Don’t take our word for it, check out what our happy clients have said about us!
Team Coaching
Navigating change
Jo and Adrian have been fantastic partners as we navigate a challenging time of change with our team. We approached them to help us re-connect as a team, improve our understanding & ways of working together, and set some ground rules for navigating change together. They expertly and efficiently facilitated two workshops for us that kept the team engaged and taught us all a ton. We were left with great resources to use going forward and a better understanding of how to support each other with differing work styles in a virtual environment. We’ve already put into practice a ton of what we learned and developed in the workshops and the team has found it super valuable. Looking forward to working with them again!
Team Building
Jo Wright was recommended to me and recently facilitated a team building away day with the Creative Engagement team at Manchester International Festival (MIF).
She did a brilliant job and has helped us build greater understanding and stronger foundations as we head into a busy year ahead.
Team coaching, Team Development, Facilitation skills
In recent years I’ve asked Jo to come in and provide support to teams I’ve led at Save the Children, Ark and Barnardo’s.
At Save the Children Jo worked with me to strengthen the education and health teams, using a range of techniques including ‘Insights’. She did similar work with the Education Partnerships Group, which was a relatively new team within Ark, where Jo’s support enabled deeper and more collaborative relationships across a global team.
In Barnardo’s Jo supported a cohort of Children’s Services staff presenting at a conference to improve their presentation skills. In all these engagements, Jo brought deep professionalism in her planning and approach to the work, while also being flexible to the evolving needs of teams.
Jo’s a very warm and engaging facilitator while at the same always focused on the purpose of sessions and ensuring objectives are met in a timely fashion. I cannot recommend her highly enough.
Building trust and team development
I hired Jo to support my team’s development – as a team we had gone through a period of change and growth, and I wanted to bring everyone together to build on the foundation we have and develop the trust across the team. Furthermore, I wanted the new team to learn about each other’s preferences, and the complexities across income streams.
Jo took the time to thoroughly understand what our objectives were and helped focus my mind.
On the day itself Jo struck the right balance of keeping the day professional and creating a safe space and allowing people to bring some vulnerability, which made for deeper and more honest connections. Very powerful. The Insights Discovery tool provided the opportunity for every single member of the team to learn about themselves and crucially about other team members, their preferences and how to work together more effectively.
Back in the day to day, having this lens of the agreed language and insights has been useful, and it’s fantastic to see it people apply their learning. The impact has been extremely positive and the overarching objective has definitely been met. Thanks Jo, I’d definitely recommend.
Team coaching for evolution
Twice Jo has played a powerful role in helping my teams evolve. The engagements were different, but with both, we left different, better.
Jo’s power is her 1) wonderful listening skills, 2) ability to adapt to situations and deliver what is needed, and 3) timely infusions of creativity, humor, and compassion.
I have recommended Jo to others and would hire her a third without hesitation.
Team development awayday
Had a wonderful away day for our dept back in Sept – The first in 3 years so no mean feat for Jo to help us really drill down on the objectives and what success looked like.
Jo spent some time with me and really listened to what we wanted to get out of the day and took time to understand the team culture.
The results have been fab with real engagement across the team, and Jo is a joy to work with. Would highly recommend.
New team development
As a new team, which has been brought together during a pandemic, we saw the value in investing in development. Our aim is to create a highly effective, happy and authentic team so we reached out to Jo to help us on that journey.
We were genuinely included in the development of the day, through scoping calls and being able to feed in as the focus developed. The day was shaped in a way which was most effective to our organisation. I would say that was one of the things I valued the most; the content wasn’t just put upon us, it felt like it was a collaboration.
On the practical side Jo was across everything, quick to respond and kept the project working at a pace.
The feedback from the team has been universally positive for both their understanding of themselves in the workplace and the effectiveness of the team.
I have no hesitations to recommend Jo and am hopeful we will be working together again in the future.
Virtual team development
I would definitely recommend and would use again in the future. It was a pleasure working with them.”
Having worked with Jo in past roles I immediately thought of her when planning a leadership retreat with my team at IRC.
She last worked with me in November 2022 with the objective of building our team to perform at the highest level, based on renewed trust.
Jo was quick to identify a creative approach to the day and then adapted the plan based on some very astute preparatory calls with each team member. She created an environment that put the whole team at ease and wanting to be open with each other. We began to understood each other better and worked towards a common vision between us.
