Customer Service
A two-day programme
Available online or in-person
Accredited against unit standard 10054: "Identify and manage areas of customer service impact."
NQF Level 5, with 6 credits
Customers are the foundation of a business and keep it in existence. However, customers want more than just the product and a guarantee of quality. They insist of added value and they demand service.
A fresh approach rapidly taking shape in more enlightened businesses, encourages every employee to think creatively about ways they can deliver legendary customer service. They are accountable, drive change and see themselves as a valued resource for guidance and encouragement.
In order to provide legendary customer service we need to think like our customers and give them more than they expect.
- Inspire, challenge the process, enable and encourage
- Be a customer service role model
- Listen, acknowledge, empathise and diagnose before offering a solution
- Understand the needs, fears and values of your customer. What motivates them to act?
- Use practical strategies to handle difficult conversations with customers
- The quality service we offer can only be as good as the relationships that exist between us
- Write professionally
- Manage your time in order to exceed customer expectation
Conflict Resolution
A two-day programme
Available online or in-person
Aligned to unit standard 114226: "Interpret and manage conflicts in the workplace."
NQF level 5, with 8 credits
There will always be difficult people. They have different agendas other than contributing to optimal work performance. They come in various packages and make their presence felt through different styles and approaches. However, once conflict is understood it can be managed effectively by reaching consensus. This results in mutual understanding and strengthens relationships.
Conflict is part of being human. No meaningful change takes place in the absence of conflict. It can be a powerful motivator for change.
Conflict is not a static situation, but a dynamic one. Understanding the conflict cycle is essential to know where and when to apply appropriate strategies and measures for conflict management and resolution.
- Understand and reflect on the components of conflict
- Gain a clear picture of others' needs and concerns
- Get to know yourself. How do you react to conflict?
- The life-cycle and levels of conflict
- Identify the root causes of conflict
- Conflict resolution styles
- The conflict resolution toolbox
Develop Resilience
A one-day programme
Available online or in-person
Aligned to unit standard 117863: "Promote health and wellness in a selected context."
NQF level 4, with 2 credits
World Health Organisation figures show that we are more depressed, less connected and more anxious than every before in recorded history. One in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives, placing mental disorders among the leading causes of ill health and disability worldwide.
Mastering the skills to develop resilience can have a profoundly positive impact on our daily lives.
- Taking a look at the statistics
- Develop resilience: the ability to 'bounce back' from setbacks and failures
- Resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary
- Build confidence: the ability to spot and seize opportunities
- Strategies to reclaim much of what the attention economy has taken from us
- Social media: gaining more and more territory in the attention landscape
- Emotional literacy: the building blocks for emotional intelligence
- Handling emotional states in ourselves and in others
- Retrain your brain to feel happier on a day-to-day basis
- Gratitude interventions: exercises and developing new practices
- Actively practice gratitude in the moment
- The benefits of high levels of oxytocin in our bodies
- Random acts of kindness
- Cultivate empathy: an exercise in well-being, including optimism and life satisfaction
Effective Delegation
A one-day programme
Available online and in-person
If you are a conscientious manager in today's workplace, chances are you often start work early and end late. In that case, someone has probably told you that you should delegate more. If you've struggled with delegation, you're not alone.
Although the ability to delegate is extremely important to your overall success, it is also one of the most difficult skills to master. Don't be a victim of an unskilled attempt at delegation.
- Break down barriers to effective delegation
- Learn to delegate authority, not responsibility
- Find time to delegate. Don't waste time
- Learn what you can and cannot delegate
- Match the right employee to the task
- Provide the tools to let people become their best
- How to cope with delegation difficulties
- Evaluate, learn and celebrate
Effective Reading for Business and Study (speed reading)
A two-day programme
Available in-person only
Effective reading is a tool that trains the eye to keep pace with the rapid rate at which the brain is capable of processing information. In order to read at speed with high levels of comprehension, you need to trust your brain's capability; knowing that the brain is better able to remember information in excess of 500 words per minute.
Success is determined by the speed at which information is processed. We are all born with the ability to read at speed. By re-awakening and developing this skill, we open up many windows of opportunity and potential.
