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Service Focus and Innovation

Page updated 24 August 2022

Service Focus & Innovation is the ability to understand and anticipate customer needs, act to provide high-quality products and services to meet expectations of all internal and external stakeholders and generate a range of innovative ideas to make systems/procedures more customer focused.

Who is this course for? 
This course is aimed at all staff members. The aim of the workshop is to allow  you to tap into your critical and creative problem solving techniques and abilities in order to enhance successful performance in creative problem solving.

How long is this course?
This is a 3.5 hour workshop - including one 15 minute coffee break

What are the topics covered?
The programme concentrates on building on the three aspects of success, your Passion, Productivity & Perseverance.

By working with the acronym I.D.E.A., participants learn the creative problem solving skills of: 

  • Using your Passion to control your Emotions
  • Analysing Problems
  • Generating Alternative actions
  • Removing Obstacles & Blockages to achieve action

Do I need to prepare anything before or after the session? 
To gain the maximum benefit from the course, participants will be asked to consider a problem/issue that they would like to bring to the workshop.  These will be discussed during the course exercises and will help achieve the learning outcomes above.

Tutor course notes will be distributed after the course to enhance further learning.

Booking: 
For details of upcoming events or to book your place on available courses, please visit the HR - Professional Development booking centre  If your chosen course is fully booked or no longer available, you can access the UCD LinkedIn learning portal via your UCD Connect login where you will find a range of eLearning courses. 

If you have any further queries on this programme, please contact peopledevelopment@ucd.ie or call ext 4919.

Who is this course for?
This course is for all staff members interested in developing their service delivery skills. In today's customer-oriented environment, "people skills" are critical for personal and organisational success. This half-day course will give staff the skills they need to communicate professionally both with internal and external customers and enhance customer relationships through excellent customer service. The session will also help learners analyse the essential ingredients of presenting a professional image - i.e. Attitude and Behaviour. The session will also help learners understand their customer better and manage expectations.

How long is this course?
This is a 3.5-hour workshop - including 15-minute breaks

What topics will be covered?
This is a highly practical course and scenario based exercises and group discussions will be used throughout to allow learners to gain a better understanding of how principles apply in practice.

Topics covered:
● What are the features of excellent customer service?
● Defining your responsibilities to internal and external customers
● How to present a professional image - our appearance, attitude and behaviour
● Self-assessment of your existing customer service skills - the associated
strengths and weaknesses
● Professional Communication Skills
● Handling difficult customers with confidence
● Measuring client satisfaction

Do I need to prepare anything before or after the session?
To gain the maximum benefit from the course each learner will be asked to complete a Customer Service Quiz to assess how good their current customer service skills are. This will help learners to set the context for the course and allow them to focus on areas they need to improve on.

 Booking:

For details of upcoming events or to book your place on available courses, please visit the HR - Professional Development booking centre  If your chosen course is fully booked or no longer available, you can access the UCD LinkedIn learning portal via your UCD Connect login where you will find a range of eLearning courses. 

In the meantime you may wish to access the UCD LinkedIn learning portal via your UCD Connect login where you will find a range of eLearning courses. 

If you have any further queries on this programme, please contact peopledevelopment@ucd.ie or call ext 4919.

Who is this course for? 
This course is for all staff members interested in learning about the concept of the Growth Mindset as created by Dr Carol Dweck. The aim of the programme is to give participants and understanding of how operating from a Growth Mindset as opposed to a Fixed Mindset will support resilience, learning and provide a platform for reaching their potential. 

How long is this course?
This is a 3.5-hour workshop - including 15-minute break 

What topics will be covered?
This course will the theory of the Growth Mindset sharing some of Carol Dweck’s research concepts.  The course will review the Growth Mindset from an individual and team perspective. The challenges in moving to and operating from a Growth Mindset will be explored and assumptions that limit people in accessing the Growth Mindset will also be discussed.  Links to the concepts of psychological safety and vulnerability will be made. Participants will be given the opportunity to participant in individual and group exercises as part of the training. 

Do I need to prepare anything before or after the session? 
To gain the maximum benefit from the course each learner will be asked to watch the following YouTube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nF90sAW-Yg&t=55s 
and review this HBR article about The Growth Mindset  [https://hbr.org/2016/01/what-having-a-growth-mindset-actually-means?autocomplete=true]. 

For details of upcoming events or to book your place on available courses, please visit the HR - Professional Development booking centre  If your chosen course is fully booked or no longer available, you can access the UCD LinkedIn learning portal via your UCD Connect login where you will find a range of eLearning courses. 

If you have any further queries on this programme, please contact peopledevelopment@ucd.ie or call ext 4919.

Who is this course for? 
This course is for all staff members interested in developing their leadership potential.

The course explores how each learner can realize their leadership potential by setting an example, taking initiative, taking ownership, being accountable, finding solutions to problems, influencing others and by supporting your colleagues.

Each learner will leave the course with the knowledge that every employee has the potential to lead.

How long is this course?
This is a 3.5-hour workshop - including 15-minute breaks

What topics will be covered? 
This course is highly practical and interactive and includes discussion, exercises and activities based on real world scenarios. Our trainers will also encourage learners to bring in their own experience and discuss practical, local examples where relevant.

Topics covered:
● What is a mindset and how can we change it?
● Adopting a Leadership Mindset - why bother?
● Leadership characteristics to develop - Responsibility; Empowerment; Accountability; Continuous Improvement; Inclusivity, Diversity
● Hearing and making effective use of feedback received
● Setting SMART goals for yourself that align with UCD core values and your P4G

Do I need to prepare anything before or after the session? 
To gain the maximum benefit from the course each learner will receive reading materials before the course begins which introduces the concept of Fixed and Growth Mindsets. We also recommend learners watch this LinkedIn Learning session on Leadership Mindset.

Booking:

For details of upcoming events or to book your place on available courses, please visit the HR - Professional Development booking centre  If your chosen course is fully booked or no longer available, you can access the UCD LinkedIn learning portal via your UCD Connect login where you will find a range of eLearning courses.

If you have any further queries on this programme, please contact peopledevelopment@ucd.ie or call ext 4919.

Who is this course for?
This course is aimed at all staff members. The aim of the course is to help participants explore some of the behaviours associated with personal effectiveness and a solutions-focussed mindset, and how they can implement these behaviours for improved effectiveness.

How long is this course?
This is a 3.5-hour workshop

What topics will be covered?
The course will look at the area of initiative, ways to become more proactive, make decisions and develop a solution focus. Participants will create an action plan for personal effectiveness during the session.

Do I need to prepare anything before or after the session?

  • Before the session participants will be asked to list what their elements of their own personal effectiveness that they would like to strengthen as a result of this course,
  • They will also be asked to list a couple of instances where they have recently taken the initiative and their experience in doing so.

Booking:
For details of upcoming events or to book your place on available courses, please visit the HR - Professional Development booking centre  If your chosen course is fully booked or no longer available, you can access the UCD LinkedIn learning portal via your UCD Connect login where you will find a range of eLearning courses. 

If you have any further queries on this programme, please contact peopledevelopment@ucd.ie  or call ext 4919.

UCD People & Organisation Development

Roebuck Offices, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
T: +353 1 716 4919 | E: peopledevelopment@ucd.ie