Monthly Archive for March, 2021

Stress Management Course

Living with high levels of stress can put your entire well-being at risk. wreaking havoc on your emotional and physical health. It narrows your ability to think clearly, function effectively, and enjoy life. There may seem like there’s nothing you can do about stress, but you have a lot more control than you might think.

Effective stress management helps you to be happier, healthier, and more productive. It helps achieve a balanced life, with time for work, relaxation, and fun. Perhaps most importantly, good stress management helps you to develop resilience; meaning you are able to hold up under pressure and meet challenges head on. Infero’s stress management course helps you experiment and find out what works best for you.

STRESS MANAGEMENT

In this one day Infero course, participants will learn how to define stress and will learn to understand its effects on emotional health, examine strategies for coping with stress, employ mindfulness meditation techniques, learn how to make personal contacts positive and meaningful, and explore ways to attain and maintain emotional maturity.

Delivery Method – Instructor led, group-paced, online or classroom-delivery learning model with structured hands-on activities.

Prerequisites – There are no prerequisites for this course.

Course Objectives – You will examine strategies for coping with stress.

COURSE CONTENT
INTRODUCTION

Welcome and Introductions

Learning Objectives and Agenda

MODULE 1: Understanding Stress

Recognizing Stress

Identifying Behavior Patterns

The Three Stages of Stress

Examining Workplace Stress

Stress in Your Workplace

Understanding Burnout

Finding the Right Amount of Stress

MODULE 2: Taking Responsibility for Your Own Stress

Identifying Stress in Your Life

Coping with Stress

Stress Release

Case Study: Maria’s Overwhelming Stress

MODULE 3: Reducing Stress Through Biofeedback, Mindfulness, and Meditation

Understanding Biofeedback and Mindfulness

Meditation Exercise

Seven Attitudes That Contribute to Emotional Health

MODULE 4: Improving Relationships with Self and Others

Accepting Yourself as a Unique Individual

Realistic and Unrealistic Expectations

Assessing Your Strengths

Acknowledging Universal Human Needs

Building Better Relationships

Recognizing Negative Relationship Patterns

How Well Do You Relate to Others?

Case Study: John Relates to Family and Friends

MODULE 5: Enhancing Your Emotional Health

Understanding Emotional Maturity

Case Study: Roger Deals with a Common Problem

Exploring Your Own Emotional Fitness

Building Self-Confidence

Solving Problems Openly

Ten Tips for Maintaining Emotional Fitness

Case Study: Carol Looks Ahead

Setting Personal Goals

CONCLUSION

Learning Objectives Review

Course Evaluation

Call us to find out the latest deals on the course and to enrol today.

6 Ways to Beat Stress

April is Stress Awareness month and we all know what it’s like to feel stressed, but it’s not easy to describe exactly what stress means. When we say things like “this is stressful” or “I’m stressed”, we usually talk about situations that put pressure on us – for example, times where we have lots to do and think about, or don’t have much control over what happens.

What is Stress?

When we feel stressed, we often find it hard to sleep or eat well, and poor diet and lack of sleep can affect our physical health, which, in turn can make us feel more stressed emotionally.

Why We Experience It

The issue is that when we feel anxious, our bodies release hormones called cortisol and adrenaline, the body’s automatic way of responding to a threat, sometimes called the “fight or flight” response. If you’re often stressed, then you’re probably producing high levels of these hormones, which can make you feel physically unwell and could affect your health in the longer term.

What to Do to Bust It

When stress becomes overwhelming, or it’s chronic, it can seriously affect your well-being. That’s why it’s important to have effective stress relievers that can calm your mind and your body.

1. Aromatherapy

Relaxing smells decrease stress hormones and make you feel energized, they also help shift your mood into more positive mode.

2. Try some meditation

At least, give it a go, even if you are very busy or are not sure if meditation is beneficial. There is huge amount of meditation apps on the market, also, lots of the apps are free.

3. Get moving

Start exercising, even if it is only a short stroll outside your office, or a brisk walk in the park.

4. Develop a positive self-talk habit

Praise yourself for every achievement however small it is.

5.  Practice yoga

The benefits of yoga are immeasurable. Practicing yoga improves strength, balance and flexibility, brings in more energy and brighter moods, helps you relax, which, in turn, helps you sleep better, which, in the end, helps you manage your stress level.

6. Do something you really enjoy

Allow yourself some time to do something you’ve always wanted but postponed it because there were more important things to do.

It could be anything from gardening, learning to draw or playing a musical instrument to quilting and doing embroidery or writing a poem or a novel.

If you aren’t into drawing or painting, consider colouring in a colouring book. Recently, colouring books for adults have risen in popularity; colouring can be a great stress reliever, can be done anywhere, anytime and doesn’t cost lots.

