Suffolk University

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Effective Writing Workshop

Suffolk University and the Colleges of the Fenway are offering a Writing Skills workshop. The workshop instructor is Dale DeLetis, a veteran writing teacher for the Colleges of the Fenway. This is a four part series on effective writing skills. The dates are October 19, 26 and November 2, 9 from 9:30 am - 12:00 noon at Wheelock College, ACE 320. Workshop size is limited to ten and participants must attend all four sessions. The workshop will cover organization, style, and grammar as applied to all forms of office writing. The exercises will help you sort out specific issues so that you can be a more effective professional writer. This is your chance to clear up all those pesky problems that have bothered you for years!

Space is limited. Register online by October 15, 2009: http://cofeffectivewritingworkshop.eventbrite.com/

Influence without Authority

Instructor: Allan R. Cohen Ph.D.
Date: October 21, 2009
Time: 9:00-4:30
Register By: Registration deadlines are two weeks prior to course date, inquire as to availability after two week deadline
Location: Babson Executive Conference Center
Notes: Lunch included

Influence is the key skill for leaders, since everything they do is designed to get cooperation or resources from others, not all of whom can be given, or will follow, direct orders. Staff, colleagues, board members, external agencies and organizations, community members, politicians, regulators, anyone higher in the university, and most difficult, faculty members, all need to be influenced from time to time.

Furthermore, like other organizations, universities that have many members who are skilled in influencing will be more effective. Influence is needed for every level, and the more people who are good at it, the better will be decisions and action.

But influence is never one way; it is mutual. People allow themselves to be influenced because they see some kind of benefit. Influence, therefore, is about exchange and reciprocity; giving what the other party cares about in return for what you need.

This program:
• Teaches the underlying influence model and its implications
• Examines the many applications to organizational life, whether it is influencing individuals or groups, inside or outside the university
• Describes how the model can be used to think through what the other party cares about, what you have to offer, and how to make mutually beneficial exchanges that let you get your work accomplished

Registration Form

Difficult Conversations

Instructor: Adam Sutton
Date: December 3, 2009 OR December 10, 2009
SELECT ONE
Time: 9:00-12:00
Register By: Registration deadline for this class is November 13, 2009, inquire as to availability after the deadline
Location: Longwood Medical Area, Countway Library, Minot Room, 10 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA
Notes: Lunch not included

Would you like to know how to open a dialogue with a colleague about a challenging subject? Want to learn the best ways to talk with a staff member about performance management issues? Would you like to know what to do when someone gets defensive, even before the conversation or efforts at open dialogue begin? These questions and much more will be explored in this course.

A copy of the bestselling book ’Difficult Conversations’ by Stone, Patton & Heen, which relates fifteen years of research and experience at the Harvard Negotiation Project, will be provided to you as required reading for the course. Together, the book and the in-class exercises and discussion will help you understand and apply strategies and techniques for having more productive “difficult” conversations.

What you’ll learn:
• How to conduct any conversation without becoming defensive
• Ways of keeping and regaining your center in the face of strong emotions
• How to decipher the underlying structure of most difficult conversations

Registration Form

Project Management

Instructor: Sarah Staley

Date: February 4, 2010

Time: 9:00-4:00

Location: Longwood Medical Area in Boston (currently no room assignment)

Notes: Lunch not included

When faced with getting any kind of project going, do you ever wonder: “Now, where do I start?” Are you looking for a way to set up and track the big and small projects you manage?

Effective project management ensures that projects are completed on time, within budget and according to a requisite standard. In this introductory workshop, you will learn how to how to initiate, define, plan, and schedule a project. This course is intended for staff members with little or no formal training in Project Management who would like an introduction to the key concepts.

What you’ll learn:
• A working definition of “project management”
• How to apply a simple-yet-thorough model to a variety of different projects
• Tips for communicating effectively with key players throughout the lifecycle of a project

Note: This is not a workshop on using Microsoft Project and that computer program will not be used in the course.

Registration Form

Research Resources and Techniques--Using Sawyer Library Databases

Do you need to do scholarly research? Would you like to find information on health matters or investments? Perhaps you’d like to be able to do quick lookups in dictionaries or encyclopedias without leaving your home or office? Sawyer Library provides access to many high-quality databases that can help. Kathi Maio, of the Sawyer Library Reference Department, is available by appointment to describe the available resources, and how to access and make good use of them. These sessions can be for a single individual or for a staff group. Don’t rely on the unauthenticated junk out on the general Internet! Learn how to the use the "good stuff" that Suffolk provides for students, faculty & staff. Contact Kathi Maio at kmaio@suffolk.edu to arrange for a short training session.