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Working Strategically

Page updated 24 August 2022

Working Strategically involves identifying opportunities across different areas of activity and proactively connecting the dots. Developing a vision for the School/Unit and translating this vision into action, by aligning the School/Unit objectives with the College and University’s goals and objectives.

Aurora is a leadership development training programme aimed at women and those who identify as a woman. It aims to encourage those in academic and professional roles to think of themselves as leaders; to develop leadership skills and to help institutions like UCD optimise the leadership potential of women and those who identify as a woman.

Aurora originated through the Leadership Foundation in the UK, in response to Professor Louise Morley’s (2012) stimulus paper called ‘Women in Higher Education Leadership’ Absences and Aspirations’. 

The programme is now delivered by Advance HE and it provides, in an interactive online learning environment, core and adaptive leadership skills and knowledge over six stand-alone days. These sessions are delivered online over a five month period.

The Aurora programme comprises of a combination of development days; self-directed learning from on-line resources; cross-institutional action learning sets and in-house mentoring. Training is delivered in an online format with attendance of between 80-100 participants.

Making an application

The application process for the 2022-2023 programme is now closed. Applications for the next in-take are expected to open in Trimester 1, 2023/24.

Information relating to the 2022/23 programme is available via the following links:  

Aurora Information for Applicants

Aurora Guidance in Choosing a Mentor

For more information about Aurora, you can visit the AdvanceHE website.

Participants

The programme was established in 2013 and has run in a number of venues in the UK and Ireland, including London; Manchester; Bristol and Glasgow and Dublin. UCD has supported over 143 women to participate in the programme since 2015,  demonstrating the University's commitment to leadership development and gender equality.

Mentors

Aurora requires that the University puts systems in place to help support and develop participants on their Aurora experience. This includes having mentors in place to work with participants; having an overall UCD Aurora Champion and also support and liaison through the People and Organisation Development, UCD HR.  Although the development days are run over 5 months, the mentoring arrangement continues throughout a calendar year to help participants maximise the benefit of the programme.

Professor Joe Carthy is currently the overall Aurora Programme Champion and Katharine Slattery, People and Organisation Development Specialist, is your contact in HR.  Should you have any queries in relation to Aurora in UCD, please contact peopledevelopment@ucd.ie.

If you have questions relating to other leadership or management development please discuss this with your Line Manager or Head of School/Unit at your annual P4G conversation.

Who is this course for? 
This course is for all staff members interested in developing their influencing skills, both to build relationships and to achieve relevant outcomes. The aim of the programme is to improve the effectiveness of participants as influencers and to provide some techniques and approaches to enable this. 

How long is this course? 
This course includes 2x 3-hour workshop - including 15-minute break – followed by a 1 hour Action Learning Set.

What topics will be covered? 
This programme aims to develop influencing skills, strategically and tactically, for the ultimate good of the participant, the area work in and the University. The topics to be covered are outlined below:

Preparation: 

  • What’s the goal – are we clear on what we want to achieve?
  • Understanding the heuristics of how we think and why we think in a particular way
  • The What and the Why
  • The Who and the How
  • A strategic approach

Self-Awareness – the 5 dimensions of emotional intelligence

Influence tactics

  • How people respond – positively and negatively to influence tactics
  • Overcoming barriers
  • Reading the situation

Key interpersonal skills

  • Strategic listening
  • Question technique
  • Words, tone and body language 
  • Using storytelling in communications

Influencing style

  • Styles of influencing
  • Choosing the right style for the situation
  • Your style
  • Understanding others 
  • Respecting each other’s value
  • Strengths and areas for development

Skills practice

Personal action plans

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 undertake some light pre and post course work. This includes a short self-awareness questionnaire, a short video and 2 articles to read.

Participants on this programme will have access to an online whiteboard and document repository for up to 3 months after completing the programme and all resources will continue to be available to them over this time. In addition, they can download materials locally and these will be available to them forever in this case. 

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 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 and adapting their skills to communicate with different stakeholders.

In today’s complex professional environment communication is more important than ever and all staff need to be able to effectively communicate with a broad stakeholder group to understand needs, influence direction, and achieve results. People have different needs, and as stakeholder groups become broader and more communication is done remotely, the potential for miscommunication dramatically increases.

