The Interaction and Leadership Program

Have you ever encountered a work conflict situation that makes it difficult to do your job effectively? How about a challenging relationship with a co-worker? Have you had to work with others on teams who are not enthusiastic about their work? This new program will help you develop critical skills to deal effectively with these issues and be more successful in your job and in your life.

Who can attend?

A select group of UConn staff have been nominated and selected to attend this new pilot of targeted training.

What's in it for you?

• You will learn practical skills to improving your work interactions
• You will hone your leadership skills, learning to lead up and to lead your peers
• You will network with your peers - 40 participants across UConn's departments
• With these skills you'll be a more valuable employee (and be more marketable too!)

This is a free program. But, due to space limitations, primary consideration will be given to those who can commit to the entire (eight course) program. Those admitted to The Interaction and Leadership Program will be notified of their enrollment. To receive a certificate, participants must complete the entire, eight course program.

Why is this program being offered? And who is behind it?

The Interaction and Leadership Program is a pilot program; it is an integral component of the Human Resources' Organization and Staff Development unit's mission to help make UConn an employer of choice. This program provides pragmatic interaction/leadership training for UConn professional employees who work in a role with the capacity to lead and/or influence others.

With the help of leading management consultants, this uniquely designed program brings over 25 years experience of leadership training to provide the foundational interaction and leadership principles and best practices

Breakdown of Courses

All courses will be held on Storrs Campus, South Campus in the Nellie Louise Wilson Residence Hall (South A Building), Rooms 124/125. To accommodate participants we are offering a choice of two dates for each course. Participants can choose which date best meets their needs. The following table highlights the times and dates of the program.

	Course	Dates	Length	Time	Refreshments
1	Your Roles as a Leader at UConn	10/25 or 10/30	Full day	8:30 to 4:00	Lunch
2	DiSC: Discovering Your Work Style	11/1 or 11/6	1/2 day	8:30 to 12:00	Coffee/Pastries
3	Managing Others	11/8 or 11/13	Full day	8:30 to 4:00	Lunch
4	Giving Feedback to Others	11/12 or 11/27	Full day	8:30 to 4:00	Lunch
5	Resolving Conflict	11/20 or 12/11	1/2 day	8:30 to 12:00	Coffee/Pastries
6	Providing Quality Customer Service	11/28 or 12/18	Full day	8:30 to 4:00	Lunch
7	Business Writing	11/20 or 12/3	Full day	8:30 to 4:00	Lunch
8	Improving Work Processes	11/20 or 12/11	1/2 day	1:00 to 4:00	Coffee

Core Curriculum

We are asking that all participants meet with their supervisors at the beginning of the program to set goals that you want to achieve as a result of this program. You and your supervisor will then receive an evaluation at the end of the series and be asked to assess your progress throughout the year. This information will be used in aggregate form only to measure program results.

Your Role as a Leader at UConn	Understand what it takes to be a leader at UConn and how to accelerate your transition into that role Gain the core skills needed to be an effective leader at UCONN Align your resources and/or efforts with that of the organization’s goals to acheive results
DiSC: Discovering your Work Style	Identify your work style and how it affects others and your work results Learn how to improve relationships with others Increase your effectiveness when communicating with others
Managing Others I	Develop a committee or work group to help achieve your agenda Learn to define the roles and responsibilities of members within your work group Learn key factors necessary for effectively working together as a team
Managing Others II	Set goals and objectives to help achieve results Learn to hold goal setting discussions and gain commitment Handle challenging situations that may arise during performance discussions
Giving Feedback to Others	Learn to describe performance by using objective criteria and good questioning and listening skills Provide specific feedback to improve performance, to recognize and encourage continued good performance, and/or to take corrective action when performance does not improve Create development plans to achieve results
Business Writing	Organize efficiently, cut wordiness, write concisely, write in a user-friendly tone and avoid the most common grammar mistakes
Resolving Conflict	Learn the signs of conflict and learn to help resolve the issue Guide others to take responsibility for resolving workplace conflict Reduce the negative effect of workplace conflict
Providing Quality Customer Service	Identify customer requirements using a variety of techniques Measure results using customer driven metrics Develop a “service culture” designed to meet the needs of your specific customer base
Improving Work Processes	Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of business workflow and employee productivity

DiSC Behavioral Profile Assessment

Prior to the program’s course titled DiSC: Discovering your Work Style, participants will be asked to take an online assessment to determine their behavioral style preferences. This 30 minute exercise will result in a comprehensive print out giving participants personalized information about how they interact with others as well as style indicators for other people’s behaviors.

This profile is a valuable tool to help employees gain insight into their own behaviors and others including the management of:

• problems and challenges—Dominance (D factor)
• people and influencing of others—Influence (I factor)
• change and pacing yourself as a manager—Steadiness (S factor)
• rules and procedures set by others—Compliance (C factor)

As part of the online assessment process each participant will receive a comprehensive printout which will help them to understand how they may become more self aware in relationship to working with others and adapt their preferred styles in ways that will benefit them.