Courses
The self-paced courses provide core knowledge and materials in a certain topic. Certificate-Series provide core skills and materials in a certain skill set. Each course includes the following:
- Online, self-paced and student-friendly access for maximum flexibility
- Access to relevant, practical downloadable tools and resources
- Clear and concise video presentation featuring industry experts
(videos can be stopped and resumed) - Brief, focused self-assessments before and after each course
- Learning Journal for focused reflection, learning and development (Journals for Courses do not receive individual feedback as they do in Series)
- Optional pathway to Certificate-Series
- Networking and private discussion group with students and faculty
Learners can choose to complete only certain components of a course, or all of the components to earn a Certificate in a Series. It takes 60-90 minutes to complete a course sufficient to qualify as a course in the Certificate-Series. Courses must be completed within 30 days, unless an extension is granted. Fees range from $25 to $35 for each course.
Professional Consulting (3 Courses)
Roles, Goals and Reasons in Consulting
Grasp the foundational concepts, terms and practices you need to know as a consultant. Classify the type of consultant that you are. Understand the most common overall approaches for solving complex problems with clients. Recognize who your real client — your most influential person — is at different times in a project.
60-90 minutes
Primary Methods—and Myths—in Consulting
Don’t make the mistake of using the wrong method at the wrong time. Know which methods to use and when, and how to switch seamlessly among them. Also, get more clarity with clients by dispelling the most common myths about methods – and about you as an internal or external consultant.
60-90 minutes
Standards, Principles and Risks in Consulting
Immediately recognize risks that can threaten the success of your consulting and your business. Establish your most important principles to navigate the complex ethical challenges that can occur in consulting. Know exactly what to do and whom to involve when needed.
60-90 minutes
Authentic Engagement with Clients (4 Courses)
Understanding Yourself as Consultant
Your personality is the most powerful tool in your consulting. How you interact with clients can make – or break – the success of your consulting. Understand your biases, style of consulting, how you handle conflict and feedback – and what you see and don’t see in your clients’ organizations.
60-90 minutes
Building Trust, Commitment and Collaboration With Clients
Your clients will hire you and use your recommendations only if they trust you. In today’s highly stressful and diverse organizations, trust can be hard to earn – and maintain. Know which interpersonal skills are most important, how to use them and when. Nurture successful relationships in any situation.
60-90 minutes
Facilitating Group Decision-Making and Problem Solving
You can leverage the most impact when working with teams in your clients’ organizations. Equip yourself with practical techniques and tools for any purpose in your facilitating. Always gain maximum participation, productivity and learning for team members.
60-90 minutes
Coaching Conversations for Momentum, Actions and Learning
Coaching conversations are a very powerful method to support clients through the challenges and complexities of change in their organizations. Learn how and when to use coaching to generate motivation, momentum and learning for yourself and others during your consulting.
60-90 minutes
Organizational Consulting (4 Courses)
Grasping the Big Picture In Organizations
Gain credibility and clarity with your clients by understanding the world in which they work. Don’t be afraid to talk about the “hard skills.” Understand your client’s organization and what needs to happen within it to make it successful. Know different kinds of leadership and when each is needed.
60-90 minutes
It’s All About Performance in Organizations
The bottom line for your client is performance – achieving the goals needed for their success. Learn how to design realistic and systematic project plans always focused on performance, and build in practical indicators to recognize and communicate successes.
60-90 minutes
Perspectives on Change in Organizations
This highly focused course and its many practical handouts explain the foundational principles and practices needed for successful change in any organization, including to ensure continued focus on performance, change and learning. Learn the barriers to change and how to overcome them.
60-90 minutes
Current Trends in Organizations
Organizations are changing like never before. Understand the most important trends affecting you and your clients. Know the new structures and strategies to recommend to your clients for them to remain sustainable and strong well into the future.
60-90 minutes
Collaborative Consulting (7 Courses)
Collaborative Consulting for Performance, Change & Learning
Learn the non-proprietary and flexible framework that underlies most of the successful approaches to solving complex problems and achieving significant goals in clients’ organizations – and that generates deep learning for you and your clients. (This is the foundation course for the Certificate-Series “Collaborative Consulting Training.”)
