Leadership Institute: Communication Focus

What is the Communication Focus?

These communication area courses are designed to provide actionable takeaways for participants to improve their own skill at communicating effectively. The learning outcomes for the communication focus include:

  • How to improve your listening
  • How to become a more effective speaker
  • How to exhibit more executive presence in your professional communication
  • Understand the role of conflict in professional group settings and how to manage it
  • Understand and reflect on various negotiation behaviors
  • How to create win-win solutions using negotiation techniques

Course Descriptions:

Effective Listening. Listening is a critical communication skill for managers. This course will focus on three areas. First, participants will understand how assumptions about communication actually discourage listening. Second, participants will learn their dominant listening habits, which will uncover unconscious biases. Finally, participants will learn how to listen more effectively to others in an effort to gain greater connections, make better decisions, and impact the bottom line. (1 credit hour)

Executive Presence. This course will focus on developing executive presence and practice the professional communication skills critical for successful managerial and executive leadership.  (1 credit hour)

Conflict Management. This course delves into central concepts of conflict management. Through various activities and readings students will develop an understanding the role of conflict in organizations, appropriate responses to conflict, and alternative dispute-resolution procedures available when necessary. Students will be able to apply concepts to their own experience. (1 credit hour)

Negotiation. This course explores and presents strategies for students to be more effective as negotiators. (1 credit hour)

Proposed Options, Communication Focus:

Course (Credit hours)

Open Enrollment

Company Sponsored

Executive Presence (1)

Effective Listening (1)

Conflict Management (1)

Negotiation (1)

Time to Complete: 4 weeks

Meeting Freq.: 1.5 days a week

Meeting Dur.: Full & half days

 

Total Credit Hours: 4

Min Class Size: 10
Max Class Size: 18

Participant Cost: $4,000

Max Class Size: 18

Company Cost: $30,500

Target Audience: Supervisors, managers

** This does not have to be four consecutive weeks.

* Company pays for the books and materials. Here are per-person approximate costs for each focus:

Communication: $175 per person
Management: $100 per person
Leadership: $150 per person

Possible Scheduling:

Sample Schedule for Communication – Delivery Option 1

 

Thursday (half day)

Friday (full day)

Week 1

Conflict Management (4 hours)

Conflict Management (4 hours)

Executive Presence (4 hours)

Week 2

Conflict Management (4 hours)

 

Effective Listening (4 hours)

Executive Presence (4 hours)

Week 3

Effective Listening (4 hours)

Executive Presence (4 hours)

Negotiation (4 hours)

Week 4

Negotiation (4 hours)

Effective Listening (4 hours)

Negotiation (4 hours)


Please note that these are just examples of how the schedule could work. For open enrollment sessions we would likely use Friday and Saturday, but could use weekdays for company sessions in-house. Also note that the 4-week schedules are intensive in that not only is there is the face-to-face time listed here but some between-session work students will be required to do.

Leadership Institute Focus Areas: