Our programs

OUR PROGRAMS

Below is a list of the public development programs we currently run in Brisbane Australia. Several of these programs are also delivered in other Australian states. Progams have also been conducted in Asia. Click on the name of each program to see an extended description. A program outline with learning outcomes can be sent to you. The duration for some programs can be negotiated and tailored for inhouse delivery. Please contact us for a quote to deliver an inhouse program for your organisation. Dates and times for programs may vary. See our events page for a schedule of current programs.

Public Programs 2020
Human Ingredient Workshop Program 2020

Human Ingredient workshops are designed to be engaging and enlightening. They combine awareness, understanding and skill development though a combination of experiential and reflective processes and using best practice concepts, models and frameworks for learning.

Bernadette Rutyna and Chris Patty design and facilitate the workshops. The venues are generally close to Brisbane for ease of access as well as providing a productive environment for learning. Most recently Walkabout Creek conference centre, 60 Mt Nebo Road The Gap, has provided an ideal conference centre in a bushland setting.

The fee for each of the 2-day public Brisbane workshops is $680 per participant ($AUD,GST included) and $400 for each of the one day workshops. Attractive early bird rates are also offered. Group discounts may also be available when two or more participants from one organisation enrol.

In-house workshops based on these or other topics can be designed and facilitated to meet your organisation’s specific needs.

1. When Good Groups Turn Bad – (2 days, August 6-7, 2020)

When groups are in turmoil, effective group functioning requires competent facilitation.
Group leadership at these times involves a number of roles that we are frequently required to perform in the moment to moment interactions of group life….but how effective are we as facilitators? Is the experience working well for our participants or for us at these times?

This two day program is directly aimed at enhancing your personal style, developing your existing skills and improving your effectiveness with the groups you facilitate, or are involved in, especially in difficult situations.

2. Leading in Uncertain Times – ( 2 days, May 21-22, 2020)
To lead effectively, particularly as our world and organizational environments become increasingly disruptive, requires an understanding of the processes, tools, techniques and capabilities needed to manage the people-side of change, in order to achieve the required outcomes. To realize the change effectively, the individual change agent, the inner team, and the wider system must be focused and engaged in the change efforts.
How (and whether at all) can change be “managed” or facilitated? In the workplace, change takes place on three levels – the self, the team or the (small) organization and the wider system that surrounds the team or the small organization /unit – depending on how you define the system borders. Leading change requires learning needs to be facilitated on all three levels for the change to become sustainable. This two day workshop will help you work more effectively at all three levels

3. Strategies and tools for leading and managing change – ( 2 days, September 10-11, 2020)

This is a companion workshop to the ‘Leading in uncertain times’ workshop. It can be attended as a stand alone workshop, but best value is achieved if both workshops are attended. In this two day workshop the focus is on building participants practical strategies to engage with their specific situation.

A comprehensive tool kit which includes descriptions and instructions for how to facilitate and run specific processes will be provided. Participants will be introduced to a range of change tools which cover the spectrum of potential intervention points from entry & contracting, through diagnosis, implementation and review. The tools cover specific topics in these areas including relationship building, gathering and making sense of data, collaborative planning tools, goal setting and visioning, culture and change diagnostics, etc.

Participants can expect to be involved in delivering short sessions with the other workshop participants and there will be opportunity for feedback on the use of the tools and the participants’ individual application at work.

4. Facilitation Fundamentals – ( 1 day, June 4, 2020)

This workshop is aimed at people who wish to improve their skills at facilitating group gatherings – discussions, decision making, problem solving, planning and other activities. It is for people who work with others in group environments in organisations, community and other life settings. You may be moving into a role where facilitation of either small or large groups is increasingly likely to be required.

The workshop is designed to help you build your awareness of what you currently know and can apply. It will build on your current approach to working in group settings. You will be introduced to some easy to apply techniques and processes that you can take away and use immediately with the groups you facilitate. Some of these techniques include: how to begin groups, facilitator listening skills, how to build cohesion and simple group agreements, robust process for decision making and problem solving. Facilitation skills are also life skills. Enhancing these skills can greatly benefit other areas of your work.

The workshop is offered as either a one day shorter version or two day ‘extend your practice’ as outlined below

5. Facilitation Fundamentals – extend your practice ( 1 day, June 5, 2020)

In this extended practice one day workshop, you’ll be using and applying in-situ with other workshop participants, a number of the techniques provided in the Facilitation Fundamentals workshop. There’s also the opportunity to case study your own workplace context and use the experiences of the other workshop participants to experiment and learn different approaches to address your problems and dilemmas.

