Through the Strategic Investment Fund, Queensland Construction Tradespeople have a 50% subsidy on the 3 Day Workshop to gain the Certificate IV in Project Management.

Workshops have been held in Brisbane, Townsville, the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, and will shortly be held in Gladstone, Hervey Bay, Cairns, Ipswich and Mackay with even more regions to follow.

There are a limited number of subsidised places in the program, and I urge you to enrol early to secure the 50% subsidy.

If you are a tradesperson and work in any construction field, this is an opportunity you do not want to miss.  Some students have already completed their entire certificates and have been employed in new project management roles.  We also will shortly be releasing an upgrade workshop to achieve the Diploma of Project Management in the coming months.

Call our office on 1300 529 889 and talk to Chris for more details.

Tracey Abell, General Manager

You were a committen and enthusiastic team and a pleasure to work with. 

Workshop themes included the Marketing Mix, Consumer Behaviour and the Decision Making Process, Communication, the Sales Process, After Sales Follow-up, Time Management and the valuable role of Mentoring.

The workshop was led by General Manager Tracey Abell, and Business Trainer, Cheryl Van Leeuwen. 

For enquiries on corporate workshops, call our team on 1300 529 889.

The Product Manager team from the Wotif Group

Merry Christmas

For DevelopMental, 2011 has been a year of inspiration and rapid growth.  We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our supporters and students for making it all possible – a BIG thank you!

Important Christmas Closure dates – The offices of DevelopMental Pty Ltd will be closed from December 21st 2011 to January 3rd 2012, inclusive.  If you have any urgent enquiries during this period, contact Tracey on the mobile of 0409 279 735, or leave a message with our Sydney based receptionist on 1300 529 889, or use our contact form at http://www.developmental.com.au/contactus.php.   

We look forward to an inspirational and eventful 2012 – with new staff and intriguing new projects.

Merry Christmas and see you in the new year!

Tracey Abell, General Manager

Muchado–who sailed through the company’s two-day training period, which focuses on basic moving skills–easily could have gotten stuck in a basic role. With his quiet demeanor and shy nature, he was often the “silent helper” on jobs and was reluctant to take a bigger role in the company. “I wanted to do small jobs, not big jobs. I was always afraid of driving [the bigger] trucks,” he says.

However, with the encouragement of the company’s management and some one-on-one training, Muchado began to overcome his fears, and when a co-worker was injured, he nervously stepped in to oversee the job. Since then, Muchado has taken on increasingly larger roles and received several promotions, moving from a strong, silent helper to a sought-after driver, crew chief and trainer.

Reaping the Benefits
Effective training can offer significant bottom-line benefits. Daniels estimates that Thumbtack’s program is worth approximately $10,000 per month in time saved. At Digineer, Lacey has found that investing in training has increased sales: One entry-level employee who took advantage of the company’s paid-time-off and reimbursement programs to earn additional certifications increased his billing rate from $125 per hour to $175 per hour, resulting in about $100,000 of additional annual revenue for the firm.

Gentle Giant’s team has found several areas of savings. The company estimates that an efficiency program that trained crew chiefs and managers to spot and reduce “white slips”–time on a job that was not billable to the customer, such as truck preparation or transit–has saved more than $100,000. Another important area of return has been in employee retention. Pacocha says turnover hovers around 6 percent per year, which the team credits to its robust training programs that support planned growth opportunities. “We’ve saved about a half-million dollars by not having to replace people and being able to promote our own people into new roles instead of recruiting,” he says.

For employees like Muchado, the benefits go far beyond the business.

He says the training he received at Gentle Giant has changed many aspects of his life. “I’ve always been afraid to interact with people, but because of the training I have more confidence. It’s helped me improve myself,” he says. “I don’t think I could ever leave here. I love the culture and the opportunities I have.”

(note that this article has been shortened and is available online in full)

To read the full article,  visit the website: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220569  Training is important for any business to remain competitive and Employers should make the most of government funding and support while they can!

Tracey Abell

General Manager

 There is only one more round of our 3-day Certificate IV in Project Management Workshop remaining, and at only $795* (instead of $1920) this is an opportunity not to be missed.

 If you have any colleagues, or sub-contractors who are looking to set themselves up for a successful 2012, I would greatly appreciate you forwarding this information to them and inviting them to attend. 

 We have included all of the details below for your reference. (One more thing . . . employees may be able to claim the $4000 Government Funding Incentive)

 Tracey

General Manager

Course Structure

This course will be held over three (3) consecutive days.  Each day will run from 9.00am to 4.00pm.  A general schedule for each day is as follows:

Day 1

• Introduction and welcome
• Project Scope
  • What is Project Management?
  • Project life-cycle
  • Key components of project scope
  • Stakeholders
  • Scope creep
  • Objectives vs Deliverables
  • Work Breakdown Structures
  • Scope Management Plan
• Project Implementation – Part 1
  • Time Management – PERT Chart; Critical Path Method; Gantt Chart
  • Quality management – Dimensions of quality; Quality Assurance
  • Contracts and Procurement – Procurement planning; contract/tender development; gathering information; making recommendations

 Day 2

• Review of Day 1
• Project Implementation – Part 2
  • Costs Management –budgeting and estimation
  • Communications management – purposes or communication, communication process, forms of communication, life cycle stages, reporting (basic), Communications Plan
  • HR management – project teams, conflict resolution, HR planning, professional development planning steps, learning styles & networking
  • Risk management- risk levels throughout the life cycle; risk management process, risk planning and risk throughout the project life cycle
• Project Monitoring and Review
  • Monitoring & controlling scope change
  • Measuring & managing project scheduling
  • Managing project budgets
  • Reviewing project quality
  • Monitoring project personnel and stakeholder performance &skill levels
  • Reviewing communications processes
  • Monitoring and measuring risks
  • Reviewing procurement and contract management processes

Day 3

• Review of Day 1 and 2
• Project Finalisation
  • Reporting and Finalisation of all 8 areas – scope, time, cost, communications, risk, human resources, contract and procurement and quality
  • Post implementation review
  • Lessons learned
  • Project reporting
• Review and finalisation of course

Fees and Charges

 General Enrolments and Employees – $995.00 (GST FREE) with a $200 non-refundable deposit payable upon enrolment and the balance payable prior to commencement.

 Construction Tradespeople who hold an ABN – *$795.00 (GST FREE) with a $200 non-refundable deposit payable upon enrolment and the balance payable prior to commencement.

Government Funding

 This course IS ELIGIBLE for the $4000 existing working Government Funding.   Fill out our Funding Eligibility Pre-assessment Form and email it to us at mailbox@developmental.com.au to see if your employees are eligible.

Workshop Dates

 The last Brisbane Workshop for 2011 will be held on:

• Thursday December 1^st, 2011
• Friday December 2^nd, 2011
• Saturday December 3^rd, 2011

 The workshop hours are from 9.00am to 4.00pm, with an earlier finish possible on the third day.

Other Details

 Nationally Recognised Training

This qualification is a Nationally Recognised program, and DevelopMental Pty Ltd is a Registered Training Organisation, provider number 32229.

 Holistic Approach

This program is not divided into a unit by unit training program.  The units have been merged together to allow the course to flow logically.

How to Enrol

Simply go to our website at www.developmental.com.au/enrol.php, complete the enrolment form and one of our team will review your form and confirm your enrolment by email. 

Units of Competency:  

 Assessment

Assessment will be conducted in two stages.  The final assessment will be due in late January 2011.

• Stage 1 – in class completion of activities and assessment tasks
• Stage 2 – take home project

Inclusions

The following inclusions are covered in your course fees:

• Morning and Afternoon Tea
• Workbooks, folder and other materials
• Project management text book

 Note that lunch is not included.

Fair Work Information Sheet

Have you provided the Fair Work Information Sheet to your new employees? 

