Short Skills Development Workshops

Greenfield offers a range of workshops and short courses that will help your staff develop the skills and knowledge they need to provide an even more effective service to your service users and customers.

Below is just an example of the various workshops we are able to deliver for your Organisation. Remmeber, if you dont see exactly what you want just contact us, our consultants are happy to work with you to develop the workshop or programme that exactly meet your needs:

360° Appraisal

A simple tool and process to allow staff at all levels to conduct this useful technique.

Appraisals

This practical course is designed to examine the principles of Performance & Development Reviews and how to get the best out of them from everyone's perspective. When well-planned and thoughtfully integrated they allow employees to understand their role within the Council, be assessed on the quality of their work, and gain extra support and encouragement when required.

Appraisee training

Suitable for all staff required to participate in Appraisals, this practical course is designed to examine the principles of Appraisals and how to get the best out of them from everyone's perspective. This workshop will focus upon the appraisee's responsibilities and also encourage staff to recognise the benefits of the Appraisal system and the importance of planning and preparation to maximise the benefits for the individual and the organisation.

Assertiveness

This one day course will help you develop skills to become more confident and assertive in what ever role you choose. It will provide you with the ability to overcome difficulties with people who undermine your confidence or who do not seem to wish to co-operate with you. Learn the skills to feel really assertive and confident in yourself and to be able to motivate others to follow your lead.

Away Days and Events

At Greenfield we are experienced and successful at organising and facilitating all sorts of events – whether it be planning the year ahead, working on specific projects, bringing together new teams, ironing out problems or celebrating successes.

Boost your Personal Effectiveness

Suitable for all staff at all levels who want to develop their self-esteem & self-confidence. Participants will look at how being confident in the most appropriate situations at work can increase their effectiveness and productivity and can help them to gain control of their daily activities.

Business Writing

Writing is an essential form of communication for any organisation. With more and more people relying on email to communicate with business contacts, not to mention creating their own work directly on screen, the need for effective writing skills has never been greater. This one-day course will help employees understand the basic principles of effective writing and give them the confidence to put their thoughts and ideas into words.

Change for Staff

Many organisations under-estimate the effect that changes in the workplace can have on their staff, and individuals themselves don't always realise that the feelings and reactions that they have are perfectly natural. This half-day workshop will help individuals who are affected by change to understand the process and deal with the effects of change.

Coaching

This is a skill all managers should use to improve the performance of their staff. This one day course takes you through the skills needed. Coaching is also available in a more detailed format for Senior Management and Greenfield can also offer the ILM Coaching qualification (see ILM, page 19).

Communications skills

For those wanting to strengthen their communication skills and enhance their ability to interact with other staff, service users, other professional bodies and other organisations, this practical course will provide participants with the essential skills and knowledge to communicate effectively.

Counselling Skills

An introduction to basic Counselling skills designed for anyone who is interested in improving confidence, self-esteem and relationships with others. If you work in a helping profession the course will provide you a set of skills to transform the way you can support others.

Customer Care

This workshop helps participants to understand better the customer – provider relationship and recognise what influences that relationship – both positively and negatively. It aims to show participants how they can influence their customer's perception of both their services and the organisation as a whole. We will discuss how to avoid creating 'difficult' customers, but also how to deal with customers who are not satisfied with the service provided.

We help participants recognise the importance of attitude in dealing with customers and understand the need to place customers at the centre of everything we do. It will also consider the need to work with other sections and organisations in providing excellent customer service to all users of our services.

Delegation

Delegation not "dumping" is a skill a good manager must have to ensure they don't get swamped with too many "tasks to do". This course will teach a number of valuable do's and don'ts and help managers to become more effective.

Difficult Customers

This fast moving workshop uses established psychological and cognitive techniques from Transactional Analysis (TA) and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) to help managers find the inner resources and strategies that they need to understand and manage a variety of difficult workplace situations. From those chatty people who just won't leave, through disruptive colleagues to potentially aggressive customers and service users, this programme teaches the skills to help tackle such situations.

Dignity at Work

To ensure that employees are aware of the types of behaviour which are unacceptable so that they can comply with the policy and take steps to ensure that such conduct does not occur. To give employees who are harassed, bullied, victimised or discriminated against formal and informal routes to ensuring such treatment stops and to inform, guide and encourage employment practices.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is recognised as one of the most important factors in excellent leadership and management skills. Emotionally intelligent managers are more productive and their teams are motivated and inspired.

Facilitation Skills

This practical course will provide a structured approach to those wanting to improve their confidence and ability of facilitation skills to run concise, structured and meaningful meetings, discussions & seminars.

Feedback

Giving feedback on your staffs' performance can either motivate or "turn off". We show how to use feedback to improve performance and morale.

Handling Complaints

An interactive course for those who want to improve their confidence and assertiveness when dealing with complaints, whilst maintaining their professionalism and adhering to policy and legislation.

Influencing Skills

Every job requires influencing people at some point or other. It may take the form of gaining support, inspiring others, persuading other people to become champions, engaging someone's imagination or creating relationships.

