Timeless Skills Series
This series of virtual workshops was compiled to address competencies and skills relevant to success at any time and in any role, team, or organization. Each live session is designed to be informative, interactive, and engaging. You will be encouraged to reflect on your personal development need, plan to apply the content to work, and explore additional resources that build on key learnings. Your efforts will be supported by the workshop facilitators, as well as your supervisor or manager. Please visit www.lms.ucla.edu to register for these Zoom-based offerings. An edited version will be made available via the LMS following the live course offering.
Leading and Managing in a Remote World
This workshop is designed to improve effectiveness in managing staff in a remote environment, which can be an opportunity and a challenge. Attendees will be explore tips and tools for effectively managing performance from a distance and create a plan to foster connection in a virtual environment.
Innovative Project Development: Introduction to Design Thinking
Design thinking is a framework for idea-creation and implementation, characterized by empathy with ‘users,’ an appreciation for failure, and a “prototyping culture.” Design thinking’s value is in its applicability to complex problems without an easy-to-see solution and in its “human centered” focus. This course will introduce participants to the phases of design thinking: Empathy, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test, and Iterate. Participants will have an opportunity to practice each phase, discuss the applicability and challenges of the design thinking framework, and apply those concepts to developing a project idea.
Difficult Conversations
According to one study, 85% of employees experience workplace disagreements, yet most feel unprepared to address challenging discussions at work. Knowing how to have tough conversations is a skill, and it can provide an opportunity for better understanding, stronger teams and improved solutions to challenges. In this program, you’ll learn how to manage challenging emotions at work, begin a difficult conversation with a colleague or staff member, and address office conflict with respect and empathy.
Time-Management Express
This workshop focuses on a scarce resource - time. If you are looking for practical techniques for making time a manageable resource, then this class is for you. Several methods for examining, planning and maximizing the utilization of time will be discussed. Some of the topics covered include understanding the principles of time management, identifying and setting priorities, and developing a personal time management plan
The Science of Resilience: How to Navigate Challenging Times
During challenging times, resilience in your life and work is more important than ever. Yet it’s not easy to feel motivated when you’re overwhelmed or stressed. The good news is that 40% of your resilience comes from using a set of skills that anyone can learn. In this program, you’ll learn resilience skills to develop an adaptable mindset, overcome your brain’s hardwired negativity bias, and manage your nervous system for better focus.
Effective Project Execution: Project Planning; & Management
Projects run from small, one person operations with no budget to large scale, multi-team endeavors, but what they all have in common is a need for comprehensive planning and management. This course will introduce participants to the life cycle of a project, key project management concepts, and common project challenges. Participants will apply those concepts to planning a project idea relevant to their own work.
Managing Up: Communicating Effectively with Your Boss
This course is designed to help participants develop a winning relationship with their manager that is respectful, beneficial for the organization, and professionally rewarding for all. Upon completion of this course, each participant will able to: Define and explain the importance of managing up; Identify develop ways to work with personality types at work; Decipher and understand their manager’s priorities; Apply the five key steps for managing up.
Customer Service
This class is for anyone who wants to develop a more effective approach to dealing with customers. A basic customer service philosophy will be discussed which helps participants develop a service orientation. In addition, participants will learn characteristics of the effective customer service provider, how to listen to customer concerns, how to improve areas of service delivery, how to say no and remain customer friendly, and techniques for creating positive customer relationships and customer satisfaction
Managing Your Performance
This workshop is designed to help participants make their best contribution in any position. Star performers have a strong sense of their strengths, are committed to ongoing improvement, and collaborate with colleagues to pursue work goals. You will explore how an organization's mission and objectives can be leveraged to energize you, the critical role communication plays in having your work seen, and how to set priorities that enable you to be a high-performing employee.
Introduction to Supervision
This class provides new supervisors and those seeking refresher skills an orientation to the role of supervision. Through exercises and group discussion, participants are presented an overview of the many facets of supervision. Self-assessments are provided to help participants compare their current skill levels to those required of a supervisory position. The class will focus on these important areas in developing supervisory effectiveness at the University the role and five function of supervisors, formal and informal organizational structures, resources and policies, and assessing individual strengths.
Responsive Project Facilitation: Change Through Influence
UCLA staff have unique insight into opportunities for impactful change within their roles, in their departments, or even institutional policy, but it’s not always easy to get their ideas approved and implemented. Influence is the answer. Participants will learn the fundamentals of influence, and apply those concepts to planning and developing their influence around a project idea or opportunity related to their work.
Working in Teams
Teams and teamwork are essential in today’s workplace. An understanding of how to successfully be part of a team can create cohesion and enhance effectiveness of your work group. This class will cover recognizing how your team is doing, understanding how teams build, characteristics of an effective team member, key components that make a group a team and the importance of group dynamics and communication.
Crafting Your Message: Content Development for Presentations
Great presentations start with great content. How often do you get invited to meetings or presentations with a clear understanding of the intended purpose or outcome? And how often do you leave those speaking engagements feeling energized and clear about your next steps? If you’d like to your team or audience to be engaged by your content and motivated to take action, then take this course to learn how audience analysis, storytelling, crafting a clear singular message, and other research-based presentation techniques can get you there.
Building Awareness, a Game Plan, and Your Confidence
This session will focus on how you can maintain your commitment to and enthusiasm for personal growth and development. UCLA’s Staff and Faculty Counseling Center will facilitate this motivational close to the Timeless Success Series.
Compelling Visuals: Visual Design for Presentations
Presentation visuals like PowerPoint can either help or harm your presentation. Too often, presentation visuals are an afterthought, a dumping ground for additional information, or speaking notes for the presenter. You will have an opportunity to enhance your visual thinking skills by learning how to apply visual thinking principles to the design process. This workshop will teach you approaches and best practices for making sure your visuals enhance an audience’s engagement, understanding and appreciation of your presentation.
Telling the Story: Public Speaking
Public speaking is an anxiety provoking activity for many people, but it doesn’t have to be. This workshop will explore the emotional origin of public speaking anxiety and introduce tools to help you mitigate your emotional response. You will learn about the main factors of effective spoken communication: vocal variety, articulation, language use and nonverbal communication. This workshop will provide you with opportunities to practice your skills in a safe and welcoming setting.
