Specialised BusinessSkills

In today’s increasingly competitive market place, the need to be commercially aware is no longer the preserve of the finance team but is of increasing importance for anyone in a management or leadership position. Being able to look at situations from a commercial perspective has become more important, and knowing what makes a business successful and what factors influence commercial success has become a key competence for most managers. The GBS Commercial Awareness course gives participants an understanding of how aspects such as customers, competitors, supply and demand and profitability will have an impact on businesses. It also helps increase confidence in understanding some of the basic ‘financials’, which, for many, can at first be a daunting prospect. Please note, this course can be delivered as virtual instructor led training (VILT), face to face, or it can be delivered with a blend of both formats. We will customise the content and duration in line with your learning and development requirements. Typical learning outcomes Enhance your commercial awareness Understand the benefits of logical business planning Develop a broad understanding of how a business operates from all perspectives Be able to interpret and understand a business plan Know how sales and marketing plans are developed Explore and interpret a range of strategic tools

If you ask a range of people, what to them, represent the key skills of an effective consultant, you will get a variety of answers, and often people can easily tell you what they don’t’ value in a consultant rather than what they do value. A common issue for many, is the inability of a consultant to listen to them, and for many, the lack of proactivity, or feeling of partnership, coupled with unreliability give many consultants a bad press. Consulting skills are not the preserve of consultants, but are skills required across the board in most businesses today. To be a successful consultant requires a broad range of skills and approaches. They need to be viewed as a safe pair of hands, reliable, able to ask challenging questions, be able to influence, provide cost effective and innovative solutions and be a superb listener, to name but a few attributes. The GBS Consultancy Skills course has been designed for anyone in business who provides an internal or external consultancy service. It is suitable for those that have a lateral relationship with the client and aims to provide the skills and techniques needed to manage the relationship effectively. Please note, this course can be delivered as virtual instructor led training (VILT), face to face, or it can be delivered with a blend of both formats. We will customise the content and duration in line with your learning and development requirements. Typical learning outcomes Increase self-awareness about existing skills Build effective consultancy skills by examining various techniques and tools for client consultation Evaluate skills and identify development needs as a Consultant Enhance your communication and influencing skills Develop your questioning, listening and probing skills Address challenging behaviours and client resistance Develop rapport and credibility with clients to build a positive working relationship Reach a sustainable agreement that meets the client’s expectations

Finance and profitability affects everyone within a company. It is essential, when making business decisions, to be able to understand any relevant financial considerations. This requires knowledge of business finance, the terminology and its impact on organisational outcomes. If you overspend your budget, it eats into the company’s overall profitability, and buying a new expensive IT system must be balanced out by the savings that will be realised in the long term. Not being able to talk with confidence about basic finances can also undermine personal credibility as a Manager or Leader. The GBS Finance for Non-Financial Managers course is aimed at managers and other professional staff who have no formal training in writing financial statements or producing balance sheets and other finance and accounting concepts. The course aim is to de-mystify the finance process for those who are required to use financial reports. It also gives non-financial managers the skills and confidence to understand the terminology. Please note, this course can be delivered as virtual instructor led training (VILT), face to face, or it can be delivered with a blend of both formats. We will customise the content and duration in line with your learning and development requirements. Typical learning outcomes Read, understand and interpret financial information Remove the myths and fears that surround finance Anticipate the financial implications of your plans and decisions Interpret profit and loss accounts Interpret reports and accounts and implications for your area Increased awareness of accounting and the law

Managing a business project requires a mixture of science, art and patience, particularly when it comes to getting agreement from a diverse or virtual team which consists of peers and external Stakeholders. The science consists of planning techniques, using network analysis, logic diagrams and critical path analysis. The art is getting the project team working together, influencing others and maintaining excellent communications. The latter requires strong interpersonal skills to avoid conflicts that would arise without them. While project management skills are obviously important for project managers, interestingly the tools and approaches that they need to use can be helpful for everyone in business. Even the smallest task can benefit from the use of a well-chosen project management technique or tool, especially in the early stages of planning. Project management techniques can help in the planning and managing of all sorts of tasks, especially when they are complex The GBS Project Management course has been designed for those new to a project management role or who have had no formal training, and is also really relevant for anyone who has to organise and fulfil multiple or complex tasks. Participants on this course are given practical skills, tools and techniques required to confidently and competently manage projects. Please note, this course can be delivered as virtual instructor led training (VILT), face to face, or it can be delivered with a blend of both formats. We will customise the content and duration in line with your learning and development requirements. Typical learning outcomes Define a business project and understand how it differs from everyday management tasks Set objectives that are clear and understood by you and other members of the project team Use a range of tools and techniques at the correct stage of the project Plan and organise the various stages of bringing a business project to a satisfactory conclusion Understand the Human aspects of project management Learn how to motivate a project team Learn how to run successful project meetings

Written work can have an influence over whether an objective is achieved or not. A report may contain all the relevant facts, but unless the structure, layout and language are clear and organised, it is unlikely to meet its’ purpose. So often reports are grammatically incorrect, the layout is difficult to follow, and the writer did not have the reader in mind when they assembled their report. The result is frustration for the writer, frustration for the reader, a whole heap of time wasted and potentially critical business activities and processes impeded or misinterpreted. The GBS Report Writing course has been designed for those responsible for composing and writing reports and who feel a more structured approach would be more effective. This course gives participants the techniques to plan, structure, produce and present credible and effective documents. Please note, this course can be delivered as virtual instructor led training (VILT), face to face, or it can be delivered with a blend of both formats. We will customise the content and duration in line with your learning and development requirements. Typical learning outcomes Adopt a systematic approach to structure a report Use illustrations, charts, graphs and tables appropriately Describe and use appropriate language and tone aimed at the reader Structure information logically and clearly Use tools to persuade and influence your reader Practise producing reports that achieve desired outcomes

Stakeholder management is critical for the successful conclusion of any project. It is critical for managing any client relationship, and in the effective fulfilment of Service Level Agreements. (SLA’s)

The difference between good written work and bad is often the difference between achieving an objective and failing and can be determined by the writer’s business writing skills. It can be the difference between impressing readers and disappointing them. A report may contain all the relevant facts, but presentation, in terms of structure, layout and language, is often the clinching factor. Get that right, and the report stands a fair chance of success, get it wrong and it’s likely to end up in the ‘circular file’.