CENTER FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAM PROSPECTUS
Center for Professional Development
Making Business Decisions
Managing Workplace Stress
Time and Priority Management
Developing Assertiveness Skills
Advanced Self Organization Skills
Positive People Skills
MAKING BUSINESS DECISIONS
CENTER FOR
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Program Overview
Decision making in contemporary organizations is
characterized, more than ever before, by elements of
risk, uncertainty, and ambiguity. Daily, leaders face
time-pressured problems demanding responses that
require critical analysis, creative generation of options,
and the social intelligence to determine levels of
inclusion and assess organizational barriers to
implementation. Yet too many managers fall back on an
unreliable combination of instinct, limited experience,
and awed mental models to guide their decisions.
This program directs participants to work from inside
their own decision-making situations, applying a variety
of means-formal, psychological, experiential, sociopolitical-to uncover their own strengths and limitations
as decision makers, and to gain alternative strategies
drawn from decision-making research.
Throughout this program participants will learn to
identify underlying issues related to a decision,
generate multiple alternatives, evaluate those
alternatives, and communicate and implement the
decision.
Return on Investment
•
Learn how to decipher the types of information
that are vital to making decisions, and when to
involve stakeholders
•
Identify your own preferred decision-making
style and learn how to develop decision-making
capability in individuals and teams you manage
•
Learn how to make smart, speedy decisions
and how to determine when slowing down is
crucial
•
Receive tools and techniques to assess the
risks of making ineffective decisions and
increase the likelihood of positive results-all
while gaining the commitment of decision
implementers
•
Determine a decision implementation plan for a
real-work situation
Who Should Attend?
Managers and leaders who want to improve their ability
to solve problems and make more effective decisions
using tools and techniques that are flexible and easily
applicable to today's complex business environment
Program Focus
What Is Decision Making?
•
Decision making as a process
•
Phase 1: Establishing a context for success
•
Phase 2: Assessing the situation and choosing
a course of action
•
Phase 3: Communicating and implementing the
decision
Setting the Stage
•
Participants
•
Setting
•
Approach
•
Climate
Recognizing Obstacles
•
Individual biases
•
Group dynamics
Framing the Issue
•
Identify your decision-making objectives
Generating Alternatives
•
Brainstorming
•
Encouraging productive dialogue
•
Promoting fair process
Evaluating Alternatives
•
Variables to consider
•
Evaluation techniques
Making the Decision
•
Moving toward closure
•
Ending deliberations
Communicating the Decision
Implementing the Decision
•
Assign reasonable tasks with sufficient
resources
•
Clarify expectations
and acknowledge
incentives
•
Provide feedback on the implementation
•
Take a look for yourself
•
Recognize people's contributions
MANAGING WORKPLACE STRESS
Program Overview
Stress in the workplace can never be completely
eliminated – nor should it be. However, it can be
managed so that you can function in a healthy and
effective way. In this program, you will find practical,
hands-on suggestions for managing workplace stress –
from short-term “quick fixes” to long-term methods for
changing the situation and/or your response to the
situation.
This program is designed to enable you to recognize
the symptoms of stress and attune yourself to deal with
it in a positive manner. Appropriate action can be taken,
lessening the risk of the stress encroaching on general
health and well-being.
Return on Investment
•
Gain an understanding of what causes your
stress
•
Recognize your stress symptoms and create
strategies to diminish them
•
Learn to detect signs of stress in their early
stages
•
Apply stress-management techniques to daily
life
•
Learn how to stand up to stress and how to see
it as an opportunity for personal growth and
development and not a threat.
Who Should Attend?
This program is for anyone encountering pressure in
the working environment and who would like to feel
better equipped to handle it. This program is especially
beneficial to people whose reactions to stress are
negatively affecting their productivity, health, or
interpersonal relationships and those who would like to
achieve their goals while experiencing a greater sense
of life balance
Program Focus
Overload and Toxic Worry
•
Why be concerned about stress?
•
The basic equation of worry
•
Negative stress cycle
•
Bad things really do happen
Positive Stress and Productive Worry
•
The dynamic power of worry
•
The business value of wise worry
•
Different strokes for different folks
Assessing Your Stress Level
•
Major work stressors
•
Changes in the workplace
•
Unhealthy work environment
•
Individual responses
•
Signs of dis-stress
•
Levels of stress
Taking Charge: Strategies That Work
•
Reverse the Basic Equation of Worry
•
Take the four-step approach
•
Work-life balance
The Rational Solution: Turning Worry into Action
•
Evaluate
•
Plan
•
Remediate
The Connection Approach: Reversing the Basic
Worry Equation
•
The disconnected workplace
•
Power of connectedness
•
Quick-fix connections
•
Self-Talk
•
The power of negative thoughts
•
Tune in to your self-talk
CENTER FOR
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
TIME AND PRIORITY MANAGEMENT
CENTER FOR
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Program Overview
If management is the art of getting the right things done,
time management is perhaps the single most critical
management skill. This program helps you learn how to
prioritize your tasks – what to concentrate on, and for
how long, as well as what to set aside.
