More than 20,000 Australians have made the move to Silicon Valley in the hopes of taking their internet startups global. However, the hunt for expert advice and capital is often met with many challenges unseen back home, especially for those dealing with remote teams operating on opposite sides of the world.

It might sound obvious, but the way you communicate with your team could be the difference between success or a long and frustrating experience. Talking to your team daily and taking the time to make personal connections can go further than you think, and taking the time to understand cultural differences that affects the way in which people work could allow you to get the most out of your employees.

Having an open line of online communication is great, but if you can, try to get to your offices and meet face-to-face as often as possible. It may only be a few times a year, but being able to physically sit with someone and work through your strategy for the coming months can make a world of difference.

When it comes to working with a range of time zones scattered across the globe, you need to be prepared for some late nights and early morning meetings. After many years of working with remote teams, I’ve learned that optimising your meeting times can result in freeing up many hours, and keeping your much-needed sleeping patterns.

Try to stack all your late or early meetings into a couple of days, this way you’re not up for half the night every night of the week and won’t burn out after a few months.

Maintaining a global business culture is the glue that will hold your team together. Ensuring that everyone in the organisation is clear on the business objectives, and holding regular all-hands company meetings to reinforce these values is a great way to keep everyone on the same page shooting for the same goals.

Staying true to your company’s goals as you are building remote teams lays the foundations as you expand into new regions.

There’s no shortage of ways to keep in touch with your team online and track projects. Thanks to Slack and Hipchat you can instant message anyone, anytime. Video calling platforms such as Skype and Google Hangouts allow you to have the in-person experience with the click of a button.

Jira, Trello and Confluence are ideal for tracking projects and priorities, and have become a staple for businesses with both in house and remote employees. Finally, never underestimate the power of email, it might not be the coolest tool in the shed, but it’s still one of the best ways to communicate.

When it comes to marketing specifics, you need to know your audience.

Most people think that moving to the United States is easy, culturally. They speak English there, right?

This couldn’t be further from the truth, you might as well be living in France. Yes, the language is the same but the cultural differences are dramatic, and understating them can save you a lot of wasted time and lost deals.

The simplest thing that catches people out involves the difference between ‘s’ and ‘z’, which I have learnt can infuriate people.

Get specific with your targeting too. Unlike Australia, the United States can completely change culture from city to city, and throwing out broad campaigns will not work anywhere as near as effectively as segmenting your audience and doing your research into how to target them.

Geotagging your website so that you can provide customised content on each page can make a huge difference to bounce rates and user retention. Backing this up with content curated for specific regions can establish local authority and drive traffic. Someone in San Francisco is going to react very differently to something intended for a target audience in Melbourne.

With a few simple updates to your website and marketing materials, you will get dramatically better results in traffic, open rates, and what we are all working towards; more sales!

This article was originally published by Marketing Magazine

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Taking your startup global? Check these common pitfalls first

Following on from our recent release of Go1 2017, we’re already back working hard to simplify the way you learn. In this update we have improved the administrator experience for marking assessments, including adding the ability to provide feedback, announcing a new feature called “Awards” and updates to settings so that you can embed more items into your courses.

With so many courses available to meet compliance, you can now let your user choose which courses they would like complete to meet requirements to achieve an “Award”. Administrators can select the courses that are eligible to obtain an award as well as being able to set an expiry date if periodic training is required to meet compliance.

You can find “Awards” located under the “Explore” tab, and Administrators navigate to the Awards tab in the Administrator menu, where you can set up and define the conditions around a new award.

Administrators can mark quiz and provide feedback from My Teaching tab

Taking our assessment tools to the next level, administrators can now set pass marks when creating a new quiz, and for long answers admins can review and grade responses easily from the “My Teaching” tab within their dashboard.

To incorporate more traditional classroom interaction into our online learning, administrators can also now provide feedback to users in relation to “Long Answer” question types. This allows the user to understand more about their assessment, and provide meaningful guidance around the question subject.