The workshop will also provide an opportunity for you to get feedback on your approach as you experiment with new learning. You’ll also build your confidence and competence in a safe learning environment. Some additional focus areas for facilitation include how to balance different priorities in a group ; encouraging expression and converging on purpose, channelling energy and keeping things productive, individual autonomy and collective agreement, reaching closure.

6. Advanced Facilitation Skills – ( 2 days)

This is a workshop for people who have worked as a manager or team leader using a facilitative style, who may have several months experience as a facilitator or consultant, or who have already completed the ‘Facilitation Fundamentals’ workshop or similar introduction programs.

People who have limited prior experience of facilitation may find the ‘Facilitation Fundamentals’ workshop more appropriate to their needs.

The workshop will focus on the skills, processes and techniques which advanced facilitation requires, generally because of the more complex nature of the context in which the facilitation occurs. The focus of the workshop will be developed in part through negotiation with participants, but is likely to include the following, or other facilitation topics; designing, observing and diagnosing group process; goal setting, climate setting, relationship building, problem solving or decision making when rational processes won’t work, facilitating meetings for problem-solving and decision-making, change processes using experiential and participative methods, intervening in difficult situations.

As with the ‘extend your practice workshop, this two day workshop will also provide an opportunity for you to get feedback on your approach as you experiment with new learning

7. Coaching skills for managers – ( 2 days, April 6-7, 2020)

Managers with well-developed coaching skills are able to empower their teams towards specific goals. They do this through building an environment which enables mutual exploration of problems and dilemmas that team members encounter. They can ask the right questions, provide guidance, and keep their team encouraged and driven to achieve. Coaching for managers begins with a two-way open channel, with both parties willing to listen closely to one another. This is critical, as without it coaching can’t proceed.

In this two day workshop, you will learn what coaching is, why it’s needed and how it’s different to the other roles expected of managers – planning, organising, controlling, mentoring, leading, and training. You’ll be able to articulate what’s important to you as a manager, reflect on and learn how to adjust your coaching approach and thinking in order to be more effective with staff. You’ll be introduced to a coaching model and specific coaching tools you can use to develop better thinkers and improve performance. This is a hands on workshop providing practical skilling in honing your coaching communication process.

8. Influence and persuasion with integrity – ( 1 day, July 10, 2020)

Influence and persuasion are key leadership skills. As decision making increasingly relies on non hierarchical command and control processes, influence and persuasion take on even greater importance for leaders and managers in making requests and sustaining productivity and performance. Most managers agree that building their influence skills will positively assist behaviour change. They also express concern about not straying into the territory of manipulation.

In this one day workshop you’ll explore your own and others well developed influence strategies as well as understand, practice and apply the 6 basic tendencies as researched by Robert Cialdini PhD, that come into play in generating a positive response : reciprocation, consistency, social validation, liking, authority and scarcity. As these six tendencies help to govern our business dealings, our societal involvements and our personal relationships, knowledge of the rules of persuasion can truly be thought of as empowerment.

9. Influence and political skills – ( 2 days, October 8-9, 2020)

This two day workshop extends the processes and application of ‘Influence and persuasion with integrity’. It is aimed at people in senior management roles who need to take into account strategic and at times conflicting priorities as they work to influence both those above and below them to bring about productive outcomes for owners, sponsors, stakeholders and community.

The workshop will also draw on the findings of a number of complexity theorists in order to understand and develop strategies to address both covert and overt political dynamics operating in the participant’s immediate environment. Participants will work individually and as a group to explore and map their organisations against a number of complexity criteria in order to: build a more comprehensive picture of where to leverage their influence, make use of key people and resources, understand motivations and defensiveness, structure interventions which challenge assumptions, build relationships and build shared meaning.

10. Building capacity and sustaining high performance in teams – ( 2 days, Nov 12-13, 2020)

The work of teams – real teams that perform, has never been more important nor so widely misunderstood. The difference between teams that perform and other groups that don’t is what supervisors, managers and executives need to attend to.

What exactly makes a good team tick? There are no guaranteed recipes for building team performance. There are however a number of best practice approaches developed by experienced professionals and managers in the field, which many successful teams follow.

The approach in this two day workshop will help demystify the journey to being a high performing team and at the same time provide a pragmatic road map. The map provides guidance for the common focus areas of all teams – identity, direction, effectiveness and support and recognition. It includes answering common questions in these areas for all teams including: Who are they as a team? Where are they now and where are they going? How will they get there? What’s expected of them? How will they measure their effectiveness? What supports are needed and how are we recognized for our achievements?

