Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a training course cost? – it depends, mainly on where it is. For local courses I charge about £1200/day and for ones where I have to stay over night the night before I charge about £1750 plus travel and accommodation. This is for any number of people, so if you have say 20 people it works out pretty reasonable per head, and something like Negotiation or Selling is bound to pay back measurably in a very short time.
How long does a training course last? – usually a day – I think it’s hard to people to digest more than a day’s worth. But some courses, like my in-depth Project Management course, take two days, which you can either split or have consecutively. Some team away sessions can be two days too. But generally, if you were doing say 5 days of training, I’d recommend spreading them over maybe 9 months so you haven plenty of time to digest the ideas and try them out in practice.
Can I get some sort of accreditation for my training with you? – yes you certainly can, though you’ll have to write up some assignments. I can offer levels 3 5 and 7, accredited by CMI, the Chartered Management Institute. We can do Certificate or Diploma depending on how many units you want to do. I can advise on what’s best for you, and I can help with what sort of answers would be appropriate for the assignments. Accreditation does cost about £400-£1200 per person though, depending on what you want.
Does my training count towards CPD (Continuing Professional Development)? – yes it certainly does. More information here and also here.
Please will you publicise our charity / contribute to our charity? – Although I do have lots of contacts on linked in and via my tip of the month mail-outs, I can’t publicise everyone’s charity, and anyway, I want my posts to be things I personally believe in, rather than sponsored adverts. So I have my favourite charity, Kiva (check it out, it’s brilliant) and I also have a local connection with Dorset Mind, whose agenda is to improve happiness and teach happiness skills, particularly amongst children, and that’s it.
Would you like to put our blog post on your blog? – No thanks, my blog is all me, that’s the point of it, it’s not a link-sharing advert area, it’s 100% new and creative and it’s what I want to write, not what will sell, or what other people want to write. I want to keep it pure, so however good your article might be, it won’t have that flavour of me.
Will you coach me? – No I’m afraid I don’t do coaching, it’s too time consuming and anyway I’m not very good at it. I know my limits! But I can recommend a good coach for you if you live in the south of England. Also, I have made an online e-coaching programme that covers Time Management, Effectiveness and Life Skills, and it’s very cheap and gives you five years of input – details here.
Could you do coaching for my difficult person? – No I’m afraid I don’t do coaching, it’s too time consuming and anyway .I’m not very good at it. I know my limits! But I can recommend a good coach for you if you live in the south of England. Also, I have made an online e-coaching programme that covers Time Management, Effectiveness and Life Skills, and it’s very cheap and gives you five years of input – details here.
Can you do a course for one person? – there are three options for this: the first one is that I come to you and do a day of training for one person, but I’d charge you the normal price for running a day of training, so it’s not great value for judt person. But if money is no object, then it’s possible. The second option, much better, is for the person to come to one of my open courses, listed always up to date at www.chriscroft.co.uk/events. You have to wait till the next one which could be a few months away, and you have to travel (like I do!) but the price is extremely reasonable- Never more than £199 for the day. The third option is for the person do do some of my on-online training – I have sixteen courses on Udemy and I can also do Skype training by the hour, details here.
Will you come and do a course in a country outside the UK? – yes, but for a fee. Because my diary is pretty much full, I will be losing potential training days as I travel, so I charge (at a reduced rate) for travel, so a day abroad might cost £1200 (for travel) plus £1800 (for the training day) plus £1200 (travel back) plus flights, so it might not be worth the cost for you. If you want several consecutive days then the travel becomes less of an issue though. I’m up for it if you are.
How do I get started on a Project Management career? – It think it’s a great career, and I think experience is more important than qualifications, though qualifications can help, especially if you can get PMP. Details of all of this here.
What’s the best Project Management qualification to get? – I think PMP is the only game in town. Lesser qualifications exist, but PMP is the one everyone has heard of. Certainly don’t bother with PRINCE2 which is well past it’s sell by date. Agile is OK only for small software projects, currently trendy but will fall out of favour by 2025 as its limitations become more widely known – and it has plenty of those!
Do you do short talks, like a conference spot or a keynote? – I certainly do. My short talks are hilarious but also insightful and unusual. I don’t to after-dinner joke telling, but if you want a post-lunch fun spot or a conference opener, I have a variety of tried and tested subjects, all listed here.
What’s better, dogs or cats? – Dogs obviously. I am on my fourth rescue dog. I can’t live without a dog.
Which football team do you support? – Liverpool since 1971 when I was 11, and Bournemouth where I now live.
Is it OK to pay you AFTER the training day? – yes indeed, that’s what I normally do, I’ll invoice you after the day is successfully done.
Is it OK to pay you in advance? – yes if you really want to, then I am fine with that.
What sort of contract do we have to sign? – none at all, unless you want to send me one, which I’ll gladly sign. for me it’s enough just to have a date pencilled in by email- I’ll be there. You can even reassure yourself and check that I’m coming by looking at my on-line diary as often as you like.
Are you married? – yes, happily married to Sally since 1987. Don’t ask me why she puts up with me. We are a red married to a green, maybe that’s why it works.
Is it true that you play in a band? Which instrument do you play? – yes, I am the Jimi Hendrix of the sax. I used to play with Lost At Sea (blues/rock) and now I play with Revolution Club (jazz/groove/Latino)
What sort of pants do you wear? – M&S briefs. How can anyone find boxers comfortable?? Why would anyone pay more than £9 for a 3-pack?
Did you make some of these questions up, or do you really get asked these things frequently? – I only made up two of them.