Business Skills
The professional world is becoming increasingly competitive and is constantly changing, so professional development and continual learning is more important than ever in being successful and achieving career goals. Technologies and best practices are evolving and progressing in every industry, making it crucial for both new and experienced professionals to continue developing their skills and honing their knowledge.
Trevor Antley. “What Is Professional Development and Why Is It Important?” WebCE, July 16, 2020, https://www.webce.com/news/2020/07/16/professional-development.
Leading Virtual Meetings
Platform: LinkedIn Learning
Skill Level: Intermediate
Time: 32 minutes
Location
Leading virtual meetings is a critical competency for leaders who manage a remote or blended team. Join leadership and management expert Kevin Eikenberry as he identifies the challenges to holding a productive meeting online, and shares tactics for making these meetings successful. Learn about how to choose the right platform, set expectations for conduct, clarify roles, create a great agenda, and more.
Platform: LinkedIn Learning
Skill Level: Intermediate
Time: 32 minutes
Location
Leading virtual meetings is a critical competency for leaders who manage a remote or blended team. Join leadership and management expert Kevin Eikenberry as he identifies the challenges to holding a productive meeting online, and shares tactics for making these meetings successful. Learn about how to choose the right platform, set expectations for conduct, clarify roles, create a great agenda, and more.
Coaching Skills for Leaders and Managers
Platform: LinkedIn Learning
Skill Level: Intermediate
Time: 34 minutes
Location
Leaders who provide targeted, ongoing coaching to their employees can strengthen their team and add value to their organization. In this course, leadership expert Sara Canaday shares the differences between managing, training, and coaching, and provides managers with coaching models and skills to support the development and growth of their employees. Sara presents the business case for coaching, explores common coaching challenges, and explains how to provide feedback and set goals.
Platform: LinkedIn Learning
Skill Level: Intermediate
Time: 34 minutes
Location
Leaders who provide targeted, ongoing coaching to their employees can strengthen their team and add value to their organization. In this course, leadership expert Sara Canaday shares the differences between managing, training, and coaching, and provides managers with coaching models and skills to support the development and growth of their employees. Sara presents the business case for coaching, explores common coaching challenges, and explains how to provide feedback and set goals.
Business Writing Principles
Platform: LinkedIn Learning
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: 1 hour 32 minute
Location
Discover the secrets to effective business writing and crafting messages that others want to read and act on. Judy Steiner-Williams, senior lecturer at Kelley School of Business, introduces you to the 10 Cs of strong business communication and provides you with before-and-after writing samples that give you the opportunity to apply each principle and sharpen your communication skills. Judy also points out common grammar and writing mistakes and shares special considerations for formats like emails and reports.
Platform: LinkedIn Learning
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: 1 hour 32 minute
Location
Discover the secrets to effective business writing and crafting messages that others want to read and act on. Judy Steiner-Williams, senior lecturer at Kelley School of Business, introduces you to the 10 Cs of strong business communication and provides you with before-and-after writing samples that give you the opportunity to apply each principle and sharpen your communication skills. Judy also points out common grammar and writing mistakes and shares special considerations for formats like emails and reports.
Critical Thinking for Better Judgment and Decision-Making
Platform: LinkedIn Learning
Skill Level: Advanced
Time: 56 minutes
Location
The pace of change and volume of information we encounter in daily life make it hard to think through decisions. Instead, people often rely on biases and rules of thumb, which trap them into drawing faulty conclusions. The most successful teams use critical thinking—objective and rational analysis—to illuminate the wisest conclusions. This course prepares leaders to hone the critical thinking skills of their entire organization. Learn how to upgrade critical thinking to avoid deceiving fallacies, spot misleading cognitive biases, craft better arguments, hone judgment, and improve decision-making. Instructor Becki Saltzman teaches skills that will improve how your company or team innovates, tackles challenges, and responds to change.
Platform: LinkedIn Learning
Skill Level: Advanced
Time: 56 minutes
Location
The pace of change and volume of information we encounter in daily life make it hard to think through decisions. Instead, people often rely on biases and rules of thumb, which trap them into drawing faulty conclusions. The most successful teams use critical thinking—objective and rational analysis—to illuminate the wisest conclusions. This course prepares leaders to hone the critical thinking skills of their entire organization. Learn how to upgrade critical thinking to avoid deceiving fallacies, spot misleading cognitive biases, craft better arguments, hone judgment, and improve decision-making. Instructor Becki Saltzman teaches skills that will improve how your company or team innovates, tackles challenges, and responds to change.
