Communication Skills

Best-Seller!

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Who said you shouldn’t sweat the small stuff? What if those small things undermined morale and reduced productivity? This diversity program, Drop by Drop, demonstrates how the small slights, subtle discriminations and tiny injustices can add up to big problems in your workplace! These little negative gestures are called “micro-inequities” and they occur in organizations every day. These small communications of disrespect, prejudice and inequality aren’t overt, but they can be incredibly destructive. A poison in the workplace that isn’t delivered in a bucket, but takes its toll drop by drop.

The program opens with an unhappy ending – the resignation of a frustrated employee. We then explore the workplace responsible for creating this situation. The program’s host engages and challenges the viewer with his strange perspective on our insensitive behaviors. He walks us through several examples of micro-inequities that could easily be avoided and then shares the key concepts for creating an inclusive and productive work environment: Put a stop to the disrespectful little “paper cuts” co-workers unknowingly inflict upon each other. Raise awareness and emphasize the importance of maintaining a thoughtful and respectful workplace with Drop by Drop.

Key Learning Points:

• CONSIDER: Listen, empathize, and follow the “platinum rule” by treating others as they’d like to be treated.
• RESPECT: Show regard for all races, religions, cultures and ages and value the talents each person brings to the workplace.
• LEARN: Be open to information about different cultures, customs and perspectives of your co-workers. Learn to communicate with kindness and clarity.

Includes: A 19 minute DVD (English and Spanish versions – many also include Portuguese), comprehensive leader’s guide, PowerPoint Presentation on CD-ROM and Drop by Drop Handbook

What makes a government agency accountable? It is a willingness to be answerable and accessible to the public. And while the specifics of an accountability initiative can vary from one agency to the next, all have one thing in common: Everyone -- from the top down -- must demonstrate personal responsibility and integrity.

Designed specifically for government training, the 9 categories in this Toolkit, containing a total of 35 video clips, will help you demonstrate what it looks like when people hold themselves, each other and the organization accountable for keeping commitments and achieving results. It only includes clips that are set in a government agency or take place in a "generic work environment" that could be a government facility.

This Toolkit contains 35 unique video clips that fall within 9 categories of personal responsibility and accountability. It only includes clips that are set in a government agency or take place in a "generic work environment" that could easily be a government agency or government-run facility. The clips are provided on DVD and CD-ROM so that you can play them right off the DVD or embed them into a PowerPoint Presentation.

In these categories, the clips can be used to make the following points:

~ Take Ownership and Keep Commitments - When accepting responsibility for a task or project, take full ownership and do what you say you're going to do. For clarity, set deadlines-then keep them. When necessary, communicate and renegotiate commitments that cannot be met.

~ Be Proactive - Take the initiative in seeking improvements to processes and practices. Work to improve your own skills, and influence others toward improvement.

~ Communicate With Clarity and Set Measurable Goals - Getting to the right result requires clear agreements and an understanding of expectations and instructions. Accountability for results begins with clear directions, and places responsibility on both parties for clarification.

~ Be Ethical - Know what's right-by law, by policy, by procedure, by best professional practice-and act accordingly. Make decisions for the best outcome when two "rights" conflict. Speak out when someone acts unethically.

~ Be a Problem-Solver - Apply your own experience and knowledge to every problem. With this problem-solving mindset, you'll plan and take action towards a solution, rather than waiting for others to get things started.

~ Serve the Public Professionally - Every person you serve and work with deserves your best effort, whether it's a problem to be solved or a transaction to complete. Know the technical and procedural aspects of your work and bring a positive attitude to the service you provide -- the public expects competence and is paying you for it.

~ Don't Be Afraid to Speak-Up - Know what you need and what you deserve. In a professional manner, let others know it too. Those you work with and for may not realize when their actions are getting in the way. Claim what you need to do your best work.

~ Accept Feedback and Learn From Mistakes - Learning and changing direction happen quickly and frequently in an accountable environment. Listen non-defensively, give proper consideration to what's being said, choose to adjust, and move on.

~ Supervising and Managing an Accountable Workforce - Often held accountable for the work of others, managers and supervisors must first model accountable behaviors, then learn to require this type of personal responsibility from those who report to them. The manager's tone of voice, choice of words and standard-setting behaviors can make or break an accountable workteam!

The Toolkit package includes a Leader's Guide with discussion questions for each clip that will help stimulate further discussion and learning.

Program Includes

• Chaptered video clips on DVD
• Chaptered video clips on CD-ROM for importing into powerpoint presentations
• Leader's Guide PDF on the CD-ROM
• Flash Tutorial and Instructions on how to import video clips into a PowerPoint Presentation on the CD-ROM

• Accountability Toolkit (Government Version) - DVD $695.00 [Add to Cart]

Develop your leadership and supervisory skills with these nine high-impact productions.

