Personal & Professional Development

Switching from ORP to FRS - Comparing the Plans:

Optional retirement Plan (ORP) participants have a new opportunity to transfer enrollment to the Florida Retirement System Pension Plan or Investment Plan.  This workshop will review the differences in the plans, pros and cons of changing plans, and what steps need to be taken to request estimates and to make the change if it is the right choice for you.

March 18, 9:30-11:30 a.m.

March 18, 1:30 -3:30 p.m.

March 26, 9:30-11:30 a.m.

March 26, 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Sarasota:

March 11, 10:00 to 12:00 noon

Business Writing:

Focus: Achieving Your Highest Priorities (formerly Keys to Time Management)

Learn Franklin Covey’s world famous time management principles, taught by a certified facilitator. Make real progress toward your personal and professional goals and get more of the right things done in less time.  This four hour workshop is designed to allow you to overcome procrastination and learn how to handle crises.

Learning outcomes:

Identify and focus on top priorities

Create balance in your life

Identify and eliminate low-priority activities

Prioritize tasks, weekly, and daily

Manage information effectively

Blueprint to Success: Career Development Skills:

Tom Peters writes “We are CEO’s of our own companies: Me Inc.”  Career planning allows you to take charge of your future by setting goals today.   Come join our hands-on workshop designed to inspire you in your current position as well to craft a vision for your future.  Learn the tools to…

1. Identify your strengths and talent gaps in your current position.
2. Draft a developmental action plan.
3. Engage your manager in a conversation about your professional success.

Email 101: Best Practices in Email Communication:

Misunderstandings can occur in any form of communication.  They are even more likely, however, with e-mail, where key nonverbal cues about the sender's intended meaning are absent.  In this online workshop, participants can learn strategies for enhancing clarity and minimizing misunderstandings.

Telephone Service Skills:

Impressions, good and bad, are made in an instant and often last forever.  That's why every phone call should be handled with tact, efficiency and good will.  In this workshop, participants share their best practices for outstanding telephone service skills.  Join us and leave with some new ideas.  Topics include:

•  The customer's perspective on telephone service

• Answering techniques and listening skills

• Practical tips for transferring calls, managing silence, and maintaining a satisfying tone of voice

CSC200

Running Successful Meetings:

Meeting to share information and ideas is fundamental to effective collaboration.  Unfortunately, meetings are often non-productive and monotonous.  Developing strong meeting facilitation skills can enhance efficiency, engage participants, and ensure that key agenda items are sufficiently discussed and desired objectives are met.  Topics include:

• Techniques for creating and using agendas effectively.

• Key roles to be played by meeting participants.

• Skills for involving participants and facilitating discussion.

Understanding Yourself & Others: Applications of the DiSC ™ at Work: 

Self awareness and the capacity for self management have been widely recognized as essential to effectiveness as a leader. Leaders that recognize the tendencies associated with their personality are better able to manage themselves and get positive results when leading people whose style differs from their own. Through this workshop, we will use the DiSC profile to help leaders enhance their understanding of themselves and others.

Topics Include

·         Your style at work

·         The role of style preferences in communication, problem-solving, and team leadership

·         Strategies for collaboration between people with differing styles, perspectives and priorities

Participants will complete the DiSC™ before the workshop using an online tool.

PRD101

Delivering Effective Presentations

Delivering a presentation can be nerve-wracking, but it doesn’t have to be!  By developing your delivering skills and taking the right steps to prepare your content effectively, you can begin to experience more ease and success when giving a presentation.  In this workshop, you will have the opportunity to learn and practice presentation techniques that can increase both your skill and comfort.  Topics include:

• Ways to enhance comfort and confidence when delivering presentations
• Dynamic openings and closings
• Strategies for organizing your ideas
• Capturing and holding audience interest
• Optimizing eye contact, gestures, and posture

Office Manager Orientation:  (Prerequisite - USF101)

Office Managers have been described as the linking pins for USF. It's a big job with numerous, complex duties and sometimes it's hard to fit it all together.

NOTE:  this course is currently being redesigned.  Click the Request Button to the right to tell us what you'd like to get from this course.