This practical program is for those who want to take
more control of their workloads by organizing tasks,
people, and themselves more effectively.
Return on Investment
•
Recognize the value of effective time
management to yourself, your team, and your
organization
•
Clarify your own and your team's objectives, key
areas of responsibility and priorities
•
Identify and overcome the primary causes of
poor time management for yourself and your
team
•
Identify time wasters and personal preferences
that affect performance in the workplace
•
Prioritize your tasks and cope more effectively
with day-to-day demands and pressures
•
Learn to plan ahead and use your time more
effectively to increase personal and team
productivity
•
Release more time to manage and delegate
tasks effectively
•
Become more assertive and disciplined,
achieving greater control through improved
personal organization, resulting in a healthier,
more productive lifestyle both at work and
beyond.
Who Should Attend?
Managers, team leaders, and professionals who need
to manage time more effectively to enhance their own
performance and that of their team.
Program Focus
The Purpose of Managing Your Time
•
What is time management?
•
Phases of time management
Understanding How You Spend Your Time
•
Where does your time go?
•
Finding the patterns
Goals as Guideposts
•
Attempting too much
Scheduling Your Time
•
Why do I need to schedule my time?
•
Tools for scheduling
•
Breaking goals into manageable tasks
•
Creating your schedule
•
Working with "to-do" lists
Controlling Time Wasters
•
What is a time waster?
•
How to handle interruptions
•
How to handle unexpected visitors
•
Manage your phone \
•
How to deal with paperwork
•
Fight procrastination
•
How to handle meetings
•
Make travel time productive
Putting Your Schedule into Action
•
Implement your schedule
•
Monitor and evaluate your schedule
Managing Others and Meetings
•
Managing people managers, colleagues, team
members and customers
•
Getting more things done through assertive
behavior
•
Making the most of meetings as participant or
chairperson
Effective Delegation
•
The rules of effective delegation
•
Using delegation as a means of coordinating the
workload of your team/department
DEVELOPING ASSERTIVENESS SKILLS
Program Overview
Assertiveness skills training can help manage difficult
people and situations in an effective manner. Assertive
rather than aggressive or submissive behavior can
reduce the spiraling pressures and stresses that cause
people to act and think negatively or under perform.
This program examines the differences between
assertive, non-assertive and aggressive behavior.
Delegates will then practice assertive approaches to the
many difficult situations they face mirroring real life
scenarios.
In a safe environment, role-play will introduce delegates
to difficult, defensive or negative people who in various
ways cause problems and conflict. With guidance and
individual support, delegates will learn and implement
proven techniques to deal with people effectively.
Return on Investment
•
Understand why and how conflict arises and
how to identify silent conflict
•
Recognize the non-verbal and verbal attributes
of assertiveness and the benefits of its
application in the workplace
•
Develop a style that is productive, positive and
direct rather than aggressive or submissive
•
Give and receive feedback in a constructive and
positive way
•
Recognize the link between assertiveness,
confidence and self-esteem
•
Handle difficult situations and people confidently
and assertively
•
Deal with criticism, confrontation, anger, and
negativity effectively and positively
•
Overcome feelings of apprehension and
understand the importance of language and
body language to assertiveness
•
Develop techniques for better working
relationships using assertiveness
Who Should Attend?
Members of an organization, regardless of role or
function, who need time and space to examine, learn
and practice positive and assertive techniques for
working with others effectively.
Program Focus
Understanding Different Styles of Behavior
•
A definition of assertive behavior and the
benefits it offers
•
Distinguishing between assertive, aggressive
and passive behavior
•
Assertiveness at work - understanding human
behavior
Recognizing Your Own Style and Behaviors
•
Self-assessment of your style - the associated
strengths and weaknesses
•
Cultural and gender based influences on your
behavior
•
Building relationships with work colleagues
Why do People Behave the Way They Do?
•
An introduction to the principles of Transactional
Analysis
•
How are you perceived by others?
•
Avoiding the games people play
Handling Difficult Situations, Problems and Conflicts
•
Tackling barriers to assertiveness - recognizing
and dealing with fear and apprehension
•
Confronting common problems which occur in
the workplace
•
Resolving conflict - dealing with difficult people
•
Raising sensitive issues
Assertive, Persuasive and Positive Communication
•
Moving from negative to positive ways of
thinking - building your self-esteem
•
Are you saying 'yes' when you should be saying
'no'?