Embed any content in a course text area with iFrame

Adding the content that you want to your course has never been easier! With this update you can now embed content from websites, where embedding is supported, directly into your course, by using an iframe within a text box.

This allows you to embed public content from 1700+ providers including YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter, and many more. Include the content you want your users to see, without clunky restrictions.

Anonymous users can access the course/learning item overview page

Sign-up tab added if user doesn't have account for embedded courses

Improvements to display of learning items cards

Course authors can all see My teaching page

Improvements to learning item creation interface

Updated page layouts within portal settings

Sign up for a free trial today and try it out for yourself!

If you have any questions about any of the updates and improvements listed above, please let us know and our Customer Success Team can help you out!

Are you thinking about creating your first eLearning course? About to launch your online materials to a new audience? You might want to read this first, to make sure you’re designing your eLearning course in the best way possible for your learners.

The flexibility and convenience of online courses has made them a very popular and effective method of learning across all industries. Through eLearning, students and professionals can acquire the skills and knowledge they need, at a time and place that fits in with their lifestyle. But as with everything, some eLearning courses are more successful than others. How can you make sure learners feel compelled to choose your eLearning course, and get what they need from the materials?

The design process plays a major role in how effective and successful your course will be, with factors such as graphics, multimedia and accessibility all playing a part. Even the fonts you use in your course materials will have an impact on your audience – for better or worse. With so many steps involved in eLearning course design, it’s vital that you have a comprehensive design checklist to tick off throughout the process, so you know that you’ve considered and addressed each of these points in turn.

Have you identified your target audience and their learning needs?

Are the eLearning course objectives clearly stated in your materials?

Have you used a number of different instructional models or theories?

Have you included the criteria for evaluation, so learners know the objectives that need to be met?

Is your eLearning course easy for learners to navigate?

Are all the modules in your course laid out in their correct sequence?

Check that all hyperlinks can be seen clearly and direct learners to the correct link.

Have you included backward links, so learners can easily return to previous screens?

Have you included captions for all audio and video elements used in the course?

Have you also used appropriate alt text or alt tags on all images?

Have you considered whether your color scheme is accessible to all users?

Are all fields that users can 'click on' clear and easy to use?

Is your content free of spelling mistakes, typos and grammatical errors?

Have you written your content in a clear, consistent and appropriate tone?

Is the content delivered in small, ‘bite sized’ chunks, with a maximum of 5 bullet points per slide?

Have you been consistent with the use of headings, capitalization, numbering and bullet points?

Are all references properly quoted, cited and referenced?

Keep things simple – don't use more than four different fonts throughout your online course.

Are all fonts and colors easily visible, following accessibility guidelines for vision-impaired and color blind users?

Is all body text consistent in terms of font, line spacing and justification?

Make sure all images are high quality, compressed and re-sized.

Do you legally own all of the images used in your eLearning course?

Have you incorporated correct branding elements, such as logos and corporate colors?

Are all multimedia elements legally owned for use in your eLearning course?

Have you compressed multimedia files, so your learners can easily download them?

Check that the audio or video can be controlled by your learners, allowing them to easily play, stop and pause.

Are all the multimedia elements consistent in terms of size and quality?

Is the audio synced properly to the video segments?

Is your narration clear and easy to understand?

Have you included a final assessment for learners to complete at the end of the course?

Are the assessments interactive and engaging, and do they clearly focus on your course objectives?

Have you used a variety of different testing methods, such as short quizzes, tests and exams?

Make sure that your assessments don't contain any new content that the course hasn't clearly addressed.

Have you included a way for learners to provide feedback after completing the eLearning course?

Designing an eLearning course? Use this handy checklist

The Learning and Development Department could be the most important area to a company’s future fortunes. Now more than ever, the resources of L&D can be the fine line between the ability of a workforce to do their job well, and their ability to simply do.

With such a wide variety and means to provide workplace training to staff, there’s little reason not to include this vital learning opportunity to give employees that extra edge.

