Resources & Services
Additional resources to supplement the material covered in our workshops.
Personal & Professional Development ~ Managing & Supervising ~ Communication ~ Customer Service
Personal & Professional Development
3 Tips for Managing Time
Managing your time is probably easier than you think. It does require initiative and planning but the results can be quite powerful. Try using the following tips to help you manage your time more effectively:
- Spend time each week planning. Figure out what is important, what deadlines are approaching and schedule time to work on these things.
- If you receive a request to do something that is fairly simple and that won’t take a lot of time, get it out of the way immediately. If you feel that it will take a significant amount of time, and is not an emergency, schedule time to complete the task on a future date. Small tasks have a tendency to grow into large issues if not handled promptly.
- Keep a master list of everything that you will need to do for the month or quarter. Update the list when new tasks arise. This will help you keep track of all of the tasks that you are responsible for.
Online Resources
U of U Career Services Website
Offers Strengths-based assessments to help determine areas of interest.Enhancing Innovation and Creativity
Bibliography of free e-books on innovation available through the Marriott Library
http://www.lib.utah.edu/services/prog/unreq/fb/3mp_gould06.html"Innovation Means Relying on Everyone's Creativity," Margaret Wheatley, Leader to Leader, No. 20 Spring 2001
http://www.pfdf.org/knowledgecenter/L2L/spring2001/wheatley.htmlConflict Management
"Six Paths to Managing Conflict with Peers" Center for Creative Leadership, 2003
http://www.ccl.org/leadership/pdf/publications/sixPaths.pdfConflict Resolution
http://fpm-www2.fpm.wisc.edu/ohrd/onlinetraining/resolution/index.asp
Developed specifically for academic leaders (deans and department chairs) at the University of Wisconsin, this extensive site includes an 8-step process anyone can use to help resolve conflict.
Books
The Truth About Managing People: And Nothing But the Truth.
Stephen P. Robbins. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2003.The First-Time Manager.
Loren B. Belker & Gary Topchick. New York: AMACOM, 2005.
Table of Contents: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0421/2004019486.html
Marriott Library Call Number: HF5549.12 .B453 2005The Winning Manager.
Julius Eitington. Houston: Gulf Publications, 1997.
Marriott Library Call Number: HD31 .E477 1997Online Resources
"Ten Common Mistakes in Giving Feedback" Center for Creative Leadership, 2000
http://www.ccl.org/leadership/pdf/publications/tenCommon.pdf"How Do You Influence?" Center for Creative Leadership, 2004
http://www.ccl.org/leadership/pdf/publications/howdoYouInfluence.pdf"Aligning Action and Values" Jim Collins, Leader to Leader, No. 1 Summer 1996
http://www.pfdf.org/knowledgecenter/L2L/summer96/collins.html"Leading Into the Unknown: How Lewis and Clark Built a Great Team" Jack Uldrich, Leader to Leader, No. 33 Summer 2004
http://www.pfdf.org/knowledgecenter/L2L/summer2004/uldrich.html"Practicing Servant-Leadership" Larry Spears, Leader to Leader, No. 34 Fall 2004
http://www.pfdf.org/knowledgecenter/L2L/fall2004/spears.html"Challenge is the Opportunity for Greatness" James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, Leader to Leader, No. 28 Spring 2003
http://www.pfdf.org/knowledgecenter/L2L/spring2003/kouzes.htmlLeading Organizational Change
"Leading Transition: A New Model for Change" William Bridge and Susan Mitchell Bridges, Leader to Leader, No. 16 Spring 2000
http://www.pfdf.org/knowledgecenter/L2L/spring2000/bridges.html
3 Tips for Better Communication
Fine tuning your listening skills will positively affect your other interpersonal communication skills and help to make you a more valuable employee.
Try the following simple tips in order to increase your skills as a listener:
- During a conversation, mentally and physically exist for the speaker. This means that you put your own concerns on hold and actually put your work aside—at least temporarily. If you do this, you will find it much easier to focus on the speaker’s message.
- Search for something new. Almost everyone has something that they can teach you. Even if you’ve heard the same story before, you can probably find something new about the subject matter.
- Find out what role the speaker wants you to play. We sometimes feel that the person speaking to us wants help in solving his/her dilemma. However, sometimes speakers just want us to listen without offering solutions. If you don’t know what role you should be filling, ask.
Books
The Lost Art of Listening.
Michael Nichols. New York: The Gilford Press, 1995.Crucial Conversations: Tools For Talking When Stakes Are High.
Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002.Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss what Matters Most
Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen. New York: Penguin Books, 1999Online Resources
Presentation Skills
How to Lead Effective Meetings
http://www.ohrd.wisc.edu/academicleadershipsupport/howto1.html
Developed specifically for academic leaders (deans and department chairs) at the University of Wisconsin, this interactive site is a great primer for anyone who needs to facilitate, especially in a collegial setting.
Online Resources
Tips for Curing Bad Customer Service by Jill Homer
Despite a lot of talk it seems like service seems to be getting worse. Business owners need to ratchet up their customer service quality in order to be competitive so here are some expert tips for those involved in providing service to customers, on how to improve it. http://customerservicezone.com/customerserviceguest/tipsbadservice.htmTop Ten Customer Service Tips by Margo Chevers
Some very useful tips that you can put into practice right away to help improve your customer service
http://www.customerservicemanager.com/top-ten-customer-service-tips.htm