In-House Training Programs

A long-established concern in the general management field, and one that is equally discussed in the wider knowledge services community, is the difficulty of providing training and professional development programs to staff who cannot leave the workplace for an extended training program, or who are limited in the amount of time they can afford to attend a workshop or course.

SMR International, well known for the excellence of its professional development and learning programs, provides the solution to this problem. SMR Learning, the company’s training division, brings expert trainers into the workplace to provide short, focused workshops and training programs that will benefit all staff. The quality and success of these intensive in-house workshops will quickly become apparent to management, and service delivery will be noticeably improved.

Most of the intensive in-house learning programs are scheduled to be completed within three hours (unless the client prefers a longer program). Depending on the subject, SMR Learning’s in-house programs utilize facilitated group discussion and interactive dialogue, and as time permits, structured exercises specifically designed to help attendees codify desired outcomes are used.

SMR Learning In-House Training Programs are organized under the general supervision of Guy St. Clair, the company’s President and Consulting Specialist for Knowledge Management and Learning, who conducts many of SMR international’s programs. Guy St. Clair’s most recent book, Beyond Degrees: Professional Learning for Knowledge Services, was published by K.G. Saur in 2003.

In-house workshops available from SMR Learning include the following, and other custom-designed programs can be developed, depending on client needs:

• From Managing Information to Managing Knowledge: The Staff Role in the New Knowledge Services Workplace
• Using Knowledge Services to Build the Organization’s Knowledge Store
• Managing Management: How to Get Support for the Knowledge Services Operational Unit
• Getting the Work Done: Keys to Successful Staff Supervision in the Knowledge Services Workplace
• The New Knowledge Worker: Tasks and Goals for the Information Professional in the New Knowledge Services Profession
• Inside and Outside the Department: How Knowledge Services Enables the Collaborative Workplace
• Measurement Basics: How Good is Knowledge Services Delivery?
• Thinking Entrepreneurially: The Staff’s Role in Marketing Knowledge Services
• First Steps: Raising Awareness and Starting the Knowledge Services Discussion
• What Do You Know—And Share? The Strategic (Performance-Centered) Learning Mandate
• Customer Service and Client Relationship Management (CRM) for Knowledge Services
• Working Smarter: Techniques for Avoiding Procrastination and Getting More Done
• Time Management in the Knowledge Services Workplace
• Techniques for Teammates: Participating With Your Colleagues
• Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) and Disaster Preparedness—The Knowledge Services Solution
• Presentation Techniques and Motivating Attendees
• Self-Development Strategies for Knowledge Workers
• Staff/Supervisor Communications
• Defining Productivity in the Knowledge Services Workplace
• Departmental Task Analysis/Assessment
• Difficult Employees/Good Work