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Photo by Reed Hutchinson
UCLA Photographic Services
The courses helped Angie Grabski motivate her staff and
deal with difficult people. |
Help for managers
Staff use Tool Kit to sharpen work skills
BY Alice Huang
UCLA Today
In her 16 years at UCLA, finance manager Sherri Faroky in Capital
Programs Health Sciences has seen major changes reshape the workplace.
"There's now more of a focus on teams and projects," she
noted.
To keep up with organizational changes, Faroky decided it was time
to update her skills. More specifically, she wanted to work on communications
to help her lead meetings, give presentations and work with her
staff. Although she considered a number of programs, she eventually
chose UCLA Extension's Manager's Tool Kit, a series of one and two
day seminars that help managers develop leadership and communication
skills.
Faroky liked the convenience of taking classes in Westwood and
appreciated the 25% discount for UCLA employees, but more importantly,
she liked the way the program was organized. The Manager's Tool
Kit allows students to take one or two seminars each quarter. "I
liked the way it was spread out, whereas other programs took weeks
at a time. This is better than cramming."
Other UCLA employees, like Alumni Association marketing manager
Angie Grabski, turned to the seminar series for different reasons.
Grabski faces the task of motivating students to sell association
memberships. "I rally them, tell them it's a team effort and
work with individuals to meet their sales goals," she said.
When she needed help motivating her staff, Grabski enrolled in
a Manager's Tool Kit course, "Leading and Motivating Employees."
"It was really helpful because it made me realize that not
everyone is motivated by the same things," she recalled. "The
course sparked me and made me think of new ways to get my work done."
Soon after taking her first Tool Kit course, Grabski had to confront
another common work
place problem — dealing with difficult people.
"When we're dealing with customers, we sometimes get people
who are upset about something that happened 10 years ago. I wanted
to learn how to defuse those situations."
So Grabski took another Tool Kit course, "Dealing Tactfully
with Difficult People." "The teacher was really dynamic.
He divided people into four categories and offered suggestions on
how to deal with people, depending on what type they are."
Grabski and Faroky agree that others could also benefit from the
Manager's Tool Kit courses. "It's been eye opening," Faroky
said.
The courses are designed to help both aspiring and experienced
supervisors and managers increase their knowledge in up to 14 specific
skill areas. Each course may be taken alone; however, a certificate
of parti cipation is offered when 10 courses are c
ompleted. Upcoming courses include "Communication Effectiveness:
Tips for Active Listening and Straight Talking," "Leading
and Motivating Employees" and "Coaching and Mentoring
Employees."
For a complete list of courses or other information, call (310)
825 4192. You can also visit www.uclaextension.edu.
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