432 Courses in Birmingham

Trade barriers are going up across the globe. And cybercrime is on the increase. The link between the two? The value of trade secrets. As countries become increasingly protectionist as regards international trade, so their IP law has been changing, with the result that companies that previously would have sought protection through patents are opting to go down the trade secret route instead. But is this a high-risk strategy? Technology is changing and this is having an impact on forms of commercial co-operation. Collaborative or open forms of innovation by their very nature involve the sharing of intellectual property (IP), and in many instances this IP is in the form of valuable confidential business information (ie, trade secrets). Little surprise, then, that trade secrets disputes have increased accordingly. At the same time, the changes in technology make trade secrets more vulnerable to attack, misappropriation, theft. So just how effective are the legal protections for trade secrets? How can organisations safeguard the value in their IP (increasingly, the single biggest line in their balance sheets)? This programme is designed to help you address these issues. Note: this is an indicative agenda, to be used as a starting point for a conversation between client and consultant, depending on the organisation's specific situation and requirements. This session is designed to give you a deeper understanding of: Emerging trends in trade secrets protection and exploitation The current situation in key jurisdictions Recent case law How leading companies are responding The importance of trade secret metadata Different external stakeholders and their interests Key steps for effective protection of trade secrets Note: this is an indicative agenda, to be used as a starting point for a conversation between client and consultant, depending on the organisation's specific situation and requirements. 1 What are trade secrets? Definitions Examples Comparison with other forms of IP (patents, confidential information, know-how, copyright) 2 Current trends The various changes taking place affecting trade secrets - legal changes, trade wars, cybercrime, technology, commercial practice The current position in the UK, Europe, USA, China, Japan, Russia Corporate best practice 3 Trade secret disputes - how to avoid them Trade secret policies, processes and systems Administrative, legal and technical protection mechanisms The role of employees The sharing of trade secrets with others 4 Trade secret disputes - how to manage them Causes Anatomy of a trade secret court case 'Reasonable particularity' 5 Related issues Insurance Tax authorities and investigations Investor relations 6 Trade secret asset management roadmap Maturity ladder First steps Pilot projects

We've all sat through far more bad presentations than good ones, but knowing what 'good' looks like is easier than successfully replicating it. Sales presentations are a performance and, as salespeople, fluffing our lines can cost us a lot more than hurt pride. Having discovered and understood the specific needs and burning issues our prospect has, then this course will help any salesperson avoid dropping the ball and instead wowing their prospects with a high-impact, tailored and compelling case for purchase. This course will help participants: Prepare mentally and physically for stand-up presentations Use voice modulation and bullet-pointing to demand attention Avoid boring their prospects Master the do's and don'ts of PowerPoint Deal more effectively with technical hitches and prospect's interruptions Use eye contact and engagement to avoid prospects 'tuning out' Deploy best practice essentials for presenting with colleagues Steer through the toughest Q&A 1 Preparing your presentation Mindset Knowing your objective(s) Vocal warm-up techniques Assembling pre-agreed benefits Time management Room set-up Technical preparation 2 How to open your presentation Vocal energy Summary and agreement of prospect's needs How to have posture and confidence Use of humour What to do with those dreaded hands Confident v non-confident body language 3 How to get and keep people's attention Bullet pointing Linking benefits to specific, stated needs Practical exercise - formulating and delivering tailored benefits Being selective with features Third party reinforcement and case studies 'Watering the garden' eye contact technique Practical exercise - participants practise 'sharing out' eye contact to audience How to handle a prospect's negative body language Handling interruptions 4 Presenting in groups Credentialing all participants Role delineation for group presentations Edifying other participants' messages - do's and don'ts How to maintain energy when not speaking Practical exercise - good and bad practice when not speaking Teamwork in Q&A sessions How to hand over professionally 5 PowerPoint do's and don'ts Use of visual aids Good and bad PowerPoint slides How to make PowerPoint work for you Classic PowerPoint errors Avoiding and handling technical problems Good and bad flipchart practice 6 Closing and / or achieving next action steps Power of summary Good Q&A practice Handling objections Practical exercise - handling objections on one's feet Creating consensus among prospect panel What to do when prospects disagree with each other When to trial close How to close on next action steps 7 Wrap-up Key learning points from each participant Action steps to be implemented on next presentations

