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"Aligning Compasses towards Success"

Looking for a seriously engaging and effective process to unlock and (re)align team potential?

Team Navigation: This 2-day session is suitable for organic management teams, various departments e.g. R&D, Finance, Marketing, Special Project management teams. In general, organic/intact teams or cross-functional teams in a matrix organization should attend this program.
Visit our Navigation Programs page to find out more.

Team Retreats & Events

The businessfruit Academy

What is the 'Academy'?
A series of open workshops to unlock, unleash and transform performance.
Each Academy follows a key theme:

Communication Academy - write, speak and present with impact.
NEWS Leadership Academy - strengthen your ability to navigate through fast-changing and challenging times. Enhance your leadership capability as you clarify direction, explore motivation, identify how to overcome barriers and plan actions for future success - at personal, team and organizational levels - through the NEWS™ Navigation model.
Innovation Academy - apply creativity and manage innovation for yourself and your business.

Why attend?

Learn tools and develop key skills critical for life and career
Try out a course that could benefit your team or organization

Click here for the Agendas and How to Register for:

What can I expect?

Each Academy runs for 3 days, Monday-Wednesday, and you may register for 1, 2, or 3 days. The more days you register for the better value the investment.
As the courses are intensely practical, interactive and hands-on, we are limiting the size of each workshop in the Academy to 12 delegates to optimize opportunities for quality discussion and individual feedback.
Each day runs from 09:00-17:00 and lunch and refreshments are provided.
The Spanish House offers plenty of breakout space and the opportunity of reflective walks in the fresh air and a break from your usual work routine that will stimulate and energize thinking.

Registration Fee
Registration fees are the same for each Businessfruit Academy.

For 1 day: 495 euros/seat (VAT excl.*)
For 2 days: 895 euros/seat (VAT excl.)
For the full Academy ~ 3 days: 1195 euros/seat (VAT excl.)
For a 'strip-card' of 9 days to be used by any participant from the same organization on any Academy: 2995 euros (VAT Excl.)
For larger numbers it may be interesting to arrange an in-house session. Please use the form below to get in touch

*Note: Belgian VAT = 21%

Academy Contact & Registration Form
Take a look through the Academy agendas on the right.
If you are ready to register or have further questions please contact us using the form below.

Where is the Academy held?
Each Businessfruit Academy takes place in the unique and beautiful venue of 'The Spanish House' in Tervuren Park near Brussels in Belgium. ~ see photo and map below.

The "Spanish House", Tervuren Park, Belgium

How to get to 'Het Spaanse Huis'

The Spanish House is in Tervuren Park, and is conveniently located midway between Brussels and Leuven, and close to Brussels Airport and the major road intersections from The Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France.
There is ample parking in Molenberglaan, which runs along the outside of the park. It is then a short (150m) and flat walk through the park to the Spanish House.
If you need accommodation, more specific travel information or have special requirements in any way, please let us know.

Communication Academy 2013 ~ Session 1

Day 1, 24 June: Write with Impact ~ after this day you will be better able to:
1. Save time by being in more control of how you plan, draft and edit your writing.
2. Improve quality by developing your understanding and use of clear, brief, persuasive style.
3. Increase impact by using persuasive structures effectively to lead the reader.
Materials: Each participant receives a copy of the 'Writing Dynamics' manual.

Day 2, 25 June: Speak with Impact ~ after this day you will be better able to:
1. Structure ideas in clear and compelling ways.
2. Handle objections and use “bridging” strategies to clarify questions, defuse issues and buy time.
3. Answer questions quickly and coherently, especially when under fire.
Materials: Each participant receives a copy of the 'Think on Your Feet®' manual.

Day 3, 26 June: Present with Impact ~ after this day you will be better able to:
1. Involve your audience and position your ideas for their core concerns.
2. Design and craft a clear, engaging and compelling presentation.
3. Deal with nerves and deliver with confidence, presence and impact.
Materials: Each participant receives a copy of the 'The Skilled Presenter' manual.

