Public sector employees don’t always think of themselves as customer service providers. Becoming Customer Service Stars teaches the skills needed to achieve customer service excellence and explores the impact of interpersonal staff relationships that affect the process. Participants evaluate areas that work and those areas that need improvement. The thrust of the course is skill building in the areas of identified weakness. The overall mission of the Department is reviewed and the place that customer service plays in carrying out the mission is examined. Phone, e-mail, and verbal communication skills are practiced. Participants take home a workbook they can use for future reference and create an Action Plan to transfer the learning in the class to the workplace.

Each of these generational groups has a different value system and way of experiencing the world and the workplace. Different doesn’t have to mean wrong. This course gives you the information that leads to a deeper understanding of all the generational perspectives. It also provides the communication skills to bridge the "generation gap." This is an enlightening course that delivers more than it promises: it brings understanding, appreciation, and insight. It is interesting and timely material. This course should be mandatory.

Do you ever have the feeling or thought that the opposite gender is speaking a foreign language? There are communication differences, but if you understand these differences, they don’t have to get in the way of productive work relationships. Learn about your own gender communication style and gain skills to talk to the opposite sex with more insight and effectiveness.

This two-day course focuses on business writing fundamentals: how to effectively draft, edit, and revise letters, memos, proposals, progress/status reports, and fact sheets. Clarity and conciseness, on the word and sentence levels, and many formatting tools and “tricks of the trade” create the context in which participants not only reflect on their own writing process but learn step-by-step formulas to write these documents. Models are shown and participants examine and deconstruct writing samples. This is an excellent course with very useful reference and resource materials.

This course focuses on change and the changing roles line staff experience as they move to management. Often when line staff get promoted, they find themselves in the new position of supervising their peers. This course offers the opportunity to discuss, explore, and learn ways to deal well with this change while being effective.  Additionally, new and seasoned supervisors learn strategies to make their team more effective; the focus is on leadership skills rather than simply “managing people.” Practical, logical, and insightful, this course provides supervisors skills to excel in their role.

The focus of this course is on change and the changing roles line staff experience as they move to management. Often when line staff get promoted, they find themselves in the new position of supervising their peers. This course offers the opportunity to discuss, explore, and learn strategies to deal effectively with this change. Additionally, new and seasoned supervisors learn strategies to make their team more effective; the focus is on leadership skills rather than simply “managing people.” Practical, logical, and insightful, this course provides supervisors skills to excel in their role.

This course provides necessary skills to identify several mental illnesses. Participants explore difficulties associated with communicating with the mentally ill and learn how to use “tactical communication,” a necessary skill to effectively communicate. In addition, participants learn and practice how to speak with and listen to family members/caregivers of this population. Strategies for working with the physically or verbally mentally ill are covered in great detail. Finally, staff learn treatment and intervention strategies for the mentally ill.

Being a good communicator means more than just getting your point across. Participants examine their communication skills: speaking and listening. At the same time, support staff gain exposure to and an understanding of behavior modification techniques that support more positive interactions. This is a communication nuts-and-bolts course designed to give staff updated skills to perform professionally, safely, and efficiently any any context. This dynamite class supplies simple communication strategies that get results, quickly and consistently.

Effective Performance-Based Evaluations are a productivity enhancement tool designed to motivate and encourage the employee. The relationship supervisors and managers create with employees motivates them (either positively or negatively). Meant to be non-punitive and instructional, the correct drafting and completion of these evaluations have one desired outcome: motivation. If effectively constructed, employee evaluations are helpful to the employee and aid in establishing, creating, and sustaining accountability within the department.

This course addresses unmanaged conflicts that can be potentially dangerous. Instruction is provided on how when one person loses their temper everyone around him/her can be affected. Participants discuss unresolved workplace conflicts that often have disastrous consequences: increased anxiety, anger, intimidation, blame, resentment, and loss of productivity. Our instructors provide the tools to manage conflict in a positive way, turning a conflict that was once a liability into an asset. This course addresses a variety of situations, from the most mundane procedural conflict to high tension and potentially explosive confrontations. This class is for all staff, from those whose first instinct is to react with anger in a difficult situation to those who avoid conflict so much they are paralyzed.

