2485 Courses in Southborough

Agile project management, already widely used for software development, is increasingly recognised as having much more general application. Continuous improvement programmes, business change projects, new technology development, research and development and a variety of other scenarios characterised by rapid change and high uncertainty can all benefit from an Agile approach. This programme presents the concepts and methods of Agile project management, and shows how to apply them to a range of project and change management situations. Participants will learn: how Agile project management can help with project and change management the 4 values and 12 principles of the Agile 'manifesto' and the range of Agile methodologies how to apply Agile project management methods and techniques in a range of project scenarios alternative Agile project management methods and how they can be applied and adapted what makes Agile project teams succeed the key roles and responsibilities needed to enable Agile project teams to work effectively how to encourage an Agile mindset within their organisation and how to move toward an Agile approach to managing projects 1 Introduction to Agile project management Overview of 'classical' project management and methodologies The link between project success and management performance Limitations of classical approaches and the need for Agile methods The 4 values and 12 principles of the Agile manifesto explained Agile project management values:Individuals and interactions over processes and toolsWorking outputs over comprehensive documentationCustomer collaboration over contract negotiationResponding to change over following a plan The cultural challenges of using Agile project management Choosing when and how to adopt Agile project management 2 Initiating a project using Agile project management Some key Agile methodologies explained: SCRUM, XP, Crystal Identifying and engaging project stakeholders; defining roles and responsibilities Setting the project vision and goals; defining project scope The Agile approach to requirements capture and elicitation of needs Tools and techniques for capturing and characterising requirements The role of documentation, reporting and process management 3 The Agile approach to definition and planning Understanding Agile planning; the 'planning onion' concept Developing the culture needed for collaborative involvement and iterative planning Defining project deliverables; the 'product backlog' concept Tools and techniques for defining and prioritising requirements in Agile projects Understanding and applying Agile estimating techniques Dealing with uncertainty and managing risks 4 The Agile approach to execution and delivery The results orientated, fast adapting culture of Agile teams The monthly 'Sprint' process for project planning and review The disciplines needed for effective daily SCRUM meetings Reviewing progress, managing change and project reporting Testing, completing and handing over of work packages Managing the interface between the project team and the business 5 Leadership and teamwork in Agile project teams Why Agile teams are different: the importance of individuals and interactions The skills and attributes needed to lead an Agile project team The challenges faced and skills needed by Agile team members Recognising team development needs; adopting the right leadership style Making the transition from project manager to Agile coach Key coaching skills explored: mentoring, facilitating, managing conflict

'Selling' doesn't work. You've got to help customers buy. And that means engaging with the customer in a positive way, showing that you understand their requirement and giving them confidence that your product or service is the best possible way of meeting that requirement. This may sound painless but there's more to it than meets the eye and it's all too easy to get it wrong. You need to follow a process. This programme will help participants: Understand 'how buyers buy' and align their selling activities accordingly Recognise the difference between 'latent pain' and 'active vision' opportunities Conduct effective pre-call planning and research Stimulate interest and establish credibility with your prospects Get prospects to share / admit high priority pain Engage in consultative dialogue that promotes the differentiating strengths of your offerings Gain access to 'power' people within an opportunity Effectively qualify and disqualify opportunities based on objective decision criteria Better control and manage sell cycles Improve their chances of winning competitive opportunities Shorten sales cycles and avoid 'no decision' Negotiate the steps leading to a successful sale 1 An introduction to selling Understanding the key points that encourage a customer to purchase from us The difference between consultative selling and a transactional sale Understanding the roles that trust and empathy play in a sale Understanding how tricks and manipulation can sink a sale Vital pre-meeting research that must take place before a conversation Understanding how the customer sees us and why positioning is important 2 Structuring the sales conversation process Defining a set process for structuring a sales call with a chance to demonstrate understanding How the first minute of a conversation can destroy a sale Understanding BPO objectives for a sale How a step-by-step sales conversation process helps win more sales Understanding the mis-match between the customers buying process How our sales processes can lead to mistakes 3 How and why people buy An insight into the emotional factors behind how people arrive at purchasing decisions Using research from neuroscience that shows how sales people can really make mistakes Understanding how people make decisions about larger purchases Understanding the stakeholders in companies and their buying motives How to analyse the stakeholders and determine a win-plan 4 Understanding the funnel Studying the sales and buying process to understand the ratios of sales to prospects and better forecasting Understanding the role of forecasting in sales analysis Why many forecasts are nearly always wrong Understanding the stages of a sales process How 'verifiable outcomes' can really change forecasting 5 Questioning techniques Understanding the different questioning techniques and when they should be used Using the 'knowledge tree' as a framework for questioning Understanding the use of real empathy to help customers uncover their needs How effective research can really empower your questions How to ask 'high gain' questions How to ask difficult questions without feeling intrusive 6 Features and benefits How to practically apply them in a sales scenario How to align the benefits to customers' business goals Really understanding the difference and how to demonstrate true economic benefits to a customer How to discover business goals, and align value propositions to these How to craft an effective value proposition for a customer Using the SAR storytelling method to really engage customers to align their thinking patterns Using the latest neuroscience research that explains what customers are really thinking 7 Overcoming objections How 'confirmation bias' can hinder any sales conversation How the CLARA method of responding to customer concerns can dramatically improve the chances of customers responding to us in a positive way Practising the method to become comfortable and congruent with it 8 Closing the sale A deep dive into what closing is How different sales have different closes How too many closing methods can destroy a sale How to lead up to a close with a logical sequence of questions Using the ACSAT trust method of closing A clear methodology with a chance to practise the skills in a fun way

