Positive Effect - Trainings That Make A Difference

Getting Your Teams on Board - Leadership, Management and Mission

So many organizations have mission statements in prospectuses and on web sites, but very few have missions that live in the hearts and minds of the people who work there. This training puts the emphasis on values and climate because that is where the leverage is. Instead of focusing on 'what needs to be done?' - or even the more enlightened 'how can we do it?' Staff should be encouraged to own 'why are we doing it?'

The real leverage is in the culture and the ethos of the workplace. Authoritarian managers create defensive cultures - sometimes getting angry and upsetting themselves and others in the process. Meanwhile perfectionist leaders create under-performing teams and nervous cultures, afraid to do anything. (Why try? - you might make a mistake!)

Good leaders pull their workforce with them, poor leaders push them - and for them, it gets harder every time. Good leaders inspire and focus on desired end results, poor leaders micro-manage and insist everyone does it their way. Leaders have influence, whereas a boss only has power.

There are many managers, but few leaders. How is a leader made? What qualities are most important? What is substance and what is style? How can you use your own natural abilities and skills to the full?

Your management style will have a huge bearing on the health of your team(s). How approachable are you? How responsive to new ideas? Are you endlessly checking and monitoring, when you could be relaxing and be enjoying? Are you part of a 'work-factory' when you could be part of a 'work-family?' To survive in today's marketplace we will need leaders who don't just focus on what we are getting, but on what we are becoming.

This training encourages Leaders and managers to explore their own habits, attitudes, beliefs and expectations (in a safe and supportive environment). It also invites them to efficiently align and communicate their goals and vision. Only then can they expect better performance and clearer direction.

This is a deep level Training specifically for people who manage or lead teams; it is designed to nurture positive change and transformation. It is delivered in such a way that it encourages personal reflection, inviting delegates to take responsibility for the tremendous influence they have on the climate of the workplace, which in turn (of course) affects performance.

Increasingly, leaders are realizing that the best leaders start with self development. In this way, they will prove themselves leaders, not just by their Authority and their Knowledge, but also by their Example.

Summary: A very practical Training for ALL managers and leaders - a highly structured day involving group-work, illustrations, dialogue, examples etc. Giving staff, not just the theories, but also the tools! A refreshing and through workout - which supports while it challenges.

Managing Challenging Behaviour - What really works and Why

Many folks are taught to be assertive when dealing with challenging behaviour, but this can often escalate the conflict because it encourages strategies of maintaining eye contact, and techniques like 'broken record'. Both would almost certainly make things worse. Under stress, staff might focus heavily on being right instead of first being safe (and keeping others safe). Such mistakes are often dealt with in A & E!

This training looks at the escalation of challenge and examines what exactly is going on. The pattern of escalation is explored, together with what works and what doesn't work. A thorough understanding of the process leads to better methods for tackling problems as they arise. In this way delegates are taught why something works, not just what works.

The ethos of this training is - be tough on the behaviour, but not on the person. This is not some new 'pc' approach, but rather is a deep way of maintaining a genuine link with the person. It is hard to influence, if we simply take up an adversarial position; it is much better to relate - that is why even in extreme situations like a 'hostage' situation, the police work very hard to establish and maintain a relationship.

This Training also uses high level Neuro Linguistic Programming techniques - in particular the many types of Rapport, which are pivotal to desired outcomes. The incremental and sequential nature of the escalation is considered as a structure with definable features - each of which can be diffused with skill to restore order.

The scope of this training is broad in that it covers a very wide range of possible situations, however it should be stressed that this not a 'self-defence' course - rather it is for managing the many and varied expressions of challenging behaviour that we are likely to encounter in a work situation.

The Training will show delegates not only how to manage challenges that arise, but also how to maintain a healthy working climate - thereby reducing risk.

Summary: One of the most innovative Challenging Behaviour Trainings you are likely to experience - it focuses on strategies that work and gives you an understanding of why.

Rights and Responsibilities for Healthy, Happy Teams

A great training for raising the overall health of teams - and the organization as a whole!

