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2008 Muscatine Consortium
Course Schedule and Descriptions

Registration:
Students in these classes can register by calling the registration center at
(563) 288-6100, or click here to register online. 

Class Cancellation Policy:
The cancellation date for classes will be 21 days from the start of the class if outside consultants are being used. For example: Franklin Covey seminars. This must be done to avoid late cancellation fees. The class must meet the minimum class size. Individual substitutions for students will be allowed. This must be done within 10 days of the start of a class or the company will be charged. No show within the 10 day window will also be charged.

Classes
	Summer Computer Classes
	Leading the Change Process
	Essentials for Administrative Professionals
	Your Professional Business Image
	Coaching: Developing Talent for the Future
	Communicating Effectively in Your Corporate Culture
	Juggling Multiple Priorities for Administrative Professionals
	Sensitivity Skills in Working with Others
	Negotiations Skills
	Emotional Leadership: The Overlooked Element
	Effective Time Management
	Diversity: Cross Cultural Communication
	Assertive Communication in the Workplace

Summer Computer Classes -

Summer Computer Classes - printable version

To register contact Kari Allen at (563) 336-3343 or click here to register online.

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Leading the Change Process -
Thursday, February 21

8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Members - $215; Non-Members $285

Do you find yourself reacting to change instead of actually leading it? Wondering where all the resistance to necessary change is coming from and what to do about it? Until you learn the tools and techniques necessary to both lead and manage the change process, things will stay the same. Until you change, they can't.

What You Will Learn:
	Understand your role in leading change.
	Understand the critical elements of leading the change process.
	Create a vision for needed change.
	Understand and deal with resistance to change.

Competencies:                     Instructor: Cheryl Lucas-DeBerry
- Change Management
- Influencing
- Negotiating
- Vision

Participants:  Managers and supervisors who are involved in implementing or assisting in a change effort in their organization.

Muscatine Community College
152 Colorado Street, Muscatine, IA
To register contact Kari Allen at (563) 336-3343 or click here to register online.

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Essentials for Administrative Professionals -
Tuesday, March 11 and September 9

8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Members - $215; Non-Members $285

Learn professional skills to be more effective in the workplace. Participants explore their individual communication style and ways to improve their communication, problem solving, and interpersonal skills.

What You Will Learn:
	Explain the qualities, characteristics, roles, and responsibilities of administrative professionals.
	Describe components of a communication model and the importance of each.
	Examine and discuss factors of nonverbal communication.
	Discuss personal time wasters and develop a time management action plan.
	Develop strategies for working effectively on a team.
	Define and practice ways to deal with difficult people non-defensively.

Competencies:                     Instructor: Julie Rothbardt
- Interaction with higher management
- Organizational knowledge
- Team building
- Time management

Participants:  Individuals in an administrative/supportive role.

Muscatine Community College
152 Colorado Street, Muscatine, IA
To register contact Kari Allen at (563) 336-3343 or click here to register online.

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Your Professional Business Image -
Tuesday, April 8

1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Members - $135; Non-Members $175

You only have one chance to make a first impression. What can you do to ensure that the image you project says what you want? This program helps you understand your company culture and how you can project a professional, savvy business image.

What You Will Learn:
	Recognize the importance of understanding company culture and goals.
	Define professionalism and describe the impact of images and appearances on the job.
	Develop and discuss effective time management techniques.
	Practice ways to manage stress successfully.

Competencies:                     Instructor: Julie Rothbardt
- Ethics and integrity
- Self-development
- Self-knowledge
- Trust and respect

Participants:  Those who have been newly promoted, have taken on new career changes, or simply want a refresher of current trends and ideas.

Muscatine Community College
152 Colorado Street, Muscatine, IA
To register contact Kari Allen at (563) 336-3343 or click here to register online.

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Coaching: Developing Talent for the Future -
Wednesday, April 9

8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Members - $215; Non-Members $285

You learned how to deal with performance issues and conduct performance appraisals. However, if you plan on retaining the best of the best, you will need to learn how to develop others through advanced coaching. This program combines best practices from the fields of career and development planning, mentoring, and coaching for high performance to help managers master the skill set required for developing an engaged workforce.

What You Will Learn:
	Form a staff development strategy.
	Work and mentor the high performer.
	Manage the mentor - protégé relationship.

Competencies:                     Instructor: Bill Gorgensen
- Developing direct reports
- Giving feedback

Participants:  Experienced managers and supervisors who need to refine specific skill sets, enhance their personal and organizational effectiveness, and further their leadership careers. Participants should have had a fundamental leadership course as a prerequisite for this program, such as MRA's Principles of Management Series or Human Resource Professional Series.

