Nothing says more about your competence, confidence and professionalism than the way you communicate with others.  Your ability to communicate skillfully and confidently is vital to your success.

The goal of this workshop is to help you understand the impact your communication skills have on coworkers and provide tactics for getting along with others, gaining respect, and strengthening your professional image in the workplace.

Improving your communication skills will also increase your effectiveness and productivity - sharpening your listening skills and communicating with clarity saves time by eliminating rework.

Key Training Points

• Identify your communication strengths and weaknesses
• Develop your ability to ask questions to get the information you need
• Develop skills to listen actively and with empathy
• Examine your self-awareness and ability to ask for feedback
• Recognize how we all take actions based on the assumptions we make
• Investigate ways to improve your self-image and assertiveness

Conflicts among coworkers can disrupt workplace morale and productivity.  Two main areas of conflict are personality clashes (based on differences in behavior, styles, attitudes, beliefs, or opinions) and structure of work (overlapping responsibility, use of same equipment, etc.).

Resolving Conflicts Through Mediation will give you a practical and effective method for resolving workplace conflicts and help you:

• Minimize the negative effects of conflict.
• Resolve conflicts quickly and effectively to keep the conflict from becoming destructive.
• Increase productivity by resolving conflicts effectively.

Key Training Points

• Distinguishing between the two major sources of conflict.
• Recognizing the positive and negative impacts of conflicts.
• Accepting conflict as an inevitable part of all work situations, one that must be dealt with - not ignored.
• Establishing a cooperative atmosphere to resolve conflicts when they arise.
• Helping individuals involved in conflicts understand each other's point of view.
• Guiding coworkers to agree on the facts and a solution.

How would you react if you were asked to do a presentation at a staff meeting, for upper management or at a public event?  Some people would jump at the opportunity to present.  But if you are like most folks, you would probably avoid presenting at all costs due to feelings/fears of being nervous, unprepared, or embarrassed.

Fundamentals of Effective Presentations will help you conquer stage fright and become more comfortable in speaking situations.  You will gain methods and strategies for saving time and embarrassment by learning how to effectively gather information about your audience, organize your message, apply different delivery techniques, control nervousness, utilize visual aids, and communicate with clarity and conviction.

Discover how to present by presenting.  This workshop provides the opportunity to "get your feet wet" and practice your public speaking skills in a supportive, small group environment.  As a bonus, you will receive a recording of your presentation in addition to feedback from your classmates and the facilitator.

Key Training Points

• Describe the three critical elements of speaking
• Explain the importance of considering listeners' needs when planning to speak
• Recognize the need for formulating a clear, concise statement of the objective
• Demonstrate a variety of delivery techniques
• Structure and deliver a formal or informal presentation

The September session will run Tuesday, Sept. 21 and Thursday, Sept. 23.

• Accomplish more in less time during interactions, while improving relationships.
  
• Motivate their teams--and themselves--to be more effective.
  
• Enhance team performances by providing feedback people are willing to accept and act upon.
• Become catalysts that spark others into action.

• Understand yourself and others through the DiSC model
• Appreciate the communication preferences of different people
• Recognize when your behavior is inappropriate or likely to be misunderstood
• Build strategies to adapt your behavior for more effective communication

Do you struggle with writing?  Or do you see signs of ineffective writing in your organization?  Have you ever considered the effect of poor writing on your business?

Writing is a significant part of every professional's job.  With the onset of email, instant messaging and the Internet, most of our communication is done via a keyboard---which means good business writing is as important as ever.  Unfortunately, poor writing is one of the biggest problems in business today.  And studies have shown that poor writing contributes to miscommunication, low productivity, lost revenue, poor customer relations, and a damaged reputation.

Mastering the Art of Business Writing will help you strengthen the impact of your writing and overall professional image by teaching you the habits of good writing.  This comprehensive seminar will help you identify your audience; overcome writer's block; craft a clear, simple message; and check for details like frequently misspelled and confused words.  From beginning to final copy, this seminar will help you get it all together and put it down in a way that gets results.  Even "experienced" writers can learn secrets for writing effective letters, memos, emails and reports.

Key Training Points

• Identify the value of good writing
• Plan your writing
• Apply the "Five Cs" of good business writing
• Recognize and correct frequently misspelled and confused words
• Discuss common e-mail problems and solutions

Individual differences are key to the success of any organization. Yet these vital differences can also lead to common workplace issues--stress, conflict, low productivity, and resistance to change. So how do you solve common problems among unique individuals? You begin with self-awareness. Self-awareness is a key component of effective management.

DiSC: Discovering Your Leadership Style helps participants identify their strengths by focusing on the behaviors that "come naturally" to them. When leaders operate from their strengths and are aware of their weaknesses, they can more effectively coach, delegate, and correct performance problems.

Key Training Points

• Discovering your personal behavioral style
• Exploring the four DiSC dimensions of behavior--Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness
• Flexing your behavioral style to communicate more effectively with others
• Promoting appreciation of individual differences
• Enhancing individual and team performance

This seminar is part of the Frontline Leadership Skills Certificate Series.

• The definition of a "meeting"
• Six steps for planning a meeting
• Tools for following up after a meeting to ensure outcomes are achieved
• Five intervention techniques for handling challenges during a meeting

Cross-training can evoke fear and even anger. People fear they will have to do another job they don't like. They worry about how they will juggle their present job with training others. And they might feel their own job is in jeopardy.

Training Others gives employees the skills they need to effectively help others prepare for new tasks and responsibilities. The seminar also will help build employee commitment to and understanding of the importance of training to your organization.

Key Training Points

• Recognizing the importance of training others in the workplace.
• Planning and conducting on-the-job training with one or more people.
• Identifying potential roadblocks to training and how to handle them.

• Understanding the importance of proper documentation and its effect on an organization
• Recognizing the characteristics of good documentation
• Identifying the key points of FOSA
• Following the steps for conducting disciplinary sessions
• Recording actions in an incident diary
• Avoiding common pitfalls supervisors face when documenting discipline

Today's workforce comprises four distinct generations; each with its own shared history, common biases and core beliefs. In this seminar participants are given insights into the common drivers of each generation in order to change current communication approaches to more effectively lead their teams.

• Defining the four generations and their workplace characteristics
• Describing how each generation defines success and understanding how the differences affect communication and relationships
• Identifying employees' generational biases in order to change your approach when coaching, managing, and retaining employees of different generations