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Sound SnacksHere are our snack-size insights on a range of work and personal issues. Click on any title below for the full article. Or for direct access...
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Anger Management Anger Management - Seems Anger is one of those things that we tend to shy away from dealing with, even though we're all affected by other people's uncontrolled anger (and of course our own). Appraisal Skills Appraisals can be a terrific forum for review, development and communication; or they can be a 'tick the box' exercise that is relatively meaningless. Assertiveness Skills It can be rather daunting to think that in really difficult and stressful situations Assertiveness is the best approach. Behaviour Change Humans are creatures of Habit and Pattern; it's how we survive. That's why Behavioural Changes are sometimes difficult things for us to deal with positively. Body Language The many non verbal signals we give when communicating can be very powerful. Business Meeting Skills Business Meetings: Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. How can you have a Better Business Meeting? Help with Business Meetings Skills and Meetings Facilitation. Change Fatigue With many organisations facing continuous change our most common reaction is an ostrich like attempt to try to keep our heads down until it's all over. Change Management Change is a constant. Change is good for you. Too much Change is bad for you. Communication Skills If we start with the premise that mis-communication is the norm, then we have a far greater chance of making our Communication Skills work. Conflict Management Conflict is an issue most of us shy away from. Why? What is so scary about a little bit of conflict? Counselling 'I'm fine; there's nothing wrong with me.' Difficulties in the Workplace, difficulties at home, stress getting too much to handle. Creativity 'There's no such thing as Creativity; you just assemble what's already there.' George Balanchine Cross Cultural A Culture Clash of some sort occurs as soon as two people get together. Customer Facing In the USA they're now calling it 'the human moment' - when businesses actually come Face to Face with people rather than using technology to get their message across. Customer service. Customer Relationship Too often we see Customers as a nuisance, as difficult, even as incidental to the business. Customer Service Customer Service is something most customers think is an oxymoron. The very idea of actually serving a customer seems to go against the grain for many of our big service companies. Delegation 'I haven't got time for Delegation! It takes more time to explain to someone what I want done than it does to do the job myself in the first place.' Difficult People People are Difficult. There are few fantasies in life that are more potent that the "if only" ones. Email Etiquette Communication by Email can be hugely liberating or deeply frustrating depending on peoples understanding of the limitations and constraints of the medium. Empathy For those of you reading this title and thinking it's going to be about some kind of touchy feely soft skills love one another diatribe... forget it. Empowerment What exactly does Empowerment mean in the way it gets used these days? Equality and Diversity Equality and Diversity can be a real strength or an absolute minefield. Executive Business Coaching An outline of a practical approach to Business Coaching, Executive Coaching and Mentoring for yourself or colleagues. Exhibitions and Trade Shows Companies spend thousands upon thousands of pounds getting their Exhibition stands, conferences and roadshows to look absolutely brilliant. Experiential Training Having the experience is so much more vital than listening to someone talk about having an experience. Facilitation Impact Factory offers training in facilitation, meetings, away days, conferences, brainstorming sessions, impromptu get-togethers among staff, inter-departmental talks. Group Dynamics Like many of the most fascinating things in life, group dynamics are always in a state of flux. Induction Most Induction Training is dull and boring. People troop in and are spoken at for anywhere from an hour to three days (or more!). Influencing Skills Most people's jobs require them to Influence Other People a lot of the time. Innovation If you have a job where you are expected to produce new ideas, fresh approaches and original concepts much of the time, there is no doubt you will be under extra pressure. Interpersonal Skills People interacting with other people, that's what Interpersonal Skill means. Job Interview Techniques You'll hear all sorts of rules about Job Interviews: people decide about you in the first 10 seconds; you have to make a good first impression; always ask insightful questions. Leadership Development Can you take someone who is not a Natural Leader and put them through a programme that will turn them into one? Management Training Management Training - There you are, you've aspired to be a manager, you got the promotion.....and then what? Managing Conflict Of all the issues that people tend to avoid, Conflict ranks at the top of the list, along with Public Speaking and swimming with sharks. Managing Former Peers One of the hardest professional moves to make is that from Workmate to Manager. Managing People Unless you live on an island populated only by yourself, you interact with people every day of your life. Therefore, you are continually 'Managing' the people you know and meet. Managing Pressure These days a lot of people feel as though they're being asked to