Muscatine Community College
152 Colorado Street, Muscatine, IA
To register contact Kari Allen at (563) 336-3343 or click here to register online.

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Communicating Effectively in Your Corporate Culture -
Thursday, April 17

8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Members - $215; Non-Members $285

How do people communicate in your organization? Do they talk face-to-face about work, or do they write memos and send e-mails? Are they comfortable voicing opinions, or do they keep thoughts to themselves? Do they see colleagues every day, or do they work in separate locations? The answers to these questions reveal an organization's communication culture and what people need to do to communicate effectively within it. In this program participants practice skills to make communication better while learning ways to recognize and resolve communication difficulties in the organization.

What You Will Learn:
	Discuss components of effective interpersonal communication.
	Identify characteristics of communication in your own corporate culture.
	Identify communication styles and list characteristics of each style.
	Use active listening techniques.
	Use "I" messages and feedback techniques.
	Describe appropriate ways to use e-mail and other communication technology.
	Describe the differences between supportive and defensive communication culture.

Competencies:                     Instructor: Laurie Johnson
- Approachability
- Giving feedback
- Organizational knowledge

Participants:  Staff Members who want to develop and maintain effective two-way communication with peers, managers, and customers and have not attended another MRA communication program.

Muscatine Community College
152 Colorado Street, Muscatine, IA
To register contact Kari Allen at (563) 336-3343 or click here to register online.

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Juggling Multiple Priorities for Administrative Professionals -
Tuesday, May 6 and November 4

8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Members - $215; Non-Members $285

Time cannot be managed. Time is uncontrollable; therefore, we can only manage ourselves, and our use of the time we have. Identify time stealers and learn how to pinpoint where you need to take control by dealing with procrastination, interruptions, and stress.

What You Will Learn:
	Explore and define myths about time management.
	Examine the impact of goals and goal setting.
	Practice organizing goals according to priority.
	Define and design a long-range timetable and action plan.

Competencies:                     Instructor: Julie Rothbardt
- Organizing
- Planning
- Priority setting

Participants:  Individuals in an administrative role looking to improve their skills in the area of time management and juggling priorities.

Muscatine Community College
152 Colorado Street, Muscatine, IA
To register contact Kari Allen at (563) 336-3343 or click here to register online.

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Sensitivity Skills in Working with Others -
Wednesday, May 21

8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Members - $215; Non-Members $285

Do you have an employee who regularly suffers from "foot in mouth disease?" Does he or she respond like a dinosaur in today's contemporary workplace? Like he or she doesn't have a "clue" about how to deal with people in the workplace? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, then this program is the answer.

What You Will Learn:
	Gain awareness of the impact of actions upon others, the organization, and the individual.
	Understand the difference between behaviors that are appropriate, inappropriate, and perhaps illegal.
	Understand what constitutes cultural competence and cultural incompetence.
	Improve skills in communicating across cultures.
	Know the action steps needed to value others in the workplace.

Competencies:                     Instructor: Laurie Johnson
- Composure
- Giving feedback
- Managerial flexibility
- Work relationships

Participants:  Managers, supervisors, lead people, team leaders, employees, and other workplace professionals who have difficulty with the language they use and how they express themselves to others.

Muscatine Community College
152 Colorado Street, Muscatine, IA
To register contact Kari Allen at (563) 336-3343 or click here to register online.

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Negotiations Skills -
Tuesday, August 26

8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Members - $215; Non-Members $285

All agreements and decisions-with salespeople, buyers, employees, or coworkers-are negotiations. In this program participants examine the strategies, tactics, and techniques that skilled negotiators use to reach mutually satisfying outcomes. Using in-class simulations, participants learn how to identify the needs and underlying interests of both parties and plan approaches for communicating their side with confidence. Skillful negotiating allows all parties to achieve their goals with productive positive interactions.

What You Will Learn:
	Use a process for planning negotiations.
	Identify ways to minimize the fear of negotiating.
	Describe the difference between positions, interests, and assumptions and their impact on negotiating.
	Identify the impact of listening and questioning skills and nonverbal communication on negotiating.
	Apply and practice negotiation skills.

Competencies:                     Instructor: Lisa Pook
- Conflict management
- Influencing
- Negotiating

Participants:  Managers, supervisors, team leaders, sales professionals, buyers, specialists, and those individuals who must influence, make decisions, and reach agreements with others.