- Establish your current reading speed and level of comprehension
- Understand why we read slowly: the three major limiting habits
- The effective reading process: using your hand as a pacer
- How to commit information to long-term memory: the process of recall
- Reading for 100% comprehension: research and study techniques
- Mastering practice
- Monitor your growth: triple your reading speed and improve comprehension in just two days
Effective Writing for Business
A two-day programme
Available online or in-person
Accredited against unit standard 12153: "Use the writing process to compose texts required in the business environment." NQF level 4, with 5 credits
Effective communication is one of the hallmarks of great employees. Individuals who are able to communicate professionally in writing, choose the best words and present themselves clearly will no doubt be assets to their organisation. Flawless writing sends signals of diligence and quality.
- An assessment: establish your current writing abilities
- How do others perceive your message?
- Be careful: words have different meaning to different people
- Should formal language be used? What is plain English?
- Be human, courteous and positive
- Accuracy and brevity
- Long words and phrases that you need to avoid
- Simple is best: express rather than impress
- Tautology, redundant phrases and the three clarity rules
- The use of active voice versus passive voice
- Be aware of the consequences when punctuation marks are misused
- Email etiquette
- Write effective reports
- Structure convincing proposal documents
Emotional Intelligence and Assertiveness
A two-day programme
Available online or in-person
Accredited against unit standard 252031: "Apply the principles and concepts of emotional intelligence to manage self and others." NQF level 5, with 4 credits
Emotional intelligence is the ability to accurately identify and understand one's own emotional reactions and those of others. It involves the ability to regulate emotions and use them to make good decisions and to act effectively.
Emotional intelligence can be learned by analysing four key areas: self-awareness, self-management, behavioural engagement and learnt behaviour.
- What makes an organisation successful?
- Assess your emotional intelligence: a questionnaire
- Assess your self-awareness: how does this impact emotional intelligence?
- The emotional intelligence journey
- Emotional awareness and emotional honesty
- Create a personal development plan
- Manage emotional impulses and adopt the appropriate strategy
- Manage toxic relationships
- Passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive and assertive communication
- Becoming more assertive
- Take the assertiveness test
Professional Effectiveness and Achieving Results
A one-day programme
Available online and in-person
Signed a huge client? Check. Successfully contacted new clients? Check. Hit your sales target? Done. You might have a list of career accomplishments a mile long. However, if you are the only one with access to that list, and no one else understands the extent of your contributions or the impact they are having on the organisation, you'll be standing behind the door when incentives are handed out.
That's because when organisations assess talent and make decisions about increases, promotions and key projects, the people making the decisions are going through mental highlights of your career . . . and what counts isn't necessarily what you've done; it's what they know about what you've done.
- Your manager's expectations
- How to differentiate yourself in a competitive market
- Credibility: creating it and keeping it
- Mastering the art of sincerity
- Make sure your boss knows how awesome you are
- Productivity: the lies we keep telling ourselves
- The anti to-do list
- How to finally stop procrastinating
People Management
A three-day programme
Available online and in-person
If you can't manage people, you won't manage. Life as a manager is challenging. What works well in one team, or with an individual rarely applies to all. The key to managing well is understanding people. You need to know what makes them tick, what motivates them and when and how they are at their most productive.
What is delivered on the frontline of an organisation is dependent on the processes, systems and management behind them. Seldom, if ever, will you find a successful business with weak management. Your team will gauge how serious your commitment is by your actions.
- Plot your team's maturity
- Powerful ways to become a great people manager
- Listening to diagnose before responding
- The personality styles of you and your team
- Management styles
- Embracing change and developing flexibility as a team
- Conflict management
- Time and stress management: is your team overwhelmed?
- Effective delegation
- Evaluate, celebrate and learn
- Conducting performance reviews
Problem Solving
A one-day programme
Available online and in-person
We all have to make decisions. No matter what role we play in an organisation, we face problems every day that need solving. The problems may vary, but whether they are big or small we all set goals for ourselves, face challenges and try to overcome them.
Problem solving helps us to take charge and shape the world around us, rather than feeling as though our lives are out of control. Instead of being overwhelmed by the challenges we face every day, we can learn to enjoy them and overcome them.
- Why problem solving?
