Negotiation Basics

One day

Course Description
Negotiation is often thought of as a contest in which one side wins and the other side loses. The truth is that we negotiate every day with a view toward meeting our needs without antagonizing or defeating others. This kind of negotiating is known as win-win or collaborative problem solving.

This course looks at all forms of negotiating, but emphasizes win-win negotiating principles and strategies. It includes new concepts, tools, and guidance, reflecting recent advances in collaboration and cooperation and new attitudes toward negotiation.

Course Outline
Part 1: An Introduction to Negotiation

• What Is Negotiation?
• Negotiation: Some Practical Definitions
• Identifying Opportunities for Negotiation
• To Negotiate or Not, That Is the Question
• Negotiation and Conflict
• Understanding Types of Negotiation
• Summary

Part 2: Negotiation: Attitudes and Approaches

• Negotiation Styles
• The Win-Win Approach to Negotiation
• The Give/Get Principle of Negotiation
• Managing Conflict During Negotiation
• Conflict Resolution Styles
• Characteristics of a Successful Negotiator
• Case Study: A Buy-Sell Negotiation
• Summary

Part 3: Negotiation: The Process

• Preparing to Negotiate
• Collecting Detailed Information
• Negotiator’s Guide to Preparation
• The Seven Basic Steps in Negotiating
• Step 1: Getting to Know the Negotiators
• Step 2: Stating Goals and Objectives
• Step 3: Starting the Process
• Step 4: Revealing Disagreement and Conflict
• Step 5: Narrowing the Gap Between Negotiators
• Step 6: Finding Alternatives for Resolution
• Step 7: Agreement in Principle, Settlement, and Acknowledgment
• Reviewing the Seven Basic Steps in Negotiating
• Summary

Part 4: Strategies and Tactics

• Negotiating Through Give to Get
• Five Basic Strategies in Action
• Identifying Other Negotiation Strategies
• Ten Critical Mistakes to Avoid
• Summary

Part 5: Developing Your Skills

• Case Study: Negotiating a Project Plan
• Applying What You Have Learned

Personal Development

Achieving Life Balance

One day

Course Description
Achieving life balance has become one of the hottest topics for self-improvement in today's hectic, fast-paced world. With constant demands pulling us in every direction, more and more of us are recognizing the need to reevaluate, reorganize, and reprioritize to live the life we want. Perhaps you are currently in this position. If so, ACHIEVING LIFE BALANCE is for you. The tips in this course will show you how to take charge, set goals, and rewrite your life script in order to change the patterns that may be keeping you from living a better life. Each lesson will help you reassess each area of your life and find ways to achieve better balance by looking at how you manage your self, your time, and your relationships.

Course Outline
Part 1: What Is Balance for You?

• Defining Life Balance
• Identifying How You Spend Your Time
• Charting Your Life Balance
• Chart Your Ideal Life Balance
• Assessing Your Values
• Aligning Your Life with Your Values
• Are You Living in Line with Your Values?
• Scrutinizing Your Schedule

Part 2: Setting Goals and Action Plans

• Understanding Goal Setting
• Writing Goals Using the SMARTS Criteria
• Setting Goals to Fulfill Your Values
• Defining Action Steps for Achieving Your Goals
• Brainstorming for Action Steps
• Other Ideas for Developing Action Steps
• Developing an Action Plan

Part 3: Managing Your Self

• Understanding "Life Script"
• Uncovering Your Own Life Script
• Discovering Psychological Drivers
• Defining the Five Drivers
• Analyzing the Drivers' Negative Impact
• Observing How Drivers Affect Life Balance
• Reprogramming Your Drivers
• Rethinking Your Underlying Messages
• Installing Your "Allower" Messages

Part 4: Managing Your Time

• Setting Priorities According to Your Values
• Making Effective Use of To-Do Lists
• Handling Paperwork and E-Mail Efficiently
• Keeping a Time Log

Part 5: Managing Your Relationships

• Evaluating Your Relationships
• Understanding the Skill of Assertiveness
• Increasing Your Assertiveness
• Communicating Assertively
• Balancing Relationships Through Contracts
• Maintaining Assertiveness While Negotiating
• Responding to Others
• Using Active Listening

Attitude

One day

Course Description
Polish people skills, energize your outlook, and retain a healthy perspective. This course will help you stay positive and focused in today's busy, pressure-filled world. Recognize how attitude affects your work. Use the eight attitude-adjustment techniques. Spread the magic of a positive attitude.

