Sparrow Training

For leaders of customer service teams, The Managing Customer Service Pocketbook draws on some startling statistics to highlight the benefit of building customer loyalty. For example, one study shows that a mere 5% increase in customer loyalty can boost profitability by up to 85%. Earning loyalty is about delighting the customer by delivering outstanding service. And, as the book’s author Andy Cross explains, the bedrock of service excellence is the ‘service brand’.
The book uses a 5-stage model to describe how to create and nurture such a service brand through the recruitment, training, leadership and motivation of a customer service team that works diligently and passionately for the highest possible standards of service. Stage one is to establish the vision or the brand values by properly understanding what it is that the customer wants above all else. This is what drives the team. Then you have to align these values with those of the team itself. This is achieved through careful recruitment, training and inspirational people management.
Further stages in the process of managing the service brand cover: coaching the team to deliver consistently brilliant service; what to do when things go wrong (top tips!); and how to create an environment in which team members have the freedom to improve.
We believe you’ll be ‘highly satisfied’ with this book and, if statistics are to be believed, ‘six times more likely to order again’!

The Team working Pocketbook focuses on how to maximise team performance. Looks at the differences between groups and teams and between teambuilding and team working, the types of problems preventing teams from being effective, and offers plenty of practical advice for countering such difficulties. Leadership, conflict management and understanding group behaviour are among the many subjects covered in this 'hands-on' guide. Wrote Business Executive magazine: 'While much has been written about building teams in an attempt to get people to start working together, less has been said about what happens next during the performing or team working stage. Fleming helps redress the imbalance'.

e-interplace® is currently used by:
Professionals in training, management, human resources and career development
Managers and executives making important HR, recruitment and promotional decisions
Those interested in self-management and personal career development

On purchase of e-interplace®, you will receive:
200 Self-Perception Inventories (SPI) (manual or online input)
Unlimited 360° Observer Feedback (manual or online input)
Unlimited team/group reports
Unlimited job profiling and job compatibility reports
Books: Management Teams - Why They Succeed or Fail, Team Roles at Work, Beyond the Team
Three slideshow presentations with or without Dr Belbin’s voiceover
A range of handouts including inventories and advice on feeding back reports

Individuals
A full Belbin report (Self-Perception Inventory and up to 6 observers), is completed via the web. Once you have completed the questionnaire(s), your report is emailed back to you within minutes, you will be provided with expert advice on your own team role preference (the report is provided as an Adobe Acrobat pdf email attachment).

Small teams
You can also purchase more than one test. This is particularly useful if you are running training courses or assessing a sales account or marketing project team, and would like the questionnaires completed prior to the course or a meeting. The completed reports come back to you, and you are able to keep an eye on the process at all times!

Price includes processing a Self-Perception Inventory + up to 6 observer assessments

SMC will send you copies of the inventory forms (or can be downloaded from the related posts section). You can distribute them to participants accordingly. Once you have received all the completed inventories, send them to us. We will process and send the reports back either by the next day's post, or the same day via email. Large numbers or tight deadlines can be met if sufficient prior warning is given!

If you have a more complicated setup, please get in touch – we will try to help!

Building teams that are united, motivated and productive is the aim of this collection of practical, easy-to-use activities. They are for use by managers at team meetings and briefings, and for trainers running teambuilding workshops. The lively and persuasive activities are the work of Paul Tizzard who has already established his credentials as a creative developer of training materials with the publication of The Icebreakers Pocketbook and The Openers & Closers Pocketbook, both popular titles in the Management Pocketbook Series. The activities in The Teambuilding Activities Pocketbook are grouped according to their suitability for different stages of team development. From new teams to established teams there is a range of applicable activities to choose from. There are those too that address specific team issues. To help readers identify which activities they need to draw on, there is a questionnaire that will identify at what stage their own team has reached. Also dealt with in the book are facilitation, presentation and coaching skills.

To be competitive businesses are increasingly going further a field for their talent and skills - drawing together teams of people with the best mix of experience and abilities, regardless of their location. This has given rise to the concept of the virtual team, a network of individuals who have a common goal yet rarely if ever meet. Virtual Team working - possibly across different time zones and against different cultural backgrounds, and often project-specific and, thus, temporary - poses specific challenges for the team leader. The Virtual Teams Pocketbook looks at the skills needed to lead a virtual team, at the required style of leadership, at the team selection process, at the cultural issues that may arise and at the process of developing trust and building a productive and cohesive unit. Without the recent strides forward in communications technology virtual team working would not be effective or, even, possible. This pocketbook looks at the options available and gives advice on selecting the most appropriate method and how to use it to its full potential.

