Category: Development and Training

Are there phone calls you’ve been putting off? Or a task that you just can’t decide where to begin? We’re all guilty of procrastination! Today’s time mastery tip explains Lois Wolfe-Morgan’s “do it now” principle. Check out the video with her tips here!

Look for classes on time management and other offerings by Lois-Wolfe-Morgan this spring in the SpartansLearn catalog.

Useful link: Time Mastery Tips, Part One

Nobody wakes up in the morning thinking, “Today at work, I’m going to make some uninformed decisions that blindside my team and create chaotic unintended consequences for my unit!”  Some days things just turn out that way.  But having good employee engagement practices can help limit the time your team loses grappling with or grumbling over the consequences of poor decisions.

“Employee engagement means involving people in decision-making processes when the results of those decisions will affect them,” said Dawn Hecker, who leads MSU Human Resources’ organizational development team and consults with units on participatory management practices.  “It also means understanding that the best ideas don’t always come from the top.  When you take the time to seek input from others at all levels of the organization, you often are rewarded with creative and innovative ideas you might have otherwise missed.”Continue Reading… Employee Engagement Leads to Better Decisions

Ever have so much going on that it doesn’t feel like there’s even enough time to ask anyone for help?  Or have you wanted to reach out to your team members for help but wound up just keeping all the work yourself because it was too complicated figuring out what you could safely and fairly give away, who you should delegate it to and how you could make sure work still got done well and on-time once you handed it over to others?

If so, you aren’t alone, according to Jennie Petrovich, an MSU Organization and Employee Development consultant. Petrovich, who also oversees the education and training provided to MSU employees through the office of Human Resource Development, said that becoming more effective at delegation can make life better for both the delgator and the people being delegated to, while also improving the overall quality of the work accomplished.Continue Reading… Need to be a Better Delegator? There’s a class for that . . .

Are you ready to take your technology knowledge to the next level? Then consider getting certified!

Libraries, Computing and Technology (LCT) is now an official Certiport Testing Center, offering certification exams in Microsoft programs such as Word and Excel, as well as Adobe and technology certification for IT professionals.Continue Reading… Get Certified with LCT!

As our jobs get more and more busy, it’s important not to take our frustration out on our co-workers. For MSU to be successful, we must get along with people from different cultures, backgrounds, etc. Mitzi Taylor, HRD facilitator and owner of Not So Basic Training, shares some tips on how to be courteous to our co-workers. Check out the video here!

Do you have tips for common courtesy in the workplace?

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George Bernard Shaw once said, “The greatest problem in communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished.”

In a busy workplace, it’s easy to assume that all team members are on the same page about goals, roles, budgets, deadlines, work instructions and more. But what if that assumption is wrong? Poor internal communication can lead to low morale, lost productivity, wasted resources, damaged relationships and poor work quality.

Fostering good workplace communications requires commitment and sustained effort. No matter what role you play in your unit, there are things you can do to help! Continue Reading… LET’S TALK! Are you an accomplished communicator at work?

Are you feeling the email inbox overload? Today, HRD facilitator Randy Dean shares some quick but effective tips for how to manage your inbox. Watch this video and see if you can implement these steps into your workday.

Randy will be facilitating MS Outlook classes again in the spring. If you’re looking for some help before then, check out his Time Management: Find That Extra Hour in Your Day class on Tuesday, November 29. Outlook and smart phones will be briefly covered in the course, in addition to other time management strategies.

What do you think of when you hear the word accountability?  For some people, the word conjures up negative images. (Picture a red-faced person screaming in your face “I’m holding you personally accountable for this mess!”) But accountability is not about who to blame for mistakes and it’s not just something one person dumps on another.  On the contrary, accountability to ourselves and others is a crucial ingredient of success for individuals, work teams and entire organizations.

“A desire for greater accountability is a major theme that MSU employees have expressed in the surveys, focus groups, interviews and advisory group discussions held as part of the Participatory Management Initiative at MSU,” said Dawn Hecker, who leads the Organizational Development team at MSU Human Resources and also serves as a Participatory Management Initiative consultant. “We heard loud and clear that most MSU employees are proud of the work they do and care intensely about the quality of their work. They want to be held accountable for their own results and they want coworkers to be held accountable for their work as well so the entire team can succeed together.”Continue Reading… Accountability is not a four-letter word!

We have millions of thoughts running through our mind each day. Today, Lisa Davidson, counselor for the Employee Assistance Program and HRD facilitator, explains how our thinking shifts from clear mind to mud mind, and how we can learn to shift back to a clear, centered state of mind. Check out the video here.

If you’re interested in learning more about achieving a clearer state of mind, check out one of Lisa’s upcoming classes. You can enroll through the EBS system.

• Getting Out of the Struggle Trap – November 16
• Breaking Free From Stress – December 2 & 5