Team Building with Avon

Further to the success of July's Team Event for Avon, Toojays were on hand to deliver a follow up team session. The event focused on what had happened since the initial Team Event, looking at how things had improved, what had gone well and what hadn't gone so well.

The facilitated group discussions recapped specific behaviours and business actions needed in order to address issues as well as sustaining achievements. Individual groups put together action plans to achieve the desired state which were then presented to each other.

New Toojays Podcast Titles Available Now!

Toojays have introduced a further 8 brand new titles to their range of management development podcasts. Titles include Dealing with Conflict, Principles of Coaching and Women in Leadership. Simply click on the Products section of their website and listen to one right now!

Team Leading with Norfolk County Council

80 staff from the Adult Learning Service department of Norfolk County Council recently attended a series of Team Leading workshops to develop their supervisory skills.

The workshops were held over 12 days at various locations in Norfolk. The sessions focused on the Performance Management process and key managerial skills.

The groups participated in facilitated discussions and exercises, looking at primary management tools, Managing People, employee motivation and Change Management.

Avon Team Event

50 Avon staff took part in a one day Team Event held at their headquarters in Northampton. The aim of the event was to underline a High Performing Team culture and its associated benefits.

The morning was spent looking at explanation of best practice and theory of a High Performing Team, and examined the principle behind the Lencioni Triangle. Groups carried out facilitated discussions and explored the Current State vs Future State.

After lunch, the team moved outdoors to participate in a series of interactive, experiential activities, designed to embed this learning and draw out desired team behaviours.

The day was enjoyed by all and positive feedback following the event confirmed that the team now felt that they were all moving forward in the same direction.

Successful Delegation podcast - now available!

Delegation is a vital tool to help your business perform successfully and accomplish goals as a work unit, not as individuals. It gives employees and managers opportunities to develop in their careers.

Simply visit the Products section of our website to download this podcast for free. Listen to our Successful Delegation checklist and see how you can breathe more easily about taking a break.

New! Online ILM Accredited Courses now available at Toojays

Toojays is now offering online ILM accredited courses to develop today's leaders and managers. A wide range of programmes are covered and delivered through the HRD Online System. Have complete control over how your learning fits in with your life and access everything you need from your computer - no more travelling required!

The online system is a cost effective and flexible way of learning. Individuals are free to set their own pace of learning that suits them best and fits in with their working hours. Not only that, all learners have the reassurance of expert coaching and facilitation on hand if required.

With potential funding available, it's a unique and successful method of learning for any busy manager in today's business environment.

For further details, visit the Training & Development section on our website or contact us on 01733 367210.

Free Bite Size Webinar - CV Writing

If you are facing redundancy or just looking for a new job, getting another position as soon as possible is likely to be your top priority. But if you’re finding it difficult to take that first step it may be that you are lacking the confidence to start again. And that’s not surprising. For many of you it will have been a long time since you wrote a CV and this may be a daunting task.

Toojays now offer a range of bite size webinars. The first of which, CV Writing, will give you insight to the key aspects of a great CV. Giving you practical advice on:

· Understand the role of the CV
· What recruiters want
· How to style your CV
· What to include & what not!
· The need to tailor…and how to.

Delivered by Lee Martin, MD of Toojays Training & HR Consultancy. Lee is an experienced HR professional with over 20 years of working on recruiting panels, interviewing and reviewing candidates applications. His practical insight to the processes that HR departments and recruiters apply is invaluable to anyone looking to submit a CV or job application.

For details of how to obtain the FREE 30min webinar contact us requesting the link.

New! Toojays podcasts now available

Toojays now has a range of podcast titles covering topical issues affecting companies today. Visit the Products section of our website to see which titles are available for you to download now. Further titles will be added in the near future so keep your eyes open for these.

Award Shortlisting

Toojays are delighted to have been shortlisted in the Training Journal Awards 2009 for the " Best Externally Developed and Delivered Programme " category.

The TJ Awards is an opportunity for organisations and individuals to receive recognition for outstanding learning and development interventions.

The 4th annual Conference and Awards hosted by TJ, the UK’s leading magazine for training and learning professionals, will take place at The Commonwealth Club in Northumberland
Avenue, London on Tuesday 23rd June, 2009.

Toojays recognition is for the Foundation Management Training Programme delivered for Ideal Shopping Direct PLC. The 12 month modular programme delivered a structured, interactive management development workshop programme to over 100 middle and senior managers at the company.

A Training Journal spokesperson explained that there were over 50 applications for this particular category from a variety of national training providers and that Toojays had been shortlisted to the final 6.

We await to hear on the 23rd June whether Toojays wins the category!

More Team Development with John Lewis

Following on from the DM Group Team Event last September, it was the turn of John Lewis' Sales Managers to attend a Team Development workshop. The two day event was held at Orton Hall Hotel and continued focusing on a High Performing Team culture.

The group covered teamwork, communication, ownership, self development and self awareness, all the time linking these back to working practices within the branch.

The senior managers were put through their paces in a series of outdoor experiential challenges, further embedding behaviours needed to achieve their goal. A series of group discussions rounded off the event with agreed actions put in place to apply learning and inspire partners.

