Positively Training

In-house training programmes for your organisation.

Bring training into your organisation as part of the solution to your current dilemmas. We offer tremendous strength and experience in learning design and training delivery to help weave solutions-focused principles into your corporate culture.

The Solutions Focus approach has many applications.

Below you will find details of just a few courses we have developed – and of course we can design programmes to meet your particular organisational requirements in a solutions-focused way.

In-house training programme The Solutions Focus

Solution Focused training programmes:

Bite Sized sessions - Starting with Solutions
1 hour - half day, for managers and stakeholders

Get started with a short taster session to get a flavour of The Solutions Focus, pick up instantly usable tips and find out how the practical principles can fit your organisation.

These sessions offer a collection of high-impact, high-engagement leadership essentials.

Our bite-sized sessions include:

Introduction to SF coaching
Introduction to SF for key stakeholders
Energise your conversation
SF for project managers

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Janine Waldman Trainer Coach Facilitator The Solutions Focus

Introduction To SF Coaching
1 - 2 days, for managers, coaches, consultants, influencers, staff

An intensive and experiential workshop which builds participants’ coaching skills through a solutions-focused approach.

Participants learn to create and take advantage of coachable moments, to have more efficient and constructive conversations that lead to action. This enables them to identify goals, build on existing achievements and take progressive steps to improved performance and results.

During the programme you will:

Learn to use an effective and adaptable coaching model (OSKAR) that can be used both explicitly and implicitly to enhance performance
Identify when to coach – and when not to
Be able to share know-how and get the message across in a way that is heard and acted on
Further develop coaching skills including listening and asking powerful questions
Develop ways to build renewed motivation through feedback and other techniques
Find the key actions to drive performance
Take away instantly usable tools that can be used in day-to-day conversations or as part of a coaching process

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Team Building - Making It Happen With Your Team
1 hour - 3 days, for your team

These popular sessions build the personal confidence of each individual and a collective confidence between colleagues so that you can achieve outstanding results in enjoyable and productive ways.

The programme enables you to:

Clarify vision and goals as you review your aims as a team
Assess strengths and share current good practice
Build cohesion and improve communications
Decide pertinent actions to improve work practices
Generate plenty of tips, techniques and principles which will be useful on an everyday basis to each participant

It also serves as a rewarding time-out for stressed and potentially overworked staff, a chance to revitalise and think through what you are aiming to achieve together.

We design custom team development days and programmes with a Solutions-Focused mix of team-building and team strategy.

Future Focus Project

When budgetary constraints and policy differences threatened to destroy a child protection unit in a social services department, our SF teambuilding session transformed their team spirit.

They realised that with a few small changes entirely within their control, they could harness their resources to revitalise the way they worked together and with their clients.

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From Difficult To Constructive Conversations
2 days, for managers and staff

We all experience difficult discussions from time to time.

Whether it is with our clients, our colleagues, our bosses, we want to get the best out of our conversations.

And sometimes we have to deal with conflict – and do our best to prevent it escalating, so we can resolve it with the best outcomes for both the agreement and for our relationships.

During this intensive and practical two-day training, you will learn to:

Take a strategic approach to discussions – to get more of what you want
Remain polite and friendly – even in difficult circumstances
Handle emotions safely – both yours and your conversation partners
Take pre-emptive steps - to stop the discussions becoming difficult
Deal more confidently with the toughest of situations

Want to find out more? Here's our blog post in which we offer you ten tips for improving performance conversations.

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"Remind yourself that if you think you already understand how someone feels or what they are trying to say, it is a delusion.

Remember a time when you were sure you were right and then discovered one little fact that changed everything.

There is always more to learn."

Douglas Stone

Leading Change through Powerful Conversations
5 days, over 4 months

Conversation is the fundamental unit of change, if you change the conversation you change everything that surrounds it’

How many conversations do you have a day? That’s how many opportunities you have to facilitate successful change in your organisation.

