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Workshops provide UCW students with skills most desired by employers
"In business, you don’t get the opportunity to pick your group members." John Ryan, UCW business faculty and former Director of International Relations, LensCrafters USA.
One of UCW’s most important commitments to its students is to provide them with all the help they need to succeed. In a series of workshops, UCW is offering students training in the skills most desired by today’s employers. The workshops include teamwork, leadership, enterprise, creativity and communication.
Offered at no additional cost, the workshops are designed to give UCW students a unique educational opportunity to develop and hone the skills most valued by employers in today’s workplace.
Conducted by John Ryan, the first workshop focused on teamwork skills. Ryan teaches Change Management at UCW.
Ryan has extensive experience working on team building within a variety of organizations. His business experience encompasses 30 years as a senior manager with several multi-national corporations. His last assignment was as Director of International Operations for LensCrafters USA. Ryan’s main research interests are in the area of non-traditional approaches to organizational change and organizational transformation.
Ryan’s workshop provided an introduction to interpersonal communication and group dynamics. Participants were given the opportunity to increase their understanding of themselves as individuals, of their own and others' interpersonal styles, strengths and limitations, and to learn about the nature of groups as functioning systems.
The workshop was designed to teach and practice innovative strategies for creating a team environment that encourages people to work more effectively together.
Participants were separated into groups of five to six and given a task to perform. One of the goals of the exercise was to see how the groups processed information. Post-exercise questionnaires helped participants identify specific elements of their group dynamic.
"I wanted everyone to be part of the process," says Ryan. "Being able to function effectively in a team is one of the skills employers value most, and in business, you don’t get the opportunity to pick your group members."
While many of UCW’s courses provide students with opportunities to develop skills employers are looking for, the institution will continue to offer free workshops to help students to prepare for the job market. Participation is voluntary and is open to any campus based students in Victoria.
Over the next 7 months, UCW will offer workshops focusing on interviewee skills, negotiation skills, presentation skills and creativity.
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