CHALLENGE: To design, develop and facilitate a workshop which takes technical jargon and equipment and translates it into a language that all users and stakeholders understand.
SOLUTION: We took on the task of using the equipment and instruction manuals at the end-users premises, from this we developed a workshop and support materials to ensure that all eventualities were covered. We ran various test projects in real-time to confirm the content was relevant and accurate.
OUTCOME: Workshops were run for 5-10 delegates at a time (totalling 250+ people) at various locations throughout the country. This was so successful that we developed a Train the Trainer course so all new individuals could be trained in-house as part of their inductions.
CHALLENGE: To develop this persons skills and change behaviour to realise his and his departments full potential.
SOLUTION: To have an initial meeting to ensure we could work together and trust each other by developing and open and honest environment. This was followed up by a personality profile and looking at strengths and limitations.
We diarised monthly sessions looking at one area of improvement to be developed for each session, at the next meeting we would fine-tune the development and establish a habit of using the new skills and behaviour changes. All areas of improvement are agreed in advance and must have proof of how these have been demonstrated.
OUTCOME: This person has now been promoted to take on a larger role within the business.
CHALLENGE: To develop a customer service programme bespoke to their business.
SOLUTION: We produced a two-day interactive workshop covering all aspects of customer interaction and defining behavioural best practise. This was achieved through role play and interaction from all attendees. This is embedded in their induction training and all support materials are part of their company manual.
OUTCOME: This is now an on-going development programme that has grown as the business has expanded. We have now trained their people to train their new starters and run refresher courses throughout the year.
CHALLENGE: To enhance the sales and customer service skills at all levels of the customer-facing staff.
SOLUTION: Top Banana created a one-day bespoke workshop for the client, to be run at their office. Each workshop was a combination of theory supported by real life case studies which made the learning easy to associate with.
The workshop was focused around all sales concepts and delivering excellent customer service. Role play was used to reinforce various scenarios that occur and look at the best solutions to overcome any issues that arise. An objection bank was established to help with frequently asked issues, this gives a consistent message to the customer.
OUTCOME: Sales and customer retention has increased significantly. Staff are more confident in dealing with clients, whilst delivering better outcomes.
CHALLENGE: The client required a powerful and focused two day conference incorporating: team building, opportunities to deliver key business messages and a stylish and themed Awards and recognition evening.
SOLUTION: The team at Top Banana were fully committed to producing a prestigious event for this blue chip client. We were charged with every aspect of the two day conference including venue finding, delegate registration, travel arrangements, conference set and audio visuals. The client also required us to guide and advise on the conference content to ensure the maximum impact was obtained on all presentations. A bespoke motivational DVD to open the conference was produced with company key successes to set the scene.
The conference included:
OUTCOME: The right environment was created to introduce new business processes and to focus the whole team towards their business goals for the coming year.
CHALLENGE: Our client had 43 staff from various departments, (Procurement, property, facilities and catering) whom they needed to motivate and focus on the goal of making procurement savings of £4m in three months the final phase of an ongoing project.
SOLUTION: We organised a two day conference at a beautiful venue in Banbury and ran the first part of the event as team-building. We facilitated activities and fed back on their areas for improvement. We conducted Belbin tests to determine their best roles within a team and had a motivational talk from their head of department.
In the evening we organised a dinner and quiz followed by some games to reward the team for their efforts so far.
The following day started with some theory on team work, then we facilitated an objective-setting discussion where the team identified areas for improvement and empowered themselves to achieve the team objective.
The event ended with a treasure hunt to bond the team.
OUTCOME: The team exceeded their goal and credited the event we created as a key to focus them on delivering these outcomes.
CHALLENGE: They wanted a fun theme for their Christmas party for 350 people.
SOLUTION: Our team sent over a variety of suggestions and the client decided to go for an 80’s themed party.
Props included amongst other things: giant Rubik’s cubes, a neon Top of the Pops sign, multi-coloured bean bags, a shiny disco ball and the piece de résistance, a flashing dance floor.
