RSC are probably the most famous theatre company in the world, employing over 1000 people, plus volunteers. We have worked with them since 2009.
We have built a strong relationship with staff there, working with them at their Head Office, The Other Place, at their props workshop and costume store and their office in the West End in London.
Initially starting out with a training session on Organising Meetings and Minute Taking, we have since delivered many more courses, mainly on Microsoft Office products.
Training Workshops
One idea which has proved to be most popular with RSC staff, is the one day IT workshop sessions we offer them. The idea originated when we were training at the Birmingham Royal Ballet. It proved extremely successful there, and the RSC liked the approach, so decided to implement the same process.
They book us for a day’s IT training at a specific level, then members of staff reserve hourly slots to see us on a one-to-one basis to learn a specific topic they are interested in. They come in either to learn something new, learn the “right” way to do something having been self-taught, or to try to resolve a problem in their own work, when we look at files they are working on and help to sort out specific issues. This saves them having to sit through a whole day’s training, enables bite-size learning and they can work with their own documents if required.
It has proved an extremely popular approach over the years. Examples of requests have included teaching the basics of PowerPoint, introduction to formulas in Excel, doing MailMerge in Word, sending emails with attachments in Outlook, using Macros in Excel, using Pivot Tables in Excel, introduction to Microsoft Project, using Styles and Tables of Contents in Microsoft Word, etc.
Another area we have provided assistance with was coaching and training for a member of staff who had suffered terrible injuries in an accident and couldn’t initially do his normal job when he returned to work. The RSC arranged for us to give him one-to-one training in Microsoft Office programs so that he could do a desk-based job until he was fit enough to return to his own area on the technical side.
Outcome
Staff feedback is always extremely positive about the training and benefits are felt by the organisation as a whole.
What the Client said
“Janet and her associates have been providing high calibre training for the RSC for ten years.
Janet’s friendly and approachable style has ensured that our employees keep coming back for more.
She has facilitated Microsoft training on a 1:1 level, ensuring that bespoke knowledge is received.
Janet has also provided successful 1:1 coaching over the years.”
Deborah Pendleton
Training and Development Officer
The Royal Shakespeare Company
Case Studies