Over the past year the Go1 team have been working hard to bring to you the next generation in online learning tools. Building off our previous platform, we are excited to introduce the Go1 2017 Learning Platform.


All the features that you know and love about Go1 are still here, we have just made them all bigger, better and even easier to use! With a bright new look and intuitive design, Go1 2017 really pushes forward with our mantra that you shouldn’t need to learn how to learn. Our goal with each release is to make learning easier for both administrators and learners, and we’re excited to unveil Go1 2017.

Let’s look at some of the top features of the platform:

Learning should be easy, and our new intuitive interface means that anyone can pick up Go1 and starting learning straight away. Navigation for both administrators and learners has been simplified so that nothing is further than a few clicks away!


Getting started with Go1 has never been easier! Once you signup up you can import your users with the click of a buttons, find courses using the course marketplace, and enroll users based on their role of job function. Simple user management tools mean that you can quickly and easily find the information you need, when you need it.


The Go1 Platform is perfect for teams of all sizes, and designed to grow with your business. Adding new users to your plan is simple, and with our low cost per user per month pricing you are never going to be in for a shock when it’s invoice time. We’re here to help you scale your learning to provide the training you need as you grow.

Need content? We’ve got you covered! With over 100,000 courses in the course marketplace, finding the course that you need has never been easier. Search the top course providers in the world to find exactly what you want, then add it to your current learning management system or your Go1 Learning Portal.

Embed courses and content on your website

- Implementation of module dependencies within courses
- Portal administrators can add tags to course for filtering
- GST support for Australian based portals
- Manual payments within portals are now enabled
- Course completion page are available
- Improved administrator interface for creating long answer questions
- Grouped bar charts are now available in reporting
- Language options including English, Deutsch, Portuguese and Vietnamese

These are just a few of the exciting new features in Go1 2017, but don’t take our word for it:

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!

The Go1 2017 release may be brand new, but with the new architecture we now have the ability to accelerate our product release process. This means every fortnight to month (on average) we will be sharing updates on new features and learning tools that will come as free upgrades for all Go1 users. 

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Teaching in a classroom where both teacher and student are sitting face-to-face is hard enough, but when teacher and student are miles apart, things get a little trickier.

That said, the benefits of virtual classrooms are many.

High efficiency - the learning environment that is entirely focused on the improvement of workplace performance

A variety of highly-trained professionals able to transfer their knowledge to those learning

Clear ways to monitor the progress of individuals – everything being done online

But despite these benefits and the earnestness of your students, the teaching of any course needs to be interesting or even the most diligent student will struggle. So how can you make this happen?

The planning you do to improve your virtual classroom is what will make the difference between success and failure. Thankfully, there are easy ways to ensure you’re as prepared as possible.

In this post, we’ll offer some tips for interactive design in your virtual classroom, to give a helping hand for a difficult proposition.


A good first step would be to defining the intended outcomes of the course. What do you want your students to walk away with? What should your students be taking into their professional lives?

Finding a balanced mixture of theory or book work with real-life practice is an important aspect of virtual classrooms. An imperative outcome is that students can use what they have learned, so you should first search your professional history and what you know about the industry of the course you will teach, to create practical, appropriate content.

Once the decision has been made on what to teach, ensure that both yourself (as instructor) and students can easily access a course plan.

The course plan should explain the steps that the class will take to teach the practical, appropriate content that has already been decided upon.

This plan should be structured in a way that gives a logical, step-by-step path to follow. This ensures that both the teachers and students of the course understand where they are and why they are learning what they’re currently learning.

It should also point out how this related to the practice of the workplace, to ensure that the students understand the importance of this point to their job.

An accessible plan will ensure everyone is on the same page when taking virtual classroom training.

This may come as a surprise to some, but not everybody finds pouring over books of business best practice as fascinating as you do. For employees who aren’t as interested in learning intricate theoretical details or memorizing law, other means are necessary.

Use infographics to explain important points in novel ways, set up role-plays to demonstrate on the job scenarios, and try to keep things light. After you’ve been speaking for some minutes, ask questions to ensure that students have understood the point you’re making.