No-one in business will succeed if they are not financially literate - and no business will succeed without financially-literate people. This is the ideal programme for managers and others who don't have a financial qualification or background but who nonetheless need a greater understanding of the financial management disciplines essential to your organisation. This course will give the participants a sound understanding of financial reports, measures and techniques to make them even more effective in their roles. It will enable participants to: Overcome the barrier of the accountants' strange language Deal confidently with financial colleagues Improve their understanding of your organisation's finance function Radically improve their planning and budgeting skills Be much more aware of the impact of their decisions on the profitability of your organisation Enhance their role in the organisation Boost their confidence and career development 1 Review of the principal financial statements What each statement containsOutlineDetail Not just what the statements contain but what they mean Balance sheets and P&L accounts (income statements) Cash flow statements Detailed terminology and interpretation Types of fixed asset - tangible, etc. Working capital, equity, gearing 2 The 'rules' - Accounting Standards, concepts and conventions Fundamental or 'bedrock' accounting concepts Detailed accounting concepts and conventions What depreciation means The importance of stock, inventory and work in progress values Accounting policies that most affect reporting and results The importance of accounting standards and IFRS 3 Where the figures come from Accounting records Assets / liabilities, Income / expenditure General / nominal ledgers Need for internal controls 'Sarbox' and related issues 4 Managing the budget process Have clear objectives, remit, responsibilities and time schedule The business plan Links with corporate strategy The budget cycle Links with company culture Budgeting methods'New' budgetingZero-based budgets Reviewing budgets Responding to the figures The need for appropriate accounting and reporting systems 5 What are costs? How to account for them Cost definitions Full / absorption costing Overheads - overhead allocation or absorption Activity based costing Marginal costing / break-even - use in planning 6 Who does what? A review of what different types of accountant do Financial accounting Management accounting Treasury function Activities and terms 7 How the statements can be interpreted What published accounts contain Analytical review (ratio analysis) Return on capital employed, margins and profitability Making assets work - asset turnover Fixed assets, debtor, stock turnover Responding to figures EBIT, EBITEDIA, eps and other analysts' measure 8 Other key issues Creative accounting Accounting for groups Intangible assets - brand names Company valuations Fixed assets / leased assets / off-balance sheet finance

The often-used phrase, 'just the receptionist', completely misrepresents the role. An excellent receptionist is a most valuable resource for any organisation. This programme has been designed specifically to deal with the essential skills necessary to represent the organisation to the best possible effect. It will also help you get the most out of your working day. There are six key reasons to take part in this workshop. It will help you: See your role in a new light Develop your communication skills Deal with different types of customer and situation Boost your confidence Cope in a pressurised environment Get more satisfaction from your working day 1 Introduction Workshop objectives and personal objectives The challenges of 21st century communication What makes an excellent point of Reception? And why is it so important? Who and where are our customers? As a customer, how do you like to be treated? What makes people feel valued? Objective and subjective aspects of customer service 'Micro moments' that shape the relationship 2 Communication on reception Definition of communication Barriers to good communication The 'recipe' of verbal, vocal and visual aspects of communication Differences between communicating face-to-face and on the telephone Communication 'leaks' The primitive human response The impact of visual communication - body language, gesture and facial expression Voice - tone, speed, volume, pitch, clarity, inflection, pacing Words - positive words and phrases compared with negative terminology Professional greetings face-to-face Steering the conversation with effective questioning 3 Telephone excellence How we use the telephone Qualities of the telephone Non-verbal communication on the telephone - what aspects can be 'seen' by the other person? Professional telephone etiquette Taking and leaving messages - key points that can help customers, colleagues and the organisation Clarifying information 4 Listening skills for accuracy and relationship building How accurate are your listening skills? What are the challenges for accurate listening? Active / empathetic listening 5 Creating a rapport by 'style flexing' Understanding how different people communicate Shaping our message to the other person so that they feel understood How changing situations can alter communication needs 6 Confidence and assertiveness Recognising different styles of behaviour - aggressive, passive and assertive Qualities of assertive communication - verbal, vocal and visual Assertive techniques - basic, persistence, negotiation / empathetic Demonstrating confidence 7 Coping in a pressurised environment Words - the most useful ones to use with stressed people and identifying the 'red rag' words Challenging situations - what do you find difficult and how do you respond? Dealing with outbursts of anger Bringing non-stop talkers back from their tangent Constructive ways to say 'no' 8 Pulling it all together Action plans Summary of key learning points

CORPORATE TRAINING There are currently 13 million women going through menopause in the UK. 4.3 million of them are aged between 45-55 years old, which is the fastest growing demographic in the workforce SB Wellbeing provides training for companies who are serious about providing support for their female staff going through menopause. Also, up-skilling managers and leaders on what they need to know.  Manager training includes what menopause is, how it can affect the individual at work, as well as the bigger picture of how it can impact the business, and how best to support them.    Colleague training is for anyone going through menopause or supporting someone who is. It's fully inclusive and highly interactive.  The two programmes can be run back to back or separately and be delivered via webinar or in-person. For more information and to book your training please get in touch. Here's what people are saying... " Thank you Sally for an amazing presentation yesterday – I had lots of the team say how good it was and how much they had learnt." - Leonard Design Architects, Nottingham "Just to say everyone absolutely loved training session 1!! The feedback from the second session was ace!! - Co-op Academy, Failsworth   "Open & frank conversation. Very factual and a great all round guide" - tp bennett, London   "The more staff that have this training the better, especially principle/director level." - tp bennett, London

Understanding how to plan for capacity, be able to forecast and manage budgets is a critical skill in today's leadership and management environment. This programme will not only support your understanding but will also help you to practically put the learning into practice.

