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Customer Service Excellence Training

Your Top 5 Skills for Call Centre Success

Written by webplanners on . Posted in Corporate Training Courses, Customer Service Training.

Your Top 5 Skills for Call Centre Success

Brought to you by: Rosy King @ Corporate Training Options

Call Centre Success

 

Would you like Instant Success for your Call Centre Team?

In every organisation, customer service and customer satisfaction are top priorities.  Why?

61% of customers say they have stopped transacting with a business after a poor service experience.

Microsoft – State of Global Customer Service Report

 

Whilst many organisations are progressively shifting to a more digital experience with their customers, call centres still remain at the core of many customer interactions – and at times, at the core of customer frustrations and complaints.

Therefore, offering a seamless, personalised and ‘human’ experience over the phone, can delight our customers and turn them into advocates.  

Highly skilled, professional call centre teams represent a great opportunity for organisations to gain a competitive advantage.  This is a fact Australian call centres are hearing loud and clear.

73% of Australian Call Centres are striving to improve their customer experience.

The 2018 Australian Contact Centre Industry Report

 

Call Centre Success

You will meet all kinds of customers in your Call Centre.

As part of a call centre team you will encounter customers of all kinds.  Some are incredibly patient and understanding, others are unsure about what they need, and then others are incredibly frustrated with your organisation, your product or both.

Many of the different customers and scenarios you encounter can be tough to navigate, but with the essential skills for call centre success in place, you and your team will know exactly what to do­.

With these skills come instant benefits.  You’ll enjoy shorter call times, better outcomes and greater satisfaction for you, your customers and your organisation.

 

We need to help solve our customer’s issues and ensure they’re happy with the outcome of their call.

 

Here are my Top 5 Skills for Call Centre Success

Happy Call Centre Staff

 

Clarify the complaint

In the heat of the moment, a client may not communicate efficiently. Or, you might simply misunderstand them.

This can lead to both frustration and time lost when it comes to solving the issue. Start each call by listening carefully, then repeat the complaint back to the customer to ensure you are both on the same page.

 

Lead with empathy

Remind your client that you’re there to help them; that you are someone in the organisation who is on their side. This reassures them that they will be taken care of and can bring a sense of peace to a tense situation.

 

Beginner? Don’t tell them.

New team members can be tempted to fall back on “I’m new on the job.”  However, this can frustrate a client and can diminish your knowledge in their eyes. If you don’t know the answer, it’s okay to let them know you will need to ask for help. But keep your experience level to yourself.

 

Skills for Call Centre Success

Speak naturally

Customers want to feel like they’re talking to a real person, not someone just following a script.  Maintain your relaxed and natural tone so that your customers feel like they are simply talking to a friend. Your conversations will flow much easier, and your customers are more likely to remain reasonable.

 

When in doubt, ask!

It would be ideal if you could just read your customers minds when they called, and understand exactly what the issue was.  But sometimes, that’s not going to be the case.  If you are confused about your customer’s request, or if you think you might have missed a piece of information, simply ask your customer.  They will appreciate that you have taken the time to clarify all the details of their issue.  It’s important for you to ensure all the information is correct.

 

 

The Benefits of updating your Call Centre Skills

Providing reliable, consistent, professional experiences for your customers is a critical component to the success of your Call Centre.  When you train your call centre team in these five skills, and they begin to use them in their daily customer interactions, you will see immediate benefits.   Your team will enjoy:

  • shorter call times
  • better outcomes
  • greater satisfaction for your customers
  • happier & more relaxed team members
  • higher customer retention rates

 

And that’s a win/win for everyone.

 

 

 

Want to know more about improving the skills of your Call Centre team?

CTO’s  Call Centre Success  training course provides you with the critical success training required to ensure your Call Centre team are delighting your customers.

Your team will learn about:

  • Their Valuable Roles
  • Why First Impressions count
  • The Six Elements of Professionalism
  • Managing Customer Calls
  • Knowing your Products and Services
  • Being a Team Player
  • Remaining Customer Focused
  • Taking Responsibility
  • Ten Essential Communication Skills
  • And much more!

 

After completing your Call Centre Success course, your organisation and your team will see improvements in …

  • All-round customer service
  • Staff and team loyalty
  • Business perception
  • Cost savings, sales & profits
  • Staff and team productivity
  • Team problem-solving
  • Team knowledge of products and services
  • And so much more …

 

 

If you’re ready to upgrade your Call Centre skills, or you wish to tackle some new challenges, contact Corporate Training Options today for friendly, professional advice.

We’ll discuss your specific needs, and tailor a training program to suit your requirements.

 

Corporate Training Options

 

 

 

 

 

The importance of Manaing Change

Five Tips For Successful Change Management

Written by webplanners on . Posted in Corporate Training Courses, Management & Leadership Training.

Five Tips for Successful Change Management

Brought to you by Rosy King @ Corporate Training Options

 

The importance of Manaing Change

 

In today’s environment of rapidly changing technology, constant disruption, globalisation, connectivity and of course Covid-19, organisations are altering dramatically.  New businesses and new industries are emerging, and success relies on being able to adapt quickly. This places demands on leaders across all industry sectors.

Change in the midst of a crisis is never easy—especially one like Coronavirus, which hits as hard at global markets as it does at life around our kitchen tables.

You can use the strategies covered in the CTO Change Management Course to respond effectively and to continue to deliver against your business goals.

