Take a Professional Development Course

When Larry West attended a retreat in May for Duke nurse managers, he took the Myers-Briggs personality test to take a magnifying glass to his work ethic and colleague interactions. The results? West is an outgoing person who is good at perceiving what’s going on around him and thinking quickly through problems.“I do better on the fly,” said West, a nurse manager for Duke’s Private Diagnostic Clinic in Brier Creek. “I think things through, but I don’t dwell on them and I use the facts.” Duke employees can take their own Myers-Briggs test and discover ways to build positive work relationships by signing up for “Personality & Effective Communication,” a class offered by Learning & Organization Development (L&OD), Duke’s professional development organization. Registration is now open for that class and 45 other unique courses offered to Duke employees through L&OD from July through December. L&OD courses cover leadership and management development, professional development and technological skills, and topics range from conflict resolution to Microsoft Excel. “The courses offer essential skills that benefit today’s successful professional,” said Joy Birmingham, a senior practitioner with Learning & Organization Development. “These classes are really a way of preparing our learners not just for today but for future success.”Other offerings in the new catalog include:High Performing Teams: A newer course that brings Duke managers and colleagues together for a day-long assessment of team trust, productivity and collaboration. The class will be held Aug. 20 and Oct 21. $130Keys to Supervisory Success: Reviews the supervisory cycle at Duke and introduces a conversation model for managing performance, to include giving and receiving feedback. Classes will be held July 28, Sept. 3 and Nov. 12. $130Managing Multiple Priorities: Improves the participant’s ability to manage competing work demands for attention and effort. Participants walk away with practical tools such as communicating well under pressure and designing an action plan to incorporate these new skills. The class is offered July 14, Sept. 9 and Nov. 18.  $130L&OD is also now offering a Professional Development Certificate Program, in which core workshops are paired with course electives to explore a particular professional development subject area, such as “Customer Service Excellence” and “Supervisory Excellence.”For more information on the new course schedule or how to sign up, visit the L&OD website or call (919) 613-7613.