Human Ingredient Leadership
This is our flagship program. It is designed to meet the needs of innovative senior executives and highly charged senior managers. It is delivered as both a public program or in-house within a business or organisation. Due to the intensive nature of the learning on these programs numbers are limited to 16 participants per program. The program is delivered in 3 stages over a total 9 days. Maximum benefit is obtained when the program is run as a residential. Participants can expect to engage in a highly participative program of activities, which develop intra personal, interpersonal and organisational skills. The program is based on state of the art and best practice thinking about leadership, which will challenge participants’ cognitive, conceptual and emotional intelligences. The application of learning in the workplace is a focus of this program. Follow up and between stage activities are part of the program of events. A 5-day version for middle managers and future leaders is also available.
Developing facilitation skills
Effective group functioning requires competent facilitation. Group leadership involves a number of roles that we are frequently required to perform…. but how effective are we? Is the experience enjoyable and uplifting for our team and us?

There is increasing accountability and responsibility being placed on our valued leaders for group outcomes, be they work groups, community groups, or peer and social groups.Facilitation skills are also life skills. Enhancing these skills can greatly benefit other areas of your work. This program is directly aimed at enhancing your personal style, developing your existing skills and improving your effectiveness with the groups you facilitate, or are involved in. Enrol in this program if you want to:
Large Group Facilitation
The purpose of this workshop is to assist people who work with large groups to develop robust approaches to dealing with large audiences. Often a strategic community issue or an issue that affects large parts of a business or organisation requires a large group of affected stakeholders to be present. This is needed to build a cohesive understanding of the issue, develop a sense of ownership and commitment, as well as coordinate what needs to happen next. This workshop will enable participants to practice using large group facilitation techniques including elements of open space technologies™, participative data collection processes, sociodrama, world cafe, affinity processes, directed communication techniques, large group warm-up techniques, multi-interest group designs and energy management. These techniques will also be explored in relation to their use over dispersed networks and the internet.
Coaching for Success
This program will enable supervisors and managers to better understand and manage the coaching process. It provides an introduction to a well proven approach to workplace coaching utilising needs analysis, career achievement planning and review processes, multi-rater assessments, goal setting and role training. Participants will practice feedback processes and systems analysis techniques to better understand the needs of individuals engaging in coaching. They will also build their skills in appropriately challenging and supporting the people they coach. Coaching for specific applications will also be explored as well as ways of managing conflict in the coaching process
Managing Difficult People
This issue is one of the major contributors to workplace stress and dissatisfaction. This 2 day workshop provides an easy to follow formula for dealing with all types of difficult people. Practical skill development is a large part of the program. Participants will also explore the theory and skills of giving & receiving feedback, to the boss, co-workers, subordinates and family. Each participant will receive a complimentary copy of our “Guidebook to communicating with the tough ones”
Conflict Negotiation and Mediation
Leaders in today’s workplace are increasingly expected to act as arbitrators and councillors in situations of workplace conflict. This program addresses the multiple causes and effects of conflict in the workplace and offers participants practical techniques for effectively managing the issues. the areas of conflict management, negotiation and mediation share some foundational skill building blocks. In this workshop participants will practice using principled negotiation techniques, tools developed by the conflict resolution network as well as a collaborative framework for 3rd party mediation.
Understanding Me and Them
Find out more about “how you tick” and how others perceive you. This workshop also provides insights into why “other people are different”. The program uses the Myers Briggs Type Index (MBTI) as well as several other personal type models to encourage participants to experience the world of others. This workshop is recommended to people who wish to foster an ongoing inquiry into the way diversity works. The workshop is highly experiential with numerous activities for participants to raise their self awareness. It is also recommended to those who rely on communicating with others to survive!
Strategic and Future Scenario Development
The approach for this workshop is to utilise narrative approaches, story, imagery and metaphor within a business framework for strategic development which will assist organisations and businesses to scope potential futures. Elements of scenario development as used by Royal Dutch Shell, the VISION process for futuring, complexity approaches from Snowden and the future search process as developed by Emery and Trist will be explored. Forecasting models and traditional market analysis approaches will also be discussed. Participants can expect to examine the use, benefits and applications of these processes within the context of their own organisation. Follow up work including developing shared understanding of potential futures within organisations will also be discussed.
Managing Through Transitions
This is a 2-day intensive program focusing on implementation issues in planned change within organisations. Participants will explore a number of models of change which examine the cultural, organisational and personal dimensions of change. Practical tools for diagnosing change readiness, developing ownership of the change, recognising stages of acceptance of change, participative planning approaches, setting and communicating appropriate change goals and success criteria will be examined and modeled during the workshop. Participants can expect to examine their own organisation along the dimensions for change outlined during the workshop. The take home value from this workshop includes a transition plan for their own organisation which participants work through during the 2 days and which can be applied immediately upon returning to work.
Spontaneity and Team Leadership