The day really helped lay foundations for the rest of our retreat and I appreciated Jo’s skill, insight and flexibility as a facilitator, coach and team builder.
Thank you.
Team coaching
Jo recently facilitated a team session with us so that we could work closer and better as a team and to really challenge any team elements that weren’t working. The session was great, it enabled us to get to the root problem of what wasn’t working and to create a cohesive plan of how to integrate small changes into the team to fix some of the problems, and also to celebrate what is going well. The honesty and input was highly appreciated by all. I highly recommend Jo and found the session invaluable
One to One Coaching
One to one coaching - Professional ballet dancer
Jo has a warmth, generosity and sense of understanding that made me feel immediately supported and safe. She helped me through an uncomfortable career transition by gently challenging my perspectives, helping me override my anxiety with inspiration. Many of her wise words still resonate with me now, a year later. Thank you Jo, for all you’ve done for me!
Exec/Life Coaching - exploring deeper 'life goals'
I came into this coaching conversation with some specific work-related issues. And while Jo worked with me on this topic, she also allowed the conversation to evolve into an exploration of deeper ‘life goals’ which I found exceptionally helpful.
Jo demonstrated a wonderful ability to get me to look beyond my self-imposed mental ‘boundaries’ and provide a safe space to better determine where my personal and professional priorities lay. She did this with wonderful warmth, humanity and humour, as well as some very insightful observations and reflections.
Leadership Coaching
I came to coaching to build my confidence in complex working groups, and to be better equipped to deal with difficult working relationships.
What did you value most about your coaching experience and your coach?
-Having the time and space to sit back and critically think about how to improve myself – it doesn’t happen very often as we’re always chasing deadlines!
-Being able to openly talk about challenges; I really loved how Jo pushed me to identify the root causes of the challenges, as well as potential solutions.
-This was my first coaching experience and I really enjoyed it. I liked that Jo challenged me at times and also held my hand at other times – it was the right mix.What difference has or will this coaching make to your life?
– I truly feel better equipped to face difficult situations – I now understand that confidence is not required to be successful which will have big impacts in my professional AND personal lives.– Being an introvert can work to my advantage!
– It’s given me the tools that I need to be able to step back and think more widely if/when I don’t feel that an experience went well.Jo had the perfect mix of professionalism and personalism. I felt really comfortable with her – I felt like she really cared which pushed me to want to improve myself. I would highly recommend Jo to others.
Navigating change
Jo and Adrian have been fantastic partners as we navigate a challenging time of change with our team. We approached them to help us re-connect as a team, improve our understanding & ways of working together, and set some ground rules for navigating change together. They expertly and efficiently facilitated two workshops for us that kept the team engaged and taught us all a ton. We were left with great resources to use going forward and a better understanding of how to support each other with differing work styles in a virtual environment. We’ve already put into practice a ton of what we learned and developed in the workshops and the team has found it super valuable. Looking forward to working with them again!
Team Building
She did a brilliant job and has helped us build greater understanding and stronger foundations as we head into a busy year ahead.
Leadership coaching
I recently engaged Jo to support me with leadership coaching as I took over the reins of the innocent foundation.
Having worked with Jo previously at the foundation on a strategy refresh and in a previous career, I was confident I would get the results I was seeking. Jo has been a fantastic sounding board and given me practical tips on how to approach difficult situations.
I feel more grounded in my position and secure in my ability. She has given me tools to draw on and confidence in my leadership style. It’s been a great process to embark on together.
Team coaching, Team Development, Facilitation skills
At Save the Children Jo worked with me to strengthen the education and health teams, using a range of techniques including ‘Insights’. She did similar work with the Education Partnerships Group, which was a relatively new team within Ark, where Jo’s support enabled deeper and more collaborative relationships across a global team.
In Barnardo’s Jo supported a cohort of Children’s Services staff presenting at a conference to improve their presentation skills. In all these engagements, Jo brought deep professionalism in her planning and approach to the work, while also being flexible to the evolving needs of teams.
Jo’s a very warm and engaging facilitator while at the same always focused on the purpose of sessions and ensuring objectives are met in a timely fashion. I cannot recommend her highly enough.
Building trust and team development
Jo took the time to thoroughly understand what our objectives were and helped focus my mind.
On the day itself Jo struck the right balance of keeping the day professional and creating a safe space and allowing people to bring some vulnerability, which made for deeper and more honest connections. Very powerful. The Insights Discovery tool provided the opportunity for every single member of the team to learn about themselves and crucially about other team members, their preferences and how to work together more effectively.
Back in the day to day, having this lens of the agreed language and insights has been useful, and it’s fantastic to see it people apply their learning. The impact has been extremely positive and the overarching objective has definitely been met. Thanks Jo, I’d definitely recommend.
Executive coaching over 7 years
Jo is an exceptional and experienced executive coach. I have been working with her 1-2-1 over a period of 7 years starting when I stepped up to a senior leadership role. I work with Jo at times when I need additional support or have a professional challenge I choose to address.
I have found that there is no issue or aspiration that she can’t help me with and I always leave our sessions with a range of ideas/tools and a structured pathway forward we have developed together.
Jo is warm and friendly and always very well prepared for each session, helping me build on the work we have previously undertaken.
I can’t recommend her highly enough as someone who has helped me enormously in my career to face challenges and unlock potential. It provides me with so much confidence to know that I can turn to her.
Team coaching for evolution
Jo’s power is her 1) wonderful listening skills, 2) ability to adapt to situations and deliver what is needed, and 3) timely infusions of creativity, humor, and compassion.
I have recommended Jo to others and would hire her a third without hesitation.
Facilitation
We worked with Jo to support our new objectives setting and PDR process through a series of sessions for different teams.
I really enjoyed the workshop I was part of, the resources and discussions were engaging, jargon-free and gave me plenty of tools to not only development my own objectives, but to support my team to develop theirs.
Jo’s approach really helped me to refine my thinking, I’ve used many of the tips that Jo shared for other pieces of work too.
Managing difficult conversations
The London Library engaged Jo Wright of Phoenix to deliver a series of workshops for our staff aimed at Managing Difficult Conversations. We are a private membership library which prides itself on the excellent level of service provided. Sometimes it can be a challenge for our employees to maintain this in the face of occasional problematic behaviour. The post pandemic period has been particularly hard for our people.
I had worked with Jo for many years at Comic Relief, and she was a natural person to turn to. She provided the most compelling proposal in a competitive process, and was endorsed by our internal training and development steering group. Jo took her time to accurately assess our needs and pitch the training correctly for the diverse needs of our delegates, which included several members of the exec team as well as front line staff.
The training, when delivered, was received extremely positively by those who attended, was highly practical in nature and is now being actively applied at work. Jo has helped to build confidence and capability and spread a positive approach to challenges among a workforce who are always expected to go the extra mile for our members.
I would not hesitate to bring Jo back to run further training for us, and highly recommend her to other organisations looking for training of this nature.
Effective feedback - Team conversations
What makes Jo stand out from other facilitators is her responsiveness to our organisation’s needs. We didn’t feel like the training was off the shelf, but was clearly linked back to our specific needs and objectives which she had been briefed on.
She is able to balance time for reflection and injecting energy into the day when needed, adapting the schedule effectively. Our wider team gave very positive feedback on Jo’s training, including both the content as well as her inclusive manner of delivery.
Navigating change
Jo and Adrian have been fantastic partners as we navigate a challenging time of change with our team. We approached them to help us re-connect as a team, improve our understanding & ways of working together, and set some ground rules for navigating change together. They expertly and efficiently facilitated two workshops for us that kept the team engaged and taught us all a ton. We were left with great resources to use going forward and a better understanding of how to support each other with differing work styles in a virtual environment. We’ve already put into practice a ton of what we learned and developed in the workshops and the team has found it super valuable. Looking forward to working with them again!
Facilitating organisational alignment and values
Acme is incredibly grateful for the ongoing relationship that we have developed with Jo and Phoenix Training.
Jo has an extraordinary talent for getting to the heart of an organisation. We initially approached Jo to facilitate an organisational values workshop which very limited advance notice and within a tight time frame. Her approach was clear, pragmatic and impactful. The workshop facilitation was dynamic, fast-paced and respectful of individual voices whilst remaining on track and outcome focused.
Later, when we were looking for post-pandemic staff support and reconnection, Jo was the natural choice to help guide our transition. The design of her sessions is interactive and engaging. We particularly benefited from her ‘Lands’ model where staff in each of our departments could inhabit the experiences and responsibilities of other teams, leading to a more cohesive and collective understanding of our organisational mission and priorities.
More recently we have again turned to Jo to support a focused deep dive for staff and board into specific horizon scanning issues that impact and underpin our work. As an organisation we continue to build on the foundations that Jo helps to cement. We look forward to growing our relationship and working with her again when the need arises.
Organisational development
Facilitating a session on organisational values
Her approach was clear, pragmatic and impactful. The workshop facilitation was dynamic, fast-paced and respectful of individual voices whilst remaining on track and outcome focused.
As an organisation we continue to build on the foundations that Jo helped draw from us and look forward to working with her again when the need arises.
Team coaching, Team Development, Facilitation skills
At Save the Children Jo worked with me to strengthen the education and health teams, using a range of techniques including ‘Insights’. She did similar work with the Education Partnerships Group, which was a relatively new team within Ark, where Jo’s support enabled deeper and more collaborative relationships across a global team.
In Barnardo’s Jo supported a cohort of Children’s Services staff presenting at a conference to improve their presentation skills. In all these engagements, Jo brought deep professionalism in her planning and approach to the work, while also being flexible to the evolving needs of teams.
Jo’s a very warm and engaging facilitator while at the same always focused on the purpose of sessions and ensuring objectives are met in a timely fashion. I cannot recommend her highly enough.
Organisational values development
Modern Art Oxford had the pleasure of working with Phoenix Training & Coaching as facilitators for our our organisational values development. We found them both expert and careful in crafting the process and briefing participants, in feeding back on outcomes and next steps, and effective in charting a route towards consensus among our team, volunteers and Board members that is the beginning of a longer journey.
Paul Hobson, Director, Modern Art OxfordJo and Tara facilitated two workshops for us to explore our organisational values. Jo listened and understood the brief in a couple of short meetings and designed a process that was easily accessible for our whole team. I was a bit nervous about doing workshops for over thirty people on Zoom but Jo was so friendly and professional – she spent time explaining the process in detail and set up small breakout groups so that everyone had a chance to contribute. The workshops helped us to share our stories and get to the heart of our organisational values and broad agreement even in the first workshop. Our team really enjoyed the workshops and felt that Jo had a friendly and approachable style of working with the groups. This has given us a great foundation to continue this work with our team.
Helen Shilton, Head of Organisational Development and Operations, Modern Art Oxford
Facilitating virtual Thought Leadership Event
One of Jo’s many skills is giving you confidence that the plan will come together. As a co-founder of GenM, a start up with over 45 iconic brands now on board, it was imperative that the planning and facilitation of our inaugural, virtual Thought Leadership Event met expectations. Not only did Jo give us the confidence that the plan would come together, her attention to detail, problem solving and yes, patience was incredible. Jo facilitated the event in a really human and engaging way, including everyone and ensuring it was highly interactive. If you’re looking for the person who can deliver both the infrastructure and professional theatre on the day, look no further. Jo wright who runs Phoenix is here. We at GenM cannot recommend her highly enough. Thank You Jo for delivering what has undoubtedly been a successful event. You’re a pleasure to work with, Smiles.
Leadership Development
Leadership Coaching
What did you value most about your coaching experience and your coach?
-Having the time and space to sit back and critically think about how to improve myself – it doesn’t happen very often as we’re always chasing deadlines!
-Being able to openly talk about challenges; I really loved how Jo pushed me to identify the root causes of the challenges, as well as potential solutions.
-This was my first coaching experience and I really enjoyed it. I liked that Jo challenged me at times and also held my hand at other times – it was the right mix.What difference has or will this coaching make to your life?
– I truly feel better equipped to face difficult situations – I now understand that confidence is not required to be successful which will have big impacts in my professional AND personal lives.– Being an introvert can work to my advantage!
– It’s given me the tools that I need to be able to step back and think more widely if/when I don’t feel that an experience went well.Jo had the perfect mix of professionalism and personalism. I felt really comfortable with her – I felt like she really cared which pushed me to want to improve myself. I would highly recommend Jo to others.
Leadership coaching
Having worked with Jo previously at the foundation on a strategy refresh and in a previous career, I was confident I would get the results I was seeking. Jo has been a fantastic sounding board and given me practical tips on how to approach difficult situations.
I feel more grounded in my position and secure in my ability. She has given me tools to draw on and confidence in my leadership style. It’s been a great process to embark on together.
