Leadership Training and Workforce Development Courses
Our Trainings & Workshops
As a business owner, you’re an expert on what you do. We are the experts on the how and why. Business improvement is who we are, what we do, and what we’re passionate about. We believe investing in the development of your team is the key to long-term success, growth, and customer satisfaction.
Business Improvement Group aims to be the premiere workforce development partner for Alaska organizations while demonstrating measurable outcomes to your business goals. We offer a wide range of workforce development courses, training programs, leadership seminars, process development workshops, and more to help equip you and your team with the necessary tools and certifications to help you boost efficiency, maximize performance, and increase value.
Reach out to us for our full agnostic and context driven course catalog and to learn more about our enterprise workforce development and training programs. Our first-class instructors seek to provide the fullest spectrum of business training available with courses geared toward your business’s specific needs.
Our Trainers
James Bates
James is the Founder, President, and CEO of BIG – Business Improvement Group, an Alaska-based business consultancy that is passionate about helping businesses big and small reach their full potential. Using over ten years of industry expertise and proven techniques and tools, such as Lean Six Sigma, ITSM (ITIL), BPI, COBIT, PMI Project Management, and more, to help our clients find opportunities for cost savings, create a customer-centric culture, gain market share, and more.
James is a highly motivated and experienced Executive and Consultant who continuously delights customers by delivering high value solutions to everyday business challenges. Consistently demonstrates the ability to lead diverse teams of professionals to new levels of success in a variety of highly competitive industries, technological challenges, and fast-paced environments. Strong technical and business qualifications with an impressive track record of more than 40 years of hands-on experience in strategic planning, tactical deployment, business unit development, service management, project management, and secure system engineering strategies. Proven ability to successfully analyze an organization’s critical business requirements, identify deficiencies and potential opportunities, align and integrate technology, and develop innovative and cost-effective solutions for enhancing competitiveness, increasing revenues, and improving customer service offerings.
James is a PMI PMP, CAPM and CP instructor and an Adjunct Professor in several schools at the University of Alaska Anchorage, including the MSPM program.
Chastine Lynch
Chastine is the Principal Consultant and Founder of Upskilled Evolution LLC, a SAM-registered, Washington State certified small woman-owned consulting firm specializing in strategic project management and business transformation solutions. With an extensive portfolio encompassing over $600 million in successful RFP responses and federal grant acquisitions, Chastine delivers complex project management expertise across telecommunications, federal programs, and enterprise technology sectors.
As a highly credentialed project management professional, Chastine holds multiple certifications from the Project Management Institute, including Project Management Professional (PMP), Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM), Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant (DAVSC), and Disciplined Agile Coach (DAC). She also serves as a PMI Authorized Training Instructor (ATI) and holds Six Sigma Black Belt Professional (SSBBP) certification, bringing comprehensive expertise in both traditional project management and cutting-edge agile transformation methodologies.
Chastine’s consulting practice has enabled transformational outcomes for Fortune 500 companies and government agencies alike. In the public sector, Chastine has become a recognized expert in broadband infrastructure development and federal grant administration. She has secured and managed major NTIA Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grants, and her work with State Broadband Offices on BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment) program implementation has enabled streamlined federal funding distribution and accelerated nationwide broadband infrastructure development.
Chastine’s approach combines expert-level implementation of hybrid Agile/Waterfall methodologies with specialized expertise in cross-cultural team leadership, stakeholder management across global time zones, software development lifecycle management, and complex regulatory compliance in federal funding environments. She excels at forging strategic relationships with stakeholders, translating complex technical requirements into actionable business strategies, and leading cross-functional teams that consistently exceed performance standards.
Based in Alaska, Chastine brings particular expertise in rural infrastructure challenges, tribal community engagement, and project delivery in remote and challenging environments. Her work continues to drive meaningful impact across telecommunications infrastructure, digital transformation, and federal program implementation nationwide.