Only when each part of the body functions well does the body as a whole experience optimum wellness. Each organ has a dual role:

To be itself and function well doing what it does
To integrate well with the rest of the body

This training references the Assertiveness model - which is about being able to be yourself (and express yourself) whilst raising your awareness of the needs and feelings of others. Strangely, despite its ability to catalyze profound change, assertiveness training has not been embraced by organizations in the way that it might have been (typically, it has been offered as a kind of 'token training' for women in the workplace - a box ticking exercise). This training however, is intended to have real value and meaning for those who attend, and for those they work with. Men and women.

When people are not assertive it can literally destroy teams and undermine organizations. Non assertive behaviour falls into three broad categories

Aggressive - The Bully
(Bulldozes others to get what they want, shout, intimidate, over react)
Passive - The Doormat
(Gives in out of fear of conflict, then resents new situation, blames and complains)
Passive Aggressive - The Manipulator
(traps people into doing what they want, often by using guilt or playing 'victim')

The Training explores the three positions, as well as the healthier Assertive option. A rich understanding of these four options alone usually leads to measurable levels of positive transformation.

The scope of the training will include:

Four types of behaviour
Rights and responsibilities
Self esteem and developing a better relationship with yourself
Saying 'No,' and Saying 'Yes' (to everyone's benefit!)
Dealing with criticism (without feeling hurt or condemned)
Dealing with compliments (without deflection or discounting)
Tone of voice and body language
Specific Techniques - Fogging, Broken Record, Workable Compromise, etc.
Assertiveness and goals

Assertiveness is not about being more demanding and loud - that is known as aggression. Aggression is non assertive.

Note: This training requires a certain level of role play and audience participation - in this way, the concepts and categories will be better illustrated and easier to understand. However no one will be made to do anything, they don't wish to do.

Summary: A thoroughly modern training for men and women in the workplace - designed to encourage healthier working relationships where each member contributes fully to the overall health of the organization; Ideal for raising self awareness, self-esteem and emotional intelligence.

Better Communication - Healthier Relationships

This Training references Transactional Analysis which is a very simple, yet powerful way of understanding communication and relationships. It is of immense value to the workplace; improving self esteem and communication skills at the same time. Many people notice the improved 'tone' of staff meetings after delegates have attended this course.

The lifeblood of any organization is the quality of its communication, and the condition of its relationships. Transactional Analysis is an elegant tool for significantly improving both!

Communication theories can be complex and convoluted - e.g. "Who-says what-to whom-in what way-along what channel-and to what effect?" By contrast, Transactional Analysis provides a more streamlined model suggesting that with each communication (transaction) we are operating from a state of either being like a Parent, an Adult, or a Child.

If these states are habitual, and not appropriate to the situation, then they might be called 'games' or 'pastimes'. These represent patterns of behaviour that prevent good communication, healthy relationships - and can seriously undermine groups, teams and organizations.

Sometimes people try to fix the behaviours as they arise, rather than addressing the pattern - this would be like a fisherman always using a line that's too weak for the fish he wants to catch... and each time it snaps, buying another weak line. He is addressing the problems as they arise, but never the pattern of his behaviour. In this way, Transactional Analysis can quickly address causes, rather than just symptoms.

T.A. is not about blame, it is about responsibility.

When a member of staff is sulking, they are accessing their 'Child' when you want them to operate from 'Adult'. When a member of staff is damning any new idea that arises in a staff meeting, they might be operating from 'Parent' (critical) when 'Adult' might be more appropriate - and they might be playing a game like "Yes, but..." Other staff, further down the corridor, might be playing "Ain't it awful..." instead of doing anything constructive.

T.A. looks at the things we say, and the games we play. It encourages us to take a more mature position.

The scope of this Training includes:

Ego states - Parent, Adult, Child (with the nurturing, the critical, the playful, and the spoilt)
Strokes and folks - and the hunger for recognition
Four Life Positions - and what they mean (OK?)
The Egogram - a map of me, my team, my organization
Analysing the Transaction - complementary, crossed etc.
Pastimes - the gearstick of life in neutral? - it might be very harmful!
Games people play - scripts and patterns
Implications for the 'classroom' - what now?
Implications for the Organization - what now?

Summary: A powerful exploration of communication skills using Transactional Analysis with particular reference to business - and organizational health. Through group-work, illustrations and dialogues, staff will be encouraged to apply their understanding of T.A. to their relationships with one another.

Creativity - A Tool for Growth and Improvement (Harnessing the Energy of Your Teams)

Your business was once just an idea. Every improvement to your business will also begin as an idea. How many new ideas are you currently harnessing?

Some folks chop wood harder instead of taking the time to sharpen the axe. This training is for those who know the value of working ON the business as well as IN the business.

Without creativity and opportunities to make new contributions, companies become extinct. There are tremendous untapped resources within organisations in the form of the ideas and innovations of their staff. Often the opportunities for harnessing these tremendous energies simply don't exist. Sometimes managers are ignorant of the tools which could revitalise their teams, their productivity and their ability to 'future-proof' their company. This Training provides structures and methods through which the vital energy of creativity can be harnessed. Its emphasis is on the pragmatic and the useful.

When organisations create opportunities to share and harness ideas, the benefits are not just conceptual and practical, but social too. The formation of a "work-family" as opposed to a "work-factory" has positive implications for mission, motivation, attendance, sickness etc.

This Training shows you exactly how you can structure creative contributions which will have profound effects on your productivity, time-use, future growth etc. Creativity is often thought of as a luxury - as some kind of frilly and frothy add-on. Instead it should be seen as a vital ingredient. Some folks think that Creativity is a bringer of chaos, an enemy of order; however it is the very source of order, of efficiency, of streamlining etc. Ironically, those who fear creativity are often found over-compensating; creating their own chaos through too much bureaucracy (the serial killer of many organisations).

In the Training we will examine and use specific Creativity tools as used by many of the world's top organisations including Prudential Insurance, IBM, Federal Express, Polaroid, Pepsico, DuPont, and Nippon Telephone and Telegraph.

Delegates will be guided to approach creativity in a variety of ways including; the ability to generate alternatives; flexibility in thinking; improving solutions; originality of thought; skill in lateral thinking; seeing connections, etc. It also promotes an attitude of creativity which encourages better work relations, clearer communications and a willingness to consider others' point of view.

There can be no excuse for dull, stale, tired thinking. It is not about flamboyance, surrealism or extrovert behaviour - in essence it is about flexibility and the facility to generate alternatives (including new ways of approaching your tasks). This Training shows you how.

Many delegates even report that this Training leads often to more productive Staff meetings!

Summary: A really useful training that helps staff re-commission themselves - reminding them of the joy and privilege of being part of an inspiring work-family.

Introducing NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming)

This very reasonably priced training is delivered by a fully qualified NLP Master Practitioner (INLPTA), with over 25 years teaching experience. It covers the main Principles of NLP and shows how these can be used to great effect by those who apply them.

NLP is about how we use our minds, how we code things with language and how we make patterns. It is about the fact that we are influencing one another (and ourselves) all the time - the question is, are we enabling or disabling? What effect are we having on ourselves and our teams? Have we the tools to make change for the better? Remember that improvement doesn't always imply that anything is "wrong" to begin with - you don't have to be sick to get better!

Perhaps, sometimes we only notice things when they go wrong. But NLP focuses instead on what works. In a sense it is a catalogue of what works, why it works, and how we can apply that knowledge. It is positive and pragmatic, and immensely useful. In essence it is simply a deeper form of "common sense." For example, some people "fly into a rage" very quickly - imagine if they could use those same skills to "fly into a calm!" This course will have an overtly practical emphasis. It is for staff at all levels, already working hard, who would like to work smarter by discovering where the leverage is.

Increasingly businesses are turning to technologies of achievement like NLP to find the difference that makes a difference. However, NLP Training is often over-priced (at £1,000's per person), and sometimes delivered by those with only rudimentary qualifications.

This Training concerns itself with how we interact with others, how we relate to our goals, and how we can improve our communication skills (with ourselves as well as others). It is my sincere aim to make the day, fun, memorable, and useful.