Team coaching for evolution
Jo’s power is her 1) wonderful listening skills, 2) ability to adapt to situations and deliver what is needed, and 3) timely infusions of creativity, humor, and compassion.
I have recommended Jo to others and would hire her a third without hesitation.
Leadership communication coaching
I just wanted to take some time to thank Jo for the work she has done with a team member, and to recommend her to others looking for excellent coaching.
Jo provided one to one coaching remotely to a member of my team focused on leadership communications skills.
My colleague has has really benefited. She wanted to focus on increasing her confidence and communication in a range of complex settings and better dealing with challenges working relationships.
Jo equipped my team member with really concrete tools to apply in challenging professional situations which have given her the confidence to effectively navigate challenging situations and working relationships. Different tactics suggested and explored with Jo have also enabled my colleague to increase her self-confidence to more actively contribute in group settings. So pleased to see an excellent team member really building her confidence to contribute even more effectively. Thanks again!
High Performing Teams: Exec Team Coaching
Both Jo and Isabel were brilliant throughout – understanding our needs and aspirations, keeping in close contact with me – including guiding and flexing plans as needed. They provided outstanding design, facilitation and support. They offered a depth and range of expertise and tools that have enabled us to flow with whatever was most needed at each particular phase of our development and progress as we sought to become a high performing team. They held our feet to the fire and kept us honest on process, content and values.
Jo and Isabel celebrated with us and inspired us – as well as enabling us to fully appreciate each other. Jo is truly a master of her art.
Leadership Team Development - Humanitarian Health Team
With just the right balance between theory and a pragmatic, real life focus, Jo and Adrian designed and facilitated a series of sessions that really helped us progress. Their facilitation was direct where needed, ensure we left nothing unsaid and left us feeling energised and more joined up as a team.
I really appreciated their style, structure and strategic approach and look forward to a continued collaboration with Phoenix
VB, Health Club Manager, Surrey
The team loved the leadership day and it really helped the team understand one and other and improve self-awareness!
Management Development
Leadership Coaching
What did you value most about your coaching experience and your coach?
-Having the time and space to sit back and critically think about how to improve myself – it doesn’t happen very often as we’re always chasing deadlines!
-Being able to openly talk about challenges; I really loved how Jo pushed me to identify the root causes of the challenges, as well as potential solutions.
-This was my first coaching experience and I really enjoyed it. I liked that Jo challenged me at times and also held my hand at other times – it was the right mix.What difference has or will this coaching make to your life?
– I truly feel better equipped to face difficult situations – I now understand that confidence is not required to be successful which will have big impacts in my professional AND personal lives.– Being an introvert can work to my advantage!
– It’s given me the tools that I need to be able to step back and think more widely if/when I don’t feel that an experience went well.Jo had the perfect mix of professionalism and personalism. I felt really comfortable with her – I felt like she really cared which pushed me to want to improve myself. I would highly recommend Jo to others.
I really enjoyed the workshop I was part of, the resources and discussions were engaging, jargon-free and gave me plenty of tools to not only development my own objectives, but to support my team to develop theirs.
Jo’s approach really helped me to refine my thinking, I’ve used many of the tips that Jo shared for other pieces of work too.
Effective feedback - Team conversations
What makes Jo stand out from other facilitators is her responsiveness to our organisation’s needs. We didn’t feel like the training was off the shelf, but was clearly linked back to our specific needs and objectives which she had been briefed on.
She is able to balance time for reflection and injecting energy into the day when needed, adapting the schedule effectively. Our wider team gave very positive feedback on Jo’s training, including both the content as well as her inclusive manner of delivery.
Management Development Programme
I originally engaged Jo to provide executive coaching to members of WFD’s leadership team (LT) back in 2019. Jo worked with us to first build an awareness of how coaching can deliver impact for LT and the wider organisation.
Later that year, WFD opened up an external exercise to procure an external partner to develop and deliver a virtually delivered management development programme (MDP) for the organisation. Phoenix’s MDP approach aligned well with WFD’s objectives and we launch the programme with our first cohort of managers in 2020.
Since then we have put 10 cohorts through the programme, and have seen a marked improvement in management standards and skills across the organisation in areas such as objective setting, managing workload, delegation, managing performance and staff development. The MDP provided by Jo and Phoenix has become a core part of our development offer for our managers.