60-90 minutes
Consulting Phase 1: Contracting
Learn how to conduct the critical first meeting with your client. Gain quick methods to learn about your client, their organization and their problem to solve. Decide if your client is really ready for a project. Carefully conclude if the client and you are a good match. Know the most important elements to include in a contract.
60-90 minutes
Consulting Phase 2: Discovery
Efficiently gather the most important facts to separate symptoms from the true causes of your client’s problem. Target your consulting to solve the problem for the long term. Clearly and concisely share your recommendations so they’ll be implemented by your client.
60-90 minutes
Consulting Phase 3: Action Planning
Develop relevant, realistic and flexible action plans to implement each recommendation from the Discovery Phase. Include practical strategies to evaluate status, adapt plans as needed and communicate status to all necessary stakeholders.
60-90 minutes
Consulting Phase 4: Implementation
Grasp the techniques for you and your client to sustain the motivation and momentum needed to implement all of the action plans to solve your client’s problem. Learn to manage the natural resistance – the client’s and yours – when dealing with change.
60-90 minutes
Consulting Phase 5: Evaluation
Learn how to conduct focused and efficient evaluations to decide if your client’s problem has been solved or not. Collect many other benefits, including about what you and your client have learned about solving similar problems well into the future.
60-90 minutes
Consulting Phase 6: Termination
Learn to terminate the consulting project ethically, legally and administratively with a high level of professionalism. Recognize if the project needs to cycle back to an earlier phase in the consulting cycle, and how to do that in a smooth and orderly manner.
60-90 minutes
Facilitating Strategic Planning (5 Courses)
Facilitating Group Decision-Making and Problem Solving
Leverage the most impact when working with teams in your clients’ organizations. Gain practical techniques and tools for any purpose in your facilitating. Always gain maximum participation, learning and productivity for team members during your facilitating.
60-90 minutes
An Overview of Sensible Strategic Planning
Understand what is needed to efficiently produce a strategic plan that always remains relevant, realistic and flexible. The course is ideal for orienting your planners to a planning process that will position their organization to thrive well into the future.
60-90 minutes
Customizing Your Strategic Planning Process
When a strategic plan sits untouched on a shelf, it’s because the planning was not customized to the client’s organization. This course shares practical models, guidelines and handouts to quickly customize a planning process that will produce a relevant, realistic and flexible strategic planning process.
60-90 minutes
Deciding Your Strategic Priorities
Learn how to efficiently develop a mission statement that reflects the true purpose and priorities of your client’s organization. Identify strategic priorities based – not on wishful thinking – but on real strategic thinking and discussions. Begin completing the course’s adaptable template for a strategic plan.
60-90 minutes
Making Assignments and Monitoring your Strategic Plan
Make your plan a reality by developing practical action plans for each strategic priority. Select the best format for your plan document based on its target audience. Finish your plan document by completing the adaptable template provided in the course “Deciding Your Strategic Priorities.”
60-90 minutes
How it Works: To Enroll & Get Started
Enrollment Instructions
Create your account. Go to CDI’s learning site. Read the brief “Welcome” section and click on “Create new account”.
Select a course or series. Click on CDI’s Catalog of Courses and Certificate-Series, and select the desired course or series.
Enroll. Click on “Enroll me” in the course or series. Use Paypal for major credit cards, or enter an enrollment key if you have one.
Log-in & Learning Instructions
Log in. If you are not already logged in, then log into CDI’s learning site, using your username and password.
Start your course. Click on your course in the upper right. (For a series, follow the specified order of courses.) In the course, follow “Start Here”.
Proceed at your own pace. Interact with others in the discussion group. For support, see CDI Help Center. Email us if you finished a Certificate.
Got a question? Want to talk to us?
Contact CDI at info@ConsultantsDevelopmentInstitute.org or its sponsoring organization, Authenticity Consulting, LLC, at (763) 971-8890.