Learning - OpenCircle

Learning

Our Learning Centre is filled with exclusive content for our OpenCircle Members. Offerings include in-class, instructor-led online, and self-paced learning to give you the flexibility to learn on a schedule that fits your needs.


Imagine our Supervisor Training Program (STP) experts delivering targeted training right at your workplace or at a nearby venue in your community.

This kind of focused approach ensures your supervisors learn from experienced professionals in an in-person class setting, have the opportunity to share their personal insights and experiences, and best of all — are able to connect with their peers.

Featured Learning

OpenCircle is proud to launch our Leadership in Business Series. Several instructor-led online courses designed to help grow and sustain your company. 

Working in collaboration with MNP, these courses are designed to build and evolve fundamental skills as a business owner. including finance, strategy, and leadership.

Understanding the need for options – you can take as few, or as many of the courses as you like. 

Member exclusive offer

Sign up for the entire series and you’ll get one of the $250 courses for free.

To receive this exclusive offer, please register here.

Finance

Financial Fluency (Part 1) 

Do you speak accountant? Are you fluent in speaking banker? Your accountant and banker both play key roles in the success of your business. They want to be part of your success, and you want them to provide you the best support for building your business.

When you are more ‘financially fluent,’ you can get better value from your accountant, and you can get more of what you want from your bank.

To find out more about how you can ask your accountant and banker better questions and present your business needs better, enroll in our Financial Fluency sessions.

After completing Financial Fluency Part 1, you will be able to:

  • Read and understand basic financial statement concepts
  • Understand the inter-relationship between financial statement items
  • Find practical ways to use financial information to identify the areas of your business that are flourishing and the areas that require improvement
  • Understand cash requirements and what budgeting is required

Next course date: September 7  Register here

Part 2 of this course builds on the learnings from Part 1, focusing on interpreting financial information and using it for decision making. Topics covered include:

  • Discuss drivers of profitability for your business
  • Identify key areas of financial statements that determine if fraud is a factor in the business
  • Learn common ratios and how to compare to benchmarks and trends
  • Identify immediate business strategies to increase revenues and decrease expenditures

Next course date: October 4  Register here

If you ever want to scare your accountant, tell them that you manage your operations and your company’s profitability just by looking at your bank account! In reality, this is not advisable. In business, it’s cash flow that’s king. You want to collect from customers as soon as possible, and you need the cash on hand when it is time for payroll, you need the cash on hand when it’s time to pay the bills, and you need the cash on hand when it’s time to invest in your business’ growth.

Businesses that manage their cash flow well can bridge the gap from surviving to thriving. They can operate smoothly and invest in the things that make them more successful.

To learn more about how to manage your business’ cash flow effectively, join us in our Managing Cash Flow session.

In this session, we will use a case study exercise to:

  • Identify the steps in developing a cash flow statement
  • Learn basic tools to help effectively manage cash flow

Next course date: November 2   Register here

Strategy

Do you know the value of your business? Have you been thinking about selling your business or passing it on to the next generation? Has your accountant asked you what your business is worth for tax planning purposes?

If you would like to make your business more valuable, sell your business for more, or build a tax planning strategy that’s right for you, you’ll want to know what professional business valuators look for in a business – because you should look for the same things in your business!

Determining the value of a business can involve the analysis of various factors, including financial performance, market position, growth potential, intellectual property, customer base, operational efficiency, and more. A professional business valuator delves into these aspects to gain a comprehensive understanding of a company’s worth.

In this session you will:

  • Learn techniques business valuators use to value a business
  • Discuss case examples, along with terms and strategies to maximize value

Next course date: September 29  Register here

When your business is operating at its best, you and your team are focused on that right things and are delivering value to your customers. When it’s not going well, you may find that the same work is being done more than once, time is being wasted, or people are actually doing the wrong “things.”

Understanding what your business should keep doing, stop doing, or do differently, and then implementing those changes – is known as business process improvement. It’s like a ‘tune up’ for your business. Even fixing a collection of a few ‘little things’ can end up making a big difference to your customers and even your bottom line.

To learn more about how to make the best use of your time, people, and tools so that you can create more value for your customers, enroll today.

In this session, you will learn:

  • The concept of process improvement and how it applies to your business
  • Specific tools that can be used to implement process improvement within your business
  • How to define value for your customers
  • How to capture your current state of processes and develop future state
  • How to improve your business processes

Next course date: October 18  Register here

Leadership

“Failing to plan is planning to fail” – you’ve heard it a million times.

