Café Thursday WebANR (every third Thursday!) 

Join us on Thursday, July 19, for “Communicating Science, Creating Trust” with UC Davis News Media and Relations Specialist Katherine Kerlin:

• Acquire an understanding of communication skills that can help build trust.
• Learn communication techniques adaptable to a variety of audiences.
• Learn approaches to discussing climate change with more and less receptive audiences.

https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/963167636
(646) 558-8656 or (669) 900-6833
Webinar ID: 963 167 636

Pilot mentoring program for staff coming to ANR soon!

Did you know that one of the goals of the ANR Strategic Plan 2016-20 was to establish mentoring partnerships for ANR employees? Yes, and planning is underway. Because of some differences between academic and staff mentoring objectives, Staff Human Resources and ANR Learning & Development is working on a staff mentoring program for now.

Why mentoring? Read an article How Mentoring Propelled My Career Forward posted in LinkedIn by UC President Janet Napolitano. She writes: “...find a good mentor. Look for someone who is genuinely interested in your long-term success and who will invest the time and energy to provide advice, guidance and feedback with candor.” 

Stayed tuned for more on ANR's Staff Mentoring Program!

Call for applicants: Management Skills Assessment Program (MSAP)

If you or your people managers are ready for a leap in professional development, we encourage applying for the Management Skills Assessment Program (MSAP). Applications due date: EXTENDED TO THURSDAY, July 5, 2018

Next program

October 8-11, 2018 @ the UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center

How does this program work?
This program assesses the management skills of high potential, early career supervisors and managers for future leadership opportunities at the University of California.  Discuss the program with supervisors and managers with 1-5 years of people management experience who exhibit potential for management development.

When are Applications due?

EXTENDED TO THURSDAY, July 5, 2018

Who is eligible?

Eligibility requirements include: 

• Full-time career status with a current, satisfactory (or better) performance evaluation
• Career Tracks job classification as a supervisor or manager with 1-5 years' experience

Participants will be selected based on an evaluation of the applicant's (1) career goals in management, (2) level of skills essential for performing management functions, and (3) demonstrated career path and/or strong commitment to management skill development.

Who pays?

ANR Learning & Development pays (program cost $1350 PLUS transportation and other related travel costs)!  

What to expect?

• A demanding program with assessees in activities from 8 am until 8 pm.
• No time to check email or attend to work responsibilities.
• Eat with other assessees and share small condos. 

Application instructions and further information about the program are at http://msap.ucr.edu/. Choose UC ANR (not UC Davis) in the application.

A UC ANR committee will review all applications and make the final selection. Completed applications must be submitted online at http://msap.ucr.edu/ by EXTENDED TO THURSDAY, July 5, 2018

As supervisor, you will also have a required portion in the submission for application consideration and commit to participate in the required post-program activities. 

For more information, contact Jodi Azulai, ANR Learning and Development Coordinator, at jlazulai@ucanr.edu.

Got Facilitation?

Have you ever participated in or led a meeting that was not effective or where it was not clear why you were meeting?  That is where facilitation training comes in. An effective facilitator is a meeting architect who can help plan and/or lead a meeting so that desired goals are achieved.

Are you in need of a facilitator for your next meeting? Through various courses, ANR has graduated many people with training in facilitation. There are ANR Facilitators willing to help you with your next meeting.

In fact, in May a group of 17 ANR people participated in a Collaborative Facilitation Course instructed by Kim Ingram, Susie Kocher, and Linda Manton.

In this course participants learned how to

• Help a group free itself from internal obstacles so they may more effectively accomplish goals
• Guide a group to identify ways to respond to challenges, while maintaining safety and trust among the members
• Bring in processes to help the team achieve its charge

ANR Learning & Development hopes to support another Collaborative Facilitation course in FY18-19, so keep posted!

 

New Employee Administrative Orientation

The New Employee Administrative Orientation introduces statewide programs, focuses on administrative units and services and provides an overview of ANR structure, vision and mission. Register here. Staff and academics hired since November 2016, please join us! 

Tuesday, November 14, 2017
10 a.m.- 3 p.m.
UC ANR Building in Davis
2801 Second Street, Davis, CA 95618

Interest survey: Winter 2018 UC Performance Management Networking Cohort

Fill out this interest survey if you wish to be considered for the Winter 2018 UC Performance Management Networking Cohort.

Audience: People managers who want to or have completed the UC Performance Management Certificate (via UC Learning Center). There are 10 required and 4 elective modules to complete to earn the certificate. Each module takes from 30 to 45 minutes. (Browse course titles and codes here).

