Professional Development Workshops

To become a successful auditor, a strong base of knowledge and an understanding of basic auditing skills are essential.  In this workshop, new auditors, as well as non-auditors with internal control responsibilities, can learn the ins and outs of an audit from beginning to end.

You will gain a foundation of knowledge to properly prepare for and conduct a successful audit using preliminary surveys and evidence-gathering techniques. A basic understanding of the roles of risks and internal controls in auditing will also be stressed, along with interpersonal and team-building skills.

By attending this workshop you will be able to:

• Understand the core principles of auditing
• Identify pre-audit activity
• Understand how to plan an audit
• Learn how to conduct appropriate recording and reporting
• Understand options for taking corrective action
• Practice these skills by performing an audit

If your organization is like most, you have plenty of problems and an equal number of opportunities to solve those problems productively. Unfortunately, many employees lack the skills they need to look critically at problems and work creatively to overcome challenges and barriers. In this engaging workshop, you will significantly enhance your ability to identify opportunities for improvement and work synergistically with others to develop creative solutions.

By attending this workshop you will be able to:

• Understand the problem solving process
• Understand who is responsible for problem solving
• Apply 14 effective problem solving techniques
• Apply a logical process for developing and defining solutions
• Develop an action plan for implementing a problem solving process on the job

Effective employees and leaders are able to influence others to work together, solve problems and achieve success on the job. The ability to facilitate meetings, team, and group efforts is a key skill that will encourage others to view you as someone who can achieve results through others. In this workshop you will learn a process of facilitation, techniques for ensuring full participation by others, and how to implement your new skills in your workplace.

By attending this workshop you will be able to:

• Identify the main obstacles to effective facilitation
• Understand the facilitation process
• Learn techniques for ensuring creativity and participation
• Understand how effective facilitation skills helps ensure your professional image and organizational success
• Develop a plan for using your facilitation skills on the job

Very few employees in an organization work in isolation. Instead, they work with others to develop products, conceptualize new ways of accomplishing work, problem solve and serve customers.  Individuals who attend this workshop will learn practical skills for enhancing group effectiveness and cohesion.

By attending this workshop you will be able to:

• Understand the role of groups in an organization
• Identify the phased of group development
• Understand how to enhance group cohesion and effectiveness
• Discover how to overcome group obstacles
• See the differences between groups and teams
• Develop a plan for enhancing group effectiveness on the job

Research is clear that unhappy customers tell at least 10 other people about their poor service experience. Organizations that are effective at addressing customer complaints are also those that succeed over the long term and get the best word-of-mouth advertising from happy customers. In this workshop, you will come to understand some of the most common customer complaints and develop the skills you need to resolve such complaints effectively.

By attending this workshop you will be able to:

• Discover how poorly handled complaints can impact your organization
• Understand the most common complaints and how to resolve them
• Identify how customers view your organization, products and services
• Apply an effective complaint handling process
• Practice communication skills that improve customer perceptions
• See how to plan and implement a complaint handling process
• Develop an action plan for addressing the most common complaints in your workplace

What would it mean to morale and business success if you, your co-workers and upper management could improve their communication skills by 10, 20 or even 30 percent?  Most organizations do a good job in training managers and employees in on-the-job skills, but completely overlook vital 'soft' or interpersonal skills training.  This workshop will give you the kind of ROI needed to ensure you and your co-workers improve communication skills that dramatically improve morale, teamwork, productivity, employee retention, customer relations and your bottom line.

By attending this workshop you will be able to:

• Understand the characteristics of effective interpersonal skills
• Discover how to improve both technical and emotional competence
• See the difference between emotional and knowledge capital
• Explore how behavioral type influences interpersonal reactions
• Discuss the importance of emotional intelligence on interpersonal style
• Develop an action plan for applying improved interpersonal skills on the job

Some of the most important decisions made on behalf of an organization involve recruiting new employees. Making the wrong hiring decision is a mistake that can have serious and long-term consequences for any work team or organization. This workshop will provide you with the knowledge and skills you need to identify, hire, and retain the best talent for your organization.

By attending this workshop you will:

• Learn the importance of the interview to the organization
• Identify the main types of interviews you can conduct
• Understand an effective interview process
• Understand the importance of and practice various questioning and listening skills
• Understand how to reduce bias in selection
• Develop a plan for conducting an effective interview on the job

Chances are that you spend a very large portion of your work day in meetings. Unfortunately, poorly run meetings are a common source of employee complaints. By attending this workshop you will learn how to plan and conduct meetings that get positive results.

By attending this workshop you will be able to:

• Discover the value of meetings to an organization
• Learn what differentiates a successful meeting from an unsuccessful meeting
• Discover the major steps for planning a successful meeting
• Learn about the major roles and responsibilities of meeting attendees
• Learn how to serve as an effective meeting facilitator
• Discover how leadership style influences meeting effectiveness
• Develop an action plan for implementing a meeting in your organization

Great managers are skilled at recognizing and diagnosing conflict situations and resolving them in productive ways. In this workshop, you will learn effective strategies for negotiation, mediation, and achieving win-win outcomes in situations of conflict.

