Category: Development and Training

Training, education and ongoing professional development is very important to your ongoing success at MSU. This category highlights professional development news, views and opportunities.

Finding a Professional Mentor

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This is a guest post written by Sr. Human Resources Professional, Kathie Elliott.

Are you looking for a mentor to help you develop your professional skills? Last month, we discussed types of mentoring relationships. Finding the right mentor can make a big difference in your career. Once you find a potential mentor, how should you approach them?

The nature of mentorships presumes there is already some sort of professional relationship between the parties. If that is true for your chosen mentor, you could begin by asking them if they are open to serving as a sounding board for you as needed when specific issues arise. Or you could arrange a time to talk with them about your specific learning objectives and goals. In either case, be sure to explain the skills and abilities they have that you admire, why you think they would be a great mentor for you AND what you think the benefits of mentoring you might be. 

If you opt for a formal mentor arrangement, be sure to agree on what is expected of both participants, such as frequency and length of meetings, types of issues or skills to work on, and how long you commit to work together. You can always agree to continue, but many mentors would like to have a planned end date.

Turning a current professional relationship into a mentorship could begin with short situation-specific conversations. Great ice breakers might include:

  • “How have you handled a situation like _________ in the past?”
  • “What would you say to someone who wanted to __________?”
  • “Would you be willing to offer me feedback on _        __?”
  • “Would you tell me about a time you were faced with _________?” 

If you have identified a mentor, but you don’t already know one another, you can’t be sure whether they would be a good fit or interested in mentoring you. In this case, you could start first by inviting them to meet with you to discuss a specific issue or question. They’re more likely to want to meet with you if you have shared contacts or interests. Contacts can help make introductions, whereas interests give you a chance to meet this person under different circumstances. If you keep the parameters and commitment well-defined, neither of you will feel pressured to commit to anything beyond an initial meeting. If that meeting goes well, you can decide whether to request another meeting.

Occasionally, mentees reach out to someone in their reporting line for mentorship, but this can create multiple highly-sensitive issues. It may give the appearance of a conflict of interest, or it may not be a feasible time commitment for them to make to just one member of their staff. In either case, it puts them in the uncomfortable position of having to decline your request.  Instead, consider looking for a mentor in another unit of the organization who can offer you a unique point-of-view. And don’t underestimate the value of a mentor outside your organization; they may open a new world of insights and opportunities!

Regardless of who you choose to approach to mentor you, be sure to thank them for their time and advice. And remember, the point of mentorship is to continue to learn and grow as a professional while at the same time become someone with knowledge and skills that others (even those more experienced than you) can learn from.

Mentoring in the Workplace

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This is a guest post written by Sr. HR Professional, Kathie Elliott. 

Have you thought about participating in mentorship to learn new skills and expand your career network? In mentorship, both mentors and mentees benefit by developing rich and unique networks, and by being able to see tasks, skills and issues from different points of view. 

There are many mentoring structures to choose from, depending on the goals of the mentors and mentees. Below are a few examples.

  1. Traditional – a senior employee teaches a junior employee the skills necessary to succeed in their company. 
  2. Reverse – a less senior or different classification employee mentors “up.”  This is an emerging trend in mentoring, particularly for teaching other employees new technologies, how to use social media, and emerging trends in their field.
  3. Mutual – parties with differences in experience and/or position level are both free to ask questions and learn new skills from each other.
  4. Peer-to-Peer – employees of comparable experience and position assist one another, each bringing their individual strengths and knowledge to the relationship.
  5. Board of Directors – acknowledges that people have different strengths and experiences and learning from multiple individuals may be more helpful than relying on a single source. The mentee selects several “board members” based on the mentors’ strengths.
  6. Informal – an organically developed mentoring relationship.  Any of the above structures may be informal or formal.

Is there an aspect of your career where you would benefit from working with a mentor; or from sharing your knowledge as a mentor? Consider which mentoring structure would best meet your goals and watch for our November article about considerations for selecting a mentor or mentee. 

Find Mentorship Resources on elevateU

Visit elevateU to find free resources on mentorship, including videos, books, courses and more. Access elevateU here or log into EBS and look for the “elevateU” tile under the “My Career & Training” tab. The easiest way to find resources on mentorship is to type “mentor” in the search bar at the top of the page. Learn more about elevateU on the HR website.

