Tip of the Month

February 2012: When it comes to managing well, it pays to escape to another world

Good managers know when to take a break—and when to encourage their staff members to, as well. One great way to educate your mind, warm your heart, and feed your soul, is to pick up a good book.

In fact, it’s a delightful diversion that I indulge in all too infrequently. I’ll drive myself over to the public library and wander the stacks until a single book calls my name.

It’s always a random book, nothing that I am hunting for or know that I need to read. It never ceases to amaze me that, more often than not, the book my fingers find is exactly the perfect book that teaches me something that I need to learn.

Click here to read all about it.

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Management Development Series

Click here to download Workforce Learning Management Development Series Catalog

Dr. Alice Waagen’s Workforce Learning Management Development Series offers organizations the opportunity to provide a progressive, integrated management development program to their managers and team leaders. The program can be customized to the specific needs of any organization. By offering the program to intact leadership teams, the series can also serve a secondary goal of creating a more cohesive team with shared language and experiences in the classroom.

How It Works

Clients can pick from a list of existing modules and organize the program in the order that best meets the needs of their organization. Unlike public open-enrollment management development programs, the length and scope of this program is not fixed. Organizations can contract for as little as one session or for an ongoing program that can span a full year. Clients can optionally add one-on-one coaching for the program participants.

How It Is Structured

Each session is 3.5 hours of presentation and facilitated instruction followed by one hour open for individual questions and guidance. We recommend at least 2-4 weeks between sessions. When multiple sessions are scheduled, reading and activity assignments are given to ensure continuity and application of learning.

Session Topic List

  • Leveraging Interpersonal Influence
  • Leading Change
  • Effective Communication
  • Managing Performance
  • Building High-Performing Teams
  • Managing Conflict
  • Effective Hiring Practices
  • Delegation: Developing Others through Shared Work
  • Decision Making and Problem Solving
  • Managing Time and Resources

Why the Management Development Series

  • You can “pay as you go” or purchase only those sessions you need
  • You can customize program offerings with your own unique content as needed
  • The program can be customized to be your company’s internal program, with your logo and brand
  • The series provides a more effective learning experience:
    o Content is spread over longer periods, allowing for reflection and application
    o When multiple sessions are scheduled over time, the program includes application assignments and additional reading between sessions
    o You will build team cohesiveness through shared learning and language
    o Participants will build peer relationships that extend beyond the program itself

Facilitator

Alice Waagen, PhD, is president and founder of WORKFORCE LEARNING LLC, a leading provider of learning programs that support business strategies.

Since earning a BS in Art Education from the New York State College at Buffalo, and MS and PhD degrees in Art Education from the Pennsylvania State University, Alice has been providing leadership development and executive coaching for numerous organizations in the Metro DC area. In the past three years, more than 100 leaders from 22 different organizations have graduated from Alice’s unique leadership-development workshop series.

Giving back to the community is also important to Alice. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity Northern Virginia, as well as on the Advisory Board for Marymount University’s Reston Campus Graduate and Adult Education Programs.