Free Career Development Courses
Always completely free for personal use
We welcome individuals and small businesses, and these personal and career development courses are designed for you. They are completely free of charge to use.
There are no limitations, no need to sign up or share personal information, and everything here will enable you to build and develop transferrable skills. The full range of courses available is shown below, but do come back regularly to check out new additions to this learning library.
Customised for businesses
For businesses, we offer a range of customised options, all offering high value at industry-beating low prices.
To ensure this valuable resource continues and develops, we offer bespoke customisation through Develop Life Ltd, together with LMS integration. This will add essential funding to the BusinessPotential project, allowing it to continue. Contact us for more information.
Produced by BusinessPotential, thanks to much help from international contributors.
Conversations are all about moving messages between people. Effective conversations have balance. They don't feel strained. Both parties feel included and valued. Neither party feels locked out or their views ignored.
In this course, we'll discuss how to achieve that balance in every conversation. You'll learn about:
- The Conversation Cycle
- Acknowledging
- Active Listening
- Effective Questioning
- Demonstrating empathy.
All of our expertly devised courses are completely free, so there is nothing stopping you from getting onto this courses right now! Get Started.
Produced by BusinessPotential, thanks to much help from international contributors.
In this short elearn, we will explore the art and science of rapport, and what it's like to be in rapport with another person. You will:
- Understand the components that carry your message to another person and the techniques to optimise them
Produced by BusinessPotential, thanks to much help from international contributors.
In this short module, you'll develop a deep understanding of how language can be interpreted by people in different ways. You'll learn:
- Why we don't always process communications in the way they were intended
- How to create communications that will be processed in the way they were intended
- How to use positive language to influence others
- How to identify your own language habits and choose to optimise them
- Create clear and positive dialogue in every conversation
There is nothing stopping you from getting on this course right now! Get Started.
Produced by BusinessPotential, thanks to much help from international contributors.
We've all been in conversations that got out of control. A person says something that annoys the other, so they respond, maybe with something a little hurtful or dismissive. That really annoys the first person, who immediately retorts with a statement, judgement or accusation that is designed to hurt.
And so on. These are conversations that work for no-one and usually get nowhere other than two stresses and annoyed people.
It doesn't have to be that way. In this short module, we'll explore four simple models that allow you to break the escalation link, keep your intent pure, and achieve the best outcome for both parties. We'll explore:
- The Behaviour Continuum
- The Guardian Model
- Ego and Communication
- Conversational Safety Nets.
There is nothing stopping you from getting on this course right now! Get Started.
Produced by BusinessPotential, thanks to much help from international contributors.
This course will provide you with an introduction to the role of People Leader within your organisation. It's particularly relevant to people leaders working within their business's Customer Contact Centre.
The first of a number of elearn modules, in this module you will:
- Understand the key purpose and role of People Leader in the Contact Centre
- Begin to define the most appropriate working culture that supports to aims and objectives of the organisation while engaging with every individual team member
- Develop a consistent leadership approach with flexibility to address any situation effectively.
There is nothing stopping you from getting on the management track right now! Get Started.
Produced by BusinessPotential, thanks to much help from international contributors.
The role of a People Leader is to support the individuals and team, while getting the job done. In a nutshell, those are the critical elements of any managerial role. Remember Adair's "Action-Centred Leadership" model from Module 1, and how we need to achieve a balance between all three elements of leadership.
"Getting the job done" though, requires us to examine, analyse and understand, how our people are actually performing, and what reasons there could be for lower (or higher) performance with individuals within your team. It's also challenging continuous improvement. The fact is, (and we'll say this again and again), today's "WOW" is tomorrow's expectation!
In this module, we'll introduce you to your new team! Well, in this case, it's a virtual team, one we made up - each with their own story, their own background, their own likes, dislikes, attitudes, motivation and performance. You'll be creating performance action plans for the people in this virtual team, then prioritising your activities, so you are likely to make the biggest impact quickly.
In this module, then, you'll
- Connect the dots between the motive of your organisation to serve and the motive - and motivation - of your customer to do business
- Understand the key performance areas in which you can really drive performance in your team
- Be able to identify your team outliers, and create realistic KPI targets
- Identify - and work with - your Real Time Management Tool Kit
- Understand SMART goal setting
- Create performance action plans, and a powerful briefing template that will keep your team engaged.
