All PPD Personal and Professional Development courses

7 Characteristics of Resilient People: Bitesize

PPD bitesize resources are short and high impact; including videos, quick tips guides and interactive bitesize modules. Develop your skills and knowledge quickly, easily, when you need. They complement face to face events and more in-depth online modules.

This briefing session will provide more information about the Administrator Development Programme and is for staff with a confirmed place on the 2022-23 Programme. For further information https://www.ppd.admin.cam.ac.uk/professional-development/multi-day-programmes

See course description for further information.

Apprenticeships can help people of all ages and at all levels (including post graduate qualifications), to gain the skills and knowledge they need for a rewarding career.

We have asked some of our Apprentices about their experiences, why they chose to undertake an apprenticeship and the benefits they are seeing through their participation. Please follow the links below to see what they have to say.

• The experience of a Project Management apprentice.

• The experience of an Engineering Technician apprentice.

• The experience of a Building Services Engineering Service and Maintenance Engineer apprentice.

• The experience of a Chartered Manager Degree apprentice.

Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week 2023!

Are you interested in apprenticeship programmes and would like to know more? Do you want to find out how to make them work for you or your department? Or maybe you have a specific question that you need to ask?

This webinar is for you, hosted by Apprenticeship Manager Colin Long, who will be available to help you with all things apprenticeships and answer your burning questions. How do I put existing staff on apprenticeships? Or, How are apprenticeships funded?

Apprenticeships can help people of all ages and at all levels (including post graduate qualifications), to gain the skills and knowledge they need for a rewarding career.

A link to join the webinar will be sent with the joining instructions when your booking is confirmed.

Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week 2023.

Are you considering apprenticeship training or looking to recruit an apprentice to post? Do you have any concerns, or apprehensions, and don’t know where to go for some support?

This webinar is for you, hosted by Apprenticeship Manager Colin Long, who will be available to answer any questions or concerns that you may have, and dispel some common misconceptions about apprenticeships.

Also joining the webinar will be Phil Stittle, Executive Director for Business Development, at West Suffolk College, who will explain how training providers can help you with selecting an appropriate apprenticeship standard, advertising, recruitment and selection for vacant positions.

A link to join the webinar will be sent with the joining instructions when your booking is confirmed.

Approaches to Learning: Bitesize

PPD bitesize resources are short and high impact; including videos, quick tips guides and interactive bitesize modules. Develop your skills and knowledge quickly, easily, when you need. They complement face to face events and more in-depth online modules.

A webinar providing information on the level 4 Associate Project Manager Apprenticeship (duration 13 months) presented by Glen Suttie of Provek, who are Project Management Training specialists and will deliver this apprenticeship.

Provek are now able to offer a schedule of their open cohorts which will enable you to select your preferred programme start date to hopefully suit your individual contractual position.

Aimed at developing the skills required to run successful projects. This programme consists of 6 modules, each of which have a 1x day workshop training included. You will also sit the Association for Project Management (APM) Project Management Qualification (PMQ) exam and will be externally assessed to achieve the Level 4 Associate Project Manager apprenticeship standard.

The purpose of the webinar will be to provide you with an overview of the programme, and give you the opportunity to ask any questions.

Apprenticeship guidance.

Information about the Project Management Apprenticeship delivered by Provek

A link to the webinar will be sent with the joining instruction when your booking is confirmed.

Sign up to the Apprenticeships Mailing List.

Have you ever been concerned about a situation and wanted to help, but didn't? Hearing a racist/sexist/homophobic joke in the tea room? Seeing an inappropriate touch of a friend? Watching a colleague wince at being belittled or interrupted in a team meeting? You're not alone, this is more common for many of us than you might think.

This short session explores why this happens and what it means to be an active bystander. This includes simple changes and actions you can take to support others around you without confrontation and, over time, support a more inclusive environment for all of us to live and work in.

Access the recording of the being an active bystander webinar.

Better Decision Making: Bitesize

PPD bitesize resources are short and high impact; including videos, quick tips guides and interactive bitesize modules. Develop your skills and knowledge quickly, easily, when you need. They complement face to face events and more in-depth online modules.

Have you ever been in a team meeting where no one voiced their opinions, there was a lack of discussion, and everyone simply went along with the most senior person?

A high performing team is one that is able to bounce ideas off each other, problem solve, and feel comfortable that no one will not be humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes. But how can this be achieved?

In this course, we explore what psychological safety looks like in a hybrid environment, what gets in the way of us speaking up, and the science-backed strategies to become a psychologically safe team in today's modern working world.

Access the recording of the Building Psychological Safety in Hybrid Teams Webinar.

The University offers access to an online career development tool, Lexonis TalentScape. Use it to complete an assessment of your own skills and behavioural attributes. Identify areas for development and potential opportunities for career progression and create a structured career development plan.

You also have the option to discuss your own assessment with your manager and ask them to review and validate it, as part of a career discussion.

How to use the career development tool.

Access to the tool will be sent in the automated joining instruction email when you make a booking via this page.

Change Curve: Bitesize

PPD bitesize resources are short and high impact; including videos, quick tips guides and interactive bitesize modules. Develop your skills and knowledge quickly, easily, when you need. They complement face to face events and more in-depth online modules.

Coaching - GROW Model: Bitesize

PPD bitesize resources are short and high impact; including videos, quick tips guides and interactive bitesize modules. Develop your skills and knowledge quickly, easily, when you need. They complement face to face events and more in-depth online modules.

