Course list

The ability to effectively communicate about change in an organization is essential for success. Change is inevitable and people will be affected by it to varying degrees — even by positive change — so it's important to be able to communicate clearly. In this course, you will explore the different ways change can impact people, how communication can alleviate negative reactions, and how to work with resistance to change. You will be introduced to formal communication plans, identifying the kinds of change that require documented plans and establishing the appropriate internal and external audiences that must be considered. You will then define the communication objectives for each audience, identifying their needs and discovering that each audience is distinct and may need different information at different times. Lastly, you will examine message strategy and timing, determining the content of the message, the forms of media that should be used for delivery, when to communicate with each audience, who the messenger will be, and the types of reactions to expect so that negative reactions can be effectively addressed and positive reactions can be encouraged.

A crisis can have a tremendous impact on the people involved and on an organization's performance and reputation, so it's important to communicate effectively in order to minimize negative consequences. Preparing for a crisis through the creation and ongoing analysis of a crisis communication plan can help minimize negative reactions and fallout. In this course, you will define crisis, paracrisis, and the goals of crisis communication. You will share your own experiences and practice identifying potential crises, creating a crisis communication plan, choosing a crisis communication team, and evaluating the plan.

A key component of preparing for a crisis is crafting messages for internal and external stakeholders. Messages must be quick, consistent, and open, and preparing initial statements ahead of time will help leaders and spokespersons communicate effectively during a crisis. You will examine the content of effective initial statements with the opportunity to review real-life examples, evaluating them for quality and success. You will practice addressing difficult questions and criticisms, exploring acceptable and graceful responses.

Once the crisis is over, it's important to review what worked well, what didn't, and to update the crisis communication plan for next time. Reflecting on a real life example, you will evaluate the response to the crisis and the crisis communication plan itself.

Symposium sessions feature three days of live, highly interactive virtual Zoom sessions that will explore today’s most pressing topics. The Leadership Symposium offers you a unique opportunity to engage in real-time conversations with peers and experts from the Cornell community and beyond. Using the context of your own experiences, you will take part in reflections and small-group discussions to build on the skills and knowledge you have gained from your courses.

Join us for the next Symposium in which we’ll discuss the ways that leaders across industries have continued engaging their teams over the past two years while pivoting in strategic ways. You will support your coursework by applying your knowledge and experiences to relevant topics for leaders. Throughout this Symposium, you will examine different areas of leadership, including innovation, strategy, and engagement. By participating in relevant and engaging discussions, you will discover a variety of perspectives and build connections with your fellow participants from various industries.

Upcoming Symposium: October 15-17, 2024 from 11am – 1pm ET

  • Tuesday, October 15, 2024  11am – 1pm ET
    • Navigating Change and Conflict
  • Wednesday, October 16, 2024  11am – 1pm ET
      • Anticipating Opposition and Uncertainty
    • Thursday, October 17, 2024  11am – 1pm ET
      • Exploring the Value of Feedback

            All sessions are held on Zoom.

            Future dates are subject to change. You may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending Symposium sessions is not required to successfully complete any certificate program. Once enrolled in your courses, you will receive information about upcoming events. Accessibility accommodations will be available upon request.

            Leaders at every level need to be able to execute on their ideas. In virtually every case, this means that leaders need to be able to persuade others to join in this execution. In order to do so, understanding how to create and utilize power in an organization is critical.

            In this course, developed by Professor Glen Dowell, Ph.D., of Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management, students will focus on their personal relationship with power as well as how power works in their organization and social network.

             

            Project Management Institute (PMI®) Continuing Certification: Participants who successfully complete this course will receive 6 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from PMI®. Please contact PMI ® for details about professional project management certification or recertification.

             

            If you're in charge of developing and leading strategic organizational change, there are certain tools and concepts you must be familiar with. In this course, the emphasis is on cultivating your ability to assess the need for change. By determining why your organization or team needs change, you'll be able to better answer questions like: What should you change and how should the change be handled? You will explore the political and complex process of introducing change, which includes motivating others, dealing with resistance and the emotional elements of change, and finally, extending change over time and sustaining it. The course is designed to give you practice so you can initiate and carry out a change effort.

            Have you ever known a very intelligent person who made a very bad decision? If so, you know that having a high IQ does not guarantee that you automatically make critically thoughtful decisions. Critically thoughtful problem-solving is a discipline and a skill—one that allows you to make decisions that are the product of careful thought, and the results of those decisions help your team and organization thrive.

            In this course you will practice a disciplined, systematic approach to problem solving that helps ensure that your analysis of a problem is comprehensive, is based on quality, credible evidence, and takes full and fair account of the most probable counterarguments and risks. The result of this technique is a thoroughly defensible assessment of what the problem is, what is causing it, and the most effective plan of action to address it. Finally, you will identify and frame a problem by assessing its context and develop a well-reasoned and implementable solution that addresses the underlying causes.

            When trying to persuade someone, the tendency is to begin in advocacy mode—for example: “Here's something I want you to agree to.” Most people do not react positively to the feeling of being sold something. The usual reaction is to literally or figuratively start backing up. To make a convincing case, it is more effective to engage with the decision maker as a partner in problem-solving. This makes your counterpart feel less like someone is trying to get them to buy something and more like you are working together to bring about an outcome that is desirable to both parties. Begin by asking yourself: “What is the problem you and the decision maker are solving together?”

            By the end of this course, you will have learned how to deeply analyze a problem, possible solutions, and the associated risks as well as the most persuasive and efficient ways of presenting your proposal.

            You are required to have completed the following course or have equivalent experience before taking this course:

            • Solve Problems Using Evidence and Critical Thinking

            To be an effective leader, you must be able to articulate your thoughts and positions in a clear and concise manner.

            Professor Angela Noble-Grange of Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management draws on her own extensive experience as a speaker and communicator to guide students through the preparation and delivery process. She discusses how to identify the communication purpose and analyze your expected audience. She then shares how to formulate and rehearse your message, including how to pay attention to nonverbal communication.

            To fine-tune these skills, this course includes interacting with fellow students. Students will participate in discussion forums and will record and share a video of a short presentation that serves as the course project. This provides rich opportunities for students to hone their communication and presentation skills in a practical way, and to learn from the efforts of others.

            Participants in this certificate need a high-speed internet connection and a computer or device that can shoot digital videos with reasonable quality. The eCornell course delivery system provides the ability to record and upload videos, so you won't need special video software.

            Mediation is widely used to settle disputes ranging from conflict between neighbors to conflict between nations. Though personal disagreements and international commerce don't share the same substance or consequences, the key procedural elements of the mediation process are the same for both, so workplace conflicts tend to take the same shape regardless of the industry or the size of the conflict.

            In this course you will focus on the use of mediation in resolving organizational conflict where the manager or supervisor serves in the role of mediator. Even if you are not a trained mediator, you can draw on proven mediation techniques to help resolve workplace conflict in productive ways. During this course, you will closely examine a workplace scenario and practice properly setting expectations for mediation of that conflict. In each module, new information will be revealed that will ask you to adapt to the various needs of the disputing parties. Additionally, you will practice handling unforeseen emotional outbursts in a productive way and ultimately propose solutions that consider everyone's interests. Through creative work in examining the scenario and reflecting on how the lessons might apply to your own workplace conflicts, you will learn how to expertly prevent inevitable workplace conflicts from escalating.

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