WOLFGANG LÜCHTRATH
TRAINING
MAKE AN IMPACT

My effectiveness training sessions are structured individually according to the respective setting, target group, professional requirements, and training objectives.
The clear definition of the objectives enables me to tailor the session design to the client’s specific needs. My training formats can be used as building blocks in continuing education programs and personnel development programs.
While I am an associate at several consulting companies, I also do freelance work.

This gives me a high degree of flexibility while affording my clients access to a number of first-class consulting networks.

Many companies have contracts with one or more of these consultants, making it easy for HR departments to enlist my services unbureaucratically.

 

All training sessions can be conducted in person, online, or as hybrid meetings.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
# systematic development of leadership employees
# individual measures for development of leadership employees
# individual on-the-job training programs in companies/organizations
# New Work programs
# online training and education
# career programs
# strategy meetings
# workshops and town hall meetings
# large-group training sessions
# employee qualification programs
# sales qualification programs
# trainee programs
# team-building events
# agility workshops
# health management
# preparation for trade fairs
# preparation for proposals and acquisition pitches
Theoretically, any group is a potential target group.
Practically speaking, however, there are certain groups that seek out effectiveness training more often than others. They include:
# Executives
# Upper management employees
# Experts
# High-potentials
# Trainees

Their professional requirements play a central role. The training focuses on whatever directly contributes to the success of the target group. The measure of success is the recognizable, effective increase in the performance of the individual participants.

I always focus on practical applicability.
My training comprises about 70% practical exercises and individual tips and recommendations, 20% mutual reflection and just 10% theoretical input.
With all interventions introduced, the goal is their successful application in the real world.

Of course, there always has to be some input.
The input depends on the target group and their professional responsibilities, and all input is also practice-oriented.
This ensures the new learnings can actually be used in the real world – and ideally, they should become routine.

Because "hearing" is not the same as "understanding."
"Understood" is not the same as "put to use."
"Put to use" is not the same as "applied successfully."
"Applied successfully" is still not "consistently successful."

Personal impact and practical application in the real world are the focus of all my effectiveness training. Participants practice actively as much as possible. Another central success factor is the individual feedback between the group and the trainer. Practical tips and tricks make it easier to apply in the real world what has been learned in the training sessions.

a)
BODY, BREATHING, VOICE AND SPEECH

# Stage presence
# Relaxation techniques
# Centrering exercises
# Tai Chi-based exercises
# Yoga-based exercises
# Awareness exercises
# Speech training
# Breathing exercises
# Voice exercises
# Camera training
# Microphone training
# Exercises to promote authentic body language
# Improvisational theater exercises
# Practical simulations/role play
# Individual feedback

b)
REFLECTION – CLARITY
# Self-assessment
# Clarification of roles/responsibilities
# Clarification of specific situations
# Clarification of goals/objectives
# Exercises for perception and communication
# Intuition exercises
# Empathy exercises
# Reflective exercises drawn from developmental psychology, transaction analysis, behavioral therapy, psychodrama, schema therapy
# Exercises drawn from constellation therapy
# Methods drawn from emTrace emotional coaching
# Models, reflections and interventions based on Riemann and later adherents
# Personality models
# Questionnaires
# Practical simulations/role play
# Individual feedback

c)
EMPHASIS ON COMMUNICATION / BEHAVIOR

# Communication models
# Communication exercises
# Rhetoric models
# Rhetoric exercises
# Change communication
# Behavioral communication
# Conflict moderation
# Methods for communicating ambiguity
# Quick-wittedness training
# Influence techniques
# Target-group analysis
# Practical simulations/role play
# Individual feedback
a)
EMPHASIS ON LEADERSHIP
# Training for key leadership moments
# Practical simulations with individual feedback
# Achieving 360° impact: models, exercises, and reflection
# How to conduct meetings and discussions
# How to give presentations
# How to handle and solve conflicts
# Training for empathy and emotional intelligence
# Team roles: models, reflection
# Situational leadership: models, exercises
# Personality models and types
# Training for professional leadership without hierarchical power
# Training to lead virtual teams
# Influence techniques
# Training: When saying no is the right way to go
# Online communication
# Power games – How to play and win

b)
EMPHASIS ON MEETINGS
# Reasons for meetings
# Meeting objectives
# Preparing for meetings
# Types of meetings
# Manuals and agendas
- Pep talks
- Giving feedback
- Offering criticism
- Conversations with stressed employees
- Goal-setting meetings
- Annual assessment interviews
- etc.
# Simulations / role play
# Feedback on personal impact
# Individual effectiveness tips
# Reiteration

c)
EMPHASIS ON TEAM-BUILDING
# Team roles
# Group processes
# Team culture
# Dysfunctional – functional teams
# Team communication
# Virtual teams

d)
EMPHASIS ON MODERATING
# Moderating a meeting
# The role of the moderator
# Diverse roles – different styles
# Participation and ownership
# Moderating conflicts
# Conflict mediation
# Interactive large-group formats

e)
EMPHASIS ON PRESENTATION
# Presentation techniques
# Stage presence
# Online presence
# Concrete work on specific presentations
# Target group analysis
# Clarification of core messages
# Effectively conveying core messages
# Question-and-answer training

f)
EMPHASIS ON MANAGEMENT
# Communicating management tools
# Communicating company development and strategy
# Communicating change
# Implementing agility tools
# Leading agile teams
Effective training usually adheres to a conventional modular structure, enabling single or multiple sessions.

They may be individual measures based on an acute need, or part of a systematic personnel development program.
They can take place in person, online, or in a hybrid format.

