Wisdom Cafe Wednesday

Archives of past Wisdom Cafe Wednesday newsletters.

Questions to Ask Before, During, and After Development Experiences

You can use these questions to ensure that critical lessons and skills are both learned and applied back on the job.

Crafting Questions to Make Better Decisions (LinkedIn Learning e-course w/key learnings)

Using questions to expand possibilities and recognize opportunities. Transforming tactical questions into strategic ones. Unearthing opposing views to generate better answers. Recognizing the importance of questioning assumptions in decision-...

How Social Learning Theory Works

Albert Bandura's social learning theory suggests that observation and modeling play a primary role in how and why people learn. Bandura's theory goes beyond the perception of learning being the result of direct experience with the environment. Learning, according to Bandura, can occur simply by observing others' behavior.

He explains in his 1977 book Social Learning Theory, "most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions, this coded...

Save Time in Excel

Want to take your Excel game to the next level? In this course, veteran Excel trainer and instructor Dennis Taylor shares powerful tips, tricks, and shortcuts that can help you leverage more of what Excel has to offer. Learn time-saving tricks for creating formulas rapidly, accelerating data entry, and naviagating within worksheets efficiently. Plus, discover drag and drop techniques, formatting shortcuts, charting and PivotTable tips, and much more.

Note: This course was recorded on Excel for Office 365; however, most of the contents will benefit anyone using Office 2019 or 2016....

Project Management Foundations: Schedules

Discover how to build project schedules that help you accomplish your project goals on time and within budget - while being flexible enough to accomodate change. In this course, trainer and PMP Bonnie Biafore teaches you how to proactively manage project schedules. Learn how to develop a plan for schedule management; identify activities and milestones; estimate costs; allocate and negotiate for resources; and manage the schedule over time. Bonnie introduces techniques to uncover and resolve schedule conflicts, shorten timeframes, and reduce costs. By the end of the course, you'll have...

Ways People Might Misread Your Body Language

Research shows that when your verbal and nonverbal signals are out of alignment, people are forced to choose between what they hear and what they see. And subconsciously, they'll believe your body language. In this course, workplace body-language expert Carol Kinsey Goman, PhD, reveals how body language is perceived and often misread, and shares the six nonverbal signals you need to know to make a positive first impression. She also discusses the importance of body language for leaders, and shows how you can establish leadership presence. Lastly, she provides simple and effective tips on...

Google Drive Makeover: Organizing Files and Folders

Discover ways to use and organize your files and folders online inside Google Drive. Beginning with a basic overview of how Google drive works, productivity expert and professional organizer Suzanna Kaye moves on to an exploration of unique features and shares her simple search-based filing system that makes working with Google Drive fast and easy. Suzanna also covers common mistakes to avoid, troubleshooting, and how to share files with others.

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Employee Guide: How to Be a Productive Learner

What is the difference between just learning and productive learning? The key to productive learning exists in the practice of certain behaviors such as prioritization of relevant opportunities, seeking peer knowledge and expertise, and reflection on work experiences.

Use...

Team Building with Myers-Briggs—Building a Home Out of M&M’s

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a useful instrument for illustrating and appreciating differences between each other (though not scientifically sound). One of my favorite activities is demonstrating this to naysayers who equate MBTI to astrology, so here’s a simple team building activity you can use when your unit is in need of something lighthearted. To avoid spoiler alerts, I’m not including photos, but am happy to share some examples from the many times I’ve done this on campus, if you email me.

Firstly, all participants will need to know their...

What's Your Shadowside On a Team?

Increasing employees’ self-awareness of their personal ‘shadow’ on the team helps create a tone on the team that is more open and conducive to team skill sharing. You should use...

Top Qualities of a Great Collaborator

Collaboration is one of the top 3 soft skills employers look for in candidates. So, you might be wondering how to find out if a candidate is a gifted collaborator. Or you might be wondering if you're a natural collaborator yourself. Chances are, if you're dealing with a natural collaborator, they have several of the qualities in this article.

Read the article...