PMW 651 Communication Skills for Executive-Level Audience (0.5 credits)
This experiential workshop would be designed to refine communication skills for executive-level audiences. Participants will learn how to deliver strategic, concise, and high-impact messages that resonate with top leadership shifting from operational to strategic communication. Attendees will gain the ability to highlight fundamental differences in messaging, delivery, and content to influence decision-making. The workshop will leverage practical tools and techniques to enhance executive presence and communication effectiveness through practice, self-reflection and application in their field.
Typically Offered: As needed
PMW 652 Effectively Delivering and Receiving Developmental Performance Feedback (0.5 credits)
This workshop will develop participant skills related to the delivery and receipt of feedback, with emphasis on developmental performance feedback. Developmental performance feedback informs the recipient that they are not meeting performance expectations, and/or that the expectation is for improvement or change. Thus, developmental performance feedback is intended to improve employee performance. However, effective delivery and receipt of developmental performance feedback are among the more difficult leadership and managerial tasks and as such, may not always have the intended effect of improving performance – at least in the short-term. Due to feedback’s central role in learning and motivation, the ability to effectively process feedback is key distinguisher of leader and manager excellence.
Typically Offered: Once a year
PMW 653 Design Thinking for Innovation (0.5 credits)
Design thinking is a human-centered, iterative problem-solving skill that emphasizes empathy, creativity, and experimentation to develop innovative solutions to complex challenges. For PMBA students, design thinking is relevant as it equips them with a versatile toolkit to tackle business problems, drive innovation, and create user-centric products and services. This skills workshop introduces participants to the essentials of design thinking, focusing on key skills and concepts. Students will gain an overview of the design thinking process and engage in hands-on activities to reinforce learning.
PMW 654 Stress Management for Stressed Managers (0.5 credits)
In this skills workshop, students will be introduced to major theoretical perspectives on stress to gain a better understanding of its causes and consequences. Based on these theories, students will learn about, and experiment with, different forms of stress prevention and stress management. These experiences will increase students’ understanding and awareness of how they experience stress and the strategies that are effective for them. Through readings, cases, and experiential activities, students will develop knowledge and competence for effectively coping with stressors in the workplace.
PMW 655 Unleashing Creativity for Innovation (0.5 credits)
Students will learn what creativity means and how to practice creativity in order to grow it. Topics include divergent and convergent thinking, the importance of failure, overcoming barriers to creativity, group creativity and brainstorming, and design thinking and wicked problems (such as sustainability). Class will consist of discussions, interactive exercises, and group ideation and presentation sessions. Asynchronous activities will include reading and reporting on a book about creativity, developing and assessing a proposed solution to a wicked problem, and providing feedback on potential solutions.
Typically Offered: Once a year
PMW 656 Value-Added Listening (0.5 credits)
Workplace leaders often struggle with ineffective listening, which is crucial for accepting criticism, navigating feelings, and understanding others. Many believe they are good listeners if they avoid interrupting or checking their phones, but lack real training in “active listening.” This course focuses on acquiring skills beneficial both professionally and personally. Using well-tested techniques from leading counseling psychologists, students will learn to improve concentration and use empathic reflection instead of diagnosis or advice. This respectful, non-judgmental approach fosters genuine exchanges, builds rapport, and leads to better decisions. The course highlights the role of listening in identifying business problems and solutions. Through deliberate practice, learners will appreciate organizational voice and silence, and see positive changes in their professional and social relationships.
Typically Offered: Once a year
PMW 657 Leadership Accelerator (LA) Part I (0.5 credits)
The Leadership Skills Workshop Part I focuses on self-awareness and self-management at the intrapersonal level. The primary purpose of this workshop is to lay a foundation around the drivers, tendencies, and competencies that humans espouse and enact, and how these elements influence both personal leadership conduct as well as tendencies when they lead others. Beginning with a focus around how mindsets apply to strategic vision and personal modus operandi, this highly interactive and experiential course will explore how intentions and impacts are not guaranteed to align, and how conscious self-awareness and curation of one’s actions influence how individuals may become effective leaders. Specifically, students in this workshop will learn about: growth mindset; psychological safety; barriers to personal growth and leadership; learning styles (inventory and impact); and established competencies and aptitudes that foster effective leadership behaviors.
Typically Offered: As needed
PMW 658 Leadership Accelerator (LA) Part II (0.5 credits)
The Leadership Accelerator II focuses on the role of the leader in groups & teams. The primary purpose of this workshop is to provide students with an experiential opportunity to develop an in-depth understanding of group dynamics from a systemic perspective and to learn about their own behavior in groups. The workshop aims to enable students to perceive, understand, and interpret dynamics in groups and systems using a group relations (group-as-a-whole or group centered) framework. Specifically, students in this course will learn about: theories of group development; group boundaries, tasks and roles; power, authority, and influence in groups and systems; and approaches to managing conflict in groups & teams.