Business / Community > Center for Business & Industry > Leadership Development Institute > Workshop Descriptions

Access: Beyond the Basics Achieving Personal Effectiveness Basic Finance & Accounting for Business Basic Management Skills Better Business Writing Coaching for Improved Performance Conflict Resolution Strategies Effective Interactions Effective Management Program Effective Selection Interviewing Excel: Beyond the Basics Exceptional Customer Service Facilitation:  Helping Groups Succeed Foundations of Quality for Leaders Introduction to Access Introduction to Excel Introduction to Project Management Leader As Coach Leading Organizational Change Leveraging Your Strengths Making Effective Presentations Managing the Performance of Others Practices of Successful Leaders Problem Solving Techniques Putting Voice to Leadership Quality Essentials Situational Leadership Stress Management Successful Negotiations Using the Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle and Quality Tools Valuing People's Differences Working with MS Word: Beyond the Basics Working with Teams

Access: Beyond the Basics Objective: To expand your knowledge of Access including how to customize forms and reports and share data with other applications. Description: As you begin this workshop, you should have the skills needed to create a basic database in Access.  In this program, you will expand your knowledge and learn how to customize forms and reports, and share Access data with other applications.  Prerequisite: Knowledge of Microsoft Access Basics. Top

Achieving Personal Effectiveness Objective: To allow participants to discover their personal strengths and weaknesses of personal effectiveness. Description: This program is intended for all professionals who are trying to achieve personal effectiveness in today's work environments.  It will discuss how the organization's mission, vision and objectives should align with each associate's work.  Participants will be encouraged to think differently so greater success might be achieved.  Some of the tools discussed will be: goal setting, alignment of priorities to goals, analysis of priorities and planning. Top

Basic Finance & Accounting for Business Objective: To provide basic, non-technical financial knowledge and skills for today’s professionals in organizational life. Description: This practical workshop emphasizes basic accounting and finance practices that underpin business decisions in today’s organizations.  Every professional needs fundamental financial savvy in order to understand how organizations spend and earn money, how they account for financial flows, the budgeting process and how financial reports work to support business results. Top

Basic Management Skills Objective: This workshop will provide participants with the fundamental knowledge necessary to supervise work and people.  It is intended to be an overview of the basic skills such as planning, organizing, controlling, communicating, motivating, and performance management. Description: This workshop will involve participants in a highly interactive learning experience.  Using videos, instruments, lecture and group discussions, attendees will get practical experience in using basic management skills.  There will also be opportunities to better understand one’s preferred styles and gain insight into the impact of those styles.  The workshop serves as an excellent lead into several of the other management development programs currently being offered. Top

Better Business Writing Objective: To improve professional written communications. Description: This hands-on workshop covers the techniques of effective business writing across a variety of formats.  Handouts and examples clarify the “rules of the road” for conveying ideas, writing effectively and correctly, and with impact. Top

Coaching for Improved Performance Objective: To enable participants to develop an understanding of the theory and skills of coaching and enhance their coaching techniques. Description: The workshop focuses on the meaning of coaching and when to coach, demonstrates both effective and ineffective behaviors in coaching situations and allows participants to practice specific coaching techniques.  Skill practices are used to help participants identify behaviors on which to focus for improvement. Top

Conflict Resolution Strategies Objective: To build awareness and develop or reinforce the skills needed to handle conflict through coaching thereby creating a better outcome. Description: This program was designed to enable participants to understand the power and influence that can be achieved through coaching in a conflict situation.  Participants will identify their communication style and see how conflict could develop among the different styles discussed.  In this course, the common misconceptions and "possible" benefits of conflict will be addressed.  Participants will also identify their conflict style using an assessment.  The five conflict resolution styles will be analyzed.  The conflict resolution model will be used to enable participants to better evaluate the situation for an improved outcome.  At the conclusion of the program, each participant will develop an action plan. Top

Effective Interactions Objective: To build awareness around communication, listening and assertiveness so that improvement can be made in an individual's ability to interact effectively with others. Description: This program was designed to enable participants to understand the power of each and every communication and why effective interactions matter.  Participants will explore the basics of communication and the way individuals communicate.  The course addresses the importance of active listening in any interaction.  Active listening techniques will be practiced.  The art of assertiveness will be discussed and techniques applied.  The class will critique and analyze ineffective conversations and develop a script for a planned conversation.  At the conclusion of the program, each participant will develop an action plan.  Top

Effective Management Program Objective: To enable participants to become more flexible and adaptive managers based on the demands of the situation; to maximize and effectively manage people; to set challenging group goals/objectives and delegate work in a way that both ensures success and develops employees. Description: An intense workshop that has been effective in upgrading management skills. The program creates a dynamic environment that helps to ensure learning through case studies, simulations, role-plays, videotapes, group and individual exercises, and personal planning. Managers learn to be more effective because throughout the program they develop plans for applying the skills to their own jobs. They receive input from many sources – self-evaluation, peers and subordinates – to help them understand specifically what it is they need to do differently. Specific content topics include: Situational Leadership, Motivating Others, Setting a High Performing Workplace Climate, and Performance Management. Top