This are some suggestions for managing life’s inevitable ups and downs. There are many other tools to help keep stress at a manageable level. All you need to do is to experiment and find out for yourself which works better for you.

Is it Time to Learn Microsoft Project?

Microsoft Teams is one of the success stories of the last year, spurred on by the massive growth in home working brought about by the global pandemic. In fact, in October of 2020, Microsoft announced that Teams had reached 115 million daily active users.

Microsoft project management software however includes not only Teams but also Microsoft Project. However, whereas Teams was launched in 2017, MS Project has been in the business for almost four decades. For a long time, the de facto software for Project Management, it is still very widely used for complex projects.

MS Project is scalable and can accommodate all sizes of business from start-ups to enterprises, across numerous industries, whatever their project plan. It can be used for an extremely wide range of project activities, including:

  • Development of project plans
  • The creation of Gantt charts
  • Managing & creating budgets
  • Resource assignment
  • Progress tracking
  • Task scheduling
  • Creation of very detailed graphical reports
  • Provides a big picture view of organizational capacity
  • For Team management

Obviously, Ms Project has seamless integration with Microsoft Teams. Microsoft are also introducing some really smart integrations with Power BI. As well as the desktop version there is also Microsoft Project Online, a cloud-based, web browser version of MS Project. Built on the SharePoint platform, Project Online stores data in the SharePoint data store. Just like it’s the desktop counterpart, it offers resources to help plan, prioritize and manage workflows of all different kinds.

If you want to learn more about SharePoint, we have a blog here. And if you’d like to know how project management is made easier with MS Project, try here.

If you’re persuaded that you should learn MS Project, Infero have an industry leading course for you. The details are below.

Microsoft Project Introduction

This course is designed to familiarize you with the basic features and functions of Microsoft Project Professional 2013 so that you can use it effectively and efficiently in a real-world environment. It is an instructor led, group-paced, Live Virtual/Classroom training with structured hands-on activities.

Target Students – Students taking this course are responsible for managing projects in a work environment. This includes creating and maintaining project plans.

Prerequisites – You should have basic project management knowledge and skills. It will be helpful if you have familiarity and competency in using other Microsoft Office applications.

Certification – This course is one of a series of courses that addresses Microsoft Certified Application Specialist (Microsoft Business Certification) skill sets. The Microsoft Certified Application Specialist program is for individuals who use Microsoft’s business desktop software and who seek recognition for their expertise with specific Microsoft products. Certification candidates must pass one or more proficiency exams in order to earn Microsoft Certified Application Specialist certification.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • Start planning a Project
  • Work with Project Calendars
  • Work with Project Tasks
  • Work with Project Resources
  • Deliver a Project Plan

Course Content

Lesson 1: Starting a Project

Topic A: Project Management 101

Topic B: Navigate and Customize the Project 2013 Interface

Topic C: Add Tasks to a Project

Topic D: Add Resources to a Project

Topic E: Save a Project

Lesson 2: Working with Project Calendars

Topic A: Manage Project Time Frames

Topic B: Change Working Time

Lesson 3: Working with Project Tasks

Topic A: Manage Project Tasks

Topic B: Add Summary Tasks and Milestones

Lesson 4: Working with Project Resources

Topic A: Manage Project Resources

Topic B: Allocate and Level Work Resources

Lesson 5: Delivering a Project Plan

Topic A: Print Project Views

Topic B: Share Projects

Topic C: Export Projects

Contact us here at Infero Training today to find out more.

Access Opportunity: The D2N2 Skills Access Hub

If you are a SME (Small-to-Medium-sized Enterprise), you may be missing out on an opportunity to Increase the skills of your employees and find out more about funding options available for training, as well as developing connections with training providers

It’s often difficult to know how to choose and access the right training and support for your business. The D2N2 Skills Access Hub can help with all enquiries regarding training, recruitment, apprenticeships and placements.

Is Your Business Eligible.

If your business is:

  • Based in Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham or Nottinghamshire
  • Employs fewer than 250 employees
  • One where less than 25% of the business is owned by an organisation that in itself is not an SME
  • One where annual turnover does not exceed €50m or its annual balance sheet does not exceed €43m

The great news is that, yes, your business is eligible for support from the D2N2 Skills Access Hub.

Delivery Partners for the scheme are Futures for Business, who can help you with growing, adapting, thriving and succeeding with training; the University of Nottingham, who can provide an exceptional research-led education; Direct Help & Advice, an independent charity, with a background in delivering accessible training to the local community, and Nottingham City Council, who offers a variety of support for local businesses, including PRINCE2 Project Management, Office 365 and Microsoft Excel, and many more.

The D2N2 Skills Access Hub officially launched on the 1st October 2020 and will run until 30th September 2023. It was designed to support businesses across D2N2 through advice, training and recruitment.

To find out more, visit the website, get in touch by emailing or by or completing the online enquiry form.