Partnering for effectiveness and excellence.
Learn & Connect
Learn & Connect
Connect, collaborate, and learn together about improvement, innovation, and change
A variety of learning opportunities are offered to enhance the University’s overall capacity for improvement, innovation and change by developing individuals’ applied skills and knowledge. Programming includes short sessions, immersive workshops, affinity dialogues, and engagement with professional associations.
SHORT SESSIONS & AFFINITY DIALOGUES
Short Sessions tap the expertise of UVA faculty and staff and external partners to provide frameworks and tools that enhance our work. Sessions are designed to be interactive, foster connection with colleagues from all over Grounds, and result in immediate applied learning.
Affinity Dialogues are designed to facilitate peer-to-peer sharing and learning sessions on common topics of interest and/or challenge for many areas across Grounds. The intent is to cross-pollinate learnings, ideas, and innovations and spread the adaptation and adoption from one group to another.
Upcoming Sessions
There are no upcoming sessions at this time. Check back at a later time.
“I appreciate the opportunity to practice and learn with others.”
“Thank you! I left with direct specific tools that will be a value-add to my work.”
“Great speaker and new ideas that I can apply to my work and life!”
“Good for learning and networking and feeling like a part of the University.”
“Excellent! Just the right balance of information presented and exercises!”
“Very well done - effective, practical, real examples.”
“Thank you! I left with direct specific tools that will be a value-add to my work.”
“Great speaker and new ideas that I can apply to my work and life!”
“Good for learning and networking and feeling like a part of the University.”
“Excellent! Just the right balance of information presented and exercises!”
“Very well done - effective, practical, real examples.”
Workshops
Upcoming Workshops
There are no scheduled Workshops at this time. For more information contact [email protected].
Project Management Workshop for Higher Education Transforming Solutions, Inc.
This two-day program is designed for faculty and staff tasked with leading projects and seeks to increase their proficiency in project management (PM). The workshop is also targeted for non-project managers.
During the program, participants will apply PM functions to a current initiative. Upon completion, participants leave with a PM toolkit designed to effectively manage projects and enhance results. Also included is a follow up individual project support meeting, that will assist practitioners in grasping the essential PM competency areas.
For more information, visit https://transforming.com/
To learn more, contact [email protected].
Strategic Doing Practitioner Training
The Strategic Doing (SD) method is designed to help open, loosely connected networks collaborate effectively. In this SD Practitioner Training, participants learn how to design and deliver a SD "workshop.” In a SD workshop a group spends about 3 hours identifying the group’s skills and resources, developing concepts to link and leverage those skills and resources, picking a strategic direction, designing a "Pathfinder Project" - a quick win to make progress - and creating a 30-day action plan that includes a follow-up conversation. For more information on the Strategic Doing framework, visit https://strategicdoing.net/intro/.
Sponsored by UVA’s Office of Organizational Excellence (OE), this practitioner training enables people to launch action-oriented collaborations quickly, move them toward measurable outcomes, and make adjustments along the way.
Prosci Change Management Workshop
An OE-sponsored, three-day change management certification workshop to increase the University’s capacity to achieve successful, sustainable change. Participants gain knowledge about the value of change management, learn the Prosci 2-Phase methodology, and develop skills and tools to drive initiatives and improve organizational results.
Participation is by invitation only. To learn more, contact [email protected].
"I knew some of the tools, but it was great to learn the full framework and learn about the individual tools. I appreciated the presenter’s real-life experience and examples. It was great to have a cohort where people came from different units and schools.”
“Training came at an opportune time given a large initiative that I have been tasked with, and the nature of the initiative is highly dependent on people and change.
“Training came at an opportune time given a large initiative that I have been tasked with, and the nature of the initiative is highly dependent on people and change.
Liberating Structures Workshop
Liberating Structures improve the way groups work. Have you ever sat in a meeting or been part of a group that just wasn’t working? Did you leave wondering how groups can increase engagement and hear from everyone? This set of 33+ facilitation activities elicit group interactions for meaningful outcomes – such as solving problems, generating ideas, making sense of challenges, and planning for the future.
OE offers workshops on Liberating Structures throughout the year, both introductory and for more advanced users.
“I particularly enjoyed working with a diverse group
from across Grounds who brought such a variety of
experiences and ideas to the workshop.”
“Loved it, have already used [LS] in meetings and really enjoy this kind of creative, inclusive way of getting people to share and build ideas.”
from across Grounds who brought such a variety of
experiences and ideas to the workshop.”
“Loved it, have already used [LS] in meetings and really enjoy this kind of creative, inclusive way of getting people to share and build ideas.”
Key Professional Organizations
Network for Change and Continuous Innovation (NCCI): This organization advances continuous improvement, organizational development, planning, quality, institutional effectiveness, and related areas. UVA holds an institutional membership that provides all faculty and staff access to member benefits, including access to online professional development sessions, conferences, and virtual affinity groups. To join free as part of the UVA institutional membership, email [email protected].
ASQ: Provides training, professional certifications, and knowledge for a broad base of practitioners in all fields.
Association of Change Management Professionals: A space to learn, share and cultivate professional change practices.
Bacharach Leadership Group: Focuses on how to take a vision or strategy from initiation to implementation, and focuses on the pragmatic skills of getting things done.
Center for Creative Leadership (CCL): An organization committed to the practice of leadership.
Change Management Institute: A global, independent, not for profit association of change professionals, created and operated by members for members.
Design at Darden: An online community that advances knowledge and facilitates a vibrant exchange of ideas among people innovating the future of design and design thinking.
Education Advisory Board (EAB): One of the largest providers of research, technology, and consulting services to colleges and universities nationwide.
International Association of Facilitators (IAF): A worldwide community of facilitators promoting excellence in the use of professional group process facilitation to create engagement and impact.
National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO): Represents chief business and financial officers from colleges and universities.
Organization Development Network: Association of professionals who make organizations healthier and more efficient.
Project Management Institute (PMI): is the world’s leading association for those who consider project, program or portfolio management their profession.
Prosci: An organization dedicated to change management training and certification. Prosci combines scientific principles and a focus on the people side of change to deliver superior training programs and maintain the world’s largest body of change management knowledge.