Course catalogue

Your success as a businessperson will be greatly affected by the professional relationships you cultivate. Interpersonal skills are the cornerstone of developing these associations, so it is important to assess your abilities to communicate clearly and empathetically and to listen well. The most effective and satisfying relationships are based on a genuine and mutual desire to get to know and help others. When you focus on adding value to your business connections, you will build a network that is both personally satisfying and professionally beneficial.

• Identify foundational skills required to build a strong interpersonal relationship

• Develop methods of building business partnerships

• Enlist keys to networking

Changing demographics, technology innovation, and global competition are driving enterprise-wide business transformation. Digital natives—two new generations of buyers and corporate talent—are wired to connect, communicate, and operate in this environment. How they instinctively navigate this digital age is redefining how organizations are responding to customer expectations, continuous business innovation, and competition. A recent Wall Street Journal article said, “We are in an era of extraordinary change in core business models. Technology is usually the cause.” As organizations shift from pre-digital age business models to more agile platform-based models, their strategies are changing too. Digital technologies are the tools that organizations are using to meet the demands of a new breed of the buyer and a competitive global economy. It’s clear that today—and going forward—every business is now a digital business.

• Learn how markets are getting transformed due to digital

• Recognize how business models get transformed due to digital

• Understand how digital influences strategy transformation for any business

"“Communication works for those who work at it.” 

-John Powell  

Upward communication flows from the lower level to the upper level of a hierarchy. For example, employees communicating with their immediate manager, the immediate manager communicating with their reporting manager, and so on up to the board of directors or owner of the company. This form of communication helps employees express their requirements, ideas, or goals. Managing upward communication is an art to be acquired if you are looking for a long-term career in your organization and wish to get ample opportunities to learn and grow. This course will help you communicate upward effectively.

Establish your interest in the organization  

Look for opportunities to contribute and think big 

Be yourself and do not encourage or be involved in manipulation 

Take ownership of your mistakes and avoid politics

Studies have shown that it costs five times as much to attract a new customer as it does to keep an existing one. In a survey of customer retention, 44% of companies said that they focus their efforts on acquiring new customers, but only 18% surveyed focus on retaining existing customers. Another survey revealed that companies who increase their customer retention rates by 5%, increase their profits by at least 25% and often more. 

These statistics make it clear that loyal customers help drive a company’s growth and profitability. The key to keeping your customers satisfied and loyal to your organization is excellent customer service.   

In this lesson, you will learn how to build relationships of trust and appreciation.

• Recognize the value of customer service 

• Serve external customers 

• Serve internal customers

The workforce in most of the organizations has a mix of four generations. Individuals from the Baby Boom era are moving closer to retirement, while a new generation of workers, Generation Z, are entering the business world. Different cultural events and forces have so distinctly molded the Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z that their approaches to work vary greatly. In this lesson, you will learn that strategic leaders seize the opportunity to leverage the wisdom and experience of the oldest generation and the entrepreneurial, technological, and ideological strengths of the younger generations to prepare their organizations for the future.

• Identify the similarities of all generations 

• Learn to lead the generationally diverse team 

• Build the bridge between these generations

You want to develop a team that feels comfortable approaching you with new ideas, suggestions for improvements, and even their personal challenges. You want your clients to know that you are genuinely interested in hearing their concerns and ideas. And you want your superiors and peers to see you as someone who encourages innovation and open communication in your department. Working to improve your active listening will take patience and practice. But if you learn how to put this powerful communication skill to work for you, you’ll discover that the benefits are well worth the effort.

• Define active listening

• Confirm your understanding of the meeting

• Pay attention to body language

When you make developing customer rapport a priority, you will experience many benefits. From the very first interaction, there are things you can do to begin earning customer trust and loyalty. Be friendly and genuine as you communicate. Always be honest and work hard to solidify your reputation as a trustworthy professional. As your relationships grow, find ways to help your customers outside of your role as their sales consultant. These opportunities to assist them in their successes will cement your rapport even more. And don’t forget that relationships with your colleagues and co-workers need as much attention and care as your customer connections. It takes hard work and teamwork to be successful. Taking the time to build rapport with both your customers and colleagues is the key that unlocks this reality.

• Identify Ways of Establishing Customer Rapport

• Identify Ways of Sustaining Customer Rapport

• List the Benefits of Building Customer Rapport

The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge.

 - Thomas Berger

Asking open-ended questions is a powerful tool to not only spark new ideas and discussions but also developing strategic thinking, collaboration and innovative business solutions. Leaders who demonstrate curiosity and active listening skills are ideally qualified for asking open-ended questions and helping their teams discover original answers to corporate challenges.

• Define an open-ended question 

• Identify the best practices in asking open-ended questions 

• Explain how to encourage and enable employees to use open-ended questions in business meetings 

• Recognize the advantages of open-ended questions

Leaders in a World Economic Forum study listed creativity as the third most important work skill they seek in employees. And as organizations face increasingly complex business issues, they are training their employees to be smart risk-takers and creative thinkers. They are hiring for these competencies, too. As you apply the recommendations provided in this course, your skills will increase, your employees will grow more confident and competent in their abilities, and together, you will create a powerful culture of innovation.

• Identify the need and ways to harness creative thinking    

• Identify ways to build a culture of creative thinking    

• Explore recommendations for developing your team’s creative thinking

Kurt Lewin a German-American psychologist, defined himself and his contributions within three lenses of analysis: applied research, action research, and group communication were his major offerings. One of the Cornerstone models for understanding organizational change was developed by him and is referred to as ""Kurt Lewin's three-stages of Change.

