Goals are an important part of productivity and success. This highly-interactive course will provide participants with the tools to design, articulate, and achieve their desired goals.

Participants will:

• Learn a system for writing impactful goal statements
• Apply the five rules of goal-setting success
• Identify action steps to make goals a reality

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This one-day course is designed for administrative support staff and others who wish to apply project management skills to their work responsibilities. It will focus on practical tools that can be used in day-to-day work.

During this hands-on session participants will:

• Learn basic project management tools for the four phases of project management
• Understand how the four phases of project management apply to their daily work environment
• Apply the tools to a work or personal project

There is a $75 fee for this course, payable by EFS# or check.

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This course explores proven methods and techniques to ensure that time spent facilitating and participating in meetings is productive.

Participants will:

• Review tips for effective meeting facilitation
• Discuss roles and strategies for productive participation
• Use proven methods to enhance verbal and non-verbal communications

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"Leading Up" is a concept that is beneficial no matter what position on campus you occupy. Building rapport with peers, supervisor and administration is important to a vital and successful career at the U. Applying these principles and skills in your workplace will enable you to create the conversations that are important in dealing with your leader. This course will provide the necessary tools to keep you, and your department, moving from dialogue to action more effectively.

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Public speaking is part of many jobs at the University. Learn how to create engaging openings and effective closings, use visual aids to enhance your presentation, and keep your speech anxiety in check. No matter what kind of presentation you need to deliver, this course will help you deliver your message in a more confident and effective way.

Participants will:

• Identify characteristics of great speakers
• Deliver a more memorable message by enhancing verbal and non-verbal communication
• Learn how to best structure a presentation and when to use visual aids

Note: This is a two-part course.

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Pre-requisite: Presentation Skills I or other public speaking experience

The art of engaging your audience will be further defined and explored through this two-part course. Participants will use persuasion, improvisation, and storytelling as ways to naturally enhance presentation skills.

Participants will:

• Understand the six principles of persuasive speaking
• Learn to think more quickly on your feet through the basics of Improv techniques
• Apply the four-step process of storytelling to enhance current work presentations

Note: This is a two-part course. Presentation Skills is not a requirement for this course, but basic knowledge of presentations is assumed.

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Process mapping is a simple, yet powerful, tool for understanding how work gets done in a work unit. This understanding helps managers and staff to identify ways to improve teamwork and production quality.

Participants will:

• Identify steps to a successful process mapping session
• Understand the human connection to the process – enlisting subject matter experts

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This course, intended for business process owners, project managers, and business analysts is co-sponsored by the Office of Human Resources/Organizational Effectiveness, the Office of Service and Continuous Improvement (OSCI), and the Office of Information Technology (OIT).

Participants will:

• Learn the basic elements; be able to describe the benefits and methods of process mapping and analysis
• Participate in hands-on training on computer software designed to create process maps
• Apply more advanced techniques for facilitating effective mapping and analysis sessions

There is a $75 fee for this course, payable by EFS# or check.

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This two-day course is designed for project managers, administrators, and others who are responsible for leading project teams. Hands-on activities will follow the four key phases of project definition, detailed planning, working, and completion.

Participants will:

• Understand the role of a project leader
• Learn to build, coach and evaluate the project team
• Determine project requirements, deliverables and measures of success
• Identify, obtain and organize resources to fit the project
• Use appropriate tools to monitor schedules, cost, and quality
• Review methods for managing the interpersonal side of projects
• Apply tools and techniques to a project from their own work environment

There is a $150 fee for this course, payable by EFS# or check.

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Identifying your individual needs for time management is the first step in creating your own system of optimum efficiency. This course will examine time management as a unique process rather than a “one size fits all” approach.

Participants will:

• Learn to create a work plan with daily goals
• Identify strategies to overcome common time wasters and procrastination
• Create an action plan to continue skill building

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Major transitions at work are becoming more and more common. This session will outline how change and transition affect your work and personal life. This session will introduce transition and change models and allow time to practice with tools that will help you be successful in changing times.