According to LinkedIn’s 2017 Workplace Learning Report, learning and development aims to fulfill 4 major objectives:

Develop Managers and Leaders – Through courses that are tailored specifically to the needs of one business, managers and leaders can be developed through the ranks to further implement the specific skills required for the successful running of this business. Managers can evolve with the business to identify with the needs of the organization and better steer towards them.

Develop Technical Skills of Employees – Making sure that an organization’s employee base has the appropriate level of technical skill is now absolutely essential. All companies use technology in one way or another, so the ability to properly operate them is a must.

Internationally Standardized Training – A global workforce requires globally standardized training to provide the same high-quality services that clients and customers expect from businesses.

Career Development – To retain the best employees, it’s important to offer them clear steps in career development and improve their skills on the job.

Now that we’ve established what it is that workplace learning can offer, let’s take a look at some of the future trends we’ll see in business training.

Virtual Reality Will Further Enhance Training

Virtual Reality isn’t just for the gamers. In fact, the business world is waking up to the enhanced possibilities that VR offers by including it more and more in their workplace training. Not only do pilots or doctors train using this incredible technology, but techs, designers, and consultants will be using seen with a pair of goggles strapped to their heads more and more in the coming years.

The power of VR is that it gives the best possible replication of real-life, and real working life simulations. It allows employees to practice their skills in the safety of a virtual world that they will need in their job roles, to bolster the standards of the services they provide.

Mistakes can be costly in business, and with the help of VR these mistakes can be dramatically reduced.

On first glance you may think that this point isn’t connected to workplace training, but it absolutely is. As the shortage of skilled staff candidates rises throughout technology and finance in particular, organizations are beginning to act to resolve the issue. Companies are beginning to focus on their own ranks for candidates who could be promoted into higher roles with the right training.

This is attractive to companies for a number of reasons.

One reason is that hiring from outside of a company is more expensive than hiring from within.

Another is that the company already know how well the staff member is performing in their current position, so the promotion of staff they know is a lesser risk than hiring an unknown. The company can use their own workplace training to properly prepare the employee for their greater responsibilities. This training can be uniquely tailored for best results.

Mobile learning will come to play a larger part in workplace training. Much like VR, but further down the line, organizations are realizing the benefits of fully mobile learning.

Flexibility of learning methods to address important points from a variety of angles, and the portability of our mobile machines themselves, are some of the many benefits of mobile learning.

As Forbes has noted, the advantage of “mLearning” isn’t only the fact that they can be done anywhere, it’s also the bitesize approach that’s dominant in the industry that means that learning can be continual - offering benefits for all.

Millennials to Increase the Demand for Workplace Training

As millennials continue to make their mark on the workforce of the day and more enter the job market, their very modern perspective on the job market and career development is set to be seen through their demand for more workplace training.

Having grown up with mobile technologies, the leaders of this generation see downtime as a wasted opportunity to learn or train. Rather than flicking through Facebook on the train, millennials with high aims would rather use the commute to brush up on beneficial skills, like foreign language knowledge.

In work, this desire to always learn translates to more workplace training, refining skills and continuing their development.

The job market is more competitive than ever, and this is a generation that knows what it must do to get ahead of the pack.

Seeing the improved productivity and skills that their workforce has gained from their workplace training, companies are pouring more and more money into the arena.

Learning and Development is more important than ever. With fierce competition for limited personnel and a millennial generation that expects the ability to develop their skills while at work, workplace training needs to fulfill many important demands.

Workplace training has widely-felt consequences that effect on the entire culture of a business. From CEO’s at the head of the table to workers on the factory line, workplace training is now being understood as one of the most cost effective ways to quickly improve the quality of employee output.

The workplace learning trends you need to know: mobile learning, hiring, VR and millennials

Want to learn more about management and leadership within a fast growing startup? 