SINGLE-MODULE IMPACT TRAINING
# Practical workshops and team qualifications for specific needs
# Modules within a systematic personnel development program
# Modules within a systematic management development program
# Modules for sales qualifications
# Interventions at large-scale events
# Interventions at kick-offs, world cafés, dialog conferences, marketplaces, town hall meetings, etc.
# Part of circle training, method marketplaces, etc.
# Part of elective educational/training programs
# In preparation for proposals or pitches
# Part of strategy events, change events, agility events, sales events, etc.


MULTIPLE-MODULE IMPACT TRAINING
# Modules build on each other
# Each module focuses on a different aspect
# May also include or team workshops to address a specific issue, or as part of a systematic personnel development program

Here's an example of what an impact training program might look like:
# Module 1: Fundamentals of personal impact
# Module 2: Dealing with disruptions, problems, difficulties
# Module 3: Voice, speech, diction
# Module 4: Practical exercises in small groups, with individual presentations and/or interviews, feedback from the group, and practical tips from the trainer
# Module 5: Answering unanswered questions, reiteration and review to deepen the transfer of skills

Partly.
Some fundamentals of personal effectiveness can be trained either in-person or online. Some of the issues participants have are directly related to their professional appearance in front of the camera or microphone.
And because of the medium, online training requires its own particular skill set – not to mention the fact that mutual perception is impeded when all participants are in completely different rooms.
Moreover, some exercises are only effective in person, while others actually work better online.
Things often take a little longer online. At the same time, people's attention span is shorter, so more compact units are required, along with frequent breaks and relaxation exercises to avoid online fatigue.
The sustainable anchoring of learning outcomes is a key to the lasting success of any training.
Effective anchoring includes:
1.
A preliminary assignment in which the participants clarify their individual goals
2.
An ongoing process that promotes practical transfer of knowledge from the beginning and throughout each entire unit, and again at the end of each module
3.
Work assignments and working groups between the modules, keeping abreast of interesting films, lectures, issues, etc., which are made available to the participants
4.
Follow-ups focused on anchoring what has been learned in professional practice, such as handouts, advanced learning platforms, reminders/notifications, sounding board partners, practice groups,
advanced coaching, etc.
a)
EXPERTISE AS A CONSULTANT
Any good training program begins with the clarification of the task in advance of the actual sessions. This is where competence as a consultant comes in – and that means, first and foremost, listening to the client, asking questions, coming to an understanding, agreeing on goals.

b)
CONCEPTUAL STRENGTH
In dialog with the client, the trainer creates a training concept that specifies the platform (in-person, online, hybrid), invitation, and preliminary assignment. It may also include blended learning tools, a training guide, handouts, follow-up assignments, and ensuring long-term viability.

c)
COMPEREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW COMPANIES ARE RUN, WITH PARTICULAR COMPETENCE IN PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The concept requires a number of personnel and organizational development competencies, depending on the nature of the planned measure. Various tasks include, for example:
# Designing, preparing and executing focus training sessions
# Compiling multi-module programs
# Embedding the training in personnel development strategies
# Designing, executing and moderating training sessions for large groups
# Designing and moderating dialog conferences or panel discussions
# Training/ Coaching/Sparring partner: The first 100 days in my new job
# Getting teams ready for proposals/pitches
# Sounding board for teams: Communicating measures
# Executive-Sparring: Representing the company to the world///The face of the company///The role of a company spokesperson
# Making dysfunctional teams functional//work ///Getting dysfunctional teams back in shape
# Eliminating creative block within teams///Making dead-end teams creative
# Designing and executing virtual team-building measures
# Combining strategy meetings with effectiveness sessions
# Training personnel managers in professional behavioral observation techniques and how to conduct evaluations in job interviews and assessment centers
# Planning and executing workshops on occupational mental health
# Assuring the sustainability of measures implemented

d)
EXPERTISE IN CONDUCTING TRAINING SESSIONS
This includes:
# Venue/virtual platform, time frame, content, objectives, target group are all the right fit.
# The objectives specify the necessary methods – and not the other way around!
# The invitation is attractive and appealing.
# The preliminary assignment is appropriate, understandable, constructive and not overwhelming. It relies on communication channels that are already familiar to the participants: email, Teams, blended learning platforms, etc.
# The training materials are professional and appealing.
# Online, the trainer uses a variety of practical tools just as naturally as they would use a flipchart, pinboard or cue cards in a seminar room.
# In each setting, they very quickly succeed in creating a trusting and concentrated working atmosphere. The participants are engaged from the very first minute.
# The trainer can train small or large groups equally well.
# The trainer knows their stuff from practical experience – not just from textbooks.
# The trainer knows, understands and appreciates the realities of the participants' lives.
# The trainer has good social skills and enjoys working with a wide variety of people.
# The trainer responds to participants individually, establishing genuine contact with them.
# The trainer is intelligible and uses practical, familiar terms rather than jargon and buzzwords.
# The trainer is not glued to their methods but adapts pragmatically as required in order to ensure the optimal benefits for each individual within the group.
# The trainer has a broad range of methods available to respond spontaneously and satisfactorily to the needs of the group and individuals.
# The trainer practices self-criticism, realizes when something is not working and is unconditionally willing to change their approach and try something else if necessary.
# The trainer is wholeheartedly open for feedback and critique from the participants, seeing it as a valuable contribution as opposed to an attack, and can immediately adapt the situation so that the feedback contributes to the training success.
# The trainer loves their job, working with people and seeing the training take hold.
# The trainer has a sense of humor and is able to create a pleasant, stress-free learning atmosphere.

e)
POST-PROCESSING/DOCUMENTATION
# The trainer knows has a wide range of methods available for ensuring the ongoing effectiveness of the training.
# The trainer takes advantage of the latest methods and findings.
# The trainer continually develops and executes training in collaboration with the client, integrating participants' feedback.