If you are a Mental Health First Aider or MHFA Champion you have skills for life that support you and the people around you. We believe that mental health should be treated equally to physical health - and just like physical first aid, Mental Health First Aid training should be kept up to date. The four-hour MHFA Refresher course will empower you to: Keep your awareness of mental health supports current Update your knowledge of mental health and what influences it Practice applying the Mental Health First Aid action plan Outline About mental health Stress and factors that influence mental health Mental health continuum and stigma Frame of reference and non-judgement Reintroducing ALGEE Warning signs of mental ill-health Depression and anxiety Suicide and first aid for suicidal crisis Psychosis and first aid for severe psychotic episodes Practising our MHFA sills Self-care, wellbeing and recovery

Perhaps you struggle to find the time and motivation to fit exercise into your working day? Or you're not sure about what exercise is right for you or how much you should be doing. Take away a set of personal physical activity goals for yourself to improve your fitness levels and general health and wellbeing. During the session we'll discuss: Facts about physical activity and exercise. How much exercise we should be doing to stay fit and healthy vs. how much to improve our fitness levels and strength. What are the components of physical fitness, types of exercise training and benefits of each. How to get started if you're new to exercise and easy ways to incorporate more exercise into your working week (Open discussion to establish the group's current activity levels and tailor advice and ideas) How you can motivate yourself to exercise more Q&A - a chance for the group to ask questions or advice

Are your sales people too stressed, running on adrenalin, perhaps driving towards burnout, struggling to reach targets? Wouldn't you rather they delivered consistently good performance, sustainable over longer periods of time, with less stress (for both them and you)? This uniquely empowering workshop will help your team develop naturally high levels of focus, energy and motivation. They will attain a sense of grounded euphoria, giving them a very distinct and ethical edge in selling. A one-day programme, it gives salespeople an introduction to the 'Natural Superheroes' concepts and resources, tools and techniques, to help them improve their sales performance - realising greater sales potential, developing deeper and more profitable client relationships, winning more business. Through this experience, sales teams gain: Information about profiling clients to instantly understand more about their deepest drives and true needs so they can be genuinely met and, where possible, exceeded Insights into deep, honest and very 'real' reasons for sales procrastination - participants are given specific workable strategies they can easily apply to overcome sales resistance, by tapping their natural motivational styles An understanding of communicating at the very highest levels with different people so they truly understand your sales message and have a significantly more positive sales experience A realisation of their very specific natural sales talents as individuals and as a team A deeper level of experience and understanding of what specifically drives their own behaviour and the behaviour of their clients - these unique insights explain not only how but exactly why people behave the way they do An experience of what it takes to be unshakeable under pressure and manage the sales processes and relationships to a positive outcome for all Brand-new insights into working with and handling difficult people across all levels of authority An understanding of the pitfalls and the psychological traps we set ourselves which cause unnecessary stress, anxiety and frustration on a daily basis and, in turn, limit our sales performance Access to very simple and practical tools that massively increase self-awareness, engender accountability and responsibility and develop emotional sales mastery 1 Introducing 'Natural Superheroes' for sales What is a 'Natural Superhero'? Defining emotional intelligence in the context of sales and why it is so important Knowing yourself - why most people don't know themselves at all and how we can understand exactly what drives our behaviour for the purpose of improving sales performance specifically Knowing exactly why others, and specifically clients and team members, behave the way they do - understanding the real motives behind people's good and bad behaviour in a sales meeting Simple steps to freeing yourself of any anxiety, pressure and false sense of limitation when selling Being yourself in sales - why this is not as easy as it sounds but how you can make it effortless How to take control of achieving the sales performance you really need and want for yourself and others Strategies that raise your self-awareness, increase an authentic and sustainable sense of self-confidence, in difficult situations and in moments of crisis 2 Understanding yourself, your team members and your customers - using the Enneagram Introducing the Enneagram and why it is so valuable to sales people and their clients Exploring the 9 types of motivational drives and why people have different reasons for buying from you Core types and wings - understanding the influence of other motivations either side of the core Enneagram type How to confirm the profile of your client - using celebrities from the world of politics, cinema, sports - we explore how to identify each type - what are their core drives, why have they arisen and how can we use these insights to help you in improving your sales performance The 3 levels of behaviour within your personal profile and that of your clients Lookalike Enneagram types - mistaken identities - how to avoid these traps when profiling your clients and your team How to communicate effectively in a sales environment with each of the different Enneagram types - communication strategies for positive impact on morale, performance and, ultimately, sales results How to interpret and make use of the results of your online personal profile - participants complete an online profile before the event and have the opportunity to analyse their results with a view to improving their sales performance How sales teams sabotage their own performance and that of other people within the team - and how to stop it Uncovering your particular edge in a sales role - what unconsciously trips you up as a sales person? How the Enneagram helps us in sustaining a truly great sales performance over time 3 Why positive thinking alone doesn't work in sales Why 'PMA' does not stand for positive mental attitude when selling - learn its alternative meaning that can serve you even more effectively in a sales role 3 steps and exercises that naturally increase PMA The value of making unconscious thinking conscious and how to do this without any pain or discomfort in a sales meeting Why each Enneagram type has a different experience of PMA in terms of their outward behaviour and how to know when you are maximising your sales performance 4 Measuring success How to measure the development of your individual profile as a sales person Development planning and review Into the future - how to continue your Natural Superhero development