Happy National Online Learning Day!

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September 15 is National Online Learning Day! Online learning provides convenience, flexibility, and personalization for all learners. Did you know MSU offers FREE online learning opportunities for all faculty and staff? Get access to online resources including books, videos, courses, and more via elevateU. 

Access elevateU here or log into EBS and look for the “elevateU” tile under the “My Career & Training” tab. You can access elevateU from your computer or through the Skillsoft Learning App for Android and iOS devices.  

There are programs that cover leadership, IT & desktop, business, finance, human resources, change management, project management, interpersonal skills and so much more. Resources are available in a variety of formats: 

  • Video-based and interactive courses 
  • Videos 
  • Books 
  • Resources to prepare for various professional certifications 

Watch the following video for a general overview of the resources available to you and how to access them:

Need help navigating elevateU? Click here for an additional video on how to use the search function and navigate through the resources available. 

Utilize the resources as reference tools to help answer your day-to-day job questions or as part of your ongoing personal and professional development. Many of the courses are even approved for Continuing Education credits! Remember, all courses are available to current staff and faculty at no charge.  

Happy National Online Learning Day! 

Start the New Academic Year with a Professional Development Course!

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Welcome to a new academic year at MSU! Organization and Professional Development (OPD) is offering new courses this fall to help you reach your personal and professional development goals.

NEW Upcoming Courses:

Managing Meetings – Tuesday, October 15
With company resources tighter than ever, and staff and management busier than ever, frivolous meetings are simply not an option. Yet they continue to occur more often than ever. And too many unproductive, wasteful meetings create a major drag on staff morale and motivation, thus affecting productivity, turnover, and the corporate “bottom line”. And, if you are the organizer or leader of meetings, you simply cannot afford to look unprofessional when you are “on stage” in a competitive or political environment. Use this program to better plan, lead, and follow through on your meetings and enhance team productivity, coordination, and cohesion.

Communication Strategies for Supervisors – Thursday, October 24
One of the non-negotiables for successful leadership is being an effective communicator. Many leaders believe they do communicate effectively, but what most leaders do not understand about communicating with their team is that it is not just about what is said. To lead successfully today, leaders must be able to persuade, inspire, listen, articulate the big picture, and create teams of people who buy into and trust the sender.

Manager as Coach – Thursday, October 24
Successful managers today understand the importance of coaching in the workplace to improve productivity, loyalty, and results. Instead of telling team members what to do, or just expecting them to perform, it is important to guide, discuss and encourage – in other words, coach.

Presentation Skills 101 – Wednesday, November 20
You may have a great deal of knowledge or important information to share, but if your presentation is not engaging, you may lose your audience and opportunity for influence. Whether you’re a training professional, an executive, a manager who leads meetings, or anyone who needs to communicate clearly to more than one person at a time, this workshop will show you strategies to create and deliver effective presentations with confidence and enthusiasm.

Support staff should note that their Educational Assistance benefit resets with the fall semester – be sure to use these funds to help cover costs for any registration fees.

You can find all current OPD courses on the HR website. Sign-up through the EBS Portal. Questions? Contact HR Solutions Center at SolutionsCenter@hr.msu.edu or 517-353-4434.

What happened the last time you made a mistake?

Published on by Megan MacGregor2 Comments

Have you ever wanted to ask a question during a meeting, but didn’t because you thought you should already know the answer? Or have you noticed an issue with a project but kept it to yourself because you were afraid of calling out a team member’s mistake? While it may feel safer to not ask questions, admit weaknesses or share critiques, you end up missing out on something important: small learning opportunities that help you and your team grow.

Dr. Amy Edmondson, a professor at Harvard Business School, studies the relationship between successful teams and how they handle mistakes. When she began her research in 1999, she hypothesized that the most successful teams would make the fewest mistakes. Surprisingly, this was not the case! She discovered that the most successful teams made more mistakes. However, they were open and candid about them and used them as learning tools. From this research, Edmondson identified the concept of “psychological safety,” or the belief that you won’t be punished for making a mistake (Delizonna, 2017).