You can also use pop quizzes to keep the employees on their toes. The pop quiz may not be used in the overall marking of the course, it’s just for fun, but it will mean learners stay alert and engage in the class.

Classroom discussion also helps to build a rapport between the group and yourself. Co-operative learning has been shown to improve the performance of students, so make sure of it in your classes.

Interactiveness is important for virtual classrooms due to their nature. Without a physical focal point in the room, students have a tendency to drop focus and let their thoughts wander. Therefore it’s vital that you provide enough challenging and engaging twists on your teaching technique to keep them interested.

In a traditional classroom the understanding of students is easier to determine. In a virtual classroom however, the lack of body language and eye contact can make this more difficult.

A great way to get around this is to use feedback tools like polls and surveys. These tools will help you as a facilitator to get the best impression of how your students are handling the course and what their most pressing needs are.  You can request feedback on questions that you most need to know, and use them as a way to judge your classes understanding.

Remember that when teaching adults it is easy to miss someone struggling if they don’t ask for help. Feedback tools can make sure no one gets left behind.

So there you have it. Some tips and tricks to make a virtual classroom a runaway success. These are just a few simple suggestions that all good virtual classrooms should implement.

Given the thriving market in virtual classroom training, getting things right now should kick you on to ensure you can be a success.

Tips for creating an interactive learning experience in the virtual classroom

One of the most valuable skills possessed by successful entrepreneurs and business leaders is the ability to make clear, calm and effective decisions. In fact, decision making is a vital component of almost every job, with the decisions you make daily having a direct impact on your organization or employer.

With many business decisions often involving difficult topics and short timeframes, it’s important to know how to feel confident, capable and clear-headed when faced with complex decisions. Are you confident in your own decision making abilities?

If this is something that you feel a little unsure about, the good news is that you can improve your decision making skills and techniques.

The Importance of Strong Decision Making Skills


In a recent article for Forbes, Lynda Shaw writes of the importance of effective decision making in the workplace. As a business neuroscientist, offering solutions to improve work relationships, communication, and problem solving, Shaw believes that “effective decision making is more important today than ever before.”

It’s important that “everyone in your team is able to make decisions quickly and skillfully,” she says. “If you or your people hesitate for too long, money can be lost and morale can plummet.”

Try 'Six Thinking Hats' for Better Decision Making

Employers and managers can help staff to develop better decision making skills and become more confident in their own abilities. One of the most popular ways to assist staff in decision making is through Dr Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats.

Since 1970, Dr de Bono has been a world leader in organizational innovation, strategic leadership, individual creativity, and problem solving. His methods have been used by many organizations, large and small, to deliver improved training solutions.

The Six Thinking Hats is a simple, effective technique that can help employees to become more productive, by learning how to separate their thinking into six distinct categories. Each category is symbolized by a different colored ‘hat.’

The White Hat calls for information known or needed.

The Red Hat signifies feelings, hunches and intuition.

The Black Hat is judgment – the devil's advocate or why something may not work.

The Yellow Hat symbolizes brightness and optimism.

The Green Hat focuses on creativity – possibilities, alternatives and new ideas.

The Blue Hat is used to manage the thinking process.

By mentally wearing and switching the colored hats, you can learn to focus or redirect your thoughts, to get to the right solution faster and more easily. This can be incredibly beneficial for teamwork, allowing groups to tap into their collective wisdom and function more effectively.

Use eLearning to Learn More About Decision Making

Keen to learn more about how you can apply the Six Thinking Hats technique to your work? Take a look at the popular online course Decision Making Excellence.

During this short eLearning course, you’ll learn about the different types of decisions we make every day, particularly in the workplace. The course also gives insight into how our thinking processes work and provides best practice tools for better decision making.

Who Can Benefit from Improved Decision Making?

Becoming a better decision maker isn’t just a smart investment for managers and leaders. Everyone, at all levels of an organization, will benefit from improving their decision making abilities, in both their personal and work life.

Taking this course may just help get you selected for a leadership role, or better placed in terms of a promotion at work. Learning more about what’s behind your own individual thinking processes, and how this affects your decision making, helps to make you more confident, empowered and effective in your choices.