Coaching is an essential tool for managers and other professionals to use to help individuals to unlock their full potential and enhance their performance. You will be introduced to the technique of coaching and focus on the development of a range of skills that may be used to coach others effectively. This course is highly participative and will include the opportunity to practice your coaching skills.

At work and at home, it’s all too easy to speak and act without thinking – and then regret it afterwards. Acting on instinct can lead us to behave aggressively or passively. Both of these are generally unhelpful for our own reputation and for our relationships with others.

Communicating Assertively will show you how to avoid both extremes and instead to use assertive behaviour to build constructive and respectful working relationships.

This online course will help you understand the assertive mindset and highlight what assertiveness looks and sounds like.

View a short trailer for the online course.

If you would prefer to complete the blended programme, which provides an opportunity to put your assertive skills into practice in a face to face workshop, as well as completing the online module, please visit the booking page for the blended programme.

"It all boils down to communication", how many times have we heard that phrase? This interactive online module is packed full of useful tips and practical examples to help you get your point across more clearly, ask the right questions and listen better to what others have to say.

The course introduces you to the key concepts of communication skills through a variety of media, offering those new to this topic a solid grounding in the essentials, as well as a great refresher for more experienced communicators.

If you’re short of time and just need the basics, or you want to explore things in a bit more detail, the versatile structure of this course offers you the flexibility to learn in the way that best fits with your schedule.

View a short trailer for the course.

Communicating clearly and being engaging can be challenging in any work environment. Doing so remotely can be even more difficult. Whether you’re teaching, leading meetings or preparing for an interview, this session will provide you with constructive feedback and tips to refine your speaking style, get your points across, and increase your personal impact. Coaching will “zoom in” on the areas you need to focus on, address any concerns you may have about your communication skills, and help you shape and deliver your message with clarity and confidence.

Participants may also find it useful to complete the Presentation Skills online module

Please only book one session. This booking page may be used to book a follow-up session for additional support, through mutual agreement with the trainer.

The procedure through which employers can check an individual’s right to work in the UK will change from 6 April 2022. This short course will provide staff with practical guidance on how to check right to work under the new procedures.

Access the recording of the Conducting Right to Work Checks webinar.

We all have challenging conversations from time to time that we dread. Wishing it would go away rarely works. Having a clear strategy can make all the difference. This workshop is designed to give you the skills and confidence to have a meaningful, productive conversation at work.

This 90 minute scenario-based training, incorporating forum theatre, aims to entertain and inform. You will be watching a live work based conversation and have the opportunity to give feedback and interact with the ‘characters’ to understand and develop a positive outcome. By the end of this webinar you will have a better understanding of how a difficult conversation can go wrong and how to put it right.

We will explore how the best intentions can sometimes go wrong. We will help you build a solid technique to get it right.

The main session is for 90 minutes, followed by optional time for further discussion and Q&A with the trainer.

Great team work and individual working relationships are what we all want, but things don’t always run smoothly. We may find ourselves disagreeing with someone over work or behaviours. We may want to tell them how we feel but don’t quite know how to go about it. Sometimes we decide not to have the conversation at all, which can lead to a small problem escalating in to something bigger, more persistent and harder to resolve.

Having honest and open conversations is not always easy and can sometimes lead to a misunderstanding, bad feelings and resentment. On this workshop, using forum theatre with a scenario acted out, we will explore what can go wrong and how to put right. With your interactions, we will help you develop techniques for a constructive conversation that helps to build long-lasting effective relationships and to build trust within the team.

This online course offers a short introduction to data protection concepts, explains why they are important to the University, and signposts to further guidance materials. As nearly all University staff are likely to collect and handle personal information about living identifiable individuals in one way or another, it’s important to have a basic understanding of the main issues.

All staff using personal data in some way in their role are encouraged to complete this online course as part of their induction and thereafter once every two years, but the precise expectations about who should complete it (and how often) in different areas of the University should be set by Heads of Department (and equivalents). While this online course primarily is aimed at staff, it is also suitable for students needing or wishing to complete basic data protection training.

The content of this course reflects the provisions of current data protection law in the UK.

Managing conflict and challenging situations in the workplace can be difficult, time consuming and can potentially have a negative impact on you and your team. This course will help you to understand some of the reasons why these situations arise, and identify strategies for managing these situations effectively.

What does demonstrating mutual respect mean to you? How do you know when it’s happening? Who do you know who does it well, and what is that they are actually doing? With guests Dr Miriam Lynn, Head of E&D, and Professor Nita Forouhi, this short webinar will explore these questions and consider the skills and knowledge each of us can use and embed in our everyday interactions with others.

Access the recording of the demonstrating mutual respect webinar.

Managing and developing talent in your team is a key skill for any manager in order to create an environment for their team to perform to the best of their ability, both individually and as a group.

From adopting a strategic approach to developing talent in order to deliver objectives, to understanding key strategies for developing your team at each stage of the employee lifecycle, this interactive and participative workshop offers you the opportunity to consider how to develop strength in your team, enhance motivation and wellbeing as well as share your experiences with others.

This course prepares you to write a CV, job application and covering letter that stands out and makes employers take notice and to undertake a successful job search. You will learn what to include and exclude in your CV, how to choose the right format, how to tailor information to match job requirements, and how to deal with employment gaps, job hopping and/or lack of experience.

The course is highly participative, providing an opportunity to share experiences with others, as well as time to practise your skills.