Maximize the Professional You

This half-day or full-day corporate workshop offer a unique and practical approach to refining professional skills, by delivering a key number of topic items, each in a condensed, twenty-minute"top ten format." The idea behind this method is that people can only retain a fixed amount of knowledge in a day, and time constrains them from taking as many professional development workshops as they would like. In this module format, students learn key issues each within modules of twenty minutes. They are then able to work with us in a mentorship relationship over the following months to practice and perfect these skills over time, at their own pace.

The workshop curriculum is based on extensive interviews and benchmark-setting with participants and stakeholders alike. Each module is twenty minutes long. A workshop day is structured to also allow review, discussion and breaks. A full day session allows for the delivery of 12-15 of such modules, chosen from the alphabetized list below.

• Balance (Work): Techniques to even out workflow between busy and less-busy periods.
• Balance (Work & Life): Techniques to ensure a healthy balance between work and non-work times in the day, the week and the career in general.
• Blackberry Etiquette: The effective use of wireless PDAs such as the Blackberry involves elements of time management business writing and behavioural etiquette. Its use or misuse can make or break business opportunity. Are you using it wisely?
• Body Language: Learn the key elements of body language to both understand and influent others. (also called NVC)
• Business Writing: The essential skills of staying concise, clear and influential. How to summarize complex issues. How to proof to perfection.
• Conflict: Understanding the nature of interpersonal conflict in the workplace and how to best deal with it. Developing a process. Developing and accessing a repertoire of questions. Developing "comfort" as conflict emerges. Working towards a positive outcome.
• Creativity: Mind-mapping techniques for increased creativity.
• Crisis Management: Handling yourself, others, and a situation while in crisis.
• Deadlines (Others): How to get other people to submit their work on time.
• Deadlines (You): Working to deadlines without hitting that "crunch-time."
• Decisions: How to make good decisions in a timely manner. Problem analysis. Acceptance of decisions.
• Delegation: Learn how to hand-off tasks to others and why this is so important to your success. Also how to identify opportunities for delegation.
• Diet at Work: Choosing foods and snacks that help maintain stamina and focus while also allowing for healthy weight loss or weight maintenance.
• Education: How to fit ongoing studies into your busy workweek (also called Lifelong Learning).
• Energy and Stamina: Techniques for keeping "up" for more of the day, and after work as well.
• Exercise Habit Development: Developing habits to make exercise easier and more regular.
• Exercise in the Office: Healthy stretches and exercises you can do to keep the blood moving without breaking a sweat.
• Feedback: How to give and receive feedback with colleagues, clients, managers.
• Goal Setting: How to set and attain personal goals.
• Grooming and Style: How to look the way you want to look.
• Group Discussion: Running a meeting of minds and personalities in a timely and productive manner.
• Image Management: Do you project the right image? Do your clothes, speaking and interaction style match you ambitions? This session delivers essential tips for both female and male professionals.
• Improvement: How to establish a regime of continuous improvement.
• Influence and Persuasion: How to influence others (clients, colleagues, even your manager). Winning support. Creating compelling arguments. Summarizing requests.
• Interruptions: Techniques for fending off interruptions and for establishing an interruption-free culture.
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  Leadership (Self): How to influence yourself to establish self-direction and self-motivation. Balancing emotions. Maintaining confidence when you find yourself out of your depth. Tolerating stressful situations. Being dynamic in a group setting.
• Lifelong learning: How to fit ongoing studies into your busy workweek.
• Listening (Active/Effective Listening): Most people can hear, but few can listen. Learn the skills of Active and Effective listening.
• Managing Up: The career enhancing (not career-limiting) art of managing and communicating with your boss.
• Meetings: Running a time-effective, productive meeting
• Memory: Techniques for improving your memory.
• Mentorship: Why it is essential to have mentors and also be a mentor, and how to make the time to do so.
• Mornings: Organizing your home life for a stress-free start.
• Networking: The essential career-saving skill. Learn the key techniques for ongoing, successful networking.
• Non-Verbal Communication (NVC): Learn the key elements of NVC to both understand and influence others. (also called Body Language)
• Organization: Creating and keeping an organized workspace.
• Organization: Developing a true "touch a message only once" habit.
• Personality Assessment (You): Identifying and understanding your personality type.
• Personality Assessment (Your Manager): How to assess and work with your manager's personality type.
• Personalities In the Workplace: How to assess and work with the different personality types of your colleagues.
• Physiology Assessment: Understanding your somatotype and physiology and its impact on diet, productivity and health.
• Plans: Designing a work and organization plan that matches your own personality.
• Political Awareness: Reading between the lines and using office politics proactively.
• PowerPoint Presentation Techniques: How to speak and use PowerPoint to influence and educate.
• Procrastination: Resolving the problem of putting things off.
• Sleep: Learn about the dynamics of sleep - the number one influencer of daytime productivity - including how to get ensure quality sleep.
• Stress Management: Identifying the sources of stress, handling stress, regaining mental equilibrium.
• Voice Power: How to control and deepen your voice (for both males and females) to become more influential and better understood.
• Willpower: Developing the willpower to stick with exercise, diet or work plans.

INFORMATION OVERLOAD ALERT
It would be easy to think that so much information delivered in such a short space of time would be too much, or too much of too little. But at Bristall Morgan we are experienced in the art and science of adult education. By being fully aware of the potential for overload, we have devised this workshop to avoid it, and thus deliver true return on the investment of both your training dollar and your employee's professional development hours. In essence this is done as follows:

1. Freshness/change. Topics change every 25 minutes or so. The student's mind is allowed to move on to something new, which is stimulating simply through differentiation.
2. Top Ten format. We focus on the most important, best remembered and most practical pieces of knowledge. Any one of the above topics could take up an entire day or week, but ultimately a student will only use a few key principles. We deliver those principles.
3. Review at closure. Each segment is reviewed at its end to reinforce the key points.
4. Time for discussion. Students are free to make comments, ask questions and discuss. This is budgeted into the time allowed.
5. Breaks. Breaks are scheduled to ensure time for rest and refreshment.
6. Ongoing mentorship. This is the heart of all of our training. Students can relax and let the information filter in, knowing they have a full year ahead of them (at no extra charge) to practice and feed back on their experiences with their instructor.
7. Recommended readings. Each segment is paired with at least one recommended reading, to allow for expanded learning at the student's convenience.

For more information about this course, use the Contact Us link to drop us a line.