With over four years experience of providing training to UK think tanks and other policy organisations we have developed a comprehensive, policy-centred series of courses, specifically designed to improve you or your team’s professional skills in the core areas needed in a research or policy-adjacent career.
Each of our training courses includes both theoretical and practical activities designed to guide you through the key elements of each topic. You will leave each course more confident, with a greater understanding of how to apply these skills in your day to day job and with ideas that you can action in your role immediately.
Our trainers are chosen for the energy and knowledge they bring to our training sessions as well as deep experience of the topics they teach on. They are also chosen to complement those working in third sector and policy environments.
Upcoming training
In today’s fragmented media and political ecosystem it is not enough to simply produce a policy report to promote your ideas and research, you need to be using all the different writing vehicles available to promote and expand the reach of your work. These include opinion pieces, blogs and other outlets. Being able to successfully adapt your writing style to these different mediums will help you increase the impact of your research as well as develop your overall writing skills. This half-day training session not only looks in detail at how you can write good articles and blogs but it also takes attendees through how you weave storytelling into your work.
Just ahead of party conference season this is the training to book if you are looking to up your game ahead of any appearances. This new, tailored session is offered to those think tankers who would like to understand and practise running effective and competent panels that answer the question, involve the audience and leave both panel and guests feeling informed and entertained.
Core topics
These courses form the core of our training and are aimed at those in the first 5 – 7 years in a policy career although, if you have never undertaking formal training on these topics, they will be relevant and useful to all policy professionals. Each training session consists of distinct ‘skills blocks’ focusing on the core skills to be developed for each topic, with a mix of theory and practical exercises.
Attendees will use examples or projects that they are currently working on to give the training as practical an application as possible and will get a chance to put into immediate practice what they have just learned to consolidate the teaching. Included in all training courses is also the space and opportunity to hear from others in similar roles and to share current best practice.
Would highly recommend!
“I found the ST management training much more useful than previous management training I have attended. Rather than spending the day listening to a presentation we had practical sessions that enabled us to put the learning into practice and made the learning much more relevant for everyday management challenges. I came away with a clear understanding of how to improve my management skills and, importantly, things that I could implement immediately.”
Dr Kerris Cooper
Senior Researcher, Education Policy Institute
Further details
The sessions
Each training session is made up of distinct skills blocks that take attendees from the theory to the practical application, building up those skills throughout the day. At each session attendees will use examples or projects they are currently working on or planning to work on to give the training as practical an application as possible.
But the training is not just about developing professional skills it also provides the opportunity to get to know your peers across the UK think tank sector. We provide refreshments and lunch and encourage the networking to continue during break times.
The trainers
Our core team of Smart Thinking trainers are faces you will see again and again, helping build trust and great working relationships. Selected for their experience and energy our new team of Smart Thinking trainers all have current experience in both the topics they are teaching and in making learning dynamic and accessible.