This course is ideal for line managers who conduct appraisals for team members. The focus is on the conversations you will have in appraisals and how you can make them a positive experience for you, your employee and the organisation.
Give leaders and managers the skills to tackle the tough stuff with this practical course. Perfect for experienced as well as new managers, we’ll provide the tools to talk confidently with staff on tricky subjects and highlight the importance of enhancing their emotional intelligence. The course includes: Changing your mindset Unconscious bias Emotional Intelligence Planning (not scripting) Monologue vs dialogue Questioning skills Listening skills Solution- finding
This half day course is designed to help relatively inexperienced managers and supervisors to manage their staff effectively. The course can be run as a one-off session or can be incorporated into a series of sessions on managing staff. Alternatively it can be run as a day session and incorporate elements of the Managing the Difficult Staff member course. The course can concentrate on managing paid staff or (for voluntary and community sector organisations) can include aspects of supervising and supporting volunteers as well.
Summary This half day course is designed to help managers and supervisors understand the causes of poor behaviour and look at different strategies for dealing with this. The course can be run as a one-off session or can be incorporated into a series of sessions on managing staff. Alternatively it could be increased to a day-long course with participant’s role playing different scenarios in the afternoon. For voluntary and community organisation participants the course could include dealing with difficult volunteers as well as paid staff.
This half day course is designed to help managers and supervisors to develop or hone their interviewing skills and ensure that your organisation’s recruitment processes are rigorous but fair. It will cover how to develop an efficient recruitment process, how to read a CV or application form to ensure that you choose the right candidates for interview, how to organise and conduct the interview process and the follow-up procedures. It can be adapted to cover the needs of organisations, statutory agencies or small businesses. Although scheduled as a half day course, it can be extended to cover a whole day to include some role play interviews.
Everyone shares responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, irrespective of individual roles. This course is for those who have already completed a Level 1 course and need to gain an advanced knowledge of Child Protection, including working towards becoming a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), manager or policy writer. This course is designed for individuals who work with children in either a paid or voluntary capacity. It relates to the issues surrounding safeguarding children by exploring the concepts of "child vulnerability", "child protection" and "significant harm"; coupled with the individual and organisational responsibilities of protecting children from abuse.
City & Guilds Level 4 Award in Plan, Manage and Review Legislative and Safety Compliance for Work in Confined Spaces - 6160-06 - This course focuses on planning, organizing and managing work safely in confined spaces including legislative roles and responsibilities, health and safety considerations and equipment requirements. Designed for managers that are responsible for organizing and planning work activities within a confined space. The manager may or may not supervise the actual job. The manager cannot enter the confined space. Book via our website @ https://www.vp-ess.com/training/confined-spaces/6160-06-level-4-award-in-plan,-manage-and-review-legislative-and-safety-compliance-in-cs/ or via email at: esstrainingsales@vpplc.com or phone on: 0800 000 346
The psychological insights and skills you need Knowing how to resolve conflict constructively is an essential life skill – improving personal and professional relationships, mental health, productivity and more… Accredited CPD Certificate : 6 hours Length 1 day (9.30am - 4.00pm) > Counts towards the Diploma – from 2024, this course will be a requirement of Part 1 of the HG Diploma. A fantastic approach that helps you unpack the issues, respond positively and find an effective solution that moves everyone forward... This course will: deepen your understanding of why conflicts develop and escalate, the psychological factors involved and the cultural and contextual influences on our perceptions, experience and responses to conflict build your confidence and comfort around being in situations that involve conflict give you a range of skills and techniques that you can use with both individuals and groups, in therapy or the workplace – or with your friends and family – to resolve conflict constructively It will also enable you to: help clients recognise conflict and understand their own responses to it help clients develop the skills to engage with conflict productively, so they are more likely to reach positive outcomes provide clients with a framework and structure for addressing conflict in a healthy way help clients become less fearful of conflict, so they don’t avoid it in ways that are unhelpful and to recognise the role of conflict in healthy relationships provide psychoeducation, explaining how barriers to needs can cause conflict and how this can be different in different cultural contexts The course is interactive and experiential, with a focus on developing practical and transferable conflict resolution skills. It combines trainer input, discussion, small group activities and role-play to build your confidence when helping to resolve conflict at all levels, whether one-to-one or in organisations. Why take this course Conflict isn’t always destructive. Properly handled it can be creative and productive, leading to better outcomes and possibilities for all. Although conflict is a normal, ever-present possibility in our lives – between family, friends, colleagues, neighbours, and in our interactions with organisations – when it becomes entrenched it can cause immense individual distress, and waste time and money. Addressing interpersonal conflict using the psychological insights, concepts and proven techniques you will learn on