We all know that being a manager isn't easy. Roles are changing and today's managers find themselves faced with not only being responsible for the goals of their workforce but for the entire organization as well. These nine top-selling management training DVDs provide proven techniques that are guaranteed to improve productivity and people skills for new managers and seasoned veterans.

Learning points include:

• How to look for positive behavior, and praise often.
• Earn the trust of the people you manage.
• Reduce frustrating miscommunications.
• Nurture teams through development stages.
• Set goals that can be achieved—and are worth achieving!

• Be Prepared to Lead
• Be Prepared for Meetings
• Breakthrough Listening
• Criticism: Giving and Taking
• Managing People - Key Skills for Great Managers
• Motivating Your Employees
• Performance Coaching
• Supervising for Quality
• Time Management: Getting Control of Your Life and Work

Guarantee: This comprehensive management training series will have your staff making more confident and knowledgeable decisions than ever before.

• Manager's Collection (9 DVD Set) $990.00 [Add to Cart]

Job descriptions are important to your organization for a number of reasons.

• Job descriptions clarify who is responsible for what in the organization and help define relationships between individuals and departments.
• Job descriptions help employees understand the responsibilities of their jobs.
• Job descriptions help supervisors make good hiring decisions and assess training and orientation needs.

BLR's new Click 'n Train PowerPoint® presentation will teach your supervisors to understand the purpose of job descriptions, the key elements of an effective job description, how to gather and organize the necessary information, and how to write complete, accurate, and objective job descriptions.

Job Descriptions - How to Write Them Effectively includes:

• A fully prepared PowerPoint presentation
  Fully researched and expertly designed training meeting on this key topic.
• Reproducible handouts, quizzes, and completion certificate
  Print and photocopy the handouts for concise, cost-effective tips and reminders. Plus, test for comprehension.
• Easy-to-customize PowerPoints
  Change the meeting outlines and insert your own photographs to meet your own company's policies.
• Interactive exercises
  Involving exercises gain buy-in and increase comprehension.
• Trainer's outlines
  Useful background and tips save you hours of preparation time.
  
  • Click 'n Train: Job Descriptions - How to Write Them Effectively PowerPoint $99.99

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As a former federal mediator, Pat Cleary has been involved with just about every kind of negotiation. In this entertaining presentation, he shares gems of wisdom from his nearly 20 years of hands-on dispute resolution. Pat describes common negotiation mistakes that unnecessarily complicate solutions and can prevent you from getting what you want. He then provides practical, effective methods that you can use to sidestep the pitfalls and stay focused on getting the best deal possible. He explains how to test stakeholder commitment on the issues, what you should always take off the table, and when to recognize that "no" doesn't mean "no," and "final" doesn't mean "final."

Released - 2008

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All sorts of different people make up a workplace. Everyone is impacted by a complex range of personal circumstances that go on outside of work - things shaped by personalities, relationships, finances and physical and social environments. Sometimes personal issues can dominate someone to the extent that their performance at work is affected - they bring their 'baggage' to work with them.

This film, hosted by one of Australia's leading television and arts industry personalities, Michael Veitch, considers issues around identifying and dealing with emotional distress at work. Handling the Baggage contains valuable information and strategies for managers and employees alike.

18 minutes

The Windsor Smith Marketing and Communication Case Study

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This program focuses on the '4 Ps' - product, price, place and promotion - as used in Windsor Smith's overall marketing strategy. Marketing objectives, market research, the target market and marketing channels are also considered.

Communicating Non-Defensively shows five essential skills that promote a productive work environment.

Viewers gain a clear understanding of why all people are naturally defensive, as well as learn the symptoms and consequences of inappropriate defensiveness. This video shows that we all must be responsible for how we deliver AND receive messages. Communicating Non-Defensively shows how to disengage from a defensive position, how to empathize and disarm a defensive person, how to inquire and focus on the issues, how to disclose ones own needs and goals non-defensively, and how to depersonalize the issues.

Participants will learn to:

• Express themselves openly and effectively
• Shift away from the defensive
• Guide others toward better communication

Online Streamed Video Training Includes:

• Post-test and a certificate of completion. You set the test’s passing grade. If you need special questions on the test applicable to your organization, we will customize the test for a nominal fee.
• We create a URL just for your organization, which you give to your employees for them to log-on and view the program and take the test. The entry page employees go to will contain your organization’s logo, which you provide to us.
• We do all the set-up for you. You supply us with the identifiers of the employees who are to view the video. We take it from there.
• You provide a training contact (the person in your organization that employees go to if they have questions about the content) and a Technical Contact (the person your employees go to if they are having technical difficulties on their end).
• You get an Administrator’s Page that shows who has logged on to take the training and the test score of each viewer.

