This Week At Macquarie UniversityProfessional development – This Week At Macquarie University

Changes to DPR and Workday for professional staff

Amanda Dodds — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 01:47:32 +0000

Over the past 12 months the Development Performance Review (DPR) Improvement Project Team has been evaluating staff feedback with a view to delivering a better experience for professional staff.

As a result, some improvements have already been made to the DPR process, including changes to the Workday platform.

What are the changes?

The main change relates to goal planning for professional staff. Goals are now set and tracked through Workday’s ‘My Goals’ function. The existing template will still be used, but only for reviewing goals at the end of each year.

While the end of year review remains a key element of the process, regular check-ins will be encouraged to keep goals on track.

What is the new process?

The improved process allows professional staff and their managers to better plan, track and evaluate goals.

Plan: Professional staff need to set their goals for the year by 1 March.

Track: To be scheduled as required, check-ins throughout the year will allow for constructive two-way feedback, and help professional staff stay on course. The additional support and encouragement will also ensure greater alignment to overarching strategies at an individual, team and organisational level.

Review: The end of year Review will occur from mid-November, when we launch the correspondent template for staff members and managers to evaluate outcomes against the goals set for the year in review.

How should I complete the upcoming end of year review?

The end of year review 2023 should be completed using the existing template, which will be available from 15 November for professional staff and from early December for academic staff.

This end of year review relates to all goals with due date between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2023.

The templates will be available in Workday under ‘Development, Performance and Review’ function. Reviews must be completed by 1 March 2024.

The following guides have been created to help you complete the end of year review 2023:

End Of Year Review 2023 – Guide for staff members

End Of Year Review 2023 – Guide for staff managers

How will the 2024 DPR process work?

Goals for 2024 should be added to ‘My Goals’, available in Workday, by 1 March 2024. This relates to all goals with a due date between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2024.

You may wish to start discussing 2024 goals during your end of year review 2023 or schedule a separate meeting.

Supervisors or managers can navigate to ‘My Team Management’ in Workday to:

cascade their own goals to team members
view and endorse goals proposed by their team members
create new goals for their team members.

Other Workday updates

The following changes have been made to Workday to enhance the user experience and improve functionality:

The ‘My Goals’ function can be accessed year-round, allowing staff to add, edit, or archive goals, keep track of milestones and progress against your individual goals, and exchange confidential comments with their supervisor at any time.
Notifications: Improved manager and staff activity visibility through the new manager dashboard, ‘My Team Tracker’ and notification activation which will alert staff members every time there is an action related to their goals.
Comment exchange functionality: Staff and managers can confidentially exchange comments in the Activity’ text box under the goals section. If you want to create a notification in Workday to flag your comment, simply include @name in your comment.
Reports of your goals with or without comment exchange can now be converted to a PDF file offering added access versatility and privacy.

For additional resources to support the Development Performance Review process contact your HR Client Services Representative.

Express your interest in the 2023 Professional Staff Leadership Conference

Taylor Whipp — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 06:03:23 +0000

Professional staff who are aspiring to leadership, but who are not yet in a manager or team leader role, are invited to express their interest in attending the 2023 Professional Staff Leadership Conference (9am to 4pm, Friday 17 November).

The conference is an annual event for professional staff who hold a leadership role or have leadership responsibilities. It is an opportunity to enhance knowledge and skills in areas including leadership, continuous improvement and team development.

Highlights will include:

address from Vice-Chancellor, Professor S Bruce Dowton
keynote address on leadership by award-winning author and leadership coach Dr Kirstin Ferguson AM
discussions on leadership, service excellence, continuous improvement and team development, featuring leaders from across the University
networking opportunities.

To express your interest in attending the conference, complete this form by 5pm, Monday 30 October. Applications will be assessed by members of the conference Working Group, comprising representatives from across the University’s professional staff community.

