Learning with colleagues, not just from a screen

Image

Serena Valle left a LinkedIn Explorers session on Understanding Gen-Z Communication Styles and made a change the next week in her team's large meetings. Valle, an assistant director in academic advising in the College of Agriculture, Life, and Environmental Sciences, introduced a new element in which a different team member each week spends three minutes sharing information on a topic to bring more perspectives into discussions.

Image

LinkedIn Explorers and another Human Resources program, Conversations that Matter, are built around this kind of outcome. Both bring employees together from across the university for structured learning and dialogue so they can apply lessons learned to their roles. 

How it works

LinkedIn Explorers works like a book club. Participants watch a selected LinkedIn Learning course on their own time, then gather for a live group discussion.

"I love getting to interact with people who aren't student-facing: people from research, HR, the medical side of campus. Hearing their perspective gives me a different lens, which I can then bring back to my team," said Valle, a regular participant.

Image

Nicole Caniglia, assistant professor of practice in the Physician Assistant Studies program, joined her first session during her first year at the university, looking for connection and faculty development. The session prompted her to rethink how she advises students and how she could apply what she learned to her courses before the fall semester began.

"I don't want students to only see me if something's wrong," Caniglia said. "I want our meetings to be something positive."

She's now moving toward proactive goal-setting conversations to help students think beyond the semester and graduation, an approach inspired by what she learned in the LinkedIn Explorers session called "Cultivating Ambition to Reach Your Career Goals." 

She and her colleagues have started discussing LinkedIn Learning content together, deciding what they can apply to their own development and what they can share with students in the classroom, during advising discussions or in a student handbook.

Image

Practicing the conversations most people avoid

Conversations that Matter focuses on building the skills to navigate uncomfortable workplace conversations before they become something harder to fix.

Sean Cronin, a project manager in the Comprehensive Center for Pain and Addiction, joined the U of A four years ago, after managing teams in the nonprofit space. He attended a Conversations that Matter session in February to help him adjust to the higher education environment where he works with both students and established subject matter experts. 

Based on what he learned in the program, Cronin now initiates conversations at the start of a project, establishing how people will work together and share feedback with each other, rather than waiting for friction to surface. He's also started having career trajectory conversations with his own leadership – a type of conversation he hadn't thought of as uncomfortable until the program broadened his definition.

Image

"You can have all the content knowledge in the world, but a piece of our job is working interpersonally and sharing a common vocabulary," Cronin said. "The program gives you the tools to feel confident going into it." 

How to get involved

Both programs are free and open to all benefits-eligible employees. Sign up for LinkedIn Explorers by Oct. 31. You'll watch a LinkedIn Learning course on leading from any seat on your own schedule, then join a small-group discussion in November. 

Conversations That Matter's October and November sessions are full. Sign up to be notified if a seat opens for this fall or when registration opens for spring dates.