Power BI is a powerful data visualisation program that allows businesses to monitor data, analyse trends, and make decisions. This course is designed to provide a solid understanding of the reporting side of Power BI, the dashboards, where administrators, and end users can interact with dynamic visuals that communicates information. This course focuses entirely on the creation and design of visualisations in dashboards, including a range of chart types, engaging maps, and different types of tables. Designing dashboards with KPI's (key performance indicators), heatmaps, flowcharts, sparklines, and compare multiple variables with trendlines. This one-day programme focuses entirely on creating dashboards, by using the many visualisation tools available in Power BI. You will learn to build dynamic, user-friendly interfaces in both Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service. 1 Introduction Power BI ecosystem Things to keep in mind Selecting dashboard colours Importing visuals into Power BI Data sources for your analysis Joining tables in Power BI 2 Working with data Utilising a report theme Table visuals Matrix visuals Drilling into hierarchies Applying static filters Group numbers with lists Group numbers with bins 3 Creating visuals Heatmaps in Power BI Visualising time-intelligence trends Ranking categorical totals Comparing proportions View trends with sparklines 4 Comparing variables Insert key performance indicators (KPI) Visualising trendlines as KPI Forecasting with trendlines Visualising flows with Sankey diagrams Creating a scatter plot 5 Mapping options Map visuals Using a filled map Mapping with latitude and longitude Mapping with ArcGIS or ESRI 6 Creating dashboards High-level dashboard Migration analysis dashboard Adding slicers for filtering Promote interaction with nudge prompts Searching the dashboard with a slicer Creating dynamic labels Highlighting key points on the dashboard Customised visualisation tooltips Syncing slicers across pages 7 Sharing dashboards Setting up and formatting phone views Exporting data Creating PDF files Uploading to the cloud Share dashboards in SharePoint online

This course follows the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health's syllabus. A one-day programme, it is suitable for all people at all levels in the workplace and gives a basic introduction to the principles of environmental management. On successful completion of the course, participants will be able to: Understand the terms 'environment' and 'pollution' Understand the terms 'hazard' and 'risk' related to the environment Better appreciate environmental issues generally, and specifically in respect of their organisation Identify hazards to the environment from working practices Outline the procedures/controls necessary to prevent damage to the environment 1 What is the environment? - putting the environment in context Key environmental issues and how we contribute Definition of the environment 2 Working with the environment What is pollution? Sources, receptors and pathways Environmental consequences workshop - identifying the environmental consequences of our working practices Environmental risk assessment Effective control mechanisms 3 Protecting the environment - Environmental Management Systems What is an Environmental Management System (EMS)? What are the benefits of having an EMS? EMS structure and models Identifying what elements of EMS your company has and how they work Roles and responsibilities 4 Choice of module Option 1: Organisation-specific moduleThis module can be used to introduce environmental concepts that are specific to your activities and operations, and will be compiled through discussion with your organisation Option 2: Environmental best practiceIf no organisation-specific module is required, or if participants from a number of organisations attend, generic operational environmental best practices can be covered instead. Areas covered include waste management, fuel storage and use, hazardous materials, emissions to air and water and environmental incidents