Jo’s approach is extremely collaborative and she and her team have always looked to find practical solutions that work for us. She understands the problems we are trying to solve and offers options for us to address these through learning solutions. Jo always brings great energy to planning discussions and her training delivery. She is a pleasure to work with and always goes the extra mile to make sure that WFD are able to deliver quality learning for our staff.
Management Training - Objectives and Feedback conversations
Jo, is energetic and sincere, she inspired us to be completely in the room, to dedicate time to this training and work together. The tools for feedback, such as D I I, principles of managing performance and development conversations are examples I and the team will continue to use throughout UnLtd.
Management Development Programme
I asked Jo to deliver a management training to my team at Movember as most of them had never had any formal training on people management.
She developed a program that could adapt to actual managers as well as those who didn’t have direct line management responsibilities. This was incredibly helpful for all of them to understand the fundamental notions of people management (setting objectives, conducting 121s, coaching and delivering feedback, delegating efficiently…) and I’ve seen a real impact in the way they work together and deliver/accept constructive feedback. They are all really enthusiastic about what they have learned, how helpful it was and the way it was delivered.
I highly recommend Jo’s training and development programmes.
Debbie Pemberton
The Line Management Development Programme has been running at Comic Relief for the past 4 years, and consistently receives excellent feedback from our managers. The format of short workshops spread over a few months really allows managers time to apply their learning. The programme content and structure is excellent, and Jo’s experience as a facilitator, coach and trainer and her passion for the subject adds crucial value to the learner’s development in people management skills.
Happy Delegates
- “This programme is the best I have ever been on and that is mostly down to Jo.”
- “This programme has been a huge revelation for me, both professionally & personally, I’m actually really sad it’s ending. I feel there is so much in the programme that would benefit me that I need to find ways to refresh it and remember it going forward. A BIG thank you to Jo!!”
- “I really understand the value in engaging with the people I line manage and thinking about all their differences and how they would like to be managed. It’s really made me think how small things could make a huge difference to the team and individual’s motivation & development.”
- “Honestly the best training I’ve ever had.”
- “I have more confidence and feel better prepared to follow best practices learned in the course in regards to objectives setting, prioritisation, running effective 121s, and coaching my direct reports.”
- “I came to the programme with a very one dimensional view on line management – manage people to get the job done! I now have a much better understanding of the broader issue, on the need for SMART objectives, clear goals etc and how I can help other people develop in their careers and how I can in mine too.”
- “I have loved this training and feel really excited about putting things into practise. Not only has it made me feel as motivated as a line manager but just generally in my job. Jo is an excellent facilitator, who guides you through everything brilliantly. I’m going to miss it!”
- “Really enjoyed the programme. Should be mandatory every 5 Years for all line managers to refresh!”
- “I am now able to handle my own workload much more effectively as a result of the delegation and coaching techniques learned.”
- “Thanks so much – so inspiring and useful.”
- “I have noticed a significant shift in my thinking since starting this programme. I realise I have some habits which hinder me in moving forward & Jo has given me tools to address these.”
- “I feel a lot more confident generally as a result of the areas explored during the programme.”
- “I can thorough recommend the work of Jo. She’s just finished a Developing Line Management Skills course for a group of managers here at Comic Relief, and we are all very impressed.”
- “Well, I basically had zero skills to start with, and now I genuinely feel equipped with a whole load, and empowered to practice them at work.”
- “Feel significantly more confident in my abilities and know I have the tools to help me manage the challenges that may occur as a line manager.”
- “More confident in acting as a line manager. Feel I have a great toolkit with which to manage a variety of areas covered. Also value the importance of strong line management higher – and the impact it has if not done well.”
- “I’m going to feel more confident having difficult conversations & knowing what techniques to use to get the most out of my direct reports.”
- “I have consolidated skills I felt comfortable with and also learnt new techniques for tackling different scenarios. Coaching, for example, is one area I am now trying to use more with my direct report and I can already see her gaining confidence from this approach. Many of the techniques learnt on the course I am finding useful in my general work with other colleagues or external clients. In particular, recognising people’s motivations and different preferences for styles of working. I also feel much more confident with the idea of managing more people (and more challenging ones) than my current direct report.”
- “I think I have improved all areas of line management, in particular learning effective practices for giving feedback, delegating work and coaching that I am already using on using to manage my assistant. I have also learnt skills that I am sure I will be able to apply in other areas of my role aside from line management of direct reports, especially time management and prioritisation.”
