Category: Development and Training

Being able to communicate effectively with your co-workers is key to a successful and engaged workplace. When you can share your ideas openly and understand your co-workers’ views in return, you’re more likely to feel happier at work. Yet, oftentimes there are certain barriers that can make communication difficult, like personality or work style differences. If you have a better understanding of your own work and personality styles – and can identify different styles in others – you can start to bridge any gaps of misunderstanding and ultimately communicate more effectively.

We have a variety of courses available in February for MSU employees related to improving communication:

Everything DiSC: Behavior Styles at Work
Have you ever had a co-worker or boss who you could not even begin to understand? Even when you ask them questions, you’re still unsure what they need or want. Most of us have felt this way at one time or another. The course EverythingDiSC: Behavior Styles at Work is designed to help you understand yourself and other people better by giving you an understanding of different behavioral work styles.

Before the course, you will take a simple online assessment to learn your DiSC style, which is your unique work behavior style. During the class, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of how your style relates to others and tools to help you connect better with co-workers whose priorities and preferences differ from yours.

Honing Your Emotional Intelligence
The essence of emotional intelligence (also known as EQ or EI) is our ability to identify and manage our own emotions and to identify emotions in others. In today’s high-stress, multi-tasking workplace, having a high EQ can lead to better stress management, stronger relationships with better communication and increased job satisfaction. The Honing Your Emotional Intelligence course will show you tools to master the principles found within EQ. Specifically, this course will focus on:

• Why EQ is an essential competency in today’s work world.
• How to fully engage the four fundamental areas of EQ: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.
• How to increase your EQ.
• Why EQ has a direct impact on job satisfaction and performance excellence.

Thriving Through Change
Change is inevitable and being able to communicate effectively through change will help ease the transition process. This course will define what change is and help you understand the stages and reactions to change. Learn techniques and strategies to help you cope with stress and manage the process successfully.

Ready to Register?
To register, login to the EBS Portal and click on the My Career and Training tab, then the Courses for Employees at MSU tile. Find a complete list of available OPD courses on the HR website.

Did you make a New Year’s resolution? The start of a new year inspires people to make big changes to improve their lives. Unfortunately, that goal we set on January 1 can start to look pretty daunting a couple weeks later when the initial buzz of new year motivation wears off. It’s not uncommon for goals to be forgotten or abandoned. In fact, for those who make New Year’s resolutions, 80% fail to stick to their goal by February (Jantz, 2018). If you’re struggling to maintain your New Year’s resolution, don’t give up hope yet. This just means it’s time to recalibrate or redefine your goal, and we’ve got tips and tools to help.

Identify Why a Goal is Meaningful to You
At the start of a new year, people are inspired to commit to lofty goals they’ve previously never been able to achieve. Common goals include lose weight, save money, learn a new skill and find a new job (Economy, 2019). Unfortunately, that initial rush of inspiration is only temporary, which is why most end up losing interest after a couple weeks. Motivation alone cannot push you to achieve a goal, learn a new skill, or change a habit. And if your goal is too vague, you’re likely to forget about it come February.

When you’re curious about a goal, you must ask yourself why you want to achieve it – and then keep asking yourself why until you get to the root of why this goal is meaningful to you. Leadership and career coach Lisa Rogoff explains, “You’d be surprised at how many [goals] are grounded in values and purpose. And when you can surface that meaning and give it a voice, a simple goal shifts into a mission. With your why front and center, it’s almost impossible to turn your back and not go after it.” When you identify the personal value and meaning behind a goal you increase your likelihood of achieving it. Read Rogoff’s full article.

Get help identifying a meaningful professional development goal by visiting the Explore Your Learning Needs page or the Sample Goals for Different Roles page on the HR website.

Get SMART.
After you’ve identified your goal and why it’s meaningful to you, it’s time to make it SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. The SMART method helps you make a detailed plan with clear objectives to achieve your goal. Learn more about SMART goals.