Enrol today, and get started online, all in the convenience of your own home – in just 30 minutes!

How to improve your decision making skills

What are the things you must do to succeed when recruiting talent across borders? Here, I share the key lessons from my startup’s expansion into international markets and building a global workforce.

Hiring and managing talent is a challenge for all companies. As a startup looking to develop a global workforce, you have the added challenge of operating with more limited resource than larger organisations, which makes things even harder.

If you’re going global, you also have to compete for the best talent in an arena that includes international stars like Google, Facebook and Microsoft.

So what’s the best way to succeed as a little fish in a big pond? Being as creative and flexible as possible is vital.

For example, in some countries, opting to use contractors and remote workers may be a smarter option than engaging employees on the ground. In this case, you may not even need to set up shop overseas at all. However, there are plenty of circumstances where having a local presence is essential, and understanding how to effectively manage a global workforce can be the difference between success and abject failure.

There are many points of consideration, but getting the process right can yield huge benefits for your organisation. Here are some things to keep in mind when you’re looking to expand your geographical footprint.

(Struggling to find local talent to meet your needs? Read about the benefits of hiring foreign workers)

1. Know when you really need a physical presence

It is imperative to understand why you’re looking to open a new office and think critically about whether there is another way to achieve the same goal. As mentioned, another alternative could be hiring remote workers and contractors, or using a startup hub.

You don’t always need to set up an office to enter a new market. In the US, my organisation originally sold our services through our website and hosted (very late night) webinars. This was a great starting point as we were able to get a feel for the market’s response without wasting tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on unnecessary overheads.

However, once we had confidence in our model we were better placed to make the decision to open an actual sales office to further tap the American market. Similarly, we opened an office in Kuala Lumpur only once it was clear that we needed a local support team who could speak Bahasa Malaysia for our 200,000 learners there.

Any new market will have local quirks, that are guaranteed to be different to the markets you already operate in. It’s easy to be lulled into a sense of a “global culture” but on the ground things are often very different.

For example, it’s easy for things to get lost in translation when opening an offshore office for a team in your global workforce. When we opened our office in San Francisco, we still used Australian terminologies for training. After several meetings with confused locals, we realised that new employees are “on-boarded” in the US, and never “inducted”. Our customers thought induction training was for cults! Having a local who is familiar with the context is a critical part of any new market entry.

Expectations around working hours, holidays and benefits also differ between countries. For example, in the Middle East the weekend is often Friday and Saturday rather than Saturday-Sunday. Staff won’t want to work on their equivalent of Sunday, so you need to accommodate this.

It’s also imperative to be aware aware of religious and cultural festivals.

On the other hand, it’s important to maintain consistent standards across markets. Quality, integrity, respect and teamwork should be applied consistently and without variation.

For example, in Vietnam we had to reconsider our bonus structure because people observe a 13th month of pay in the Tet holidays (Lunar New Year). As there are only 12 months in the year, we had to grapple with whether our bonus structure should be based on performance (as it is in Australia) or a cultural norm.

Communication is made more difficult by cultural differences, and this issue exacerbated by distance and time zones. There is no shortage of apps and collaboration systems that try to overcome these barriers, and it feels like we’ve tried them all.

But even in this era of virtual reality telepresence, nothing beats face-to-face communication with a global workforce. Email, instant messaging, and even phone or video calls can’t build the same rapport as actually hopping on a plane and talking directly to people.

(Thinking about taking your HR talents abroad? Find out more about becoming an HR volunteer).

As a manager, it’s easy to recognise the hard work of the person sitting next to you.

But it’s just as important to be aware of and to recognise the hard work of those you haven’t physically met in your global workforce, working with you half the world away.

A tactic should try is a weekly whole-of-company video call (timezones permitting) to provide updates on the week and shout outs to people who have gone above and beyond.

There are many other things to consider when it comes to managing a distributed global workforce and operations, including legal and tax – just to name a few!

However, these five lessons have helped my team kick goals together, across oceans and time zones.

