Career Success Specialization

This course combines the essential elements of Project Management and Team Leadership into one course. Through class engagement and reflection, you will acquire further understanding of the responsibilities of leadership and become better prepared to apply this knowledge to the project environment.

Upon completing this course, you will be able to: 1. Learn about the role of high performance teams and leadership in project management 2. Learn about the tools and techniques for developing and strengthening high performance teams and team members 3. Learn about the stages in project cycle 4. Apply best practices to develop competencies and skills in planning and controlling projects to ensure successful outcomes 5. Learn how to monitor project activities and assess progress 6. Learn to communicate proficiently to report project status and performance to stakeholders and contribute to organizational knowledge base

You will be able to gain and apply your knowledge and understanding of personal and professional awareness, organization and commitment, and use the tools, methods and techniques that you have learned in goal setting, prioritization, scheduling, and delegation to overcome time management challenges and enhance productivity.

Upon completing this course, you will be able to: 1. Learn to plan effectively to achieve your personal and professional goals 2. Learn to recognize and overcome barriers to successful time management 3. Identify specific time management tools and use them effectively 4. Manage resources both effectively and efficiently 5. Keep your sense of perspective to prevent and manage crises 6. Learn to delegate effectively 7. Learn to manage expectations and say “No” when appropriate

Impact your financial decisions and learn how to affect the performance of your unit's profitability and of your organization. In this course gain a basic understanding of finance and accounting concepts to drive your organization's growth. Upon completion of this course, you will have gained general financial knowledge and an in-depth understanding of the impact of your decisions outside your functional area. Content of the course includes selected aspects of finance from a non-financial specialist perspective. Specific topics include: financial analysis; planning, forecasting, and budgeting; cash flow, and strategic financing. This class will be interactive and will require the active involvement of the participants in finance related activities.

Upon completing this course, you will be able to: 1. Explain the importance of finance and interpretation of financial information 2. Apply the concepts of accounting and finance to analyze financials 3. Learn about key accounting and finance terms 4. Examine financial statements by using key ratios 5. Explain the importance of budgeting process 6. Learn about key components needed to improve profitability

In today's fast-paced business environment, employees at all levels find themselves being asked to handle more tasks, meet more deadlines, take on more responsibilities, and adapt to more change. Added to these challenges is the constantly shifting diversity of the workplace, where coworkers cope with generational, gender, age and cultural differences. Communication, both verbal and nonverbal, is at the foundation of everything we do and say, and is especially important in the 21st century workplace. The good news is that communication is a learned skill, and can be improved upon with the right training. The focus of this course is to heighten students’ awareness of workplace communication, and add new interpersonal skills, with the end result of becoming a more competent communicator overall. Target areas include: the process and functions of communication, behavioral patterns, perceptions as reality, verbal and nonverbal cues and behaviors, confidence, assertiveness, tact, anger management, criticism and constructive feedback, conflict resolution, team building, leadership, interviewing, and communicating more effectively with technology (email, Skype, texting, etc.).

Upon completing this course, you will be able to: 1. Define communication and its role in the workplace 2. Describe benefits of effective communication in the workplace 3. Identify and explain most common audiences and techniques for communicating with each audience 4. Identify and solve common obstacles to effective communication 5. Summarize the 5 Step Technique and explain its usefulness in communicating with your manager 6. Discuss the best approaches and communication techniques for delivering bad news to your manager 7. Describe ways to make positive connections with your staff. 8. Discuss techniques for deciphering the communication styles of executive managers 9. Discuss techniques for identifying the characteristics and drivers of executive managers 10. Discuss techniques for persuading executive management 11. Identify best practices for working successfully with virtual/remote teams 12. Apply proven techniques for effective conference calls and webinars