This interactive online course covers tools and techniques to get the best out of your people including delegation skills, team engagement and holding people to account. You will learn active listening and good questioning techniques, fundamental to handling difficult conversations and people.It will share the five steps to having great delivery conversations and how to adapt your approach to different people and scenarios.We explore how to create working environments where people feel empowered and engaged.

The intended objective of the course is for you to leave with a clearer understanding of the principles of data protection and the GDPR and provide sufficient knowledge to better navigate the path toward compliance.

What’s the big deal with minutes anyway? Minutes are a record of what takes place at a meeting and ensures nothing is lost or forgotten - you will learn how totake, prepare and present minutes.

No need to write like the wind and capture every word - minutes don’t have to be verbatim but they have to record certain facts. You will explore what must be recorded: participants, decisions, actions…

Time is precious, so make every second count - think like a Scout and be prepared! The trainer will discuss the meeting cycle and what to prepare before your meeting takes place.

Minutes don’t have to be long, complicated or in fancy language but they need to record clearly and simply...you will examine the most difficultaspects of taking minutes and how best to address them.

Anyone can scribble a rough outline of a meeting, right? Yes, but to take good notes and create minutes that provide an accurate reflection requires a particular set of skills - the trainer will show you!

The good, the bad and the ugly - you’ll examine good and bad minutes, which will help you follow best practice and avoid common mistakes.

Session 1

• Are you ready for fundraising?Starting from a position of strength - not begging because of need.
• What exactly do fundraisers do anyway?What's needed to start effective fundraising.
• The Big Picture - fundraising landscape post-covid:Who has the money? How much is there? Who gets it?
• How fundraising works and why people give:
  • The Pyramid - Cultivation and the role of profile raising;
  • The Prospect Onion - Identifying your potential donors;
  • The Seven Steps of Fundraising - an oldie but goodie.
• Project Profiling:A tool to identify what needs funding in your organisation and who should fund it.

Session 2

• Individual Giving:How and why people give.
• Trusts and Foundations:The Trust Landscape – how and why they give.
• Company Giving:How and why companies can support your organisation.
• Community Fundraising:What is happening with Community Fundraising post covid.
• Research to support fundraising

This online course is packed full of content to help you identify and understand what is required to build a strong financial foundation.

Basic financial roles and responsibilities:The Board’s responsibility for good financial governance; The financial manager’s role; Staff and volunteers.

Who uses the financial information and how:The Board, Treasurer and/or Finance Sub-group; Internally – The manager/management team, Project staff and Fundraising staff; Externally – Funders, Accountants/auditors, OSCR and Companies House.

What we need our financial package to do:Information for monitoring current performance; Information for planning forward; Information for external reporting; Choosing a suitable financial package and setting it up to be useful; Restricted funds – recording for easier reporting; Effective use of the reports function.

Effective systems and control:“Walking through” your financial processes; Considering financial risks and effective internal control; Getting other staff to play their part and make your life easier; Recording financial processes – why and how.

Dealing with external requirements:Reporting to funders; Reporting to OSCR; Reporting to Companies House.

Part 1 - following this session participants will:

• have a clear understanding of their own management strengths and development needs through completion of the CMI Management Diagnostic tool
• have identified learning and development needs and set goals around these for the course and beyond in their own CPD log, to be supported by the CMI Management Direct hub (see below)
• understand the value of reflective practice to inform personal and professional development
• know how to apply reflective practice to inform personal and professional development
• have been introduced and shared initial reflections with a group of peers from organisations within the Scottish voluntary sector

Part 2 - having completed this section participants will be able to:

• examine leadership practices within organisations​
• analyse the characteristics of responsible leadership​
• analyse the impact of internal and external factors on leadership practice​
• examine the relationship between management and leadership​
• evaluate how leadership supports the achievement of organisational objectives

Part 3 - following these sessions participants will be able to:

• identify and agree performance objectives for your team and individuals
• assess performance against objectives and provide feedback
• provide advice and guidance to support to improve performance
• apply the organisation’s disciplinary and grievance procedures

Part 1 - following this session participants will:

• have a clear understanding of their own management strengths and development needs, allowing them to set goals for their own CPD
• understand the value of reflective practice and how to apply this to inform personal and professional development
• have been introduced and shared initial reflections with a group of peers from organisations within the Scottish voluntary sector

Part 2 - having completed this section participants will be able to:

• examine leadership practices within organisations
• analyse the characteristics of responsible leadership
• analyse the impact of internal and external factors on leadership practice
• examine the relationship between management and leadership
• evaluate how leadership supports the achievement of organisational objectives

Part 3 - following these sessions participants will be able to:

• identify and agree performance objectives for your team and individuals
• assess performance against objectives and provide feedback
• provide advice and guidance to support to improve performance
• apply the organisation’s disciplinary and grievance procedures

This course is packed full of content to help you identify and understand what is required to run an effective board meeting. By the end of the session you will:

• recognise good practice in board meetings and identify areas of improvement for your own board
• understand the different stakeholders boards are accountable to, and how to balance these

This online course is packed full of content to help you understand the importance of good financial management.

Budgeting:Why we need a realistic budget; Thinking about the different types of costs; Setting budgets; Making sure it all stacks up.

Full cost recovery:Why we need to use full cost recovery; Practical use of FCR; How this can be used for costing services.

Budget monitoring and reporting:Monitoring – actual v budget; What do variances tell us; Reporting to the Board; Using budget monitoring internally.

Cashflow projections:Purpose of cashflow projections; Constructing a simple cashflow; Cashflows as an options’ appraisal tool.

This online course will providean introduction tothe tools required to plan, deliver and evaluate effective training.Anne Whitefordwill guide you through the three sessions so you willgain the confidence to design and deliver learning to individuals and small groups.

Session 1

Managing Learning Experiences

• The Training Cycle
• How Adults Learn: The Kolb Learning Cycle; Learning Styles

Developing a Learning experience

• Training Methods: Tools; Icebreakers; Energisers
• Review and Evaluation: Kirkpatrick's 4 levels of evaluation

Session 2

Managing Groups

• The group process
• Group dynamics

Leading groups to facilitate learning

• Skills and characteristics of trainers and facilitators
• Managing challenging situations

Session 3

Putting it into practice

• Developing a training event in teams
• Presentation to the other groups
• Review of the task
• Review of the learning