OUTCOME: The props and lighting created a perfect 1980’s disco effect and the client was pleased with the end result.
Challenge: The client wanted to entertain all the staff with a stunning Christmas party to celebrate a very successful trading year. The theme was to be based on the world of ‘James Bond’ and we were to incorporate as many film titles & locations as possible around the party venue.
Solution: The chosen venue has an impressive palladian-fronted building and we decided to illuminate this with stunning architectural lighting. Incorporated into this was the client’s distinctive logo projected up onto the building south facing wall.
Meet & greet ‘Paparrazi’ photographers were organised to capture the guests on arrival and throughout the evening. Gas flambeaux torches were positioned on either side of the main doorway to add to the dramatic arrival approach.
Once inside guests were served their arrival cocktails by staff dressed in authentic oriental geisha costumes. Platters of Chinese aperitifs were served and the room was further themed by the addition of a pagoda walkway and red uplighting around the walls.
The main dinner was held in a themed clearspan marquee featuring a full starlight canopy ceiling.
Each table was dressed with a red linen cloth and had an individual ‘James Bond’ themed table centre. Gold banqueting chairs completed the stylish ‘Bond’ theme. During the dinner the guests were entertained at the tables by a close-up magic and an origami modeller creating stunning paper sculptures in front of their eyes.
After the main dinner we presented the Shirley Bassey Experience cabaret floor show including the famous ‘Bond’ theme tunes. Our Bassey was accompanied by professional dancers who performed behind gauze screen to give the impression of the opening sequence routines made famous in the films.
Guests were then invited to use the ‘Casino Royal’ room complete with professional casino tables & croupiers or the ‘Live & Let Die’ chill-out area with designer seating and large floor cushions. A large 6 lane ‘Scalextric’ track was set up in one room whilst in another driving simulators were available for their amusement. One final room was dressed out with a ‘snow effect’ feel and we installed skiing simulators.
Outcome: This event exceeded all the clients expectations and led to them booking us for future events.
CHALLENGE: To create an imaginative Christmas Party that embraced their Global Market.
SOLUTION: We worked closely with the client on a Jules Verne ‘Around The World’ themed party night for 400 guests. The venue was decorated with a giant hot air balloon suspended from the central lighting rig and all tables were themed as a different country using flags and props for each. The food was located at various stations around the hall and covered English, Italian, Chinese, India and Scandinavian menus.
The table menus were made to look like travel documents and the guests’ invites & tickets were themed as passports.
OUTCOME: The feedback from the guests was very positive and our creative input resulted in us being contracted to organise the client’s summer event at a Wiltshire Stately Home.
CHALLENGE: To enable 280 staff to work as a team with one vision.
SOLUTION: Top Banana created a two day bespoke workshop for the client to be run at their offices 26 times. Each workshop was a combination of theory supported by team tasks and challenges to reinforce the learning.
The whole workshop was created and delivered by Peter Cooksley and incorporated their business’ visions and values. All learning was then mapped back into their ‘real’ working world to demonstrate how the workshop engendered their future working practices.
OUTCOME: All members of staff at all levels now work with a one team attitude. The programme has been so successful that all new staff are now required to attend the course as part of their induction
CHALLENGE: To reward 50 staff for a good year and motivate them for the coming year.
SOLUTION: The staff were invited to a 2 day event with an overnight stay. They had a business meeting on Day One reviewing their past performance and looking at the challenges for the year ahead. In the evening they enjoyed dinner and a bespoke Murder Mystery, which we wrote specifically for them.
The following day we conducted the ‘Crystal Maze Challenge’. This consisted of splitting the group into 6 teams, undertaking a variety of tasks and they were awarded crystals based on completion of the task and how they performed as a team, each team was given some feedback on how they performed together and areas for improvement. After each team completed all the tasks the crystals were then added up to determine which teams went through to the final and eventual winner.
OUTCOME: All attendees participated and had a great time and it has led to us working with them on future events.