Tailored / Contextualised training
Most of the courses we deliver are tailored or contextualised. Tailored courses have been designed to meet the needs of a specific organisation or workplace and involve providing training based on internal policies and processes, scenarios and focus areas. Accrete works closely with our clients to ensure that these programs are user friendly, practical and designed to provide participants with the necessary knowledge and understanding so that they can confidently carry out their responsibilities.
Design and development of a program will usually involve:
- meeting with the client to understand the training need and reach agreement on the outcomes sought
- meeting with subject matter experts within the organisation to gain insight and understanding into the operating environment, challenges, opportunities etc that exist for the organisation
- reviewing all relevant organisational frameworks, policies, processes etc
- designing and developing the program. This will involve a range of approaches depending on the topic and length of the program, including: production of a proposal setting out a story board or summary version of the program; production of a runsheet setting out the nature of the activities/quizzes/group discussions that will take place alongside the PowerPoint; draft PowerPoint slides containing proposed content and prompts for specific input from the organisation and identification of opportunities for a keynote presentation from organisational subject matter experts
- reviewing the draft program with our agency contact
- where practical/appropriate (ie if the program is going to be delivered numerous times or is slated to become mandatory training) delivering a pilot program attended by relevantly informed personnel with a view to obtaining feedback on any areas of the program that could be refined / expanded / supported by additional resources and to obtain practical examples (stories) of the application of the various topics included in the program
- delivery of finalised program
- ongoing review of feedback received from participants over the duration of the program delivery with a view to refining and honing the program.
In our experience this approach delivers the best opportunity for an organisation's team to obtain practical, relevant training that increases the participants' skills, understanding and confidence.
Training methodology
Accrete has been delivering face-to-face leadership and management training for 17 years. Our face-to-face delivery model is premised on:
- Adult Learning Principles: we understand that adult learners bring their own experience and skills to the learning environment and we capitalise on that by incorporating group discussions and experience-sharing in all our programs. This acts to expose participants to a range of views and approaches to an issue or topic, as well as providing engagement for our participants.
- Catering to a range of learning styles through a diversity of training approaches: we design our programs to include a combination of PowerPoint presentations, whiteboard drawing and flowcharting, group discussions, scenario-based discussions, question and answer sessions and practical activities.
- Story-telling: We believe in the power of story-telling and ensure that we use simple, everyday examples to help participants to understand the application of concepts, policies and processes that may otherwise appear to be overwhelming or abstract.
- Quizzes: We routinely include quizzes to check understanding and allow participants an opportunity to apply their knowledge. Our quizzes are designed to be:
- interactive - participants complete the quizzes individually and then debrief with their group before debriefing with the wider class
- high energy - usually a short exercise that is conducted several times throughout a session
- engaging – we ask a range of quiz questions from simple through to challenging to enable all participants to contribute
- Hypotheticals / scenarios: We often present participants with a scenario or hypothetical situation for them to collectively consider. This exposes participants to the knowledge and experience of their peers and encourages collective learning.
- Shared learning: Accrete believes in the value of networking and shared learning during training courses. All opportunities for group work or collective learning provide this potential advantage for our participants and we are mindful to facilitate this as much as possible.
Facilitation
We facilitate workshops, planning days, brainstorming sessions and a range of other sessions which benefit from having a third party assigned to the co-ordination, management and tracking of the day.
PLANNING DAYS
Accrete has conducted a number of planning days including:
- Strategic Planning Days
- Business or Operational Planning Days
- Culture Refresh Days
In order to prepare for the conduct of a planning day we work closely with the management team to determine desired outcomes, the approach that will be taken and the agenda for the day.
Example approach for planning day
1. Meetings with the Director and senior managers to:
- Review strategic / operational direction for upcoming period
- Reach agreement on those areas where input would be sought from their team members, and those areas which would just involve a short presentation / update from key personnel
- Review current performance against organisational KPIs
- Reach agreement on agenda and allocation of roles
2. Agenda prepared and discussed until all parties were satisfied with the order of the day, timings and speaker nominations
3. Facilitation of the day
80 team members (urban and regional) attended this planning day and the event was held off-site. The venue was large enough to enable team members to sit in tables of eight. Catering was provided to enable mingling and networking during meal breaks.
The day was a mix of relatively short and punchy update sessions delivered by appropriate team members, together with brainstorming sessions that involved all groups. Each brainstorming session began with a relevant leader or subject matter expert speaking to the topic briefly to provide necessary context. Attendees would then brainstorm possible strategies to achieve the objective, and record their ideas. A short debrief was held at the end of each brainstorming session to hear key ideas from each group.
A key person or team was appointed to drive each area which had been brainstormed. Strategies were collected by that person / team and they were then responsible for considering the strategies, and creating an action plan implementing the strategy that best positioned them to meet the goal. All key persons/teams would then meet again one month after the planning day to review progress. Attendees were told this follow-up plan on the day so that they were aware and were offered the opportunity to contribute to those areas they felt connected to.
Team Building
Teams are more efficient and collaborative when they have a clear and common aim, a shared understanding of their purpose and the role that each team member plays in achieving that purpose, and when the relationships within the teams are built on trust and mutual respect. In much the same way that we service our cars, it is prudent to consider putting your team in for a service now and then.
Our team building workshops are tailored to meet your needs with no two sessions looking alike. Workshops tend to fall into two distinct categories: those with a focus on enabling team members to have fun together, and those focussed on providing an opportunity for team members to work on their effectiveness as a team.
In both cases team members strengthen their relationships through shared experiences and either a deeper appreciation and understanding of either the qualities and strengths that each member brings to their team, or of the purpose and functioning of their team.
The duration of these workshops will usually be either a 1/2 or full day. To determine the best way to conduct these workshops we will generally have an initial conversation with our client to understand the context of their need and to discuss possible approaches. Once we have agreed on an approach we will produce a proposal setting out a plan for the workshop and relevant costs for our client's consideration.