Video challenge for IT Team

Team Building was the theme of a recent half day event for Norwich & Peterborough Building Society. The individuals attending were from the Project Management and Quality Assurance team forming part of the IT department.

With new team members coming onboard, the event was organised to give the team members a chance to get to know each other better whilst at the same time recognising their hard work over the past 12 months.

The event combined a number of interactive team activities, including a seasonal Christmas quiz, and culminated in a video challenge set to each group.

The feedback from the group was extremely positive with some delegates remarking that it was one of the most enjoyable team events that had been held.

Trainers get trained

The tables were recently turned when Toojays trainers became the trainees on an Emergency First Response course.

The one day course covered Primary and Secondary Care and how to apply first responder care following the same priorities used by medical professionals.

Each participant was put through their paces with simulated accident scenarios, workbook theory and a final exam to gain their certification.

Both valuable and engaging, the course not only gave the trainers the steps and techniques for handling life-threatening emergencies but the confidence to use these should the need ever arise.

Bringing Team Learning to Wembley with Bluecycle

Further to Bluecycle's Senior Management session in August, it was the turn of the managers' individual teams to attend their own L&D event.

Assisted by Toojays, Grow Associates Ltd delivered a two day team development event to the London based client at Wembly Stadium.

The sessions focused on the behaviours required to drive the business forward, using experiental activities to draw out this learning. The highly interactive tasks identified team competencies and underlined this learning to give real, tangible benefit to those participating.

The feedback from the two days was very positive with the delegates eager to apply this directly back into business. And with that, both the senior managers and their teams at Bluecycle are now set on course to put their new found knowledge into practice.

Project Management workshop with Scottish & Newcastle

Toojays recently met up with Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprise Projects Managers to deliver their Project Management workshop. The two day event, held at the Hilton Edinburgh, focused on developing the group's interpersonal skills. Also in attendance from Scottish & Newcastle were Peter Moore, Manager of Pub Acquisition Team and Verity Gale, UK Training & Development Manager.

Both interactive and challenging, the event fully engaged the Projects Managers who remarked on the value of the discussions. Areas targeted during the sessions included effective communication, influencing skills, conflict management and time management. The group went away with an increased awareness in these areas and commented on the benefits of the learning that would better equip them for the future.

On-site Training with Toojays

Toojays is pleased to announce that it now has its very own fully equipped on-site training venue, available to hire for training courses, meetings, seminars and conferences.

The large, spacious room can accommodate up to 20 delegates and benefits from natural daylight. Use of the venue also includes audio visual equipment, free wifi access, ample on-site parking and easy access from the major railway and motorway links.

Outside catering can be arranged if required and there are in-room tea/coffee facilities for self service.

Quality Award for Toojays

Following an assessment by an independent body, Toojays has been awarded ISO 9001 certification. This certification has only been achieved by about 5% of UK businesses and this prestigious award is supported by the Government and recognised world-wide.

Staurt Clark, who undertook the assessment for QMS Quality Management Systems, paid particular tribute to "the investment in people and training that enables Toojays Training & HR Consultancy Ltd to provide an efficient service to their customers."

Ideal Shopping Direct Final Presentations

With Ideal Shopping Direct's Foundation Programme 2008 nearing its final months, groups 3A and 4A recently delivered their Final Presentations to the Executive Team.

Each group gave a 30 minute presentation summarising the tangible and valuable key learning gained over the past 6 months and how it was being directly applied back into the workplace.

The presentations spoke of the successes in achieving the objectives outlined at the beginning of the programme and, in particular, the participants' enjoyment of the individual courses.

With such positive response, both Toojays and Ideal Shopping Direct are looking forward with great interest towards the 2009 Programme and the benefits that it will bring.

Team Development with John Lewis

Continuing with their Team Development programme, John Lewis' management team met up with Toojays for a one day event at Orton Hall, Peterborough.

This time both the Steering Group and the Departmental Managers attended, further to their own separate events held earlier this year.

The day's objectives were to further underline the learning behaviours needed for a High Performing Team culture, engage new team members and to maintain the momentum of the valuable learning gained so far.

A series of outdoor experiential team challenges served to embed this teaching and a final review at the end of the day allowed the group to reflect on their key learning and to present their agreed onward actions.

3 days in Eastbourne with HMD

Toojays were in Eastbourne last week to deliver a number of courses to HMD Kontro, international manufacturers of sealess pumps. The courses centred on skill development workshops to address Project Management and Introduction to Supervision.

Toojays supported HR Manager Cressida Roberts with the staff development in a series of intense workshops centring on interactive exercises, supported by workbook learning. At the end of the sessions, the positive feedback from the attendees demonstrated their enjoyment of a demanding course that provided valuable learning they could apply directly back into the workplace.

Valuable team building for the Treasury

Toojays was recently in Norwich to facilitate a Team Development course for the Government Procurement Skills team, headed by Director Kavalneer Walia. The team is part of the HM Treasury and has offices located in Norwich and London.

The objective of the session was to help the team review their current dynamic, and identify their development journey in order to continue to be a high performing team. The session combined a mixture of facilitated discussion and theory, and the group was set an interactive competency activity to assess their behaviour as a team.

Positive feedback from the group centred on how much they enjoyed the event, whch enabled them to establish clear objectives and actions to work on in the future.