- ” It was a great environment for sharing experiences and advice. Would recommend it to all line managers!”
- “I found the modules about coaching and feedback the most useful. Thinking about what I find challenging about giving feedback and trying to be less emotional about it has made it seem a lot less scary and I am trying to give to feedback a lot more.”
- “I really thought it was excellent and can’t think of any ways to improve it”
Presenting with Impact
Presenting with Impact - flexible approach
Jo was really flexible and proactive in coming up with suggestions. The training was very practical and fast paced. I could see an immediate difference in presentations given later that week, and have had really positive feedback on the influence that this training has had on the team’s confidence and planning of presentations.
Jo does much more than just presentation training too. I would highly recommend working with Jo – a fantastic facilitator and trainer.
Team coaching, Team Development, Facilitation skills
At Save the Children Jo worked with me to strengthen the education and health teams, using a range of techniques including ‘Insights’. She did similar work with the Education Partnerships Group, which was a relatively new team within Ark, where Jo’s support enabled deeper and more collaborative relationships across a global team.
In Barnardo’s Jo supported a cohort of Children’s Services staff presenting at a conference to improve their presentation skills. In all these engagements, Jo brought deep professionalism in her planning and approach to the work, while also being flexible to the evolving needs of teams.
Jo’s a very warm and engaging facilitator while at the same always focused on the purpose of sessions and ensuring objectives are met in a timely fashion. I cannot recommend her highly enough.
Facilitation skills
Presenting with Impact
Jo’s training, which ran for a day, managed to meet the needs of both experienced and less experienced presenters. She gave us useful pre-work to do and then ran a half-day session with simple, obvious ‘why don’t I do that’ guidance which enriched us all. Importantly, she focused on both the medium and the message and got everyone away from thinking about what their PowerPoint slides might look like. We then had time to prepare our presentations, after which Jo got us to do a real time, filmed presentation. She led with excellent and insightful feedback, while also creating a ‘safe space’ for peers to feed back as well. Jo, who takes evaluation of her sessions very seriously, scored ‘excellent’ among all my team.
In case you were interested in having others on the training roster, then I couldn’t recommend Jo highly enough.
Presenting with Impact
Jo’s training, which ran for a day, managed to meet the needs of both experienced and less experienced presenters. She gave us useful pre-work to do and then ran a half-day session with simple, obvious ‘why don’t I do that’ guidance which enriched us all.
Importantly, she focused on both the medium and the message and got everyone away from thinking about what their PowerPoint slides might look like. We then had time to prepare our presentations, after which Jo got us to do a real time, filmed presentation. She led with excellent and insightful feedback, while also creating a ‘safe space’ for peers to feed back as well.
Jo, who takes evaluation of her sessions very seriously, scored ‘excellent’ among all my team.
TedX presentation coach
Jo was my presentation training coach for a recent and prestigious TEDx talk to 940 people. She provided expert guidance on the content, structure, language and tonality and introduced techniques that moved the presentation from ordinary to memorable. And, better than that, Jo’s friendly style made each coaching session enjoyable and enriching. As a result I approached the event with a level of confidence and enthusiasm for public speaking that I’d never had before. Would I do more speaking engagements? Only if I can work with Jo again.
Presenting with Impact
The Presentation Skills training that Jo Wright delivered to our Education team a few months ago reconciled me with the very idea of team-based courses on key competencies. So much so that getting her back in to train our Health team a few months later was a no brainer !
The course is excellent value, provides the perfect combination of theory and practice, and excels at both. It is tailored to each individual’s preferences, strengths and weaknesses, and easily stretches even the most accomplished speakers and presenters.
My team loved it and everyone rated the training as excellent. Highly recommend to any team whose success depends on their capacity to get across key messages in a compelling way to a variety of stakeholders.
Presentation Skills
– “I have learned that a successful presentation has to have a clear main message and needs to be adapted according to different audiences’ needs; I felt much more confident in delivering the presentation”
– “I found the training helpful. Using the confidence boosting techniques worked for me, and Jo’s advice on keeping PowerPoint presentations as simple as possible”
As a result of the course delegates are more confident presenting to a variety of different audiences i.e. grantees, colleagues and corporate partners.
I highly recommend Phoenix Training & Coaching for in house learning solutions.
D.P. HR – Charity, London