Taking on a leadership role in teams that deliver a world-class international student experience can be extremely rewarding. It can also be a highly pressured environment with unique challenges. UKCISA’s Leadership skills course was created specifically for UKCISA members experienced in working with, and for, international students.
Julie Allen has combined her knowledge of UKCISA members and their work with students, her 20+ years’ experience working in international education, and her coaching qualifications and expertise to design three short and impactful sessions, focusing on areas particularly relevant for experienced staff and managers working with international students and the teams who support them: observation, teamwork and fulfilling tasks. This course comprises of three highly interactive small group sessions. Our training is grounded in the principles of the #WeAreInternational Student Charter, a student-led document that provides guidance on delivering a world-class international student experience, from pre-arrival to post-graduation. This course will provide you with the tools, skills and knowledge to support the implementation of the Charter in all areas of your work.
Who should attend?
This course is for experienced advisers and managers who would like to improve their leadership skills.
Suitable for: all staff roles
Minimum experience level: UKCISA members who are experienced advisers or managers
Session one: Observation: How to see better and increase your impact at work
Thursday 13 March 10.00-12.30
Did you know that of all the senses, sight takes up most of the space in the brain?
For most of us with the good fortune to be sighted, we are looking and seeing all the time and, as a result, many of us take it for granted. But what if we could see more when we look? What if we could learn how to look and see more effectively? What if we could harness this under-rated skill to be a more effective adviser, colleague, manager or leader?
This short interactive workshop offers UKCISA members an opportunity to hone your observation skills which you can apply immediately in your day-to-day work with students, colleagues and staff you manage.
This session will help you to:
- Understand how the brain processes what we see
- Become more aware of how students and colleagues see differently from ourselves
- Develop new seeing habits that will improve your effectiveness at work
- Increase your own visibility at work – and the work of your team
Session 2: Teamwork: how to develop communicative, collaborative teams
Thursday 10 April 10.00-12.30
Are you part of a team at work? Do you lead a team? Do you enjoy being part of a team or do you prefer doing your own thing? How does your team get along with others in your organisation? We all feel differently about the teams we are part of and the teams that we work with. This makes the workplace interesting, stimulating and fun but it can also make it challenging or difficult. With so many teams working hybrid, the situation is even more complex.
This short interactive workshop offers UKCISA members an opportunity to explore team communication, group dynamics, reflect on your personal experience of working in teams and learn tools to enhance your role as team member and/or team leader.
This session will help you to:
- Understand why some teams are effective while others aren’t
- Explore the challenges posed by working in hybrid teams
- Discover easy-to-use tools to make teamwork more effective in your role as member or leader
- Apply learning from your own experience of teamwork
- Feel more confident about tackling challenging team behaviours
Session 3: Fulfilling Tasks: how to find focus and satisfaction in your role
Thursday 8 May 10.00-12.30
Do you have so many tasks on your to-do list that you feel confused about what you are actually supposed to be doing at work?
Do you have so much to do that it becomes impossible to prioritise?
Do you get the sense that staff in other roles don’t full appreciate the complexity of the tasks you have to complete (and why they take as long as they do?)
The workplace can be a frustrating place!
This short interactive workshop offers UKCISA members an opportunity to delve into their day-to-day working practices and uncover ways to manage their workload more effectively. Through discussion and case studies, members will identify more (and less) useful approaches to their work, ways to help others understand their work and ways to regain satisfaction of a job well done.
This session will help you to:
- Understand why you – or staff you manage – get lost or ‘off task’ (and how to find the way back)
- Identify the tasks at work that really matter (and ones that don’t)
- Become more effective at prioritising tasks and managing your workload
- Become more skilled at articulating the work that you do to help your manager or other teams support you in your role
