in the workplace, the way they are perceived by their team is informed by their behaviour and demeanour during the working day and also at work related activities that are outside of the workplace. The session includes an analysis of how Gravitas can be negatively affected by an individual’s actions and how to build gravitas.
There is also the aspect of Gravitas amongst peer groups, for many new managers ( and some more experienced) there is a struggle to be accepted by the management team within an organisation. The session will encourage the group to reflect upon their own behaviours and will question individual attitudes towards gravitas. We will end by reviewing the previous sessions and looking at EC, Gravitas and change in the practical context.
Gravitas is a nebulous concept but we use practical examples from the business world and beyond to make the topic relevant and useful for the group.
Already delivered to:
• Welsh Government staff in Aberystwyth, Cardiff, Merthyr & Llandudno Junction.
• Legal & General
• Arriva Trains Wales
• Companies House
• Panasonic
2. Social Implications of Change
There are a great number of change management programmes available that seem to focus on large scale organisational change management. This short session looks at the impact of change decisions upon those most affected (the staff) and to accept that many of the change decisions that are made are not large scale interventions, they are quite small and may only affect one or two people but they have to be undertaken with care and precision to avoid disruption and upset to those most centrally involved.
The session starts with a review of Emotional Intelligence and how this enhanced practical expertise can support leaders and managers in their workplace tasks.
We will look at the organisational history and culture surrounding change management and implementation. The group will have the opportunity to analyse failed change.
Look at the concepts of ‘Flow” and ‘Sigmoid curve’ and ‘Force Filed Analysis’ as change facilitators.
Discuss cause and effect of decisions made during change management. How often do managers consider the personal impacts of their decisions, and how the decisions are communicated, upon their staff.
Already delivered to:
• Legal & General
• Arriva Trains Wales
3. Who Cares Wins
In the 21st C. meeting customer expectations is not enough, we have to exceed them EVERY time. The session starts by examining the traditional concepts of how we interface with our external customers. Participants will analyse their organisation’s customer care practice. The focus then turns to internal customers and the differences (if any) between the levels of customer care delivered between internal and external customers, there will be a discussion on the differences and the merits / de-merits of having varying levels.
The final discussion is on the notion that for managers and leaders the people they manage or lead are actually their internal customers and the group will be encouraged to consider whether they provide customer care to their staff that exceeds expectation. A final discussion on how / if the group will amend their working interface with their teams to align it with their organisational customer care practice.
For some of us the notion of internal and external customer care is irrelevant as we don’t think we have customers. The point is that only a very small number of people have no internal customers and so this session investigates how to reach the level of customer care for all categories of customer that enables us to be confident we are actually exceeding customer expectations
4. Conflict as a Management Tool
This session begins with a generic overview of existing concepts on managing conflict within the workplace. By identifying the traditional causes of conflict should managers and leaders be better prepared for the inevitability of conflict? What are conflict management techniques in existence in the workplace? How is conflict viewed by the group?
It then progresses to discuss how conflict can be a force for positive, affirmative action in the workplace. Without conflict, creativity, innovation and change are stifled. The session contains strategies for conflict resolution and uses existing models to analyse the ‘lifecycle’ of workplace conflict and how to avoid unresolved conflict. Participants will be encouraged to apply their own experience of conflict and conflict management to the models to enable their own workplace practice to be informed by the session content. Conflict management is something that any competent practitioner should embrace and be good at, not avoid or dismiss.
A conflict free workplace is likely to be stagnant and non innovative. Managers should encourage conflict but only when they are confident that it will not be left unresolved. The session looks at causes and levels of workplace conflict and offers techniques to ensure maximising resolution.
5. The Move From Novice to Expert
The move from novice to expert practitioner has been widely researched within the clinical nursing world but is rarely discussed in generic management and leadership development. This session begins by examining the perceptions and expectations of individuals new to a management and leadership role. That role could be their first step on the management ladder or a promotion to a more senior post in both cases there will be a skills and capability progression that enables the individual to be more competent in their workplace practice.
The session investigates this progression and the mechanics of how individuals become ‘wiser’ in work. By including some parts of emotional intelligence and reflective practice the transition from novice to expert allows the participants to compare the value of the workplace based acquisition of wisdom & intuitive behaviour with the more recognised route of gaining a qualification and becoming a more theoretical expert. The central discussion is about combining taught knowledge with wisdom in the practical, workplace based world that leaders and managers inhabit.
We move from novice to expert constantly through our working life. Every time our job role changes ( not only as a promotion) we move back towards the novice level of operation and then have to progress. This session focuses on how we become more competent and acquire wisdom along our workplace journey
Cost
On application
N.B. – Costs exclude venue hire if needed
New One Day Course For 2018
1. Good with People
This day is designed to explore the notion that the most successful leaders have a common characteristic. During the last 7 years we found that the consensus is that they are all ‘good with people’. During this programme we will look at the practical implications of several theories and will combine them to enable leaders to become more effective in the workplace by being ‘good with people’.
Why would anyone want to work for you is a question posed at the beginning of the day as it is central to allowing teams to perform at an optimum level and there is a discussion around how people react to poor leadership and how effective leadership is key to the retention of talent.
Who was the best leader you ever experienced? Have they influenced your own leadership performance? Do you consciously avoid the traits of the worst leader you experienced?
The group are asked to consider the effect of perception upon their working
(and personal) lives. How quickly do we make up our minds about someone’s character and how ready are we to change that perception?
The importance of good communication skills and the different types of communication mechanisms are analysed with a constant referral back to practice in the workplace.
Already delivered to:
• Babcock
• New Directions
• British Gas