This article was originally published on HR Magazine

Building a global workforce? What you need to know to be successful

If you’ve just enrolled in an online course, you might be wondering what to expect from the eLearning experience. Online learning offers students and employees a very flexible, convenient way of acquiring new skills and knowledge. But it can require extra levels of self-motivation, discipline and time management from participants, as opposed to teacher-led training.

When it comes to studying, do online courses require the same kind of commitment as traditional classroom learning? The answer is yes. Knowing how to study effectively for your course will really help maximize your online learning experience and results.

To help you get the most from your course, we’ve put together a list of our top 5 study tips for online learners.

First things first, make sure you have a designated space for your study. As an online learner, you’ll need to create your own learning environment, as you don’t have the physical presence of the classroom.

Having an established study space that’s yours, whenever you need it, will help you to get into the right headspace for your study sessions. Whether you have an actual home office or study you can use, or your space is simply a desk in your bedroom or living room, make sure it’s quiet, uncluttered and free from distractions.

Let housemates, relatives or partners know that when you’re in that study space you’re not to be disturbed or interrupted. When you sit down to work in your space, switch off from social media and your phone, to concentrate solely on your course materials.

Having a reliable internet connection is absolutely essential for online learning. Studying online means you need to have access to course materials, modules, assignments, online exams and discussion boards.

A lot of online courses use discussion boards to post assignment details, schedule changes, group work and so forth – so you really need to be checking in regularly to keep up-to-date with course requirements.

You should also make sure you’ve saved your trainer’s contact details in your phone or diary, so if you do have an internet outage you can get in touch with them offline.

Once you’ve enrolled in an online course, take some time to think about your objectives – that is, what you want to get out of the course. Do you want to learn a practical new skill, such as coding or web design? Are you looking to improve your soft skills, becoming better at active listening or more aware of emotional intelligence?

Knowing exactly what it is that you want to accomplish will help keep you motivated and on track, much like training your muscles at the gym. Some eLearning courses will have a section that outlines certain Learning Objectives. Make sure you pay attention to this section; it will help you define your own goals.

One of the best strategies for making your study time more successful is finding the best revision technique that works for you. Revising and reviewing information as you go helps to improve your knowledge retention, work your memory and produce better course results.

Do you already have a favorite way to practice study revision? Some people use flash cards, others have their own special way of taking notes, or using different colored highlighters. Quizzes can be excellent prompts and refreshers for online learners, allowing them to test their knowledge as they move through the course.

Getting together with a study partner, or forming a study group, can also help to reinforce what you’re learning, while also allowing you to understand it better. Group work can be very motivating and gives you the opportunity to be exposed to different opinions and learning styles, which could further help you.

As we said earlier, many online courses use discussion boards to facilitate connections between participants and create a central hub for relevant course information.

These discussions boards, or forums, also remove the isolation from online learning. Even though you’re not attending class in a physical environment, you can get to know your classmates virtually online. In fact, for introverts, online forums can provide an even better way to interact with fellow learners.

So check out the discussion boards and forums that are part of your online course. You’ll find plenty of useful information, as well as support from other students – who may even have their own online study tips to share with you!

Brisbane Lions embrace cutting edge tech as employees tap into more than 270 courses

As sporting clubs across the world continue to look for an edge over their counterparts, The Brisbane Lions have turned to online learning to take the next step in pursuit of football greatness.

Brisbane Lions has selected Go1 as its premier workplace training and learning partner ahead of the launch of a new professional development and workplace training program for all employees at the club.

Team and staff members have access to more than 270 courses, nearly 1000 workbooks and training resources, and over 600 videos and engagement with expert (training material) authors.

The materials include both existing bespoke training courses created for the Brisbane Lions, as well as courses selected from the Go1 marketplace. Courses include preventing sexual harassment, religious discrimination, dealing with difficult behaviours, identifying poor performance, communicating effectively, conflict management and emotional intelligence.

Business-focused options such as introduction to project management, finance for non-finance managers, strategic planning, and competition and consumer law are also available.

According to Emma Zielke, Brisbane Lions’ AFLW Captain and club admin officer, the Go1 learning platform will allow the club to provide its athletes and staff members with the most advanced educational tools.