the day, helps us to solve problems creatively and improve the health and wellbeing of those involved. To lead a healthy life we don’t need to avoid all conflict, but we do need to know how to approach it in ways which can help everyone involved meet their emotional needs, a win/win for all. Learning the human givens approach to conflict resolution helps to reduce the potential damaging consequences of destructive conflict and embrace the benefits of constructive conflict. Throughout the day, Rupinder will draw on her own considerable practical experience of successful conflict resolution and mediation in a wide range of settings as she provides expert guidance and training in the psychological insights and skills you need to be able to constructively resolve conflict between individuals and/or groups. Addressing conflict in the right way helps us solve problems and improves the health and wellbeing of everyone involved... What the course covers The common causes of interpersonal conflict The negative impacts and potential benefits in conflict situations How to consider intentions and outcomes when engaging in conflict The different methods used to influence the outcome of conflict, and how the method influences the outcome What a resolution really is The cultural and contextual influences on perceptions, experience, and responses to conflict The role our innate needs and resources play in conflict situations Identifying our influence on the process of conflict Effective skills to engage people who are in conflict A practical, sequenced model for effective mediation and conflict resolution An effective framework for facilitating constructive conversations How to structure a session/s to: facilitate resolution, increase engagement, understanding and define the needs of all parties Effective skills to facilitate negotiations Techniques and diffusing strategies to reduce potential barriers How to access resources to build agreements that last The effective skills needed to facilitate negotiations How to implement opportunities in organisations to address conflict effectively Ways to develop your leadership ability to respond to conflict and/or support others who are enduring it How to use this to support the process of resolution by improving how individuals relate to one another and addressing the contentious issues constructively And much more… Course Programme The ‘Conflict Resolution’ course starts at 9.30am and runs until 4.00pm. From 8.30am Registration (Tea and coffee served until 9.25am) 9.30am Approaches to conflict 11.00am Discussion over tea/coffee 11.30am Understanding Causes and Impact 1.00pm Lunch (included) 1.45pm Increasing engagement 3.00pm Discussion over tea/coffee 3.15pm Reaching Resolution 4.00pm Day ends Who is this course suitable for? This course is for anyone wishing to understand more about the different ways conflict can affect us, or to feel more confident in a facilitation or leadership role when helping conflicted people It is also very relevant to anyone working in a supportive role – such as counsellors, psychotherapists, managers, HR staff, life coaches, Mindset Coaches, social workers etc. – as well as employees, customer service personnel and anyone working in schools and education. This course has been independently accredited by the internationally recognised CPD Standards Office for 6 hours of CPD training. On completion of this training you’ll receive CPD certificates from the College and the CPD Standards Office.
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
Our Team Building Programmes are 'simply excellent' (quote from Unilever). They always deliver much greater energy' motivation and efficiently accelerates to a galvanised, integrated team for their Manager/Team Leader. They're great fun and very commercially orientated - the best of both key elements to a successful and long-lasting high performance team. A successful company is always made up of successful teams. Teams that can work autonomously with a clearly defined set of goals, roles, vision, responsibility and culture will always reach for and achieve far greater success than a team that works just as a group of individuals. Our team building solutions are individually built and geared towards teams at any level within an organisation, providing an independent and objective perspective to promote a common purpose such as the creation of a 'high performance team'. Out With The Old Traditionally, team building events have been restricted to certain levels of management where they head off site for a bit of archery, quad biking and paintballing or something along those lines. Then over some coffee and cocktails, business plans and more efficient ways to work are casually discussed. Whilst being out having fun instead of being at work may improve an individual person's mood, the effect will only be short-term, and will not go far in creating permanent and cohesive teams who are able to overcome challenges together and drive the business forward when back in the workplace. In With The New Today's business thinking is more strategic and certainly has to look for returns on the investment. That is why Dickson Training Ltd's team building programmes are bespoke and built to your requirements through research, understanding your business and, most importantly, what results and achievements you are looking to get out of the programme. Once "what success looks like" has been established, we create tasks and activities that will test your leadership, problem solving, communication and team work skills. When the tasks have been completed, the learning - both practical and theory - is debriefed to the group as well as how it will translate back in your business. Not only are our events great fun, but they provide participants with learning points they can act upon to improve or enhance the working practices/environment. Team Building That Gets Results We have a highly innovative team who design team builds to suit all budgets and time or space restrictions. Large or small, we will develop the perfect event to meet your commercial objectives, keeping in line with your values and company culture. More recently we have combined team galvanising events with ways to engage the participants with and support their local communities. This solution has proved extremely popular with our