| SEMINAR PATHS: Staffing and Structure The Practical Manager Leadership and Governance Fiscal Primer Organizational Performance Marketing and Capacity Building |
| Staffing and Structure |
| Make the right choice:
Whom to interview, how to interview, and how to make an offer Too often hiring decisions are rushed, with insufficient attention paid to how the new hire will fit into the organization. This seminar will show you how to identify and reach out to good candidates, conduct comprehensive interviews and thoroughly assess interviewees, understand the nuances of reference checks, and make offers. |
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| Designing and implementing
effective performance evaluations A well designed and executed performance evaluation process is a vital part of the learning that begins with expectations set during hiring. In this seminar, you’ll learn to create and conduct effective, meaningful, results-based evaluations. |
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| Designing and implementing
an orientation program that works Orientation is your first opportunity to introduce essential policies, procedures, and responsibilities. It’s also the new employee's first opportunity to embrace the organizational vision and mission and to learn that all employees share responsibility for each other's success. The seminar will show you how to make your new employee orientation a dynamic, ongoing process that embraces the entire organization. |
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| If the task fits... how
to assure the technical fit of tasks to staff Successful organizational performance is intimately tied to how well staff are suited to performing their assigned tasks. Assignments often default to an individual without real consideration of the actual “fit.” This seminar will show how to identify and consider the skills and attributes needed to perform exceptionally, rather than just match staff to assignments. |
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| Rethinking the organization:
The org chart, staffing approaches, and tying job descriptions to organizational goals Job descriptions and organizational charts play a critical role in performance. They provide structure and expectations for the determination and execution of responsibilities, and shed light on the achievement necessary for personal and organizational success. In this seminar, you’ll learn to rethink the strategic design of your organization in terms of your mission, vision, and goals. |
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| The Practical Manager |
| Successful meeting design, leadership, and participation Productive meetings are shaped long before they convene, with dynamic strategies for preparation, management, and follow-up. In this seminar you’ll find out how to engage participants and make them receptive before the meeting begins, craft effective agendas and set the stage for success with expectations and operating principles, match delivery style to participant need, energize the group and maintain the energy level, and create a context for meeting evaluation. |
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| Getting the word out: Strategies
to improve internal communication Do you ever hear important news about your organization after the fact or from an outsider? Are you caught by surprise in meetings or at organizational events? Without effective, consistent, and accurate internal communication protocols, organizational success is left at risk. This seminar will provide you with a roadmap for shaping internal communication to enhance team performance. |
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| Shaping the work place
for effective customer service In any organization, excellence in customer service can be the deciding factor in success or failure. This seminar will teach you simple but highly effective ways to assess and improve internal and external customer service. You’ll find out why customer service begins internally, how to give customers the level of service they crave, and how to identify and remedy the hidden service problems that can drive even loyal customers away. |
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| How to shape policies and procedures to improve work flow Is your staff confused about workflow, protocols, or standards? Are policies and procedures meaningful, current, and easy to understand? Are decisions based more on personality than on function and what’s best for the organization? Any of these situations can fragment workflow and inhibit overall success. This seminar will show you the value of function-based decision-making and teach you techniques for constructing effective, mission-driven policies and procedures that support workflow and are fully embraced by staff. |
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| Leadership and Governance |
| Situational leadership: Developing your employees
In this seminar you’ll learn to make leadership development a “core business process.” You’ll assess your own leadership style, describe the task and relationship related behaviors of effective leaders, review the supervisory skills related to worker assessment, and learn to adapt your style to given situations. |
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| Service as a foundation for leadership
Leaders who believe in participatory management often come to see service as an ultimate guiding principle for high organizational performance. Service to the organization and community comes first, and leadership is a means to it. In this seminar, you’ll learn how to identify and implement opportunities for service and leadership throughout your organization. |
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| How to work effectively
with your board of directors Many nonprofits have significant disconnects between staff and board. High performing organizations clearly delineate the roles and responsibilities of board and staff, with communication that shares knowledge, accomplishments, and challenges. This seminar will develop your understanding of board and staff governance issues, provide reasonable expectations for both entities, and give you tools to enhance the relationships. |
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| Ethical demands on governance
and management In turbulent and financially challenging times, management and staff face crises that test the organization’s operating principles and individual standards. These moments demand choices that define organizational identities. In this seminar, you’ll explore situational ethical demands and develop skills to navigate them while maintaining the highest standards for your organization. |