 

So what are the steps that lead to Successful Change Management?

Teams working together to achieve change
Successful Change Management for your organisation is based on open communication, management and team collaboration, and commitment from everyone to the change process.

If you’ve ever led your team or company through an organisational change, you know change management is not easy.  It’s not easy for existing managers, existing team members or for any new people who may have joined the organisation as part of the change.

 

You need to focus your efforts

Leading your team through an organisational transition successfully means knowing where to focus your efforts and resources. There can be a lot of guesswork, lost time, lost productivity and frustration for everyone involved.

One of the challenges is understanding that approximately 50% – 70% of organisational change projects fail to achieve their objectives.

Why?  For any number of reasons.  In some cases, mid-level managers and employees are excluded from the planning process. So they do not understand why the changes within the organisation are happening and therefore have no idea of how the process will take place.

Then they are told how it is and are expected to make several transitions at once, usually in a short time.  This can bring resentment from those staff excluded from the planning and implementation process.

 

With any organisational change, there will be loss, denial and resistance.

Organisational change for your teamResistance to change can come from employees, managers and supervisors, senior management, even suppliers, for any number of reasons.

It’s not necessarily a case of people not liking change in their workplace.  It’s more a matter of how the organisational change is planned, communicated, delivered and executed.

Most of us understand that effective leadership and the ability to adapt is crucial to ongoing employment, increased market-share and business success.

However, having a new employer or supervisor, or changing the way specific processes are done, will engender resistance.  And telling your team to undertake a task in a totally new way, without asking for their input, may well breed resentment within your organisation.

 

That said, here are …

Five Tips To Successful Change Management

 

  1. Managing change – It all begins at the top

Yes, it’s crucial to involve your team members at every stage of your organisational change. However, before that can happen, you need to ensure your management team are in sync and committed to a successful outcome. Doing this will set the stage for engaging and leading the change in your organisation from the top down.

 

  1. Resistance to Change & Preparing for change fatigue

With organisational change comes uncertainty, which means your team’s cosy comfort zone is about to become uncomfortable.  Part of organisational change means we’ll also be changing our employee’s lives.

You cannot introduce change without including your people in the process.  The best way to instil change is to do it with them.  Tasks and issues such as proposing new systems, introducing new supervisors or managers, and scheduling additional training, usually accompany an organisational change.  And that’s a lot for your existing team to take on board.

For successful change management, you need to take into account:

  • How the changes will affect your team
  • Where to focus your efforts
  • The pace at which the change will happen
  • Understand the five phases of planning for organisational change

 

  1. Understanding Change – Collaboration, Communication and Commitment

Communicate changes with your teamMany of the leaders who have completed our Leading Change Management course have believed that  meeting with their team once, to share why change is happening, will make everything clear.  Then it’s full steam ahead!

It’s a common mistake and a BIG part of why many change management programs fail.

To experience successful organisational change, you need to encourage collaboration and commitment from the top of your organisation to the bottom.  And you need to communicate, communicate, communicate !

Organisational changes made within your ranks need to be consistent and regular (daily or weekly to start with), with input and updates from everyone involved.

 

  1. Leading Change – Lead from the front and create new behaviours

When an organisation and its people undergo organisational change, old habits have to make way for the new, and that’s not easy.

As a leader, you must lead from the front and create new behaviours that employees will see, model and follow.

Some ways you can achieve this include :

  • Meeting with your team before and throughout the change
  • Keeping them motivated and involved in your organisational changes
  • Listening, and creating a vision together, so as a group, you have a vested interest in a successful organisational transition

 

Only by leading change from the top will your team grasp that the organisational change is happening, and needs to be accepted, because they are seeing you driving it.

 

  1. Develop a Change Management Action Success Plan

Build Change Management Plans with CTO TrainingIt may seem obvious, but many organisational changes fail because they’re introduced and executed on an adhoc basis.

Let’s compare leading your management and team through an organisational change, to building a house.  You don’t start with the roof.  You start with the plan and design, then you build the foundations.  After that, you work your way systematically through the building plan, until the project is completed.

Creating a change management action plan for your organisation is essential if you want the transition to be executed successfully and profitably.  You need positive support and contributions from senior management filtered down all the way to your team on the ground.

 

In Summary – Successful Change Management can be achieved

You can achieve a successful change management project, with planning.  Failing to plan the structure of your organisational change could otherwise result in your change program being in the 50% – 70% that fail.

There are certain outcomes each individual in your team must achieve for change to be successful. A Change Management Plan, when followed successfully, allows leaders and change management teams to focus their activities on what will drive individual change, and therefore achieve organisational results.

You need a change management plan which provides clear goals and outcomes for change management activities.  It should also provide a simple, easy-to-use framework for everyone in the organisation to begin to implement change.  Teams, managers and senior leaders alike can then all describe, discuss and achieve the desired changes together.

 

 

Want to learn more about Planning for Successful Change Management ?  

We have a training course available for you, which will achieve a number of learning outcomes.  These outcomes include:

  • Exploring and understanding the changes taking place in organisations today
  • Being able to explain how organisations can prepare for change
  • Clarifying human reactions to change and how to deal with them
  • Explain team involvement and visionary leadership

You will learn about:

  • Facing Change
  • Understanding Change
  • Leading Change
  • Creating a Change Action Plan

 

If you’re ready to upgrade your skills to provide Successful Change Management for your team, contact CTO today for friendly, professional advice.