This course is for managers and supervisors who are tasked with implementing departmental or organizational change. Our training presents tools and techniques to help staff define new or changing roles, establish individual and departmental responsibilities, address resistance, and encourage employee buy-in. Participants develop their own models for introducing change to employees, and practice ways to dissolve conflicts arising from change. Managers and supervisors learn how to assess stress danger signs in staff, and they leave with tools to help them address change on a one-on-one level. We have found, and the research supports it, that most people perceive change as loss. This course helps people deal with transformation and supports managers and supervisors in this tricky leadership area.

What are the root causes of stress in your work life? Participants examine stressors that lower productivity, job satisfaction, and impact their health and relationships, both on the job and at home. Stress is a fact of life for all law enforcement personnel. Recent research indicates increases in stress-related diseases that are caused by lifestyles saturated with stress and tension. Burnout, heart attacks, ulcers, decreased productivity; relationship problems, depression, loneliness, poor diet, substance use, and cynicism are frequent symptoms of chronic stress that adversely affect us personally, professionally, and physically. This class imparts techniques to lower your overall stress level. Participants learn to deal effectively with stressful people and situations by examining past lifestyle choices. Exposure to and practice with relaxation exercises is highlighted as is drafting a plan to make more drastic lifestyle choices. The course demands honest scrutiny of physical fitness and eating choices as well as ineffective communication strategies that may be causing unnecessary stress.

Engaging participants in the learning process and creating transfer learning takes more than a good presenter and quality content! In this course, a course designer learns to meet the needs of the sponsoring department with clearly defined learning outcomes. Participants also learn how to choose materials and activities that create dynamic learning environments. This requires the understanding of different learning styles, learner motivation, and time use. Participants are invited to bring a course idea and leave with a course designed! This is a powerful course if training units and content area experts want to shorten their course creation and execution learning curve!

This class explores needed skills to achieve customer service excellence as well as the impact of interpersonal staff relationships that may help or hinder that process. Participants evaluate areas that are working well and also those areas that need improvement. The thrust of the course is skill-building in the areas of identified weakness. The overall mission of the department is reviewed and the place that customer service plays in carrying out the mission is examined. Phone, e-mail, and verbal communication skills are practiced as is the reinforcement that customers are both internal and external to the department.  *Currently, a four-hour course.

This sixteen-hour course equips staff with organizational and time management tools and communication skills to sharpen and hone their ability to move through their workday with increased levels of efficiency, focus, satisfaction, and ease. Staff learn from practical exercises in identifying, prioritizing, and managing information and workflow in addition to identifying their organizational weaknesses in a series of activities that are fun and engaging. Tips and strategies are concrete, real world, and easy to implement. In addition, the project management “secrets of the pros” are revealed: detailed how-to activities explain how to create a plan, work with groups to implement projects, and monitor progress. In addition, participants learn that all internal and external contacts are customers, from clients to managers to professional support staff. Participants focus on changing and monitoring their behavior and communication patterns to create solution-based problem solving. Heavy emphasis is paid on telephone communication with both internal and external “customers.” Face-to-face de-escalation techniques are taught and practiced. Participants learn how to handle a variety of reception area problems as well angry clients. And, finally, emphasis is placed be on productive, healthy communication strategies between line staff and supervisors. This is a serious nuts-and-bolts course that underscores vital skills that help staff thrive.

