Workshops/Breakout Sessions
Interactive learning sessions with results-based outcomes.
Candid Conversations that Drive Results
Stepping up and having a difficult conversation is no easy task. It’s uncomfortable, stressful and certainly no fun. But if we choose to not say anything, the issue is likely to not get better and potentially even get worse. This program focuses on how to effectively engage in open, meaningful dialogue which will help us more fully understand one another and achieve enhanced, more productive and positive relationships. Learn to share tough messages in a way that maximizes candor and minimizes defensiveness, using six powerfully effective strategies.
Learning Objectives:
• Realize how someone’s perception of your intent as to why you are bringing up this issue, will influence his/her behavior during the discussion.
• Determine the correct timing and location for the conversation, understanding the challenges that exist when a face-to-face conversation is not possible.
• Learn how to effectively begin the conversation in a way that invites dialogue, clearly communicating the facts of the situation, and focusing on the behavior rather than on the person.
• Discover how to effectively reduce defensiveness when sharing a tough message, avoiding statements and words with negative connotations.
• Encourage the other person to share his/her thoughts and feelings, acknowledging your understanding of the other person’s point of view and asking clarifying questions when appropriate.
• Recognize natural tendencies when emotions begin to elevate and how to successfully maintain composure. Through preparation prior to the conversation and applying useful techniques during the conversation, unintentional poor behavior can be quickly corrected, getting the discussion back on track.
Engage & Inspire Your Workforce
As organizations continue to compete for top talent, they also seek to retain this talent, especially when in an increasingly competitive environment. This interactive session will showcase how leaders can benefit by ensuring that they and their employees are engaged and inspired to do their best work. An engaged workforce is critical, because having employees who quit and stay, is far worse a problem than employees who quit and leave.
If you want to build a high engagement and inspired workforce, focus on: Trust & integrity, job fit, performance expectations & feedback, alignment with corporate goals, culture, the relationship with the supervisor, employee development, inspiration & motivation, and growth opportunities.
Learning Objectives:
• Realize how an effective engagement strategy can greatly enhance the culture, productivity and overall revenue growth of an organization.
• Understand the importance of measuring the strength of your organization before implementing a solid strategy. By measuring the results each year, you can see the impact of your efforts, ensuring that your organization continues to move in a positive direction.
• Recognize when engagement issues arise and implement specific strategies to work through and overcome them.
• Understand the framework of this engagement strategy so that you can effectively apply it within your team and across your organization.
Getting Unstuck in Times of Change
One of the most valuable job skills you can have in today’s world is knowing how to change. Some changes we can control, others we can influence, and some situations we simply can’t control. This program focuses on understanding the change process and learning key strategies to manage personal reactions, increase effectiveness individually and within your team, and learning how to move toward become a change agent in unstable times. Discover how to overcome resistance, build resilience and protect productivity for you, your team and your organization.
Learning Objectives:
• Understand the drivers of change and how a change can represent both a challenge and an opportunity for growth.
• Determine factors that impact your response to change and how you can better control your reactions.
• Assess your personal change effectiveness level and realize actions you can take to help move you through the transition.
• Learn the four phases of change and how we can move from being stuck to maneuvering through the transition.
• Discover how to take accountability for dealing with change initiatives and how we influence the changes around us.
• Adopt new tools for managing the challenges of change related to communication, resistance and productivity.
Clear, Concise & Confident Communication
The ability to effectively organize our ideas and communicate them clearly, concisely is now a core skill. Whether we need to illustrate our point one-on-one, in a small group, over the telephone, via email or present a concept to a larger group, we all realize that how we communicate our message can dramatically affect the outcome. Learn to quickly structure your ideas and communicate them in a logical manner, allowing you to answer questions quickly and confidently, while also maintaining poise under pressure.
Learning Objectives:
• Structure ideas into a simple, yet effective format, following the “Rule of Threes.”
• Learn techniques to articulate your message clearly and concisely while also adding depth and greater understanding for the listener(s).
• Create logical points to communicate your message using five “W” Strategies (who, what, where, when & why) involving individuals/teams, things/facts, places/locations, sequential/chronological time, and advantages/benefits of your ideas, products and services.
• Clarify the question being asked when needed to align your answer accurately and with greater impact.
• Communicate effectively one-on-one, on the phone, through e-mail, in meetings, and with informal or formal presentations.
• Demonstrate enhanced self-confidence and greater poise when communicating, presenting or speaking.
Speak with Persuasive Power & Professional Presence
Speaking effectively conveys authority, influence, and success! This workshop helps you learn expert techniques of polished speakers. You’ll learn how to organize and focus your thoughts, plan an organized strategy for your content, incorporate an effective introduction and closing, use examples and stories to add greater impact, and apply skillful techniques for speaking professionally. Learn how to take your information and transform it into a high impact and memorable presentation. Get ready to gain people's attention, project a confident image, convey knowledge and expertise, and positively influence your listeners.