Be Accountable.
If you have a professional development goal, try sharing it with your supervisor or incorporating it into your Performance Excellence plan (for support staff). Check in with your supervisor periodically to make sure you’re hitting your objectives and making progress. If you’re not sure how to broach the subject, visit the Requesting and Accepting Feedback page for tips to start the conversation.

Stay Inspired with Resources on Campus.
As an MSU employee, you have a variety of resources available to help you create lasting change and achieve your goals:

• Take a professional development course on one of the many subjects offered through Organization and Professional Development. For support or academic staff with 12 full-time service months, don’t forget you can use your Educational Assistance benefit for any fees.
• Use the FREE online elevateU resources – books, videos, courses and more!
• The WorkLife Office offers tons of resources and programs to help MSU employees navigate the workplace, their careers and life transitions.
• The Academic Advancement Network provides programs, opportunities, and events for faculty, academic staff and academic administrators.
• The MSU Health4U program offers health-related articles, cooking classes, coaching, and health/wellness events.
• The MSU Library provides events and classes on a variety of interesting subjects to staff and faculty.

Economy, P. (2019, January 01). 10 Top New Year’s Resolutions for Success and Happiness in 2019. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/10-top-new-years-resolutions-for-success-happiness-in-2019.html

Jantz, D. G. (2018, January 03). This Year’s Resolution. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/this-years-resolution_us_5a4cff60e4b0d86c803c7b1b

Rogoff, L. (n.d.). The Best Goals Start With ‘Why’. Retrieved from https://advice.shinetext.com/articles/the-best-goals-start-with-why/

With the new year on the horizon, now is the time to relax and recharge, spend time with your loved ones, and maybe start thinking about your career goals for 2019.

The average American spends 90,000 hours at work over their lifetime. That’s 1/3 of your life or 50% of your waking hours spent in the company of your co-workers (Pryce-Jones, 2010). When you think about your work life in these terms, it makes sense that you’d include career goals as part of your New Year’s resolutions.

What should your goals be? Research shows that people who feel more engaged and appreciated at work report feeling happier in general. These happy worker bees have a few things in common including a meaningful vision for their future, a sense of purpose, and great relationships (McKee, 2016).

Lucky for you, as a benefits-eligible MSU employee you have access to a variety of personal and professional development courses that can help you identify growth areas and build roadmaps for a more purposeful future. We recommend using some (or all!) of the following courses to help you reach your career goals and ultimately become happier at work.

Highlight of 2019 Professional Development Courses:

Chances are, you could use a little focus in your life. Between emails, text messages, phone calls, meetings, social media, family, and co-workers all demanding your attention, it can be hard to clear away the distractions and zero in on the work that needs to get done. We recommend taking the course From Distracted to Productive to learn “game plan” ideas for getting and keeping your distractors under control.

Once you’ve become more productive at work, how do you sustain those high results? You must have a significant amount of emotional resiliency as you navigate the challenges inherent in your day-to-day life. The course Sustainable High Performance teaches you how to increase your capacity for calm, creative responses to a wide variety of problems and operate from a high-quality state of mind.

And career goals would ultimately be meaningless if you didn’t create them with a bit of introspection. The Everything DiSC: Behavior Styles at Work course helps you understand yourself and how you relate to other people – including your co-workers. While the Identify and Maximize Your Strengths course shows you what makes you unique and helps identify your natural talents.

Ready to Sign-Up?

Find all the current professional development courses on the HR website. Register for the courses through the EBS Portal. After you log in, click the My Career and Training tab and then click the Courses for Employees at MSU tile.

McKee, Annie. “Being Happy at Work Matters.” Harvard Business Review, 26 Oct. 2016, hbr.org/2014/11/being-happy-at-work-matters.

Pryce-Jones, Jessica. Happiness at Work: Maximizing Your Psychological Capital for Success. John Wiley & Sons, 2010.