In today's fast-moving competitive environment, sales are often made or lost on the strength of a telephone conversation or a brief email. This means that not only is customer service everyone's responsibility - so is sales. Customer service staff are failing the customer if they don't think about sales. And sales staff are failing customers if they don't think about service. And anyone failing a customer is failing both themselves and their employer. Too often, customer service staff feel neither capable nor empowered to recognise or capitalise upon a sales opportunity. Too often, sales people pursue the short-term opportunity at the expense of the bigger picture. The good news is - it doesn't have to be this way! Sales and customer service skills can be acquired, developed and polished just like any other skill. This tried-and-tested programme shows you how to do it. As a result of this course, participants will be able to: Take control of a customer conversation, with confidence Refresh and polish their customer service and sales performance Recognise and develop a sales opportunity Engage the customer and build rapport Identify a customer's needs Match the customer's needs to the organisation's products or services Handle objections confidently Ask for the order At the end of the workshop each participant will have developed their own action plan for developing and using their skills in the workplace. 1 Introduction Course overview, objectives and introductions 2 Serving or selling? Feelings and attitudes - How we can affect the outcome by our feelings and behaviour What is selling? - Selling is helping people to buy, identifying the opportunities that exist within the conversation to develop the customer's interest in our products or services 3 Developing the right skills Communication- The impact of body language, voice tone and words- How to make the best impression on the customer and create a 'buying environment' Rapport-building- What makes a good working relationship?- What do customers look for when they call us?- How can we match their expectations in terms of our own interpersonal skills? Relating to different types of people by identifying and matching their communication style on the telephone 4 Making it easy for the customer Starting it right- Opening the conversation positively- Building rapport- How to develop interest in our products or services Gaining and clarifying information- Questioning skills and questioning style- What do we need to know from the customer?- How can we use that information in the conversation? Active listening- The most under-rated skill of all- Picking up on the 'Golden Moments' when a customer shows they may be interested Presenting information confidently- Knowing the benefits of our products or services- How to tell the customer what they need to know in order to enable them to buy Closing on a positive note- When and how to ask for commitment Dealing with the customer's objections and concerns in a positive manner 5 Course summary and action plans Review of main learning points Presentation of personal action plans

Software comes in a variety of guises - application software, firmware, middleware, system software. Increasingly, however, it doesn't necessarily present that way, especially as the boundaries between software, data and source code are becoming more and more blurred. And as software becomes more complex and more difficult to disentangle, so it becomes harder to manage and to value. But as it becomes more integral to every aspect of a business, so it is ever more important to keep on top of the technical, legal and commercial issues that arise, issues such as: To address these issues, organisations need a process for evaluating their current situation from all perspectives and for identifying the key actions they need to take to ensure holistic management of their software. This very practical programme will help set your organisation on the right path. Note: this is an indicative agenda, to be used as a starting point for a conversation between client and consultant, depending on the organisation's specific situation and requirements. This programme is designed to give you a deeper understanding of: The technical, legal and commercial risks associated with software development, procurement, use and commercial exploitation The most appropriate processes and responsibilities for managing those risks Note: this is an indicative agenda, to be used as a starting point for a conversation between client and consultant, depending on the organisation's specific situation and requirements. 1 Software business model What is the software business model? What options exist? Has the software business model been thoroughly reviewed to ensure its viability? This means fully understanding the market opportunity, the business environment and customer and end-user expectations. 2 Technology What are the technologies? How has the technology selection been validated considering the competitiveness, structure, and potential for future innovation? 3 UI and UX What is the UI and UX? How to best articulate this? Has the user interface and user experience been studied from both a subjective and objective view to give insight into customer behaviour? 4 Legal framework / commercial aspects Has the necessary legal framework or commercial aspects that may impact upon use or operation of the software been understood and risks identified and mitigated? 5 Software development What is the software development process? Are both the business management and development team's processes resilient in order to improve the company's capability and the maturity of the software? 6 Software quality What is quality? What are the metrics around software quality? What is the maturity level, based around a qualitative and quantitative assessment? 7 Intellectual property associated What IP should be considered when it comes to software? Does the company understand both the intellectual property risks and potential opportunities associated with this software? 8 Security What does software security mean in this context? How is it being addressed? 9 An holistic approach Review of roles and responsibilities to ensure appropriate management and protection

