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Programs
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Services

In addition to our Workstone Forum programs, we also offer a set of related services that support great management.

Our services include:

  • Assessments and Advising
  • Solution-Focused Coaching
  • Custom Content Authoring
  • Facilitator Training
  • In-House Delivery Support

We include assessments and coaching with all of our standard programs. We also offer them as separate services on a limited basis. We offer custom content authoring, facilitator training and in-house delivery support in conjunction with our programs.

Assessments and Advising

Great management depends upon actionable insights and understanding. Personal/personnel assessments can be powerful tools for making better decisions and developing better capabilities.

For an assessment to be valuable in business, however, a number of conditions must be met:

  1. The assessment must produce useful information.
  2. The end-user (the taker or the taker’s superior) must receive clear, unambiguous results.
  3. The end-user must be told how to apply the information to his or her work.
  4. The end-user must receive adequate guidance and support (coaching) in applying the information.
  5. The overall process of purchasing and using the assessment must produce sufficient business benefits.

Unfortunately, many widely-used assessments fail to produce real value. Many of them aren't actually useful. They feel useful because they reflect something “interesting” about the subject, but they're sterile because they merely classify the taker according to an academic theory that has little practical relevance. Sometimes, assessments are well-constructed and offer valuable information, but the assessments aren't used well and don't lead to meaningful changes on the job. In other cases, assessments are simply over-hyped and don't produce as much real value as their sellers promise.

WORKSTONE

Character

Relationships

Execution

Motivation

Capability

Strategy

Tools

Techniques

Practices

Purpose

Meaning

Values

Skills

Habits

Expertise

Motivation

Engagement

Excellence

Attention

Intention

Interaction

Energy

Stamina

Resilience

Flexibility

Reflection

Drive

Integrity

Vision

Influence

Communicating

Presenting

Negotiating

Structure

Process

Review

Story

Authenticity

Power

Practice

Repetition

Mastery

Focus

Clarity

Decisiveness

Attitude

Approach

Insight

Leading

Connecting

Coaching

Values-
based
Leadership

Healthy
Business
Management

Practical
Tools and
Techniques

Tailored
Program
Materials

Shared
Learning
Experiences

Peer-group
Support and
Accountability

Inspiring
Followership

Creating
Buy-in

Humility

Confidence

Balance

Sincerity

Community

Trust

Principles

Practices

Performance

Autonomy

Ownership

Responsibility

Profitability

Sustainability

Responsibility

Knowledge

Experience

Understanding

Leadership
Fundamentals

Developing
Tenacity and
Humility

Supporting and
Asserting

Interpersonal
Skills

Succession
Planning and
Preparation

Negotiation
Skills

Selling
Skills

Business
Development
Skills

Customer
Development
Skills

Account
Management
Skills

Actionable
Assessments

Character
Strengths

Relationship
Skills

Execution
Skills

Negotiation
Skills

Creating
Rapport

Career
Planning
Skills

Building
Customer
Loyalty

In-House
Delivery
Support

Applied
Manager
Development

Expert
Group
Facilitation

On-the-Job
Manager
Development

Developing a
Culture of
Learning

Encouraging
Creativity &
Innovation

Understanding
Interpersonal
Styles

Understanding
Motivational
Drivers

Problem-
solving
Skills

Decision-
making
Skills

Time-
Management
Skills

Team
Management
Skills

Project
management
Skills

Character
Strengths

Controlling
Costs

Risk
Management

Communication
Skills

Solution-
focused
Coaching

Inside-
selling
Skills

Want to turn your good managers into great managers?

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Our Assessments

At Workstone, we offer a unique battery of assessments, and we make sure that our assessments produce real business value.

Our assessments include:

  • Healthy Business Assessment™
  • Character Foundations Assessment™
  • Career Drivers Assessment
  • Leadership Style Assessment
  • Interpersonal Style Assessment
  • Negotiation Style Assessment

Our Healthy Business Assessment (HBA) measures a specific set of character traits that strongly correlate to a manager's management style, performance potential and long-term career potential. The HBA measures traits related to critical management factors such as personal efficacy, approach to decision-making, orientation toward contributing, and resilience level, among others.

The Character Foundations Assessment (CFA) is provided by our partner, The Peirce Group . The CFA measures 22 character strengths in five categories: Integrity, Vision, Drive, Responsibility and Influence. The CFA produces rich insights into a manager's work style, relationships, approach to teamwork and suitability for different types of organizational roles. The measured character strengths can be improved through awareness and intention, and the resulting changes can dramatically improve a manager's work and career.

Our Career Drivers Assessment, Leadership Style Assessment, Interpersonal Style Assessment and Negotiation Style Assessment provide useful information about how a manager relates to his or her work and about how the manager collaborates with other people.