“It’s about training minds as well as bodies. We want to help all the Brisbane Lions team, from the field to the boardroom to expand their horizons into areas such as leadership and sales. By implementing cutting-edge technology, we are helping our employees to upskill and manage their training path based on their areas of interest.

“The Go1 portal enables us to do this, as well as being a great way to distribute and deliver compulsory training such as OH&S and courses around club values and culture,” Ms Zielke said.

Ms Zielke believes launching the program places Brisbane Lions at the forefront of learning amongst Australian sporting organisations.

“We would be happy to share our learnings with other AFL teams in future and show them how the Go1 platform can help their organisations as well,” she said.

The Go1 service will be extended to Brisbane Lions affiliate organisations such as the Springwood Social Club where full-time staff can access the learning portal.

While the Brisbane Lions are in the early stages of rolling out the program, she expects to start seeing positive results after six months.

“I think we will see a really good return from people going the extra mile to achieve their personal and career development goals through the Go1 learning platform,” Ms Zielke said.

Go1 CEO Andrew Barnes said the company was excited to partner with an iconic Queensland brand like The Brisbane Lions to hit its workplace training and development targets.

“The Brisbane Lions is a shining example of a club that genuinely cares about their employees’ personal and professional development,” Mr Barnes said. “It is also an example of a forward-thinking club looking to be first-to-market to implement the latest technologies to ensure success both on and off the field.

“Access to more than 270 courses puts the club’s employees and players in good stead and helps them learn at their own pace and convenience.

“This is especially important in a competitive league like the AFL where teams spend a lot of time on the road. In these situations it’s easy to forget the importance of training and education, and we want to and have removed that barrier,” he said.

The Brisbane Lions are an Australian Rules Football Club which participates in the Australian Football League (AFL) and was formed from the merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions in 1996. The club appeared in four consecutive AFL Grand Finals between 2001 and 2004, winning three (2001, 2002 and 2003) to become one of the most successful teams of the modern era.

Brisbane Lions roar ahead with Go1 online learning portal

Employee retention and engagement is the #1 problem that companies face.

That’s according to a survey of over 3,000 respondents across 100 countries by Deloitte. And while it’s debatable whether employee retention and engagement always rank as the top concern, when I speak to businesses it continually appears in their top five.

So what are the drivers behind issues with employee retention and engagement?

Poor internal culture is a primary reason, and, internationally, Australia ranks in the bottom 10 for staff engagement. Average staff turnover percentages have been increasing year on year.

Culture is not static, and what can start as a very positive internal culture can change as headcount grows and as people come and go. This can create an environment with low engagement and high turnover.

The wave of millennials joining the workforce is often cited as a catalyst for culture change, bringing new expectations. There are greater expectations on work flexibility, accelerated career development and greater mobility.

Changing cultures and expectations from a new generation of staff obviously demands new approaches. Companies should be on the front foot to make sure internal culture remains positive, with high employee retention and engagement.

(Need tips on how to make your management millennial-friendly? Read our guide here)

In another recent survey – this time by the Australian Human Resources Institute – 61 per cent of companies reported that training and development was a key strategy for improving engagement and retention. Approximately half of companies are also implementing flexible work policies and more regular performance appraisals.

It’s perhaps unsurprising that training and professional development ranks so highly. Better training can help answer the demand for greater flexibility, faster career development and better management.

First, flexible work options and support for mobile or remote work, often go hand in hand. Ensuring that training on all your systems and processes are available online is critical when staff can’t rely on asking the person working next to them.

Investing in learning and development also means people can pursue self-directed professional development. This addresses a second key request from staff. If some individuals want to accelerate the development of new skills and better capabilities, providing an on-demand mechanism to facilitate that is a great match.

Finally, the primary cause of low engagement and high turnover is poor leadership. Management and leadership skills are evidently important, but most people feel that these are exactly the skills that are lacking in the companies that they work for.

Good leadership involves awareness, listening, feedback and guidance. This already tricky topic can be made doubly difficult when working with mobile and flexible teams. Learning how to adapt and deliver positive leadership in changing environments is a key requirement for anyone in business.