Read "The Manager's Pocketbook" and learn the POLCA, the five essential management skills. 'P' is for 'planning': the essentials of good planning and objective setting. 'O' is for 'organising': managing time and work, and decision-making. 'L' is for 'leading': teambuilding, leadership, motivation and communication. 'C' is for 'controlling': correcting errors, disciplining and appraising. And 'A' is for 'achieving': the action planning section, so get your pen ready! This enlightening Pocketbook is for team leaders, supervisors and people managers of all levels.

Written for leaders at all levels - strategic, organisational and team level - The Leadership Pocketbook explains how to inspire, influence, deal with change and achieve objectives. Illustrated throughout, the book adopts a practical approach, setting out the principles of leadership, the role of the leader, the skills required for effective leadership and the key challenges facing leaders in today's business environment. Its author, Fiona Dent, is Director of Faculty Development at Ashridge where she is also Programme Director for the Influencing Strategies and Skills Programme. She has over 20 years' experience as a management developer.
A focus of the book, described by the author as 'perhaps the most necessary skill for any leader', is self-awareness - to know yourself, to realise what your leadership strengths and weaknesses are and when you must continue to develop.

First impressions count! A well-planned and thoughtful induction process will give new employees a sense of belonging and lead to greater motivation and productivity. The Induction Pocketbook examines ways of introducing a successful programme at all levels. It looks at the benefits of induction, who to involve in delivering induction (not just personnel staff!) and who should receive induction (not just newcomers!). There are further chapters on what to include in the induction programme, when and where it should take place and how to evaluate the induction. Finally, there is a series of checklists (one for each stage of the process) and a case study.

To deliver more from less (more sales, profits, etc from fewer resources) you must understand in detail your organisation's operations or processes. The Improving Efficiency Pocketbook challenges four areas of operations: The design (Why are things done in a certain way?) The plan (Is there a better way to meet demand?) The controls (Are the right things being measured?) The way improvements are made (Are you involving your people, customers and suppliers?) The book follows a 6-stage model, with each of the stages covered by a separate chapter. The consistent and systematic application of the tools and techniques contained in this Pocketbook will improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of your processes and resources.

The Impact & Presence Pocketbook explains the importance of impact and shows readers how to develop a congruent and personal presence, enhance their leadership skills, create an atmosphere in their teams that will motivate and enthuse, and how to manage difficult situations. Subjects covered in the new pocketbook include: self-awareness (with a questionnaire that will enable readers to review their own impact), visualisation, creating a brand image, posture, gesture, eye contact, emotional control, dress style, creating rapport, what to do in difficult circumstances and how to create impact in different situations (e.g. meetings, interviews, presentations and one-to-one sessions).

Empowerment is often confused with delegation and, wrongly, is often seen as a form of power or authority over another person. The authors of The Empowerment Pocketbook prefer to liken empowerment to a licence that is issued only after those concerned have proven their ability and only when the scope and conditions of the activity to which the licence applies are clearly defined. This Pocketbook explains what empowerment is, what can be gained when it is in place and how to put it there and keep it there. It will be helpful to managers, trainers, consultants and all those people who are concerned with getting the best from their workforce. Areas covered include: identifying the need for empowerment, enabling the individual, implementation (nine steps to get empowerment in place) and, finally, monitoring and feedback.

The Complete Team Effectiveness package comprises:

Fire, Toast and Teamwork DVD – an entertaining and informative introduction to Team Roles

36 online Team Role profiles - find out your Team Role preferences

Co-operate – learn to communicate more effectively as a team

Contribute® – learn more about your Team Role contributions

Team Effectiveness flipchart – adding structure and aiding feedback

All business decisions affect the movement of cash, one way or another, as The Managing Cashflow Pocketbook clearly demonstrates. It stresses the importance of proper cash management (by all managers!) and how this impacts on the running of a business. Reconciling profit to cash, improving cashflow and managing working capital are central issues in this extensively illustrated book.