Articles and Newsletters

Referenced from an article from CareerBuilder.co.uk and Caterer.com In a recent survey asked workers in the UK if they were happy, dedicated and enthusiastic about their jobs.The results show the various job sectors and the percentages are shown...

One of the key challenges with setting goals is the need to set "our goals" – goals that reflect our true values. Only when we are following a path that conforms to our true values – personally or collectively – can we be at our most effect...

Even the most experienced trainers get the occasional butterflies before a course. The trick is not to show nerves to your audience for fear of losing credibility. Here are some key points every trainer needs – before, during and immediately a...

We all know that any training, coaching or mentoring is a two-way process. Regardless of how the training is delivered, face-to-face or internet-based, the learning outcomes depend on both the trainer and trainee. Coaching and mentoring are more ...

A survey undertaken by the Chartered Management Institute revealed that nearly a quarter of leaders had knowingly breached professional conduct guidelines at work, with men significantly more likely to do so (30%) than their female counterparts (...

The new Equality Act 2010 and its effect on interviewing The Equality Act becomes law in October 2010 and although not all of it will be implemented immediately it is important that employers understand how it will affect your organisation’s current...

Sounding assertive People respond to our vocal delivery or in other words how we come across. To understand how the voice conveys messages, recall a time when you have overheard a muffled conversation going on behind a closed door or on the other side...

There is a saying: "If you don't know where you're going, you won't get there; but if, by chance, you do get there - you won't know you're there". In order to avoid this being true of either the trainer or the trainees in a training session, a clear...

There are some things which we can do in such situations, so that we are more likely to handle them successfully: Be Prepared You may know a situation is likely to arise from information you already have available. If this is the case, it is importan...

Disciplinary rules set the standards for the organisation. Rules may specify standards of:  punctuality  attendance  performance  appearance  conduct Rules may be used to set out health and safety standards such as protective clothi...

Informal action Cases of minor misconduct or unsatisfactory performance are usually best dealt with informally. A quiet word is often all that is required to improve an employee’s conduct or performance. The informal approach may be particularly hel...

In today's challenging times, highly productive and motivated staff are key to business survival. More and more managers are tasked with improving standards of staff performance and behaviour and implementing good work practices. Managers throughout th...

Progress meetings are normally event focused. The purpose is to take a broad view of planned and actual progress over the event’s activities and allow the staff responsible for those activities to interact and work together. This involves:  The ...

Step 1 Identify the project and the required data from your strategic statements. Step 2 Define the objective (be specific) and describe the expected result. Estimate the cost, and appoint the team leader if applicable. You should also check tha...

Accurate time estimation is a skill essential to good project management. It is important to get time estimates right for two main reasons: Time estimates drive the setting of deadlines for delivery of projects, and hence peoples' assessments of yo...

Define the project. This can be summarised as PASS (Purpose, Authority, Strategy, Skills) In the project definition, you will identify: The purpose of your project and the net gain it should achieve The authority required for you to proceed to...

First of all, what is a project? It may be a business opportunity, such as a new product. Or it may simply be a problem which is scheduled for solution. Projects usually have the following characteristics:  Finite lifetime  Team responsibility ...

Fear A distressing emotion aroused by an impending pain, danger or evil; or by the illusion of such. According to some surveys, presenting before a group is a leading fear. Often people feel anxious that they will make embarrassing mistakes, damage...

Your Vocal Image “It's not what you say, but how you say it.” This popular adage describes how your audience perceives you as you're delivering your presentation. You can improve your vocal image by increasing your awareness of - and learning to c...

Question technique is a very useful tool in any training session. During theory instruction to group, it is perhaps the most powerful technique of all. The greater the degree of involvement by the trainees, the greater their commitment will be to your ...

There is a saying: "If you don't know where you're going, you won't get there; but if, by chance, you do get there - you won't know you're there". In order to avoid this being true of either the trainer or the trainees in a training session, a cle...