In this advanced customer service skills course, participants are shown that all internal and external contacts are customers: clients, managers, and professional support staff. Emphasis is on communication and identifying personal communication style and its role in miscommunication. Participants focus on changing and monitoring their own behavior and communication patterns to create solution-based problem solving. Heavy emphasis is paid on telephone communication with both internal and external “customers.” In addition, face-to-face de-escalation techniques are taught and practiced. Participants learn how to handle a variety of reception area problems as well angry clients. Emphasis is on productive, healthy communication strategies between line staff and supervisors, as well.  This is a solutions-focused course and training experience.

Participants learn both ethics fundamentals as well as the ethical standards within their own organization. The importance of proper conduct and decision making is stressed, as is the importance of instilling a code of professionalism. The art and science of becoming an ethical role model is underscored, as is the reinforcement of each professional’s commitment to being the “best” they can be.

This course explores the impact of personal value systems, socialization, media, and generational affiliation on individual attitudes about other people: the learners identify historical changes that impact the experience of diversity here in this culture. While there is a discussion of gender, cultural, racial, and societal issues, the focus of this discussion is not what one might expect. Difference itself is generally the issue that divides people, more than skin color, cultural background, class, religion, or gender. The course allows participants to engage in dialogue that leads to greater appreciation and understanding of difference while, at the same time, hones communication skills.

Handling Change in Law Enforcement: Changing Times and Changing Lives teaches staff understanding and coping strategies to deal with rapid change in both their own lives and in the professional environment of Corrections. The focus is on the dynamics of change and resistance to it. Participants learn ways to stay both focused and productive. Staff also learn techniques to cope with the fear, loss, and the stress that accompanies change. At the conclusion of the course, using the techniques learned, participants are better able to proactively embrace the rapid changes taking place in both Corrections and their personal lives.

Writing skills can be a big workplace challenge for non-native English speakers. Improving Writing Skills for Non-Native Speakers reviews the smallest building blocks of written English with focused grammar review and sentence and paragraph construction. Conquer those tricky contractions and possessive nouns! Practice correct usage of prepositional phrases, as well writing concise, complete sentences with appropriate punctuation. Many resources are shared, so that the participant leaves with a roadmap to enhancing their learning outside the classroom.

A great deal of time is spent preparing for work, yet almost none is spent learning how to conduct or attend meetings that are part of the process of getting work done. Budget and time constraints make it crucial to make every meeting productive. In this one-day program, participants learn to plan, organize, and conduct productive meetings, both large and small. Staff practice exercises to define steps for meeting preparation and agenda planning. Also, strategies for action follow-up and accountability for assigned tasks are provided in this course. Learning in this action-packed program is both informational and experiential. The nuts-and-bolts of good meetings, learning to pay attention to content in a meeting, as well how to facilitate the process and engage all meeting attendees are covered. Participants learn to focus on “process,” so when they are “meeting leaders,” they know how to keep meetings on task and allow disagreements to be addressed openly. In this context, the objective is to manage meetings where all participants are willing to take the next steps, to put action items into operation once the meeting is over.

We spend a great deal of time preparing for the work we do yet spend almost no time learning how to participate in or conduct a meeting that is part of the process of getting the work done. Budget and time constraints make it crucial that every meeting be productive. Many people groan at the idea of another meeting because they are often mismanaged, get off track, are interrupted, take too much time, have unclear agendas, and/or lack effective leadership. In this one-day program, participants learn how to plan, organize, and conduct both large and small productive meetings. They come to understand the steps for meeting preparation, agenda development, and participation encouragement. Skills in handling counterproductive behaviors are covered as well as Action Steps for follow-up that implement meeting decisions.

Negativity in the workplace is a phenomenon that, in some organizations, has become a cultural norm. Negative thinking and behavior is a choice. Learners explore their own experience of negativity and assess its impact. The instructor helps the participants identify the sources of negativity: the “clients,” the department or division, co-workers, and/or themselves. Through group and individual activities, staff acquires many survival skills and communication strategies to limit and manage personal and others’ toxic, negative behavior.  Negativity is a choice:  this course helps participants understand the reasons they choose negative thoughts and actions.   At the end of the day, individuals and groups create Action Plans and anti-negativity materials to take back to their workplace(s) and home(s).  

