Course Number: IC1700

Communication is part of your everyday life, yet the chances are that you have never examined what makes communication more or less effective. From practical conversations with co-workers to how you present yourself to supervisors and customers, learning communication skills is essential to succeeding in the workplace.

This class will provide an introduction to key fundamental skills and attitudes that enable you to stay in dialogue even when it is challenging. You will improve your skills at clarifying your motives, expressing your message to increase understanding, helping others engage in respectful dialogue, listening deeply, and getting a derailed conversation back on track. Skill practice will reinforce these essential tools so that you can apply them with confidence.

Course Number: IC0800

Conflict can be a source of anxiety and pain or an opportunity for growth and development. The management of conflict (not its avoidance) is absolutely essential for innovation, diversity, healthy team performance, and organizational effectiveness. This interactive class presents a variety of skills and approaches that can be used in different situations where conflicts arise.

These skills are appropriate for addressing issues between peers, between managers and direct reports, and with customers. You will identify behavioral styles, perceptions, and tools for managing and dealing with conflict. Emphasis will be placed on effective communication skills that help both you and the other person focus on collaborative solutions.

Course Number: PD0006

At one time or another, we have all dealt with a difficult person. Whether they are hard to communicate with, acting defensive or just handling a situation inappropriately, interactions with difficult people can affect our confidence, mood and focus. Learning to recognize and cope with common difficult behaviors in ourselves and others can help make difficult encounters much more manageable.

Workshop Objectives:

• Identify common “difficult” behaviors
• Describe what motivates most difficult behaviors
• Identify distinctions between passive, aggressive and passive/aggressive behaviors
• Identify the positive intent behind many difficult-to-understand behaviors
• Identify appropriate strategies for dealing with difficult behaviors
• Describe how to maintain composure when responding to difficult behaviors
• Describe ways to defuse aggressive acts in the workplace
• Describe five methods for resolving conflict
• Identify your favored style
• Identify tips for improving communication

Course Number: PD0008

Procrastination is rampant in today’s business world. Sure, it’s easy to blame others for your inability to get things done—demanding bosses, or coworkers who interrupt you for help. But be honest, how often is it your own fault? Are you simply putting off doing what will still be in your in-box tomorrow? Do you make statements such as: “I don’t have time to do it,” “It makes sense to do the smaller tasks first to get them out of the way,” “Once I get more energy, I can really focus on this”?

If so, there’s a strong possibility that you have fallen into the “Procrastination Trap.” Pushing important tasks and projects off until later can cause emotional anguish and keep you from accomplishing professional and personal goals. This workshop will provide you with techniques and strategies to overcome procrastination in your work and personal life.

Workshop Objectives:

• Identify what procrastination really is
• Describe the difference between procrastination and prioritization
• Describe the reasons people tend to procrastinate
• Identify when lack of commitment plays a part
• Describe how fear can cause procrastination
• Identify when something is considered a low priority
• Describe the importance of having enough information
• Identify times when you are just not interested in doing something
• Describe how to assign priorities effectively
• Identify criteria you can use to effectively prioritize tasks

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All UNC-Chapel Hill faculty and staff are invited to register for and attend the various courses offered by the Office of Human Resources Organization and Professional Development team.

View the Entire Course Catalog

Register in ConnectCarolina

To register for courses:

1. Visit: connectcarolina.unc.edu
2. Log in: Your Onyen + Password
3. Click: Self Service
4. Click: Training Enrollment
5. Search Courses

Course Number: SM5700

Learning how to ethically influence colleagues in the workplace is an essential leadership skill, regardless of your job title. Influence can be used to communicate a vision, align workers’ efforts, and build commitment. Your position in the organization may not be enough to rely on, and external motivators may not be effective in the long run.

Attempts at influence can become a learning experience for you and others. This interactive workshop will help you clarify the influence tactics you currently use and develop tactics that are effective, respectful, ethical, and based on evidence. You may be asked to complete some pre-work.

 

Course Number: WL0032

For a long time, the scientific community believed we were born with a certain number of brain cells and neural pathways and that, once damaged, they could not be repaired. In reality, our brains are much more flexible. Depending on our lifestyle, we can weaken or destroy connections, or create new, stronger ones.