This training day will help managers explore what they need to do to create a motivating environment at work and learn some theory, tools and ideas to inspire motivation at individual and team level. Motivation is a key factor in effective people management and successful team performance. It involves engaging and inspiring your people and developing them in such ways as to improve their effectiveness and thus have a greater benefit to customers. It can also involve having tough conversations with those who do not seem to be motivated. By the end of the workshop participants will be able to: Identify key motivating factors at work and learn and create ideas to better engage staff Learn a conversation tool to use for challenging discussions Explain their role in motivating staff and understand a range of techniques and approaches to use in the workplace Review learning and have an action plan to take back and implement at work 1 Welcome, housekeeping, objectives Breaking the ice Setting personal objectives 2 Group work: identifying personal motivators and where they come from 3 Defining motivation The characteristics of a motivated team Input and group discussion 4 Factors impacting on motivation at work Using pre-work to identify challenges, hotspots and obstacles Feedback in plenary Exploring the benefits of motivation that address current challenges and agreeing outcomes for change 5 Commitment vs. compliance - organisational engagement and the manager's approach to buy in 6 Team challenge task using a theory about motivation Trainer input and review in plenary 7 Group task - complete a plan for individuals identified in pre-workshop task 8 Skill / will - a motivation tool: trainer input, followed by tasks that are assessed and discussed in peer groups 1-2-1 feedback task on approaches and plans to be taken back and used at work Feedback and plenary review 9 DEAL - a conversation tool: how to construct a conversation plan about motivation with an individual Peer professional 1-2-1s to practice the discussion planned and gain feedback 10 Review, evaluation and action planning

Any successful business manager will tell you that you never get the deal you deserve - you always get the deal you negotiate! This two-day workshop includes recent research and practical techniques from the Harvard Business School Negotiation Project and provides a unique opportunity to learn and practice these skills in a safe environment using up to date materials and life-like practice negotiation case studies. This course will help participants to: Understand the basics of negotiation Develop negotiating skills Increase their business acumen Develop their communication skills Learn the models, techniques and tools for an effective negotiation Identify the barriers to agreements Close the deal 1 What is negotiation? Key skills for negotiation Types of negotiation Win-lose negotiations versus Win-win negotiations Wise agreements and Principled Negotiation 2 Four key negotiating concepts BATNA - Best alternative to negotiated agreement Setting your reservation price ZOPA - Zone of possible agreement Creating and trading value 3 Business acumen Understanding pricing, gross margins and profit Knowing the key points on which to negotiate 4 A Four Phase Model for negotiation Nine steps to successful planning Discussing a deal - creating and claiming value Making and framing proposals Bargaining for the winning deal 5 Effective communication Effective questioning Active listening skills Understanding and interpreting body language Barriers to effective communication 6 Understanding influence and persuasion Influencing strategies Ten proven ways to influence people Six universal methods of persuasion Understanding why people do business with other people 7 Negotiating tactics Tactics for win-lose negotiations Tactics for win-win negotiations Effective team negotiating Understanding and using powerv What do you do when the other side has more power? 8 Barriers to agreement Common barriers to agreement The Negotiators Dilemma Dealing with die-hard negotiators Dealing with lack of trust 9 Potential barriers to cross-border agreements Understanding business methods and practice in other cultures Figuring out who has the power and who makes decisions Recognising and dealing with cultural differences What's OK here might not be OK there 10 Closing the deal Four steps to closing the winning deal

Meetings are a fact of working life - both virtual and physical meetings. Recording the key points from meetings is critical to making sure that accurate information is captured, and action points are clearly identified and allocated. This virtual training session will support members of staff to develop their skills in recording the key points from meetings and discussions. This course will help participants: Describe the different levels of note taking and pick the appropriate style for the meeting Prepare to take minutes in the virtual and the physical environment Liaise and work in partnership with the meeting Chair Use a template to enable the capturing of key points Set up the room ready for the meeting Identify key points to record, versus what not to record Interrupt the meeting confidently to check key points Take neutral, accurate and concise records Produce a well-laid out set of minutes. 1 Introduction Objectives and overview Introductions and personal aims 2 An introduction to minutes Purpose and use Different levels of notetaking 3 Preparing to take minutes Identifying the purpose of the meeting Working with the Chair Tips and techniques to prepare effectively Case studies, review and discussion The physical environment: setting up for a meeting 4 Listening and recording Tips and techniques to make the process easier How to interrupt a meeting What to record; what to leave out Recording in short-form using playscript and bullet-points Listening neutrally Activity: Minuting a Meeting The tricky ones and how to overcome problems in the meeting 5 Preparing the minutes Producing a set of draft minutes Tips on grammar, punctuation and layout Stylistic variation Managing feedback from the Chair 6 Review Summary of key learning points Action planning