Organisations have been very good at developing structures and frames to contain teams. But teams are now being asked to do more than respond to directives and beat others. Businesses want their teams to show initiative and work cooperatively. To use Prof. David Limerick’s words we’ve moved from competitive teams to “collaborative individuals” – a more flexible and responsive approach to our changing environment. Building spontaneity means that team leaders will have a broader role repertoire to respond to their teams’ increasing needs for autonomy and accountability. In this workshop team leaders will learn practical tools for building the creative and innovative human capital in their teams as well as their own capacities for being flexible, adaptive and responsive leaders.
How to Develop a Learning Organisation
This is a practical hands on 2 day workshop designed to assist businesses and organisations who wish to embrace Learning Organisation principles. Much is written about these principles and case studies about their introduction into businesses. However implementation of a program of events or interventions within organisations is less well understood. The workshop uses the framework of Senge’s 5 disciplines. The approach is to outline and model a range of tools for their practical implementation in any workplace. This workshop is particularly useful for practitioners and change agents internal and external to organisations. CEOs wishing to know more about the implications of Learning Organisation principles for their business should also attend.
Customer Service for Frontline Staff
Customer service is not something people do. Its something people live. Most businesses recognise the impact of poor customer service. But how do they turn around falling performance beyond exhorting staff to simply do more or do better? This workshop outlines ways to assist and empower staff to understand and measure customer needs and satisfaction as well as develop tangible change strategies for better dealing with customers. Tangible ways of rewarding and recognising staff are also explored along with ways of marketing customer service internally.
Marketing for Managers
Products and services are improving to the stage where often little physical differences can be detected between brands or groups. So what makes the difference? Marketing! And it’s becoming more critical to the success of businesses, both small and large. It takes skilful marketing to find meaningful differences and to communicate those differences to existing and potential customers in ways that make them care and want to do business with you. The issue for most marketing workshops and programs is that they speak a language that commoners can’t understand! It doesn’t have to be that way. This program is about the fundamentals of marketing using a down to earth approach that people in businesses can use and understand. It starts at the beginning and plots the way through the marketing process using tried and tested approaches from real businesses. It means that marketing techniques and resources can be applied throughout a business and not just confined to the sales and marketing department. Great for multi skilling and better resource utilisation. It also helps managers in particular understand just what marketers actually do.
Commercial Reality in Public Sector
This is an introductory program aimed at public sector organisations and authorities that are developing a commercial focus within their organisation. The workshop examines the issues, benefits, opportunities, challenges, constraints and pitfalls along the commercial path. A number of approaches to developing commercial cultures, structures and support mechanisms are explored. Follow up activities for organisations wishing to pursue the commercial agenda are discussed.
Meetings, Meetings, Meetings
Most supervisors and managers in today’s organisations accept that meetings are a necessary part of doing business. They are often the formal and informal oil that lubricates the wheels of business. But how effective are they? Do they really have the desired impact? Maximising the use of meetings and the skills required to run effective meetings is the focus for this workshop. Participants will learn skills to better manage traffic within a meeting, plan for outcomes, learn how to put together an agenda, which is appropriate for the occasion, ensure outcomes are met, and build commitments to agreements
Stress at Work
We read about it and hear about it every day. The number of reported incidents of work related stress appears to be rising. There’s no denying… Workplace stress can be extremely debilitating for the individual, their family the business and other stakeholders. This workshop explores the factors and influences contributing to workplace stress. A model for how stress related incidents can be managed is proposed along with practical strategies for addressing worker distress. These include organisational, structural, and individual strategies.
Balancing the Scorecard
The balanced scorecard is a management system (not only a measurement system) that enables organizations to clarify their vision and strategy and translate them into action. It provides feedback around both the internal business processes and external outcomes in order to continuously improve strategic performance and results. When fully deployed, the balanced scorecard transforms strategic planning from an academic exercise into the nerve centre of an enterprise. This workshop will introduce you to the background, theory and uses for the balanced scorecard in your organisation. At the completion of this workshop you will take away a set of balanced scorecard tools and activities to implement a performance management system in your work that will integrate with your existing individual, team and organisational performance processes
Speed Reading
Ever get to the end of reading something and remember nothing of what you have just read? This experiential workshop will introduce you to a simple yet highly effective methodology for reading faster and yet understand more! Regardless of whether you are a parent wishing to help yourself or your children to learn, or a student, manager or executive, this method can be used by all.The workshop is delivered in 3 x 3 hour weekly sessions with refreshments provided.
Mastering Mindmapping
This remarkable note taking, time-management, organising & work planning tool is rapidly becoming an international preference in the effective leader’s toolbox. Participants will also gain an understanding of how their memory works, and the benefits of a new approach to learning. This course is designed to give participants practical skills and insights into how time, labouring over the in-basket or study material can be drastically reduced.

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