Luann Piccard
PMP, Associate Professor & Chair, Master of Science Project Management Department at University of Alaska Anchorage
LuAnn Piccard is passionate about developing next-generation project management leaders and professionals seeking to enhance and expand career opportunities through professional development and higher education. Students and graduates appreciate and benefit from the depth, relevance and breadth of Ms. Piccard’s seasoned executive experience, transforming the learning environment into rigorous, positive, collaborative and applied experience.
In addition to academia, Ms. Piccard has over 20 years in technology-sector project and portfolio management, including 10 years as a senior executive for Hewlett Packard, Agilent Technologies and Advanced Energy Industries, where she led complex, profitable, and cross-functional businesses serving customers worldwide. She has also traveled extensively and lived internationally. Ms. Piccard credits professional success to collaboration with diverse, engaged, customer-centric program and project leaders globally.
Ms. Piccard, proud PMI and PMI Alaska Chapter member, volunteer, and PMP since 2007, served as director and chair for the PMI Global Accreditation Center for Project Management Education Programs, responsible for project management academic program accreditation and quality assurance worldwide.
Inspired by community engagement, Ms. Piccard is well-versed in the balanced strategic and fiduciary responsibilities of board governance partnered with executive and operational leadership, and has served as volunteer director for 11 different nonprofit boards including 10 years as an officer and director for Habitat for Humanity of Anchorage.
Ms. Piccard is distinguished by an ability to articulate an envisioned future, identify stakeholder-centric opportunities made real by engaging and collaborating with people, fostering a bias to action, and crafting foundational, adaptable management processes. Ms. Piccard strives to create a culture of continuous learning that emphasizes agility, innovation and accountability. Her approach is marked by contagious enthusiasm, passionate belief in people and possibilities, and inspiring new ways of thinking, with courage to embrace challenges.
Ms. Piccard holds BS and MS in Engineering/Product Design from Stanford University and a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.
Leadership & Workforce Development
Grow into the leader you’ve always envisioned and see your team grow. We offer a variety of classes geared toward developing your workforce and empowering business owners, executives, and other leaders who spearhead your team.
Example Training Courses:
- Five Voices Boot Camp
- 1-on-1 Leadership Coaching
- Initial Team Performance Evaluation Workshop
- Organization Growth Plan Assessment
- 2-Day Servant Leadership Seminar
Process Excellence
Reduce waste and maximize productivity with courses geared toward developing better processes for your business. We teach the Lean Six Sigma method and offer workshops to help you identify areas with the most growth potential.
Example Training Courses:
- Lean Six Sigma Belt Certifications
- Process Mapping Workshop
- Value-Stream Mapping Workshop
- Lean Accounting
- Kaizen Events
Project Management
Organize your team and execute projects with confidence. Project management classes take you through each step of successful project management so you can meet objectives with excellence and provide more value to customers.
Example Training Courses:
- PMI – CAPM and PMP Exam Prep Courses
- PMI- Construction Professional
- Agile Project Management
- Programs, Portfolios, and PMOs
- Kanban Workshop
- Organizational Project Maturity and Improvement
Information Technology
Develop a plan for effectively utilizing technology and protecting your business’s data. Our IT classes provide you with a foundation on how to experience a digital transformation that takes your team and processes to the next level.
Example Training Courses:
- IT Risk Management & Compliance
- IT Cybersecurity 101
- Advanced IT Service Management
- ITIL V3 Foundations
- HIPPA Policy Workshop
General Management
Build a strong foundation for your management team and empower them to be effective leaders in the workforce. General management workshops provide the most essential skills for business success and professional growth.
Example Training Courses:
- Meeting Facilitation Workshop
- High-Performance Team Building
- Communication Management
- Value Proposition Workshop
- Lean Performance Management
Find Out More
Our classes and trainings are customized to your business. We tailor our offerings to your location and business model, and we can work with your HR and supervisory team to help manage your workforce training. All of our courses are instructor led and are offered in-person, virtual, or hybrid.