Whether it’s a 5-minute corridor conversation with colleagues, a tricky performance review, a coaching session or sales call, these dialogues can prove significant. With this programme, you can develop leaders’ and professionals’ communication and coaching skills for any occasion.

This innovative programme consists of 5 days of workshops over a 4-month period, with all participants working on and presenting a work-related change project. On the final day, everyone reveals their measurable outputs. At each stage, participants learn how to improve their conversations so that they can transform results with immediately-applicable pragmatic techniques.

Here’s how the programme delivers results:

Two-day Getting Started with Solutions Focus workshop - an experiential event that quickly develops your coaching skills for application to a real project of your choice
Two one-day skill-building and supervision/review sessions
One-day workshop with project presentations, programme review and identification of next steps
Coaching/mentoring for participants provided by TSF professional coach
Participants apply the techniques in everyday work, including coaching others and implementing their project

In more detail...

STAGE 1: Two-day Getting Started with Solutions Focus workshop
An intensive and pragmatic workshop that builds your skills as a leader and coach through a Solutions Focused approach. You learn a set of tools to create and take advantage of coachable moments to identify outcomes, build on existing achievements and take progressive steps to improved performance and results.
By the end of this workshop you will have clearly identified where you plan to apply these skills and tools in your work. This will form the basis of your ‘SF Project’. You’ll report back on the progress you have made and deliver a formal presentation (ideally to key stakeholders) on the final day of the programme.

STAGE 2 – Between Workshops
Coaching for participants
Each participant receives 1 x 1.5-hour face-to-face coaching session and 3 x 1-hour telephone-coaching sessions from a The Solutions Focus professional coach.
This provides you with the opportunity to:

Experience top-quality solutions-focus coaching
Get coaching on your own issues
Get support and guidance on your own application of SF tools

The first coaching session (face-to-face) follows the initial two-day workshop, with the other sessions approximately two to four weeks apart.

Application and Project work by participants
Participants apply the SF tools and techniques in their day-to-day work and to implement their SF Project. They may choose to coach direct reports/colleagues as well as using the concepts in daily meetings and conversations.

STAGE 3 Two one-day skill-building and supervision/review sessions
During these sessions we:

Review progress
Answer questions about application of techniques
Introduce group supervision processes
We continue with skill development, sharing further tools and techniques such as:
Developing and practising JAM (Just A Minute) Sessions – the use of solutions-focus techniques for short coaching conversations on a range of day-to-day topics
Multi-scaling as a tool for collaborative, efficient and constructive performance coaching conversations
Coaching Conundrums – exploring different approaches to take with ‘tricky’ conversations
Other topics requested by participants

STAGE 4: Project Presentation
Sharing Successes/Evaluation day – one-day workshop with presentations based on the SF Projects, preferably with an invited audience of stakeholders. Participants present to colleagues and key stakeholders, sharing:

How they have been using these SF tools and techniques
Stories of success
Measurable outcomes
Next steps

Participants receive feedback on their work, with expert suggestions and recommendations for continued progress.
We also:

Resolve any outstanding questions and remaining areas of skill development
Review and evaluate the programme so far and look forward to the next steps

Organisations around the world have seen tangible, significant and swift change, including Barking & Dagenham College, John Laing, Reading Borough Council and DP World.

Read this case study to find out how Brian Thomson, Head of IT from DP World Southampton used knowledge and skills from this programme to tackle a huge systems challenge.

Outcomes
From attending this programme, you will:

Learn an effective and adaptable coaching-based model that you can use both explicitly and implicitly to enhance performance
Take away instantly-applicable tools and techniques for more effective, structured and collaborative conversations with direct reports, colleagues and clients
Enhance efficiency by knowing what to pay attention to and what to overlook on a day-to day basis
Build renewed team motivation and collaboration through feedback and other techniques
Learn the Solutions Focus (SF) approach, principles and tools

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Leadership Development with a Solutions Focus
Customised, for leaders and managers

We design bespoke and fully comprehensive leadership programmes for your people.