•
The art of persuasion - getting ideas across
•
How self-esteem affects confidence and
influences behavior - using assertive language
•
Identifying ways of building self-esteem and
developing confidence
Assertive Techniques
•
Taking control through positive body language
•
Using assertive and positive language - making
your message clear
•
Giving and receiving critical feedback
•
Persuasion skills and coping with criticism
•
Applying assertive techniques in different
workplace situations
CENTER FOR
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
ADVANCED SELF ORGANIZATION SKILLS
CENTER FOR
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Program Overview
The ability to organize is a skill not unlike the ability to
supervise, delegate or use a computer. It can be
learned, practiced and perfected. This program will
show you how. During this program you will learn how
to meet deadlines without overstretching yourself ...
gain more control over paperwork ... and get more done
in less time every day.
After this program you will walk away with the skills you
need to break time-wasting habits, bring order to your
chaotic work schedule and reduce everyday stress. As
a result, you will be able to claim more time for yourself
and stay fully focused on key business tasks.
Return on Investment
•
Break time-wasting habits
•
Bring order to a chaotic work life
•
Reduce everyday stress and frustrations
•
Claim more time for yourself
•
Enhance your professional image
Who Should Attend?
For business professionals who want to develop a more
focused, organized, effective work style and reclaim the
personal time lost to working overtime.
Program Focus
•
The secret to remembering details
•
Basic organizational styles and how to
maximize each
•
Are bad habits sabotaging your day?
•
How to keep your in-box under control
•
Types of lists that can safeguard your sanity
•
Do you cause your own confusion? How to
determine if you do
•
How to remember things without covering your
desk with sticky notes
•
Pinpointing your organizational weak spots
•
Work habits worth developing
•
Goal-setting - it's more than just a to-do list
•
The first step toward a more effective work style
•
The most common cause of disorder and how to
overcome it
•
What to do when you feel other things are more
important than cleaning off your desk
•
Recognizing and eliminating your tendency to
be a perfectionist
•
Invaluable strategies for organizing your staff
•
Plotting the day's work: Determining what's
urgent ... what can wait ... and what you can let
go
•
Time-blocking - what it is and how it can help
you get more done
•
Pieces of office equipment no manager should
be without
•
Maintaining order when your job responsibilities
continue to grow
•
A technique for keeping details pulled together
on even the busiest days
•
Different ways managers defeat themselves
when delegating work
•
Why downtime is important ... and how to build
it into your schedule
•
The critical difference between a cluttered desk
and one that's messy: How does yours measure
up?
POSITIVE PEOPLE SKILLS
Program Overview
This program helps you revitalize the relationships that
determine the quality and profitability of your business.
It goes beyond strategies for influencing the behavior of
others to provide a process for creating clear
communications,
effective
collaboration
and
relationships that achieve results.
Interactive exercises wrapped around short lectures will
introduce you to a series of frameworks for building new
relationships and improving existing ones. As you focus
on the cornerstones of successful relationships—
knowing yourself, understanding others, developing
trust and credibility—you’ll develop better listening and
questioning skills.
Return on Investment
•
Transform and revitalize key relationships with
colleagues, customers, clients, and suppliers
•
Discover a set of alternative frameworks for
building strong, ongoing relationships—across
different functions, disciplines, roles, and
cultures
•
Identify your preferred thinking style, and learn
how it affects your interactions and results with
others
•
Learn techniques for reframing situations that
give you multiple perspectives and innovative
solutions
•
Apply your insights to a current relationship
challenge you face—and leave with workable
solutions
•
Understand why different people act the way
they do and handle all personality types with
skill and ease
•
Communicate confidently, effectively, and
tactfully with everyone
•
Eliminate self-sabotaging behaviors and build
your circle of influence
•
Address differences diplomatically and quickly
negotiate solutions
Who Should Attend?
Managers facing complex relationship challenges such
as a merger or acquisition, a move into new markets
with new customers, or a change in supply chain
relationships benefit from this program.
This program is also designed for individuals who
would benefit from an enhanced ability to persuade and
influence in the workplace.
Program Focus
Handle All Kinds of People with Tact and Skill
•
Recognize the "triggers" that set off difficult
people
•
Actions that bring out the best in others in every
situation
•
Understand how your attitudes toward people
impact their behavior
Build Consensus from Conflict
•
How to recognize when you are the problem
•
How to ensure both sides "win" and why it is so
important
•
Take stock of different positions
Say What you Mean to Get What you Want
•
The difference between passive, aggressive, and
assertive behavior
•
Understand how anger affects a situation and
how to manage it
•
Nonverbal communication skills that improve
relationships every time
Build Rapport with Practically Anybody
•
The difference between paying attention and
really listening
•
Ways to interpret odd behavior
•
Why every great communicator is a great listener
Directing and Motivating Others
•
Practicing steps for effectively giving directions
•
Knowing what motivates others to achieve high
levels of performance
•
The basic principles of building and sustaining
productive work relationships
Being a Team Player: The Synergistic Impact of All Your
Interpersonal Skills
•
Assessing your leadership role and guiding your
team toward achieving goals
•
Team survival simulation: using interpersonal
skills in a team process
Setting a Plan for Continued Interpersonal Skills Growth
•
Developing an achievable interpersonal skills
development plan
CENTER FOR
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT