Workshops & Training

Click on a workshop to learn more: Solving Problems Together | Balanced Leadership
Influence With Integrity | What’s My Communication Style? | Finding ME in Team
Coaching for Improved Performance | The Group — Which Way is Up? | Encouraging Your Team
Training Topics | Training Formats

Solving Problems Together

Anyone can benefit from this workshop, but it should be mandatory for groups who solve problems together.

The session strengthens the tenets of Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Process Improvement initiatives.  It also teaches the fundamentals necessary to solve problems as a group in a “no blame zone”.  Specific techniques to fully diagnose a problem are taught.  Values reinforced are:

  • reliability and consistency to gathering and analyzing information
  • the group is greater than the sum of its parts
  • no jumping to solutions

Participants will learn that problems are usually system problems, not people problems.

Balanced Leadership

In addition to technical know-how, leaders must also know how to lead.  Leaders must know more than their area of expertise, they must be able to influence and persuade others.  The old ways of managing are gone.

This session will focus on the five competencies found in Emotional Intelligence to help leaders lead.  The more leaders know about themselves and others, the better equipped they are to lead others.  The so-called “soft” skills, such as active listening, will be taught.  Research shows that leaders with well developed “soft” skills are more successful in the long term.

Anyone can get something done quickly with a kick in the pants but it doesn’t create the environment for a respectful relationship over time.  This session should help leaders become better communicators, mediators and motivators through a balanced leadership approach.

Influence with Integrity

Convincing and persuading others is inherent in business.  However, when people use tactics learned on the grade school playground, such as bullying, intimidation, coercion, humiliation — conflict will erupt.

The ability to influence with integrity is critical to the success of managers, supervisors, salespeople, customer service personnel and all workers at one time or another.

This workshop provides an assessment of preferred conflict styles and shows ways to handle situations with integrity.  The session provides insight and ideas about how to convince and persuade others, without destruction.

What’s My Communication Style?

This workshop will help employees understand their own communication style and how it impacts others.  They will also learn about the communication styles of others.  This knowledge helps build better relationships and improves communications in the workplace.

Values reinforced are:

  • understanding
  • tolerance
  • acceptance
  • respect

Participants will learn skills to analyze interpersonal dynamics and work with a wide variety of personalities and agendas.  Participants will learn the four basic behavioral styles, how to identify them, and how to adapt behaviors to improve relationships.

Finding “ME” in “TEAM”

This workshop helps people see themselves realistically within their team and helps build relationships for ongoing constructive teamwork.  It focuses on individual responsibility and accountability within the team framework.

Values reinforced are:

  • common knowledge
  • sharing information
  • no blaming
  • acknowledgement

The FISH Philosophy is used to provide a fun and provocative learning experience that demonstrates how important attitude and contribution are to the success of the whole group.

Coaching for Improved Performance

This is specifically designed for first time and first line supervisors.  It raises understanding of the true causes behind poor performance.  It forces supervisors to look beyond just blaming the employee and slapping on quick, easy fixes.

The fact is that 85% of performance problems are systems generated — meaning performance problems are NOT the employees’ fault.  This workshop teaches supervisors to assess what went wrong, find real fixes and not band-aid approaches and uncover poor performance disguises.  The values of employee recognition, attention, participation and mutual respect are reinforced.

The Group — Which Way is Up?

Understanding how a group works is critical to leading one or participating fully within one.  This session teaches group dynamics, communication patterns and styles, individual power bases, and group process inhibitors and enhancers.  People must learn to work together, and it doesn’t come naturally.

The workshop demonstrates the power of the group, showing how a group makes higher quality decisions than individuals working alone.  Also, the session will give techniques for improving communications and managing meetings.

Encouraging Your Team

Surveys continuously show that employees do not feel valued at work.  Employees may be receiving top notch pay and great benefits, but they are still feeling disenfranchised from the supervisor’s agenda or from the organization’s mission.  What is lacking is simple recognition and attention.

This session explores the impressive power of praise to encourage people.  We know that positive reinforcements can motivate and praise is one of the most powerful reinforcers.  This session will guide leaders on how they can personalize rewards and recognition.  Specific stratgies will be provided, but the focus will be on understanding and acceptance that heartfelt praise and appreciation is the key.

Training Topics

We provide targeted training on the following topics for specific organizations.

  • communication
  • effective interpersonal skills
  • group problem solving
  • lean workplace
  • managing performance
  • process mapping
  • six sigma
  • superivision
  • team building
  • time management
  • transitioning from peer to leader
  • visual workplace (5S’s)

Training Formats

  • group training, organizational education, management consulting and individual coaching
  • embedded training within an organization  — including needs assessment, program development and ongoing training
  • group training sessions — four to eight hour workshops
  • snap shot training — one hour presentations at brown bag luncheons or retreats

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