Effective Selection Interviewing Objective: To develop knowledge and skills to prepare for, conduct and evaluate candidates in an effective selection interviewing process. Description: This workshop teaches the skills of interviewing within the framework of a legal hiring process.  Participants will experience multiple applications of interview techniques to real work situations, followed by feedback and tips for increasing their effectiveness.  Techniques for developing selection criteria, crafting effective interview questions, evaluating candidates objectively, and expertly handling the interview sequence will also be covered. Top

Excel: Beyond the Basics Objective: To extend your knowledge of Microsoft Excel using database features, working with multiple workbooks, creating advanced formulas, analyzing data and creating macros. Description: In this workshop, you will increase your knowledge of Microsoft Excel beyond the basic skills of creating a worksheet.  You will learn to use Excel's database features, work with multiple workbooks, create advanced formulas, analyze data and create macros. Prerequisite: Knowledge of Microsoft Excel Basics. Top

Exceptional Customer Service Objective: To understand the processes, skills and practices of quality customer service for all types of organizations. Description: Everyone is a customer, and in today’s organizations, everyone has a customer.  This workshop focuses on the role of customer service in organizational and personal success, along with how to achieve it. Top

Facilitation: Helping Groups Succeed Objective: To enable participants to gain a thorough understanding of the art of facilitation and to develop the fundamental skills to carry out that role as a group member. Description: Facilitation is simply helping group participants work through all those typical situations in the most productive manner possible.  This program is highly focused on practical application with all kinds of tools to put into your toolkit as facilitator.  We don’t promise the ability to transform difficult groups into high performers, but we do guarantee learning ways to help such groups to be more productive. Top

Foundations of Quality for Leaders Objective: To enable participants to gain a solid foundation in quality philosophy and practice.  Explore how your role as a leader changes in a quality environment. Description: Understand the basic concepts of quality essentials and the stages of the quality process.  Discuss the history of the quality movement in the US.  Explore your role as a leader in a quality environment and how to optimize participation and resources within your organization.   Top

Introduction to Access Objective: To learn the skills needed to get started creating and using database objects including tables, queries, forms and reports. Description: Most organizations maintain and manage large amounts of information.  In this workshop, you will be introduced to the Microsoft Office Access relational database application.  You will learn the skills needed to get started creating and using database objects including tables, queries, forms and reports.  Top

Introduction to Excel Objective: To learn the basic skills of Excel including how to create and format worksheets, using formulas and statistical functions.  Description: In this course you will develop the fundamental skills required for effective use of Microsoft Excel 2003.  The Excel workbook environment will be introduced, as well as creating worksheets using formulas and statistical functions.  You will also learn to format your worksheets and create an impact with charts.  Top

Introduction to Project Management Objective: To prepare participants to handle the normal project situations faced on the job. Description: This one-day course is designed to cover the basics of project management.  It will explore the phases of the project life cycle – Define, Plan, Execute, Complete, Evaluate and Celebrate.  Some of the basic project management tools will be discussed, including the WBS (Work Breakdown Structure), Task List and Issues List.  A gantt type chart will also be discussed and how it could be constructed in Excel. Top

Leader as Coach Objective: To improve participants’ understanding of the responsibility of developing others as part of a leader’s role in creating high-performance cultures. Description: This workshop will study that concept and provide an overview of the competencies required to set in place a leader-filled organization.  It will also look at transformational coaching as a key enabler of organizational change.  Through case studies and practical application, the session will provide not only the academic grounding for leaders being coaches, but also several “how to’s” for moving an organization in this direction.  This workshop will be a part of a trilogy that also includes Putting Voice to Leadership and Leading Organizational Change. Top

Leading Organizational Change Objective: To improve participants’ understanding of and ability to lead organizational change. Description: This workshop will investigate what that requires, both in terms of skill sets and mindset for producing results.  Research and writings of Donald Laurie, Ronald Heifetz, John Kotter, Daniel Goleman, Jim Collins, and Bob Quinn will provide a broad perspective on change.  The workplace environment will also be a key area of discussion to understand its influence on an organization’s ability to adapt.  This workshop will be a part of a trilogy that also includes Putting Voice to Leadership and Leader As Coach. Top

Leveraging Your Strengths Objective: To be able to identify core strengths and how to apply them to achieve greater success and productivity. Description: Explore how your strengths can be brought to bear in your professional and personal life to achieve both success and satisfaction.  This class dispels the myths that have kept us focused only on remediating weakness to the exclusion of building on strengths.  Through self-assessment activities, participants will identify core strengths and how to apply them to achieve greater success and productivity. Top

Making Effective Presentations Objective: To develop greater confidence and skills in planning and delivering presentations of all types. Description: The workshop’s content includes uses for and planning of a presentation, understanding your audience, key elements for success, and techniques and tips for making an impact through a presentation.   Participants will have the opportunity to plan and deliver a five-minute presentation.    Additional resources for developing and delivering quality presentations will also be provided. Top