Managing e-mail It’s interesting that technology is often heralded as a servant for us yet frequently we become a servant to it. E-mail was trumpeted as the new communications tool that would surely put first class “snail mail” out of business. ...

All organisations need to convey a professional image in every way to stay ahead of the competition. It is paramount that all pieces of written documentation are faultless. Reports must contain vital information that recommends action or allows the ...

PAUSE FOR BREATH! Punctuation is the written equivalent of pauses and emphasis in speech, and helps to make a document easy to read and understand. You may find the following summary useful when you are drafting reports or letters. It is broken into...

Nobody wants to receive a letter of complaint. The fact is that, in almost any organisation, they will be received unless we are perfect. The natural reaction is to get upset and defensive. The professional approach is to treat a complaint as an opport...

How you approach the actual teaching will depend on the subject matter and on your personal style and preferences. In most cases, you will want to break the content into distinct modules and follow a planned routine for each of them. 1. Trainer spea...

Management Competencies Research into the productivity of high-performance managers has found that they share these common characteristics: When they make decisions, they make them with the end in mind. This comes from a clear vision of what their ...

DEFINING DELEGATION 1. Delegation is not task assignment. Task assignment is simply assigning work to an individual within the duties and responsibilities of his/her position. Delegation, on the other hand, involves the manager giving someone the resp...

It is recognised that the best managers are the ones who can delegate. The modern manager, with ever increasing work loads and responsibilities, must use the delegation of responsibility to encourage career growth amongst his/her staff. The results ...

Praising Individuals There are several Golden Rules to observe:  Make sure that you do it. Be timely and don't blame pressures of work for missing the opportunity  Giving praise as soon as possible after the completion of the task or assignmen...

What is a coach? If you were to list some of the positive definitions you would use to define what coaching is about, you would hopefully come up with some of the following answers; communicate, educate, improve, inspire, prepare, support and motivate....

What is a coach? In order for managers to work effectively as coaches they must be able to identify clearly what is meant by the term and where it fits in relation to management and other development activities. Probably the most common role model most...

When you begin to make efforts to act more assertively during negotiations, keeping a diary of situations that arise in which you find that you were not as assertive as you would like to have been, can be very helpful. Try to jot down situations where ...

Telesales call sheet Sales strategy means being able to target the actions necessary to be effective in sales. That is not to say just when you are talking to the customer but also managing our ‘pipeline’. A pipeline is the flow of contacts we nee...

The ability to control the call and guide it in a positive direction is one of the key skills of a telephone professional. Below are some of the most effective techniques that will allow you to gain, keep or regain control of most situations. Keeping ...

Sharing the load Co-presenting improves almost all presentations in several ways. It adds to the energy. It lets each presenter to come to the other’s rescue when necessary. Solo presenters manage many tasks at the same time — monitoring audien...

"There cannot be a stressful crisis next week. My schedule is already full." - Henry Kissinger Many of us can empathise with this quote. We are all living and working in a fast-paced society and for many of us day-to-day work (and life stress) is quit...

Sometimes it is difficult to pin down the exact, observable behaviours that help you to express yourself and communicate effectively - some verbal, visual and vocal traits play a large part in effective communication. NON-ASSERTIVE NEGOTIATORS Verbal...

15 STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH RESISTANCE 1. Do something! The worst that can happen is that the customer remains unconvinced and you lose a sale, a lost sale is guaranteed if you don't attempt to deal with an objection. Alternatively the best that...

Objection Handling Objections are strange things. On one hand we think that we don't like them - we may even be afraid of them. Their very name can make us feel that the customer has something against our product, our company or even worse, us persona...

"There cannot be a stressful crisis next week. My schedule is already full." - Henry Kissinger Many of us can empathise with this quote. We are all living and working in a fast-paced society and for many of us day-to-day work (and life stress) is quit...

Product demonstrations enable the audience to not only see and hear how well the product produces gains, but also to experience it in realistic conditions. The value of a well presented and relevant demonstration cannot be underestimated. The key point...