Some days it feels like there is more information than can ever be organized. The piles on one’s desk seem like they get higher instead of shorter. Increasingly, information needs to be managed to be understood. There is only one solution to this potential crisis and daily stressor: developing the necessary skills needed to effectively manage time, information, and employees. Organizational Skills for Peak Performance imparts practical exercises in identifying, prioritizing, and managing information. Participants identify their organizational weaknesses in a series of activities that are fun and engaging. In addition, the course is tailored to departmental needs. Once identified, our instructors focus on specific tools to enable participants to turn their weaknesses into strengths.  This course is vital, and staff receive excellent, easy-to-use help.

In this course, participants identify their strongest skills and capabilities as well as define their stressors, problem areas, and personal pitfalls. Our trainers facilitate participants to develop approaches that improve participant effectiveness at work, within their families, within important relationships, and in all areas of their lives. The program focuses on individualized assessments and personal development content and reflection, ensuring participants know how to capitalize on their current strengths and how to use their best skills to create even more rewarding lives. This is both an enlightening and uplifting course, an intangible skill builder and gentle morale booster.

Confrontation doesn’t have to mean "getting in someone’s face." Verbal skills are a safe and viable alternative to force, when you know how to use them. Designed for those who have the ability to use force but want only to use it as a last resort, Positive Confrontation defuses escalation and provides a safer environment for the officers and people with whom they interact. Use of Force can create personal and organizational liability, injury, and mountains of paperwork. This is a great course with powerful tools.

This hands-on, 16-hour course immerses professional support staff in preparing for and passing their county promotional exams. In addition, course participants are exposed to the skills, information, and practice needed to get noticed on the job, be leaders, and do well in interviews. This course gives confidence and skills! 

High-quality presentation skills are critical; this course teaches the basics of “group process” and explains how to use those “basics” to keep learners engaged and activities enjoyable and lively. The course teaches the best ways to both overcome resistance for mandated training and deal with disruptive and difficult participants. Presentation & Training Skills reveals the secrets of getting participants back from breaks on time, mixing up groups, and “reading your audience.” Each person receives feedback on their presentation style and a chance to practice their skills. This course takes the participant to the next level!

Identifying a problem is only a first step! Someone has to decide what is going to be done to fix it. Everyone can use tips on streamlining problem solving, and this course applies to the entire department. More than just “coming up” with solutions, our instructors teach participants how to get others to invest in the solution. That way, once a problem is identified, everyone works together to solve it. Problem Solving takes participants through different problem-solving styles and helps identify what strategies work best for a variety of practical situations. This course covers ways to increase confidence in a solution and addresses why defining expectations is crucial. The focus of the class is on strategies that get results, so the benefits of training can be used right away.

Budgets get leaner and resources often seem fewer each fiscal year. Yet large projects that affect everyone on a department-wide scale get implemented all the time. This one-day course explores the crucial components in a project, and trains participants how to guide a project from conception to completion. The secrets to being great at project management are revealed: detailed how-to activities explain how to create a plan, work with groups to implement it, and monitor the progress through to completion. Instead of racing to the “completion-date finish line,” participants learn to order dates and deadlines in a way that reduces stress on everyone, ensuring projects are successful. This course focuses on practical examples, departmental procedures, and tools that can be put into practice the very next day.

Speaking in front of people, from small meetings to large, can be a daunting task for seasoned and novice speakers alike. Public Speaking and Speaking On-the-Spot walks participants through proven methods that perfect their speaking skills, regardless of experience level. Our step-by-step strategies ensure that presentations are not only easy to prepare, but are organized, concise, and to the point. Participants examine what makes a good speech, what makes a good audience, tips for dealing with aggressive audience members or an aggressive speaker, and other easy-to-use tools.  Also, participants practice these skills (without having to stand up in front of the class). Public Speaking goes beyond the general and addresses how to overcome stage fright, even when speaking to management. Course exercises target individual fears so participants can address them.

