MANAGEMENT/LEADERSHIP
If poor managers are the
number one reason people leave a position, then it is
the best interest of organizations to make sure their
managers on all levels whatever experience level, have the
right skills to develop staff and encourage good
performance. Some of the programs listed below are
used to work with managers some are individual programs.
Whether
the focus is hiring the best, or keeping the best, Training
Solutions can provide the optimal solutions to help
organizations meet their goals, improve performance,
productivity, and profit.
Building
Teams & Trust
Win As
Much As You Can!
"Now
I get it!" said one senior manager of a
quasi-governmental financial institution after participating
in Win As Much As You Can. "I know exactly
what’s missing from my team and just why they aren’t
acting like a team!!!"
Each individual must
make a choice during this highly engaging, always
boisterous, and often surprising exercise...and that choice
has lasting, real-life personal, team, and trust
implications. People leave with an impression of each other
that they never had before.
In
this game/ exercise patterned after the 'Prisoner's
Dilemma,' participants explore the force and magnitude of
trust to building effective teams. Fun with a punch!
The
Prisoner’s Dilemma
You
and a partner decide to embark on a new career -- bank
robbery!
In
your first attempt, however, you are captured. You both
are taken to jail and isolated. You know that you will
spend at least two years in prison for your offense, but
if you cooperate and "squeal" on your partner,
you will spend no time in jail and your accomplice will
spend five years in prison. The same offer is made to
your partner. If you squeal on each other, however, both
of your prison terms are extended.
| |
|
Accomplice
|
|
| |
You
|
Stays
quiet
|
Squeals
|
|
| |
Stay
quiet
|
-2,-2
|
-5,0
|
|
| |
Squeal
|
0,-5
|
-4,-4
|
|
So, do you remain
silent, or squeal?
Lost
at Sea!
A
Classic Teamwork Exercise
Subgroups are put in
an awkward situation -- they are in a rubber raft in the
middle of nowhere, mid-Pacific and given 15 items to help
ensure their survival. How will they rank the items? Will
they survive? Will it become a sequel to the
"Titanic?"
This exercise gives
an experience of effective teamwork, but more -- it results
in measurable, quantitative proof that team can work!
(But, there is a
"dark side" to teaming. And, that, too, will be
explored.)
The
Strength Deployment Inventory
The
Power of Teamwork: Aligning Individual Strengths
Strength
... The Strength Deployment Inventory helps team members
identify their personal strengths in relating to others
under two conditions: when everything is going well,
and when they
are faced with conflict.
Deployment...means
to move strategically as a team or take positions in support
of the team for effective action. The SDI suggests that a
team member’s personal strengths may be used to improve
relationships within the team. The SDI measures strengths in
three motivational areas:
• The need to
influence others (Assertive-Directing)
• The need to shape
order from chaos (Analytic-Autonomizing)
• The need to
nurture and help others
(Altruistic-Nurturing).
Inventory...the
SDI is not a test where there is a "right"
or "wrong" answer. It is an easy-to-complete
20-item inventory that provides, as one team member
expressed it, "a flash of insight into myself and
others on the team. I know more than I had ever hoped about
what I need to do to get the team working really
effectively."
The Strength
Deployment Inventory is presented in an engaging,
insightful, and often humorous, way. Through explanation,
work-life experiences, and key, memorable points, the
strengths of each motivational pattern is fully explored, as
well as the dynamics and power of teaming.
The
“Ladder of Inference”
So, who is at
fault?!?!?
Who’s responsible
for the injuries to a child playing with a friend at a
neighbor’s house? Well, a minor injury occurred -- but the
real injury happened on the way to the hospital. Seatbelts
would’ve helped, but it might also never had occurred if
the 80-year-old man with a suspended license...well,
there’s a lot more to this than "meets the eye."
Participants are told
an intricate and engaging story -- one that challenges their
values as they rank characters in the story. The story also
invites participants to compare their intrinsic values as
they are asked to come up with a consensus ranking. The
discussion gets wild as they narrow in their rankings.