It is important that you meet the 10 minimum standards in the National Employment Standards (NES) that apply to employment of employees.

The Fair Work Australia website states the following:

From 1 January 2010, all employers covered by the national workplace relations system have an obligation to give each new employee a Fair Work Information Statement (the Statement) before, or as soon as possible after, the employee starts employment.

The Statement contains information about:

If you have not provided this to your employees, it would certainly be worthwhile to investigate your requirements further.  The Fair Work Australia website is available at http://www.fairwork.gov.au/employment/fair-work-information-statement/pages/default.aspx.  Read through the pages and find out the requirements for provision and the implications if it has not been provided.

If you would like to discuss this with a HR Consultant, contact Leisa Messer from HR Business direction – http://www.hrbd.com.au/index.html.

It is important that human resource management in SME’s is managed effectively and based on up to date knowledge and requirements.  Visit the website or talk to Leisa to find out what you need to do.

Tracey Abell

General Manager

The main aim is to bring people together so that they can support each other through any issues that they may be facing.  This is often done in business through the composition of similar level employees, such as a group of team leaders, engineers, project managers, and so on.

You will have also seen it in the general community, in not-for-profit organisations and self help groups.

If you are part of a MasterMind group, it is a similar concept to an action learning group.

For those of you who run a small business, you may consider meeting regularly (monthly for example), with a group of other small business owners.  The benefits of the support and the insight provided by your team will be invaluable.  (Remember to have a Confidentiality Agreement and a Code of Conduct).

More information on Action Learning Groups  can be seen at the following websites:

http://www.natpact.info/cms/316.php (A brief introduction on what Action Learning Groups are)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_learning (A definition and notes on application)

http://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv27651 (You can download a report of case studies on Action Learning Groups)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDJ9i7vrtzc  (Watch our short you-tube clip for an overview)

Tracey Abell

General Manager

This book may help you understand some of the mysteries of ‘RICH Idiots’.  That does sound harsh doesn’t it – I think that is one of the reasons that I picked up the book in the first place.

Robert Shemin is referring to those ‘RICH’ people, who are possibly not so smart, he calls them ‘Idiots’.  He has,  however, put some serious through into this – and presents a very strong argument for us to all become idiots too.

Robert Shemin - How come that idiots rich . . .

He notes that the average ‘SMART’ person is a classic overthinker – and by that – they miss opportunities that ‘Idiots’ may jump at. 

There is some serious merit to this book, as Robert reveals to us the mistakes that ‘Smart’ people make and provides us with tools and models to avoid those mistakes, and to retrain ourselves.  He talks about the power of self-belief, and the true motivating factors of our life, such as our family and our available time.  The age old “work smarter, not harder’ analogy is paramount.

Being ‘RICH’ means that you have time and money to do the things that matter to you.  If you want a more fulfilling life, this is a book that is worth reading.

As per all of our ‘Books of the Month’, you have the opportunity to win your very own copy.  Just ‘like’ us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/Developmental.Pty.Ltd ) and we will draw the winner out on the last day of the month.

This is a fantastic book – don’t miss it!

Tracey Abell -  General Manager

“Think and Grow Rich” was first published in 1937, and by 1970 when Napoleon Hill passed away, he had sold over 20 million copies.

And it is still a big seller world-wide.

Why?

Everyone who undertakes the endeavour to read this book will probably tell you something different that they gained, because each person develops an understanding of opportunity that is specific to their lives, skills and passions.  It is not a book to be read lightly and can take some time to read in full (and then it should be re-read as many gems of knowledge may not be evident on the first read).

I cannot reveal the secrets of this book, as what I have learned may not be relevant to you, but I have certainly learned some fascinating insights.  I recommend you grab a highlighter and a pen, highligh key points and write in the margins.

If you would like the chance to win your own copy, the monthly book draw will occur on the last day of September 2011.  Everyone who ‘likes’ the DevelopMental page on facebook will have a chance to win (we will post your copy to an address within Australia).

Tracey Abell – General Manager