Sexual harassment and discrimination law, including Title VII, are detailed and reviewed in this course which defines and explains sexual harassment law. Effective sexual harassment policy is reviewed, and retaliation and adverse employment examples are discussed.  Participants examine mediation and investigation techniques. Case studies and scenarios are examined and scrutinized. This course demystifies the laws and provides personnel a clear picture of legal, and illegal, behavior.

With a trainer gifted at addressing sensitive issues in the classroom, this customized course allows work teams to identify the challenges in getting projects done effectively and on time. With the aid of a team learning instrument, teams self-assess and are able to give and receive feedback on their experience of team cohesion. Teams set goals and create Action Plans to move ahead, move forward, and increase productivity. Using advanced communication skills, individuals increase their communication competency and learn how to give feedback on ideas and processes. The result: growth in work relationships and increased productivity and morale.  This is a powerful course to explore operationalizing Evidence-Based Practices.

This course facilitates all levels of staff to unite and reflect on how they work together as a team. Organizational Mission Statements drive programs and define ways that staff interact with probationers and each other; focused class class discussion compares the organization’s Mission Statement with the individual staff member’s Personal Mission Statement. Class activities guide and support participant practice with engaging in more open communication, increasing ability to resolve conflict, and giving effective feedback to coworkers. Teams analyze their problem-solving dynamics and draft Action Plans which address concrete ways to improve project execution.

This course is designed to give those who work jointly with minors the opportunity to learn better skills to work and communicate as a team. The trainer presents updated information on adolescent bio-psychosocial development; this information supports their effectiveness as counselors to minors. The dynamics of anger and anger management are explored. Teams practice conflict-resolution skills to maintain a more therapeutic atmosphere. The importance of bonding to motivate minors is stressed with skill practice in active listening and positive reinforcement.

This era of rapid change, early retirement, and faster promotions leaves many supervisory personnel without the necessary skills to handle common challenges. This course identifies the problem employee, develops a personal survival plan, as well as teaches concrete strategies to address problem situations. The common situations that are addressed include: supervising a “friend;” supervising someone who was passed over for a promotion; people who “go behind your back”; older, or, much younger employees; employees who constantly bicker; and employees with serious personal problems. Managers can also be a challenge. Learn strategies for dealing with managers who avoid conflict, micromanage, and/or throw temper tantrums. This course offers the participant a strategy to get a handle on “rumor control” and a strategy to foster inter-department cooperation! Great leadership course!

This course is great for experienced managers as well as first-time supervisors. Managers feel overworked, not only because they have their own tasks to do, but also because they often take on tasks that should be delegated. Often managers have the “If I want it done right, I have to do it myself” attitude. Employees are qualified to handle tasks, if they receive the right direction. In this course, participants assess their current delegation practices, evaluate the effectiveness of those actions, and develop the steps to ensure effective delegation. Activities focus on defining expectations, examining the critical steps to a project, and communicating those expectations to employees.

Most administrative positions require juggling multiple (and often conflicting) priorities, projects, deadlines, assignments, and bosses in addition to the standard duties like handling phones, mail, schedules, and visitors. This course is for beginning administrators and seasoned professionals alike. Participants learn new ways to solve problems, and get a fresh outlook on the demands of administrative positions. Our trainers help participants develop strategies for managing multiple projects and priorities, while at the same time developing communication skills. Qualified, talented, and organized assistants make up the backbone of any department, and their enthusiasm can infect an entire department, increasing productivity and dramatically transforming the workplace. This course is the first step in enabling staff to identify their own problem areas, adopt new strategies for improvement, and reinvest in the workplace!