Pricing (per user / per title)

• 1 – 1000 users............$9.95
• 1001 – 3000 users.....$8.95
• 3001 + users................$7.95

** There is a minimum order of $500 per streamed program.

Note: When you order this program online, our shopping cart will show 50 items listed (minimum number of participants) for $500, each additional participant/item added is $9.95

Women can be best friends or worst enemies.

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Women have profound emotional ties to other women. Even when a woman finds the male love of her life, the bonds she shares with female friends usually remain unshaken. However, when a woman gets promoted, who is OFTEN the first to attack? Other women, of course! In fact, relationships between women often polarize at two extremes: either they're truly wonderful or they're quite terrible. Why is this topic of critical importance today? Half of the workforce is women and when women are working well together, productivity and morale escalate throughout the entire organization.

Drs. Heim and Murphy help viewers improve working relations based on lessons The Golden Triangle and the Power Dead-Even Rule teach.

Duration: 34 minutes

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Men and women buy differently. This video uncovers the secrets of targeting your sales strategy to be equally successful with men and women. How to build relationships, when to chat versus when to get down to business, even how and where you stand when selling to a woman or a man, can make or break a sale. If you will learn to target your sales strategies with gender differences in mind, you will forge more collaborative relationships with your customers and increase your sales performance.

Duration: 30 minutes

In today's tough economic times, being a good communicator can make all the difference between getting promoted and getting laid off, between getting hired and getting fired. Now, with Video Aided Instruction's "Upgrade Your Communication Skills at Work" series, you can learn the little-known secrets that set the best apart from the rest!

These engaging DVDs are the ultimate resource for anyone who wants to make a good impression and gain an edge on the competition, including: * the unemployed and other job seekers * people trying to get a promotion * individuals considering a job or career change * those starting in new positions * entry-level workers hoping to advance * interns who'd like to impress and/or get hired * students and recent graduates preparing for their first jobs * people reentering the workforce after some hiatus * entrepreneurs and small business owners * new managers/supervisors * ...and everyone else!

We'll teach you powerful strategies and easy-to-use techniques that will help you communicate more effectively with your coworkers, managers, customers, suppliers, and other business contacts. You'll learn fundamental principles that will help you demonstrate your value, polish your image, and impress your boss -- so you stand out from the crowd and get ahead in your career.

With these unique programs, you'll master the tricks of: * being a better communicator and listener * keeping meetings interesting and productive * delivering presentations that captivate and impress * networking effectively with colleagues and associates * making the most of phone calls and voicemail * using email efficiently and appropriately * writing exceptional business letters * crafting memorable ads and brochures that increase sales * helping to develop and improve a company website or blog * demonstrating professionalism in every business situation * ...and much, much more! So whether you want to keep your job or get a new one, whether your company has 3 employees or 3,000, Video Aided Instruction can help you climb the ladder to success!

NOTE: The 10 DVDs in this invaluable series are a great investment for libraries, schools, and colleges that wish to help strengthen America's workforce and boost the economy!

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Candidates learn how to avoid the most common mistakes made by job seekers while attempting to network. To be effective in our conversations we need to create and utilize a good Verbal Commercial.

Curing Negativity in the Workplace Cure bad attitudes to increase productivity in your organization! Bad attitudes can threaten the essential functions of your workplace. They spread like viruses from individual employees through departments and infect entire organizations. Once an attitude virus begins to spread, it can become an epidemic in no time. Productivity suffers and so do individual workers. There's no doubt that today's workforce is especially susceptible.

With this popular training video program, you will learn how to vaccinate your organization against this potentially devastating threat.

Participants will benefit by learning to take responsibility for their own attitudes and success, plus, underlying causes for unproductive attitudes will be resolved and fewer personal problems will affect work. These better attitudes will positively impact team results and the bottom line.

After viewing this video, participants will:

• Be aware of the different types of negative attitudes
• Know how to diagnose an attitude problem in themselves or their colleagues
• Recognize the need to take responsibility for a negative attitude and its consequences
• Learn how to replace old, ineffective reactions with adaptable, productive responses
• Know how to follow through in order to reinforce new, positive behavior

Pricing (per user / per title)

• 1 – 1000 users............$9.95
• 1001 – 3000 users.....$8.95
• 3001 + users................$7.95

** There is a minimum order of $500 per streamed program.

Note: When you order this program online, our shopping cart will show 50 items listed (minimum number of participants) for $500, each additional participant/item added is $9.95

Request a free online preview!