Edmondson explains that psychological safety is not about being “nice” to each other; it is about trust. Building trust through candid feedback, shared learning, and the ability to admit mistakes without fear (“Creating Psychological Safety,” 2019). The concept of psychological safety impacts employees at all levels and, therefore, the overall success of your team.

The alternative – a lack of trust between team members – can create a culture of blame, denial, and cover-ups, which stems from wanting to look competent in front of our colleagues. How does this impact a team’s success? When employees do not have psychological safety, they don’t share new ideas, innovation is slowed and competitive advantage stalls; the team suffers. Healthy teams still have issues, they just have a positive way to channel mistakes into learning opportunities and improvements.

So, what happens if you make a mistake at work? If you are a leader, what happens if someone on your team makes a mistake? If you’re told to keep your eyes down and “don’t rock the boat” these are warning signs that your team is in trouble. How can you improve psychological safety on your team? Key aspects of a psychologically safe work environment include learning and practicing resiliency skills and modeling behavior that will help others feel safe.

Psychologically safe environments include many different expressions. To help you begin to think about your work environment, do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

  • I can express my opinions and ideas without fear of negative consequences from my team, my supervisor, or my peers.
  • I am encouraged to take risks and try things.
  • When I make a mistake, I can easily own it.
  • My supervisor helps us get comfortable with failure.
  • There is a humble spirit that allows us to try new ideas.
  • I work in an environment where respect is shown to all employees.
  • We can work through conflict productively.
  • Accountability is evident for both supervisors and employees.
  • Mistakes are “lessons learned.”

Interested in learning more about psychological safety? MSU faculty and staff can access the resources below for free on elevateU, including Edmondson’s new book, The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth.  

Free elevateU Resources Featuring Dr. Edmondson’s Research:

Books:

Videos:

Instructor-Led Courses to Help Build Relevant Skills:

Delizonna, L., Tjan, A. K., Walker, C. A., D’Souza, S., & Renner, D. (2017, August 24). High-Performing Teams Need Psychological Safety. Here’s How to Create It. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2017/08/high-performing-teams-need-psychological-safety-heres-how-to-create-it

Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace. (2019, January 22). Retrieved from https://hbr.org/ideacast/2019/01/creating-psychological-safety-in-the-workplace

Registration is Open for Summer Courses!

Published on by Megan MacGregor2 Comments

Do you have any personal or professional goals that you’re currently working towards? Or maybe you’re a support staff employee looking for courses to support your Performance Excellence plan? There are a variety of courses offered in July to help you grow and succeed.

Support staff should note that their Educational Assistance benefit resets with the fall semester. If you still have money for registration fees left over, now is a great time to use those remaining funds!

Learn Strategies for Personal Growth

Develop Your Leadership Skills

Improve Your Communication Skills

Become a Skilled Project Manager

You can find all current OPD courses on the HR website. Sign-up through the EBS Portal. MSU support staff should remember that they may have access to Educational Assistance to help with any course registration fees. Questions? Contact HR Solutions Center at SolutionsCenter@hr.msu.edu or 517-353-4434.

Performance Excellence Resources

Published on by Megan MacGregor1 Comment

Do you have a Performance Excellence annual review and/or planning meeting coming up soon? Performance Excellence is a collaborative process between MSU support staff and their supervisors that ensures employees are continually developing their skills to contribute to the success of the university. Employees should be meeting regularly with their supervisors to discuss their Performance Excellence development plan and goals for the year. This encourages everyone to stay engaged and allows goals to be adjusted if needed. Whether you are an employee or supervisor, we have resources to help you get the most out of the Performance Excellence process.

Find Tips and Tools on the HR Website

There is a wealth of information available about Performance Excellence on the HR website including:

  • Detailed info about the process
  • Required training
  • Learning opportunities to help meet performance goals
  • Related forms
  • Tips and tools for success

Visit the Performance Excellence webpage and then select whether you’re looking for resources for employees or supervisors.

Professional Development Courses

Are you looking for resources to help you build skills in certain areas? Organization and Professional Development (OPD) offers a variety of instructor-led courses to help you reach performance goals. Find courses on how to thrive through change, manage difficult customers, or identify and maximize your strengths, among many others! Find a list of all current OPD courses here.

Supervisors can also find courses to help them navigate the Performance Excellence process, including this upcoming course:

And remember, eligible employees have access to Educational Assistance for any course registration fees.