Course Outline
Part 1: Understanding Your Attitude

• What Is a Positive Attitude?
• The Importance of a Positive Attitude
• A Positive Attitude Affects Personality
• The Power of a Positive Attitude
• Safeguarding Your Attitude
• Case Study 1: Maria's Mood Swings
• Attitude Renewal: How to Give Your Attitude a Tune-Up
• Case Study 2: Rita vs. Dawn
• Key Points from Point 1

Part 2: Eight Ways to Adjust Your Attitude

• Adjustment Technique 1: The Flipside Technique
• Adjustment Technique 2: Play Your Winners
• Adjustment Technique 3: Simplify! Simplify!
• Adjustment Technique 4: Insulate! Insulate!
• Adjustment Technique 5: Give Your Positive Attitude to Others
• Adjustment Technique 6: Look Better to Yourself
• Adjustment Technique 7: Accept the Physical Connection
• Adjustment Technique 8: Clarify Your Mission
• Key Points from Part 2

Part 3: Attitude and Your Job

• Attitude and the Work Environment
• Case Study 3: Maya & Zora
• A Positive Attitude About Diversity
• Case Study 4: Ramon Wants to Move Up
• A Positive Attitude Affects Career Success
• Case Study 5: Frank or Hank?
• A Positive Attitude Affects Teamwork
• Projecting Your Positive Attitude
• Key Points from Part 3

Part 4: Protecting Your Most Priceless Possession

• Protecting Your #1 Asset
• Be a Problem-Solver
• Be Aware of Major Lifestyle Changes
• Key Points from Part 4

Clear and Creative Thinking

One day

Course Description
Develop the kind of breakthrough thinking that generates new ideas, creative solutions, and sustained success. This course will show you how to break out of a rut, overcome obstacles to problem solving, and find your way to great ideas.

Course Outline
Part 1: Opening Your Mind to Clear Thinking

• Developing a Whole-Picture Perspective
• Incremental Thinking
• Transformational Thinking
• Timing a Strategy Shift
• Combining Reasoning and Emotion

Part 2: Generating Alternative Ideas

• Sparking Your Creative Imagination
• Tapping into Your Inner Wisdom
• Using Analytical Reasoning
• Understanding Systems Thinking
• Sharing Perspectives with Others

Part 3: Evaluating Alternatives on Their Merits

• The "Six Lens" Approach
• Technical Lens
• Economic Lens
• Ethical-Legal Lens
• Environmental Lens
• Power-Political Lens
• Social-Psychological Lens

Part 4: Putting Plans into Action

• Determining a Decision-Making Strategy
• Implementing Decisions
• Learning from Your Experiences
• Translating Your Thinking into Action
• Additional Reading

Critical Thinking

One day

Course Description
By learning the critical thinking strategies outlined within this course, you will make effective decisions based on careful evaluation, develop the best solutions to problems, identify key issues without getting sidetracked, and use critical thinking to write and speak with impact. It's easy to fall into "thinking traps" such as emotional manipulation, deceptive reasoning and lazy thinking. This course will teach you how to identify and avoid these traps, and how to deal with them when you encounter them within yourself or your organization. You will also be introduced to different styles of critical thinking, and how each works to deepen your understanding of the facts and information you have.

Course Outline
Part 1: Understanding Critical vs. Non-Critical Thinking

• The Case for Critical Thinking
• Recognizing Deceptive Reasoning
• Detecting Emotional Manipulation
• Styles of Non-Critical Thinking
• Critical Thinking Styles
• Becoming a Critical Thinker

Part 2: Recognizing and Evaluating Arguments

• Defining Arguments
• Step 1: Pinpointing Issues
• Step 2: Identifying Arguments
• Step 3: Seeking Clarity
• Step 4: Understanding Context
• Step 5: Finding Credibility
• Step 6: Looking for Consistency
• Step 7: Judging Arguments
• Presenting Ideas Powerfully

Part 3: Developing and Evaluating Explanations

• Explanations vs. Arguments
• Formulating Explanations
• Element 1: Gathering Information
• Element 2: Processing Information
• Element 3: Developing Hypotheses
• Element 4: Testing Hypotheses
• Asking Discovery Questions
• Challenging Assumptions

Emotional Intelligence Works

One day

Course Description
This course will help you learn how to build better interpersonal relationships by providing guidelines on how to manage your reactions and how to raise your level of emotional intelligence in a constructive manner. New material in this revised course includes results from the latest research as well as insight from additional resources on emotional and social intelligence. People who are not emotionally smart waste time on personality conflicts and complaining. They lose self-control when faced with tense and stressful situations. Increasing your emotional intelligence will help you build more positive and constructive relationships and live a more satisfying and productive life.