clients and we are continuing to develop more and more programmes doing exactly this. " Phil did everything in a very professional and focused manner, without losing sight of the overall aims or having 'fun'. When I moved to Airbus UK and subsequently European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS), I had no hesitation in recommending Phil and the team to deliver the required training and team events. Without doubt Phil and his team are excellent providers of training, to suit even bespoke requirements, and I would not hesitate in recommending the team to any business in the future. " Glenn Brown, Systems & Expertise Manager, Airbus Personnel Service Augmented Skills – an Essay by Phil Dickson All of you, who are reading this, and all the people you meet and work with will have – ‘Augmented Skills’. So – if you are an IT Engineer or a Pharmacist; perhaps you are, or know, a Departmental Leader and you work with a Logistics Project Manager; these roles will demand core skills, whether they be technical know-how or qualifications in the discipline. But to be that bit better; more reliable; more effective & productive and therefore more valuable and, frankly, marketable – capitalizing on ‘Augment Skills’ comes into play. The I T Engineer who was a Chess Champion at Uni, which would indicate that they possess some key ‘Augmented skills’ including how they plan 3 steps ahead and are always prepared for the unexpected. The Pharmacist, who is a keen sportsperson in their private life, will likely be tenacious, team-orientated and disciplined – again these are superb qualities to have in this – or any – role. Your colleagues, as well as yourself, will have ‘Augmented Skills’ that will be an asset if only they are explored and applied to their role and indeed, career. Everyone has their own 'Super-power' If they love gardening, they are probably strategic, patient and inclined to research; if they cook or bake, they are usually well organized and comfortable with multi-tasking. A big reader will tend to be considered and possess good critical thinking faculties, and an amateur mechanic or keen DIY person will often be practical, resourceful and very determined. I have observed that many new Parents discover they have ‘Augmented Skills’ they didn’t know they had... such as getting order out of chaos and displaying industrial amounts of patience and good grace when they really do not feel like it. They very often become far more compassionate and empathetic. Most people have their very own ‘Superpower’. Invite your team members to offer their ‘Augmented Skills’ to your work-place – and just watch as it elevates the motivation levels and improves results. It’ll be very rewarding for all concerned – and for meeting the Team’s objectives, to encourage the person who is a talented artist to be a sounding board on some of the marketing imagery and layouts; for the team member who is great at Maths or resolving crosswords to be asked for their input to solving a problem that is causing logistical or operational headaches. Never exploit a Team member’s unique special skills at their expense I would like to stress, however, that it must never be an area where a team member gets exploited by harvesting their unique special skills to coerce them into taking on greater responsibilities and tasks without providing them with the commensurate salary and status. To do so would be immoral and, ultimately, counter-productive as it would lead to resentment and disenfranchisement. This is about encouraging people’s capability and inviting their input to boost confidence and enhance the team’s capability. Often, we need to be more than what our Job Description says It is also important to highlight that whatever a person’s role or function is – they will definitely need to have additional capabilities to be effective. The best example of this is when we designed and delivered a range of ‘Advanced Customer Care skills’ training sessions for the Met Office a few years ago…we met so many remarkably super-bright Meteorologists, many of whom were having to make significant adjustments to answering questions from Customers that seemed to be illogical and often, obtuse. It wasn’t enough for these Meteorologists to be highly skilled at interpreting data and identifying patterns – they needed ‘Augmented skills’ to make that information accessible to members of the public (and Council workers and Air Traffic controllers and Shipping agents) and many other people, as to what that particular weather system was going to be like in their area and at what time. They have to know how to ‘de-jargonise’ the material and provide succinct, clear, and yet temperate, descriptions without ever appearing exasperated, impatient or judgmental in response to sometimes quite silly questions. For a highly trained scientist – that can be counter-intuitive. Being Philosophical... and a wee bit pretentious At the risk of being a little Philosophical (and probably a wee bit pretentious) – in my own role of Trainer – my core skills have to include – being a very good communicator, an active listener and have innovative and engaging ways to convert an idea, or a model, into practical application that my Delegates and Clients gain tangible benefits from. This is how it applies to me... I really enjoy composing short, light classical-style piano pieces. Now, to do this well, you need to be able to find a transition from one chord or melody to a different theme or key. It has to be worked out very carefully to have incremental transitions and pleasant-sounding developments as the piece unfolds. I think I have become better at this as I have honed my skills as a composer. But I have realized that these very same skills have ‘Augmented’ my ability to help a Manager, or a Team, move from a state of conflict; tension; disfunction; disenfranchisement; lack of confidence to a place that is more harmonious with far greater productivity. The very same process of careful listening, considering options, taking well-considered steps, having a creative, sometimes brave, move towards a resolution are at play in both Training and Piano Compositions! Scheduled Courses Unfortunately this course is not one that is currently scheduled as an open course, and is only available on an in-house basis. Please contact us for more information.