Professional Services Staff Development Bulletin, May 2019

10 May 2019

This is where you will find details of upcoming staff development courses, programmes, workshops and events that may be of interest. All activities contribute towards PositiveWorking@Bristol.
The University is committed to creating and sustaining a fully inclusive culture. We encourage staff from all backgrounds and communities to engage with our development opportunities.

Subjects featured in this edition are:

Staff Development opportunities

Leadership and Management Development Programmes - applications open 22 May

Applications for the following Leadership and Management Development programmes will open on Wednesday 22 May for 6 weeks:

Exploring Leadership is designed to help participants identify their own leadership styles and preferences and to develop their self-awareness and confidence as a leader. It is aimed at professional services managers who currently lead a team and/or are responsible for delivering a service to the university. Applicants would typically, though not exclusively, be grades J, K or L.

Bristol Senior Leaders aims to develop adaptive leaders who can successfully respond to current and future challenges faced by the University. Applicants will typically be grades L and M. Examples of relevant roles include (but are not limited to): Heads of School, Faculty or School Managers, Divisional or Deputy Divisional Heads, Associate Deans, Research Institute Directors and Faculty Directors.

For more information, follow the hyperlinks, or contact Staff Development on SD-Leadership@bristol.ac.uk.

Drop-in session - find out more...

Staff Development are hosting a drop-in session about all of our leadership development programmes for both academic staff and professional service staff on Friday 17 May, 12 noon to 2pm, G.16, Victoria Rooms, Queens Road.

The Change Management Team will also be on hand to help advise and support you in leading change locally and to answer your questions.

No need to book, just come along to ask questions, explore opportunities, and speak with our programme alumni about their experience of the programmes.

New Financial Wellbeing offer

We recognise that money worries can be one of the single biggest causes of stress, impacting mental health and physical health if left unchecked. Therefore, as part of the wider wellbeing provision for staff, Staff Development are offering a new and improved financial wellbeing offer, the first dates of which are available to book now.

Three different workshops, run by Nick Davies and Richard Ellis of Ellis Davies Financial Planning, will aim to support staff at different stages of their financial journey, so choose the workshop that best suits your current needs:

Financial Wellbeing stage 1: Taking control of your finances
Participants are likely to be looking to take their first step onto the property market, tackling personal debt, thinking of investing and/or looking to protect their family or finances.

Financial Wellbeing stage 2: Planning for the future
Participants are likely to already be on the property ladder, may have started a family, likely to have savings and/or investments and are looking towards planning for their long term future.

Financial Wellbeing stage 3: Preparing for retirement
This course is designed for those approaching and planning for retirement.

30 minute Financial Wellness 1:1 surgeries are also available for staff to book each month, providing the opportunity to discuss more complicated or personal financial issues on a 1:1 basis with financial planner Nick Davies or Richard Ellis.

Follow the link to find out more and to book a slot: Financial Wellness 1:1 surgery

New development workshop dates available

New development workshop dates are available to book. Before booking onto a course, please read through our terms and conditions.

Managing Change
Date: Monday 17 June
Time: 9:30am to 4:30pm

Managing Successful Projects
Date: Wednesday 3 and Wednesday 10 July (two day course)
Time: 9:30am to 4:30pm

Strategies for Managing Performance
Date: Monday 15 July
Time: 10am to 4pm

Line Managing @UoB
Date: Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18 July
Time: 9:30am to 4:30pm

Supervising @UoB
Date: Thursday 18 July
Time: 9:30am to 4:30pm

KnowHow - From peer to leader

In line with the launch of our 2019-20 Leadership and Management Development programmes, this month's KnowHow theme is all about leadership. Leadership isn't just a skill for managers - demonstrating leadership is important for employees at every level of the organisation, and there are opportunities to lead every day, whether you hold a formal leadership position or not.

Here are a few professional tips on how to make the transition from peer to leader:
How To Step Up from Peer To Leader

Each of our Leadership programmes has a bespoke playlist of KnowHow resources, tailored to support the key principles of leadership explored through that programme. All staff can access these on KnowHow under the ‘UoB Leadership Programmes’ tab.

University opportunities

Web and social media courses for staff

Introduction to Social Media Strategy

Social media is the future of communication, for both research and recruitment. Traditional forms of communication like the print media, television and radio have declining audiences. As we look to increase our research impact and continue our internationalisation, it's therefore important that the leadership within the University of Bristol understand how to set strategy and allocate staff time for this valuable but time-consuming resource.

This interactive foundational module, delivered by the University's Social Media Manager, will introduce managers and section leaders to the key concepts and considerations when creating and staffing a local social media strategy.

There are a range of dates to choose from - Find out more information and book your place here.

Building web pages in T4 using responsive content types

In the last few years, most of the University’s webpages have moved to responsive templates - this means that pages automatically resize to fit different screen sizes and devices (e.g. mobile phones and tablets). Responsive pages are constructed from easy-to-use building blocks or ‘content types’. The aim of this workshop is to help you understand what these different content types are, and how to use them effectively to build responsive pages in T4.

There are a range of dates to choose from - Find out more information and book your place here.

Take a look at the full Web and social media course offer here.

The Power of 'Solution Focussed Thinking' Interest Group

Are you interested in connecting with like-minded colleagues to discuss personal development, how to reach your full potential and work towards your goals using solution focused thinking? This group aims to share ideas, tools and techniques involving the use of language, reflective practice, and visualisation centred around personal development to encourage positive transformational change in an individual's professional and personal life and in turn the wider university community.

Joe McAllister has invited other staff that have an interest in this area to join the group. No prior learning or qualifications are required.

Lynda.com

Why not start your leadership journey with some self-directed learning, using these Lynda.com courses on leadership:

Leading Yourself
Before you can effectively lead others, you need to lead yourself. In this course, learn how to manage your mindset, behaviours, and workplace relationships to help you stand out in your organisation.

Leading without Formal Authority
In this course, learn how to demonstrate your leadership ability without having a formal leadership role, by influencing, inspiring, mentoring, and motivating others.

Transitioning from Manager to Leader
Much like management, leadership is a skill that can be taught. In this course, executive coach Sara Canaday shares proven strategies to help you shift your mindset from manager to leader.

Quote of the month

“The duty of a leader is to create an organisation where it is easy to practice kindness.” — Kim Cameron