(Want to know why a top CEO believes HR leadership is essential for success? Read our interview here)

Creating a culture of learning is not the only ingredient for success, but it’s a critical part of the puzzle. By supporting staff who demand greater flexibility, more professional development opportunities and better leadership, companies can foster a better culture.

A positive internal culture not only means more engagement and retention, it also creates a sustainable competitive advantage.

As the rate of change only increases, creating a culture of learning seems to be a key strategy to creating a better culture full stop.

What is the largest driver of employee retention?

There are many types of criminals around the world, and unfortunately, most of them rely on the good and honest nature of others to make their living. One of the simplest ways for these criminals to acquire their money and remove any trace of illegal activity from it is to “launder” it.

Money laundering usually works in three stages, and it’s the responsibility of all businesses to be able to spot the signs of this occurring and report it to the authorities when it does. Failure to do so could see you end up with a $45 million fine like Australian gaming operator Tabcorp did when they failed to notify the authorities about the suspicious behaviour of some of their customers.

An astonishing 5% of the world’s GDP is laundered each year, which equates to around $1.5 trillion. Although you might think that money laundering is only left to seedy businesses and willing participants, these people are often performing their shady deeds right under the nose of good and honest organizations - much to the detriment of the business.

Placement – this is the riskiest stage and involves placing the ill-gotten money into a legitimate business without being noticed.

Layering – this sophisticated process sees the criminal try to hide their illegal activity in a complicated layer of other transactions.

Integration – the money is returned to the criminal from legitimate sources.

What Anti-Money Laundering Training Covers

The scope of the money laundering problem we are facing in the business world today…

Why money laundering is illegal and what the penalties are for the criminals and anyone involved in the process…

Why anti-money laundering policies are so important…

The signs of the three main stages of money laundering so you’re able to put a stop to it…

Which Types of Businesses Should Be Aware of Money Laundering?

All employees have their own responsibilities when it comes to money laundering laws and penalties. When you and your colleagues don’t fully understand your obligations, you too can be held responsible for future wrongdoings!

As mentioned earlier, the Tabcorp case of money laundering was one of the largest recorded in Australia’s history. The federal court found that Tabcorp was responsible for breaching the important Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act (AML/CTF) on 108 separate occasions spanning over five years.

The court found that Tabcorp didn't have a robust AML/CTF program in place within the organization, and as a result, these funds were able to pass through unnoticed. Principals in this company were found guilty of assisting with this criminal activity due to their negligence, and as a result, they were fined an impressive $45 million for doing so.

When you consider the enormity of this fine and the legal ramifications, can your business really afford to lose this much money for a simple lack of knowledge? With one simple course, you can ensure you, your employees, and your business as a whole is protected from the very real threat of money laundering.

What Can You Benefit from this Anti-Money Laundering Training

If you’re still sitting on the fence about the Anti-Money Laundering training and wondering if it’s really such a big deal for you to learn, consider the fines alone that come from being involved in this illegal activity. The current maximum penalty for assisting in this crime is 14 years, and as indicated by the Tabcorp case, you can be ordered to pay into the millions.

If you’re interested in protecting your business, educating your staff, or just staying aware of the warning signs and suspicious activity, you shouldn’t overlook Anti-Money Laundering training for your team.

For more insights, be sure to subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.

We've put together a comprehensive guide to anti-money laundering training, including definitions, benefits, and an example of what not to do from TabCorp.

Anti-money laundering training: what you need to know

It really is surprising how many of us take communication proficiency for granted. Whether it’s in a written email, a meeting, presentation, or simply a conversation with a coworker, effective communication has a direct impact on the success of every business. 

Effective communication is a skill, and it’s a skill that should be developed in order to be successful in business. Just like any other skill, communication should be “worked out” regularly, and that’s exactly what the Communicating Effectively course can show you how to do.

This course can teach you how to communicate effectively so that you’re able to get your message across loud and clear, whether it’s at work in a business meeting or at home with your family. 