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| Fiscal Primer |
| Understanding and interpreting your financial statements
Nonprofit managers and staff often grow into positions of fiscal responsibility without formal training. This seminar will give you a better understanding of your organization’s financial statements and how to use them. You will learn the terminology typically found in basic financial statements and how that information can be utilized to manage your organization’s fiscal operations. |
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| Identity and access management for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOx) requires that an organization’s management assess the quality and effectiveness of the internal controls that govern accounting, auditing, and financial reporting. These include Information Technology (IT) controls. In this seminar you’ll learn how to use identity and authentication management technologies to assist in meeting SOx requirements and increase operational efficiencies. |
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| Developing policies and procedures for internal controls Every organization needs internal controls that protect the organization and staff and reduce the risk of loss, whether due to simple carelessness or, in the worst case, to embezzlement or theft. This seminar will give you the basic guidance you need to set up a system of internal controls that, if applicable, also complies with the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002. |
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| Your budget - a tool to benchmark financial performance No organization can survive without financial viability. Budgeting is a tool to help you set a fiscal course and monitor its progress, making course corrections if and when they are necessary. This seminar will teach you how to gather the information you need to budget accurately, develop your budget, and track it as a measure of organizational performance and progress. |
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| Organizational Performance |
| Benchmarking
performance: What do I measure and what am I trying to find out? What is to gain? (1 of 3) Benchmarking is a systematic, scientifically based process of acquiring and using data to identify organizational status and performance, strategic objectives, goals, and other activities that enhance quality and economy. Benchmarking 1 offers a high level overview, to guide your thinking on what success looks like for you, what information you need to gauge your progress, how to gather that information, and what can be gained from it. |
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| Benchmarking nuts and bolts: How to measure—measurement tools and techniques (2 of 3) Benchmarking 2 continues with the concepts from part 1 and examines the tools and techniques used for scientific information gathering. You'll learn how to design and operationalize organizational measurements, and how to structure surveys for validity and reliability, with an introduction to statistical analysis based in real-world examples. Benchmarking 1 is a prerequisite. |
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| Benchmarking case studies and real world examples (3 of 3) Benchmarking 3 gives you the opportunity to share the results of your own benchmarking studies. You’ll evaluate and discuss findings, learn about avenues of further exploration, and study other real-world benchmarking examples to illuminate the power of this technique and the potential outcomes of its use. Benchmarking 1 and 2 are prerequisites. |
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| How to be an effective team player A real team effort can be both highly productive and richly rewarding. In this seminar, you’ll explore the dynamics of group behavior through four distinct stages of team development. You’ll learn the key characteristics of high-performing, well-balanced teams, the roles that contribute to team effectiveness, how to identify positive and negative group behaviors, and analyze participants’ behavior in group activity. |
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| Marketing and Capacity Building |
| Utilizing Creativity: The art of developing a successful grant proposal Grantwriting is an art as well as a science. In this seminar you’ll learn how to infuse an idea with creativity and turn it into a highly competitive grant proposal. That includes choosing projects aligned with your organizational mission, identifying goals and objectives, developing a statement of need, structuring your response correctly, preparing a budget, and putting together the final submission. |
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| Extreme makeover: creating a crisp, professional
look for your organization If your marketing efforts seem to be lagging, you may need an extreme makeover. This seminar will show you how to assess whether your organization needs a whole new look, or just a little tweak, without spending a fortune on market research. You’ll learn how to craft a bold new message; how to refine, update, or totally change the way your organization presents itself to the public; and how to revive or replace the marketing tools you currently use. |
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| Outsourcing made easy: How to work with designers, ad agencies, media buyers, and printers Many organizations have limited marketing budgets, and few have adequate training and staff for in-house design, writing, and production. In this seminar you’ll learn when outsourcing is the best option. You’ll learn how to choose vendors based on important evaluative factors, give reasonable direction and assure that the end product meets your specifications, set up an approval and tracking procedure, and avoid cost overruns associated with last-minute changes. |
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| Celebrating success: The
need to recognize and act on organizational success Organizations under intense pressure often fail to recognize the everyday accomplishments that contribute significantly to overall success. To stay motivated and focused, a high functioning team needs to know that its positive steps forward are appreciated and shared. This seminar will show you how to develop and implement practical strategies for recognizing and celebrating organizational successes. |
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