We’ll discuss your specific needs, and tailor your training program to suit your requirements.

CTO Logo

 

 

 

 

Author - Rosy King @ CTO

 

Brought to you by Rosy King @ Corporate Training Options

 

Image of how to learn Telephone Etiquette Training with CTO

Telephone Etiquette Essentials for Customer Service Roles

Written by webplanners on . Posted in Corporate Training Courses, Customer Service Training.

Telephone Etiquette Essentials for Customer Service Roles

Brought to you by: Rosy King @ Corporate Training Options

 

image of Telephone Etiquette in Call Centres

 

Telephone Etiquette essentials for Customer Service roles include having a great attitude, being consistent in your delivery and understanding customer behavioural styles.  If you’re in a call centre team, or other roles within your organisation where you interact with your customers by phone, you need high level skills in these areas.

No matter how rehearsed, experienced or confident you are, providing amazing customer experiences over the phone can be a lot of pressure.

After all, you are the first impression a customer has of you, your organisation and your brand.  Therefore, communicating effectively, taking ownership of the call and letting your professionalism shine through is crucial.

 

So here’s our A-Game Telephone Etiquette Essentials for Customer Service Roles.   

Because, whether your organisation is big or small, anyone who answers your phones needs to have top level skills in telephone etiquette.

 

Attitude is everything

Image - Attitude is everything in a call centre

Let me be frank. Some days you may not be not feeling well, or you may not understand your customer’s question or issue.  These are just two variables you have to contend with every day and identify almost instantly.

So dust yourself off and pull up your socks because as a Telephone Customer Service Officer, your attitude is a huge key to your success.

When you do answer a call, make sure you’re enthusiastic and helpful without being insincere.

A great habit to develop is to practice smiling while you speak over the phone to bring out that warm, caring and professional personality of yours.

Identifying customer behaviour styles in 5 seconds or less

Being able to identify your caller’s behaviour style is critical, and you only have a few seconds to do it.  It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution either because we all have different personalities, questions and needs.

Some people who are calling may be upset. Telling them to calm down is the worst thing you can do. Others may be time-poor and in a hurry, or alternatively, talkative.  Still others may think they know more than you.

As a Telephone Customer Service officer, don’t take anything personally.

What you need to do is be able to identify this customer behaviour, acknowledge it and then provide your solution in a calm, pleasant and professional manner.   You see, the chances are the caller is not angry with you, they’re just having a bad day and taking it out on you.

The thing is, being able to identify a customer’s behaviour style and solve their problem isn’t as easy as it sounds. It’s a skill that requires special techniques and training, which you can learn in a course such as our Telephone Courtesy and Customer Service training.

 

Systems of consistency

image of call centre staff on computers and phones

When people call your business, they are goal orientated. They have a reason for calling.

Some may want more information.  Others may have a problem or want to speak with someone specific in your company.  Still others might just want to make an appointment.

Therefore, having a system for every phone call is essential.

Without a system in place for taking customers calls, you’ll come off as unprofessional and disorganised.  Ultimately this can affect your customer’s experience, your brand, your reputation and maybe even your sales.

However, with Telephone Courtesy and Customer Service training, you won’t have any of those problems.

You’ll learn how to put a system process in place, so each caller receives the same level of service and professionalism.

You’ll also reduce call times.

Answering the phone will also be a lot less confusing for your staff, and you’ll save time training new team members.  You’ll have systems in place to cover telephone etiquette in all customer service roles.

Get Organised

Answering the phone takes a lot of organisation. There are some great resources and tools at your disposal.  The problem is many staff members do not take the time to learn how to use these tools effectively. 

So even after attending training, without proper organisation, many call centre staff go back to doing the same old things, the same old way.

They can, however, change their ways, with tools such as:

  • Organised scripts which guide them on how to provide telephone etiquette as soon as they answer the phone.
  • A list of commonly asked questions, and the answers to them.
  • Guidelines on how to forward calls to other team members if required.
  • A clear desk and access to a pen and paper, or Microsoft Word on their screens, if they need to take notes.

All of these simple things, which can be very easily provided, are essential to your team being organised.

 

Provide Premium service

Image of three women in Call Centre providing customer service

Many businesses think that their excellent service is what separates their organisation from their competitors. I have to disagree.  You need to have more than that.

When you consider I can buy a book on Amazon and have it delivered to almost anywhere in the world within 24 hours, then you’ll understand that premium service is not necessarily a point of difference.  It’s just expected in any business these days.

However, one way you can differentiate your business is by having a better understanding of your customers.  This will enable your team to provide friendly, professional solutions over the phone, which can satisfy your customers’ requirements.

With professional training in Telephone Etiquette and Customer Service, your call centre team and any other team members who speak with customers on the phone, can take your customer service to entirely new levels.

 

 

Want to learn more about providing Telephone Etiquette in Customer Service roles?

We have a training course available for you, where  you’ll learn how to:

  • Define quality customer service
  • Employ nine necessary but important telephone skills
  • Professionally manage complex customer telephone calls
  • Manage various customer behaviour styles on the telephone
  • Interpret customer wants and deliver positive customer service actions
  • And learn some of the systems you can put in place, so people calling remember you, your company, your brand and your awesome customer service for all the right reasons.