Each assessment produces insights that enable managers to make better decisions and act more effectively on the job. To make sure that the assessments produce benefits, we discuss the assessment results with managers in one-on-one reviews, and we coach managers through the process of applying the insights that emerge.

Talent-Management Advising

We include our assessments in our manager development programs, and we also offer them separately. In addition to being valuable for developing individual managers, assessment results can be used by corporate leaders to make better decisions regarding talent development, succession planning, team building and other significant personnel-management decisions.

Putting the right people in the right positions is a crucial function of corporate leadership. As advisors, we offer our assessments and our understanding of business management to help corporate leaders make the right personnel decisions for their companies.

To learn more about how our assessments and advising can help you make better talent-management decisions, please contact us.

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Solution-Focused Coaching

Coaching is a basic ingredient of our programs. Our facilitators act, at times, as coaches, and our programs call upon participants to coach each other through the process of becoming better managers. Also, our programs cover coaching as a prominent topic. We teach managers how to coach their people effectively, because good coaching is an essential part of great management.

Over the past few decades, coaching has emerged as an industry unto itself, and professional coaches have marketed an expansive variety of organizations, approaches and styles—some great, some good and some not-so-good. As a result, the term ‘coaching’ has become broad and fuzzy, and some people regard professional coaches with wariness. Apart from all of that, however, the fundamental activity of coaching remains an indispensable part of all good teamwork and professional development.

Our own approach to coaching aligns with the growing movement of solution-focused coaching. In solution-focused coaching:

  • Engagements are close-ended and are focused on clearly-defined challenges and opportunities.
  • The process is driven by the person being coached.
  • Emphasis is placed on:
  • Setting goals,
  • Providing structure,
  • Employing strengths,
  • Creating solutions, and
  • Taking action.
  • The process focuses on achieving solutions while increasing the capabilities and the self-sufficiency of the person being coached.

During our programs, our facilitators are available to participants for side-bar coaching on a discretionary basis.

On a limited basis, we also offer coaching services separately from our programs. To learn more about our coaching services, please contact us.

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Coaching is an indispensable part of
all good teamwork and professional development.

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Custom Content Authoring

The Workstone Forum format is a powerful and highly flexible delivery system for teaching complex information and building complex skills.

We routinely tailor our standard programs to suit the unique needs of our customers. Doing so usually involves swapping in existing pieces from our extensive library of supplemental materials. When necessary, we create new materials for new sessions, new series and even entirely new programs.

For one customer, we created a completely new eighteen-week curriculum to prepare their new account leaders to manage large technical facilities. The new program has increased the readiness of the customer's new account leaders and has significantly reduced the costs and risks associated with turning over their account leaders.

If our approach to manager development appeals to you, but our standard programs don't meet your company's needs, please contact us to discuss your needs and to learn more about our capabilities for creating and delivering custom content.

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Global by Design

Our programs work equally well for local and global teams.

Facilitator Training

Workstone Forum Group Facilitators play a central role in the delivery of our programs. Each weekly group session is led by a group facilitator who guides and shapes the discussion in specific ways. The group facilitator has a strong presence in the group, and the quality of the facilitation has a significant impact on the experience of the participants.

When delivering our programs, our group facilitators use a standardized set of techniques for running group discussions and for guiding participants through the program. Skilled facilitators ensure that each individual benefits fully from the program, and they bring out the full potential of the group dynamics that increase engagement, enhance relationships, and drive the development of great managers.

For companies that want to deliver our programs to their own managers, we offer an in-house delivery model. For in-house delivery, we train selected managers at the company to serve as group facilitators for our programs. In-house delivery cuts program costs by as much as half.

For a manager to qualify for training as a Workstone Forum Group Facilitator, the manager must first complete a Workstone Forum program as a participant. Additional requirements must be met as well. To maintain the quality of our programs, we reserve the right to use our discretion in accepting candidates for training.

If you'd like to learn more about our facilitator training services or our in-house delivery model, please contact us.

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In-house delivery can cut program costs in half.

In-House Delivery Support

A high level of structure is essential to the success of our programs. The managers in our programs are very busy professionals. Every week, scheduling needs to be coordinated, materials need to be delivered, sessions need to be conducted, and feedback needs to be collected. There are a lot of moving parts.

For companies who choose to use in-house delivery, we train their people as facilitators and provide our materials under a cost-effective licensing model. To make sure that the programs are successful, we also provide full delivery support, which includes coordination of scheduling, delivery of materials, collection of weekly feedback, monitoring of performance levels, and preparation of program reports, among other tasks.

To maintain the quality of our programs, customers must use our delivery-support services when delivering our programs in-house.

To learn more about our in-house delivery model, please contact us.

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