Course Outline

• What Emotional Intelligence Means
• The Need for “People Smart” Strategies
• Assess Your Emotional Intelligence
• Five Emotional Intelligence Skills

Part 1: “Think Smart” Strategies

• Making the Choice to Think Wisely
• Strategy 1: Self-Awareness Skills
• Use a New Mental Script
• Strategy 2: Optimistic Thinking

Part 2: “Be Smart” Strategies

• The Three Keys
• Strategy 1: Social Skills
• Strategy 2: Emotional Control
• Strategy 3: Flexibility

Part 3: “Work Smart” Strategies

• Six Strategies for Smart Organizations
• Strategy 1: Practice Organizational Self-Awareness
• Strategy 2: Develop Social Skills
• Strategy 3: Foster Optimism
• Strategy 4: Encourage Flexibility and Problem Solving
• Strategy 5: Model and Encourage Emotional Control
• Strategy 6: Support Teamwork

Managing Personal Change

One day

Course Description
It has been said that change is the only constant, and all of us will experience changes, both large and small, in our lives. In today's fast-moving world, we are confronted with changes daily whether we are "ready or not," leaving many of us feeling overwhelmed, confused, or uncertain about the future. MANAGING PERSONAL CHANGE will help you understand your reactions to change while suggesting ways you can respond more positively and productively through transition periods.

Course Outline
Part 1: The Need for Mastering Personal Change

• Change Is a Constant
• Impact of Change
• Responses to Change
• Practicing Self-Renewal

Part 2: Foundations for Building Change Mastery

• Being Open to Learning New Ways
• Creating Your Own Security
• Controlling Your Reactions to Change
• Becoming Change-Hardy

Part 3: Making a Commitment to What¿s Ahead

• Moving Through Transition
• Understanding Personal Filters
• Navigating Through Change
• The Four Phases of Transition
• Seeing the Signs at Each Phase
• Recognizing Resistance
• Avoiding Getting Stuck in the Transition Curve
• The Zigzag
• Seeing Across the Transition Curve
• Beyond Commitment

Part 4: Seeking Challenge

• Managing Yourself Through Change
• Creating a Positive Inner Climate
• Trading in Your Old Expectations
• Using Self-Fulfilling Prophesy to Advantage
• Rethinking Your Beliefs

Part 5: Taking Control

• Developing a Bias for Action
• Mapping Your Actions on the Personal Power GridSM
• Focusing Your Energy for Personal Power
• Creating Positive Movement

Part 6: Creating Connection

• Acknowledging the Value of Reaching Out to Others
• Building Your Support Network
• Mobilizing Your Network
• Cultivating Your Network
• Using Branching-Chain Networking
• Figuring Out Your Organizational Network
• Building Support at Work
• Learning from Others in Your Organizational Network
• Checking Out Rumors
• Renegotiating Relationships Following Change

Study Skills Strategies

One day

Course Description
STUDY SKILLS STRATEGIES helps you develop a study program based on your skills, needs, and individual learning situation. Whether you are a full-time or part-time student, in a classroom or on your own, you will find helpful suggestions and techniques in this course to assist you in your focus and concentration, your note-taking, reading, and review. This course also includes a special emphasis on using the latest technology to enhance your studies, as well as tips for getting the most out of online learning.

Course Outline
Part 1: Getting Started

• Your Attitude Toward Learning
• Today’s Diverse Classrooms
• Computers as Learning Tools
• Your Focus Points

Part 2: Taking Control of Your Time

• Make Studying a Priority
• Say Yes to Dedicated Time
• Design a Study Schedule for You
• Choose What Is Most Important
• Weekly Scheduling
• Your Study Space
• Time Control: It’s Your Choice!