By the end of the programme your leaders will be able to:

Maximise their potential
Optimise their personal and professional performance in the workplace
Learn new skills and put them into practice in everyday working life to meet business objectives

We work with you to identify the core leadership skills and competencies you want.

Your customised programme covers:

Change management
Strategy
Communication
Performance Management
Coaching

Participants deliver a work-based project, demonstrating qualitative and quantitative results they have achieved during the programme and from applying their learnings in the workplace.

These programmes typically run over a number of months and are supported by coaching and action learning sets.

leadership programme The Solutions Focus

Future Focus Project

Beiersdorf HR people were scattered around the world, and they desperately needed to get together as a team, with a fresh focus and a new start. The big idea: to become genuine strategic partners within the business.

With a series of training programmes and workshops for the HR team, they established collective goals, new ways of sharing success stories and are using SF tools to build credibility and take a lead in communications throughout the organisation.

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Manager As Coach
Customised, for coaches, in-house coaches, and managers

Executives and managers too often fail to get the best from their staff. They don't have much spare time and are looking for something fast, effective and guaranteed. They know they need better results and are astute enough to appreciate that coaching may be the answer.

We offer coach development programmes for organisations who wish to develop their own internal bank of coaches. These incorporate skills development workshops, one-to-one coaching and supervision.

From attending this programme you will:

Learn to use an effective and adaptable coaching model that can be used both explicitly and implicitly to enhance performance
Take away instantly usable conversational tools to use in a wide variety of managerial situations
Be ready to share know-how and get the message across in a way that is heard and acted on
Further develop coaching and communication skills including those of listening and asking powerful questions
Develop ways to build renewed motivation through feedback and other techniques
Have timely and constructive performance conversations that lead to improvement in performance
Find the key actions to drive performance
Be introduced to the solutions focused (SF) approach and principles

Our Manager as Coach programmes range from a two-day skills workshop to more comprehensive culture change programmes, which can be supported by coaching and action learning sets.

The programmes also serves those who want fully-developed coaches for sustained in-house coaching.

With coaching courses and supporting activities, you will see a rapid increase in quality work throughout the organisation.

Read how John Laing Integrated Services achieved impressive, sustainable results by embedding a coaching culture.

"I thoroughly recommend this course to all senior managers who are trying to bring out the best in their colleagues, in order to realise the full potential of the organisation that they lead and manage."

Cathy Walsh - Vice Principal, Curriculum and Learner Experience, The College of North East London

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Masterclasses
Customised for coaches, leaders, and managers

If you have a specialist group of coaches, leaders or managers who want a more in-depth and practical exposure to any aspect of solutions-focused working, then a masterclass can be an inspirational and economical way forward.

Contact us to let us know the size, needs and availability of your group, and we'll prepare an event to add huge value to your projects and to the development of your people's skills.

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Productive Meetings
1 day, for managers

Use the SF approach to transform meetings from frustrating talking shops to a constructive use of your attendees' valuable time.

In this one-day programme, you will learn:

When to hold meetings and when not to
Who to invite for maximum impact
How to save time and effort
Neat alternatives to conventional meetings
SF Strategies for making your meetings sharper, shorter and more effective

#TopTip: Not everyone needs to be at the meeting for the whole time. Invite people to attend only the part of the meeting when they’ll be adding value.

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What Works Well Programme
3 days or online webinars, for coaches, leaders, managers, staff, trainers

Engagement, Performance, and Resilience

The biggest challenge facing today's organisations is to raise performance by bringing the best out of people. This means retaining talent and engaging your staff in uncertain times.

Success depends on more constructive conversations. With people under pressure to deliver, every conversation counts. Whether those conversations are inspired by leaders, managers or coaches, the positive and pragmatic flavour of Solutions Focus will make a significant difference to your results.