Andrew Barnes, CEO of Go1 is going to be talking about his experience in growing the company from a small team in Brisbane, to a worldwide operation as part of the Talking Shop Series presented by Transition Level Investments. On April 26, join Andrew online as he tells his story and provides some insight into how he has managed to cultivate a strong management team within Go1.

The event will be starting at 1pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, and is free to attend online via the link below.

Management and Leadership
Presented by Andrew Barnes, CEO of Go1

Andrew will be talking about his experience leading and managing a startup & how that transitions through growth. With a particular emphasis on the key to successful leadership is influence, not authority.

Go1's Andrew Barnes is Talking Shop with Transition Level Investments

Tech companies are clamouring to invest in and launch their own virtual and augmented reality solutions. So, what are the opportunities for VR and AR in the workplace?

Facebook has acquired Oculus. Microsoft offers what it terms as a ‘mixed-reality offering’ with HoloLens. And Google has invested heavily into a company called Magic Leap (which is yet to publicly launch its product). Each company has placed multi-billion dollar bets in the VR and AR space.

Obviously, these titans of industry believe that one day soon virtual reality will move from being a gimmick to something mainstream.

They’re not alone. Technology research firm Gartner picked virtual and augmented reality as a key trend for 2017, and recommends that “enterprises should look for targeted applications of VR and AR through 2020.” And in February 2017, IT and tech consultancy IDC predicted that 60 per cent of Australia’s top 500 consumer-facing companies will experiment with AR or VR in their marketing efforts this year as part of an “immersive interface”.

Whether this occurs in a year, or five years is debatable. But, when virtual and augmented reality do arrive they are going to bring new opportunities for the workplace too.

Exactly what the applications will be depends on the type of technology.

Virtual reality (VR) offers complete immersion, where a computer-generated scene replaces what we would normally see and hear.

The immersive experience offered by VR suits applications where you want to experience an environment fully. Virtual reality remote meetings could allow participants to be fully present, rather than just dialling in on their webcam.

This technology also works well by allowing us to visualise and experience activities that might be otherwise expensive or risky to undertake. For example, I recently took my grandfather shark diving from the safety of his couch – it was immersive in a way that TV could never replicate.

Ultimately VR could take telecommuting to a whole new level, with all interactions taking place in a virtual environment.

Augmented reality (AR) on the other hand, acts as a new layer on top of our normal environment. By wearing glasses, AR can project new elements into what we see.

For example, a wall could be replaced with an interactive display of your calendar or a Skype video call might hover mid-air in front of you.

The ability to project new information onto our existing surroundings means AR may win against VR in the race for primacy in the workplace.

The major tech companies are betting that AR and VR solutions will be the next paradigm shift for interfaces. We have moved from desktop computers to mobile phones – and now to technology which can, increasingly, blend into the background.

From a business perspective, this is paradigm shift can’t be ignored. Mobile banking is now taken for granted, but just five years ago it was a novelty.

There will be many examples of technology that may appear to be a novelty today, but will quickly become a standard part of how we interact. Therefore, it’s more important than ever to keep abreast of the developments in new technologies such as VR and AR – and to consider the implications to your industry.

This article was originally published by HR Magazine

VR and AR are about to become huge. What are the opportunities?

Want to turn your classroom training material in an online course but don’t want to spend days putting everything together so it looks good? We’re here to help you out!

After recently releasing Go1  2017 version, one of the most exciting features that we have developed as a part of this release is our new course creation tool. Designed so that anyone can create a course in a matter of minutes; adding content, editing text, setting up modules and importing interactive learning files is now as simple as clicking a button.

There are tools out there that allow you to create a website by clicking to add information, so we have adopted a similar experience for building courses, so that we can have more people creating and sharing their content.

Our visual based creation tools make it so that you don’t need to be an expert to create your own course. If you want to add images; click to upload, if you want to add or edit text; click the text you’d like to change and text editing options will appear.

We’ve also made it easy to import all of your favorite file types as you are creating your course. This includes video, audio, text, documents, spreadsheets and interactive files such as SCORM files. We have created a quiz builder where you can test out your users knowledge via a range of methods including multiple choice, matching answers, fill in the blank, long answer and more.

