Make the Most of Productivity with Learning & Organization Development Courses
New course catalog is now online
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Durham, NC -- Learn how to work smarter with new computer, management and other work skills courses offered through Duke’s Learning & Organization Development.
The new course catalog, “My Development. My Career,” is available online only and features a range of classes, including shorter sessions at a lower cost to help departments provide professional development opportunities in leaner economic times.
“We provide learning opportunities for individuals and teams to achieve their personal and organizational goals,” said James McPherson, director of Learning & Organization Development. “When an individual is able to achieve his or her personal goals, it creates a stronger commitment to the organization.”
Learning & Organization Development teaches employees how to make the most of productivity from programs like Access, Excel, PowerPoint and Lotus Notes. Two-hour “power sessions” are available to provide learners with the knowledge of specific software functions they need to perform in their roles. Several Excel and Access courses are offered at $39.
In addition, there are also work skills and management sessions such as fundamentals of business writing, coaching and feedback.
Delores Austin, a business manager for Duke Integrative Medicine, recently took the business writing class to help her communicate more effectively with physicians, program members and patients with insurance questions.
“Since I deal with a variety of people every day, it’s important that I ask for what is needed in a clear, professional and pleasant manner,” Austin said. “The class taught me how do that more successfully.”
Austin often refers to the class workbook to refresh her memory. “It’s easy for e-mails to be misunderstood, so I always double-check my messages before I hit ‘send.’ I use the workbook to make sure I don’t forget anything.”
Austin plans to take the two-hour Excel pivot tables workshop this fall. “I receive a lot of Excel files that contain pivot tables, and I said to myself, ‘how’d they do that?’ I want to be able to create them myself. I want to advance my own knowledge.”
Employees are encouraged to visit Learning & Organization Development’s website to review the courses offerings, which can be saved on a computer and sorted by date or title. In an effort to save costs and not reduce training, the catalog is no longer printed. The department’s cost saving effort reflects Duke’s institutional charge to reduce cost and increase efficiency.
“Using the online catalog was easy,” Austin said. “I liked that I could see the class size, the number of open slots and the fees. I was able to bring all that information to my supervisor when I asked to take the course.”