 

If you’re ready to upgrade your skills to provide powerhouse Telephone Etiquette and Customer Service, or you wish to tackle some new challenges, contact CTO today for friendly, professional advice.

We’ll discuss your specific needs, and tailor a training course to suit your requirements.

 

Corporate Training Options

 

 

 

 

The Modern Workplace with Microsoft 365

The Modern Workplace – with Microsoft 365

Written by webplanners on . Posted in Microsoft Office Training.

 The Modern Workplace – with Microsoft 365

Brought to you by Rosy King @ Corporate Training Options

 

The Modern Workplace with Microsoft 365

 

How organisations are reducing complexity and breaking down the traditional boundaries of workplaces with Microsoft 365

 

WOW, what an interesting and evolving business world we live in.

Some of us have teams working with us on the other side of the world, serving clients without missing a beat.

Many are collaborating and video chatting using Microsoft Teams, while Microsoft SharePoint ensures teams on the go have access to the latest company information they need, on any device.

Yes, it’s exciting and innovative, but when creating the modern workplace with Microsoft 365, it’s more involved than just downloading the software and starting.

 

 

Points to Consider, to Create the Modern Workplace you Need

The Microsoft 365 Modern WorkplaceAs clients ask us consistently about how to create a modern workplace with Office 365, I thought it’s about time to explain how the modern workplace is evolving.

With the walls of the traditional business model coming down and being replaced with boundary-free work environments, a few key things remain the same.

 

One.

Most of us are in business to serve people, grow our businesses and evolve, so it’s important not to lose the personal touch and connection we have with our customers.

Two.

In order to serve those people and grow our businesses using Microsoft 365 and other tools, we need to be able to collaborate quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively using this technology.

Three.

We also need to heighten and increase productivity while creating a modern workplace.

Four.

If we are to create a successful modern workplace, we need to focus on the people in our teams. In business, our teams are the most valuable assets we have.

When you have team members working remotely, it’s important to engage and focus on your teams’ goals and ambitions, and their value within your organisation.  This will keep morale, professionalism and productivity high, and make your teams feel like they are contributing to and are a valued part of your organisation.

 

 

Okay, so what is a Modern Workplace exactly?

Work from home with Office 365A modern workplace is one that focuses on adapting and using innovative technology so all team members can collaborate, communicate and operate proactively and profitably, regardless of where they’re located in the world.

It’s not just about downloading software. It’s about knowing and understanding the tools in Office 365, so you and your team can boost productivity and collaboration, while continually evolving.

It’s also about creating a flexible and innovative workplace community, where your team feel valued and part of something, and can communicate and operate with or without supervision.

 

 

Another key tip to remember when you’re creating a Modern Workplace is that it’s also about evolving your organisation’s way of working.

Work anywhere with Modern Workplace technologyWith office premises being replaced with more innovative and flexible work from home environments, business practices, technology and workplace solutions need to be carefully considered.

For example, if your team used to work from your office and they are now working remotely from home, you’re going to have to spend time introducing them to your new business model.

You’re also going to have to encourage them that this is not a bad thing but a good thing.  You need to engage, support and train them in the new processes and systems that will evolve naturally with a modern workplace business model.

This is going to take patience and support from both sides of the fence, whether you’re the employer, team member or an outsourced worker or freelancer.

 

 

What does a Modern Workplace look like?

There are a few key things that make up a modern workplace.

Modern organisations are using smarter data and collection processes 

In today’s business world, smart businesses are collecting more data about their customers than ever before, using Microsoft Office 365 and other technology. And it makes sense. We all have different types of clients who spend different amounts of money, have different needs, spending habits, lifestyles and education.  And we can all buy almost anything we want, from anywhere in the world.

Take Google, for example. Traditionally they were a search engine service. However, if you look closer, you have to agree that they’ve evolved into a tracking service, collecting vast amounts of data on every one of us, tracking everything we do online.

Learning, embracing and using the tools and technology available 

Modern Workplace with Microsoft 365Cloud software such as Microsoft 365, and devices such as smartphones and tablets, are evolving every day at a feverish pace. Organisations that have a modern workplace environment and culture know that they and their people need to learn and embrace  the latest software and tools to remain relevant in a fast moving business world.

Another benefit of learning and using the latest tools, software and technology in the modern workplace is that your people are developing their skills, making them happier and more productive, which is great for the team and for your organisation.

Modern workplaces are mobile 

One of the most significant evolutions to happen in the business world is the ability to have your team mobile.

With Microsoft 365, teams can perform an array of tasks from any mobile device they have.  They can get updates instantly in their spare moments between meetings and conference calls with their team, and share files in real-time to keep the team and projects moving forward.

Collaborate in real-time 

Modern workplaces enable everyone to collaborate quickly and easily. In each department of your organisation, all operations can be completed smoothly, proactively and profitably, resulting in reduced costs and higher productivity in the long term.

Open communication 

Teamwork with Microsoft 365While email and traditional office meetings are great, both managers and teams understand that many of these functions are outdated and can waste time.

With tools such as Microsoft Teams and Yammer in Microsoft 365, you can add people to specific teams for specific projects, where everyone can contribute in real-time.  This allows  everyone to know what is going on, who is doing what and what the outcome is.

This also opens up the door for your team members to make positive contributions to projects, so their voices and ideas are heard, resulting in them feeling valued and appreciated in the project’s success.

 

What is the first step to creating a modern workplace?

Like everything, evolving your organisation into a modern workplace will take time to plan and execute. The best way to start is to develop a modern workplace strategy plan.  You need to consider:

  • How you work with people internally, to run effective meetings, projects and your organisation
  • How you connect with people externally, to inform and engage your customers, partners and suppliers
  • Ways to target your communications and manage your time

Begin by reviewing your workplace. Which members of your team complete which tasks, using what tools, and what are their skill levels.  Next, ascertain where you want to go and how you’re going to get your team there.

 

Office 365 Tools

 

Which Tools will I need for my Office 365 Modern Workplace?

Microsoft 365 can help you transform how you collaborate, both internally and across locations.  The aim of a modern workplace is to:

  • Centralise communications and co-ordiantion
  • Connect to the people and information you need from any device
  • Securely share and protect sensitive information

The tools available in Microsoft 365 to address collaboration, which are a part of the Modern Workplace solution, include:

  • Microsof Teams
  • Outlook
  • OneNote
  • Planner
  • SharePoint
  • Yammer
  • Stream
  • Delve
  • Flow
  • PowerApps

 

The Microsoft 365 solution provides a total Modern Workplace framework, and a secure, intelligent and complete toolset to empower your teams.

Once you’ve started the evolution process to create a modern workplace, you’ll be taking a big step towards improved productivity and rewards for your customers, your team and your organisation.

 

Want to know more about creating a modern workplace with 365?

Corporate Training Options provides a number of solutions for teams who are upgrading to the Modern Workplace.

These include 1-2 day courses for your end-users, such as:

 

We also have 30-90 Day Corporate Adoption Programs for corporate teams, including:

 

If you prefer your training over a longer period, we have 6-month Technology Update Programs.  These are available for both end users, and for technical teams.

 

If you’re ready to learn more about creating a modern workplace or to upgrade your Microsoft Office 365 skills, contact CTO today for friendly, professional advice.

We’ll discuss your specific needs and tailor your training program to suit your requirements.

 

 

Corporate Training Options

 

Why Choose Corporate Training Options?

Corporate Training Options is Australia’s leading professional development training company. Incorporated in 1992, we have facilitated & run over 100,000 training courses Australia wide.

 

  • Your Trainers are certified experts who are real-world practitioners
  • The courses are interactive, well organised and fun – making it easier for you to learn
  • Small group workshops mean each trainee will receive individual attention and can be confident about the skills they will gain
  • Our complimentary client discovery consultation, prior to your training, ensures your objectives and desired outcomes will be met
  • CTO is a Business Excellence Award winning company

 

CTO Professional Development and Technology Training courses are customised to meet your requirements, and your training is provided on-site, on dates, which suit you.

The subjects we specialise in include:

  • Leadership Development
  • Strategic Business Planning
  • Project Management
  • Marketing & Sales
  • Customer Service & Relationship Management
  • Business Administration
  • Finance & Accounting
  • People & Culture
  • Computer Training
  • Personal Development

 

Each CTO trainer has specific areas of expertise. This enables them to provide invaluable assistance to corporations like yours, seeking to maximise your investment in your teams and your technology. 

So if you’re ready to upgrade your skills, or you wish to tackle some new challenges, contact Corporate Training Options today for friendly, professional advice. We’ll discuss your specific needs, and tailor a training course to suit your requirements.

 

SharePoint Online 2020

Your Introductory Guide To SharePoint Online

Written by webplanners on . Posted in Computer Training Courses, Microsoft Office Training.

Your Introductory Guide to SharePoint Online

Brought to you by Rosy King @ Corporate Training Options

Your Guide to SharePoint Online

 

Your Introductory Guide to SharePoint Online

In the years the CTO team has been working with and teaching SharePoint, I’ve finally got around to writing this well overdue article and guide to SharePoint Online.

Okay so let’s dig in.

The current version is Microsoft SharePoint Online, which I’ll focus on here.

 

In a NutshellSharePoint Online in a Nutshell

SharePoint is a platform for cloud-based content management and document storage. It’s not a tool like Excel or Word, it’s a cloud-based server – an internal company directory containing all the information, resources and files you need to perform any project or task.

Previously used mainly by larger enterprises, Microsoft has now made SharePoint more accessible and simplified, as part of Microsoft 365.  If you need online document sharing and collaboration, then SharePoint is for you.

 

What is SharePoint Used For?

Good question.  SharePoint has been a crucial “Intranet” Microsoft platform for nearly two decades. You can collaborate and create standardised business systems with team members. Choose who you share and edit documents with, work on ad-hoc projects and record data, which increases your businesses productivity, communication and efficiency.

It allows you to store documents more effectively than saving files in traditional folder systems, so people in-house and externally can share, edit and receive files and information essential to them.

 

SharePoint -v- OneDrive

It would seem that SharePoint and OneDrive perform a similar role.  So what’s the difference?  Basically, SharePoint focusses on sharing files within groups or teams.  Anyone within the team has the ability to edit the files.  OneDrive is more of a personal storage option, where you can store your own files outside of the group storage facility.

 

Where does Microsoft Teams fit?

Teams and SharePoint are two different platforms.  SharePoint is a collaboration platform and a place for content sharing and document storage.  Basically, SharePoint is the site which holds all the content, documents and files, for your organisation.  However, it does not provide you with communication.  That’s where Teams comes in.