do the impossible. Stress and Pressure builds up at work and Managing Pressure becomes an essential skill! Media Skills Dealing with the Media - Interviewers and Journalists - can be quite daunting for the uninitiated. Meeting Skills Love them or loath them, Meetings are a necessary evil. They're supposed to be about the transfer of information, about communication and moving things forward. How many of you are thinking one out of three wouldn't be bad? Mentoring Skills Why Mentoring? Many people think that when they're hired to do a job, particularly if it's a well paid and/or high flying job, they're supposed to know everything, be able to handle everything with ease. Motivation Motivation is one of those vague catchall words that mean completely different things to different people. Negotiating Skills Negotiating Skills - "Heads I win, tails you lose." That's the way to handle Negotiating, isn't it? Networking in Business Networking is something many of us resist doing because we think of it as something only pushy or agressive people do. Performance Management Let people know how they're doing, give them useful feedback and ensure they are working as effectively as possible. Personal Development If you stay the same, never change, stay fixed and inflexible, it's unlikely you're doing much personal development. Personal Effectiveness Most people want to feel useful in their lives. They want to feel as though they are making a contribution of some kind. Personal Impact Impact is a strong word. It happens when something or someone comes into contact with something or someone else. Personal Presence Some people, it seems, just have that certain something, a Personal Presence that's very hard to define, but that makes such an impressive impact that others who are less dynamic fade. Pitching To Win New Business Converting hard won New Business opportunities into actual work is a trick many of us would like to be better at. How can you improve your average? Positive Attitude Positive Attitude, Feedback, Acknowledgement, Affirmation; whatever you call it there are some very good reasons to tell people what works about them. PowerPoint Presentation PowerPoint is a marvellous invention. But it's just another aid, another tool... a very trendy blackboard. Presenting Skills Presenting is something many of us are required to do, but which few of us ever master. Proactivity Proactive people make things happen. Passive people have things happen to them. Procrastination 'Don't put off until tomorrow...'. Somehow turns into "Don't do today (or even tomorrow) that which you could possibly put off till forever". And if we have such busy lives (as we increasingly seem to have), we don't really have time to Procrastinate, do we? Project Management Project Management - The theatre's been booked, the marketing done, the tickets sold: the curtain must go up on a certain date at a certain time. How to Manage a Project! Public Speaking Public speaking is something most people try to avoid. It can however, with a little effort, be mastered by all of us. Report Writing Report Writing is a craft that can be learnt. Our courses help people write in a way that encourages people to engage with the writing. Role Play Role Play in training is a much maligned art form. Most people have had a bad experience of poorly run role play and want nothing to do with it. Saving Face in Negotiations Often in a negotiation people will continue to hold out not because the proposal on the table is inherently unacceptable, but simply because they want to avoid the feeling or the appearance of backing down to the other side. Fisher & Ury 'Getting to Yes' Self Confidence There are certainly times when all of us wish we could go into a shop and ask for a pound of Confidence please (or rather, 500 grams of Confidence please). Self Esteem Most people measure their Self Esteem through externals: did I get a Good Appraisal, did I get the raise I asked for, do my colleagues think I'm a Team Player, did I get Praised by my manager? Soft Skills In the hard world of business, 'soft skills' seems such a squishy term for one of the essential competencies people need in order to be successful: interpersonal aptitude. Stress Management Managing Stress - It is unlikely that our workaday situations are going to change much in the next few years. Teambuilding Whichever route you choose to get your team working well together - to get the kind of teambuilding you want - there are a few key elements to consider that are crucial. Technology Most of the time when people use a piece of Technology to Communicate with they think that they are received at the other end as though it's them. It isn't. Teleconferencing Having a Teleconference can seem like a good use of everyones presious time, but there are a few things to watch out for. Telesales Training The tone of your Telesales call could well be what's losing you business. Training Trainers A lot is expected of trainers: they have to deliver information or concepts or new ways of working into companies. They often have to introduce an entire workforce to a new mission or set of company values. Verbal Skills Most of us spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about our Verbal Skills, and with some justification. After all, from our earliest days we are encouraged from all sides to do two things, to walk and to talk! Video Conferencing Communication by video conference can raise one or two unforseen difficulties. Workplace Bullying Workplace bullying takes many forms, but two in particular stand out that happen in the workplace |
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