In addition, we'll explore the opportunities for discussing and challenging performance, and how to optimise these opportunities, including your team briefings, buzz sessions and daily "stand up" planning sessions. any situation effectively. There is nothing stopping you from getting on the management track right now! Get Started.
Produced by BusinessPotential, thanks to much help from international contributors.
This module - one of the series designed to develop new managers in a customer Contact Centre - is based around people. Organisations always say that people are their most important asset, but don't often give them the focus that treats them like unique individuals.
This module is about leading performance, though it's about understanding your people. By the end of this module, you will:
- Understand the different management approaches you need to consider for different types of people
- Understand how change is perceived by different people types
- Have the tools to develop a motivation strategy that addresses the motivational triggers of every individual in your team
- Create a strategy for developing your team to be a high-performing team.
There is nothing stopping you from getting on the management track right now! Get Started.
Produced by BusinessPotential, thanks to much help from international contributors.
One of the most important responsibilities of a people leader is around developing their people. You will have regular interventions, one to ones, coaching sessions and team briefings within your operational "operating rhythm" - all of which give you the opportunity to stimulate growth and improvement in your team, while underpinning the strategy for continuous customer improvement.
In this module, we'll explore techniques for developing your people through structured and unstructured coaching, and at the end of this, you will:
- Understand how to develop and maintain a coaching culture within the Contact Centre
- Understand feedback approaches for both Internal and external validators
- Work with the GROW model of coaching
- Begin to formulate detailed performance and coaching aids for the people in your team.
Understanding our Values can help us to understand, and deal with, other people - people who may not exhibit the same Values you hold dear. Understanding your Values will also help you to align to your own organisation - your working culture, the Values that your organisation aspires to.Get Started.
Produced by BusinessPotential, thanks to much help from the Articulate elearning system.
So many jobs these days are project-based, and exist as temporary assignments to deliver change or transformation within an organisation. Learn the basics of project management here, and be ready for the challenge!Get Started.
Produced by BusinessPotential, thanks to much help from the Articulate elearning system.
This short course will give you a great foundation in how to deliver training in the business, with authority, authenticity and gravitas. As an internal employee, you already know the job, so training within your peer group can really be a win-win, as your colleagues and internal network will already be aware of your track record and ability. Get Started.
Produced by BusinessPotential, thanks to much help from the Articulate elearning system.
This course, from our free "Quick-e" library, will take you no more than 30 minutes to complete, and in this content, we'll cover what is a Performance Improvement Plan, some examples of Performance Improvement Goals, what's included in a Performance Improvement Plan, some essential considerations and a link to downloadable templates, that can be customised to your organisation's document standards. Get Started.
Produced by BusinessPotential, thanks to much help from the Articulate elearning family and wider Internet.
This course, from our free "Quick-e" library, will take you no more than 20 minutes to complete, and in this content, we'll cover:
- What is a Diversity Ally;
- 5 Roles of being a Diversity Ally;
- How to embody the 5 Roles;
- Developing into a true Ally - additional thoughts;
- Summary, and further learning.
Produced by BusinessPotential, thanks to much help from the Articulate elearning family and wider Internet.
This course, from our free "Quick-e" library, is about how to identify, and prevent, phishing scams. In less than 20 minutes, we'll cover:
- What are phishing attacks?;
- Phishing Facts;
- Typical phishing scam example - and clues to identifying it;
- A quick knowledge check;
- A short summary, with helpful links to additional material.
Produced by BusinessPotential, thanks to much help from the Articulate elearning family and wider Internet.
This course, from our free "Quick-e" library, is about how to run a performance review. In less than 30 minutes, this Quick-e guide will cover:
- What is a Performance Review;
- Pros and Cons of Performance Reviews;
- Considerations;
- An Example Approach;
- A short summary, with helpful links.
In this course, created by BusinessPotential.com in conjunction with our friends at Revolution Radio, Northampton, and the Articulate learning community you’ll learn the basics of managing stress. First, you’ll discover what stress is and how your body responds to it. Then, you’ll learn 3 common stress triggers and how to manage them, by eliminating, reducing or coping.
Simply click Get Started.
Other Training Providers
Browse other learning providers, who offer free courses. Some have restrictions, all are well-respected. The links take you directly to the course providers' websites, as content changes as courses start and finish. Most courses do not offer a recognised qualification, though some providers do offer a certificate to show completion, and some offer accreditation for a small fee. Each link will open in a new tab.