Business Fundamentals: Effective Communication
Platform: Future Learn
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: 12 hours (3 weeks x 4 hours weekly)
Location
Faced with a daily deluge of information, we have never had greater need of clear communication skills. This online course offers you a practical grounding in using a range of communication media, to boost your personal effectiveness, save you time and reduce your stress levels. You will discover the principles of writing influential emails, reports and proposals. You will find new confidence in your ability to make convincing presentations and conduct productive meetings. And you will develop communication approaches that are sensitive to cultural and personal differences.
Platform: Future Learn
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: 12 hours (3 weeks x 4 hours weekly)
Location
Faced with a daily deluge of information, we have never had greater need of clear communication skills. This online course offers you a practical grounding in using a range of communication media, to boost your personal effectiveness, save you time and reduce your stress levels. You will discover the principles of writing influential emails, reports and proposals. You will find new confidence in your ability to make convincing presentations and conduct productive meetings. And you will develop communication approaches that are sensitive to cultural and personal differences.
Business Fundamentals
Platform: Future Learn
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: 16 weeks
Location
Being able to communicate with colleagues, network with peers, build relationships with customers and manage projects with success are valuable skills in today’s business environment. With the Business Fundamentals program from The Open University Business School, you can develop these skills, boosting your effectiveness at work today and your long-term employability tomorrow. Accessible for free on desktop, tablet or mobile and delivered in bite-sized chunks, the four online courses in this program provide a flexible way to support and demonstrate your continuing professional development (CPD). When you complete all four courses and buy a Certificate of Achievement for each, you will earn a FutureLearn Award as proof of completing the program of study.
Platform: Future Learn
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: 16 weeks
Location
Being able to communicate with colleagues, network with peers, build relationships with customers and manage projects with success are valuable skills in today’s business environment. With the Business Fundamentals program from The Open University Business School, you can develop these skills, boosting your effectiveness at work today and your long-term employability tomorrow. Accessible for free on desktop, tablet or mobile and delivered in bite-sized chunks, the four online courses in this program provide a flexible way to support and demonstrate your continuing professional development (CPD). When you complete all four courses and buy a Certificate of Achievement for each, you will earn a FutureLearn Award as proof of completing the program of study.
Communication and Interpersonal Skills at Work
Platform: Future Learn
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: 4 hours (2 weeks x 2 hours weekly)
Location
Whether we communicate from behind a screen or face to face, strong interpersonal skills allow us to share ideas, points of view, expertise, and information effectively. On this course, you’ll discover the best communication strategies for effective workplace collaboration, and reflect on your own personal communication style. You’ll learn the importance of matching your communication style with your work and project goals and learn how to manage and control challenging conversations
Platform: Future Learn
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: 4 hours (2 weeks x 2 hours weekly)
Location
Whether we communicate from behind a screen or face to face, strong interpersonal skills allow us to share ideas, points of view, expertise, and information effectively. On this course, you’ll discover the best communication strategies for effective workplace collaboration, and reflect on your own personal communication style. You’ll learn the importance of matching your communication style with your work and project goals and learn how to manage and control challenging conversations
Supervision Skills - Managing Groups and Employee Interaction
Platform: Alison
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: 1 - 2 hours
Location
This free online Supervision Skills course will teach you how to handle disagreements, arguments, and conflict at work. This course will teach you effective and tactful workplace management, including how best to deal with a variety of situations, take appropriate corrective action, and manage change in the organization. Start this free online course today to build on your skills as a current or as a future supervisor.
Platform: Alison
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: 1 - 2 hours
Location
This free online Supervision Skills course will teach you how to handle disagreements, arguments, and conflict at work. This course will teach you effective and tactful workplace management, including how best to deal with a variety of situations, take appropriate corrective action, and manage change in the organization. Start this free online course today to build on your skills as a current or as a future supervisor.
Work Smarter, Not Harder: Time Management for Personal & Professional Productivity
Platform: Coursera
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: Between 4 - 12 hours
Location
When clicking on Enroll at the bottom of the pop-up, click Audit This Course to access the free version.
You will be able to gain and apply your knowledge and understanding of personal and professional awareness, organization and commitment, and use the tools, methods and techniques that you have learned in goal setting, prioritization, scheduling, and delegation to overcome time management challenges and enhance productivity.
Platform: Coursera
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: Between 4 - 12 hours
Location
When clicking on Enroll at the bottom of the pop-up, click Audit This Course to access the free version.
You will be able to gain and apply your knowledge and understanding of personal and professional awareness, organization and commitment, and use the tools, methods and techniques that you have learned in goal setting, prioritization, scheduling, and delegation to overcome time management challenges and enhance productivity.
