RTM Consulting

Consulting and professional services are all about people – people your customers expect to be highly trained and capable in whatever areas of expertise necessary to solve their problems. Well trained staff get the job done right the first time, and delivered with peak efficiency. Research shows employees are also more engaged in their work and tend to exhibit more brand loyalty with firms that invest in their employees. RTM Consulting is at the forefront of the training industry and can provide experienced knowledge transfer and training to equip and prepare your teams for successful execution of a technology professional services and consulting business. Our training can be delivered at your location (or selected location) or over the internet covering topics for technology professional services including:

• Skills Development for Consultants & Delivery Practitioners
• Skills Development for Project Managers
• Resource Management
• SOW Writing
• Skills Development for New Delivery Managers

 

Skills Development for Consultants & Delivery Practitioners

Succeeding as a Consultant can be challenging. Most companies invest a lot of time, money and effort on training their consultants on products and technology. But do they really know how to: effectively prepare for their consulting assignment, work as part of a project team, engage with a client, build strong relationships, diagnose and solve problems, manage client expectations, and communicate effectively – the fundamental skills every consultant needs. Designed to provide foundational competency development for consultants, this course is modular and can be adapted to meet specific need and budget. Time commitment can range from two (2) hours to one (1) full day of content. The training can be delivered to your team in a traditional classroom or virtually over the web by a qualified RTMC instructor. Contact us to learn more and discuss delivery options for Consulting Fundamentals. The course is also available 24×7 in an on-demand format. See below for additional details.

Consulting Fundamentals

This is an introductory course designed to provide foundational competency development for anyone starting their career as a consultant or making a change to enter into the field of consulting.  Learn what it means to be a consultant, understand the nature of a consulting assignment and how to prepare, and review the dynamics of working within a project team.  The course is available 24×7 in an on-demand format. See below for additional details.

Curriculum Highlights:

• Defining the Role of a Consultant: Key responsibilities; attributes of a successful consultant; understanding the different types of consultants; how is success measured as a consultant
• Behaviors of an Effective Consultant: Effective communication skills; giving advice effectively; managing customer expectations; earning a customer’s trust; building relationships with your customers
• Preparing for your consulting assignment and succeeding as part of a project team
• Understanding the Tools a Successful Consultant Needs: Navigating difficult situations; recognizing issues and risks; problem solving; growing in your role as a consultant; building and leveraging your support system

Advanced Consulting Skills Development

The Advanced Consulting Skills Development training series focuses on enhancing the consultative soft skills of consulting and professional services personnel to complement their product, business, and technical knowledge. The six (6) soft skills courses will help your technologists become better consultants.  The six (6) courses are modular with a time commitment that can range from one (1) hour for an individual course on-demand to three (3) days of content for all six (6) courses combined with interactive case study exercises. The training can be delivered to your team in a traditional classroom or virtually over the web by a qualified RTMC instructor. Contact us to discuss delivery options. The six courses are also available 24×7 in an on-demand format. See below for additional details.

Curriculum Highlights:

• Soft Skills in the Engagement Lifecycle: Discusses the importance of consultative soft skills and how and where they are applied during interactions that occur during each stage of an engagement
• Role & Dynamics of a Consultant: Explores key attributes and behaviors that a consultant needs to build to be successful and gives practical advice for building good business relationships and working toward becoming a Trusted Advisor.
• Communication Strategy and Tactics:  Provides practical strategies and techniques for communicating more effectively; begins with a focus on active listening and then provides tools to plan and structure messages in order to effectively communicate with stakeholders at all levels; discusses how to communicate bad news during an engagement; explores how to run more effective calls and meetings.
• Risk and Issue Management: Focuses on risk and issue management from a consultants perspective; how to determine the difference between a risk and an issue; how to communicate risks and issues effectively; how to most effectively utilize an issues log to manage issues
• Scope Management:  Focuses on more effective scope management from a consultants perspective; the importance of scope definition and management; key communication techniques for handling situations when customers ask for more during an engagement
• Identifying, Communicating, and Capturing Value:  Defines the elements of an effective value proposition and how consultants deliver value to customers throughout an engagement; introduces the concept of upselling/cross-selling and helps students overcome the fear of it; defines how and where to look for opportunities and leads

Practical Project Management for the Non-Project Manager

This course is designed to provide a foundational Project Management competency for resources who are not traditional Project Managers.  We know many organizations have times where they find themselves asking delivery resources to step in and manage a project. But do those resources know how to: define and manage scope, manage stakeholders, identify and mitigate risks and issues, communicate with stakeholders, and deal with escalations – the fundamental skills anyone playing the role of a Project Manager needs.  The course is available 24×7 in an on-demand format. See below for additional details.

Curriculum Highlights:

• Introduce the field of project management and what it means to be a project manager
• Understand the difference between being a part of a project team and being responsible for managing the project
• Learn key elements of project management – why they are important and how to apply them
• Learn practical techniques to help you step in and successfully manage a project

Skills Development for Project Managers

Advanced Project Management Skills Development

A lot of time, money and effort is spent training project managers on methodologies. But do they really know how to: effectively engage with a client; manage scope creep; and effectively handle complaints and issues – the skills every project manager needs. The Advanced Project Management Skills Development training focuses on enhancing the soft skills of project managers to complement their methodology, business, and technical knowledge.