But planning for your business is different from planning an event, planning a vacation, or most other planning in your day-to-day life. Effective business planning involves examining and building in the critical elements that will help you achieve your business goals.

Whether you want to change your business, grow your business, or keep your business relatively the same, you will want to build your business management muscles to plan, measure, and execute to make sure you get there – wherever ‘there’ is.

In this session you will learn how to develop:

  • The essential components of a well-written business plan
  • A clear and simple method of developing an operational guide for business
  • A comprehensive business plan outline that is simple and easy to follow

Next course date: September 28  Register here

“The coach can’t score.” When it’s time for players to perform during the game, the coach can’t perform for them. The coach’s job is to help enable the players perform at their best and work really well as a team to win.

Just like high performing sports teams, businesses need great coaches too. The best business coaches leverage their team’s skills, experience, and available tools to help their employees and their team ‘win’ at what they set out to do.

Upon completion of this session, participants will understand:

  • The facilitation of continuous improvement and career development through ongoing performance coaching conversations with team members
  • The principles of effective coaching and communication in performance discussions with team members
  • The principles of confidently providing ongoing feedback to team members and handling emotion in discussion
  • The process for performance coaching and formal and informal performance discussions

Next course date: October 11  Register here

Supervisors and Project Co-ordinators play an integral role on the worksite. Although you may have more experience than the employees you supervise, you may not have the leadership knowledge or adequate skillset to ensure your success. The courses in this program will help build the skills you need so you become effective in your role.

This training program has been designed to help you become a more effective supervisor in the construction industry. By training you in the various aspects of successful communication, productivity, and time management – among other things – this course will help you build the skills necessary to expertly coach, connect with, and create a safe and respectful working environment for your team.

Next course dates:

Online:

July 11    Register here

November 7    Register here

In person:

Edmonton

September 26    Register here

*Participants will earn 5 Gold Seal credits, 33 Blue Seal hours upon successful completion of this program*

To have us come to your company to train your employees in person, please contact learning@opencircle.ca

Effective leadership is both challenging and highly demanding. Managing communication, budgets, and schedules can be a daunting task without an experienced and dedicated leader. This program was designed for supervisors, managers, forepersons, and project managers  to enhance the skills required to lead in today’s complex and diverse work environment.

Next course dates:

Online:

October 30  Register here

*Participants will earn 5 Gold Seal credits, 27 Blue Seal hours upon successful completion of this program*

To have us come to your company to train your employees in person, please contact learning@opencircle.ca

This on-line  course introduces valuable tools and techniques that will assist Project Co-ordinators in their daily activities and prepare them for the transition to Project Manager.

Designed for the Construction Project Co-ordinator, new-to-role Project Managers, Safety Co-ordinators and new-to-role Estimators.

For further inquires, send an email to learning@opencircle.ca.

*Participants will earn 3 Gold Seal credits upon successful completion of this program*

There are many misconceptions and stigma surrounding mental health issues and often construction and trades people suffer in silence. Below are just a few of OpenCircle’s courses that help bring awareness and understanding of mental health in the workplace.

People leaders play a pivotal role within the organization by helping to create an environment that promotes mental health. This includes addressing behaviour and performance issues effectively and sensitively. This program encourages people leaders to take an active role in preserving and enhancing workplace well-being.

This program also explores the people leaders’ responsibilities towards individuals, the team and the business during each stage. People leaders get to explore their role and scope of influence in promoting mental health in the workplace.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Explain the importance of sustaining a mentally healthy workplace
  • Describe the best practices outlined in the stages of workplace mental health support
  • Identify and locate resources for support

This is a virtual, self-paced course.  Register here

The Workplace Mental Health Leadership™ certificate program is the first of its kind in Canada, developed in partnership with the Bell Canada Mental Health and Anti-Stigma Research Chair and Faculty of Health Sciences at Queen’s University. This 2-day certificate program focuses on fostering leadership practices and competencies that support the development of a mentally healthy workplace. It equips leaders to effectively respond to and manage mental health challenges in the workplace.

Next course dates:

November 7 & 16  Register here

November 21 & 23  Register here

This six-module program is designed by Telus Health to help employees expand their awareness of mental health so they can maintain their own mental health and offer a bridge to support for co-workers experiencing a mental disorder or temporary mental health problem. Modules include What is Good Mental Health, Reducing Stigma, and Exploring Emotional Intelligence.

Sign up