SOU Offers Professional Development Workshops to Companies of Every Size

Date: February 2, 2017

Contact: Rebecca Williams
(541) 261-9373
williamr8@sou.edu

SOU Offers Professional Development Workshops to Companies of Every Size
Southern Oregon University provides continuing education workshops each quarter to help businesses hone and develop top leadership skills. Local business operators, manager and founders can benefit from improving their abilities in the areas of conflict resolution, visual presentations, cultural awareness and company culture. 

For entrepreneurs, owners and founders, an awareness of company culture is critical for the future success and growth of their business. Many startups are unaware that the personality traits of the owner often set the tone for the business environment and create the example for any new hires. Business owners and managers that display poor time management or communication skills are often bewildered when their company or their department isn’t able to grow or produce results. Organization skills, attitude and communication styles are factors critical to growth and success.

Jeannette Trumm, VP of Human Resources at Neumann Hotel Group, recently attended two professional development workshops at SOU. Trumm says, “With the amount of growth Neuman Hotel Group has seen over the past few years, the Professional Development Workshops offered through SOU could not have come at a better time for us.” Trumm continues, “From our rising supervisors and managers, to seasoned long-term leaders, we have been incredible impressed at the variety and quality of the programs offered.”

Trumm elaborates, “For small companies or startups without the budget to bring in an onside leadership trainer, these classes provide a perfect opportunity to gain valuable leadership skills at a fraction of the cost. When you consider the value of just one quality customer experience, they practically pay for themselves.”

Register for Business & Career Development workshops at: www.sou.edu/takeaclass. For more information or group registration please email professional@sou.edu.

Upcoming workshops include:

Conflict Resolution & Mediation for Managers

February 8, 2017 at 8:30AM – 11:30AM                                Price $195.00 per person

March 8, 2017 at 8:30AM – 11:30AM                                     2-class workshop series

Location: Higher Education Center RCC/SOU Building

Managers spend an inordinate amount of time managing their own conflicts, and often mediating others’.  Because so few people have had good training in these areas, conflict resolution processes and results are often less than productive or lasting.  They can lead to uncomfortable and costly tangible and intangible consequences for the individuals involved and sometimes the entire organization.  In this two-part, practice-based series, managers will learn how to increase their personal power in conflict, identify what’s really at stake when issues emerge, engage in best practices for raising tough issues, respond appropriately when they are presented, and create communication agreements for conflict prevention in their departments.  The second workshop will focus on how to respond when others are engaged in conflict, and want you to assist.  You will become aware of the conditions needed for successful involvement, the risks and advantages of “arbitrating” and making the decision yourself, how to help “disputants” come to their own agreements, and learn a wide array of other intervention tools.

Presenter: Dr. Jon Lange provides organization development, mediation and facilitation, training, strategic planning, and coaching services to individuals, groups and organizations, and has done so for three decades.  Jon negotiates union-management contracts, facilitates dozens of challenging problem-solving efforts, and mediates disputes. He assists leadership teams with management consulting and coaching to middle managers and senior executives throughout the Rogue Valley and beyond.  He has trained managers at the Boeing Company, Bear Creek Corporation, ProTool, Knife River, Asante, Providence and a dozen other hospitals and healthcare entities; as well as many city, state and federal agencies.  Jon is a published author and emeritus faculty member at Southern Oregon University, where he taught and conducted research on conflict resolution and mediation.

Cultural Agility for a Changing World

April 12, 2017 at 8:30AM – 11:30AM                                   Price $95.00 per person

Location: Higher Education Center RCC/SOU Building

In an increasingly complex, interconnected world, our ability to attract, authentically welcome and effectively apply diverse talent is a critical success factor in business. Developing skills in Diversity and Inclusion is an essential adaptation to today’s dynamic markets as well as a key to enhanced innovation, creativity and growth. This interactive workshop will give you insights to your own unconscious bias, the culture of your organization, and just as importantly, you will obtain practical tools to begin or deepen your journey towards Cultural Agility.

Presenter: Gilda Montenegro-Fix is a Costa Rican woman, mother, wife, adventurous world traveler, and global citizen. She represented her country in two Olympic Games (Barcelona ‘92 and Atlanta ‘96), in the sport of whitewater slalom kayak, being the only woman from all of Latin America to compete in this discipline. Ms. Montenegro-Fix has worked in the fields of outdoor leadership, social work, early childhood and family support, cross cultural communication, and Diversity and Inclusion. She is passionate about facilitating understanding, cultivating harmony and building bridges that connect us all. Gilda studied Psychology at the University of Costa Rica, worked as a bilingual/bicultural specialist with multicultural low income families for 10 years, worked as a Medical Interpreter since 1999 (certified with the State of Oregon since 2016), is a certified trainer in Cultural Competency by the Cross Cultural HealthCare Program in Seattle (local pioneer in the field), and is an Associate Cultural Competency Trainer with Luminary Communications.

Powerful Visual Communication

May 3, 2017 at 8:30AM – 11:30AM                                Price $95.00 per person

Location: Higher Education Center RCC/SOU Building

Is your presentation boring and uninspiring? Does your report make for a better sleeping aid than informative document people understand at a glance? It doesn’t have to be that way… and you don’t need to be a graphic designer or best-selling author to inspire and communicate with your audience. In this workshop, you will learn how to visualize your data and use it to tell your story. We will give you some simple tools you can use to analyze and understand data relationships. Walk away with an understanding of the basic components of visual literacy and resources to create a powerful story for your audience with the data you already have. Join us for this three-hour workshop and transform how you visually communicate to your organization and beyond.

Presenter: Trever Yarrish is the Chief Experience Officer and Founding Partner at Zeal. Trever’s drive and passion for creating amazing experiences for other people has led him on some incredible adventures: from performing for people on stage to starring in a film; from serving coffee as a barista to becoming the Marketing Director of Dutch Bros. Coffee; to marketing director to co-founder of the marketing company Define Your Edge; being a childhood programmer with a passion for design to co-founding Zeal. On any given day, you may find Trever designing an app, teaching a design process, helping someone troubleshoot CSS, building a Kinex roller coaster with his two sons, or sneaking off with his wife for a date night. If you are ever in the neighborhood, stop by the Zeal HQ and let Trever serve you an amazing cup of coffee…and help you craft your story.

It All Starts at the Top

May 10, 2017 at 8:30AM – 11:30AM                               Price $95.00 per person

Location: Higher Education Center RCC/SOU Building

Do you know how to create a desired workplace culture? The workshop will provide leaders with a foundation for the importance of organizational culture and how to create the culture you want.  You will examine the importance of transparency in regards to organizational culture and creating a more productive team though the definition, articulation and creation of a desired company culture.  Then you will explore how to transfer this company culture to future leaders to support the continued mission of the company.

Presenter:  Wendy Baughman is an international trainer, speaker, and business coach. Wendy started her career as a music and theatre teacher in Southern California. Relocating to the Kansas City area, she opened a franchise in the point-of-sale industry. After building a successful business, she refocused her expertise in developing people and organizations. Her work in theatre and music coupled with an MBA focused on behavior and organizational management give her the ability to provide engaging and substantive learning experiences which have helped thousands of people achieve greater potential in work and life.