STAGES OF ASSERTIVENESS FOR LEADERS There are many ways in which we can be assertive. Let’s look at how some of these are used and how we need to use an escalation or a combination of techniques to become more assertive.  Issuing instructions -...

SALES PRESENTATION TIPS AND TECHNIQUES Presentations have a way of leaving a legacy long after your presentation has ended. Even if the prospect doesn't buy from you right now, a high quality presentation will definitely be remembered in a positive li...

Tips for opening negotitions effectively Having planned the negotiation and set the scene for a successful outcome, there’s little point in spoiling your success with a weak opening. The start of a negotiation is one of the most important phases of ...

Top tips for handling all difficult customers Remain calm yourself. Don’t take it personally Ask relevant questions Give reasons for all actions/requests Listen closely to understand the problem Agree what the problem is without blaming...

“Stress is like an iceberg. We can see one-eighth of it above, but what about what’s below?” If you are used to thinking that stress is something that makes you worry, you have the wrong idea of stress. Stress is many different kinds of things: ...

Types of leadership There are as many leadership "types" as there are leaders. Many will work,  but some are more effective than others.  Generally, an effective leadership type will allow you to: identify and target realistic and relevant g...

In today’s challenging times highly productive and motivated sales staff are key to business survival. More and more managers are tasked with improving sales performance and training staff how to sell more. If you want to get more customers buying y...

If you consider your current stress levels in comparison to last year, you may find that they have risen considerably. In these uncertain times we may find that, either on a subconscious or conscious level, we are suffering from a higher level of stres...

TIPS FOR CUSTOMER CARE DURING CHRISTMAS Christmas is a busy time of year for all, but that is no reason for your customer service standards to slip. We all know we will be busier then most other times of the year, and therefore, preparation is key. If...

Dealing with aggressive people The following are some techniques to help you when dealing with the aggressive or intimidating person: 1. Pick a person you deal with on a regular basis who you find intimidating. Get started by choosing someo...

Dealing with arrogant people Arrogance is a defence mechanism, usually guarding against vulnerability and insecurity, often learned in childhood. Arrogance is defined as : "an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptu...

Tips for dealing with difficult situations The following are some techniques that can be used to address those difficult situations and people: Communicate and explore alternatives Never assume you can't help someone. By thinking about alternati...

Difficult people do unfortunately exist at work as in every other walk of life. It is rare to find a workplace without them. Depending on your level of self-esteem, dealing with a difficult person at work can be debilatating and stressful. Dealing w...

PRESENTATION ANXIETY Following on from last month's Principles 1 - 4 KEY PRINCIPLES TO OVERCOMING YOUR ANXIETY, PRINCIPLES 5-8 Principle 5: Use humour and humility to your advantage Humour is well understood by most of us, so little needs to be ...

Presenting to peers, strangers and public speaking in general, whether for public or business reasons, is a common source of stress. If you have ever been in contact with a 'Best-Man' before his speech is due, you will see just how terrifying it can be...

DEALING WITH DIFFICULT AUDIENCES Often, in speeches or presentations, there will be an individual in the audience that may cause you difficult. They may simply like to hear themselves talk, or are actually intending to make your life difficult. If you...

Presentations skills quiz How much do you know about making effective presentations? If you had to make the most important presentation of your career, would you be prepared? We invite you to try our quiz to find out. ANSWER TRUE or FALSE W...

Voice exercises and diet in presentations Voice warm-up exercises Singers often warm up their vocals before rehearsals or performances. They do this by screaming and yelling into a towel. This may also help with pre-presenting nerves. This is done to...

Methods of improving your presentation Tell stories/ use anecdotes: Make your presentation personal. As a presenter, you will be perceived better by your audience, but remember to keep it short, sweet and relevant. Show pictures/ images: This c...