Microsoft Teams is a chat-based communication tool. It is a great alternative to email, allowing you to meet and chat online, share files quickly, and be part of various Teams and Channels.

Microsoft Teams and SharePoint work together with Microsoft 365 Groups.  Every Microsoft Team automatically has a SharePoint team site associated with it, where channel documents are stored.  Users don’t have to leave Teams to work on their files – they appear in the Files tab.

 

Some of the benefits of using Microsoft SharePSharePoint Office 365 Groupsoint

Work on documents at the same time as others

With SharePoint you can work on documents at the same time as others, using the document library.  Simply open the document library and click on the file you want to edit.  You’ll be able to see if other people are editing the file as well, in the top right-hand side of the file name.

 

Create and modify team sites

With Microsoft 365, you can create a site from the SharePoint home page, and it automatically creates a group. You can edit and share pages with others in your organisation or outside your business, such as a client.

 

Security

Within today’s modern organisations, data security is everything.  And Microsoft SharePoint Online has some of the best security functions available.

When you make the move to SharePoint Online it’s a great idea to apply SharePoint Security Groups with corresponding permissions.  It’s considered best practice to always have individuals as part of SharePoint Security groups and not individually assigned to a site.  Within Security Groups you can centralise various verticals of groups of users from within your organisation, then use these groups to maintain security on your SharePoint site.

With Microsoft 365 when you create a Group, it creates a security group tied to various Microsoft 365 apps like Planner, Teams and Outlook.  This membership group allows teams to collaborate using the various apps tied to it.

 

Security is important in IT

Some of the other great security functions in SharePoint

  • The “Check out function.” This stops other people editing your documents
  • The notifications feature, which notifies you when document edits are made or uploaded
  • You also can create workflows and automate various actions. These can include emailing files and documents and recording specific information.

 

Sharing Files and Sites

As long as you have permission, you can share files and sites via SharePoint. The benefit of this is that you can share sites and data files in or out of your organisation reasonably easily.

 

Creating Lists

Want a central location where you and your team members can add all kinds of data and fields such as text, or images that you can format?  Then be able to search and filter to find the specific data or information you need?

A list in SharePoint gives you these functions and capabilities and more. A list in SharePoint can also link people, dates and tracking history, and you can automate the entire process with Power Automate.

 

Three Critical Steps to Introduce Microsoft SharePoint Online into Your Organisation

 Preparation

The preparation before learning and starting to use SharePoint Online is essential. You need to determine why you need SharePoint and what tasks you and your team will be using SharePoint for.

 

Implementation

Getting started with the SharePoint Online software isn’t all that difficult. It’s migrating it into your business that’s the tricky part. You could seek the services of a consultant to help you with this, or your IT department if you have one.  Remember to discuss the implementation with your team.  Training is recommended after implementing SharePoint Online into your organisation.

 

SharePoint Group TrainingTraining your Team in SharePoint

Many organisations implement new software such as SharePoint Online and then fumble their way through it, learning as they go. This is time-intensive, frustrating and tedious, and in the big picture, unproductive.

To implement SharePoint Online successfully into your business, training your staff in the basics of how to use SharePoint correctly is vital.

 

So that’s it for now. I hope you enjoyed this Guide to SharePoint Online and learning some of the basics of using the SharePoint tools in your organisation.

 

What do our customers say?

The SharePoint training was extremely useful, in particular the ability to run through some of the examples and specifics that relate to our processes.

Karen, Lion Dairy & Drinks, Melbourne 

 

Our CTO trainer was very interactive in imparting the Microsoft SharePoint training content.  Really enjoyed it!

Rudolf, Accenture Australia

 

Your Guide to SharePoint Online – Introduction Training

When it comes to training in SharePoint Online, Corporate Training Options can provide you with both introductory and advanced courses, presented online or onsite at your workplace.

If you’re ready to learn the basics of SharePoint Online, or ready to upgrade your Microsoft 365 skills in other areas, contact CTO today for friendly, professional advice.

We’ll discuss your specific needs and tailor a training course to suit your requirements.

 

Why Choose Corporate Training Options?

  • Your Trainers are certified experts who are real-world practitioners
  • The courses are interactive, well organised and fun – making it easier for you to learn
  • Small workshop groups mean each trainee will receive individual attention and can be confident about the skills gained
  • Our complimentary trainer consultation before your training ensures your objectives will be met
  • CTO is a Business Excellence Award-winning company

  

Corporate Training Options

 

 

 

 

Power BI Webinar

CTO Technology Webinar – Microsoft Power BI

Written by webplanners on . Posted in Microsoft Office Training, Webinars.

Power BI Webinar

 

CTO Technology Webinar – Microsoft Power BI

Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Power BI – in Ten Minutes!

Microsoft Power BI (Business Intelligence) is a cutting edge Data Analytics tool designed to bridge the gap between data and decision making.

It aims to create amazing data experiences by allowing users to easily connect to, model & visualise data in ways that are personalised to your Organisations needs.

 

In this Webinar, Technology Expert Gill Walker will show you:

  • What is Microsoft Power BI?
  • Why you should use Power BI compared to other data analytics tools
  • The anatomy of Power BI

Learn the basics and how YOU should be taking advantage of Power BI in CTO’s Technology Webinar on June 11.