Through a series of short dramatizations this unique series explores the rules and techniques that distinguish a Dialogue from other forms of communication, such as debate or negotiation. The series examines how we can surface the often unspoken assumptions, in ourselves and in others, that can stand in the way of effective organizational communication. In so doing we build mutual trust and respect.

Each program in the series can stand alone and may be licensed separately. There are volume discounts if you license the entire series or multiple copies of any program.

Program Contents:

Communicating in a Diverse World. Overview. What is dialogue - contrasting debate and dialogue. Initiating Dialogue - how to do it, where to do it. The skills of Dialogue - Suspension (of judgment, decision making and status); Listening (with empathy, for understanding, showing you care); Discovery (uncovering and sharing hidden assumptions in yourself and others). Includes a dramatization of how Dialogue helps us communicate across job functions, helping improve relations between people at different levels within the organization as well as between different departments or areas of expertise. (25 minutes)

Dialogue for Cultural Understanding. We apply the skills of dialogue outlined in Program 1 to challenges faced in culturally diverse work environments. We see a dramatization that demonstrates how dialogue can be used to open communication, uncover hidden assumptions, break down stereotypes and facilitate more productive relationships. (24 minutes)

Dialogue between Genders. A dramatized dialogue shows us how the skills we learned in Program 1 can be used to overcome misunderstandings, break down gender stereotypes and improve communications between men and women at work. (21 minutes)

Dialogue among Generations. We demonstrate how the skills of dialogue can be used to bridge the personal and professional style differences that exist between employees of different ages. We uncover how divergent personal and world views common to people of different generations can lead to misunderstandings and distrust and how dialogue can help overcome age barriers and build more productive workplace relationships. (24 minutes)

Online Streamed Video Training Option Includes:

• Post training test
• Trackable reporting results 24/7
• Certificates of completion
• Digital copies of the support materials
• Customized for you at no additional cost - your logo, your polices and more
• No need to download or install software - works with any standard browser  

Online Training Pricing:

• 1 to 1000 $6 per person
• 1001 to 3000 $5 per person
• Minimum order for any one program $395.00

2010 Edition! 

Uncover potential HR compliance problems before they arise, while making certain each policy is current and provides the best information for your company.

HR audit topics addressed include: How to conduct a self-audit, Affirmative action laws, EEO, Discrimination, Workplace harassment, Termination, Communication, Salary and pay, Discipline, Safety, Health and security, Retirement and pension, Benefits-including 2010 HealthCare Reform, managing flexible work schedules, telecommunting, electronic monitoring, workplace violence. Plus much more.

Each checklist makes reviewing HR policies quick and productive:

• Step-by-step checklists ensure your organization's policies and practices are legal and safe.
• Topic overviews give you the background you need to be sure of your compliance with employment laws.
• Samples Forms included employee evaluation, job analysis interview, interview comments, and more.

Major Topics Covered:

• Human resource policies-now includes Telecommuting
• Recordkeeping
• Job descriptions
• Safety and OSHA -- just added PPE requirements
• Employee benefits
• Employee compensation
• Employee hiring policies
• Performance appraisals

Length: 20 minutes

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In this course Dr. Marianne Jennings teaches the importance of the example that all employees are setting from the bottom to the top. Dr. Jennings uses the analysis of pressure, communication, personal complacency, and indifference to educate that the "tone" of ethics resonates with each and every employee.

Watch the Pressure!

• Company Interests Above Self Interest
• It Can Be Fixed!
  
  Watch the Language!
• "Warm" Language
• The Labels
  
  Watch the Complacency!
• We All Think We're Ethical. Why?
  
  Watch the Indifference!
• The Power of Example and Enforcement

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Ross Shafer, our well-known narrator and winner of six Emmy Awards, knows it takes effort to get along with everybody at work. Basing his ideas on the premise that the "people skills" we developed while growing up can help us as adults in the workplace, he presents problems and solutions that will strike a chord for viewers.

Developing Employees is a comprehensive two-day workshop to teach supervisors critical coaching skills that include continuous performance feedback, mentoring/teaching, delegating/empowering, and building relationships.

Developing Employees is part of the Professional Skills Courseware Collection of 8 highly effective, interactive, experiential training programs that comes complete, but can also be edited in Microsoft Word to match you specific situation. Developing Employees Courseware Includes:

• Pre and Post Tests
• Lesson Plans
• Workshop Outline
• Trainer's Quick-Start
• Instructor's Guide
• Participant Coursebook
• Participant Evaluation Form
• Self and Supervisor Development Planning Worksheets
• PowerPoint Presentation
• Unlimited ability to modify, re-brand, and print any of these training resources at a single site in any quantity

Each workshop is provided with a job-aid to assist trainers in customizing the content should they decide to do so.