Managing the Performance of Others Objective: To enable participants to manage other people in the effective accomplishment of work. Description: Provides participants with a clear understanding of the process of performance management.  Introduces the concept of providing direction through goal setting and alignment.  Enables participants to give feedback in response to performance assessment.  Participants will improve their knowledge of behaviors that impact performance management and learn how best to deal with them. Top

Practices of Successful Leaders Objective: To develop an understanding and application of the key practices of high-performing leaders. Description: This course gets at the heart of leadership.  It uses the research of Kouzes and Posner, Noel Tichy and Daniel Goleman to define key practices of high-performing leaders.  This program concludes with action planning to define specific next steps to enhance one’s leadership. Top

Problem Solving Techniques Objective: To improve participants’ ability to analyze problem situations and techniques to help resolve them. Description: This workshop will increase participant awareness of the benefits of group problem solving and the advantages of using a systematic problem solving methodology.  A 4-step basic process is introduced to lead from problem to solution.  Problem definition and causal analysis are emphasized.  Pareto charts, nominal group process and fishbone diagrams are used to practice the problem-solving steps.  The development of action plans are also highlighted. Top

Putting Voice to Leadership Objective: To enable participants to use conversations and dialogue to influence the performance of both individuals and organizations. Description: Through participation in this workshop, participants will develop a deep understanding of the concept of "Powerful Conversations".  The fundamentals of Teachable Points of View and how our life experiences mold those views are introduced.  Participants will have an improved ability to both lead and influence conversations in a productive manner that can positively impact results. This workshop will be a part of a trilogy that also includes Leader as Coach and Leading Organizational Change. Top

Quality Essentials Objective: To enable participants to understand the key concepts behind the quality movement including the history and practices of quality in American culture.  Builds familiarity with quality vocabulary and practice. Description: Decisions are based on data and are only as valid as the information collected.  This workshop introduces participants to the basic concepts of quality essentials including the process of gathering accurate information.  Discuss the theory behind the quality movement and its history in the US.  This workshop covers the theory behind the quality movement and is suggested as a pre-requisite for the two-day "Using the Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle and Quality Tools" program.  Top

Situational Leadership Objective: To enable participants to develop an understanding of directive and supportive behavior and how this behavior relates to their leadership styles. Description: Successful leaders are those who can adapt their behavior to meet the demands of unique situations. Situational Leadership is a method for supervisors to learn to use flexibility in their leadership in order to meet a variety of needs. Through the use of lectures, videotape case studies, instruments and group discussions, participants will identify their own style and learn how to use it more effectively. Top

Stress Management Objective: To provide knowledge and practices to successfully recognize, manage and prevent stress. Description: Experiencing healthy stress is a normal part of life.  In fact, some amount of stress is needed to accomplish work!  However, when stress becomes overload, individual performance, relationships and even health can suffer the consequences. Top

Successful Negotiations Objective: To develop knowledge of the process, techniques and communication approaches for skillful, effective negotiations. Description: This workshop teaches the skills of negotiation within the framework of a planned process for getting what you want and giving what the other party needs.  Participants will experience multiple negotiation situations followed by in-depth analysis of the process and skills.  Techniques for team negotiations, planning strategy, identifying goals and tactics for adversarial negotiators will also be covered. Top

Using the Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle and Quality Tools Objective: To enable participants to understand and use the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) Cycle as an improvement or a design template.  Participants will learn and apply quality tools to facilitate their problem solving. Description: Understand the stages of the quality process: the experience itself, creating a schedule, or plan, around the experience; and using quality tools to execute the plan.  Combine the theory behind the quality movement with the quality process to understand and define the PDSA cycle.  This workshop covers several quality processes and is suggested as a follow up to the "Quality Essentials" program. Top

Valuing People's Differences Objective: To build awareness of the benefits and importance of valuing all people in the work environment. Description: This workshop clarifies the reasons why valuing differences is good for business.  Facts on workplace differences will be presented and analyzed, with implications for the future.  Strategies for individuals to counter influences that lead to exclusion of others will also be presented.  Finally, participants will experience skill building in proven communication approaches that foster understanding and teamwork with people who are different from them. Top

Working with MS Word: Beyond the Basics Objective: To improve your proficiency using Word's customization and automation features. Description: Once you have the basic skills needed to create standard documents in Microsoft Word, the next step is to improve your proficiency using Word's customization and automation features.  In this workshop, you will learn to use such features as tables, templates, forms, macros, collaboration and Web pages.  Prerequisite: Knowledge of Microsoft Word Basics. Top

Working with Teams Objective: To enable participants to provide more effective team leadership and be more productive team members. Description: Provides participants with a better understanding of what an effective team consists of and what it can accomplish.  Highlights how teams are motivated to high performance.  Participants will learn specific tools and methods for developing and enabling effective teamwork and how to be an effective member or leader of a team. Top