Webinar Bonus: Learn how to view an extensive range of data through Power BI interactive reports and dashboards.

Improve your productivity with Excel training

Improve your Processes & Productivity with Microsoft Excel

Written by webplanners on . Posted in Microsoft Office Training.

Improve your Processes, Productivity & Presentations with Microsoft Excel

Brought to you by Rosy King @ Corporate Training Options

 

Improve your productivity with Excel training

 

Feel a little anxious when you need to set up a new worksheet, create a graph or generate a report from Microsoft Excel?

These tasks and creating complex formulas and functions, working with macro’s and worksheets and extracting the information you need from Excel, are child’s play once you know how.

 

Let’s start with what Excel is

Microsoft Excel Intermediate level Training from CTOMicrosoft Excel is a spreadsheet program, used for storing, organising and manipulating data.

It allows you to format, organise, calculate and analyse all types of information and present it in different ways.

It’s part of the Microsoft Office suite and gives you the benefits of:

  • Creating accurate elegant worksheets to enhance productivity
  • Improving presentation and understanding of spreadsheet data
  • Saving you, your team and organisation a lot of time without cutting corners

 

So, what kind of skills and benefits will a level of experience in Microsoft Excel give you?

 

Faster data analysis, extraction, reporting and productivity

You will be able to analyse and extract large amounts of data quickly. While Excel has many benefits, one of the most powerful is being able to set up, format and create programs for the repetitive tasks and reports you need to conduct in your organisation.

By setting up your formulas and calculations in Excel for those repetitive reporting tasks or reports, you’ll free up your time.

 

Improve your Processes and Organise Data the way you want

Most of us know how to enter numbers in Excel and create basic formulas, but in today’s’ business world that’s not going to get you very far.

And let’s be honest. Sorting through mountains of data for the information you require for a specific purpose or report, then cutting and pasting that data and reformatting it into a new Excel worksheet because you don’t know how to organise and edit spreadsheets in Excel, is time consuming and frustrating.

Improve your skills in Excel, and you’ll be able to enter, organise, program, edit and sort the data the way you want your way.

And this is a BIG plus!  Imagine being able to organise your data better and extract only the information you want? You’ll reduce the wasted time, relieve the anxiety of setting up new worksheets, and be better able to deal with and analyse vast amounts of data. You’ll be able to present data faster and easily feature information as charts or graphs.

 

Reduce strain on other people and resources

Your knowledge is an asset for your organisation.  A cohesive and supportive work environment is crucial to any company, however, calling on fellow staff members for advice on how to do this or that in Excel is disruptive.

It also results in lost productivity for the person asking for the advice and the team member providing the information.

When you understand and can use Excel’s analysis tools, set up and program complex formulas, create new worksheets and edit existing ones, you’ll be reducing the strain on other people, departments and resources.

 

Retain employees, increase worth & reduce costs

As many of us in business know, replacing employees is time-intensive and costly. Most of us also know that happy employees who feel valued, are more productive and invested in their own goals and the success of the people and organisation they work for.

They have more pride in themselves and whom they serve.

From our decades of experience of teaching courses in Microsoft Excel, course attendees and their employers agree that training is a win-win for everyone.

Employers invest in their staff, which keeps their staff retention rates down, saving them time and money.

Their employees have an increased sense of worth because:

  • They are learning new skills
  • Their employee is investing in them and believes in them
  • Which results in them having pride in what they do and being more valuable to their employer

 

Adapt for the future with Excel

If you have any experience with Excel, there has probably been a time where you have set up a worksheet, and sometime later you needed to change it as circumstances have changed. Maybe you need to add a new field, add a new macro or edit the programming functions for your weekly reports or other repetitive tasks.

In today’s world, we all need to learn and have the skills to adapt quickly. This mindset and skillset also need to filter down to how we work.

Having an existing Excel worksheet and having to copy specific data from it, then copy and paste that data into a new spreadsheet and adding new fields, macros and functions based on the latest information is tedious, time-intensive and unproductive.

Yet, many still edit their Excel worksheets this way, when they do not have to.

When you know how to edit existing worksheets, use a range of features so you can collect, organise and present large amounts of data in charts and graphs, and have more accurate data using Microsoft Excel, you’ll save time, energy and money.

You’ll also increase productivity, and your reporting will be more accurate.

 

 

Improve your Processes with a Microsoft Excel Intermediate course

Continually expanding the skills available to your workforce is an important task, and a  Microsoft Excel course could be the perfect gateway to improving your organisation’s capabilities.

Many times, when working in spreadsheets, you may identify a problem but be unsure of the appropriate solution.

With assistance from Corporate Training Options, you and your team can enhance your Excel skills with ease.

 

The benefits of Intermediate Excel Training from Corporate Training Options are many.

  • You have the opportunity to develop the core skills and understanding of the software necessary to take full advantage of what Excel can enable you to accomplish.

 

  • You can create more elegant worksheets and will enhance productivity, improve presentability, and save time on urgent tasks without cutting corners. Even today, Excel is an industry leader for a reason: its versatility is virtually unmatched.

 

  • You also have the flexibility of receiving one-on-one training for a mission-critical team member, or large-scale training to develop better skills across a more significant part of your corporate workforce.

 

  • We do not offer a “one size fits all” approach to training, as we understand that different employees will have varying levels of skills. Not everyone will need the same training on the same subjects. Based on your specific needs, we adapt your Excel workshops to best suit your requirements.