Muscatine Community College
152 Colorado Street, Muscatine, IA
To register contact Kari Allen at (563) 336-3343 or click here to register online.

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Emotional Leadership: The Overlooked Element -
Tuesday, September 16

8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Members - $215; Non-Members $285

Does achievement lead to positive feeling? Or does positive feeling lead to achievement? Participants in this program learn the critical skills necessary to effectively understand and use emotion constructively in the workplace.

What You Will Learn:
	Describe the importance of emotion in effective leadership.
	Understand the importance of self-control and add at least three new techniques for maintaining perspective.
	Use mistakes made as teaching tools with employees.
	Articulate personal "vision" for each area of responsibility.
	Demonstrate empathetic listening skills.
	Describe the role of effective coaching/mentoring in emotional leadership.
	Define personal leadership style and outline development areas to enhance/alter current style.

Competencies:                     Instructor: Joe Feest
- Leading
- Self-development
- Vision

Participants:  People in leadership positions who would like to enhance their leadership skills - managers, supervisors, department heads, and senior executives.

Muscatine Community College
152 Colorado Street, Muscatine, IA
To register contact Kari Allen at (563) 336-3343 or click here to register online.

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Effective Time Management -
Tuesday, October 7

8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Members - $215; Non-Members $285

Learn the tried and true time management techniques that get to the heart of managing time, reducing pressure levels, and maintaining harmony. Conquer and identify the critical time wasters (interruptions, failure to delegate, meetings, procrastination, perfectionism, paperwork, goal setting, to-do lists, saying no, e-mail, and voice mail) that take you from your priorities. You will better manage priorities and meet deadlines. Participants will learn to be more effective, productive, and to better utilize their time and complete a time analysis action plan.

What You Will Learn:
	Accomplish results and meet deadlines without feeling rushed.
	Utilize the skills necessary to be effective and productive.
	Examine time wasters and other unproductive habits that keep you from your priorities.

Competencies:                     Instructor: Linda Reedy
- Organizing
- Planning
- Priority setting
- Results-oriented
- Time management

Participants:  Managers, supervisors, professionals, specialists, administrative assistants, and other leadership professionals who want to improve their use of time and energy.

Muscatine Community College
152 Colorado Street, Muscatine, IA
To register contact Kari Allen at (563) 336-3343 or click here to register online.

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Diversity: Cross Cultural Communication -
Tuesday, November 11

8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Members - $215; Non-Members $285

Government statistics report that women and people of color will represent approximately 70 percent of net new entrants to the workforce by 2008; furthermore, the 55-years-and-older segment is expected to grow eight times faster than any other age group in the labor force. Are your leaders prepared to address the diversity challenges that are already at hand? This program provides the strategies to manage and value diversity.

What You Will Learn:
	Know the responsibility that each leader has in maintaining a professional and respectful workplace.
	Understand the differences that are present in the U.S. workforce.
	Know the impact of barriers to diversity.
	Improve skills in communicating across cultures. Learn techniques to manage a diverse workforce.

Competencies:                     Instructor: Cheryl Lucas-DeBerry
- Diversity
- Leading
- Work relationships

Participants:  Anyone who is responsible for communicating with individuals from various cultural backgrounds.

Muscatine Community College
152 Colorado Street, Muscatine, IA
To register contact Kari Allen at (563) 336-3343 or click here to register online.

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Assertive Communication in the Workplace -
Tuesday, December 9

8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Members - $215; Non-Members $285

Assertive communication is not passive, nor is it aggressive and dominating; it represents the most effective method of expression in almost every workplace situation. This one-day program is designed to help participants increase their influence and credibility, add confidence to their communication, become more effective in dealing with conflict situations, and increase results.

What You Will Learn:
	Recognize assertive, aggressive, and passive behaviors.
	Assess assertiveness in conflict situations.
	Reduce defensiveness and increase management effectiveness.
	Use positive communication techniques.
	Give difficult messages in an assertive manner.
	Identify nonverbal messages.

Competencies:                     Instructor: Joe Feest
- Assertiveness
- Conflict management
- Listening

Participants:  Anyone who would benefit from being able to communicate more directly, tactfully, and effectively. Also, anyone who is making the transition to a leadership position and needs to get things done through others or with the assistance of others in the organization.

Muscatine Community College
152 Colorado Street, Muscatine, IA
To register contact Kari Allen at (563) 336-3343 or click here to register online.

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