Hands-on, Practical, Applicable
We believe in teaching practical, learnable techniques that can be applied to each individual’s context and used immediately regardless of scale, sector or discipline. Fistral courses and workshops focus on hands-on individual and group-based activities, as well as theory, to enable participants to get the most out of the sessions.
By focusing on a number of tried and trusted techniques, we strip away a lot of the ‘white noise’ which surrounds projects, communication and leadership, to get to the heart of the make or break issues. And, most importantly, we don’t just talk about these – we are implementing them in every project we’re involved with so we know they work. This is what we bring to our training: tried, tested and trusted real life.
Participants and employers appreciate the level of relevance and contextualisation that Fistral brings to all-staff and researcher training. Often this is achieved with minimal re-development as trainers use their extensive expertise and experiences to contextualise to the needs of the group on the day.
Course delegates testify increased effectiveness and efficiency immediately in their current role. In addition to the improved morale and self-confidence gained from professional training, they comment on the value of the trainers’ real-life expertise and experiences, as well as the sharing of best practice, tools, tips and techniques that we know make a difference in industry and academia.
Employers appreciate the added-value that external practitioners bring when demonstrating applicability within, as well as across, sectors, and recognise that our work-based, relevant and interprofessional approach delivers tangible improvements in the workplace.
Relevant, Best Practice
Using their expertise as practitioners, trainers share professional insights and good practice tools and techniques of what ‘works’ in real life. Their experience in industry, HEIs and working with
Fistral is unique in that most of our trainers hold doctorates. All of our trainers are active practitioners, and have have worked in education/HEI settings as well as with third sector and industry organisations.
This means that they have the credibility and confidence that the training and learning practices are tied-to industry needs and professional best practice, as well as an in-depth understanding of what it means to be a researcher working within a knowledge-intensive environment.
As active practitioners in their field, trainers are professionally certified which ensures that the tools and learning are pertinent, current, applicable, practical and focused on techniques and skills that are used in real life by experienced practitioners: they genuinely “practise what they preach”.
The Fistral team use this experience to provide professional insights, recommendations, guidance, practical tips and real-life scenarios. This is one key reason why our courses consistently receive ratings of ‘Very Good’ or ‘Excellent’.
High Quality & Customer Service
We are committed to strong Quality Assurance (QA) and ongoing monitoring of our services and training provision to ensure that it continues to meet the high standards that Fistral and our customers expect.
Anything less than Very Good (4 out of 5) is discussed with partners and in-house to ensure quality training and positive ongoing participant experiences.
We make this commitment because we want to provide the best service we can to our customers and because we place high value on the feedback provided by customers and course participants as this helps us continually improve our services and the personal and professional development of our employees and the company as a whole.
In addition, the following Fistral statements and Policies are available on request:
- Maintaining Quality & Monitoring Courses & Services
- GDPR & Data Handling
- Equality & Diversity
- Sustainability
- Health & Safety
Product Suite
The Fistral Product Suite is separated into four areas: Project Management; Leading & Influencing; Communication & Collaboration; and Personal Effectiveness.
Project Management, Leading & Influencing, Communication & Collaboration, and Personal Effectiveness courses are successfully delivered off-the-shelf, but can be easily customised, combined or tailored to match organisational and participant needs with minimal development input.
The Fistral team have extensive experience designing and developing staff and researcher programmes with customers to provide Project, Portfolio, Leadership and Management pathways for specific groups and all-staff. Pathways can easily be aligned to ILM, CMI, PMI levels as well as other professional bodies.
Project Management sessions are aligned to the Project Management Institute (PMI), and some of our softer-skills courses are underpinned by Everything DiSC®, A Wiley Brand.
Professional Certification
All of our Project Management training is aligned to the Project Management Institute and can lead to a globally recognised professional Certification in Project Management – Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® or Project Management Professional (PMP)®. Read about Fistral’s CAPM/PMP Training Programme here.
In addition to developing PMI and CMI pathways, Fistral training is often used by organisations as part of their internal or external accreditation pathways and programmes. Fistral courses can be tailored bespoke for the organisation or used off-the-shelf.
Fistral courses have been used in: accredited University-awarded Certificates for staff or researchers, Institute of Leadership and Managment (ILM) and Chartered Management Institute (CMI) programmes, as part of European Credit Transfer Scheme (ECTS), or linked to University-recognised credit-bearing pathways. Informally, training courses have also been used by many individuals when evidencing professional portfolios, for example towards CMI, ILM, PDP and Chartered status.
Researcher Focused
Fistral courses provide transferable skills that are directly applicable for researchers at any level. Tools and techniques can be applied to work immediately on return to desk or lab. The usefulness and relevance of the training is evidenced in the excellent feedback we receive from HEIs, Doctoral Colleges, ETNs, DTCs, ITNs, CDTs and staff working in international research organisations.
Our CAPM and PMP Project Management certification pathways are particularly popular with PhDs and all researchers as they provide a route to globally recognised, industry-aligned, professional certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI).
In addition, other courses particularly popular with CDTs, Doctoral Colleges, ETNs, ITNs, ECRs and MCAs that are specifically contextualised for research include:
- Leadership and Teambuilding Techniques;
- Advanced Research Team Leadership;
- Keeping on Top of Your Research or PhD: Time Management Strategies;
- Professional Communication Skills;
- Releasing Your Research Leadership Potential;
- Practical Leadership: Getting the Best out of Your Team;
- Influencing without Authority: Using Personal Power to Persuade & Convince Others;
- Research Project Management & Planning for Uncertainty; and
- Managing Complex Research Projects
We also provide some courses aimed solely at PhD students. For example for first-years – Kick-start Your PhD, Control Your PhD and Keeping on Top of Your PhD – and for final year PhDs – Finishing your PhD on Time. Contact Us for more information.
Space Focused
Our practical transferable skills courses for the Space Sector focus on best practice as well as the tools and techniques that we know work in this environment. Using over 10 years of experience with a wide range staff at all levels across a range of organisations at sites all over Europe, and supporting a variety of missions, the applicability and relevance of our consultancy and training can be seen in ongoing excellent feedback.
Our PMI-aligned Project Management courses are particularly popular in this sector, as is Agile PM, Leadership, Teamworking and Professional Communication. Fistral courses are contextualised for space, aerospace, energy and engineering, as well as delivered bespoke and tailored to the ESA environment.
Courses currently chosen by Space Sector and contextualised for partners cover topics such as:
- Project Management
- Risk Management
- Agile Project Management
- Leadership – for New Team Leaders and also more Advanced Leadership techniques
- Professional Communication
- Managing Difficult Behaviour and Challenging Situations
- Time Management
- Decision Making
- Assertiveness
Courses can also be tailored to directly align and reference an organisation’s methodology or approach. Linked to the relevance and usefulness of the training we are often asked to deliver bespoke workshops for staff involved in projects and missions. Contact Us for more information.