Topics include: the conceptual basis of empowerment; situational leadership; interpersonal leadership and developing self-motivated employees; leading vs. managing; fatal errors that managers make; opening up information channels; the dynamics of delegation; effective conflict management and resolution; creativity and problem solving skills; effective meeting management.

Front-Line Supervision

This program is adapted from the "Leadership and Development of the Empowered Employee" training and is geared towards the special needs of the front-line supervisor.

Empowerment: The Practical "How-to's" of Implementation

This program focuses specifically on the concrete implementation of the concepts of empowerment, and provides practical how-to's and basic formulas. Topics include: the art of delegation; opening up information channels; results-oriented meetings; how to model empowerment; minimizing fears associated with change; and, understanding your role as a facilitator in the empowerment process.

Teambuilding: The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of its Parts

Topics include: the conceptual basis of teambuilding and group dynamics; team roles and responsibilities; developing the effective team mix; identifying primary leadership styles; leading vs. managing; the dynamics of delegation; negotiating styles; managing competition, cooperation and conflict; fatal errors that team leaders make; managing the "unmanageable" team player.

Managing Change Into the 21st Century

This program provides concrete and immediately-useable strategies for managing change in oneself and others at any level of the organization. It allows individuals, managers and/or team members to develop skills to deal with current, real-life organizational changes. Topics include: the change/growth model; change from the manager's and employee's perspective; the single most difficult aspect of dealing with change; managing different reactions to change; maintaining morale during transitions; and strategies for moving quickly through the three basic phases of the change process.

The Innovative Employee: Models and Strategies for Practical Creativity

This fast-paced program allows individuals and/or teams to get out of "mental ruts," and develop their creative problem-solving skills while working on an actual business challenge. Participants will walk away with a five-part problem-solving model, as well as a set of creativity tools which can be applied to future challenges. Topics include: getting out of mental ruts; determining your creative style; the five-phases of the creative process; using the technology of mind-mapping; overcoming Creativity Busters in your environment; fostering team innovation and creativity; selling your ideas.

The Opinion Survey: Gauging the Temperature of Your Organization

This organizational development process includes a unique qualitative process of gathering data about your organization or group, and a highly effective format for feedback and ongoing leadership development.

The Leadership Image Study: Turning Managers into Leaders

This leadership development process is a uniquely effective combination of qualitative data, test administration and one-on-one feedback and consultation. This process has proven highly effective for mid-to-upper level managers seeking to improve or further develop their leadership skills.

Outdoor Adventures: The Experiential Approach to Teambuilding

In conjunction with one of the country's leading outdoor centers, Rice & Associates offers a day-long outdoor adventure focused on leadership development and team building. A blend of instruction, activity and discussion empowers both individuals and teams.

The MBTI: Assessment and Teambuilding, Levels I and II

Topics include: test feedback; analysis of your team based on learning styles, work styles and personality types; analysis of team roles; developing an effective team mix; conflict management and resolution based on Myers-Briggs types; temperament analysis and management styles; FIRO-B test assessment and feedback.

Precision Communication Dynamics ™

Precision Sales Dynamics™

Precision Customer Service Dynamics™

Topics include: effective influencing skills; sales dynamics; presentation skills; conversational styles; rapport-building; conflict management and resolution skills; negotiating styles; effective meeting management.

Conflict Resolution: Managing the Process

Topics include: what is difficult behavior? a three-part formula for delivering feedback; specific coping strategies for problem behaviors; the six-step formula for difficult interviews; coping with problem behaviors in meetings; the interplay of leadership styles and difficult behaviors.

Consultative Skills/Selling

In today's economy, providing superior service is no longer optional - it is a survival skill. Organizations face stiffer competition, more knowledgeable customers, and tougher market conditions. The sales relationship is no longer a mere "number's game" but rather an "accuracy game", where building relationships and value are critical to the organization's success.

Formulating and maintaining an exceptional image of service is integral to sustaining the internal/external customer relationship. Participants gain concrete step-by-step skills on the consultative skills/sales process.

Topics include: What is "consultative skills/sales", behaviors that promote long-term customer relationships, identifying the true needs of each individual customer, managing perceptions and adapting to customer type, handling objections, matching communication styles, building and maintaining customer trust, recognizing and dealing with customer's real needs, verbal and non-verbal communication skills, identifying the main causes of interpersonal communications breakdown, how to listen the customer into buying, developing clear and mutually acceptable outcomes, elements of short and long-term rapport, managing disagreement and differences in the consultative relationship, negotiating styles analysis, dealing with difficult customer behaviors and the dynamics of risk taking: the "when" and "how".