Communication in the 21st Century Workplace
Platform: Coursera
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: Between 4 - 12 hours
Location
When clicking on Enroll at the bottom of the pop-up, click Audit This Course to access the free version.
In today's fast-paced business environment, employees at all levels find themselves being asked to handle more tasks, meet more deadlines, take on more responsibilities, and adapt to more change. Added to these challenges is the constantly shifting diversity of the workplace, where coworkers cope with generational, gender, age and cultural differences. Communication, both verbal and nonverbal, is at the foundation of everything we do and say, and is especially important in the 21st century workplace. The good news is that communication is a learned skill, and can be improved upon with the right training. The focus of this course is to heighten students’ awareness of workplace communication, and add new interpersonal skills, with the end result of becoming a more competent communicator overall. Target areas include: the process and functions of communication, behavioral patterns, perceptions as reality, verbal and nonverbal cues and behaviors, confidence, assertiveness, tact, anger management, criticism and constructive feedback, conflict resolution, team building, leadership, interviewing, and communicating more effectively with technology (email, Skype, texting, etc.).
Platform: Coursera
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: Between 4 - 12 hours
Location
When clicking on Enroll at the bottom of the pop-up, click Audit This Course to access the free version.
In today's fast-paced business environment, employees at all levels find themselves being asked to handle more tasks, meet more deadlines, take on more responsibilities, and adapt to more change. Added to these challenges is the constantly shifting diversity of the workplace, where coworkers cope with generational, gender, age and cultural differences. Communication, both verbal and nonverbal, is at the foundation of everything we do and say, and is especially important in the 21st century workplace. The good news is that communication is a learned skill, and can be improved upon with the right training. The focus of this course is to heighten students’ awareness of workplace communication, and add new interpersonal skills, with the end result of becoming a more competent communicator overall. Target areas include: the process and functions of communication, behavioral patterns, perceptions as reality, verbal and nonverbal cues and behaviors, confidence, assertiveness, tact, anger management, criticism and constructive feedback, conflict resolution, team building, leadership, interviewing, and communicating more effectively with technology (email, Skype, texting, etc.).
Inspiring and Motivating Individuals
Platform: Coursera
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: Approximately 19 hours
Location
When clicking on Enroll at the bottom of the pop-up, click Audit This Course to access the free version.
In this course, you will learn how to create a shared vision for your team and effectively communicate it to your teammates. You will also learn how to set effective goals and expectations in a way that best enables your team to attain the shared vision. Finally, you will understand the most important needs and drivers of performance across cultures, and will learn to align rewards with desired behaviors so that your teammates are motivated to attain the team’s objectives. Motivation represents a crucial challenge for contemporary organizations: A recent Gallup poll revealed that only 13% of workers worldwide exhibit high levels of engagement and motivation. We will show you why these motivation problems are not simply due to a “bad” or “unmotivated” team member. Rather, motivation is very much driven by what work conditions we create for our teammates, how we structure goals and objectives, and how we reward people for the accomplishment of those goals. This course will help you diagnose and solve motivation problems so that you can bring out the best in your people.
Platform: Coursera
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: Approximately 19 hours
Location
When clicking on Enroll at the bottom of the pop-up, click Audit This Course to access the free version.
In this course, you will learn how to create a shared vision for your team and effectively communicate it to your teammates. You will also learn how to set effective goals and expectations in a way that best enables your team to attain the shared vision. Finally, you will understand the most important needs and drivers of performance across cultures, and will learn to align rewards with desired behaviors so that your teammates are motivated to attain the team’s objectives. Motivation represents a crucial challenge for contemporary organizations: A recent Gallup poll revealed that only 13% of workers worldwide exhibit high levels of engagement and motivation. We will show you why these motivation problems are not simply due to a “bad” or “unmotivated” team member. Rather, motivation is very much driven by what work conditions we create for our teammates, how we structure goals and objectives, and how we reward people for the accomplishment of those goals. This course will help you diagnose and solve motivation problems so that you can bring out the best in your people.
Influencing People
Platform: Coursera
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: Approximately 14 hours
Location
When clicking on Enroll at the bottom of the pop-up, click Audit This Course to access the free version.
This course will improve your ability to influence people in situations where you cannot use formal authority. You will learn about effective ways to build, develop, and sustain a power base in your organization. You will also learn influence tactics that enable you to be more persuasive and influential in working with your superiors, peers, and even subordinates. In addition, you will learn how to build and maintain high-quality relationships to further maximize your informal power and ability to influence others. Importantly, you will distinguish between influence and manipulation and learn how to protect yourself from the unwanted influence of others. The influence strategies you learn in this course will make you a more confident and influential leader, presenter, and decision-maker. You will more effective in pitching business ideas to your superiors, influencing customers, and building coalitions across stakeholders. This course will not only give you strategic guidance on how to develop and maintain your network for influence and power, but we will also equip you with specific tactics and strategies that are proven to work for gaining power and influencing people.
