Workshops & Mentoring

Grant writing

This workshop will help in understanding the grant environment, the grant assessment process, what assessors want to see, complicated selection criteria and providers hints for writing a successful application.

Grant management

Develops understanding of contract requirements including developing professional working relations with government contract managers, dealing with organisational and internal communication issues, managing underspends and over spends and changes in contracts and budgets.

Leadership in community life

Looks at what makes a good leader and how to improve personal and organisational planning, hoe to develop and maintain a support base and loyal supporters, managing conflict, developing new personal skills and understanding the needs of key players in a community.

Surviving and using community politics

The nature of community politics, how to influence elected representatives and key events in a community, the difference between friends, allies, enemies, antagonists and fence sitters, understanding the needs of key players in a community, effective communications, assessing ethics and developing partnerships.

Surviving and using organisational politics

The nature of organisational politics, how to influence management and staff, the difference between friends, allies, enemies, antagonists and fence sitters, effective communications, dealing with bullies, serial victims and conflict.

Influencing events in your community

Understanding how communities work and the various key players in community life, effective communications and use of the media and community groups, understanding the cycles that exist in a community.

Developing young people into their own business

What are the behaviours and needs of true entrepreneurs?  How do they communicate?  What can we do at the school level?  Developing community based support activities.

Developing a local strategic plan for skills development

What skills are required and what skills already exists? Which industries will support a strategic plan? Who are the key players and what can they contribute? As well as working closely with training providers and TAFE.

Facilitation for local planning workshops

We can facilitate workshops to achieve real outcomes that are understood by participants, and also recognise and deal with areas of disagreement and concern.

Workforce and training workshops

A range of workshops that focus on skills development, workplace relations, training, management cooperatives at the community level, OH&S, Performance Management processes.  This approach at the community level can develop consistency across a range of employers and a better equipped workforce and business. sector.

Industry skills development

This workshop focuses on the skills and training needs for a particular industry and what can be provided by the training sector and by the various levels of government.  It aims to develop awareness and partnership activity and can also provide quality information for government to assist in policy development.

Workplace relations and cooperation by local personnel managers

This workshop will help personnel managers and managers in general cooperate in development of recruitment and training practices as well as for key clauses in Certified Agreements that may be used consistently in a community.  This can help develop less confusion for workers and a certain culture in a community based on, for example, weekend work or shift work activities and conditions.

Building and working with community partnerships

The strengths and weaknesses of partnerships, the difference between Memorandum of Understanding, loose affiliations, organisational mergers and take overs, how to manage divestiture of assets, techniques and hints for communications and negotiations and for managing the transition of power and responsibilities.

Building the business community

Investigates how to involve business operators, developing and working with business leaders, understanding the needs of business operators and the difference in behaviour and attitudes that are often found between business people and public sector managers.  How to develop better support from local government and other agencies.  Recognising key impediments to business start up and growth.

Recognising emerging business opportunities

This workshop is designed for business operators and potential business operators and involves recognising business start up and growth opportunities.

Influencing politicians and bureaucrats

Looks at how the political and government systems work and the best techniques for having some influence on policy and decisions.  Will usually include sessions with politicians or a political adviser, as well as a senior policy or program manager from a state or federal government agency.

Managing a non-for-profit organisation (for board members and paid staff)

This workshop achieves best results when representatives from various organisations in a community attend.  It looks at day to day and strategic management issues as well as managing the CEO and other staff and dealing with funding organisations.  Similar workshops can be run for executive staff. 

Communications in a community

This workshop looks at the formal and informal means of communicating across a community - and the importance of maintaining consistency in the information provided at all levels.  Guest speakers would normally participate from local media organisations.

Many workshops will contain similar components but will be focused on a particular need

Issues for older workers

The nature of the Australian workforce has changed and the need to keep workers in employment for longer is becoming a bigger issue.  This workshop looks at some of the issues and assists a community develop its own response.