GumLeafGreen training

For those who want to:

• spend less of their working day writing and editing documents
• produce first-rate documents that maximise the chances of achieving their objectives
• ensure their readers can easily grasp the technical aspects of what they are communicating
• create a genuine competitive advantage through their written communication.

For everyone wanting to:

• make sentences measurably easier to read (a device in Word helps objectively measure the readability of sentences)
• more efficiently edit documents by using professional editing techniques.

It is also aimed at individuals who want to avoid writers’ block when writing sentences.

This program helps individuals and businesses who want to refine the effectiveness of business emails because they acknowledge the ever-increasing:

• use of hand-held devices (iPhone etc)
• volume of email correspondence
• confusion about the appropriate level of formality and tone required
• risk of data being altered and misused.

For everyone who wants to learn or refresh on the basic rules of grammar and punctuation. Grammar and punctuation were not on the syllabus of Australian schools since the 1970s. So, the rules are a mystery to many.

For those who want to increase the chances of winning new business. It covers everything from writing capability statements, proposals and tender responses.

For everyone who knows that communicating effectively and efficiently in writing involves much more than words. There is an ever-growing need for businesses to deliver information in images rather than words.

For writers of board papers and reports who need to:

• order their thoughts and priorities
• synthesise information so directors and executives can carry out their core roles, including understanding the issues, and making decisions efficiently.

Increasing pressure on boards to perform, and more onerous legal obligations, have forced directors to think more carefully about the quality of information they’re receiving. Many have also set stringent page limits.

For writers of public sector briefing papers and reports who need to:

• order their thoughts and priorities
• synthesise information so decision makers and stakeholders being briefed can carry out their core roles efficiently.

Increasing accountability on decision makers and policy makers has forced them think more carefully about the quality of information they’re receiving. Many have also set stringent page limits.

For report writers and editors who want to avoid the most common reporting crimes, and instead:

• impress their readers (managers and stakeholders) by writing reports that:
  • contain no more and no less than their readers need to do their jobs effectively. Wise report writers appreciate how their jobs and the jobs of their readers differ, and ensure their reports are fit for their readers.
  • are rich in information and insights. Too often, reports are mere ‘data dumps’.
  • focus on ‘exceptions’. Exception reporting is highly desired by readers, but many writers do not understand what this requires.
  • prove to their readers that they are competent. Too many writers fall into the seductive delusion that competence is proven in a post-mortem of activities. True competence is proven by giving readers what they need to get on with their jobs.

• spend less time writing reports and more time doing core work.

For board members and executives who:

• are concerned by the poor quality of reporting documents they are receiving
• appreciate that they have a legal responsibility to ensure they receive high quality and timely information in reports
• acknowledge that they play a crucial role in:
  • guiding report writers to change their mindsets about the purpose of reporting so they receive more future-, action- and solution-focused information in reports
  • educating report writers about the differences between their roles and the writer’s roles, and the purpose of management and governance
  • encouraging report writers to scope their reports before writing, to ensure an efficient and painless writing process.

A program aimed at legal professionals and focuses specifically on advices because:

• they are often the documents lawyers find hardest to structure.
• advice work is generally very time consuming. So, lawyers want to streamline their processes for drafting advices to create them more efficiently.
• clients are increasingly demanding that advices be easy to read and able to be shared with various stakeholders without having to rewrite them.
• innovative approaches to advice writing are being taken by some lawyers which better meet clients’ demands. This gives them a competitive advantage.

This program can be adapted for other advisory professionals, as they face similar challenges.

Tips for professionals whose jobs involve drafting or negotiating contracts and who want to confidently and efficiently:

• draft effective and clear clauses in contracts from scratch
• take instructions about contract clauses in a way that creates more scope to see gaps in the instructions and ask questions to fill them
• avoid common drafting pitfalls.

For those who acknowledge that success in business involves mastery of the skills needed to:

• be persuasive
• engender trust
• overcome objections
• motivate
• be assertive
• create positive and professional impressions
• question and listen effectively
• give compelling presentations.

Modules on each of these skills are also available.

For those who want to delegate a task, or receive instructions to complete a task, in one conversation and maximise the chances of the task being completed as intended.

For everyone wanting to increase the chances of:

• delivering feedback, especially difficult feedback, once (avoiding numerous and fruitless discussions about the same issues)
• the receiver being committed and confident about implementing solutions to address issues
• the receiver implementing agreed solutions to issues.

For leaders and change agents who:

• want to harness the power of narratives in business
• appreciate there is no single right way to tell a story
• want to make informed choices about the right narrative pattern to achieve their desired objectives.

For those who need to change unhelpful mindset and habits to develop resilience:

• during times of disruptive change
• during and after difficult conversations
• at stressful times, including when workloads are heavy.

The four core modules are:

1. Questioning as the platform for resilience
2. Overriding instinct to develop the core resilience skill of assertiveness
3. Developing a recipe for coping during, and thriving after, adversity
4. Overriding unhelpful yet instinctive ‘stress’ responses.

For those who acknowledge they are accountable for managing, and want proven strategies to manage, the pressures that challenge their ability to stay focused. Pressures include:

• time constraints
• uncertainty about what is expected
• innate preferences for detailed or ‘big picture’ information
• stress, fatigue and lack of motivation.

For individuals:

• seeking clarity about what networking is and isn’t, and how vital it is to professional and personal success
• wanting to learn the practicalities of how to network
• exploring how to get more from networking efforts.

For more experienced networkers who want to:

• strategically plan their networking efforts
• ensure their networking strategies are linked to their personal and business goals
• profile clients and prospective clients
• encourage colleagues to maximise the success of their networking initiatives.

For everyone who is:

• daunted by presenting
• unsure of how to effectively use visual aids, including PowerPoint
• looking for ways to make their presentations significantly more engaging to different audiences.

Content is tailored specifically for the range of presentations particular participants give, including presentations:

• to one other individual
• to small groups
• to an auditorium full of people
• that will be broadcast or filmed.

For presenters who want to strike the right balance between:

• harnessing the power of storytelling
• getting to the point.

For professionals who:

• acknowledge that understanding clients’ needs and expectations requires them to go much deeper than mere industry knowledge
• want to significantly increase team productivity
• want to accurately estimate fees and avoid fee disputes
• want to deliver work that meets or exceeds clients’ expectations.

This program can be modified to suit junior professionals who need to scope their supervisors’ needs and expectations when their supervisors delegate a task to them.