Online Resources through elevateU

No time to attend an in-person course? No problem! elevateU is a free online learning platform available 24/7 for MSU employees with courses, books and videos to assist with skill building. Resources cover a variety of topics and you can print off a learning transcript to show your supervisor a list of resources you’ve completed. Learn more and access elevateU here.

Questions? Contact the HR Solutions Center at SolutionsCenter@hr.msu.edu or 517-353-4434.

Reimbursement for a Non-Credit Learning Opportunity

Published on by Megan MacGregorLeave a comment

As an MSU benefits-eligible support staff employee, you have access to Educational Assistance. This benefit offers financial assistance towards your professional development after you’ve worked at MSU for an equivalent of 12 full-time service months. If you work less than full-time, the benefit is prorated based on your employment percentage.

You may receive up to $900 per year to use towards registration costs for a variety of non-credit learning opportunities, including trainings, seminars, workshops, conferences and courses. You will need to submit an Educational Assistance application to request financial assistance. You can access the Educational Assistance application in the EBS Portal under the My Career and Training tab. The learning opportunity must be considered job-related and from an approved institution/program to be approved for financial assistance.

You will need to upload two documents to your Educational Assistance application to receive reimbursement:

  1. Proof of Payment: The registration costs will need to be paid up front by either you or your department before you receive reimbursement. Make sure to submit proof of payment that clearly shows whether you or your department should be receiving the reimbursement. If you paid for the learning opportunity, you should upload a receipt that clearly shows you paid. If your department paid, you will need to obtain either the procurement card statement or the department operating statement (this would depend on the method of payment that was used) from your department’s fiscal officer.
  2. Proof of Attendance/Completion: There are a variety of documents that you can upload for proof of attendance, including a certificate of completion, formal email/letter of congratulations for completing or attending the learning opportunity, or confirmation of your registration if no other documentation was issued/provided.

PLEASE NOTE: Courses that you register for through the Courses for MSU Employees application in the EBS portal, such as Organization and Professional Development courses or MSU IT courses, do not require an Educational Assistance application. For these courses, you just need to select Educational Assistance as your form of payment when you register.

The Educational Assistance benefit also offers financial assistance for credit courses, which you can learn more about in this previous blog post. Find detailed information about Educational Assistance on the HR website. Questions? We’re happy to help! Contact the HR Solutions Center at SolutionsCenter@hr.msu.edu or 517-353-4434.

How to Get the Most Out of Classroom Training

Published on by Megan MacGregorLeave a comment

This post was written by Kathie Elliott, Sr. HR Professional for Organization and Professional Development.

It’s Tuesday morning, and you realize you’re scheduled to attend a course which you completely forgot about until this moment. You arrive late, and the rest of the class is talking about the pre-work they completed and brought with them. As you grab an open chair, you feel your phone buzz and see a text from your co-worker. You are late and feel unprepared and distracted.

At your table, you contribute very little and try to avoid the facilitator’s eye. Four hours later you leave and feel you were too distracted by the work day’s emails piling up and your feeling of unpreparedness to focus on what you were supposed to learn.

Sound nothing like you? Great! Still, do you have a nagging feeling that you could be getting more out of your training opportunities? Read on for tips.

BEFORE TRAINING

  1. Confirm Logistics: Know the location/time of the course and verify directions. Be sure to add in time for unexpected delays, like confusing Google directions or if you are supposed to be at Nisbet or at the Henry Center, Kellogg Center or other common locations. To be safe, check your email and junk mail for any class updates.
  2. Clear Your Calendar: Leave time for the class and a little time after in case you want to network or ask the facilitator a question. And give yourself time in the office afterward to think about what you learned, digest all that new information, and consider how to apply it. 
  3. Limit Distractions: Let your co-workers and family know that you’ll be attending a course that day and to not expect you to answer any calls or emails right away. Make sure you change your out of office message for your phone and email. Limit physical distractions by making sure you are rested, fed, hydrated, caffeinated, and prepared for fluctuating classroom temperatures. Favorite beverage, special dietary items, comfortable but appropriate clothing can enhance your learning experience.
  4. Bring Your Learning Mindset: Be a co-creator of your learning experience by coming prepared to learn relevant, immediately applicable skills. Many facilitators will send out reminder emails in the days leading up to the class with any prework or final notes. Then, try setting some goals for yourself. What are a few questions that you want answered? Do you want to meet and network with others in similar positions?

