All Development and Alumni Relations - Staff Learning & Development courses

Microsoft Excel is great for storing and organising your data, but it can be time-consuming and frustrating to find the information you need.

This workshop will show you how to use Excel's powerful tools to quickly retrieve, view and summarise information in numerous ways.

We will cover:

• Ensuring accurate data entry with data validation
• Time-saving filters
• Visually explore and analyse data using conditional formatting
• Create interactive filters in PivotTables
• Present your information as a chart
• Dos and don'ts when working with data
• Time-saving tricks and shortcuts

The course includes access to a month's free support on any of the topics covered.

Microsoft Excel has lots of underutilised features that can help to save time and improve productivity. The primary objective of this workshop is to show you how to use these features and to demonstrate their effectiveness, challenging you to do things differently.

We will cover:

• Working with Formulas and Functions
• Save time and apply Formulas and Functions to your everyday tasks
• Search for a value in one place and insert it in another using lookup functions
• Avoid the 'pitfalls' of relative cell references
• Test certain conditions and return one of two entries
• Work with named cells to work faster and smarter with your formulas
• Managing large workbooks
• Trace and audit formulas in a worksheet
• Create a simple dashboard
• Produce summary reports from different worksheets
• Merge data from multiple users by linking workbooks

The course includes access to a month's free support on any of the topics covered.

Whether we like it or not, email is one of the main ways we communicate in our day-to-day work. However, you may not be using Outlook to its full potential as it has a number of underutilised tools.

Although we know there are probably easier ways to use Outlook, we often don't have the time or energy to sift through and find the hints and tips ourselves. This 90-minute workshop will guide you through some of the more hidden features to increase productivity.

We will cover:

• Top ten diary management tips
• Decluttering your inbox to prevent email overload
• Finding a needle in a haystack
• Email etiquette dos and don’ts
• Customising and getting the most out of Outlook
• Hidden features to improve your efficiency and increase productivity

The course includes access to a month's free support on any of the topics covered.

A lively, fast-paced mix of demonstrations - learn how to create professional PowerPoint slides that will keep your audience engaged through the length of your talk - and pick up lots of time-saving tips along the way.

We will cover:

• Adding visual interest to reach your audience
• Understanding and working with SmartArt
• Setting up and reformatting an organisation chart
• Converting existing presentations to create high impact slide shows
• Preventing 'death by PowerPoint'
• Create a "flow" that will hold your audience's attention
• Adding animation effects and timing to slides
• Tailor your presentation to different audiences, using custom slide shows
• Branching to specific slides in a slide show
• Importing an outline document into PowerPoint
• Saving a presentation so that other people can watch the presentation on most computers

The course includes access to a month's free support on any of the topics covered.

Microsoft Word is a widely used and powerful word-processing package. The primary objective of this workshop is to broaden your knowledge of Word and to benefit from its overlooked and underused features in order to increase your productivity.

This 90-minute workshop will guide you through the topics and pick up lots of time-saving tips along the way.

We will be cover:

• Maintaining consistency using Styles
• Save time by applying Styles to text
• Modify a Style for the current document
• Protect your document by setting formatting and editing restrictions
• Working with long documents
• Specify different page layouts by inserting Section Breaks
• Refer to text such as headings and numbered lists using cross-references
• Create an index, listing keywords along with the page numbers
• Add visual interest using pictures, charts and SmartArt
• Create a list of cross-references to pictures, charts and SmartArt

The course includes access to a month's free support on any of the topics covered.

In this 1 hour session learn;

• Establish a method that works for you to enhance focus for the most important work (Deep Work)
• Reduce distraction and prioritise more effectively
• Establish one daily Protective Pause, to relieve stress, reduce self criticism and strengthen resilience - mini mindfulness
• Create the space to recognise your achievements each day - increase self awareness and confidence

The Benefits:

• Protect yourself from distraction to enhance focus
• Plan effectively to spend more time on Deep Work (the stuff that matters) and less time on Shallow Work (overwhelming admin)
• Protect time for higher cognitive tasks - the challenging stuff
• Create valuable perspective to respond more effectively

Enhance focus, reduce stress and strengthen resilience. All techniques proven by science.

Windows 10 has a wealth of nifty, new features which means you might not be using your computer to its full potential. Although you probably know there are easier ways to use your PC, you simply don't have the time or energy to sift through and find the hints and tips yourself.

This 90-minute workshop will guide you through some of the more hidden features to increase productivity.

We will cover:

• Find a needle in a haystack
• Get organised and declutter
• Dos and don'ts of information management
• Customise Windows and get the most out of your computer
• Discover hidden features to improve your efficiency and increase productivity
• Save time by learning numerous tips and shortcuts

The course includes access to a month's free support on any of the topics covered.

Welcome to our Podcast Group Series!

Each session we will focus on a different episode from a number of different podcast providers, exploring topics to advance our own personal and professional development. Before the session you will listen to the identified podcast and reflect upon individually, in your own time. We will then come together as group for a facilitated discussion and activities to explore the topic in more detail with colleagues and reflect as a group.

For this session we will be looking at: How to Coach Yourself

This episode provided by Squiggly Careers Amazing If podcasts, looks at some of the tools professional coaches use and how we might apply them to ourselves and aid our own development.

https://www.amazingif.com/listen/how-to-coach-yourself/

Please also take a look at the Pod Sheet provided with the episode as we will refer to this in our session.

Psychological Safety – we have heard the term, but what does it mean on a practical level?

In this focused workshop we will bring the term to life – exploring what it means, and most importantly, sharing practical ideas of how we can each promote a culture where we each feel safe to be ourselves, safe to fully contribute and feel valued. We will focus on two key areas – Psychological Safety (feeling safe to put oneself at risk) and Psychological Standing (feeling entitled to speak up and to act).

Pearn Kandola has worked with organisations for nearly 40 years to promote inclusive and high performance cultures. In addition to working with Higher Education, they draw on their experience of working across a range of sectors in the UK and internationally.

This course is about recharging your communication. It will cover:

• Determine what effective communication means. Where do we start?
• How to strengthen the relationships most important to us; work & home
• Defusing difficult conversations; How to respond to difficult behaviour
• The power of Active Listening to understand and communicate meaning more effectively