Joanne has undertaken occasional, short term, project or consultancy work for businesses especially where the enterprise, often but not necessarily a small one, needs some practical work completed.
Case studies of work undertaken by BOFI since 2006 can be provided to clients as needed and as appropriate. The identities of the organisations are not revealed.
Graduates of the BOFI Effective Leadership program.
The following comments are reproduced verbatim from feedback obtained as part of the evaluation process that concludes each Effective Leadership program:
The question put to participants was, ‘please name the most useful parts of the program':
- Managing up.
- Planning – I had a ‘lightbulb moment’ and realised the importance of this, and that it is actually work!
- Understanding ‘self and where I fit in this crazy world.
- Drilling down into the detail of each module. Time management and motivation were most useful – I am practising these every day.
- Each module served a purpose and was useful when implementing what I learnt into the workplace.
- Definitely the delegation modules.
- The opportunity to flesh out and clarify responses to exercises and modules with my personal coach each week was invaluable. It pushed me further and gave each week more value.
- Feedback/discussion with coach.
- Coaching session with Joanne. Able to have open communication with her in a confidential manner.
- Modules 6 & 7 – Planning and Delegation.
- Time management, delegation. Coaching sessions have been useful to reflect on topics and share experiences.
Feedback is also requested regarding the performance of the coach and the coaching process itself:
‘I found the coaching sessions cemented what I had learned, and also gave me the opportunity to discuss some real life examples and issues I was encountering. It was really useful to have Joanne’s impartial input and feedback’.
‘I loved how everything was so relevant to my work’.
‘Joanne is very friendly and easy to open up to so discussing each module with her was always a good experience and useful to my development’.
‘My coach Joanne was always helpful and challenged my answers in a respectful way which aided my learning’.
‘Joanne provides an open and honest feedback to my modules which helps to break the learning into manageable and real life chunks.
- Always very open and honest discussion and feedback.
- Jo was approachable, knowledgeable and understanding of workplace and the company. She listened well and provided opinion and insight where appropriate’.
‘I looked forward to speaking with Joanne each week. Very supportive, inquisitive, but non-confrontational’.
‘I believe the personal coaching approach allows for a more open and relaxed environment. The coach is able to focus their time solely to the one person rather than a whole class’.
‘Coaching gave the opportunity to focus on the areas that individuals find useful or difficult rather than getting caught in the mass of what a group may not understand.
I believe that using the personal coaching approach with the materials provided helped me transfer more of what I learned into my daily work life than if I had attended a traditional workshop based Leadership program’.
‘It allows for real life discussions which have real value and meaning and can be immediately implemented’.
‘Can literally get off the phone and go straight to my desk/my team and implement/test what I had just discussed’.
‘I think going at your own pace on a weekly basis helps greatly when transferring what I learnt into my work life. A structured classroom environment can seem more of a chore’.
Using typical work situations from my team helps to apply learning practically.
As above. Additionally, Joanne made a point of seeking clarification on how principles learned could/would be used within my team.
As per reasons above (i.e. ‘Don't think the classroom style suits me’.)
I have definitely applied many aspects and have challenged myself particularly in delegation and planning.
This gave opportunity to provide examples of why concepts may or may not work’.
It is important that we receive feedback about the quality of the Leadership materials developed for this program:
‘Informative, good references so I could pursue further reading if required’.
‘Loved the references and appendix provided to allow us to learn more in these areas. Materials allowed for flexibility and were easy to follow with a good flow’.
‘Materials were clear and concise-not fluffy. Easy to follow. References were good’.
Testimonials: Professional Effectiveness or Optimising You program
The responses given here are as expressed by graduates of the Personal & Professional Effectiveness Program conducted for an organisation. This program is now called 'Optimising You'.
Which part of the program did you find most useful and why?
‘I found Topic one to be the most useful because I was able to sit back and reflect on myself as a person and where I sat on a professional level. I also found the self-assessment questionnaire under communication and motivation really gave me insight into how I worked and what motivated me to work’.
‘Conflict resolution and understanding other people’s needs/wants so I can better adapt my approach’.
‘Topic 2- Personal effectiveness as it made me understand my interpersonal style in greater depth’.
‘Human behaviours and dealing with conflict. It was really eye opening and made me take a broader look at the situation and not focus solely on my own feelings’.
‘Topic 5 – prioritising, scheduling and time management’.
‘Topics 2 and 8 I found most practical with evaluating others- how people are motivated, communication styles & negotiation’.
Please comment on your coach (Joanne) and give reasons for your assessment:
‘I felt my coach had great insight into seeing things in a different way and was able to give advice to me on ways of approaching situations differently to achieve a better outcome’.
‘I found Joanne to be very helpful and she always took the time to work through ideas or new methods I could apply to my role’.
‘Joanne was very easy to talk to & gave more context on topics/answers. She was very accommodating when I missed a session/called late as I was not at my desk & this was appreciated. It was good that she had an understanding of what [name of company was here] does as she could relate topics covered back to our specific roles’.
‘My coach made me feel comfortable about being open and honest when discussing my responses to the exercises’.
‘Joanne was fantastic; the one on one coaching was really effective and Joanne had some very insightful points of view’.
‘Joanne has a wonderful communication style & I thoroughly enjoyed working with her & hope to again in the future..’
‘Friendly and approachable. Easy to talk to. Non-judgemental. Gave lots of fabulous advice. Makes topics relevant to the individual and their job role’.
Please make any comment on the materials and give reasons that will be constructive in terms of ways the materials may be improved:
‘I found the materials very helpful and there were a lot of interesting tools and tricks that I have never been exposed to before that I will definitely take into consideration when making critical business decisions or meeting with internal and external clients’.
‘Comprehensive, informative & a great resource!’
‘The materials & book were all relevant & useful. The MBTI was particularly good’.