The Art and Science of Negotiation

Topics include: the conceptual basis of negotiations; determining negotiating styles; effective influencing skills; conflict management and resolution; collaborative problem-solving: arriving at win/win solutions.

Results-Oriented Meetings: Structure and Process

This program is built around an innovative technology for running meetings which has reduced meeting time up to 50%. Topics include: mind-setting and outcomes; negotiating styles; the benefits of time constraints; encouraging and managing creative conflict; finding win/win solutions; dealing with problem behaviors; goal-setting and accountability.

Writing Your Way to Power in the Workplace

This program helps employees and managers become comfortable as they write memos, reports, proposals and letters that get results. You will learn: to "feed" your boss by communicating ideas that make both of you look good; to combat writer's block with creativity exercises; to edit your own writing; to write persuasively; to deal with procrastination and make deadlines; to participate effectively in group writing projects.

Managing Stress With Ease

This program allows participants to develop individualized strategies for coping with change-related stress. Topics include: understanding the change model; internal and external causes of stress; determining favored coping styles; values and stress; developing varied skills to manage stress in the workplace.

Process Improvement: Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, Statistical Process Control and Problem Solving

Lean Manufacturing is currently one of the leading process improvement methodologies worldwide. In an increasingly competitive global market, its customer and process based focus on reducing non-value added activities allows companies to provide superior quality products and services in a timelier manner with lower costs. The creative input of all employees is emphasized to improve workflow, productivity, efficiency, and workplace organization while reducing inventory and interruptions.

This one-day class gives students an overall view of the Six Sigma DMAIC/L process improvement methodology. The history, concepts, and vocabulary of Six Sigma are presented in an easy to understand manner to allow students to "Talk the Talk" of the Six Sigma world. The DMAIC/L tools and methods are then taught in a hands-on manner to begin to "Walk the Talk" using students' examples for implementation of a Six Sigma project

Certified Six Sigma Green Belt (CSSGB) professionals are very much in demand in manufacturing and service industries. This course is a blend of 20 hours of on-line training and 24 hours of classroom instruction spread out over 10 - 14 weeks. A Six Sigma project with appropriate reporting is required to demonstrate the DMAIC/L methodology acquired from the course. Additional Green Belt certification requirements include passing all on-line modules' post-tests and a final exam.

This 2-day course combines the power of the two leading process improvement methodologies - Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma. Lean Six Sigma's customer and process focus leads to improved quality and on-time service while cutting costs through waste and variation reduction. There is a heavy emphasis on Value Stream Mapping to determine a company's current and future state. Once you know where a process is and where you would like to be, a detailed plan can be developed to achieve the future state using the Lean Six Sigma tools. A factory simulation is used to apply the Lean Six Sigma tools learned in class to transform a non-Lean operation to a Lean one.

The implementation of Lean Six Sigma in a traditional management setting often times results in limited success that is not sustainable over time; this leads companies to declare that "Lean Six Sigma doesn't work here". What's needed is a new Lean Six Sigma management system to take full advantage of the powerful Lean Six Sigma tools and create a culture for continuous improvement. This course covers the different approaches for implementing Lean Six Sigma along with a "day-to-day" management system that will extend and sustain the considerable benefits of Lean Six Sigma. An overview of the Lean Six Sigma tools is also included.

This course teaches basic statistical process control (SPC) using real world data. Tools and methods are taught in a hands-on manner, first using manual calculations and then expanding to excel and other software applications. Students will be taught the importance of correctly applying SPC for meaningful understanding of processes in order to make better decisions with proper data.

Successful Hiring Practices: Finding the Right Person for the Job

Hiring mistakes can cost your organization thousands of dollars in advertising, lost productivity, training, and settling claims and complaints. In this workshop, participants will learn the skills necessary to make effective hiring decisions. You will learn to: analyze positions to determine needed skills; screen resumes without screening out good candidates; design and frame interview questions; comply with EEO requirements; get useful and pertinent information from interviews; know when to use subjective versus objective criteria; and, use references to verify facts.

Consulting: Coaching, Facilitation and Mediation

Train the Trainer Programs: All programs listed above are available in a "Train-the-Trainer" format