The four (4) courses are modular and can be customized to meet specific need and budget. Time commitment can range from one (1) hour for an individual course on-demand to 2 days of content for all four (4) courses combined with interactive case study exercises. The training can be delivered to your team in a traditional classroom or virtually over the web by a qualified RTMC instructor. Contact us to discuss delivery options. The courses are also available 24×7 in an on-demand format. See below for additional details.

Curriculum Highlights:

• Role & Dynamics of a Project Manager:  Defines the role and responsibility of a project manager; explores a PM authority and responsibilities; discusses behaviors of a successful project manager
• Communication Strategy and Tactics:  Provides tools and techniques for communicating various types of information throughout an engagement and to various stakeholders; discusses how to develop and deliver messages; discusses effective meeting management techniques
• Scope and Change Management:  Defines the importance of scope definition and effective practices for scope management; discusses key communication techniques for handling situations when customers ask for more during an engagement;  discusses how to manage the change process and its relationship to scope management
• Identifying, Communicating, and Capturing Value:  Defines the elements of an effective value proposition and how project teams deliver value to customers throughout an engagement; introduces the concept of “Up-selling” and helps participants overcome the fear of it; defines how and where to look for opportunities and leads

Resource Management

Just-in-Time Resourcing® (JITR) is the holy grail of today’s consulting and professional services providers. RTM Consulting utilizes Global Resource Management (GRM), a process methodology developed for achieving highly efficient deployment of human capital as part of our Just-in-Time Resourcing® brand of human capital management services. Whether your company is large or small, efficiently managing human capital will mean the difference between success and failure. RTM Consulting, through our subsidiary organization, the Resource Management Institute (RMI), has built the following resource management curriculum:

Introduction to Resource Management

The Introduction to Resource Management course is designed to provide foundational competency development for professionals new to resource management that work in organizations that focus on project-based work. The course is available 24×7 in an on-demand format. See below for additional details.

Click here to visit the Resource Management Institute for more information on the Introduction to Resource Management course and to register.

Resource Management Certified Professional (RMCP)®

This first-of-its-kind professional certification program is specifically designed for resource managers, promoting and supporting competency development for resource management (RM) professionals. Certification demonstrates a level of proficiency in RM theory and application, and a commitment to professional development and a career in RM. Additionally, the RMCP® program provides access to valuable thought leadership, best practices, networks and resources to help RM professionals better manage human capital productivity and utilization.

Click here to visit the Resource Management Institute for more information on the RMCP® program including class schedules, and registration.

Resource Management Soft Skills

Most organizations invest time, money, and effort training resource managers on resource management processes and tools. But do they really know how to: effectively communicate and build relationships with stakeholders at all organizational levels, set and manage expectations, challenge existing ideas or push back on “bad” behavior when necessary, and effectively handle complaints and issues – the soft skills every resource manager needs. The Resource Management Soft Skills development program focuses on enhancing the soft skills of resource managers to complement their RM process, business, and systems knowledge.

Click here to visit the Resource Management Institute for more information on the Resource Management Soft Skills training course and to register.

Next Level Resource Management

As more companies realize resource management is the real high-water mark of peak project performance and service excellence, they are challenging their Resource Management Office (RMO) to become more strategic and produce better business outcomes. The RMI’s Next Level Resource Management curriculum is focused on educating participants on the importance of resource management and how to increase the strategic focus of their RMO, improve business outcomes from resource management processes, and leverage process and technology to support more effective resource management.

Click here to visit the Resource Management Institute for more information on the Strategic Resource Management training course and to register.

Click here to visit the Resource Management Institute for more information on the Advanced Resource Management training course and to register.

 

The Art of Writing an SOW

The Statement of Work (SOW) sets the foundation for the scope, financial terms (price, payment terms, etc.) and delivery terms for your project. SOWs with incomplete or inaccurate details can often result in tension and conflict within delivery teams, contribute to unsatisfied customers, and possibly introduce potential legal and/or financial risks. Poorly written SOWs, containing inexplicit terms and ambiguous scope, set a project up to fail.  Our SOW writing course will provide your team with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to write full scope, detailed SOWs and ensure more successful project delivery.  The course is available 24×7 in an on-demand format. See below for additional details.

Delivery Manager Skills Development

Making the transition from a delivery expert to a delivery manager role is not always easy. Most companies’ Human Resources departments help with the vital aspects of people management (hiring, firing, compensation, etc.), but few departments deal with equipping a manager with the proper skills necessary for effective execution of the operational aspects of delivery management.

Delivery management requires a fundamental understanding of the operational aspects of the job. RTM Consulting believes managing projects, and staffs which execute them, is not the same as “doing” the projects. Successful delivery managers understand how to build better collaboration with their sales teams, and the critical touch-points that mean the difference between success and failure for project handoffs. This intensive training prepares new delivery managers to hit the ground running and feel confident in their ability to help manage projects on-time and on-budget.

Contact us for more information on Delivery Manager Skills Development training.