When managers have too many decisions to make, it can have a serious impact on the speed and efficiency of the organisation. When those decisions are commercial ones, the results can wreak havoc with the bottom line. Often the problem arises when those below them or in operational areas of the organisation aren't equipped or allowed to make a decision for themselves. Issues get passed back up and that wastes time. This programme provides a solution, giving your entire team the skills to: And most importantly, they'll be able to do this in line with the broader aims and commercial objectives of the business. By the end of the programme participants will be able to: Fully appreciate the importance of effective decision-making in business Use the five-step 'Stop, Think, Act!' decision-making process Stop leaping to conclusions Really understand the situations and decisions they are dealing with Identify good options Evaluate those options Make decisions and then put them into action Apply these tools and techniques to all their decisions in future 1 Understanding the business we work in What are the critical factors in our business? What is the SWOT analysis for our business? 2 Understanding what decision-making is 3 Background Culture of 'having to be doing' To change things we have to think about it! We are paid to make decisions! 4 Recognise the opportunity to make a decision 5 The 'Stop, Think, Act!' technique 6 STOP! Recognise the opportunity to make a decision Don't leap to conclusions Get ready to think Initial questions:Is this my decision? (Do I have the authority?)Who is this going to affect? (Do they need to be included?)When do I need to make the decision? (What's the timeline?) 7 THINK! The 3 Cs - making sure we understand the decisions we have to make What is the context of this decision?What is the overall situation?Why is this decision important?What do we need to achieve?What will success look like? Do I have clarity about the decision I need to make?Can I write it down?Can I express it clearly in two sentences? What are the criteria?What are the critical commercial factors that we will use to select our options?What will we use to measure the business success? 8 ACT! Identifying options What data do I need to collect?Issues with today's overloadIdentifying what will help you Select optionsHow many options?Must match your criteriaMust achieve success'Decision compass' exercise Analyse optionsTabular methodRisk analysis (likelihood v effect)Head, heart and gut (is there any organisational history/bias that we are up against?) Making your decision Taking it to actionFirst actionsPlanning how to make it happen

Today's administrative professional needs flexibility and a broad portfolio of skills including self-motivation, assertiveness, and the ability to deal with difficult people. You will benefit from this course if you are an administrator, medical/legal secretary or PA, who wants to enhance your administrative support skills, as well as evaluating your existing techniques. This course will help you identify: your areas of strength and your areas for improvement in the work environment ways to accept new challenges and responsibilities with confidence what motivates you at work techniques to improve your planning and time management ways of improving your influencing and assertiveness skills your preferred working style (and relate it to your interaction with others) ways of using your initiative how to deal with challenging people, using recognised communication methods The course will help you develop a flexible set of skills that will allow you to succeed at work, no matter what the day throws at you. It will help you communicate effectively with a diverse range of colleagues and others with tact and diplomacy. And, finally, it will help you provide the administrative support that is essential for the smooth running of your area and of the organisation as a whole. 1 Introduction Overview Introductions Individual objectives 2 What exactly is your role? Before looking at new skills and techniques, where are you now? Do you have the skills, knowledge and attitude required to be an exceptional administrator? Understand your job criteria Identifying your strengths and areas for development Activity - skills analysis Activity - action plan 3 Building trust How can you build trust? Understanding the links between reliability, consistency and trust What is required to deliver efficient service? Activity: efficient service requirements of the professional administrator 4 Working styles Identifying your working style preference Understanding the importance of a flexible approach Identifying areas of improvement to become a more effective team member Activity: Questionnaire (completing, scoring and charting) Activity: drawbacks of my style Developing your working style 5 Assertiveness Understand the differences between behaviours Activity: Definition and characteristics of assertive / aggressive / passive behaviour Activity: Identifying different behaviours Understanding how to be more assertive How to use assertiveness techniques How to ask for feedback Activity: Making requests assertively Activity: Refusing requests assertively 6 Time management The importance of planning for success The importance of managing interruptions The importance of having clear purpose Time management best practices Activity: How do you plan your time? What prevents you improving your time management? How will you recognise success? 7 Prioritisation How to prioritise work to meet deadlines The prioritisation matrix Activity: Post it! 8 Dealing with interruptions The impact interruptions have on productivity How to manage interruptions Activity: What interruptions do you experience? What tactics can be employed to reduce these interruptions? 9 Close Open forum Summary Action planning