You'll meet for a facilitated call once a month for 10 months to share:

• Tools used from the UC People Management course and how they are affecting positive change
• Guidance for challenges or issues in engagement, productivity, or communication
• Homework assignments from the course

People who complete the course by June 2018 will be eligible to apply for funds to attend the second annual UC People Management Conference in August 2018. See last year's conference website.

What are current participants saying?

Through the online modules and discussions, I have learned about new methods to engage employees in their own performance and career development. Recently, I used one of these methods to address an employee performance issue, which resulted in the employee identifying the issue and coming up with solutions to improve their performance. I would recommend the series to anyone that manages people – whether they are new to supervising or not. – Karina Macias, nutrition program manager, UC Cooperative Extension Fresno County

Management Skills Assessment Program

Petr Kosina, UC IPM people manager, attended the October 2017 Management Skills Assessment Program (MSAP) at the UCLA Conference Center at Lake Arrowhead. The goal of MSAP is to address skill gaps and grow competencies that will prepare people managers for future role opportunities in their UC workplaces.

During the four-day program, Kosina participated in simulated UC management scenarios, received behavioral feedback from assessors, attended a career development workshop, and connected with UC systemwide colleagues. Before they arrived, they participated in pre-assessment components and will be involved post-program activities to continue their professional development.

As a testimonial to his experience, Kosina shared, “I enjoyed working in my group, which consisted of people from five different UC campuses and different areas of work (lab management, procurement, maintenance, communications). The one-on-one meetings with the assessor helped me to get a different perspective, self-reflect on the 360-survey outcome, and plan for my continued development as a supervisor. I especially recommend this program to new supervisors.”

But MSAP would not happen without UC assessors and a big THANK YOU is due to Jona Pressman, nutrition education program manager, UCCE Butte County. Pressman was assigned three MSAP assessees for whom she provided feedback and coaching during the program.

“Serving as an MSAP assessor for the first time was a challenging but rewarding experience," Pressman said. "I found the program to be intensely fast-paced and filled with a myriad of activities throughout each day and evening. I learned and practiced MSAP observation and feedback techniques from the onset. I was surprised how quickly I established a rapport with my assigned assessees using the MSAP tools and techniques. Since returning from MSAP, I have already used the communication feedback techniques I practiced so intensely while serving as an assessor for MSAP.”

If you are interested in becoming an assessor and helping ANR serve this UC systemwide initiative for upward mobility, please contact Jodi Azulai at jlazulai@ucanr.edu. Academics can add the assessor service to their merit and promotion package.

The next MSAP will be held April 23-26, 2018.

Lynda.com features 

Be an Excel 2013 Microsoft Office Expert. Created by Microsoft Certified Trainer Jennifer McBee, this course helps you prepare for the Excel 2013 Expert Part One exam, the first part of a two-part exam. This course focuses on managing and sharing workbooks, applying custom formats and layouts, creating advanced formulas, and creating advanced charts and tables.

Are you a Mac user? If so, check out Excel for Mac 2016 Essential Training. Learn everything you need to manipulate workbook and cell data, using functions, printing worksheet and collaborating with others.

In the course Giving Employee Feedback, Todd Dewett will provide the tools to hold effective discussions with your employees around performance.

Giving feedback to an employee is fun when it refers to work done well, but it isn't as fun when associated with the need to upgrade the work. And you take the risk that the employee's instant reaction is irritation or shutting down — not what you intended. 

Yet, giving feedback is an essential part of developing employees and something all managers should do.

Staff and academic people managers, are you ready for a leap in your management development? If yes, we encourage you to apply to the Management Skills Assessment Program (MSAP) by Wednesday, Jan. 18.

This program is designed to assess the management skills of high potential, early career supervisors and managers for future leadership opportunities at the University of California. The next MSAP will be April 17-20, 2017, at the UCLA Conference Center in Lake Arrowhead.

Two seats for the spring 2017 MSAP program are available for UC ANR employees.

Eligibility requirements include

• Full-time career status with a current, satisfactory (or better) performance evaluation
• Career Tracks job classification as a supervisor or manager

Participants will be selected based on an evaluation of the applicant's career goals in management, level of skills essential for performing management functions, and demonstrated career path and/or strong commitment to management skill development. The supervisor of the applicant is also required to complete a supporting statement as part of the application process and commit to participate in the required post-program activities. 

The cost for the program is $1,095 (including all program materials and room and board for three days and two nights). This does not include transportation or other related travel costs. ANR will cover the cost of the program (including eligible travel expenses) for the successful applicants.

Participants can expect a demanding program of activities from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. each day, with no time in between to check email or attend to work responsibilities. Assessees also eat with other assessees and share small condos.

