Who we have helped

We boast a portfolio of loyal and satisfied clients that include Macquarie Bank, CHEP Asia Pacific, Optus SingTel and The Wrigley Company. Some of our recent assignments include:

• Developing the resilience and interpersonal skills of a marketing team through intensive workshops and follow-up coaching
• Building the leadership skills of a senior manager through individual coaching sessions

• Developing the leadership and interpersonal skills for a management team through EQ focused workshops and coaching
• Providing feedback and mentoring for a managing director through monthly one-on-one consultations

How we have helped

A summary of feedback from our clients shows that our training interventions have resulted in:

• A reduction of negative emotions, such as frustration, defensiveness and anger
• Less avoidance behaviour, resulting in the tackling of issues as they arise
• Increased empathy for others

• More effective communication
• Confidence and readiness to deal with change
• Increased commitment to the team
• Pro-active and resilient attitude to workplace challenges

What they say about us

"Michael Rooke has that WOW factor that so many facilitators lack. We consider ourselves to be very lucky to have secured his services and I can assure you that other companies would feel the same way. I would bump him up to the top of the facilitator list if I were you because if one facilitator can secure your repeat business, it is Michael Rooke".

Milo-Arne Peady

Macquarie Bank

“I knew our audience expected a lot. Michael met their expectations, then exceeded them. He spoke on emotional intelligence, and our audience lapped it up. They loved it. Michael made the presentation very interactive and entertaining. People laughed a lot, yet were highly engaged. He clearly practices what he preaches - he’s a very friendly, authentic human being, and a pleasure to work with. I unreservedly recommend Michael as a speaker and trainer on emotional intelligence. “

Paul Jones

Founder

Last Thursday Club

(networking for Sydney's creatives)

“Michael has taught me much more than the basics of Project Management, Michael has taught me business skills that I can use in any role now or in the future. He has taught me the benefits of working with data so that I am in a position to make an informed decision. He has taught me about taking a systematic approach to problem solving rather than jumping straight into looking for a solution. Most importantly Michael has taught me about people and communication."

Jeff Wall

Project Manager

The Wrigley Company

• The course was tailored to the participants needs meaning that it was directly relevant to what we wanted to take away from the course. One of the first things Michael did was to get us to write our pressing questions on flipcharts and throughout the course he would refer back to those questions and show us how these were answered.

• Hands-on activities worked very well to demonstrate the how-to and how-not-to lessons in project management. Michael's approach of using analogies with domino towers, paper arches and post-it notes for a wedding was surprisingly a powerful way of demonstrating the lessons of project management.

• Touching on the soft-skills involved in project management. While this was not really part of the program, Michael did spend some time discussing soft-skills and its importance in project management. These soft-skills—e.g. managing expectations of sponsors and stakeholders, how to deal with difficult issues with sponsors / stakeholder, keeping everyone happy and in the loop—are often just as important as the management of the overt side of project management.

• Detailed course notes and example templates. This is what I was primarily after and think the notes will definitely come in handy.

I would recommend this course to BAs and PMs but also to business managers who might find themselves in the role of Project Sponsor."

[Client Confidential]

Financial Services Sector Client

"The course was very beneficial to me as it was timely and allowed me to reflect on how other people behave, especially in relation to the power of optimism. I took into account that people want reassurance and need information when presented with major change."

"Since the training I’ve committed myself to meeting and discussing relevant issues with the staff members that report to me on a more routine basis. The outcome from this has been positive, as people have been discussing their frustrations. It has also given me the opportunity to address any issues that need to be discussed. Reduced avoidance behaviour has resulted."

"This situation would normally be one I would avoid at all costs and try to hide in the background. Instead after attending the workshop I conducted a quick ABC and decided to take control."

"By focusing on reducing negative or defensive attitudes, and recognising the need to satisfy the relative positions involved, I was able to make positive progress on the project."

"I used the two key learning’s in EI - Reading the emotions of others - displaying empathy - and teaming up with others. The two EI key learning’s made my job much easier in getting the team on board to re-organise the team and get their commitment."

"A couple of points from the Attitude & Action for Team improvement workshop have helped. Doing the hard stuff first rather than procrastinating is helping to achieve the set timelines. An insight into my DISC profile has helped me see things about myself which I can improve on (e.g. don’t over analyse, don’t put off making decisions while waiting for all the data, improving communication by modifying style to suit the person). Resilient thinking when the going gets tough."

"I learned to control anger better, and not become defensive compared to before. I need to work at reminding myself when somebody is blaming me for a bad event, it is not necessarily my failure which then leads to more positive thinking and allows me to improve my ability to resolve issues objectively."

"Prior to attempting this course of action had a feeling of mounting pressure of expectations because of the number of urgent things being required to be done. Now setting myself timelines to work on and achieve pressing needs. I am also handing off work which can be done by others freeing me up to complete other required work."

"Now feel less pressure though still some with pressing work and feel that I am getting work out quicker than previously."