We will consider many aspects of NLP including;
Is it about manipulating people?
What are the Four Legs of NLP?
What are the critical factors in developing a healthy climate?
How can we best develop rapport?
How can we identify the level of a problem quickly and effectively?

It also examines useful presuppositions - magical rules that work. The following areas are crucial to NLP and they too will be explored:

Outcomes - how to set and achieve goals (why previous goal-setting may have failed)
Sensory Acuity - and how to improve your awareness of what's going on inside ourselves and others
Flexibility - and the need to have "generative" rather than just "deductive" thinking
Action - applying these principles and others in a pro-active way

Could how you say be as important as what you say? - are you merely dealing with content, and missing the importance of process?

An excellent day's Training if you want to see lasting, positive change in your teams and managers.

Summary: A sound introduction to the profound principles of NLP, giving an awareness of its scope and its particular application to Business.

Advanced NLP (To Raise Awareness and Performance)

The aim of the training is to give delegates a greater awareness of themselves and others, and new sets of skills and understandings. It is intended that these new tools will be of huge practical import within business, both to the individual and the organization as a whole.

Neuro Linguistic Programming refers to the mind, language and patterns - it is about how we think, feel and act. It is highly pragmatic, being concerned with what works. Many people waste hours on problem after problem, instead of dealing with the 'pattern' of the problems - thus neutralising the problem generator! NLP is about leverage - why waste energy - why misplace effort?

The most vital resource in any organization is always the quality of the people within it. This training is a real investment in those people.

The scope of the training includes:

Pressupositions of NLP - their value and use
Representations and reality - how and why we delete, distort and generalize
Maps of the world - filters and patterns
Mapping across submodalities - change work without content
Holons and Holarchies - parts, relationships and heirarchies
Using Focus of Attention - to solve problems and explore issues
The art of Reframing - content, context and time
Advanced Sensory Acuity - reading body language as a key to thoughts and emotions
The Graves Values Model - using spiral dynamics to understand how groups evolve through necessary and predictable patterns of growth

This training represents the very cutting edge of NLP - exploring as it does concepts like the Graves Values Model, and giving people the tools with which to enrich their experiences and the experiences of the people they work with.

Typically NLP training (by Master Practitioners) run into £1000's per delegate. This Advanced training is offered for as little as £30 a day per delegate! (calculation based on 25 delegates)

Note: This is a THREE DAY training, although the days do not need to be consecutive, and can be spaced out throughout the year. The discounts mentioned on the Booking Page apply here, and consequently this training is £450 cheaper than three separately booked training days would be! It is only offered to graduates of our Intoducing NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) course because it builds on concepts previously explored. If however delegates have completed the Internationally recognised Certificate in NLP (INLPTA) then they too would be ready for this course.

Summary: A great training for anyone wanting positive and lasting enhancement. All great change comes from within. This training provides the tools and the concepts with which staff can take their NLP to an even more rewarding level. Expect visible differences and positive effects!

Appraisal - A Positive Tool for Growth

Managers often cite Staff Appraisal as one of their most disliked tasks. However with a few tweaks and a fresh approach Appraisals could become tremendous opportunities for better relationships, renewed vision and understanding.

This Training is designed to support managers in their appraiser roles, and assist them towards a stress free process that is meaningful and profitable for individuals, the work family, and the goals of the organisation.

This Training looks at Appraisal with fresh eyes, encouraging Staff to explore:

Purpose and Planning of Appraisal
Dangers of a "Weak" Appraisal
Dangers of a "Strong" Appraisal
Importance and Nature of Follow up

The administration of Appraisal is crucial to the smooth running of the process - preparation, notification, standard forms, the meeting, the follow up. Once the structure is understood, it can serve both parties, providing a framework for genuine dialogue. Appraisal should be an honest opportunity for sharing and understanding - not a police interrogation room or a mere form filling exercise.

Common pitfalls are explored, together with why they occur, as are their knock-on effects and their remedies. In particular, progressive managers might even use Appraisal as a tool for better understanding themselves, as well as their staff.