DURING TRAINING

Since you’ve taken steps to limit distractions and discomfort, you’re all set to be an engaged learner. If you need a push to stay attentive, try asking one of your prepared questions, offer to be the spokesperson for your table, or jot down a couple notes to share with a co-worker later. If you’re more visually inclined, why not try visual note-taking? Visual note-taking – which uses a combination of images and text to help synthesize info – is a creative way to pay attention and capture/group the info you’re learning in class so you remember it better later.

AFTER TRAINING 

Learning really doesn’t happen until it’s applied. Develop a post-training action plan and stick to it. In the amount of time it would take for you to brew a pot of coffee, you could jot down your top takeaways, action steps and goals, obstacles, resources and strategies, and how to keep yourself on track. Before you know it, you’ll be a hero at work for your willingness to learn new skills and share them with others

Are You Ready to Lead?

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This post was written by Jennie Yelvington, Sr. HR Professional for Organization and Professional Development.

Are you interested in moving into a formal leadership role, but not sure how to get there? The first step is to examine whether you have and are exhibiting the types of skills necessary to be successful in the role. That assessment can help to inform your development plan, prepare you for more responsibility, and highlight your capacity to others.

The following behaviors will help you demonstrate leadership ability no matter your current role:

  1. Identify your goals, discuss with your supervisor, and actively work toward them. Leaders need to be continually learning and developing themselves to maintain self-awareness and deal effectively with change and complexity.
  2. Take on stretch assignments. Look for opportunities to lead projects or initiatives, serve on committees, suggest improvements, and provide value added service.
  3. Learn about the university and how it functions. Leaders need to consider how issues impact not only their unit, but also their department, college, and the university. Familiarize yourself with issues impacting higher education, attend events that allow you to hear other leaders speak, and network broadly to better understand the landscape. While it is normal to think about how a situation impacts you personally, leaders place a priority on what best suits the mission, goals, and values of the organization.
  4. Strengthen your “people” skills. Effective leaders know how to engage and motivate their team, work collaboratively with their peers, and influence the leaders above them. Being empathic, listening for understanding, communicating effectively, and handling difficult conversations are baseline skills that every leader needs.
  5. Be a problem solver. Rather than complaining about issues you see (or ignoring them), develop and share ideas for addressing them. Ask good questions and get input from others who are involved and impacted as you attempt to identify possible solutions. Even if your ideas aren’t implemented, you build your capacity to solve problems and demonstrate that you are capable and proactive.
  6. Understand your biases and demonstrate inclusion. It is easy to always turn to our “go to” people who think like we do, but that isn’t generally the best approach. We all have biases, but once we understand them we can consciously work to include others who might offer valuable, different perspectives.
  7. Model professionalism. Dress in appropriate attire for the role you would like to secure, handle problems and disappointments with grace and maturity, move quickly from venting to sound action, keep up on skills necessary for your role, avoid engaging in gossip and redirect others who do, consistently follow through on commitments, be respectful of the others’ time and opinions, be actively supportive and helpful to your colleagues and leaders.

Talk with your supervisor to get their perspective on how you are doing in the above areas. HR Organization and Professional Development offers several instructor-led courses that can help you strengthen capacity in these areas. Find all current courses on the HR website and consider taking the following courses:

  • Honing Your Emotional Intelligence
  • Communicating and Influencing Up
  • Essentials of Project Management
  • Process Mapping and Analysis
  • Crucial Conversations
  • Crucial Accountability
  • Sustainable High Performance
  • Thriving Through Change
  • From Distracted to Productive
  • Everything DiSC: Behavior Styles at Work

In addition to instructor-led courses, current staff and faculty have access to elevateU, which offers free access to eBooks, videos, and online self-paced courses to help build your leadership skills. Learn more about elevateU on the HR website and try these leadership-focused learning opportunities through elevateU:

For more career advice, read this interview with Sharon Butler, Associate Vice President of Human Resources. Butler shares lessons she’s learned about becoming a great leader and, more specifically, addresses how women can get ahead in the workplace.