Foundation training | Needs Understanding

Needs Understanding Foundation Training

Covers the entire Needs Understanding skill set, offering you the tools that you need for developing empathy, self-awareness, empowerment and better decision-making.

Overview

The Foundation training comprises:

two days of in-person workshops covering the full Needs Understanding skillset
'not just another brilliant workshop': you have the option to add in additional masterclasses or top up sessions to help you to embed what you have learned and create lasting change

Who is it for?

The Needs Understanding Foundation training is for people who want to:

communicate with more confidence, clarity and empathy
strengthen relationships with colleagues and clients
understand and respond differently to difficult situations

Whether you are a team member, a manager or a leader, this training will equip you with tools, insight and support for navigating challenges, building trust, and creating lasting change in how you relate and work with others.

What will I get from the training?

The training will give you and your team skills and practices which help you to:

listen and speak in ways which consistently create more supportive, understanding, enjoyable connections with clients and colleagues
understand what is at the core of difficult situations and know how to develop creative new win-win solutions
be the person that you want to be at work
know what to do when you feel like you or your colleagues are acting unreasonably or over-reacting over an issue
make requests that others want to say 'yes' to
resource yourself so that you can show up in the way that you want to with those around you
negotiate so that everyone is satisfied
resolve the core of conflicts so they don't replay over and over again
say 'no' in a way which can be more easily heard by the other
express regret when you make a mistake in a way which rebuilds trust and leaves you free of guilt
communicate effectively across divisions without giving up on what's important to you

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How does it work?

1. Planning

We'll start with a call to tailor the training to your team's needs. The skills are the same, but the way they are taught is shaped by what will work best for you.

2. Training

Two in-person days led by Alice at your premises for up to twelve people. Lively, interactive and highly practical, the two days can happen consecutively, or up to a month apart.

3. Integration sessions

So many brilliant workshops don't lead to the changes that people are looking for because the rest of life and work get in the way. If you want some extra support to embed your learning and apply new skills to current challenges, we'll look at whether some sessions may help over the months following your training.

Training content

The Needs Understanding Foundation training covers the core principles and the four skill areas of Needs Understanding. It is practical, fun and interactive, and is taught with a flexible approach to respond to the particular people who are in the room.

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The detail of what is covered:

Core principles
Needs as a way to understand ourselves and each other • Our unique fingerprint needs as a key to solving our most difficult challenges • Look through needs glasses to find solutions that take care of everyone's needs

1. Listen with empathy
Habitual ways of listening that unintentionally alienate people • The two island model of empathy • Blocks to empathy and how to develop an empathic attitude • Find your authentic way to listen and create connection

2. Understand yourself with compassion
Connect with your needs • Understand what your judgements about yourself and other people can show you • Act deliberately as you want to, rather than reacting to what is going on around you • Use your feelings as a resource to help you • Discover your internal resource tank •

3. Speak to be heard
Create connecting conversations • Express your anger without blame • Use four language tools ~ observations not evaluations; requests not demands; appreciation and celebration not praise and reward; regret and sorrow not guilt and denial

4. Act with care for everyone's needs
Problem solve using the needs pot • Take action that serves • Use the distinction between strategies and needs to find better ways forward • Go for needs-based solutions instead of compromise • Move from opposition to partnership • Set respectful boundaries • Connect across divides

Training is related at each stage to you and to your particular setting, using your examples, and with a dynamic approach to content that can respond to the group who are in the room.

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Needs Understanding Foundation Training

Overview

Who is it for?

What will I get from the training?

The training will give you and your team skills and practices which help you to:

​

listen and speak in ways which consistently create more supportive, understanding, enjoyable connections with clients and colleagues

understand what is at the core of difficult situations and know how to develop creative new win-win solutions

be the person that you want to be at work

know what to do when you feel like you or your colleagues are acting unreasonably or over-reacting over an issue

make requests that others want to say 'yes' to

resource yourself so that you can show up in the way that you want to with those around you

negotiate so that everyone is satisfied

resolve the core of conflicts so they don't replay over and over again

say 'no' in a way which can be more easily heard by the other

express regret when you make a mistake in a way which rebuilds trust and leaves you free of guilt

communicate effectively across divisions without giving up on what's important to you

How does it work?

The Needs Understanding Foundation training covers the core principles and the four skill areas of Needs Understanding. It is practical, fun and interactive, and is taught with a flexible approach to respond to the particular people who are in the room.

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