 

  • Corporate Training Options offers on-site training courses at your workplace or online courses that fit in with your busy schedule in Microsoft Excel 365

 

  • Our flexibility extends beyond the necessary training coursework and into the delivery method, too. Rather than requiring off-site attendance at a training facility, we bring our training to you. On-site training has the distinct advantage of creating learning opportunities in the workplace where your trainees will apply their new skills.

 

What do our customers say?

Our CTO trainer was very clear and concise with his instructions and explained everything in Excel very well.  Thanks.

Luke, Accenture 

 

I was interested in learning efficiencies in Excel, and this course was Great!  It will save me hours and free me up to concentrate on other projects.

Adem, Corinthian Doors

 

 

 

I can't live without Excel
Improve your Excel skills with CTO Training

 Want to know more about our Excel Intermediate Course for you or your team?

The skills and knowledge acquired in the Microsoft Excel Intermediate course will enable you to expand your knowledge and learn how to create more productive workbooks. It covers formulas and function techniques, advanced formatting and charting features and data manipulation tools like goal seeking.

When you complete this course, you will have achieved several learning outcomes.

The course topics include:

  • Filling Data
  • Worksheet Techniques
  • Page Setup
  • Applying Borders
  • Essential Functions
  • Complex Formulas
  • Defined Names
  • Number formatting Techniques
  • Conditional Formatting
  • Goal Seeking
  • The Quick Analysis Tools
  • Worksheet Tables
  • Chart Elements
  • Chart Object Formatting

 

Ready to upgrade your skills with a Microsoft Excel – Intermediate online training courses?

 If you’re ready to upgrade your Excel skills to save time, money and energy on data formatting, analysis and presentation using Microsoft Excel, or you wish to tackle some new challenges, contact CTO today for friendly, professional advice.

 

And remember, Microsoft Office 365 is the most downloaded Business Software package in the entire world, and for good reason!

 

Corporate Training Options

 

 

 

 

Leadership Versatility

CTO Leadership Webinar – Leadership Versatility

Written by webplanners on . Posted in Management & Leadership Training, Webinars.

Leadership Versatility

CTO Leadership Webinar – Leadership Versatility

Do you want to become an effective Leader?

In this Webinar we will explore the value of leaders reflecting on themselves and using Versatility to gain the support and respect of their colleagues and direct reports.

This enables a leader to achieve improved performance results from others.

You will also learn how to plan your meetings in relation to your audiences’ needs, and understand how reflection on your own leadership style can lead to positive outcomes for all.

Jacky Hanan is an experienced executive leader with over 25 years of experience in leading large teams through significant change and transformation.

Jacky has completed the Advanced Management Program with Harvard Business School in Boston, an MBA with RMIT and the Marketing & Global Business program with Brest Business School, FR.

 

Webinar Bonus:

Discover what kind of Leader you are, and how you can use it to strengthen your organisation.

CTO Leadership Webinar – Understanding Behavioural Styles

Written by webplanners on . Posted in Management & Leadership Training, Webinars.

Do you understand how your behavioural style can impact others, and your own performance as a leader?

In this weeks Webinar we will cover the value of observing others behaviours and using communication to create positive outcomes for your business.

Industry expert Jacky Hanan will help you understand:

 

  • how reflection on your own leadership style can enable you to achieve improved performance results from others

 

  • the value of observing others behaviours

 

  • how your own performance as a leader impacts others

 

Jacky is an experienced executive leader with over 25 years of experience in managing large teams and individuals through significant change and transformation.

Jacky has completed the Advanced Management Program with Harvard Business School, Boston, US, an MBA with RMIT and  the Marketing & Global Business program with Brest Business School, FR.

Webinar Bonus: Understand how adapting to behaviours can be a win-win for you and your colleagues. 

Join our Leadership Webinar on 19 May, to learn 3 essential behaviours that any great leader should have within their organisation!

CTO training in Microsoft OneNote

CTO Technology Webinar – Microsoft OneNote

Written by webplanners on . Posted in Microsoft Office Training, Webinars.

CTO Technology Webinar - Microsoft OneNote

CTO Technology Webinar – Microsoft OneNote

 

Why should you be using OneNote?

The more you learn about OneNote, the more likely you are to embrace it.

Often described as the swiss-army knife of note-taking, OneNote is versatile and adapts to your note taking preferences, allowing you to organise your digital notebooks in ways that make sense to you.

OneNote is designed to be the ultimate in digital note-taking, and gives you a very broad canvas to work on.  You can use it for sharing and presenting content, instant and real-time collaboration and streamlined note taking.

It’s true value, however, is being able to retrieve your information whenever you need it, no matter where you are.

 

Join our Technology Webinar on 7 May, to learn 3 great reasons your business should be taking advantage of OneNote – the ultimate in digital note taking!

 

In this CTO Technology Webinar, Microsoft OneNote Expert, Rob Howarth, will demonstrate how OneNote can transform your productivity.
  • See OneNote in action, recording ideas and information on the go
  • Learn how OneNote enables collaboration in real-time
  • Discover how OneNote can work with other Office 365 programs

Webinar Bonus
Learn how OneNote will help you organise your work, even if your’e not very tech savvy.

CTO Technology Webinar – Microsoft OneNote