This model breaks into three-stages: Unfreeze, Transition, and Refreeze. In the ""Unfreeze"" stage, an organization prepares for the change. In the ""Transition"" stage, the change takes place and in the ""Refreeze"" stage, the change becomes solidified as the new norm.

• Describe the need for change

• Identify the three stages of Kurt Lewin’s change model

• List the activities in the unfreezing stage

• Explain why communication is important in the transition stage

• Explain the importance of refreezing

The principles that determine how a person reacts in a certain situation define that person’s workplace ethics. It is also defined as the belief that states hard work and integrity showing moral benefit adds strength to human character. It is a set of values centered on the importance of work and manifested by determination or desire to work hard.    

Workplace ethics ensures honesty, respecting the code of conduct, exhibiting good conduct, and strong moral principles.

• Identify the elements to establish the structure of ethical behavior   

• Enlist values to set the tone of cementing trust    

• Identify ways to reward ethical behavior at the workplace

As a person at a leading position, have you ever assessed your effectiveness as a coach? Although, coaching your team is the most underrated roles you play, it is the most important role too. This course addresses the five strategies used by effective coaches. Assess your skills against these five strategies and enhance your abilities to sharpen your coaching skills.

• Listen more to your team and talk less 

• Provide timely feedback to your team 

• Set up your team to win 

• Cheer your team 

• Provide your team with the right resources

If you always do what you always did,  you will always get what you always got

- Albert Einstein 

Innovation by itself is a challenging and draining process. The unpredictability of the results of innovation adds to the stress of the innovator or innovation teams. Combining the task of innovation with a predictable process helps ease out the difficulties. This lesson focuses on the six areas which can be included in your innovation plan framework that will help you conduct the innovative team building activities in a constructive manner. You will also be in a position to identify the innovation roles and appoint the right persons to promote a flawless innovation process. Organizations that innovate new concepts using the correct framework and processes can ensure consistent industry growth. Take this lesson to learn about building innovation teams.

• Identify the six areas to include in your innovation framework 

• Describe and assign innovation roles to persons in the organization 

• Build innovation teams that drive success

The simplest definition of diversity is “a range or variety of different things”. In the context of D&I, diversity refers to “the traits and characteristics that make people unique” which include (but are not limited to) race, ethnicity, age, gender, socio-economic class, ability, sexual orientation, and nationality. The summation of these variables combine to create life experiences which shape how a person solves problems, creates, and assesses risk. These are examples of “diversity of thinking” which yields direct and indirect benefits that are foundational to the business case for investments in D&I initiatives.

An inclusive environment is one in which “all individuals are treated fairly and respectfully, feel welcome, have equal access to opportunities and resources, and can contribute fully to the organization’s success".

• What you need to know before you create an anti-racism strategy?

• How to successfully support your strategy for combating institutional racism? 

• What are key steps for successful diversity programs? 

Managers are expected to achieve strategic goals by making the best business judgments possible using limited resources. To do this successfully, they need to be able to budget and forecast. Forecasting is the process of analyzing historical data along with market, economic, and industry trends to make good financial and business decisions. We’ll review the role forecasting plays in constructing different kinds of budgets, avoiding common budget pitfalls, and planning for “what-if” scenarios.

• Identify the types of forecasting    

• Infer budgeting basics    

• Manage pitfalls   

• Planning for other scenarios

By definition, dynamic teams are composed of self-directed, goal-focused individuals, each with specific expertise and skills, who work together to create innovative solutions that consistently result in superior outcomes. But truly dynamic teams don’t just happen. They are the result of purposeful selection, a motivating vision, and strong leadership. In this course, you will learn how to identify potential team members, how much supervision and oversight to provide, and how best to motivate your people.

• Build a dynamic team 

• Guide the team to focus on work 

• Beware of group thinking 

• Lead the dynamic team

Kotter's 8-Step Change Model was created by Harvard University Professor, John Kotter. He perceived the change process as having 8 essential steps.

The 8 Essential Steps in this model are:

Create a sense of urgency for change

Build a coalition for change Form a vision for change 

Communicate the vision for change 

Remove barriers to change 

Generate quick wins for the change 

Stay persistent with the change 

Make the change permanent

• Describe Kotter’s 8-step change model 

• Explain what leaders can do to make the change successful

Various masks: Procedural Mask vs Surgical Mask

Proper handwashing means scrubbing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Digital technologies are an undeniable part of today’s global economy. Digital organizations, like Amazon, have set the standard for the ideal customer experience, and all industries will need to embrace digital technology in order to satisfy customer needs and expectations. Digital Transformation can be defined as Business Transformation enabled through digital technologies, such as mobile, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, robotics, data analytics, the Internet of Things, and Virtual and Augmented Reality. Within the workplace, as human work shifts to a more knowledge-based, continual learning model, the flexible and agile use of technology will be critical in attracting and retaining top talent. AI, RPA, data analysis tools, and machine learning are speeding repetitive tasks so that human workers can concentrate on activities that are less redundant and more productive and profitable. Organizations that focus on building company-wide cultures that embrace the agile, flexible world of digital technology will reap the benefits as they learn and grow.

• Explain how digital technology resulted in the transformation of customer needs

• Explain the role of digital technology in the transformation of the workforce

• Explain the role of digital technology in the transformation of operations