To request further information on any of the training courses listed below, please click the individual course titles.

Management Training Courses

Our management courses are run by specialist trainers who combine expert knowledge of their chosen industry with the latest management theory. This gives them a clear insight into the unique management situations in which editors, PR managers or senior corporate managers can find themselves.

As well as the courses listed below, other editorial management topics include:

Assertiveness
Conflict Management
Creativity
Employment Law
Management for Deputy Editors
Managing Change
Managing Freelance Journalists
Media and Marketing
Narrative Thinking as a Management Tool
Planning
So you want to be an Editor
Strategic Thinking
Stress Management
Team Building
Time and Project Management
Training to Train

Introduction to Management (2 day course)

The introduction to management course is ideal for all staff who have just been, or are soon to be, appointed to management positions.

Getting the best out of people doesn't happen by accident. This session helps managers to use the key management skills of planning, organising, leadership and motivation.

Course content:

Defining the balance between managing and doing
Responsibilities of a team leader
Getting results through people
Identifying individuals' strengths and weaknesses
Coaching skills to develop people on the job
Motivation and dealing with team problems
Understanding the range of styles and how to use them
Establishing your own standards for the team
Managing upwards in order to get your boss to let go
Recognising the make-up of your team using Belbin's team roles
Improving communication at all levels
Recognising your own communication style

Appraisal Training (1 day course)

The Appraisal course is ideal for all journalists involved in appraisal schemes.

The appraisal is a useful motivational tool for editorial managers. This course shows how appraisal helps career development.

Course content:

How to introduce appraisals as a beneficial exercise for everyone involved
How to prepare for appraisal meetings
How to conduct effective appraisal meetings
How to follow up appraisals as part of career development

Budgeting Training (1 day course)

The Budgeting course is ideal for anybody in publishing who has a budget, and wants to control it and use it as a tool to understand what is going on.

Many journalists are fearful of budgets. In this training session delegates learn to analyse budgets and use them as effective tools to build financial cases for the resources they require.

Course content:

Putting the budget into the big picture of business finance
Reading a budget, decoding the terms and understanding how to link it to real world spending
Devising a new budget
Working with the unfolding budget
Building financial cases for required resources

Creativity Sessions

Growing Creativity Training (1 day course)

The Growing Creativity course is ideal for magazine or website editors, art directors, section editors and anyone involved in developing new ways of approaching material.

Journalists will understand what creativity is and how to approach situations and tasks from a creative point of view. They will learn practical strategies for implementing creativity and integrating it into the working day, as well as creative approaches to translating ideas from one media to another.

Course content:

How creativity feels
Identifying enemies to creativity
Looking at personal blocks
Practical strategies for creativity
Planning: time management and creativity
Translating creativity from one media to another

Translating Creativity from Print Publications to Web, or any other Media (1 day course)

The Translating Creativity course is ideal for magazine or website editors, art directors, section editors and other editorial staff who have attended the Growing Creativity day and want to take things further.

Journalists will gain a thorough understanding of the role of creative exploration within the confines of magazine production, and learn specific strategies for brainstorming and thinking outside the print-box into a variety of other media such as video and online.

Course content:

Doing things badly: the value of mistakes
Taking ideas apart and reconstructing them
Being ridiculous
Being yourself
The value of speed
Interaction strategies
Application to real work projects

Narrative Thinking as a Management Tool (1 day course)

The Narrative Thinking course is ideal for managers, executives and anyone needing to act and react creatively.

Logical thinking tells you how things should be. Narrative thinking can help managers understand how they are - and offers a choice of ways forward. Just as in stories, narrative thinking highlights cause and effect, the ability to empathise with others and the importance of the emotions. If you want to deal with and produce surprises, handle and come up with the unexpected, learning the art of narrative thinking is essential.

Course content:

Storytelling and invention - re-learning creativity
Understanding motivation in yourself and others
Spotting and working with character contradictions
Arousing and manipulating emotional responses
Switching points of view
Discovering hidden capabilities and finding fresh resources
Overcoming obstacles by reverse thinking
Manufacturing surprise

Chairing and Moderating Meetings and Conferences (1 day course)

The Chairing and Moderating course is ideal for senior editorial staff who are being asked to chair and moderate conferences, discussion panels, and breakfast meetings.

To provide delegates with the skills and knowledge to raise their profile as an industry expert at meetings.

Course content:

Chairing and moderating: working the square: subject, people, time and audience
The skills and knowledge for chairing and moderating
10 top tips for chairing and moderating

Delegation and Supervision Training (1 day course)

The Delegation and Supervision course is ideal for editors, section editors and anyone else who has to rely on other people to do things.

Journalists are prone to try to do everything themselves. This session helps them to prioritise their efforts and to see delegation as positive rather than punitive way of developing other members of the team.

Course content:

What should you delegate?
Who should you delegate to?
What to do after delegation
How to avoid problems
Knowing and articulating what you want
Establishing guidelines for quality and quantity of work
How tasks can be monitored

Editorial Process Management Training (1 day course)

The Editorial Process Management course is ideal for editors, senior editorial and production staff.

Practices develop on publications that determine whether they run smoothly or not. This training session allows journalists to analyse how their publications are operating to see if bad habits have developed over time. Issues such as over-running schedules, and the order in which tasks are done are examined in detail.

Course content:

Do your current processes help or hinder you?
Spotting and dispersing bottlenecks
How to identify problems before they become crises
Are you managing your time, or is it managing you?
Recognising your most important objectives
Dealing with interruptions
Understanding the difference between active and reactive time
Time management techniques

Leadership and Motivation Training (1 day course)

The Leadership and Motivation course is ideal for editors; section editors; senior journalists or anyone leading a team.

Editors don't always think about how they influence their teams. Knowing what makes journalists want to work, and gaining an understanding of leadership styles, takes the mystery out of management.

Course content:

The elements of leadership style
How these elements affect individuals and the team
Defining motivation
Identifying the motivational factors for the individual journalist

Negotiation Training (1 day course)

The Negotiation course is ideal for journalists and editors who need to negotiate.

Editors and section editors are frequently called upon to negotiate - whether it is a freelance rate or a sponsorship deal. This training session provides the key skills to get the best possible result.

Course content:

Setting the targets: the best result; the least you can accept
Assessing the opposition
Strategies and recognising when to use them
Winning tactics

Presentation Skills Training (1 day course)

The Presentation Skills course is ideal for any journalist or publisher who represents their publication.

Most members of a publishing team need to present effectively and professionally, be it a magazine cover or a set of performance statistics. This is a highly practical day with the emphasis on learning by doing. The use of a video camera and monitoring facilities will enable all delegates to analyse and assess their presentations. Delegates are treated as individuals and fears/phobias and strengths/weaknesses are given special attention.

Course content:

Communicating clear messages confidently
Presenting powerfully and persuasively
Preparing and structuring a presentation
Remaining calm and effective under pressure
Responding appropriately and assuredly to questions

So You Want to be an Editor (1 day course)

The So You Want to be an Editor course is ideal for deputy or section editors who want an overview of the journalism skills they need to make the jump to editor.

Course content:

Covers
Contents pages and editors' letters
Planning a magazine
Flatplanning for effect
Creating quality systems

Management Training for Deputy Editors (2 day course)

The Management Training for Deputy Editors course is ideal for deputy editors or anyone who has never had management training. This is not an advanced course - more an introduction to the basics of managing creative people.

Course content:

What type of leader are you?
Faulty beliefs that get in the way of management
Motivation
Team leadership
Management communication
A model for looking at your staff
Dealing with difficult people
Knowing your strengths

Recruitment and Selection Training (1 day course)

The Recruitment and Selection course is ideal for editors and section editors who are responsible for recruiting journalists.

Getting the right person for the job is never simple. This training session gives delegates the opportunity to assess the needs of the team and to define their own requirements for new additions. Taking part in videoed interviews prompts them to come up with questions designed to shed light on whether the interviewee is really right for the job.

Course content:

Assessing CVs
Creating a candidate profile
Questions to ask to elicit revealing answers
Questions to avoid
Second interviews

Managing Editorial Teams (2 day course)

The managing editorial teams course is ideal for all journalists who manage, or are about to manage, people in editorial teams.

Getting the best out of journalists requires thought and planning. This session exposes delegates to management theory and explores the practical implications of managing individuals and editorial teams within their organisations.

Course content

What is expected of journalists and how to fulfil those expectations
Why we work: the key factors in how we motivate ourselves and others
Identifying and addressing fixable problems in the management of teams and individuals
Where teams fit into the role of management and how teams go through lifecycles
How company objectives and cultures link to the management of editorial teams and individuals

Managing Teams in Times of Change (1 day course)

The managing teams in times of change course course is ideal for senior managers who are initiating, taking part in, or having to deal with change.

Change happens. How you deal with it is key. This training session shows delegates how to embrace change, get the vision across, and motivate and retain key team members.

Course content

The effects of change on an organisation
Identifying and managing expectations in times of change
Managing teams
Managing motivational issues
Identifying the role of the senior manager in motivational issues
Identifying and encouraging talent within teams

Appraisal and Performance Review (1 day course)

The appraisal and performance review course is ideal for all managers involved in appraisal schemes.

The appraisal is a useful motivational tool for staff and managers. This training course shows how appraisal helps career development.

Course content

How to introduce appraisals as a beneficial exercise for everyone involved
How to prepare for appraisal meetings
How to conduct effective appraisal meetings
How to follow up appraisals as part of career development

Time and Process Management (1 day course)

The time and process management course is ideal for editors, senior editorial and production staff.

Practices develop on brands that determine whether they run smoothly or not. This training session allows journalists to analyse how their publications are operating to see if bad habits have developed over time. Issues such as over-running schedules, and the order in which tasks are done are examined in detail.

Course content

Do your current processes help or hinder you?
Spotting and dispersing bottlenecks
How to identify problems before they become crises
Are you managing your time, or is it managing you?
Recognising your most important objectives
Dealing with interruptions
Understanding the difference between active and reactive time
Time management techniques