Appraisal provides a very useful opportunity to offer summarised feedback, to review the period, to look to the future, and to agree actions. The training also explores why there should not be shocks or surprises at Appraisal, and why giving Halos or Horns is counter-productive.

This Training is cutting edge, being built upon the sound business principles of "Investors in Excellence", The Pacific Institute, Chris Argyris, Kenneth Blanchard, Brian Tracey, Ken Wilber and Edward DeBono.

The biggest resource in your business is the people within it. Yet some managers might prefer working with spreadsheets and forms. This Training helps provide a useful and pragmatic framework towards Appraisals that are dynamic and worthwhile.

The Appraisal process is a great way of re-commissioning staff and consolidating your relationship with them. It can really help focus the goals of the organisation through mutual understanding.

Summary: A practical as well as thought provoking training, providing insights into all aspects of the Appraisal process. Delegates will be encouraged to explore the issues and build the solutions.

Manager as Role Model - Sharpen Skills and Raise Awareness

This is a training designed to refresh and revitalise those in positions of management. Often the managers role can feel a little isolated and without respite. This Training shows how you can be an excellent role model (without pretending to be perfect). It also shows the importance of being an example, and why it is an intrinsic part of leadership.

Delegates will be encouraged to explore:

The difference between managers who push, and managers who lead
What part behaviours and attitudes play
What they want from their teams
What their teams want from them
How to manage yourself
How to manage others

The real qualities of managers spring from their Values which inform their Attitudes, which drive their Behaviours - consequently this Training invites delegates to examine their values and attitudes (in the workplace) to see how these affect their own, and their teams, performance. All this is done in a supportive, friendly environment, where delegates can work in teams to help one another.

The Training also examines how we can deliberately model excellence in others (who might be the managers' role models?)

The emphasis here is on enhancing the performance of ourselves as managers, as well as getting the best from our teams. In the 21st Century we will need to create opportunities for our teams to contribute fully, to be more responsible, to co-operate as well as innovate. In short the managers of the future will get the best from their teams by creating a work family, rather than a work factory.

The old style Victorian masters of men tend to get less from their teams, just as perfectionist leaders lower productivity by making defensive cultures and promoting deceitful communications.

Transform your teams by reflecting first on your role. Activate your work force by setting in motion an irresistible culture and climate through your management style.

Summary: A truly modern Training which supports and assists managers in their increasingly demanding and complex roles. This day should inspire and refresh, so that delegates return with new energy and vision.

Introduction to Photoshop

Ever tried to learn a whole new software package from the manuals alone? It can be incredibly laborious and time consuming. Ever tried to price a training for Photoshop? They are usually vastly over-priced (extortionate even).

This Training is reasonably priced, and provides a very comprehensive introduction to the software. It is built around a series of "walk through" exercises, with the emphasis on delegates trying the techniques for themselves (with one to one guidance, as well as instruction from the front - using Photoshop on a screen). It is amazing what you can achieve with just a little more know-how!

A CD of source images will be provided for each delegate, together with a manual explaining the techniques and tools that they will familiarize themselves with and use, including:

Levels
Lasso
Dodge & Burn
Hue and Saturation
Layers
Clone Tool
The Histogram
Gradient Tool
Crop Tool
Curves
Blend Modes
Colour Picker
Filters

Although the exercises are designed simply to be vehicles for exploring the tools and their uses, they are also meaningful in themselves. They include:

Improving the colour saturation and contrast of images
Creating a sphere from a flat circle (painting with Photoshop)
Restoring a correct colour balance to images
Creating and using borders
Changing the colours of an object (but retaining its tonal qualities)
Creating sepia effects from colour images
Fixing the verticals on wonky images
Blending two images together
Using special effects

By the end of the day, which is very hands on, you will be able to confidently approach Photoshop to achieve the exact results you want.

Note: Ideal numbers for such a course would be between 6-16 because the nature of the learning requires a lot of one to one work, and students naturally work at different speeds.

Summary: An ideal and attractively priced course that introduces ALL the major tools and techniques in Photoshop. It would serve as an introduction or a refresher; and it could be used by Art and Design Staff, Graphic Design Staff - or even people in Marketing or Promotion.