Part 3: Note-Taking Techniques

• Prepare for Effective Note-Taking
• Choose a Note-Taking Format
• Structured Note-Taking
• Informal Note-Taking
• Note-Taking by Computer
• The Keys: Listening and Participation
• Different Notes for Different Needs
• Improve Your Note-Taking Speed
• Taking Research Notes
• Review and Focus

Part 4: Critical Reading Skills

• Reading: Your Key to Better Learning
• SQ3R for Success
• SQ3R Step 1: Survey
• SQ3R Step 2: Question
• SQ3R Step 3: Read and Underline
• SQ3R Step 4: Recite and Write
• SQ3R Step 5: Review
• A Lifetime Habit: Careful Reading
• Your Focus Points

Part 5: Memory Training

• Improve Your Memory
• Memory-Training Strategies
• Strategy #1: Spread Out Memory Work
• Strategy #2: Recite Material Aloud
• Strategy #3: Expect to Remember
• Strategy #4: Organize the Material
• Strategy #5: Test and Retest Yourself
• Strategy #6: Over-Learn
• Strategy #7: Use Recall Hooks
• Strategy #8: Study Before and After Sleep
• Visualize for Success
• Review of Memory Techniques

Part 6: Exam Strategies

• Taking Tests Well
• Mastering Objective Tests
• Excelling on Essay Exams
• Essay Skill #1: Budget Your Time
• Essay Skill #2: Analyze Key Words
• Essay Skill #3: Create an Outline
• Essay Skill #4: Focus Your Essay
• Essay Skill #5: Build Strong Paragraphs
• Essay Skill #6: Use Transition Words
• Additional Preparation Strategies
• Exam Strategies Review

Part 7: Studying Mathematics and Related Subjects

• Math Tips, Techniques, and Ideas
• The Five Rs of Math
• Tips for Computer Learning
• Math Strategies Review

Part 8: Putting It All Together

• On Your Own
• Your Study Skills Checklist

Surviving Information Overload

One day

Course Description
Newspapers, books, magazines, and the Internet tell us what we want to know when we want to know it. Reports, memos, e-mails, and voice mail help us transmit and receive information quickly and easily. With so much information coming at us constantly, it's no wonder many of us are living with information anxiety. Odette Pollar, productivity specialist and creator of “Organizing Your Work Space”, empowers students to dig out of the avalanche of information they are bombarded with daily and to take back control of their time in her new course, Surviving Information Overload.

Course Outline
Part 1: Information Anxiety

• Do You Have Information Anxiety?
• Calculating the Weight of Information Overload
• How Are You Managing Now?
• Three Steps to Managing Information

Part 2: Multi-Tasking

• Is Multi-Tasking Really Such a Good Idea?
• What the Experts Say
• Five Steps Out of the Multi-Tasking Maze
• Step 1: Estimate Task Times Accurately
• Step 2: Use a To-Do List
• Step 3: Limit Interruptions
• Step 4: Concentrate
• Step 5: Multi-Task Smart

Part 3: Filtering Information

• Balancing Your Data Diet
• Information You Get vs. Information You Use
• Identifying Quality Information
• Limiting Your Information Gathering
• Using Information Filters
• Sorting the Information to Keep

Part 4: Managing Messaging Systems

• Taking Control
• Evaluating Your Use of E-Mail
• Easing E-Mail Congestion
• E-Mail Do's and Don'ts
• Reducing Spam
• Voice Mail Give and Take
• Considering Instant and Unified Messaging
• At the Controls

Part 5: Processing Paper

• The Worsening Paper Pile-Up
• Understanding Your Resistance to Proper Processing
• Developing an Effective File System
• Reducing Disposable Incoming Mail
• Creating New Ways to Reduce Paper Pile-Ups
• Paper Wrap-Up

Part 6: Taming Technology

• Mind Over Machine
• Taking Stock of the Technologies You Have
• Rethinking Your Use of Technology
• Stop Before You Shop
• Guiding Principles

Part 7: Coping at Home

• Balancing Work and Home Life
• Making a Wish List
• Making Your Wishes Come True
• Taking Action on Your Newfound Knowledge
• Committing to Change
• When Home and Office Collide
• Setting Boundaries Between Home and Office