Quality Leadership Series

This series of instructor-facilitated online workshops will help participants become more effective leaders and engage others in the process of building a high-performance organization – articulating and communicating a clear and compelling focus for the future, communicating strategically, leading teams that contribute to the organization’s most important priorities, building a strong and loyal customer base, and focusing time and energy on high priority tasks.

Leadership 101 – 8 contact hours

Today’s dynamic and competitive business environment requires that organizations develop and support leaders at all levels. In this online workshop, participants will learn the principles and practices of effective leaders, how to develop their own leadership capacities, and how to develop the leadership capacities of others in their organizations. In addition to the 8 content hours, the Leadership 101 course includes a 360 feedback exercise focused on assisting participants in identifying and building on their leadership strengths.

• Introduction to leadership
• The roles of leaders and managers
• The practices of leadership
• Leadership communication
• Leading change
• Expanding your personal leadership capacity
• Developing leaders in your organization

Building Effective Teams – 8 contact hours

The ability to build and implement effective teams is essential to an organization’s success. In this online workshop, participants will learn how to create and implement high-quality, high performance teams in any organization.

• The role of teams in the 21st Century organization
• Types of teams
• Key elements of a successful team
• Defining the team’s purpose and mission
• Developing a team charter
• Identifying key stakeholders
• Your role – what do you bring to the team?
• Stages of team development
• Conducting effective meetings
• Team communication

Time Management and Productivity – 8 contact hours
(Available August 2010)

Effectively managing time and tasks is a critical element of productivity in the modern lean organization. In this online workshop, participants will learn how to manage their time, tasks and activities in order to more efficiently allocate resources and achieve their goals.  They will discuss how to prioritize multiple concurrent and sometimes competing tasks, make the most of their workdays, and find balance between work and life. Participants will leave the workshop with a plan for managing their time in a more effective, efficient and meaningful way.

• Introduction to time management and productivity
• Understanding your time style
•  5S for time management
• Organizing your workspace, tools and technology
• Managing common time wasters

Strategic Planning – 8 contact hours
(Available August 2010)

Effective leaders analyze and respond to shorter-term opportunities and challenges within a larger organizational, environmental and strategic context.  In this online workshop, participants will learn a powerful framework and the analytical tools to develop strategic plans that incorporate the organizational agility required by our fast-moving world.

• Purpose and principles of strategic planning
• Strategic planning models
• Three elements of an effective strategic plan
• Effective use of data in the strategic planning process
• Eight-step strategic planning process
• Prepare
• Articulate mission, vision and organizational values
• Review strategic position
• Develop and prioritize strategic objectives
• Identify key performance indicators
• Create action plans
• Communicate and implement
• Hold everyone accountable
• Building in organizational agility

Creating a Customer-Focused Organization – 8 contact hours
(Available September 2010)

Customers are the lifeblood of any organization. In this online workshop, participants will explore a variety of methods to engage their customers and build strong and loyal customer relationships. Participants will learn how to identify their most important customers, determine key customer requirements, develop effective listening and learning methods in order to understand their customer’s needs, create compelling customer experiences, use customer feedback for continuous improvement and innovation and build a strong customer-focused culture.

• Introduction to the customer-focused organization
• Identifying and segmenting customer groups
• Listening to the voice of the customer
• Customer satisfaction and loyalty
• Customer relationship management
• Customer experience design
• Basic customer service principles

Leadership Communication – 8 contact hours
(Available October 2010)

Clear, appropriate and effective communication is a required tool in a leader’s toolbox.  In this online workshop, participants will explore the key elements of leadership communication including one-to-one and one-to-many communication approaches, communicating in a global economy and the use of technology in communication.

• Communication basics
• Interpersonal communication
• Effective writing
• Strategic communication
• Speaking/presenting
• Motivating/influencing
• Negotiating
• Crisis communication
• The art and practice of conversation
• Communicating in a global economy
• Communication and technology

Register below for all six courses to receive $50 off per course.