Modern workplaces demand a lot from you – you must be productive, innovative, make good decisions, collaborate, be able to recall many facts, have great relationships with your colleagues and staff, manage a challenging workload and deliver under pressure. All of that requires the ability to think quickly, stay focused and perform continuously for long periods of time. It’s all possible of course if you know how to keep yourself highly productive –and that requires having a great command over your most valuable asset – your brain.

Using the latest findings from neuroscience, Work Smarter unlocks the keys to high-performance. This stimulating and practical program will show you how to best use your mind and better manage yourself and others. You and your team will discover what does and doesn't work, what can change and what can't, and improve your energy and focus. In short, work smarter will help you develop your 'mental fitness', so that you can perform at your best and still have plenty left over for your personal life.

Who Should Attend

Anyone whose job requires them to think, make decisions, use their judgement and work effectively with others. Anyone whose attention is in frequent demand and who would like to be able to prioritise their time and energy more effectively. Especially useful when efficiency is important to you.

Topics covered during the workshop

• How your brain works (and what that means for you in a modern workplace)

• Priming - setting yourself up for great outcomes

• Designing your work around your natural abilities

• How much good thinking time do your really have each day?

• Doing your best work and getting more done

• How – and when – to make effective decisions

• The cost of interruptions and distractions and how to reduce them

• Harnessing your unconscious to solve difficult issues and increase innovation

• Why peoples sometimes “blow their fuse” and what you can do about it
  

Outcomes

• Work smarter all day long

• Understand and use your mind more effectively

• Reduce effort and increase effectiveness

• Make better decisions

• Improve ideation, innovation and problem-solving

• Easier more effective change

• Improve team-work and collaboration

• Awareness of unconscious forces that lead to ‘counter-productive’ behaviour

• Improve focus and prioritisation

• Understand interpersonal dynamics and work with them (not against them)

• Better work environments

• Thrive – have more left for personal life

We offer two programs to help make your next change initiative easier, faster, effective and most importantly to make it one of the 30% of change initiatives that succeed (yes it's true - 70% of all change initiatives fail or stall prematurely).

We offer two programs to help make this happen for you and for your organisation:

• Taking Charge of Change explains change to line staff and participants and helps them move on and re-engage with the organisation's new vision.

• Leading Change Positively helps leaders bring their staff through change with energy and purpose.

We also offer strategic advice and training on organisational development and transformation for change managers and executives.

Taking Charge of Change

One of the big bugbears for many organizations is getting their staff to come on board with change initiatives. Many staff resist change, hark back to the "old days" and don't want to contribute to a new future. This seminar helps participants become more proactive and engaged when the organisation is undergoing change. It serves as a ‘reality’ check for employees’ expectations, an opportunity to re-focus on priorities and to make the most of the changes – rather than dwelling on the past. Change is inevitable – resistance is not! It also helps overcome the "broken compact" that causes staff to hold back from giving their all.

The program includes time for participants to set goals for themselves. It explains what participants can expect to feel and experience in the midst of change. It gives staff skills to better cope with uncertainty. Staff will make a realistic assessment of where they've been and where they are going, set goals and create a persona, and an empowering vision for themselves.

Who Should Attend

Anyone who is uneasy about a change or who you anticipate might resist change. This program is one that many OD specialists, HR professionals, managers and leaders often want their staff to attend. Anyone who wants reduce the impact of turmoil and to dive-in, take charge, and make the most of changes.

Topics covered during the workshop

• Then and now – How working at the organisation has changed?

• Change management and change coping style

• Reality-check – What are realistic expectations of the organisation – or of any organisation?

• Neuroscience of change – What happens to our brains when faced with uncertainty (and how to deal with it)?

• What did participants sign-up for, what are they getting and what are they going to do next?

• What are the benefits of the change?

• What hasn’t worked and needs to be left behind?

• Locus of control – what can be influenced and what can’t

• Future Vision

Outcomes

• Better acceptance of the changes and new direction

• Heading to the future and letting go of the past

• Overcome the syndrome of “broken compact”

• Greater focus of on the here and now

• Reduced gossip and reduced counter-productive behaviour

• Increased engagement with organizational initiatives

• Skills in focusing effort on what is within participants sphere of influence

• Reduced frustration

• Greater ownership of career

• Accept responsibility for effect of own behaviour on workplace culture and colleagues

Leading Change Positively

This seminar is aimed at managers and leaders to help them understand their staff during the move and become more effective leaders. It will bring participants up to speed with current thinking in change and help them to develop their leadership skills. It applies to principles of positive psychology to reduce resistance and build a thriving organisation.

Topics

• The foundations of great change

• Change versus transition

• The human reaction to change

• Helping staff through change

• Empowering staff and maintaining perfomance

• Characteristics of high-performance workplaces

• The role of positivity in workplaces

• Motivating and engaging – a positive approach

Outcomes

• Greater capacity to help staff through change

• Greater focus of efforts on making “soft” side of change effective

• Reduce resistance

• Build moral

• Help embed a pro-active, positive culture

• Improved leadership