Professional Development
No one we know of has developed as many effective professional-development programs as John; two-day, full-day, and half-day seminars; the highly acclaimed, “we-bring-it-to-you” BackYard Seminar series; the ground-breaking, eBrownbag video-seminar series, teaching through “edutainment” wherever and whenever you want; an amazingly diverse series of “ready-when-you-are” archived webinars; and audio and audio/video programming. Need something unique, specific to your own firm, personnel, and concerns? Just call. John has created and led dozens of programs just like that.
BackYard Seminars
John named them “BackYard Seminars” because he puts them on in a firm’s back yard. Sponsor one just for your firm, or join with a few other firms, or have it done through a local ACEC, ASCE, or other organization’s section, chapter, or member organization. Titles are:
- Write Right,
- Hassle-Free Selling for Project Managers,
- Professional Practice 101,
- Fundamentals of Field Representation, and
- Contract Fundamentals for Project Managers.
Webinars
John Bachner’s archived webinars are truly classics. Each lasts one hour. Each brings succinct guidance within a format laced with humor; what John calls “edutainment.” Just a few of the topics include “Dirty Words” (words engineering, environmental, and construction-quality professionals need to avoid and why); “Expectations Management”; “Gaining Referrals: Their Worth; Gaining More of Them”; “Limitation of Liability”; and “Profreading 101.”
Click here for the complete list, trailers, and information about renting or purchasing these important presentations. Click here to see all the handouts.
eBrownBag
eBrownBag is the acclaimed series that entertains while it educates: Viewers learn the consequences of their actions and decisions. John Bachner helps you navigate the minefields of your profession and gain the business, organizational, and other nontechnical skills you need to thrive. eBrownBag is THE training tool for managerial, professional, technical, field, and clerical personnel of technical-professional organizations: engineering firms of all kinds, environmental firms, architectural firms, other technical-consulting firms, industrial organizations, government entities. The series has 10 episodes. Video presentations are accompanied by supplemental teaching-point handouts you can download here.
Communications Guidance
A Harvard English major with more than 50 years’ experience working with design and environmental professionals, among many others, John knows how to communicate and how his clients need to communicate to bring home more “bacon,” reduce exposure to liability, avoid ambiguity, and otherwise get one’s thoughts across effectively. John can come to your offices to deliver a seminar (“Write Right" and "Hassle-Free Selling for Project Managers" are popular favorites); he can review and critique reports, proposals, agreements, websites, minutes, notes, and whatever else you have in writing; he can provide writing-coach services to specific individuals; he can develop an in-house program specifically for your firm; and more.
Custom Programs
Many firms have specific needs that John can address by developing all-new materials or by providing some new discussion along with materials he has developed before. What are your needs? Do “the troops” need to know more about specific aspects of loss prevention and risk management? Do you want John to develop a series of case histories based on your own firm’s experience? For many firms, the best solution is to have leaders meet with John, explain the problems they want solved, and then listen to the solutions John can take forward.
Manuals, Guides, and Similar Materials
More than 300 of John’s books, texts, manuals, and guides have been published. Among these are comprehensive works on topics like practice management (Practice Management for Design Professionals, published by John Wiley & Sons) and Marketing and Promotion for Design Professionals, published by Van Nostrand Reinhold Company); property management (The Guide to Practical Property Management, published by McGraw-Hill); professional-service agreements (John’s well-known Contract Reference Guide); alternative dispute resolution; construction-quality assurance; energy management; electric illumination; limitation of liability; and so much more. Do you need something special for your firm or association? If John knows about it, he can write about it!