As they examine the
factors that influenced their rankings, they learn that most
of the information they used has been inferred. In the
debrief, participants explore Chris Argyris'/Peter Senge's
Ladder of Inference
BUSINESS
WRITING:
Making
your words work…
Research conducted by
Harvard University shows business people with good
communication skills receive promotions about 35% more often
than those who communicate poorly. In business, information
must be delivered in a clear concise manner. As employees
become more responsible, there is a greater need for written
communication that conveys both ideas and actions, and is
easily understood. A basic and intermediate course will be
developed and delivered to provide attendees with the skills
and techniques they need to write more effectively. Practice
enables participants to improve their skills using examples
from their everyday work.
QUALITY CUSTOMER
SERVICE IS FOR EVERYONE
Customer Service, we
all talk about it and espouse the benefits, but delivering
customer service that delights, requires more than just
words. Providing good service requires an understanding of
who the customer is both internal and external and what
barriers and biases exist. To be truly effective means more
than just saying the words; but looking at how to handle all
types of situations.
Many organizations
tout customer service as a valued behavior, the most
successful, model appropriate actions and reward excellence.
A consistent approach
is used at all levels and delivered to all customers,
internal and external
Quality customer
service is interactive, practicing the skills learned and
developing proficiency. The program can be delivered in 1/2
day modules with practice time in between. It focuses on the
basics then adds components to address specific
organizational needs.
PUTTING
GOALS IN MOTION
Setting goals is one
thing. Bringing them to life is quite another. This half-day
workshop focuses on the key elements that make or break a
team’s ability to accomplish its goals:
- focused and
aligned efforts
- realistic
planning
- effective
communication
- tracking
progress
MATCHING
COMMUNICATION STYLES
Myers
Briggs Type Indicator
Developing
effective leadership skill in the area of communicating is
key. The Myers Briggs Type Indicator is a
"personality instrument" that provides an
exciting, informative, insightful approach to enhancing
communication because the subject is YOU, your leadership
strengths, and setting the context for leadership.
The Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator is an easily-completed questionnaire for
identifying our natural preferences, strengths and
temperaments. Through 94 short questions, the MBTI
identifies differing styles of perception, judgment,
direction, and approach.
STEPS TO BETTER
PRESENTATIONS
It has been said that
for many, giving a presentation is as high on the fear scale
as dying. It doesn’t have to be. Using 25 basic steps
derived from experience and research, public speaking
becomes easier and far more effective. Steps 1-10 are listed
below
Relate to the
audience… Bring your passion
Identify barriers
you create to limit your credibility… Does your audience
feel separate?
Name your fears.
Present as you would
talk .."one on one" Talk to your group, not at.
Set up presentations
in terms of this is the purpose… help them achieve it
… then show them they did it!!!
Look and Listen..
Step outside yourself do you hold attention? Look at
yourself in the mirror as if you are outside yourself
Rehearse as if you
are delivering
Reinforce learning
with interactive questions keep it simple make it relevant
Do you know why your
audience is there and what they need
Get specific
feedback from attendees and observers
TRAIN THE TRAINER
Working
with individuals or groups to impart knowledge or skills
requires the development of a specific program that is
delivered and measured. Having the knowledge or knowing the
skill does not ensure successful transfer of learning to the
end user. To be proficient in this area requires an
understanding of how adults learn, the best intervention,
and a method for evaluating continuous success
Purpose:
To provide the
knowledge and skills through interactive programs to enable
each of the participants to be successful
trainers/facilitators.
360º
ASSESSMENTS
"What a
wonderful gift to give us to see ourselves as others see
us." Robert Burns
Despite how honest we
think we are we can not view our actions from the
perspective of others. They see us based on their experience
and bias and may not interpret our intent, as we desire.
Equally important is the perception of our customers, do
they perceive what we intend? By using the 360º assessment,
information is gathered on areas of success and areas that
need strengthening. The next step is learning how to apply
the information. This is the coaching aspect in which
individuals and teams develop action plans and learn
resources.