Learning Objectives:
• Plan ideas and content into an organized format, including an opening, body (with facts, examples, and/or stories) and closing.
• Integrate transitions to build clarity, understanding and meaning for the audience.
• Understand how the right body language reinforces what you’re saying—and how the wrong body language negates it.
• Use tools to captivate the attention of the audience and compels them to want to learn more.
• Learn tactics to remain poised and professional, speaking with less nerves and greater confidence.
• Discover powerful strategies to dramatically impact how memorable your message is to an audience.
• Focus on truly connecting with your audience to deepen the experience and inspire them to take action.
Make It Happen! Achieve More in Less Time
We all have one exact thing in common. What is it? TIME. We all have 365 days a year, 168 hours a week and 24 hours a day. So why is it that some people get more done than others?
Learn essential skills and tools to maximize your time while also demonstrating greater discipline to achieve your desired results. Discover how to effectively set limits so that you don’t over-commit yourself with the insurmountable number of tasks we continue to accept responsibility for. Learn how to proactively structure and manage your day instead of reacting to the crisis of the moment. Take control of your time and increase productivity without feeling overwhelmed, task-saturated and exhausted. It’s time to achieving more in less time!
Learning Objectives:
• Realize how taking on too many responsibilities can negatively impact your professional and personal lives.
• Discover traits of individuals who accomplish much more than others.
• Clearly understand expectations and priorities, comparing your desired time investments with your actual ones.
• Understand why we procrastinate and learn strategies to overcome procrastination.
• Determine how to effectively assess additional requests and how to set limits on both yourself and others.
• Learn how to say “no” tactfully, yet assertively, when necessary.
• Realize the importance of scheduling tasks according to your personal energy cycle.
• Discover powerful strategies to increase email productivity by better managing interruptions, using time-saving tips, and significantly reducing email processing time.
Conquer the Chaos! Stress Less Inside & Out
Stress is considered by many experts to be the #1 health problem today. It is linked to all of the leading causes of death--including cancer, heart disease, lung disease, accidents, and even suicide. In fact, the effects of stress are becoming more and more prevalent, with over a million workers a day missing work due to issues with stress, with estimations indicating that forty-three percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects due to stress.
Learning to prevent, reduce and cope with stress is certainly something worth focusing on. It not only enhances the well-being of associates and their productivity levels, but it also reduces lawsuits, absenteeism, work injuries, health costs, and turnover.
Learning Objectives:
• What is stress and why is it such a huge issue.
• Understand the business impact of stress on organizations.
• Identify your own level of stress and understand who is most susceptible to increased levels.
• Become aware of the symptoms and effects that stress has on our bodies and our lives.
• Learn strategies to prevent, reduce and cope with stress.
Platinum Service: Personalized, Positive & Memorable
Creating a positive, memorable service experience, one that causes your customers to keep coming back…that is the competitive edge we are looking for in business today. This advantage is called the Platinum Edge. Explore specific strategies you can immediately apply with your service staff to further enhance your organization’s level of customer service. Learn how to make a strong, positive impact on your customers so you build long-lasting loyal relationships.
Learning Objectives:
• Recognize what customers truly want from a service interaction and discover what specific strategies can be demonstrated to exceed customer needs and desires.
• Enhance communication skills needed for building loyal relationships by actively and patiently listening, controlling our urge to talk more than we should, and understanding how each method of communication impacts the service interaction differently.
• Explore and develop skills to effectively work through difficult service experience, using the L.E.A.R.N. method.
• Deliver personalized Platinum Edge service moments, specific to your style, which creates positive, memorable experiences for every customer.
Email Essentials: Effectively Crafting & Controlling Email
If you’re like most professionals, every day you face an overflowing inbox, mountains of files, frequent interruptions, and countless tasks and responsibilities. You may feel overwhelmed, stressed and exhausted even before you get out of bed in the morning to start another day. Email Essentials will provide strategies on how to enhance your skill in writing clear, concise and actionable email messages, increase your ability to be more focused and productive, and improve your effectiveness and efficiency in managing email overload.
Learning Objectives:
• Enhance your communication and image by learning to craft clear, concise and actionable email messages using effective subject lines and specifically stating the action, purpose and necessary response time.
• Learn how to build instant understanding through the use of key words and an organized email structure.
• Realize how word choice, tone, and style, dramatically impact the perception of one’s message and also the response the sender receives.
• Understand email guidelines to help ensure your message is received as intended. This includes problem words and actions to avoid, greetings and closures, emoticons and abbreviations, Cc and Bcc, large attachments and e-trains, social niceties, and the use of “out-of-office assistant.”
• Discover eight strategies to increase productivity by better managing interruptions, using time-saving tips, and significantly reducing email processing time.
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