Marketing

Nothing is more motivating than an upwards trend in sales. Marketing and sales are such vital ingredients to success that the majority of books written about business are about marketing, sales or are closely associated with those subjects. Enormous amounts of information are available and by putting it into useful and practical processes the information becomes more effective and is more certain to make a positive difference.

Subjects:

Personal Development, Productivity and Time Management

The greatest satisfaction comes from the combination of job satisfaction and personal growth. In the end it is all about lifestyle, and the two are synergistic. One without the other is unlikely to stand the test of time. Productivity, time management, planning and delegation are just a few of the contributors to a stress-free work environment.

Subjects:

Decision-making

Quality decisions mean quality sleep. Knowing when a quality decision is needed is the first step. Selecting the appropriate process or model is the second step. Effective decisions raise levels of respect and support from all stakeholders.

Subjects:

Human Resources

The success of any business depends on the people driving it. Continuous improvement is a function of educating, motivating and building a positive environment that provides opportunities for people to stretch their boundaries.

Subjects:

Communication

How to win friends and influence people is about verbal and written communications – reports, recommendations, emails, letters and the like. Appropriate and quality reporting builds strong relationships, credibility, respect and support. Appropriate reports and quality decisions go hand in hand.

Subjects:

•    Proposals and recommendations that win support
•    Progress reports that keep everybody on board
•    Presentations in various formats – simple or multi media
•    Letters that influence
•    Notices that build support
•    Public speaking
•    Negotiating to achieve Win/Win results
•    Drawing information should not be painful

Corporate Governance and Legal

The responsibility to comply with the vast array of statutes and regulations becomes more onerous every year. Decisions, records and operations need to be welded into systems that protect managers, staff and directors.

Subjects:

•    Legal obligations
•    Compliance should be easily tracked
•    Meeting procedures and records can be a good defence
•    Competency based qualifications can be profitable
•    Tax planning is legal
•    Policies are the input and output of effective meetings
•    Comprehensive manuals save time, cost, frustration and conflict.

Culture

Every business has a culture of its own. Managing the culture means greater job satisfaction for everyone. Knowing the dominant management styles in operation and how they affect the culture leads to profound decisions that can free management from time consuming conflict management and inappropriate standards of behaviour.

Subjects:

•    Culture gaps are strategic
•    Management styles – they all have their place
•    Improving productivity through cultural change
•    Values and beliefs – the hidden barriers to success
•    Motivation
•    Reward and recognition
•    Personality types and how they can clash
•    Transactional analysis and other studies in relationships

Effective Meetings

Meetings can add value, produce worthwhile business outcomes, build understanding and positive relationships, set firm direction, tap into the bank of joint intelligence, encourage creativity and a lot more. They can also kill creativity, destroy relationships, make bad decisions, and cloud the future and a lot more.

Subjects:

•    Formal Meetings
•    Informal meetings
•    Productive agendas
•    Records and their significance – different approaches
•    Strategies for maximising the value of meetings
•    The place for workshops and their value – different types achieve different goals.

Positive Relationships

There is a vast network of stakeholders connected to every club and every part of that network impacts on the business. Goodwill, support, cooperation, job satisfaction for management and staff, and forward planning are just some of the areas impacted by positive relationships.

Subjects:

•    Board and executive relationships are the key to success
•    Management and staff is the basis of culture
•    Customers
•    Suppliers
•    Supporters/Sponsors

Risk Management

Some risks can be covered by insurance but there are many that depend on internal expertise in making decisions, corporate governance, keeping records, and being aware of change.

Subjects:

•    Insurance management and negotiation
•    Maintaining compliance records for a legal problem.
•    Competency based training can be the best insurance
•    Proving your insurance premiums should be reduced

Strategic Planning

The processes that develop a clear picture of the gap between where a business is today and where it would like to be in the future are simple enough. Bridging that gap is the goal of strategic plans and there are many ways of achieving that goal. Understanding the options adds to the value of the final outcomes.

Subjects:

•    Vision
•    Purpose
•    The importance of outcomes
•    Action plans
•    Responsibility and accountability
•    Measuring performance
•    Stakeholder ownership of the implementation program
 

Structure and Change Management

The most appropriate structure makes the best use of all the skills, experience and knowledge available and allows it to operate harmoniously and creatively for the benefit of the club. The structure that worked yesterday might not work tomorrow without modification.

Subjects:

•    Getting the right people on the bus
•    Getting the right people in the right seats
•    Effecting change
•    Appreciative Inquiry
•    Future Search
•    Business Diversification
•    Managing change