The benefit of using visual aids in your presentation Visual aids should be used to reinforce your message, clarify points, and create excitement. Visual aids will help you reach your objectives by providing emphasis to what is being said. Clear pictu...

POWERFUL PRESENTATIONS Dynamic Delivery Short attention spans are the bane of every presenter's existence. If you feel that your audience is using your presentation as an opportunity to grab a quick nap, it might be time to start thinking about a mor...

If there are two parts that you must focus on getting right, it’s the opening and the close of your presentation/ speech. People remember the last thing that you say the most, then the first. Everything else falls somewhere in between. Often, good...

Gaining (and holding) the audience's attention: Attention Gaining Devices Always be aware that attention spans are short and work on techniques to gain your audience's attention. Once you have created your talk, go through it and make sure that e...

How to use humour in a presentation Some presenters might say that they could never use humour in their presentations as they wouldn't feel comfortable with it. We believe that humour adds an additional element to your presentation, as appropriate hum...

"If you would like to know the value of money, go and try to borrow some." - Benjamin Franklin The number of people seeking advice because they were struggling with mortgage repayments and other household bills surged in the first two months of this y...

"The time to relax is when you don't have time for it." - Sidney J. Harris Stress can be defined as the release of powerful neuro-chemicals and hormones that prepare us for action (to fight or flee). If we don't take action, the stress response can le...

"This art of resting the mind and the power of dismissing from it all care and worry is probably one of the secrets of energy in our great men." - Captain A.J.Hadfield Relaxation techniques are a great way to help you to manage your stress and your re...

"There cannot be a stressful crisis next week. My schedule is already full." - Henry Kissinger Many of us can empathise with this quote. We are all living and working in a fast-paced society and for many of us day-to-day work (and life stress) is quit...

Using flipcharts in presentations While everyone seems to be interested in creating high-tech computer generated presentations, the flip chart still continues to be the most effective presentation media of all. One should not assume that investing a l...

Assertiveness is one of the essential skills in the modern working environment. There are many benefits of being assertive such as; better time management, increased self esteem and the ability to negotiate more effectively. Assertion means standing up...

Assertion means standing up for what you want. Stating your needs clearly. It means expressing opposition. It means confrontation and it takes courage. Some find it harder than others because of their natural easy-going style and therefore more practic...

“Stress is like an iceberg. We can see one-eighth of it above, but what about what’s below?” If you are used to thinking that stress is something that makes you worry, you have the wrong idea of stress. Stress is many different kinds of things: ...

"Is everything as urgent as your stress would imply?" Carrie Latet How stressed are you? he key to managing your stress is knowing what your stressors are - it sounds simply, but the fact is many of do not know what are 'stress triggers' are. this...

Great presenters have always relied on the use of stories to highlight a point; make the presentation more interesting; or just to get a difficult audience's attention. We all have stories that we use from our own personal experiences and these mixed w...

An acute case of 'absenteeism' Three out of four bosses make themselves available to their job at all hours of the day, and their personal relationships suffer as a result of their workaholic tendencies, according to a survey about managers' working h...

A good indication as to whether you need to train your staff is the height and age of your in-tray contents. Are piles of work continually being brought home in the evenings and the weekends? Are you constantly putting out fires? Have a close look at t...

It’s interesting that technology is often heralded as a servant for us yet frequently we become a servant to it. E-mail was trumpeted as the new communications tool that would surely put first class “snail mail” out of business. In 1999 the U. S....

The title of my talk is ... The objective(s) of my talk is ... Who am I talking to? ... What does the audience need/want to hear? ... Opening words? (How am I going to get their interest?) ... Middle? (How am I going to maintain the...

One of the concepts of Time Management is the use of checklists to save time in planning an event, meeting etc. This month’s newsletter contains a number of work-related checklists that cover subjects as diverse as negotiating, planning an appraisal,...

Customer Service This month’s training newsletter is about customer service. In the UK we say the customer is number one, in the US they say the customer is king, in Japan they say the customer is god. There is a difference. If you or your staff ...