- Barriers to effective problem solving
- The characteristics of effective problem solvers
- The problem solving process
- Understand the current situation
- Identify the root cause
- Develop an action plan
- Implement solutions
- Monitor and modify
- A practical case study
Project Management
A two-day programme
Available in-person only
Accredited against unit standard 120372: "Explain the fundamentals of project management." NQF level 5, with 4 credits
In many organisations it is common to pull together a project team to meet a particular need; one that usually involves producing an end result or service that benefits the organisation, or effects change. The end result can be tangible or intangible. Getting to that end results is what project management is all about.
At its core, project management centres around the planning and control of everything involved in delivering an end result. It is a process that every person involved on the project team needs to embrace, understand and execute. Recognise the critical need to communicate and co-ordinate work across departments and professions.
- Understand the phases of a project
- Create a Work Breakdown Structure
- Manage project finances
- Identify key stakeholders
- Scope creep
- Initiate the project: 6 steps to follow to get your project off to a great start
- Plot the process, develop and test
- How to close the project
- Post-project reporting
Successful Presentations for Business
A two-day programme
Available in-person only
Unit standard 10055: "Present data to stakeholders."
NQF level 5, with 5 credits
Good presenting is about entertaining and conveying information. Your audience will retain more if they are enjoying themselves and feeling relaxed.
Success often depends on our ability to speak and write well. Some people have brilliant ideas, but their inability to convey concepts results in their ideas not getting noticed and recognised.
The entire preparation, presentation and content of a presentation should be geared towards the audience. Ensure your message is understood and remembered.
- The objective of communication
- Assess your current presentation ability
- Understanding the 'fear-factor' . . . the panic and dread of presentations
- Manage stage fright: defeat your nerves
- Understand the body's reaction to stress
- The power of preparation
- Structuring a presentation
- Non-verbal communication
- Creating visual support
- Delivering a presentation
- Vocal eloquence
Successful Selling for Business - Developing Profitable Relationships
A two-day programme
Available online or in-person
Today's customers buy differently, so business professionals must sell differently. This programme highlights the need for a more collaborative approach; the sales professional's desire to develop long-term, high trust customer relationships rather than simply making one-shot sales.
It's not so much what you do as how you do it. The entire approach should be non-manipulative, high trust behaviours that create win-win situations for both buyer and seller all the time, every time.
- Low trust versus high trust approach
- The relationship cycle
Initiate and establish relationships:
- Intent versus content
- Networking
- Priority management
- Goals and targets
- Generating leads
- Developing the approach
Gather needs and values:
- Understanding people
- Effective listening
- The five fundamentals of gathering needs
Develop and present solutions:
- Structuring convincing proposals
- Presenting the solution
- The hurdles along the way
- Leading the client to the next step
Monitor, review and add value:
- From professional to partnership level
- Establish position
- The cost of acquisition versus the cost of retention
- Client share versus market share
Time and Stress Management
A two-day programme
Available online or in-person
Unit standard 15234: "Apply efficient tine management to the work of a department / division / section."
NQF level 5, with 4 credits
In order to cope, we must be better organised to succeed.
So much time is spent in meetings, handling interruptions and unplanned activities that when it comes to getting real work done, there is no time.
In order to manage our time, we need to be both efficient and effective. When we are effective, we focus on activities that get us closer to our goals. When we are efficient, we work out ways to perform tasks in a reasonable time frame.
- Create a personal vision statement: paint a mental picture of the future
- Write your own mission statement: focus on your present purpose
- Break down goals into achievable tasks
- Are you caught in a time trap? Take control over time robbers
- Review your current time management techniques: how much do time wasters cost?
- Your temperament and its impact on managing time
- Concentrate on results, not on being busy
- What is important, urgent, not urgent and not important: learn to prioritise effectively
- Tackle stress
- The personal side of time
- Scheduling tips
Workplace Readiness - Business Life Skills
A three-day programme
Available online and in-person
Etiquette builds leaders, careers and businesses. If we don't seize the competitive advantage by balancing good manners and courtesy in the workplace, we can undermine our good efforts on the job. We need to ensure that we build relationships that are fundamental to business success.
Knowledge, skills, work ethic, integrity and ambition are essential factors to achieve professional success.
- Active listening
- Personality traits: get to know yourself and identify behaviours in others
- Manage your time
- Review your business etiquette knowledge
- Differentiate yourself in a competitive environment
- Company events
- Table etiquette
- Meeting etiquette
- Telephone etiquette
- Master positive body language
- Manage conflict and difficult conversations
- Exceed colleagues' expectations
- Assertive communication
