Office Professional Development Programme

Training Outline

Module 1: Office Professional Masterclass

Your role and impact in the organisation

• Understand the importance of your role in the organization
• Understand your job requirements
• Identify areas where you can add value
• Focus on how the role has evolved
• How does my role add value to the organisation?
• Define areas of responsibility using the RACI matrix
• Determine the critical success factors to fulfill your roles

Self-Management to improve your skills

• Personal branding
• The power of the first impression
• Building your personal power to work smarter
• How to market yourself and increase your visibility
• Dress for Success

Managing Change and Diversity

• The dynamics of cultural diversity
• Dealing with change and transformation
• Breaking old patterns and developing new mindsets

Managing Business Events

• Business Etiquette in all situations
• Managing Hospitality
• Introduction to event planning and event planning checklist
• Seven steps to a successful company event
• How to set up a conference room
• How to deal with VIP’s and entertainers
• How to plan, budget and book
• How to handle registration efficiently
• How to prepare for unexpected situations

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Module 2: Effective Business Writing for today’s Office Professional

Introduction

• Introduction to effective writing
• Understand your audience and your reason for writing
• Use positive words and phrases and sell benefits
• How to begin and end business writing
• The magic of 5 “w’s” and 1 “h”
• Understand and implement proper e-mail etiquette
• Electronic writing etiquette tips, including sms, web and blogs
• Basic report writing techniques

Using plain English: style

• Improve Readability
• Sentences and paragraphs
• Bullet points and enumerated lists
• 10 rules for writing numbers and numerals
• Using the simplest words and expressions possible
• How to avoid jargon
• Verbs versus nouns
• Using active rather than passive style
• Explain your ideas clearly
• The most overused business clichés

Using plain English: the mechanics

• Avoiding common vocabulary and spelling errors
• 100 most misspelled words in English
• Acronyms – what to avoid
• Editing – spell-check will not fix everything!
• Punctuation, capitalisation and other language tips
• Commonly confused words

Practical Exercises and applications

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Module 3: Time and Stress management for the busy Office Professional

Benefits of time management

• Why should I manage my time better?
• Identifying your own time wasters
• Managing external time wasters
• How to implement time management to deal with bosses and co-workers

Principles of time management

• Balance
• Planning and organising
• How to avoid procrastination
• Prioritising
• The art of delegating effectively

Practical implementation of time management

• Learning to manage your own time wasters
• Use the Yohari window principles to plan and execute
• Goals vs. results
• Turning plans into action
• Measuring your productivity
• Using to-do lists effectively
• Using technology to “win” time
• Implement a time management plan

Stress management

Understanding stress

• What is stress
• How can I recognise stress in myself?
• Analyse your own stress profile
• Different types of stress (personal, business, environment, organisational)

Managing stress

• Methods of personal stress management
• How can I relieve stress in myself and others?
• Stress and conflict
• Stress and anger
• Stress in the workplace
• Proactive strategies and techniques to counteract negative stress
• Strategies to use stress productively and positively
• Implement a stress management plan

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Module 4: Improve your confidence and assertiveness to improve efficiency

Self-confidence

• What is confidence?
• Our self-concept affects our self-confidence
• Dealing with past “failures” and low self-confidence
• Self-confidence and life skills
• How can I project confidence even if I don’t yet feel confident?
• How to create the right impression
• How to look and behave
• How to enter a room
• How to greet people
• How to strike up a conversation
• Analyse your own levels of confidence in various situations
• Practical ways to enhance your confidence
• High Levels of Self-Confidence are Important – But Why?
• Factors that increase self-confidence
• Creating a positive outlook
• Creating a personal belief system
• Essential steps to increase your confidence levels – How to ensure you get what you want

Assertiveness

• What is assertiveness?
• Assertive Versus Unassertive and Aggressive Behavior
• Analyse your own assertiveness levels – How to be more assertive
• How to turn aggressive behaviour into assertive behaviour
• Changes you can expect from being assertive
• How to sell yourself and your ideas in an assertive manner
• How to manage conflict in an assertive manner
• Essential steps to increase your levels of assertiveness
• Key Life Skills – self assessment

Practical Exercises, Tips and Tools

• How to communicate confidently
• How to have a difficult conversation with your boss, colleagues, friends or family
• Tips for being assertive – How to become the person you want to be
• How to deal with difficult situations in a confident, assertive manner

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Module 5: Effective Customer Care and Business Communication Skills

The importance of customer service to sustained business success

• What is excellent customer service?
• Customer service principles to deliver exceptional customer service
• Do’s of customer service
• Most important elements of service delivery
• Nothing is sweeter than your own name
• Key competencies staff need for excellent customer service

What are the new trends in customer service?

• 4 C’s of customer needs
• 3 R’s for exceeding customer expectations
• Rater principle and the customer pyramid
• The 6 basic needs of customers

Effective Communication and listening skills

• What is effective and successful communication
• Verbal, written and non-verbal behaviours
• The 7 top barriers to effective communication
• How to listen actively
• The importance of feedback and how to encourage feedback
• How to use written communication effectively including e-mail
• How to calm down an angry customer
• How to have a difficult conversation
• How to turn complaints into opportunities

Practical implementation – Role-plays and mock telephone interactions

How to stay calm and rational when faced with an angry or difficult customer using the skills and techniques learned from the first session.

• Face to face interaction with the customer
  • The importance of body language
• Telephone skills
  • Voice projection
  • Zero tolerance behaviour

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Module 6: Effective Meeting organisation and Minute Taking

Workshop Outline:

• Write and distribute minutes with confidence.
• Understand best practice theories to prepare for meetings and write effective minutes.
• Clearly identify your role before, during and after the meeting.
• Identify positive strategies to listening & summarising.
• Deal with jargon and technical language & grammar professionally.
• Identify different methods of Minute Taking and organising your material.
• Learn techniques to identify and highlight important points in a clear concise language.
• Ensuring a meeting is successful – what role will you play?
• Arranging the meeting, Agenda setting, Minute taker
• The meeting cycle and structure of a meeting
• Agenda setting with example layouts
• Do’s & don’t – effective note taking
• Layout of Minutes with example layouts
• Practical Exercises
• Business English
• Punctuation
• Grammar