We understand that you need flexibility when uploading content, especially when it comes to video - so we’ve made sure that we have got all of the options you might use covered. Adding a video directly from a YouTube URL is as simple as copying and pasting, or if you have your own video, you can upload it directly into your portal where Go1 will host your files for free.

One new element of course in Go1 that we are particularly excited about is the ability to add an in-person event to a course. This allows you to run a blended learning training program, with both your online and classroom events tracked all within the one course!

Simply create your online course the same way that you normally would, create a new module, click the 3 dots in the top right corner and select Event. You can then set all of the details relating to the event and hit save.

Now just arrange your modules into the order that you’d like them to appear, and then you are ready to go!

By creating your new course with the Go1 course creation tools, you can take the time and stress out of building courses, and focus on finding the best learning material to share with your team. When you combine these tools with the reporting and user tracking functionality of the Go1 Platform, you have the complete training package at your fingertips!


The clammy hands. The cracking voice. The flushes of red, repeatedly lighting your face. This is glossophobia, or the fear of public speaking.

Presenting can be a nightmare for many, many people. Rather than something to look forward to and anticipate, the act of presenting is instead filled with trepidation and horror. Rather than seeking out the limelight at a business breakfast, many hide from it.

The Presenting with Power course aims to give you the knowledge to approach public presentation feeling assured. Taking tip from the world’s best speakers will cool your nerves to allow you to perform to your best abilities.

As an often vital tool in your work skills armory, it’s important to be able to speak well.

While the benefits of presenting well may be obvious, here is a little run down:

Building credibility – A person who speaks well in front of groups automatically gains credibility. Others can see that you are listened to and respected, an important characteristic of leadership

Gain responsibility – A good public speaker is given more responsibility due to their greater credibility. This benefits both your personal and professional life.

Networking capabilities – A good public speaker always impresses, and this can be a great boon for expanding your professional network. You’ll see the benefits when strangers who have enjoyed your talk tell you about it afterwards.

The Presenting with Power course attacks the topic from a variety of angles and in new, novel ways. Here’s a brief breakdown of its methods.
Introduction: The Importance of Public Speaking – The best way is always to start at the beginning, and so the course does with an introduction explaining the importance of public speaking.

With a nod from the world’s first self-help book, this section sets you out on the path the communicating your thoughts in the most memorable and engaging way. Knowing what it is you are trying to get across is key to the audience’s understanding, as is the ability to distinguish clearly and succinctly.

But remember, rather than a natural talent as most think public speaking is, this is a skill to be trained and perfected. Your confidence will grow the more you do it.

6 Skills to Create Powerful Presentations – Here the course goes over the nuts and bolts of what it is you need to do to pull off a top-notch, quality presentation.
First of all comes the planning. This is vital because, as the course explains, the content of a presentation of is what should drive its design.

You shouldn’t simply be filling slides by numbers; each should have its place in the unfolding of the story you will tell.

The timeless truism of practice making perfect makes an appearance here. Practising your presentation over and over again produces a clean, confident product.
Also talked about is the “Three Act Story” method to offer a presentation that jumps off the page and attracts the attention of the audience. With this, you can keep them hooked.

And remember: have fun! Enthusiasm is contagious.

Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking – This section of the course may well be the most important for a lot of people. The blind fear of public speaking is what may be holding you back from your best.

But the point is this: public speaking is necessary at some point in life, so you can either choose to run from it or address it head on. There are ways and means to reframe your thoughts in regards to public speaking, and that is what this section will teach you.

The 10-20-30 Rule – The last section of the course wraps things up by explaining the fundamental approach to public speaking. Guy Kawasaki, a famed venture capitalist, has a solid gold way to go about this.

You will be taught Guy’s approach to understand how to implement it into your presentation giving. While it isn’t rocket science, some explanation as to why it’s so effective is needed. That’s what you’ll get here.