Participants will:

• Understand key models describing transition and change
• Examine changes and transitions in their own work and personal lives
• Apply specific tools to create an action plan for managing change

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Co-Requisite: Supervisors and team leaders take this course as a follow-up to "Transitions and Change: Understanding the Dynamics of Change."

Supervisors and team leaders play a key role in ensuring that change and transition occur smoothly and successfully. This session will provide the tools you need to effectively manage transitions and change within your work group.

Participants will:

• Apply change and transition models to current work situations
• Understand how to manage polarities that may arise out of transitions and change
• Learn tools for help employees be successful in managing change

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Are you getting the real message others are trying to relate to you in work settings? Do you understand the difference between "hearing" and "active listening"? In this session you will learn the essential skills of active listening, including the importance of body language and tone. We will identify the barriers to effective listening and generate solutions to use in the workplace. We will explore individual communication style and how that contributes to successful communication at work. A focus on communication style will provide a framework on how you communicate with others. 

Participants will:

• Learn a the transactional model of communication
• Apply the 5 levels of listening to real work examples
• Identify their own communication styles
• Learn and apply a 5 step structure to communicate more effectively
• Identify immediate action steps that can be taken to enhance their current skill sets

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Productive work relationships require the ability to deal with a variety of behaviors that often lead to difficult situations. Participants will be encouraged to share examples of real-life situations and apply a model for assertive communication that may be successful in maneuvering through this conflict.

Participants will:

• Learn coping strategies in dealing with difficult behaviors in the workplace
• Apply a model for assertive communication to case scenarios
• Develop a guide for future interactions with people exhibiting difficult behaviors

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This course will provide simple and highly effective tools to enhance your creative thinking. Participants will apply methods that assist in ordering, evaluating, and selecting the best ideas to be implemented.

Participants will:

• Explore how different thinking styles impact creativity and innovation
• Apply five divergence methods to increase idea generation
• Use four convergence tools to evaluate and select the best idea

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Conflict is a normal part of any productive workplace. When addressed effectively, conflict can be source of creativity and growth. This session will explore tools to help understand approaches to conflict situations and apply these tools to gain comfort and increase skill in dealing with conflict at work.

Participants will:

• Explore five different styles of handling conflict
• Create strategies to assertively address conflict situations
• Develop an action plan for addressing future conflicts

There is a $12 fee for this course, payable by EFS# or check.

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The Myers-Briggs Type Indictor (MBTI) is one of the most commonly used tools to help better understand personality type and work style. This course will supply you with the information needed to understand your personality and those of others. You will complete the MBTI Step II prior to the course; it is a useful way to understand your personality and how that impacts your work. This workshop will explore the issues around personality, as well as provide tips for ways to flex your personality and work better with others.

Participants will:

• Learn about personality theory and how it applies to them
• Identify their personality type and how it impacts their life
• Identify ways they can flex their preferences to their benefit

There is a $31 fee for this course, payable by EFS# or check.

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With people living longer, healthier lives, workplaces are experiencing a workforce with over a 60-year age span. Understanding the differences that exist between the generations can make for a more productive and harmonious work environment. Armed with this information, managers can see what leadership styles, training methods, motivation, and rewards best fit their their employees.

Participants will:

• Identify potential points of disagreement and learn effective practices for working with each generation
• Create an action plan for applying generational knowledge and skills at work

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Great customer service is critical to the success of the University. This course will provide tools to deliver great service every time – even in the most challenging situations.

Participants will:

• Learn about the University’s service philosophy
• Identify the five categories most critical to meeting customer expectations
• Understand the six components to the Great Service Equation
• Generate solutions for difficult customer interactions

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Seattle’s World Famous Pike Place Fish Market is an otherwise ordinary fish market that’s extraordinarily successful. Learn how something as simple as four little concepts can help you and your workplace. Discover the energy energy to be “world famous.”

Participants will:

• Apply principles from The FISH! Philosophy to enhance overall delivery of great customer service
• Develop a plan of action to bring the FISH! principles to daily work life

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