Management Development

CHALLENGE:
A local government agency needed to supplement internal training efforts with a robust management skills development program targeting managers and supervisors. The challenge was to offer a program designed specifically for government workers who face unique challenges working in the public sector.

SOLUTION:
We created a set of courses designed for government workers. We worked interviewed the Commissioner and her team to better understand the pressures of her employees, and the professional development goals of the agency. Collaborating with her team we continue to identify training titles to supplement those currently offered internally. Following the internal training calendar these new titles are offered twice annually. Uniquely outside of training cycle was an annual Executive Leadership Retreat every June. This session brought upper management together to prepare for the next year’s activities.

RESULT:

This ongoing effort continues to bring new and relevant training to the managers of the agency. The leadership retreats have created opportunities for leaders from different generations to come together to solve issues affecting the public at large.

Dynamic Presentations

CHALLENGE:
Agency professionals are constantly presenting vital information to the public. As information needs of the public grows, agency presentations become more and more dense. Department employees were reporting that the public was being turned off by the quality of the presentations offered to them. The challenge was to drastically improve the quality of the presentations being offered to the public.

SOLUTION:
We understood that these professionals were oftentimes out in the field. To take advantage of their administrative days in the office we offered a six session lunchtime series taught over several months. Each session taught a different presentation skill from organizing the content to addressing different audiences, developing the actual presentation, delivering it and getting immediate feedback.

RESULT:
Agency officials learned how to effectively tailor their content to specific audiences which improved how well their messages were received. Additionally, it was reported to us that more time is being spent selecting the appropriate content and organizing it for specific audiences which has improved the “action taken” rate post presentation.