Our new programme explores what business leaders can do to enhance Engagement, develop Resilience and drive Performance. This will equip participants with skills to deploy instantly to make the most of every conversation - however tricky or difficult they may be.

Each stands alone, and they build into a complete programme. Scroll down or click on the buttons for more information on each of them.

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Engagement, Performance, Resilience Booklet The Solutions Focus

Receive our free booklet when you subscribe to our Newsletter.

Building Resilience - personal and team resilience for future success
1 day, for coaches, leaders, managers, staff, trainers

These are tough times in which many people are scared of losing their jobs, facing the uncertainties of restructures, against a backdrop of continuing budget cuts.

Resilience is all about getting yourself ready to meet the world in a resourceful state, so that you are mentally and emotionally equipped to deal with whatever comes your way.

During this interactive and engaging one-day workshop you will learn how to:

Bounce back quickly from difficulty a key leadership attribute
Replace a viral air of negativity with an atmosphere of support, collaboration and progress on projects that matter
Build individual and team resilience
Build your resources, confidence and ability to adapt and respond
Tackle difficult situations
Respond to a crisis in a way that works well for you
Promote feelings of success rather than conflict, difficulty, inadequacy and failure

Resilience Open Course: 29 June 2017

To celebrate the publishing of our most recent book, the Resilience Pocketbook, we offered a 1-day Resilience Open Course on 29 June 2017.

In particular, we explored the four dimensions of resilience: mental, physical, emotional and social, providing a range of immediately usable tips and tools for each.

Remember, the Resilience workshop is part of the complete 'What Works Well' package, which includes Increasing Engagement and Raising Performance workshops.

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Get the Pocketbook

Increasing Engagement - unleashing the discretionary efforts of your people
1 day, for coaches, leaders, managers, staff, trainers

The CBI says engagement is the number one issue for its member companies. And that is no surprise. Engagement leads to improved personal performance. Better personal performance leads to improved organisational performance. And improved organisational performance equals results.

You will learn:

How to harness discretionary effort and increase staff engagement levels
Why talented staff leave and how to retain those you want to stay
How to get more collaboration and innovation
How to enhance your reputation and brand in the quest for top talent

SF tools and techniques to discover:

What your people want and
How that aligns with what your organisation wants from them

Participants describe this course as “fun, practical and dynamic”, relishing “a wonderful, supportive atmosphere”, appreciating “trainers who live the work”.

One said, “I'm leaving with a new set of skills that I can begin to implement straight away”

How can you increase employee engagement?

"This was one of the best and most relevant courses I've attended."

Regina Brancato - Tate

Remember, the Increasing Engagement workshop is part of the complete 'What Works Well' Programme, which includes Building Resilience and Raising Performance workshops.

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Raising Performance – From tricky to constructive performance conversations
1 day, for coaches, leaders, managers, staff, trainers

The performance conversation or appraisal is an integral part of management, and many organisations rely on this process for making decisions about staffing, defining training needs, providing feedback and setting the direction for future performance.

Yet research shows that many people leave performance conversations less motivated than when they went into them.

In this experiential and engaging workshop you will discover how to turn performance conversations around, so that they motivate, clarify and inspire your staff, enabling the manager to bring out the best from each member of the team.

raising performance course the Solutions Focus

Participants learn how to

Enhance the performance of their direct reports, by raising their awareness of who is responsible for what
Apply the Solutions Focus approach to performance every day
Have ‘courageous conversations’ with staff, leading to improved performance
Improve managers’ questioning skills to raise people’s awareness while each maintains their own responsibility
Handle more challenging performance issues with tips and techniques

Future Focus Project

One of Britain’s major banks has redesigned its entire performance management system using SF principles.

Staff and managers are now looking forward to appraisal meetings that make significant positive differences to individual performance through an elegantly-designed constructive conversation.

Contact us to arrange a one day stand-alone workshop or our popular three-day ‘What Works Well' Programme which also includes the two days of Increasing Engagement and Building Resilience.

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