About SkillBars

Hello, and nice to meet you!

My name is Rob Green, and I created SkillBars as both the author of the training content and the architect of the software platform. 

I've worked in software development for around 25 years, with the latter part of my career spent leading cross-functional technical teams. Leading a software development team requires overseeing the technical implementation of changing requirements while keeping everyone aligned toward achieving a common goal. Though technical oversight was challenging, the hardest part was keeping everyone aligned.

I created the SkillBars training program to address the underlying issues that prevent teams from aligning toward a common goal:

• Communication: How to interact with the people you work with.
• Teamwork: How to contribute to achieving a common goal.
• Leadership: How to lead a team toward achieving a common goal.

Communication forms the foundation of SkillBars training and consists of ten modules:

1. Listening: How to understand what others are saying.
2. Clarity: How to communicate effectively.
3. Written: How to write so that you are clearly understood.
4. Visual: How to communicate using visuals.
5. Nonverbal: How to interpret body language.
6. Empathy: How to communicate at an emotional level.
7. De-escalation: How to resolve conflicts.
8. Assertiveness: How to express your opinion productively.
9. Negotiation: How to properly negotiate.
10. Professionalism: How to conduct yourself professionally.

Each module has three levels, each with three topics, totaling 90 topics for the entire program. Each topic adheres to the following standards:

1. To appeal to a wide audience.
2. To provide immediate practical value.
3. To be memorable and engaging.
4. To be comprehensive yet concise.
5. To fit in a sequence or stand-alone.

However, even with the best content, training is only as good as people's desire to engage with it. To that end, the SkillBars training platform provides:

1. Convenient Audio Training: SkillBars training being audio-only means people can listen to it while they work, just as they would music, podcasts, or audiobooks.
2. Quick Self-Assessments: People can check their level of understanding of the topics they are listening to in just a few minutes whenever they are most comfortable.
3. Clear Visual Progression:  Completing self-assessments provides increments on a skill bar as topics are understood and earns a skill badge once an entire module is complete.

SkillBars caters not just to the individual learner but also to the entire organization by having the following characteristics:

• Quick Setup: People invited to the training click on a link in their email and are immediately taken directly into the training experience.
• Secure, Scalable, and Performant: SkillBars is designed for large organizations and meets or exceeds the standards required of enterprise-grade software.
• Easy Administration: Administrators can supervise training from a training dashboard that provides a visual birds-eye view of everyone's progress. 

There is a lot more to say about SkillBars, but the best way to learn more about how the training content and platform works is to:

1. Take the free "Listening" training module, which gives you the full experience of the audio training, the assessments, and how the skill bars and badge system work. It also provides a good idea of the type of content to expect in other modules.
2. Explore the Admin Dashboard, which gives you the full experience of overseeing a sample organization's training and allows you to use almost all of the same features as you would with your organization.

If you'd like to get started immediately, you can purchase the training and be up and running in minutes. If you have more questions, feel free to contact me at rob@skillbars.com, and I'd be happy to answer them.

Warm regards,

Rob Green
Founder, SkillBars