Personal and Professional Management Development in English, in France.

Client Review of a Tonyversity Learning Programme

By on Jun 9, 2009 in What we've done | 0 comments

Background

Tonyversity recently developed and delivered a bespoke learning programme for a rapidly-rising, young French manager working for a company with a global client base and a requirement for excellence and confidence in English to support client contact, relationship development, contract negotiation etc.

The task was therefore to sharpen and apply his English language fluency in all forms and contexts whilst also developing and honing presentation and negotiation technique.

The programme lasted 21 hours spread over some seven weeks. The principal (but by no means the only outcomes) were:

  • the raising of his TOEIC score by approaching 200 points, putting him in the ‘gold’ or ‘excellent’ category
  • greater day to day confidence working with clients in English such that he has now received significantly extended management responsibilities and feels well prepared for interview for promotion (also in English).

Tonyversity posed him some basic questions upon programme completion, and his ‘open’ responses are as follows:


Tonyversity: from our initial meeting – how did you feel the relationship developed? Did we manage to ‘hit it off’ together and did you leave with some confidence that you would be getting what you wanted?    Response: yes for sure! The first meeting gave me the feeling that I can reach my objective because you understood my needs and provided me with a roadmap to meet them.

Tonyversity: how did you feel about the idea of being able to discuss and agree together your targets and work on them flexibly? Response: that worked because I didn’t feel like a student… your key to success is definitely your flexibility to follow the needs of your client…

Tonyversity: how did the idea of us working together on your own workplace materials and projects work for you? Response: It’s good to work in an environment I already know well, so I prefer to work on materials I’m used to seeing every day (like Powerpoint presentations…).

Tonyversity: how was the support between timetabled sessions?   Response: Sure that’s been a help and gave me the confidence that if I’m not sure, I can ask you to help me!

Tonyversity: how did the atmosphere here help relax you into learning?    Response: Yeaaah, you know my feeling, it’s more than a relaxed learning session: you became a friend!

Tonyversity: what did you feel about the added value of being able to talk Management AND English at a high level and to ‘bounce’ ideas around .. ie ‘Its not just about English… it is about how to think in clearer management terms’…? Response: This is where you score compared to your competitors… your management skill helps to understand how to manage a situation in English, where the English is just a tool to reach the objective… So I would recommend that you to keep and develop that aspect of understanding the field your client is in to best answer his needs.

Tonyversity:to what extent did you feel you achieved your objectives over a relatively short time… as exemplified by your results (TOEIC) plus your confidence and development and your company’s confidence in you?    Response: thanks to you, I’m now sure that confidence is the key to progress not just in English but in work too… Regarding the short time we spent working together, I can say that I felt really motivated to work with you to achieve my goal, in fact it didn’t feel ‘work’ at all – which was a great help!

Tonyversity: what do you feel you can now do that you couldn’t do nearly so well before?    Response: taking the phone and calling a new client. Or discussing over a coffee with an existing client or colleague. I can also provide, in my meeting or phone call, the ‘small talk’ that helps build a closer business relationship (i.e. one of my clients, who I think now finds it easier to get on with me since I am more confident with her).

Tonyversity: was there any ‘added value’ that came out of the learning experience which you didn’t expect?   Response: your smile, your way of thinking that my achievement will be your best achievement more that the bucks on an invoice… Also, the episode where we worked together on my current work campaign… I didn’t expect to work on my project with my English teacher… but we did it!