All Development and Alumni Relations - Staff Learning & Development courses

The syllabus covers the key elements of the project management life cycle including; planning and scheduling, communication, stakeholders, reporting and risk management. This is suitable for those who are relatively new to project management or those who require insight into project management processes and techniques. This foundational course will provides a base line understanding onto which participants can build with more advanced courses.

The fourth day will conclude with a one hour multiple choice exam which will lead to a certificate from the Association for Project Management.

It’s no secret that work/life balance has been a struggle for millions of people over the last decade. However since lockdowns were introduced it’s become more acute for the majority. Demands have increased, time has been squeezed, stress has risen. Big parts of our life changed very quickly including how we work and maintain relationships with those we care about.

Understandably we need some time to adjust, to find a routine that allows us to focus, complete the important work and recover. We can’t give what we don’t have. We all need time to recharge effectively to help us feel good and perform well.

Join this one hour session to;

• Learn the importance of fully disconnecting from work to reduce stress and recharge focus - science perspective
• Understand how work bleeds into home life in hidden ways and steps we can take to prevent this
• Create a simple mini routine to help you effectively switch off from work
• Practice a mini mindfulness technique to help manage negative thoughts and get perspective

The session is followed by a three day Nudge Course.

For 48 hours following the session you will have the opportunity to contact Joy, a mental health nurse with over 40 years experience. Joy's role is to 'listen' and signpost onto a recognised next step. Contact details will be provided on the day.

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

Successfully managing upwards depends on your confidence, diplomacy and influencing skills.

This workshop will empower you to handle tricky situations with your manager or colleagues:

• Benefits of ‘managing up’, what’s in it for you and them?
• Agreeing priorities and setting realistic expectations and boundaries
• Influencing when you don’t have authority
• Getting clarity on delegated work and appreciating the difficulties colleagues may be facing
• Challenging decisions in a way that is solutions-focussed and enables an open two-way discussion

You will also learn how to adapt to different personal styles in order to build an effective working relationship and understand how different drivers and motivators may affect someone else’s thinking, (why do they do that?).

The joint induction aims to provide a broad introduction and overview to all development and alumni relations staff, providing information about the ins and outs of Collegiate Cambridge, as it relates to our area of work. It is also an opportunity for you to network with other new members of staff across the collegiate community.

The session comprises:

• A welcome and introduction from senior members of the University and Colleges
• An overview of development and alumni relations functions, roles and responsibilities, with an opportunity to ask questions
• An opportunity to network with colleagues across Collegiate Cambridge

This classroom session will cover the following:

• How we use OneDrive, SharePoint and Microsoft Teams when managing documents at Development & Alumni Relations

• An overview of using OneDrive, SharePoint & Microsoft Teams

• Provide guidance and best practices on how to find, share & manage documents

• Provide guidance and best practices on syncing, using Team Chat, shortcuts and downloading

Many areas of the document management strategy will be covered in the training. However, you may wish to familiarise yourself with the Document management strategy for SharePoint and OneDrive.

This virtual session will cover the following:

• How we use OneDrive, SharePoint and Microsoft Teams when managing documents at Development & Alumni Relations

• An overview of using OneDrive, SharePoint & Microsoft Teams

• Provide guidance and best practices on how to find, share & manage documents

• Provide guidance and best practices on syncing, using Team Chat, shortcuts and downloading

Many areas of the document management strategy will be covered in the training. However, you may wish to familiarise yourself with the Document management strategy for SharePoint and OneDrive.

We will use MS Teams for the training session. The trainer will send a link for you to access the session nearer the time.

Email is a problem that is hiding in plain sight. We all use email every day. Yet, too often, email fails to be the effective communication tool it deserves to be.

In this intensive, practical session, we’ll show you how to produce effective communications. You will leave the session to:

• easily build a logical structure into emails and letters
• write clearer responses that result in fewer escalations
• get your message across, whatever you’re writing
• match your tone and level of language precisely to each reader

and much more!

The workshop includes a pre-course individual writing analysis to help identify areas for improvement.

Anxiety and depression is high and we're looking for new ways to take back control of our lives. New ways to become resilient and bounce back. Whether you've been dealt a good or bad hand in life, now is the time to take charge and bounce back to get closer to the life you want. Dr Olivia Remes will be sharing tips on achieving wellbeing and becoming resilient, based on research. She will also provide tips to maintain work-life balance.

A special session for previous participants of the Major Gift Learning Series (2019/2020).

• Identifying the Right Donors • Enhancing Donor Engagement • Elevating Your Strategy • Applying Cultivation and Qualification Principles • Action Planning

As we move into a hybrid way of working many of our working routines will change in some way. Some of these changes will make our working lives easier, some may make them harder and this will be the case for us personally and also for members of your teams.

What won’t have changed for many of us is the workload and the need to deliver high quality work, on time. As managers, part of our role will entail helping our team members navigate new and amended work practices. The recipe to do this will be slightly different from team to team, however, there will be some universal methods which help most hybrid teams and some common mistakes to avoid.

This session focuses on getting the basics right and empowering our teams with a firm foundation to build on over the coming months and years ahead.

This one hour session will include;

• Understanding the most influential factors to support hybrid team working
• Acknowledging the pain points for your team
• Optimising communication to strengthen psychological safety and effectiveness
• Planning improvements using a selection of 8 Minimum Effective Dose techniques for hybrid teams