Organization Outcomes with Developing Employees Courseware:

• Supervisors become more skilled communicators and build stronger relationships with employees.
• Supervisors create a more motivational work environment for direct reports.
• Employees progress more quickly from novice to mastery in their responsibilities
• Supervisors build continuous performance feedback into their daily dialogues with employees
• Supervisors empower employees and delegate appropriately.

All time best-selling Coaching programs in the industry.

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Coaching is all about encouraging, correcting and challenging your team. It's as simple as noticing how your team is performing, and then letting them know you notice. In other words...Coaching is the process of letting people know that what they do matters to you.

Realistic role plays covering a variety of topics - from getting good work repeated, correcting poor work in a positive way, dealing with employees poor personal habits, and tools for turning a dead-end performance around - make The Practical Coach an everyday guide to using good judgment and caring about each member of your team. 

Let them know they matter... 

• For good work, When you see it, say it.
• For poor work, Make it private, and positive.
• For a dead-end performer, The Two Minute Challenge

Program Includes:

• 1 24 minute video "The Practical Coach"
• 10 Pocket Reminder Cards
• 1 Workbook

Excel is a collection of 12 half-day off-the-shelf workshops, each dedicated to the development of a single critical competency. Each workshop is detailed below. These 12 competencies group in four distinct clusters:

Administrative Cluster: Managing Your Job

Communication Cluster: Relating to Others

Supervisory Cluster: Building the Team

Cognitive Cluster: Thinking Clearly

Review all workshop training topics

Development of the MAP/Excel Competency Model

Dr. Scott Parry, founder of Training House, Inc. and 1999 inductee into the HRD Hall of Fame, developed this competency framework by first analyzing the results of a series of large competency studies conducted by a number of major U.S. corporations. These studies were conducted to determine which competencies highly effective managers and supervisors possess to a greater degree than average performers. The 12 competencies selected for inclusion in the Excel series were identified by all these studies. They are fundamental building blocks for becoming an effective manager and are preconditions for effective leadership.

INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD

The instructional design of the Excel workshops is based on several important principles of adult learning, -- the most important of which is that learning occurs best when it is related to past experiences and current goals.

Learning Objectives for each competency focus on the attainment of new knowledge, attitudes, and skills. These behaviors are learned, practiced, displayed and evaluated during training through experiential activities that include hands-on exercises, role plays, script analyzes, games, and self inventories. Learning objectives support a central behavioral model for successful mastery of the competency.

Action Plan:

Every workshop participant creates an individual action plan shared with their managers, work team, and stakeholders. This is the vehicle for transferring learning to the workplace. The planning focuses on performance criteria: the application of competencies to organizational problems and situations. Excel has been designed to provide training that leads to “terminal behavior change” or in layman’s terms, learning that will be applied on the job.

Instructional Materials

Each Excel workshop includes:
 

• Instructor’s Guide: The Instructors Guide bases the detailed lesson plans and content on learning objectives. Participants interact in activities and discuss information presented in the workbook.
   
• Power Point Presentation: Slides provide the instructor with an easy-to-use, flexible way to liven lectures and discussions.
   
• Video: Short video segments from MAP, the number one video based assessment in the world, are used to illustrate the 12 Excel competencies in use on-the-job. The (MAP), Managerial Assessment of Proficiency was developed concurrently with Excel to assess a managers strengths and weaknesses in these 12 competencies in addition to providing information about a manager’s personal style, communication style, and managerial style. Film sequences show managers using both incorrect and correct techniques related to the Excel competency. Participants evaluate and discuss the techniques observed.
   
• Participant Workbook: Workbooks provide learners with additional lesson content, as well as experiential activities, handouts, and action-planning forms required to complete the course. Participant booklets for each workshop are sold separately for $20 each.
  
  Train-the-Trainer: A nationwide network of professional Training House Associates is available to deliver Excel workshops or provide training for your internal training staff.

The Negotiating Skills SkillBuilder provides an individual with a thorough overview, techniques, and methods to improve in this competency. The 12 page booklet takes the learner through 6 developmental steps: Determine, Assess, Build, Trade, Probe & Confirm. These steps are filled with behavioral tips designed to help anyone improve their ability to bargain, compromise, settle differences, sell, or come to a beneficial agreement.

Each packet contains 10 booklets