Not only will this course show you how to get your own point across, but it will make you a more effective listener as well. With the right communication methods under your belt, you’ll find that your productivity and performance at work will go up in a big way.

Communication comes in many forms, all of which help us to interact with others and express thoughts, concerns, and feelings.How you communicate will determine how people interact with you…and poor communication can have an extremely negative impact on your professional life. Not to mention the problems that can arise from low self-esteem, frustration, and a poor relationship with others. 

Unfortunately, far too many people in today’s workforce are falling short in this skill. 

We always seem to remember those times when you had a communication breakthrough or disaster, don’t we? That’s because an effective communicator will always be remembered for how they stirred emotions in you, motivated you to work towards something, or conveyed an idea that had a huge impact on your life. Excellent communication truly has a ripple effect that resonates with us. 

All careers rely on at effective communication, whether it be written or verbal. That’s just one reason why this course can benefit everyone in the workforce. 

The truth is that even the most talented communicators in your organization should be constantly “sharpening the knife” of their talent, or else it will begin to go dull!

Before we can understand the best ways to communicate with others, we need to learn why it matters so much, particularly in a professional setting. How we communicate has a huge impact on those around us - it can draw people in to your world or repel them in an instant. 

Studies have shown that just 7% of communication is verbal, which indicates that how we express ourselves through body language is extremely important. Learning communication isn’t just about how we speak or write, but about how we present ourselves to others in a non-verbal way.

Just as important as how we speak to others is how we listen. Many people think communication relies solely on what we offer to others, but it’s important to remember that listening and responding is the other half of the equation.

To be a great communicator, you need to learn how to elicit the best communication out of others too. Effective questioning can help you to get the best response - and it can save time and frustration due to miscommunication issues. 

Written and email etiquette for the workplace

In this modern age, emails and other written communication are essential forms of communication. These non-verbal forms of communication have their own unique etiquette that should be understood for the most effective and respectful response.

By covering this broad range of topics and learning not only the best way to communicate, but why it’s so important in your day to day life, you’ll walk away from this course with the skills needed to be an effective communicator.

Who Would Benefit From the Communicating Effectively Course?

You might be wondering if this course is right for you, and perhaps even questioning whether your communication skills are up to par. The truth is, we can all benefit from learning more about communication, whether it’s verbal or non-verbal.

If you talk to your coworkers or employees about the issues that they face on a daily basis you’ll likely find that communication is a common theme. It’s surprising to think that many organizations still don’t have training in place for this critical skill set.

The Communicating Effectively course can suit everyone from entry level employees to senior management. With this course in your toolkit, not only will you be able to convey your own thoughts and opinions more clearly, but you’ll understand the people you work with better as well. It’s a win/win either way!

Negotiation is an important part of everyday life, both at work and at home. In your personal life, you might have no trouble speaking your mind when it comes to choosing a restaurant or movie. Or working out whose turn it is to cook dinner, or drive. This is because when we’re in our comfort zone with family and friends, it’s not too difficult to make our opinions and preferences known.

But unfortunately, when it comes to important workplace discussions about salary, workload or job responsibilities, many people find it hard to be quite as assertive. Sound familiar?

If you feel uncomfortable when it comes to negotiating at work, you’re not alone. Many people feel intimidated at the thought of having these discussions with their boss, bargaining with clients, or going against the flow of their co-workers. However, negotiation is a critical and essential part of all aspects of life – and there’s no need to fear it in the workplace. In fact, improving your confidence in this area will have a positive impact on all aspects of your life, not just at work.

Read on to find out more about why negotiating and influencing people is so important in business, and how you can improve your workplace negotiation skills.

Why You Need to Know How to Negotiate and Influence People 

These days, most job descriptions include ‘negotiation’ as a desirable skill for potential candidates, with the ability to negotiate being more valued than ever before.

The Benefits of Negotiation for Your Business

Build and maintain positive working relationships

Improve the company’s bottom line, through increased profits and the ability to get the best deal possible

Increase their productivity and job satisfaction by expressing their needs

Successfully work through disagreements with co-workers

Contribute to a positive work culture, where opinions and needs are mutually respected