NEWS™ Leadership Academy 2013

Day 1/, 2-3 September: Personal Navigation: The NEWS™ Experience
Overview: Personal Navigation: The NEWS™ Experience provides an innovative and profoundly significant process of coaching, in a group setting. Effective leadership for executives, business owners or indeed anyone, starts with leading self before leading others. This practical step by step program of Personal Navigation supports you in this journey by guiding you in clarifying, aligning, planning and following through successfully on your own career and business navigation plans. This process not only helps bring you focus, motivation and resilience for the future, it also supports you in identifying and overcoming barriers as you plan for success.
Workshop Outcomes:
Participating in this Personal Navigation program will enable you to:

Set a practical vision for the future and build a ‘Practical Model’ to achieve it
Identify personal ‘blockages’ and get tools to overcome them
Identify, clarify and connect to values and motivation
Construct an action plan to achieve vision and goals
Learn and apply the simple, powerful and widely useful NEWS Model

Materials: Each participant receives a copy of the 'NEWS™ Experience' manual and the book 'Self-Navigation'.

Day 3, 4 September: Team Navigation/Organizational Navigation
Overview: On Day 3 you will walk through the NEWS™ model, applying it to either your team or your organization/business. Outside this Academy, Team Navigation is more for intact teams and is internal to the organization. Organizational Navigation also uses the same NEWS model, but here the focus is more strategic, taking the external world into account. In the Academy setting, each participant chooses their focus: Your team or your organization. Note that if you have a small business or team, the Academy setting can give you all the opportunity to navigate future direction in relaxed yet effective environment.

Team Navigation is a program that helps teams explore, discuss and align on key questions facing the team. It is great for either organic/intact or cross-functional teams needing alignment, facing change or as a structured process for annual strategic planning.

Organizational Navigation is a program that helps lead teams explore, discuss and align on key questions facing senior management. It is great for key executives, VP level and Heads of divisions, regions or business units wanting to create stronger alignment, lead change or as a structured facilitation process for annual strategic planning.

Workshop Outcomes:

Creates a common language in the team/organization for improved communications
Defines a “consensus-based“ strategy and optimal vision for the team/organization
Identifies the obstructions and blockages en-route to achieving team/organization vision and goals
Identifies and defines the team’s/organization's core values for success
Identifies critical goals and creates a tactical plan to achieve the vision and goals

Materials: Each participant receives a copy of the 'Team Navigation' or 'Organizational Navigation' manual depending on their focus.

Innovation Academy 2013

Day 1, 16 September: Buzan Creativity Day ~ after this day you will be better able to:
1. Think creatively and use your brain to greater potential.
2. See and understand both the 'wood' and the 'trees' - improving analytic and strategic thinking
3. Relate and communicate better with those around you through greater awareness of how we think, learn and make sense of our worlds
Materials: Each participant receives a copy of the 'Mind Mapping for Business' book and the Buzan creativity manual.

Day 2, 17 September: Applied Creativity ~ after this day you will be better able to:
1. Apply a set of tools for generating creative ideas, beginning briefly with brainstorming, then moving to powerful and effective 'pattern-breaking' tools.
2. Frame persistent problems in a practical and effective way and generate creative solutions.
3. Build stakeholder support for creative ideas and solutions and facilitate others in thinking creatively
Materials: Each participant receives a copy of the 'Applied Creativity" manual and creativity toolkit.

Day 3, 18 September: Managing Innovation ~ after this day you will be better able to:
1. Identify ways to weave innovation into your management practices
2. Use specific behavioural skills that drive, foster, support and improve innovation practices
3. Explore the norms, values, competencies, structures, and processes that facilitate innovation and begin to develop a draft innovation agenda that can be explored, developed and implemented following the workshop.
Materials: Each participant receives a copy of the 'Managing Innovation' manual.

Communication Academy 2013 ~ Session 2

Day 1, 21 October: Write with Impact Same content as session 1
Day 2, 22 October: Speak with Impact
Day 3, 23 October: Present with Impact