Program Descriptions

New Staff/Faculty Welcome & Orientation
This program is designed to welcome new staff/faculty to the UMass Lowell community and give them the opportunity to meet campus leaders. The overall program objectives are to
• Foster an understanding of the campus culture, its values, and its diversity.
• Promote an understanding of individual role and how you fit into the total organization.

Problem Solving & Decision Making
Participants will be able to
• Define the problem and apply a problem-solving process
• Review and apply problem-solving techniques
• Review and apply criteria for effective decision making

Communicating with Influence
Participants will be able to
• Have a clearer understanding of how to positively influence another person’s behavior and way of thinking
• Identify the sources and bases of power and how to use them effectively
• The ability to create an open environment for communication
• Determine your influence style
• Plan an influence strategy and use various techniques

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Supervising Student Workers
Participants will be able to
• Explore ways to create training plans to support students in gaining skills in the workplace
• Support continued quality work habits through feedback, reward and recognition, coaching
• Learn what supervisors can do when things don’t go as planned with our student workers

Managing Crucial Conversations
We have all had workplace conversations with others about important issues that we wished had happened differently.  Sometimes we avoid conversations for fear of making things worse.  In this two-part workshop we will examine how to manage crucial conversations in the workplace. 

Participants must attend both sessions, participants need only register once.
Session I:  Crucial Conversation Basics
Thursday, May 14
• Explore a model for focusing on having a successful conversation
• Practice self-management skills
Session II:  Practice Crucial Conversations
Thursday, May 21
• Examine ways to manage potential conflict
• Practice the crucial conversation model.

Human Resources Topics/Questions and Answers

Velda McCrae-Yates, Assistant Director Human Resources, will facilitate this discussion around HR topics such as FMLA, various leaves of absences, evaluations, progressive discipline, and other topics.  Please bring questions.

Change Management:  Navigating Through Uncertainty

Nationally, locally, and personally we are in a time of great change.  In this workshop, we will explore the process of change, strategies to deal with the stress of change, understand your strengths, and develop specific actions to adapt more effectively to change.

Legal Issues in Higher Education
Participants will be able to
• Participate in a review of important laws that will enable supervisors and managers to avoid legal pitfalls.

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Supervisory Leadership Development Program
Participants will be able to
• Learn about Managing Self, Managing Others, Managing the System
• Explore roles and responsibilities of a supervisor
• Know the basic standards and expectations of a respectful workplace and appropriate workplace behavior
• Understand connection between social identity and best practices in feedback and evaluation
• Know how to use organizational tools and producing positive results.

Leading Effective Meetings
Participants will be able to
• Identify the different types of meetings, how to structure, and have the most effective results
• Determine ways to keep meetings focused and on track
• Practice skills needed to keep groups focused and on task.

Leading with Emotional Intelligence:  A Distinguishing Quality of Outstanding Leaders
Participants will be able to
• Recognize the defining qualities of Emotional Intelligence
• Understand why Emotional Intelligence is an essential part of the foundation for effective leadership in the workplace
• Consider, after assessing the level of their own Emotional Intelligence capabilities, ways to better utilize their strengths as a leader/manager and/or develop Emotional Intelligence competencies that are underused in their role of leader/manager

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Teams that Work!
Participants will be able to
• Learn why teams fail (and how to prevent this from occurring)
• What effective team leaders do to impact team performance and create a positive work climate
• How to use strategies for guiding and managing teams as they move through various stages of development (i.e., forming, resolving conflicts, and becoming self-managing).

Situational Leadership II Model/Assessment
Situational Leadership II is a model for developing people.  SLII is a language, as well as a strategy, for providing the right amount of direction and support to the people you lead.  The role of the Situational Leader, as teacher and coach, is to challenge the people he or she works with to become increasingly self-motivated and self-directed.  Situational Leaders provide an environment where people can learn; develop their skills, motivation, and confidence; share their talents; and contribute to the organization’s success.  This three-hour session will help you deal with the greatest challenges you face as a leader.

Inspiring Learning Across the Generations
Participants will be able to
• Have a clearer understanding of the different generations in the workplace
• Recognize the different generational characteristics and how this impacts learning
• Have a general understanding of issues faced by managers when leading an intergenerational workforce
• Learn new ways to create a supportive learning environment for each of the different generations in your workplace
• Recognize ways to older workers can relate to their younger bosses and staff, and vice versa.

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