The Presenting with Power course offers core training to improve the quality of your presentation skills and give you the foundation upon which you begin to hone your skills.
One way that students on the course will learn and track their progress is through the completion of the 32-page workbook. The workbook is used to expand on what has been taught in the video lessons, and to give each student the room to apply their thoughts to what is being taught.

The videos are the core of the course and are the major source of teaching here. The videos are conversational in tone but also pack in information and suggestions to guide students in their personal improvement.

Last but not least, there are infographics to offer an alternative context to the main points taught in this course.

No matter what line of work your find yourself in, the ability to present with a flourish and distinguish yourself through it, is a huge advantage. Not only will you be considered someone who is capable of responsibility, but you’ll stand out from the crowd too.

The confidence you will gain from confidently speaking in public is also a great benefit. In your personal and work life, confidence can drive you on to the next challenge.
Completing this course gives you the tools to achieve great things. You know you’re up to the job.

How to present with power at your next presentation

Cloud computing is a hot topic of conversation across all industries, with many business leaders talking about cloud technology and deciding whether to move their organization “to the cloud.” Yet some business owners and employers still have their doubts about moving to cloud technology. Often, they may not quite understand what the cloud really is, and are therefore unsure of how it can benefit their organization.

If you’re still a bit confused by all this mysterious cloud talk, it’s worth taking the time to understand the many benefits it can bring to your business. You might be surprised to know that you’re probably already using cloud-based technology in your everyday life. Posting a status on Facebook? You’re using the cloud. Scrolling through Twitter while listening to your favorite band on Spotify? You’ve definitely got your head in the cloud. Gmail accounts, internet banking apps, Instagram… all of these services utilize cloud-based technology.

In the same way that these apps and services help to keep you connected and entertained, cloud computing is a very effective form of technology for your business needs. To help you feel more informed and comfortable when making your decision, here are 5 key benefits cloud computing can bring to your business.

Cloud Computing Allows You to Work from Anywhere

One of the greatest benefits of cloud computing is that it allows you to easily access cloud-based applications and services from anywhere in the world.

With any internet connection and your device, you (and your employees) can simply open a web browser, log in, and get to work! With the rise of remote workers across the modern workforce, your staff can have reliable, secure access to their work documents – whether working from home, at a different office, or on the road.

Many cloud-based services also offer mobile-friendly apps, so users aren’t restricted to working from one device. This way, employees can access the cloud from their desktop computer, laptop and even mobile phone. Wherever and whenever they need.

Better Collaboration and Document Control

Collaboration is also greatly improved with cloud computing, as the technology allows workers to easily access, edit and share documents and data. Regardless of whether your team is located all together in one office, or spread out across the world working remotely, collaboration across documents couldn’t be easier.

Working without cloud technology, employees would have to rely on emailing documents and attachments to one another for edits or approvals. This can often lead to confusion with versions and document control, while also meaning that only one team member can be working on the data at any time. By using cloud computing to store and manage documents, you’ll increase efficiency and save time when collaborating.

By creating a single source of truth, with the one document version saved centrally in the cloud, you’ll also have less problems with conflicting file formats and content. Each person will be able to see the revision history and previous versions of each document, making the process very transparent and clear for everyone.

Worried about security? Some business owners still think that cloud computing presents more of a security risk for important company files. However, this is not the case, with cloud data being better protected than many local computers, networks and servers.

When employees use a laptop computer for work purposes, there’s always a risk of it being lost, broken or stolen – allowing sensitive or confidential data to disappear with it. When information is stored securely within the cloud, there’s no way it can fall into the wrong hands, as the data is stored in the cloud rather than the device itself.

Cloud computing can give you even greater security, by allowing you to log in and remove data from any stolen or lost devices. Cloud service providers may also have more money to allocate to their security budget, which can be an affordable and reliable security solution for business owners.

Convenient, Cost-Effective Tech Solutions

With cloud computing, you’re cutting out the need for expensive software, which can save your business considerable amounts of money. Cloud services are run on subscription, allowing you to pay as you go, for as long as your organization and staff require the service.

This means that you don’t need to invest any time in managing, maintaining or updating services – cloud-based technology takes care of any software and security updates in the background, so you can get on with your work without interruption.

Because the cloud is basically infinite in size, there’s never any need to worry about running out of room. As your organization grows, you can easily increase (or decrease) the size of your cloud capacity to accommodate these changing needs. No need to purchase expensive new software or hardware.

Cloud Technology is Better for the Environment

Finally, if you’re green minded you will be pleased to know that cloud computing offers a more environmentally conscious alternative. Particularly if you’re moving from a paper-based document control process.

But also, when you move your data from on-site facilities to the cloud, it’s similar to moving your home electricity from an on-site generator to a power company. As we mentioned before, your cloud capacity can be increased or decreased to suit your business needs. This means that the server you’re using can scale up and down to fit this, drawing only the energy you need. With cloud computing, you’ll be using less energy than before, while also helping to reduce pollution and your organization’s carbon footprint.

As you can see, cloud computing can offer many benefits for your business, improving the way in which your employees work, as well as your bottom line. If you’re looking for greater organizational flexibility, collaboration and security, it’s worth considering making the move to cloud technology.

5 benefits cloud computing brings to your business

In life there are irritations and upsets that we simply cannot avoid. These can be destructive for our friendships or the relationship with our significant other, but they’re generally resolved over time and leave no lasting damage. After all, these are the people we love and care for deeply.

The workplace, however, offers different sets of problems and disagreements that need to be resolved. There are some benefits of conflict, but if they’re allowed to spiral out of hand, then the consequences can be costly.

For this reason, taking a course in conflict management is a wise investment. The course teaches individuals, from top to the bottom, how to identify and react – healthily and fairly – to conflicts that they become involved in.

Benefits of knowing how to manage a conflict professionally are:

Improved Output – Departments and individuals can dramatically improve their effectiveness if they are working in harmony. Conflicts cause breakdowns in communication which can be detrimental to working lives.

Fewer Sick Days – When people are under immense stress, they need days off to recuperate. When conflicts are resolved quickly, there is a drop in levels of stress and a drop in sick days taken.

Employee Retention – Employees leave organizations when they don’t enjoy the working atmosphere. A major reason for a sour working environment is ongoing conflict. Resolve them and you retain your work force, particularly the highest performers.

How Conflict is Perceived – The course begins by explaining that conflict is a fact of life, it’s unavoidable. But how we feel when we are involved in conflict? Does our heart race, do we find ourselves shouting over the other people? Is all you do in a conflict react and attack? If so, you do need to improve this.

In this introductory section, students will be propelled to question their own reactions and gut feelings in conflict situations. Do they view see conflict as an obstacle, or as an opportunity?

Conflict Fables – This section looks at the common mistakes people make when in conflict. Common reactions to conflicts are refusing to listen and demanding to be listened to. Often people refuse to even consider the opposing person’s point of view.

None of these approaches are helpful. Rather than use force, this section of the course suggests that persuasion is the more powerful tool for peace.

This section advises learners on how to avoid the common pitfalls of conflicts and change their patterns of behavior when engaging in disagreements that are in danger of overheating.

Conflict Conversations - This section also looks at roots of most conflict and explains that in reality, most are down to either poor communication or an inability to control emotions. How can we change this?

By following a guide based on Steven Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, learners can re-evaluate what a conflict means to them and whether this negative can have a positive outcome.

Through following Covey’s lead, we are able to rework how a conflict affects us. Among the habits are picking your battles, knowing the outcome you want before you enter into a conversation, and understanding first, before seeking to be understood.

All of these tips are accompanied by practical advice so that the suggestions can actually be applied in a real-life situation.

Though conflicts are usually unpleasant experiences, this section explains that the outcome can help improve all parties within concerned with it.