Platform: Coursera
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: Approximately 14 hours
Location
When clicking on Enroll at the bottom of the pop-up, click Audit This Course to access the free version.
This course will improve your ability to influence people in situations where you cannot use formal authority. You will learn about effective ways to build, develop, and sustain a power base in your organization. You will also learn influence tactics that enable you to be more persuasive and influential in working with your superiors, peers, and even subordinates. In addition, you will learn how to build and maintain high-quality relationships to further maximize your informal power and ability to influence others. Importantly, you will distinguish between influence and manipulation and learn how to protect yourself from the unwanted influence of others. The influence strategies you learn in this course will make you a more confident and influential leader, presenter, and decision-maker. You will more effective in pitching business ideas to your superiors, influencing customers, and building coalitions across stakeholders. This course will not only give you strategic guidance on how to develop and maintain your network for influence and power, but we will also equip you with specific tactics and strategies that are proven to work for gaining power and influencing people.
Becoming an Effective Leader
Platform: edX
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: Approximately 80 hours
Location
When clicking on Enroll, click Audit This Course to access the free version.
Strong leadership is regarded as one of the best predictors of organizational success and critical human capital required for career progression in almost every organization. However, leadership is also a highly complex and often misunderstood phenomenon. It‘s hard to define, but we all know good and bad leadership when we see it. This course will equip aspiring leaders with an understanding of what leadership is and how an individual can develop the skills required to become an effective leader in their organization. Taught by instructors and presenters with decades of business and not-for-profit leadership experience, you will learn the difference between leadership and management, the importance of understanding others and building empathy and relationships, and gain a better understanding of the different leadership styles you may encounter throughout your career. Learn through a series of engaging videos, interviews, case studies, written reflections, peer feedback, and other self-insight activities. Our instructors and faculty will help you identify your own values and ethics as a leader, and most importantly, build your self-efficacy, your confidence and belief in your own ability to achieve intended results.
Platform: edX
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: Approximately 80 hours
Location
When clicking on Enroll, click Audit This Course to access the free version.
Strong leadership is regarded as one of the best predictors of organizational success and critical human capital required for career progression in almost every organization. However, leadership is also a highly complex and often misunderstood phenomenon. It‘s hard to define, but we all know good and bad leadership when we see it. This course will equip aspiring leaders with an understanding of what leadership is and how an individual can develop the skills required to become an effective leader in their organization. Taught by instructors and presenters with decades of business and not-for-profit leadership experience, you will learn the difference between leadership and management, the importance of understanding others and building empathy and relationships, and gain a better understanding of the different leadership styles you may encounter throughout your career. Learn through a series of engaging videos, interviews, case studies, written reflections, peer feedback, and other self-insight activities. Our instructors and faculty will help you identify your own values and ethics as a leader, and most importantly, build your self-efficacy, your confidence and belief in your own ability to achieve intended results.
Leading Teams
Platform: Coursera
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: Approximately 14 hours
Location
When clicking on Enroll at the bottom of the pop-up, click Audit This Course to access the free version.
In this course, you will learn how to build your team, improve teamwork and collaboration, and sustain team performance through continuous learning and improvement. Specifically, you will learn best practices for composing a team and aligning individual and team goals. You will also learn how to establish roles, build structures, and manage decision making so that your team excels. This course will also help you manage critical team processes such as conflict resolution and building trust that have a profound impact on your team’s performance. You will discuss some of the best ways to harness the productive potential of teams while mitigating the risks and traps of teamwork. In modern organization, most of work is done in teams, yet the results of teamwork are exceptionally mixed. Many teams are poorly designed and structured, fraught with dysfunctional conflict, experience coordination breakdowns and serious motivation challenges. As a result, many teams fail to realize their potential and frequently underperform even individuals working on similar tasks. After completing this course, you will acquire a set of tools and practices that enable you to effectively set up, run, evaluate, and continuously improve your team. Such insights will both make you a more effective team leader but also a standout contributor in team settings.
Platform: Coursera
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: Approximately 14 hours
Location
When clicking on Enroll at the bottom of the pop-up, click Audit This Course to access the free version.
In this course, you will learn how to build your team, improve teamwork and collaboration, and sustain team performance through continuous learning and improvement. Specifically, you will learn best practices for composing a team and aligning individual and team goals. You will also learn how to establish roles, build structures, and manage decision making so that your team excels. This course will also help you manage critical team processes such as conflict resolution and building trust that have a profound impact on your team’s performance. You will discuss some of the best ways to harness the productive potential of teams while mitigating the risks and traps of teamwork. In modern organization, most of work is done in teams, yet the results of teamwork are exceptionally mixed. Many teams are poorly designed and structured, fraught with dysfunctional conflict, experience coordination breakdowns and serious motivation challenges. As a result, many teams fail to realize their potential and frequently underperform even individuals working on similar tasks. After completing this course, you will acquire a set of tools and practices that enable you to effectively set up, run, evaluate, and continuously improve your team. Such insights will both make you a more effective team leader but also a standout contributor in team settings.
Leading With Effective Communication
Platform: edX
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: Approximately 8 hours
Location
When clicking on Enroll, click Audit This Course to access the free version.
What does it take to inspire others, promote a novel idea, or even have a difficult conversation? How can you position yourself as a leader through inclusive communication? How do you know that the message you are intending to send is what is being received? Join Catalyst experts to explore this topic and the important role communication plays in inclusive leadership. All too often, we struggle to communicate effectively—particularly with others who are different from us in some way. This course will show you how the most effective communication utilizes the inclusive leadership mindset of Empowerment, Accountability, Courage, and Humility and guide you on how to use that mindset yourself. Through research and real-world examples, you will learn strategies to enhance your communication skills and approach. Topics will include understanding dialogue processes, debunking everyday communication myths, testing assumptions, listening, expressing yourself authentically, and communicating across differences. With short quizzes, compelling case studies, and engaging videos, you will develop knowledge in each section and share your experience with other learners. Throughout the course, you will create a plan of action to help apply the strategies learned in this course to your work and other parts of your life.
Platform: edX
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: Approximately 8 hours
Location
When clicking on Enroll, click Audit This Course to access the free version.
What does it take to inspire others, promote a novel idea, or even have a difficult conversation? How can you position yourself as a leader through inclusive communication? How do you know that the message you are intending to send is what is being received? Join Catalyst experts to explore this topic and the important role communication plays in inclusive leadership. All too often, we struggle to communicate effectively—particularly with others who are different from us in some way. This course will show you how the most effective communication utilizes the inclusive leadership mindset of Empowerment, Accountability, Courage, and Humility and guide you on how to use that mindset yourself. Through research and real-world examples, you will learn strategies to enhance your communication skills and approach. Topics will include understanding dialogue processes, debunking everyday communication myths, testing assumptions, listening, expressing yourself authentically, and communicating across differences. With short quizzes, compelling case studies, and engaging videos, you will develop knowledge in each section and share your experience with other learners. Throughout the course, you will create a plan of action to help apply the strategies learned in this course to your work and other parts of your life.
Business Communication
Platform: edX
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: Approximately 18 hours
Location
When clicking on Enroll, click Audit This Course to access the free version.
Business communication is vital to professional success. This course, part of the Soft Skills Professional Certificate program, will help you unlock the secrets to business success by understanding workplace culture. You’ll learn how to use language and nonverbal communication to convey shared meanings in face-to-face and remote professional relationships. You will learn techniques to effectively and succinctly articulate your business ideas to a diverse range of audiences to ensure they understand even the most complex concepts. In this course, there will be a strong focus on business writing, active listening, and communicating your ideas effectively to a particular target audience. We will discuss the impact of assumptions or bias that people may bring to workplace interactions. Learners will apply their knowledge by critiquing real-world business scenarios from the workplace.
Platform: edX
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: Approximately 18 hours
Location
When clicking on Enroll, click Audit This Course to access the free version.
Business communication is vital to professional success. This course, part of the Soft Skills Professional Certificate program, will help you unlock the secrets to business success by understanding workplace culture. You’ll learn how to use language and nonverbal communication to convey shared meanings in face-to-face and remote professional relationships. You will learn techniques to effectively and succinctly articulate your business ideas to a diverse range of audiences to ensure they understand even the most complex concepts. In this course, there will be a strong focus on business writing, active listening, and communicating your ideas effectively to a particular target audience. We will discuss the impact of assumptions or bias that people may bring to workplace interactions. Learners will apply their knowledge by critiquing real-world business scenarios from the workplace.
Contact Us
The SUNY CPD is a collaborative central resource for the SUNY community providing access to high quality professional development opportunities focused on the latest trends and established best practices in higher education to enhance the capability of SUNY faculty and staff and increase SUNY's competitive advantage.
SUNY Center for Professional Development
6333 State Route 298
East Syracuse, 13057
P: (315) 214 2440
https://cpd.suny.edu/