This half-day Stakeholder Management course is designed to enable staff to effectively communicate with internal and external stakeholders, through key written and verbal communication channels.

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 the content covered. The course has a focus on adapting the message to suit different stakeholder groups and their varying requirements. Finally, the course highlights the importance of stakeholder engagement and looks at how professional communications are a key element to this.

Topics covered:
● Identifying your internal and external stakeholders, their needs, expectations and priorities
● Stakeholder mapping
● The stakeholder engagement process
● Adapting your message based on the stakeholder's role, level and tenure
● Developing working relationships and a stakeholder communications plan

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 draft Stakeholder Map, listing all of their stakeholders and how they should be prioritized.

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 the course for? 
This course is for all staff. The aim of the course is to develop your own skills in managing change and/or help colleagues who would like to manage change more effectively. 

How long is the course? 
This is a half-day course.

What topics will be covered?

  • Emotional responses to change

  • Heightened awareness of psychological barriers to change

  • Realisation of how fear can stifle positive change

  • How a Growth mindset can enhance well-being

  • An action plan to take more control

  • Improved self-belief and confidence 

Do I need to prepare anything before I arrive? 

Please choose activity A or B

Option A 

Think of a negatively perceived change that you are currently experiencing (or one from your recent past). Please prepare to share the following questions with one other person at the workshop:

  • What change are you currently experiencing that stands out for you?

  • How long have you been experiencing this?

  • How are you feeling about it?

  • What is the impact of the change on you/others?

Option B (relevant to Prochaska)

Consider a change that you would like to make to improve your life

  • What is this change?

  • What will it add to your life?

  • How long have you wanted to make this change?

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.

RISE Leadership and People Management Programme

The RISE programme is designed for all Senior Leaders and People Managers across UCD.

This Leadership programme has been created to support the delivery of the UCD Strategy 2020-2024, 'Rising to the Future'. As per our strategy, we commit to rising to meet the global challenges of the future through the excellence and impact of our research, scholarship and innovation, while ensuring every member of our community is enabled to achieve their full potential.  

RISE is delivered by our strategic partners Flow Group. The modules are designed to facilitate participants coming together to reflect and plan their individual and collective approaches to navigating an ever-changing and complex landscape, and each session includes personal reflection, action planning, small group conversation, idea generation and discussion.

RISE Programme Overview

This high impact programme is designed as a learning journey which consists of a number of modules which must be completed in sequence. Senior Leaders and People Managers will attend the Core Module together to share experiences and work to create common approaches and language. Each cohort will then attend their Essentials 1 and Essentials 2 modules in sequence.

RISE Insights
The programme also offers RISE Insights Sessions on HR, Finance and Research Finance. These optional 90-minute offerings delivered by our UCD colleagues provide specialist advice and guidance. Insights Sessions can be attended at any time once you have completed your Core module.

RISE Peer Connect
These one-hour self-contained sessions allow for the continuation of learning and sharing among our diverse community of people managers and leaders. The purpose of these facilitated sessions is to connect peers in small groups of three, with each person talking through a challenge, idea or insight, sharing experiences and using the group as a confidential sounding board.

These sessions can be attended at any time throughout your RISE journey.

This two-minute video explains more about Peer Connect. 

Booking your place on RISE
To book your place on any of the RISE offerings please visit the dedicated RISE Booking Portal available to People Managers and Senior Leaders.

Please note only eligible participants will have access to book on the UCD RISE Leadership and People Management Programme.

The "THRIVE - Leadership in Research" 2023 Programme is a joint initiative between UCD People and Organisation Development and UCD Research in consultation with our training partner 64 Million Artists. This important programme will contribute to the development of our UCD Faculty members at Lecturer/Assistant Professor or Associate Professor level and supports the delivery of UCD’s strategic plans.

The programme equips participants with the skills, knowledge, behaviours and confidence needed to realise their ambitions in UCD. Utilising a holistic approach, it provides a significant opportunity for Assistant Professors/Lecturers and Associate Professors across all disciplines to develop leadership and innovation skills in a group environment with peer-to-peer collaboration and networking.

Find out more about "THRIVE - Leadership in Research" and submit your application on our dedicated webpage.

Learning Path: Strategic Leadership

Click here for more information on LinkedIn Learning.

UCD People & Organisation Development

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