We designed a 2-day program which addressed both basic financial skills as well as covering budgetary theory and the Council specific obligations, processes and templates. We facilitated the program with members of their Finance team joining the program on day 2 to add support and answer specific questions. Participants brought along their own reports to the program to optimise the application of learning.

We designed a one-day program which was initially split into 3 short modules and in subsequent years reduced to 2 longer modules spread over 2 days. The first module covered the basics with the later modules addressing how to read an annual report and perform financial analysis – using the accounts of their clients.

The initial engagement, in 2009, was to design a one-day program to be delivered internally which would enable the managers to become more skilled in reading their cost centre activity reports and also their KPI reports. However, the ED Finance decided that we should also be engaged to facilitate the program with a representative from Finance joining the course in the role of a Subject Matter Expert. The course, entitled Working with Numbers, has been run over 40 times and continues to be run this year.

The same client has subsequently engaged us to design a one-day program on Managing Labour Hours based on the materials they provided and a further program on Managing Direct Costs and Maximising Revenue. Both programs are being rolled out to Nurse Unit Managers.

We interviewed and surveyed a number of key personnel as well as running focus groups to clearly identify the various financial management development needs. One of the key messages was that they wanted to understand how money flowed through the University. There was also a need for understanding of basic financial principles and language. We then designed a 2-day program for both academic and non-academic which was rated extremely highly by all participants. We are still engaged to run one day version of this program twice a year. Watch a video testimonial here.

We were subsequently engaged to design the finance module of their Group of Eight University Future Leaders Research Program and for 8 years delivered this module for 2 universities in Victoria and for 2 years in Queensland.

Many branch managers had little or no financial literacy skills and indeed the topic was confronting from them. So the first day started very much with the basics. Our course used the BONANZA approach whereby we started with personal finance before introducing any financial jargon associated with business. On day 2 we introduced their own financial reports and KPIs, looking at practical ways that could influence profitability and cash flow. Given the travel time involved of the participants, a 5-day residential program was preferred by the client – with the Wednesday devoted to team building outdoor activities. On the Thursday Business Planning was covered with practical exercises around their branches and the managers presented their plans on the final day of the program together with their takeaways.

The program was run 12 times in the first year with a further rollout in subsequent years for joiners and a version of the program was developed and run for the Commercial Managers. In total over 250 managers attended the one-week program.

A 2-day course was designed to cover the identified topic areas and In order to maximise the effectiveness of the classroom time, e-learning was provided to be completed prior to attendance – a blended learning approach. Further programs were run in 2015 and 2016 with the addition of a short ‘Learning Conversation’ session run in 2015 for some 40 participants. This assignment is ongoing.

A half day course, based on that run for Leadership Victoria, was run for the senior management team which covered the basic financial statements and some fundamental accounting principles. We were subsequently approached to provide one on one coaching for the CEO to assist her on a monthly basis to understand her financial reports and review these prior to Board meetings. 

A 2 day course was designed to cover the identified topic areas and incorporating the Bonanza approach. The program needed to be adapted to align with UAE reporting requirements and focus on the specific needs of this specialist business. After the initial course follow up coaching was provided via Skype to individuals. The program was repeated in 2017 for new staff and was highly effective in facilitation of communications between their internal finance team and the ICT area during their ERP design and implementation.

We ran a one-day workshop looking at commercial thinking and awareness – what it meant and how they could improve their reports. Actions were agreed as a result of the workshop and 2 further sessions were run at 2-3 months intervals to review progress and agree further areas for improvement.

We provided a template for documenting each module, engaged with the various Subject Matter Experts, and developed materials as well as delivering a number of the modules. The program was repeated the following year with the modules extended to 9 and we were engaged to provide coaching support for their project work plus run an additional module on presentation skills.

We reviewed the materials and made a number of suggestions for improvements, as well as providing more explanatory content to the course notes, the visuals and in the facilitator’s guide. This assignment was performed remotely.

We met with various Subject Matter Experts and created Facilitators’ Guides, Course notes and PowerPoint s for each Module. The design for each module ensured that the sessions were very interactive and were not just presentations. After the materials had been signed off, we than ran Train the Trainers sessions for the Business managers who had been selected to run the sessions. The difference between facilitation and presentation was emphasised and as part of the Train the Trainers, each Business Manager was required to present part of the material. Feedback from the courses once delivered was very positive.

Working with BONANZA who have a worldwide agreement with this client, we have been involved in the delivery of a 2 day course run in Silicon Valley, California since 2015 joining 6 other facilitators to roll out training for 140 – 160 participants twice a year. We have also been involved in the delivery of Virtual Sessions on Financial Acumen which are ongoing. In 2012 we also delivered a 2-day program in Sydney for their inside sales team using the Bonanza approach. Watch a video testimonial here.

Our approach involved blended learning with an on line eLearning module covering the basics as pre-course plus a one-day program covering reading financial statements, capital project appraisal techniques and financial risk assessments. Additional sessions were requested by the Department as a result of the program’s success.

We developed a business case template and a one-day program. This course was initially offered as a public course through another conference provider and has since been run in house for the sourcing department of one of the Big 4 Accounting firms, an international hotel group as part of their Commercial Acumen program and for a Research Institute.

We developed materials to support participants in identifying their financial goals, understanding how to assess their current financial situation and then put a budget together. The comprehensive materials which we created include guides to the various apps available as well as ideas for both increasing income and cutting costs. Our approach was designed to be interactive and practical whilst respecting each participant’s privacy around what maybe a very sensitive topic.