There is no right way, nor is there only one way to influence others. Truly excellent influencing skills require a healthy combination of interpersonal, communication, presentation and assertiveness techniques. It is about adapting and modifying personal style whilst becoming aware of the affect on other people, while still being true to oneself.

Interpersonal Skills

For more experienced staff who want to build on their existing communication skills to help build better relationships with customers and colleagues, handle difficult relationships and communicate better in groups as well as one-to-one.

Interviewing Skills

Many people find interviews nerve-wracking. This practical workshop will give participants tips & advice to develop their interviewing skills. It focuses on helping participants to prepare for & handle a typical job interview. Participants will identify what they need to do to prepare for the interview; how to respond to typical interview questions and the kinds of questions they might ask the interviewer.

Participants will explore how to manage the interview situation confidently, the key skills they need to demonstrate and the useful behaviours they can choose to use.

Job Application Skills – Being brilliant at interviews

Suitable for all staff at all levels who want to get the most out of job interviews & for those requiring a refresher when applying for their current post. This practical workshop will give participants tips & advice to develop their interviewing skills.

Leadership

For all managers who want to develop their knowledge and understanding of leadership, in this practical course they will learn how to equip individuals and the team with the skills and capabilities to optimise productivity and performance to deliver results.



Letter Writing

Poorly written communication can have disastrous results. A practical hands-on course designed to develop participant's competence and confidence in letter writing skills. To produce an effective letter the content must be clear, concise, and accurate. Participants will look at how to plan the letter before writing, which will include considering the purpose, audience, content and structure, mind mapping, editing, gathering relevant information and making complicated information easier to understand.



Managing Change

Change is constant but can be very disruptive. This course for managers looks at how to make change a smooth process and less stressful for all involved. When organisations are planning or going through a period of change it is essential to think about the effect this will have on staff. There are many things that can be done to ease the transition for staff – but miscommunication, or getting the timing wrong can make the situation even worse.

This event will help managers and team leaders to understand the processes of change and motivation, and to make sure that the transition for them and their teams is as easy as possible.

Managing Conflict

Many managers have staff who have to deal with aggressive situations, this course covers the managers role in making them as safe as possible.

Managing Customer Care

Excellent customer service is essential in today's world. This course helps you maintain a productive, customer focused climate within your team and organisation as a modern manager.

Meetings

The demands placed upon employees in the public sector to attend a variety of meetings increases almost every month. The time spent in meetings is therefore imperative to be used most effectively. To maximise the effectiveness of meetings, this workshop will help managers understand the various aspects of meeting management and help them to recognise how they may influence the success of each meeting they organise and run, thereby maximising the effective use of the participant's time involved with the meeting.

Mentoring

Mentoring has been around for hundreds of years and has proven an effective form of training, learning and development. Mentoring is a long-term relationship providing support, guidance and advice.

Minute Taking

There is increased pressure and expectations upon the 'minute taker'. This Workshop will help people who are expected to take minutes to understand their role and responsibilities and help them to develop the skills and knowledge to enable them to successfully complete the minute taking process and in addition make an effective contribution to the overall success of the meeting process.

This practical workshop is suitable for both new and experienced minute takers. The overall aim is to define the purpose and nature of minutes and give some tips and techniques for producing effective minutes.

Motivational Interviewing

This workshop is designed to guide managers to identify and change performance issues and staff behaviours in order to improve performance by using the Motivational Interviewing technique.

Motivating

There are many ways to motivate your staff—this course takes you through the possible ways and how to introduce them into the workplace.

Negotiation

You may have to negotiate with suppliers, staff or others— let us show you how to achieve a good result in a fair manner. For those wanting to improve their confidence and ability when negotiating with other staff, service users, other professional bodies and other organisations - this practical course will provide participants with the essential skills and knowledge to negotiate successfully.

New to Management

The Workshop will provide a refresher to participants of the technical skills required of a supervisor/manager and the people management skills required ensuring excellent team performance. It will also investigate some of the problems long term supervisors may have encountered and consider appropriate strategies to overcome them.

NLP – Neuro-Linguistic Programming

NLP is an increasingly popular tool (or set of techniques) for improving our communication, working relationships, and personal effectiveness.

Using INLPTA qualified associates, we are able to tailor a course to fit your needs. Some examples could be:

An introduction to NLP – introducing delegates to some of the key principles and techniques so that they can apply them usefully with customers and colleaguesNLP for trainers and developers – using techniques to help improve learning and engagement with your students

NLP with customers – using simple techniques to improve relationships, build rapport and pitch ideas in ways that will appeal to your target audience.NLP for managers – getting staff on-board, ironing out problems and improving performance are all areas that can be helped by applying some simple NLP techniques.

Performance Management

The responsibility for maximising the performance of every resource under a manager's control has never been more pronounced, with constant pressure upon managers to eliminate waste and maximise effectiveness. We help managers to understand that managing the performance of their team members is directly linked to constant improvement and give them the skills to do this.