By attending this workshop you will be able to:

• Understand the relationship between conflict and the organization
• Identify sources and types of organizational conflict
• Appreciate different perspectives on conflict within the organization
• Learn and apply conflict handling strategies and styles
• Identify conflict outcomes to the organization
• Practice resolving conflicts based on real organizational situations

Whether it’s allocating resources for a project, funding a new initiative or establishing a supply chain for a new product or service, negotiation is inevitably at the heart of the process. This is especially true when the economy is in a downturn, and priorities and resources are subject to change with little or no warning. Yet few people are prepared with an understanding of the structure, techniques and approaches available to them as they seek to positively influence an outcome. In this workshop, you will get a step-by-step guide to effective negotiation.

By attending this workshop, you will be able to:

• Understand the relationship between conflict and negotiation
• Identify the key roles and responsibilities required by the negotiation team
• Implement an effective negotiation process
• • Preparation
  • Opening Position
  • Bargaining
  • Movement
  • Closing

During any workday we are often faced with a variety of disruptions and distractions that can reduce our personal productivity. In this workshop, you will learn how to define the major obstacles that keep you from being as productive as possible and to take practical steps to improve your on-the-job productivity and efficiency.

By attending this workshop you will learn how to:

• Identify the components of personal productivity and their interdependencies
• Understand the importance of proper planning
• Identify the major obstacles or barriers that prevent you from being as productive as possible
• Apply time management techniques for improving your productivity
• Develop an action plan for improving your personal productivity on the job

The ability to communicate clearly and to gain support and understanding is a critical skill for any employee in today's busy work environment. By attending this workshop, you will learn the fundamental skills they need to project a professional image and convey your ideas and thoughts in an effective manner.

By attending this workshop you will be able to:

• Identify the main challenges to effective presentations
• Apply a process for effective presentations
• Understand how to apply presentation tools and techniques
• Develop a presentation that is professional and effective at conveying your message

The ability to plan and implement successful projects is a skill that any employee is expected to possess in today's competitive workplace. In this workshop, participants will not only learn how to plan and implement a project successfully, but also in a manner that encourages the support and involvement of others.

By attending this workshop you will be able to:

• Learn the characteristics of a well conceived project
• Understand the importance of project management to individual and organizational success
• Understand the major roles played by project team members (team lead, steering committee, project sponsor, project manager, participants, etc.)
• Identify the major phases of a project
• Understand various methods for planning and tracking project progress
• Understand how to monitor and control project progress and risk
• Develop an action plan for planning and conducting a successful project on the job

It is not enough to develop great products or offer good service. You need to be continually improving those products and services. In this workshop, you will learn the importance of an effective quality management process and techniques for ensuing ongoing quality effectiveness.

By attending this workshop you will:

• Understand the importance of quality management
• Identify the key components of a quality management system
• Describe the factors that cause quality management systems to fail
• Understand how employees influence quality
• Discuss the interdependencies within your organization that influence quality
• Develop a quality centered approach to your job
• Create an action plan for improving quality within your area of influence

Today, stress is an inevitable part of life; there's no way we can completely avoid it. Yet while positive stress has the power to motivate us to plan ahead and to accomplish worthy goals, too much stress can cause all kinds of problems – especially if it continues over a long period of time. Too much stress can lower your immune system, leading to illness, and cause heart problems, ulcers, and depression. In this workshop, you will learn the cost of stress on individuals and the organization and develop practical methods for reducing stress.

By attending this workshop you will be able to:

• Understand how stress impacts the workplace in both positive and negative terms
• Identify organizational influences on stress
• Identify how stress influences you as an individual
• Discover a process for reducing stress
• Develop a plan for reducing stress in your life and on the job

Team Work

In an increasingly diverse workplace, more projects and initiatives are being accomplished by teams. This workshop will help you understand the basic requirements for creating high performance teams as well as how to serve as a productive team member or team leader.

By attending this workshop you will be able to:

• Foster shared commitment toward common goals
• Identify and overcome barriers to goal achievement
• Define a shared team mission and vision
• Assign team tasks and clarify roles and responsibilities
  

Communicating verbally is a critical skill for any successful employee, but it is also critical to be able to express oneself well in written terms.  In this workshop, you will learn how to enhance your understanding of the technical writing process. You will also develop your personal skills in developing reports and other documents that are clear, concise, and easy to understand.

By attending this workshop you will be able to:

• Understand why well written technical reports are important to organizational success
• Understand the characteristics of well written reports
• Understand how to avoid common problems with technical reports
• Apply a well defined process for effective technical report writing
• Practice techniques for editing reports
• Develop an action plan for writing a technical report on the job

Time Management

In today's busy and dynamic workplace it is more important than ever to manage your time effectively and efficiently. In this workshop, you will learn how to identify major barriers to effective time management, plan your time more effectively, and how to measure improvements in efficiency and effectiveness.

By attending this workshop you will learn how to:

• Identify the major obstacles to time management in your work environment
• Determine how to plan your time effectively
• Understand a range of tools, techniques, and concepts that will help you manage your time
• Apply those tools, techniques, and concepts to enhance productivity and reduce stress
• Apply your skills and knowledge to develop a time management system that works for you