Many feel that time “gets away from them.” But for some, it’s not just a rare occurrence, it’s a daily issue. Frustration at work can be a negative by-product of lack of productivity. This frustration can lead to broader dissatisfaction, and a loss of motivation. There are so many time wasters: telephone interruptions, meetings, tasks that should have been delegated, unclear communication, lack of planning, and crisis management. Time Management 101 addresses these interruptions in a proactive way. Participants learn to manage themselves and their time. The course focuses on essential skills: the ability to plan, delegate, organize, direct, and control the flow of work. This course enables participants to set goals, eliminate “time wasters,” and manage time, so the focus can stay on important priorities. This is a powerful course!

This course is built and delivered for those working in the training function, and managers, supervisors, and staff who need to train others either “on the job” or in the classroom. The following topics are covered: principles of adult learning, the “how and why” of doing activities (and what doesn’t work), special equipment (how to use the overhead, visual aids, etc.), learning aids, and a review of the fundamentals of “group process” and “reading your audience.” This course covers all the do’s and don’ts. We tell you all the secrets and shorten the learning curve for you!

Some of the most challenging clients are those who are mentally disordered, many of whom also use illegal drugs and alcohol. This survey course covers mental disorders, symptomatic behaviors, and the danger level to the officer.  How to speak to this population is also a central focus of this course.  Mentally disordered people often mix psychotropic (drugs prescribed for mental disorders and psychoactive drugs (those that get you “high”). This course provides the opportunity to become familiar with both types of drugs. Many times confidentiality keeps officers from knowing mental illness diagnoses, but when you know about prescription drugs, and noticeable, observed symptoms, you can usually get a sense of the inferred diagnosis. Understanding and Coping with the Mentally Disordered helps probation officers sort out client behaviors.

Conflict is normal and healthy in human relationships; however, it doesn’t have to end up in a win—lose situation. We teach you how to have those "tough conversations” that get you what you want without making others angry or getting them defensive. Learn to control a conversation through listening (not talking). Take away powerful phrases that lead to solutions, and begin to take control through orchestrating a mutual “win” situation. This is a great class. Learn new skills and practice them the same day.

This course offers a variety of participants the opportunity to build skills in the nature and mechanics of workplace writing. Participants learn how to identify and correct grammatical/mechanical errors and build powerful sentences. In addition to correcting writing errors, this course underscores the differences between formal and informal writing and the need to understand and write to the expectations of specific audiences.  Writing with tact and sensitivity enables writers to more efficiently and effectively compose emails that are professional, productive, and get positive results.    

Writing it Right for Management is a content-rich writing anatomy course, and managers enjoy the opportunity to hone their professional writing skills. Participants review the component parts of selected documents and discuss and explore the writing process and formatting strategies that save time for the writer while supporting the reader. Numerous samples of writing products are shown throughout the day to underscore the need for structure and organization on every level.

Probation department supervisors get to experience the curriculum the field line staff experience in the Writing it Right course as well as have the opportunity to review. They are in the position, then, to hold their staff accountable for learning. Each participant receives a Writing Resource Guide and a Community Resource Guide.

The design of this course closely mirrors our Writing it Right for Management course; in addition, Writing for Executive Secretaries adds a component of grammar review and proofreading strategies galore! Executive secretaries enjoy the review of the “anatomy” of excellent samples of written work; they gain the language they need to discuss writing projects of all kinds. Extensive department examples reinforce learning and help participants retain new skills. Resource materials are provided and executive secretaries are encouraged to add to their course binder examples of quality, signature-ready documents. This is an awesome course and could effectively be two days. It is powerful and secretaries love it!

The design of this course closely mirrors our Writing for Management course; what\'s more, Writing Skills for Support Staff adds the component of grammar review and proofreading strategies galore! Participants review of the “anatomy” of excellent samples of written work; they gain the language they need to discuss writing projects of all kinds. Extensive department examples reinforce learning and help participants retain new skills. Resource materials and drills are provided and support staff are encouraged to add to their course binder examples of quality, signature-ready documents. This is an awesome two-day course that provides nut-and-bolts solutions.