Engaging regularly in certain behaviors and activities, like physical exercise, addressing mental health issues, meditation, and learning a new language or musical instrument, support new wiring and can make existing pathways stronger. Essentially, we can slow down or somewhat prevent cognitive decline by doing challenging mental exercises to keep our brains fit for optimal power.

Workshop Objectives:

Identify traits of a healthy brain:

• The ability to learn new skills
• Judgement and intuition
• Memory and perception

Identify barriers to good brain health:

• Depression
• Chronic stress
• Unhealthy lifestyle

Identify methods for optimal cognitive health:

• Engaging in new skills and mentally challenging activities
• Meditation
• Physical exercise
• Brain training

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All UNC-Chapel Hill faculty and staff are invited to register for and attend the various courses offered by the Office of Human Resources Organization and Professional Development team.

View the Entire Course Catalog

Register in ConnectCarolina

To register for courses:

1. Visit: connectcarolina.unc.edu
2. Log in: Your Onyen + Password
3. Click: Self Service
4. Click: Training Enrollment
5. Search Courses

Course Number: PD0024

In today’s increasingly competitive business climate, there is a need for continuous innovation and value-added solutions. Individuals and organizations alike are discovering that new ideas have become the global currency of the future. Unfortunately, though, as adults, we often limit our thinking and problem solving to fit known patterns and solutions by creating boundaries around our problems and circumstances. Enhancing our creativity can help us break through these boundaries.

Workshop Objectives:

• Identify the basics of creativity and innovation
• Describe the benefits of creativity
• Describe the most common obstacles to creativity
• Identify the conditions that promote creativity
• Identify your unique thinking style
• Describe your specific blocks to creativity
• Describe how to use the idea matrix to generate creativity
• Describe the role of humor in creativity
• Describe ways to overcome obstacles such as fear, unproductive assumptions and beliefs about yourself, and difficulty adopting new perspectives
• Identify techniques to stretch your imagination and increase overall creativity

Course Number: HR2800

This session is designed to provide an overview of the ADA and ADAAA. It will also help remove negative stereotypes regarding employees with disabilities and separate ADA myths from facts. It highlights the need for us to appreciate the Ability in disability. It will also increase awareness of the University’s Reasonable Accommodations in Employment Policy, and familiarize employees and supervisors with both their responsibilities and available resources.

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All UNC-Chapel Hill faculty and staff are invited to register for and attend the various courses offered by the Office of Human Resources Organization and Professional Development team.

View the Entire Course Catalog

Register in ConnectCarolina

To register for courses:

1. Visit: connectcarolina.unc.edu
2. Log in: Your Onyen + Password
3. Click: Self Service
4. Click: Training Enrollment
5. Search Courses

Course Number: BE2000

Effective customer service, both external and internal, is critical to the success of the University. UNC customers include internal and external faculty and staff, students, parents, alumni, and community partners. This program introduces skills needed to enhance customer relations, deliver top quality service, handle difficult customers, and say “no” without inflaming the customer.

As a result of this seminar, you will be able to recognize the importance of customer service in retaining customers as well as in building and maintaining relationships; understand the needs of customers and empathize with them; understand difficult customers; project a professional image with customers over the phone and in person; handle challenging service-oriented situations; apologize skillfully; solve customer problems and other related customer service issues.

Course Number: PD0019

There are conversations in which the stakes are high: asking for a raise, ending a relationship, giving a critical performance review, confronting disrespectful behavior, apologizing or disagreeing within a group. This workshop is about developing the skills to initiate the conversations which most people find difficult, unpleasant and generally avoid. You will learn the practical skills involved in framing a problem without blame or defensiveness and how to keep the conversation productive.

Workshop Objectives:

• Describe why arguing never helps
• Identify the three sides to any difficult conversation and where to begin
• Describe how to adopt a positive learning stance and think like a mediator
• Describe the process of separating intent from impact
• Identify the process of changing blame to contribution
• Describe ways to acknowledge feelings
• Describe how to use questions without eliciting defensiveness