Application instructions and further information about the program are at http://msap.ucr.edu/.  For affiliation, chooseUC ANR in the application. A UC ANR committee will review all applications and make the final selection. Completed applications must be submitted online at http://msap.ucr.edu by Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017. Supervisors also must complete a required section in the submission for application consideration. 

For more information, contact Jodi Azulai, ANR learning and development coordinator, at jlazulai@ucanr.edu.

Comments from MSAP participants

Vanessa Kenyon

Nutrition Education Program Manager, UCCE Sacramento

MSAP brought to awareness things right under the surface that I could not pinpoint. I received confirmation on things I already knew about myself and areas I was grappling and how to hone in on these areas to make modifications to get a better response. I found MSAP to be a unique experience that brings together its people and talents while creating a space for deeper reflection, awareness and collective synergy. I was reminded just how vast and wide our spectrum of experience and knowledge truly is. It was a wonderful experience.

Rob Bennaton

County Director, UCCE Alameda

MSAP helped me with goal setting, prioritizing, communication skills and gradually increasing efficiency. It also provided a greater context of the Country Director's role from a leadership perspective in team building.

MSAP cannot take place without Assessors. A big THANK YOU to Tunyalee Martin, associate director for UC IPM Communications, who said:

I was impressed by the MSAP assessees' communication and team skills, and ability to adapt and think on their feet. They were truly committed to going through the process and learning from the program. As a first time assessor, I felt welcomed and supported by my trainers to enable the learning process. What I wasn't prepared for was the intensity of each activity and how quickly the program went!  As a 2013 graduate of the MSAP program, I learned about myself and gained confidence as I worked through the activities. Being able to give back to the program was exceptionally rewarding. I feel fortunate to be able to experience MSAP again and I'm looking forward to next time.

Middle managers can become MSAP assessors

Assessors learn to observe and provide constructive feedback. They benefit in multiple ways:

• Receive intensive practice using a feedback method that promotes effective interaction with employees and sound management
• Contribute to the retention, growth, and development of University employees
• Expanded contact and collaboration with other University managers committed to professional excellence
• Develop greater self-awareness themselves
• Expand their own professional networks across UC beyond their individual location
• Learn better management practices from assessor training and from new colleague

Help UC ANR serve this systemwide initiative for upward mobility in the UC system. Academics may add the assessor service to their merit and promotion package. For information on how to become an assessor, contact Jodi Azulai at jlazulai@ucanr.edu.

 

Two ANR employees attended the April 2016 Management Skills Assessment Program (MSAP) at the UCLA Conference Center at Lake Arrowhead. Jaci Westbrook, community education supervisor for the UC CalFresh program in Stanislaus County, and Jim Downing, executive editor for California Agriculture journal, were selected for the professional development.

The goal of MSAP is to address skill gaps and grow competencies that will prepare people for future management opportunities in their UC workplaces.

During the four-day program, Westbrook and Downing participated in simulated UC management scenarios, received behavioral feedback from MSAP assessors, attended a career development workshop and connected with colleagues from throughout the UC system.

Before they arrived, Westbrook and Downing participated in pre-assessment activities and will be involved post-program activities to continue their professional development.

Both participants reported positive experiences with the program.

“Being able to participate in the Managerial Skills Assessment Program was very intense,” Westbrook said. “However, it was also positively amazing. I'm extremely thankful to be given an opportunity to focus on my professional skills that are necessary as I continue to grow as a manager. Being in a beautiful location, dedicating time for professional growth away from the day-to-day duties, and connecting with other UC managers permitted me reflection and access to mindfulness on how I will use the experience after the assessment program. The positive coaching and feedback makes the program unique. I recommend all managers take part in MSAP.”

Downing expressed similar sentiments. “It was an intense and enlightening experience,” he said. “It has already made me a better manager. It was also a great opportunity to make connections with campus-based managers and spread the word about ANR's work.”

Jodi Azulai, ANR learning and development coordinator, credits much of the success of the MSAP to the assessors – people who provide participants with feedback about their strengths and areas to develop – who also serve as mentors to program participants after the program.

“A big THANK YOU is due John Borba, 4-H Youth Development advisor from UCCE in Kern County,” Azulai said. “John served for three very full days as the ANR assessor this April, as well as taking the assessor training.”

“It was a mind-expanding experience for the assessees and the assessor,” Borba said. “It also reinforced to me that some of the issues they need to address are also issues I personally need to address.”

The next MSAP will be held Oct. 10-13, 2016. Application announcements will be made in early June. We strongly recommend that department heads, unit leaders and directors discuss the program with supervisors and managers who exhibit potential for management development and encourage them to apply.