Presentation Skills / Public Speaking

Maybe you're thinking "I work in an office, I don't need presentation skills" – Wrong! Whenever you try to get information, your views or ideas across to other people, be it a speech to 500, a job interview or even a five-minute phone call, it's all about presentation skills. In these situations it's so easy to be misunderstood, to not get your point across when you thought you had.

We can make sure that every one of your presentations has the X-factor, the 'oomph' that really makes people sit up and listen. We will ensure you will make a great impression every time – whoever the audience, no matter what the size. Effective Presentations is a very practical training course based on extensive hands-on experience. Working in a small group means you get lots of practise – if you don't do it, you can't improve it.

(Numbers limited to 6 - 8).

Presentation Skills (Advanced)

Suitable for officers who already have some experience of presenting and have attended a Presentation Skills course in the past but now wish to develop their skills further, be that to speak at conferences or seminars, or just to become an even more persuasive speaker

Problem Solving and Decision Making

This one day workshop will provide an opportunity for participants to understand the need to adopt a more structured approach to problem solving and decision making at all levels. Participants be introduced to a structured framework for problem solving and understand how it relates to their own area of influence. They will also be introduced to a variety of problem solving and decision making tools and techniques that they will be able to use within their own area of work.

Project Planning

We offer a range of project management training programmes from an introductory day's course for those new to project management through to 3 day programmes for the project manager practitioner

Resilience

This one-day course is for all staff and managers who want to stay focussed, healthy and productive at work and in life. It will help develop Commitment, Accountability, Adaptability and Forward Thinking

Report Writing

The changing demands placed upon managers, supervisors and team leaders in terms of report writing are immense with both the quantity, and indeed quality, expectations of report writing increasing year on year. This workshop will introduce participants to the key principles of writing reports and also provide them with practical opportunities to both recognise and use the necessary skills in writing reports required in working situations.

Return to Work Interviews

Most Managers recognise that handling individual absence issues can often be complex & potentially sensitive. Sickness absence can cost organisations millions of pounds each year. It has a direct effect on the services that are provided and it directly affects other members of the workforce, who may have to cover the work. Return to work interviews are one of the most widely used and effective tools to assist in short & long term absences. This programme is also available in more detail within our HR section, page 21.

Service Delivery Planning

A one day workshop aimed at operational managers which outlines the key areas for producing a service delivery plan. The workshop shows participants a simple structure for a service delivery plan and introduces a number of tools they may find useful in involving their staff in creating their own service plan, post workshop.

Stress for Individuals

A course to help you achieve a better work/life balance — practical, supportive and full of tips to help you to be less stressed in the workplace.

Stress for Managers

Lowering stress levels in the workplace can help managers deliver targets; motivate staff and lower illness levels. This course helps you risk assess and manage stress within your team(s).

Supervisory Training

This two-day programme introduces new supervisors to their role and includes—the Role of the Team Leader, Organising Yourself, Organising Work and Interpersonal Skills.

Team Briefing

An enjoyable course for those required to brief internal communications. The course will be tailored to meet the needs of the organisation and the briefers. A highly enjoyable and interactive programme as well as an essential communications tool—let us show you how to make best use of it in team building and performance management.

Team Building

Team work is not just about possessing the technical knowledge, but also about building relationships and influencing people within the team and others outside the team. The session will focus on characteristics of the team; problem solving and dealing with change. It will encourage team members to share ideas & information about planning to work towards the team's success.

Team Building After Change

As teams settle into their new roles and a new culture begins to evolve, it is useful to invest some time thinking about new ways of working and making sure that everyone is able to contribute and feel productive in the new team.

We can deliver programmes ranging from an hour to a day to help people learn more about working together with each other, share their objectives and ways of working, and make sure that targets and standards are understood and achieved.

Telephone Skills

We cover all the skills and techniques necessary for communicating over the phone—voice, tone, preparation and smiling down the phone.

Time Management

How to get more done in your day—manage interruptions, clear your desk, curtail long winded colleagues or customers. This workshop uses a variety of training methods, including group discussion, syndicate work and skill practice to enable participants to effectively manage their priorities by using a range of time management techniques

Train the Trainer

A series of one and two-day programmes for in-house staff to develop the skills to deliver training programmes themselves so building capacity in house. This can be a general programme or specific to a particular area e.g. Equalities, Human Resources, etc.

Training Needs Analysis

This course gives you the skills to ensure that your staff receive the training they really need to hit their own team's and the organisation's targets.

Understanding the Democratic Process

Local Government can seem complex, so it is vital that new employees get off to a good start and understand the organisation itself and their role in it. This participative workshop aims to develop the understanding for new starters who have no previous experience of Local Government.

Women's Development Programmes

Women make up around 50% of the workforce but are usually significantly under-represented at senior levels in organisations. Our programmes provide an opportunity for women to identify their particular development needs and increase their confidence, and enhance their performance.

Often this leads to women securing new qualifications, promotions, new skills, a new attitude to change, or gaining a better work/life balance and a massive boost in confidence.

Written Skills for Supervisors

Many supervisors have come up from the shop floor and have not needed to write reports and professional correspondence before; this course is a gentle introduction to this essential skill.