December is often a time to look back on what was accomplished in the past year and begin planning for the next year. What worked well? What new challenges have surfaced? How can you best position your team and organization for greater success in the coming year?
As you plan for professional development that supports your organizational goals, consider these 3 best practices:
- Ensure programs are relevant to the participants based on their roles.
- Get buy-in from managers and follow-up with them before and after each training event.
- Set up a process for participants to share commitments and actions they will take based on what they learned.
Putting the right plan in place now will provide a cohesive training agenda over the coming months—or even the entire year. Below are 2 examples of how BRODY clients have planned their ongoing development for the year:
Presentation Skills
The ability to deliver compelling presentations is crucial for leaders. BRODY delivered a series of presentation skills programs to develop confident, polished presenters.
- Fundamentals: We began with presentation fundamentals in our 1-day Present with Impact workshop—a good review of best practices for even experienced presenters.
- Advanced Techniques: Subsequent programs focused on specialized elements of presenting: such as Persuasive Speaking, engaging with Business Storytelling, and impromptu speaking.
- Learning Journey: Each program reinforced and built onto the previous learning. The initiative leveraged a variety of learning environments, including interactive virtual training, intersession work, and onsite workshops.
- Results: By the end of the initiative, each participant was able to deliver an engaging and compelling presentation, including the ability to handle questions and challenges.
Leadership Immersion
Developing leadership skills can benefit high potentials, new leaders, and even experienced managers. A leadership immersion program can build momentum over time by starting with a live kickoff event and incorporating a blend of delivery formats over time such as: interactive virtual training, individual learning, and onsite sessions to reinforce key skills. BRODY’s leadership development initiative for this client included the following topics:
- Personal Branding: Build and market your personal brand
- Leadership Presence: Project leadership presence to become an inspiring leader that people want to follow.
- Culture of Accountability: Develop an environment where team members own their results by creating a culture of accountability.
- Influence Without Authority: Enhance cross-functional and team collaboration by developing skills to influence without authority.
- Presentation Skills: Learn to deliver clear and compelling presentations with BRODY’s Present With Impact 1-day workshop.
With a great training plan in place, you will see noticeable improvements in how your team communicates, collaborates, and—ultimately—performs.
Contact us if you’d like to discuss a professional development plan for your organization.