Some facts about stress 89% of people suffer high stress 31% of people suffer high stress every day 195 million days are claimed by the DSS for mental and stress related causes every year 75% now work more than 40 hours a week Average working time...

NLP or Nuero Linguistic Programming is a topic we use on many of our courses such as stress management, conflict management, people management and our popular new manager programme. Don’t be put off by the title if it sounds too theoretical or confus...

Whether we realise it or not we all work on projects and in our experience most people benefit when they use a structured approach to planning and implementation. All of the checklists and tips are included in our course ‘Project planning for non-pro...

How would you deal with these situations? Don’t worry if you can’t think of appropriate responses as there are some suggestions at the end of this article. You are carrying out the appraisal of one of your team. To your surprise she asks to be...

Startling Statistics One of the best ways to grab an audience’s attention at the start of a presentation is to deliver a startling statistic or fact. These need to be relevant to the presentation topic and back-up the point a presenter is trying to ...

It is important for managers to realise that as we progress we must make the way ahead for our employees as meaningful as possible. Most managers have the belief that "to get a job done well, you have to do it yourself", but this is a very short term v...

Time management is a crucial factor in work and our time management courses are created to ensure that delegates can make their time keeping as efficient and effective as possible. We do this by supplying a time management training course that is full ...

What is negotiation? Let’s begin with a definition of negotiation. Not a dictionary definition because this comes from the practice of negotiation, not the theory: Negotiation is the process by which we search for terms to obtain what we want from ...

Wise Words (an extract from 'What they don't teach you at Harvard Business School' by Mark McCormack) Acting rather than reacting allows you really to use what you have learned. It allows you to convert perceptions into controls. By reacting, by fail...

Using transitions Good transitions are critical to an effective presentation. They help tie your presentation together and make it flow smoothly from one idea to the next. Plus, transitions signal important ideas so your audience pays extra attention....

Why use visual aids? Research has shown that visual aids: increase your persuasiveness - Presenters using visuals conduct meetings in 28% less time; increase audience retention up to five times and get proposals approved twice as often. height...

Maintain good eye contact Scan the audience and establish constant eye contact. Only talk when you’re looking at someone; work the whole room; a good rule of thumb is no more than two seconds on each member of the audience. And remember, never talk ...

Introduction First impressions are disproportionately important on every call The initial impact you make is within your control Constant conscious effort is needed to maintain and improve your impact on customers These points are obviously ...

In today’s challenging times highly productive and motivated sales staff are key to business survival. More and more managers are tasked with improving sales performance and training staff how to sell more. If you want to get more customers buying y...

Giving constructive feedback is an essential skill for any manager. It is the process for relaying the effects of behaviour for the individual's benefit and learning. Without feedback it can become difficult to progress. The purpose of giving feedback ...

When it comes to employee performance appraisals, setting SMART objectives and giving constructive feedback are essential skills for any manager and our appraisal training courses show delegates how to carry out appraisal and performance reviews succes...

Effective performance appraisals Performance appraisals are a powerful way of developing staff and maximising their potential. They are, however a process which if done badly can lead to low morale and staff turnover. Formal appraisals are just one pa...

Quotations about stress “I have taken the view that stress results when a person’s perceived or actual capabilities and resources are insufficient to meet the demands of the situation.” J Cranwell-Ward “Stress can either be stimulating (p...

In the UK, a number of high profile recent breaches of the government’s stress directive indicates that organisations may not understand their liabilities in regards to reducing the stress of their employees. Stress can be defined as our perceptio...

If you or your staff have to deal with customers both face to face or over the telephone then effective Customer Care training is essential in enabling you to develop a Customer Caring or ‘Customers First’ attitude to delivering service effectively...

Our dealing with difficult people courses are one of our popular courses as it effectively demonstrates how to neutralise problem situations in the workplace. It covers a wide range of scenarios that occur in the workplace such as; working with aggres...