Professional Development: What’s on in August, September and October

Taylor Whipp — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 05:50:36 +0000

Macquarie staff have access to a range of free professional development workshops. Find out what’s coming up in the next few months.

Please visit the Staff Development page, for further information on learning and development for staff.

August 2023

Influencing Key Stakeholders

3 August

On campus

Strengthening Staff & Personal Resilience: Managers

9 August

On campus

Agenda Preparation & Minute Taking

17 August

On campus

Improve Your Time Management

22 August

On campus

Managing Projects at Macquarie

31 August and 6 September

On campus (two-day workshop)

September 2023

Delegations of Authority

On campus

12 September

Smart Work Online for MS Outlook (Improving Productivity)

14 and 21 September

Online (two 2-hour sessions)

Speed of Trust Foundations

15 and 21 September

On campus (two half-day sessions)

Having Coaching Conversations

19 September

On campus

October 2023

Managing the Tough Stuff

5 October

On campus

University Governance (Intermediate)

11 October

On campus

Giving Effective Feedback

17 October

On campus

Understanding People at Work

19 and 26 October

On campus (two half-day sessions)

Professional Development: What’s on in February, March and May

Taylor Whipp — Mon, 06 Feb 2023 00:24:07 +0000

Professional development workshops are readily available for Macquarie staff to access for free. The workshops cover a range of topics that can help you grow professionally, providing skills you can apply to your work and, in some cases, personal life.

There are also a range of online courses via LinkedIn you can complete at your own pace. The LinkedIn Learning catalogue can be viewed on the Staff Development page under LinkedIn Learning workshops.

In addition to these workshops, there are development resources to support the Development, Performance and Review (DPR) process.

Find out what professional development for teaching is available.

Communicating Effectively

23 February 2023

On campus

Improve your confidence and effectiveness when communicating with others.

Having Coaching Conversations

28 February 2023

On campus

Be enabled as a manager to refresh your skills and further develop your capability in conducting honest, quality coaching conversations while positively engaging and influencing team members and other stakeholders.
Receive practical methodology, knowledge and skills that you can apply to your role as a manager.

A Situational Approach to Leadership

2-23 March 2023

Online over four weeks. One half-day session each week.

Build a practical toolkit to help you offer your team members the right balance of clarity and direction as well as guidance, support and autonomy. As an added bonus, you’ll have the opportunity to meet more people-leader colleagues across our campus.

Understanding People at Work

10 and 17 March 2023

On campus. Two half-day sessions.

Explore how different tasks require different mental processes, and that different people prefer different kinds of thinking.
Learn about the Whole Brain Model™, as well as the four dominant thinking preferences.
Recognise your own thinking preferences and how they shape your approach to work.
Learn how to leverage different thinking preferences to adapt your style when relating to others.

Managing the Tough Stuff: Performance and Conduct Issues

16 March 2023

On campus

Gain knowledge and skills for effectively managing performance and conduct issues, including taking appropriate action, making decisions and having challenging conversations.

Giving Effective Feedback

22 March 2023

On campus

Recognise the importance of giving constructive feedback and the need to adopt the right mindset to help achieve desired outcomes.
Explore the key principles underpinning effective feedback based on the latest research.
Learn and practice a simple feedback model to enable feedback to be given with ease.
Gain the skills to effectively manage emotions throughout the feedback model.

Influencing Key Stakeholders

30 March 2023

Identify and map your stakeholders in order to create different influencing strategies for each group. The model works through a number of stages to consider when crafting your approach and draws on a broad range of research in the field.
Become equipped with tools, tips and techniques to develop a range of influencing strategies for any situation.

Managing Projects at Macquarie

10 and 11 May 2023

On campus

Develop your ability to confidently lead both internal and external workplace projects.
Learn how to initiate, plan, execute and close any type of project through the application of a best practice project management methodology with supporting tools and templates.
Explore strategies that ensure the adoption of project changes, giving you the ability to consistently deliver successful project outcomes within your role on campus.

Strengthening Personal Resilience

18 May 2023

On campus

Use practical and evidence-based methods to build and strengthen your resilience for all areas in your life.

Improve Your Time Management

31 May 2023

On campus

Develop a range of strategies that enable you to take control of your time by prioritising tasks, identifying and setting goals and managing the demands of technology and email.
Master these proven techniques to increase your productivity, reduce stress and be more confident in realising long-term personal and organisational goals.

Professional Development: What’s coming up in August, September and October

Taylor Whipp — Wed, 20 Jul 2022 01:34:36 +0000

Here comes another exciting round of professional skills workshops. Check out the list below and register via Workday, with further details available via the relevant links. Most of the workshops will be face to face and conducted on campus, but there are some that will be completely online.

Giving Effective Feedback
11 August 2022

On campus

Recognise the importance of giving constructive feedback, and the need to adopt the right mindset to help achieve desired outcomes
Familiarise participants with the key principles underpinning effective feedback based on the latest research
Apply a simple feedback model

Managing Conflict

23 August 2022

On campus

Identify the common causes of conflict
Understand common and default responses to conflict
Apply strategies to constructively address conflict

Delegations of Authority
25 August 2022

On campus

Recognise the overarching principles of delegation to support effective governance and decision-making
Learn about the role of agents and establishing an agent with reference to the University Delegations Register
Understand how your role fits into broader University decision-making

A Situational Approach to Leadership

Starting 25 August 2022

Online, over 5 weeks

Create clear work goal and tasks for a shared understanding of expectations
Understand team members’ development levels, and leadership style needed, on goals and tasks
Develop your skill at four leadership styles
Increase your flexibility to match leadership styles with team members’ needs

Crucial Conversations

Starting 26 August 2022

Online, over 5 weeks

Build skills to help develop your ability and confidence to hold crucial conversations
Encourage dialogue, maintain relationships, and stay in conversation when there is a difference of opinion, when the stakes are high and emotions run strong

Effective Workplace Correspondence

6 September 2022

On campus

Managing your inbox – timings, folders and legal implications of email
Structures and principles – for scenarios including internal comms, email reporting and correct use of messaging apps
Tact and tone – dealing with topics that require sensitivity
Self-editing – refresher on sentence grammar, conciseness, punctuation and editing tools

Strengthening Personal Resilience: Staff

13 September 2022

On campus

Apply a practical, evidence-based model for strengthening resilience and developing mental fitness for coming through change
Explore the essential elements of building emotional resilience

Communicating Effectively

14 September 2022

On campus

Refresh core communication skills including active listening and questioning techniques
Build effectiveness in communicating clearly, confidently and assertively with others
Improve your confidence and effectiveness in communicating with others

Managing the Tough Stuff

20 September 2022

On campus

Improve your capability and confidence in managing performance and conduct issues with staff in a human – centred way
Make considered and purposeful decisions in addressing performance and conduct issues
Have courageous conversations about performance and conduct issues with staff

A Situational Approach to Leadership

22 September 2022

On campus, one day workshop

Create clear work goal and tasks for a shared understanding of expectations
Understand team members’ development levels, and leadership style needed, on goals and tasks
Develop your skill at four leadership styles
Increase your flexibility to match leadership styles with team members’ needs

University Governance (Intermediate)

12 October 2022

On campus

Understand University governance and the regulatory environment
Learn how governance provides oversight and monitoring.
Learn what controls can be put in place for assurance of appropriate governance processes

Strengthening Staff & Personal Resilience: Managers

12 October 2022

On campus

Understand the psychological process that occurs in response to change and how it impacts well-being
Apply an evidence-based model for strengthening resilience and developing mental fitness in yourselves and your teams
Explore the link between well-being and performance and the practical strategies you can put into practice to enhance this

Having Coaching Conversations

18 October 2022

On campus

Recognise the value in being more proactive in conducting quality coaching conversations with team members and stakeholders
Implement a consistent coaching culture and operating rhythms using a robust, yet simple and practical model
Create a realistic action-learning plan to for coaching

Professional Staff Scholarship and Grant applications now open

Amanda Dodds — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 11:48:49 +0000

The Macquarie Business School (MQBS) Postgraduate Certificate Scholarships and Professional Staff Development Grant applications are now open.

MQBS Postgraduate Certificate Scholarships
Applications for the MQBS Postgraduate Certificate Scholarships are open from 11 July to 12 August 2022. The scholarship scheme supports professional staff to develop their management capability with four scholarships offered each year to undertake the Graduate Certificate of Management program or articulation into the Graduate Diploma of Management. For the selection criteria and information on how to apply please visit the Scholarship webpage.

Professional Staff Development Grants
Applications for the Professional Staff Development Grants are open from 11 July to 12 August 2022. The grants provide financial support for individual staff members or team members to develop knowledge, skills and experience through external providers or programs that directly support performance in their current role. For the selection criteria and information on how to apply please visit the Development Grants webpage.

For further information for either of these opportunities, please contact develop@mq.edu.au

Online Workplace Mental Health courses available in Workday

Amanda Dodds — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 01:37:03 +0000

In an ongoing effort to deliver high quality health and wellbeing services for staff, the Health and Safety Team, Faculty of Science and Engineering, and the Graduate Research Academy have teamed up with the Black Dog Institute to offer two online courses to support mental health in the workplace.

These are available for all Macquarie employees to complete from now until the end of September 2022. Courses can be completed at the participant’s own pace and take 45-60 minutes to complete. Topics include stress management, access and seeking support, and strategies to maintain optimal wellbeing.

The Understanding Workplace Mental Health and Wellbeing at MQ is designed to explore skills and techniques to manage your mental health in the workplace. It addresses common myths and impacts of stigma around mental health, as well as common mental health conditions. The aim is for participants to develop skills to have effective conversations about mental health and explore the range of support services available to them.

There is also a version of the course, Understanding Workplace Mental Health and Wellbeing for MQ Managers, which covers the same ground with an additional module for how to look out for your team members’ mental health. It includes videos of what staff think about managers actions towards mental health and an activity to help guide and respond to certain situations.

Find out more about this and other courses in Workday.

Professional Development: What’s coming up in June, July and August

Amanda Dodds — Wed, 04 May 2022 07:01:19 +0000

Winter is coming, and so is an exciting array of professional skills workshops. Check out the list below and register via Workday, with further details available via the relevant links. Workshops will be conducted online via Zoom as well as face to face

Communicating Effectively
1 & 8 June 2022 (conducted over two days)

Improve your confidence and effectiveness when communicating with others.

Influencing Key Stakeholders
15 & 22 June 2022 (conducted over two days)

Proactively identify and map stakeholders in order to create different influencing strategies for each group.
Equip yourself with tools, tips and techniques to develop a range of influencing strategies for any situation.

Strengthening Personal Resilience
23 June 2022

Use practical and evidence-based methods to build and strengthen your resilience for all areas in your life.

Managing the Tough Stuff
28 June 2022

Gain knowledge and skills for effectively managing performance and conduct issues.
Learn how to take appropriate action, make decisions and have challenging conversations.

Agenda Preparation & Minute Taking
7 July 2022

Learn about the role of a committee officer and chair and develop the skills to help you prepare agenda, write notes and follow up on decisions from meetings.

Improve Your Time Management
27 July 2022

Define the core purpose of you and your team within the organisation.
Explain the ‘above the line’ model and determine how you can adopt this concept to take more initiative with your day-to-day planning.
Use a prioritisation matrix to order your weekly tasks.
Identify your key professional goals.
State how to politely and professionally say ‘no’ to an unreasonable request.
Discuss techniques that allow you to proactively manage email.
Identify what habits and techniques you could start, stop or continue to more effectively manage your time.

University Governance (Introductory Level)
27 July 2022

Learn about the University’s governance structures including key committees and the role of the Council and Academic Senate; rules, delegations and instruments which guide decision making; and the University’s Policy Framework.

Writing with Clarity
4 August 2022

Learn to write complex information in a clear and sensible way without losing accuracy or rigour.
Understand how to write effective emails at work.
Understand how to create a professional and helpful tone and choose the right words.

Managing Projects at Macquarie
9 & 16 August 2022 (conducted over two days)

Suitable for anyone getting started in project management and also those who have experience with project work and are looking to formalise their learning and skills.
Develop your ability to confidently lead both internal and external workplace projects.

Giving Effective Feedback
18 August 2022

Recognise the importance of giving constructive feedback, and the need to adopt the right mindset to help achieve desired outcomes.
Familiarise participants with the key principles underpinning effective feedback based on the latest research.
Share a simple feedback model to enable feedback to be given with ease.
Help participants manage emotions.
Provide participants with opportunities to apply the model during the workshop and receive feedback on their feedback skills. Actors are utilised to make the practical activities as ‘real’ as possible and maximise learn.

Managing Conflict
23 August 2022

Identify the common causes of conflict and apply strategies, such as effective communication skills, to turn conflict into positive change and development.

Delegations of Authority
25 August 2022

Understand the overarching principles of delegation to support effective governance and decision-making, and the financial and non-financial decisions that you are authorised to make within your role.

Professional Development: What’s coming up in February, March and April

Amanda Dodds — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 01:52:05 +0000

Was professional development one of your New Year’s resolutions? Check out what workshops are coming up and register via Workday. Workshops will be conducted online via Zoom.

Writing with Clarity
9 & 10 February 2022 (conducted over two days)

Learn to write complex information in a clear and sensible way without losing accuracy or rigour
Understand how to write effective emails at work
Understand how to create a professional and helpful tone and choose the right words

Having Development Career Conversations
10 February 2022

Suited for people in managerial, team-leader or supervisory roles
Gain key tools for having effective development & career conversations along with a practical conversation framework
Learn to support your team members to navigate career pathways

Improve your Time Management
15 & 16 February 2022 (conducted over two days)

Define the core purpose of you and your team within the organisation
Explain the ‘above the line’ model and determine how you can adopt this concept to take more initiative with your day to day planning
Use a prioritisation matrix to order your weekly tasks
Identify your key professional goals
State how to politely and professionally say ‘no’ to an unreasonable request
Discuss techniques that allow you to proactively manage email
Identify what habits and techniques you could start, stop or continue to more effectively manage your time

Strengthening Staff and Personal Resilience: Managers
17 February 2022

Understand the psychological process that occurs in response to change and how it impacts wellbeing
Understand an evidence-based model for strengthening resilience and developing mental fitness in yourselves and your teams
Explore the link between wellbeing and performance and reflect on your supportive leadership style and practical strategies you can put into practice to enhance this
Develop a personal and team wellbeing action-plan

Giving Effective Feedback
22 & 24 February 2022 (conducted over two days)

Recognise the importance of giving constructive feedback, and the need to adopt the right mindset to help achieve desired outcomes
Familiarise participants with the key principles underpinning effective feedback based on the latest research
Share a simple feedback model to enable feedback to be given with ease
Help participants manage emotions
Provide participants with opportunities to apply the model during the workshop and receive feedback on their feedback skills. Actors are utilised to make the practical activities as ‘real’ as possible and maximise learning

A Situational Approach to Leadership
From 24 February 2022 (conducted over five weeks)

Suited for people in managerial, team-leader or supervisory roles
The workshop series will explore Ken Blanchard’s SLII® model, which is based on 30 years of research
Gain a practical toolkit to help you, as a people-leader, to offer your team members the right balance of clarity and direction as well as guidance, support and autonomy

Crucial Conversations
From 9 March 2022 (conducted over five weeks)

Suited for people in managerial, team-leader or supervisory roles
Explore how to encourage dialogue, maintain relationships, and stay in conversation when there is a difference of opinion.

Leading a productive and resilient team in uncertain times
3 & 24 March 2022 (Conducted over two days)

Suited for people in managerial, team-leader or supervisory roles
Discuss the relationship between pressure, performance, stress and resilience
Explore 7 key evidence-based strategies to build a team’s performance in uncertain times
Self-assess your leadership of the 7 key strategies as well as review feedback from your team
Identify practical actions to lead your team performance and resilience in times of uncertainty and change

Managing Conflict
8 & 10 March 2022 (Conducted over two days)

Identify the common causes of conflict and apply strategies, such as effective communication skills, to turn conflict into positive change and development

Strengthening Personal Resilience
24 March 2022

Use practical and evidence-based methods to build and strengthen your resilience for all areas in your life

Communicating Effectively
24 & 31 March 2022 (Conducted over two days)

Improve your confidence and effectiveness when communicating with others

Managing the Tough Stuff
29 March & 5 April 2022 (Conducted over two days)

Gain knowledge and skills for effectively managing performance and conduct issues
Learn how to take appropriate action, make decisions and have challenging conversations

Writing to Persuade
26 & 27 April 2022 (Conducted over two days)

Learn how to present content in a balanced and concise manner including what content to leave out
learn two basic structures to present a case and develop skills to write efficiently

Having Coaching Conversations
29 April & 13 May 2022 (Conducted over two days)

Designed to engage managers in a highly relevant and interactive process to enable managers to refresh their skills and further develop their capability in conducting honest, quality coaching conversations
Learn how to positively engage and influence team members and other stakeholders
Provides practical methodology to apply knowledge and skills that can be applied to the managers role

Professional development: what’s on in January and February

Antra Kalnins — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 03:42:51 +0000

Give your career a boost in 2022 by starting the year with a professional development workshop.

Having Coaching Conversations
14 & 28 January 2022 (conducted over two days)

Improve your effectiveness having coaching and developmental discussions
Understand the value and importance of having proactive coaching/developmental discussions
Understand and practice a model for having coaching/developmental discussions
Gain skills and confidence in handling challenging coaching/developmental discussions

Writing with Clarity
9 & 10 February 2022 (conducted over two days)

Learn to write complex information in a clear and sensible way without losing accuracy or rigour
Understand how to write effective emails at work
Understand how to create a professional and helpful tone and choose the right words

Improve your Time Management
15 & 16 February 2022 (conducted over two days)

Define the core purpose of you and your team within the organisation
Explain the ‘above the line’ model and determine how you and can adopt this concept to take more initiative with your day to day planning
Use a prioritisation matrix to order your weekly tasks
Identify your key professional goals
State how to politely and professionally say ‘no’ to an unreasonable request
Discuss techniques that allow you to proactively manage email
Identify what habits and techniques you could start, stop or continue to more effectively manage your time

Strengthening Staff and Personal Resilience: Managers

17 February 2022

Understand the psychological process that occurs in response to change and how it impacts well-being
Understand an evidence-based model for strengthening resilience and developing mental fitness in yourselves and your teams
Explore the link between well-being and performance and reflect on your supportive leadership style and practical strategies you can put into practice to enhance this
Develop a personal and team well-being action-plan

Giving Effective Feedback
22 & 24 February 2022 (conducted over two days)

Recognise the importance of giving constructive feedback, and the need to adopt the right mindset to help achieve desired outcomes
Familiarise participants with the key principles underpinning effective feedback based on the latest research
Share a simple feedback model to enable feedback to be given with ease
Help participants manage emotions
Provide participants with opportunities to apply the model during the workshop and receive feedback on their feedback skills. Actors are utilised to make the practical activities as ‘real’ as possible and maximise learning