In today's challenging times, highly productive and motivated staff are key to business survival. More and more managers are tasked with improving standards of staff performance and behaviour and implementing good work practices. Managers throughout ...

Estimates have suggested that between 3%-5% of the working population receive some form of disciplinary action each year in the UK. This would mean that in an organisation of 1,000 employees, about 50 employees would receive some form of disciplinary a...

To test your assertiveness there are some typical situations below. Be completely honest with yourself and write down how you would naturally react in each situation. On a piece of paper, number from 1 to 6. Write your choice a, b, or c after each n...

Assertion means standing up for what you want. Stating your needs clearly. It means expressing opposition. It means confrontation and it takes courage. Some find it harder than others because of their natural easy-going style and therefore more practic...

We believe the web is a fantastic place for marketing and promotion but we believe that there should be access to free information which is in abundance on many sites. Total Success have searched the web for free information on assertiveness and you...

Assertion means standing up for what you want. Stating your needs clearly. It means expressing opposition. It means confrontation and it takes courage. Some find it harder than others because of their natural easy-going style and therefore more practic...

We believe the web is a fantastic place for marketing and promotion but we believe that there should be access to free information which is in abundance on many sites. Total Success have searched the web for free information on time management and asse...

Here are our top tips for managing your time: Make a commitment to yourself today to ‘make time’ for something you really want to do. Have a good idea of what your time is worth to you. If you calculate the figure regularly it enables you...

In any business proposition the relative benefits must outweigh the risks. Yes, there will be changes to your organisations current methods of working but a realistic assessment of the benefits may cancel out the fear of change. Remember the words of T...

Recently the media has made much of the fact that the government is pushing forward legislation that gives workers increased opportunities to work more flexible hours and also work from home, if applicable. This will either seem a gift from heaven or y...

It’s interesting that technology is often heralded as a servant for us yet frequently we become a servant to it. E-mail was trumpeted as the new communications tool that would surely put first class “snail mail” out of business. In 1999 the U....

Follow our tips to manage you time better. General tips and techniques Clear your desk and plan your activities for the next day. First list your ‘time specific items, e.g. meetings and then write down the tasks you have to complete. ...

There are common time wasters which need to be identified In order for a time management process to work it is important to know what aspects of our personal management need to be improved. Below you will find some of the most frequent reasons for red...

The credo of the managing and supervising people rests on the implementation of three ideas, namely: the need to establish clear-cut goals, the need to praise good performance, and the need to reprimand people when their performance fails to co...

Research has shown these to be some of the most frequently asked questions of people applying for jobs. You may find them useful when drawing up a list of questions to ask an interviewee. Don’t forget, the real skill of asking questions is the way...

Plan the interview Thoroughly review job requirements. Know exactly what the job requires for perfect performance. This will allow you to make decisions based on factual evidence and not personal preferences. Create the interview plan Formulate jo...

Here are some more apparently true stories from personnel professionals "When I asked him about his hobbies, he stood up and started tap dancing around my office." "... bounced up and down on my carpet and told me I must be highly thought of by...

Your voice never conveys your whole message, nor does your choice of words. A critical part of your presentation success is your visual image: your posture, eye contact, facial expressions, head movements, gestures and dress. Three parts to a profes...

Audience: What sort of audience do you expect? Numbers....................... Type..................... Dates: of the meeting itself of rehearsals of preliminary discussions Organisation: When information notes must be re...

Definition of a presentation A structured, prepared and speech-based means of communicating information, ideas, or arguments to a group of interested people in order to inform or persuade them No presentation will achieve its desired level of succe...

Techniques for releasing presentation nerves Breathe and relax Take three deep breaths from your stomach, imagine the air you take in is positive energy and the exhaled air is negative energy. Hold your hand in front of your mouth and concentrate...

It is a myth that good presentations are made only by people born with immense skill and the ‘gift of the gab’. All of us can learn the secrets used by experts to become both competent and confident when speaking to either a large audience, chairin...