The UW-La Crosse Project Management Certificate Program is an innovative and collaborative education opportunity that provides participants with a targeted and unique learning opportunity. Each participant’s program is custom designed to fill the individual skill gaps and designed to work for their planned future career needs. Participants are required to complete 56 hours of learning activities to earn their certificate. Participants will work individually with the instructor to select learning activities in-line with their goals and learning style. The program is from Monday, July 6 through Friday, September 30.

Starting a business? Success in small business depends on hard work, good fortune, and business knowledge. Attend this eight-session course to develop your management skills. Experts in law, accounting, banking, insurance, management, and marketing cover the fundamentals of small business management. Gain knowledge about growth stages and problems, marketing, promotion and advertising, legal issues and requirements, record-keeping, accounting and financial management, financing, insurance and risk management, and business plans.

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of small business tax accounting for sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations and limited liability companies, including an overview of recordkeeping requirements, resources, and strategies for reducing tax liabilities.

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of small business tax accounting for sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations and limited liability companies, including an overview of recordkeeping requirements, resources, and strategies for reducing tax liabilities.

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of small business tax accounting for sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations and limited liability companies, including an overview of recordkeeping requirements, resources, and strategies for reducing tax liabilities.

The Small Business Tax Expo is your chance to learn about federal and state taxes including payroll, unemployment compensation and sales taxes. Created for you by Wisconsin Small Business Development Centers, WI Department of Revenue, Wisconsin Institute of CPAs and Internal Revenue Service, you will learn about the following:

 

 The morning session agenda includes:

• Introduction to Payroll Taxes
• Basic Tax Topics, such as:
• "Employee" vs "Independent Contractor" status
• How to do quarterly income tax estimates
• How to use withholding tables
• Deposit requirements and how to make deposits
• Tax returns to file
• Workers compensation
• Choosing  a form of business, pros and cons of legal business entities:
• Partnerships and LLC/LLP
• Sole Proprietorship
• S-Corp or C-Corp

 

The afternoon breakout sessions discuss details based on your choice of business entity. The breakout sessions are taught by CPAs and accountants.

 

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of small business tax accounting for sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations and limited liability companies, including an overview of recordkeeping requirements, resources, and strategies for reducing tax liabilities.

The UW-Madison Small Business Development Center will be hosting a SHRM Learning System Course. This program is designed to help human resource professionals prepare for the PHR/SPHR certification exams.

The UW-Madison course has an average pass rate for the PHR exam of 80% and SPHR of 70% in previous exams.  These are well above the national averages.

 

QuickBooks™ Accounting Series 
Includes all three programs--SAVE 10%

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of how to successfully manage a retail business in a competitive environment, including how to develop and implement the product mix, pricing, promotion, location and positioning strategies needed to survive and prosper.

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of how to successfully manage a retail business in a competitive environment, including how to develop and implement the product mix, pricing, promotion, location and positioning strategies needed to survive and prosper.

Whether your business is expanding or brand-new, writing a business plan is critical to building a profitable venture, especially to attract financing from lenders or investors. We understand the steps to success. So we created ETP—10 efficient sessions to help you develop a plan for a thriving, profitable business. Writing a business plan can be difficult. Staying motivated and following through is even harder. Our structured training, practical advice from business professionals, and trained business counselors will help you stay focused and move ahead step-by-step toward your goal.  The sessions are held from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday evenings, March 3 –May 5.

• Moving from an operational to a decision-making role
• Making the transition smoother and less stressful 

Understanding Your Leadership Style

• Six leadership styles—characteristics, advantages and disadvantages
• Matching appropriate leadership styles to the situation

Motivating Employee Performance

• The managers responsibility for employee performance and productivity
• Guidelines for understanding employee behavior

Dealing with Non-Performance

• Developing a correcting / coaching model
• Understand why workers dont do what is expected

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of how to successfully manage a retail business in a competitive environment, including how to develop and implement the product mix, pricing, promotion, location and positioning strategies needed to survive and prosper.

The key to managing employees is effective communication. Effective managers are good listeners, able to build and maintain productive relationships, work well in teams, and effectively present ideas. Unfortunately, most managers are not effective communicators—the number one reason for employee turnover is working for a manager who is a poor communicator. Poor communication costs organizations in a variety of ways from decreased productivity, to lower employee morale, to increased absenteeism, and decreased customer satisfaction. Simply put, if you are not a good communicator, you probably should not be a supervisor-manager. Fortunately, good communicators are made, not born. In this course you will learn the keys to effectively communicate at work and within personal relationships.

Description

Best practices for on-the-job training. Benchmark your skills training against training standards and other companies.

Your role includes “trainer” although your title may be “team leader.” Instructional skills are a critical skill in all supervisors’ toolkits.

Are you an instructor or facilitator? Do you have a training plan? Learn to fit your approach to the needs of the learner.

A four-step training model you can apply to your training. Watch for “chunk
size” and discover how to identify when the learner needs to practice.

Left brain versus right brain thinking styles affect teaching and learning outcomes. Discover your learner’s favored style, match it with your instructional
style, and quickly build confidence and competence.

Training tools – check lists, job aids, tracking charts – which ensure consistency
and quality.

Not all problems are solved by training. Identify why some people do not perform as expected. Learn how to separate training issues from management and
motivation problems.

Learners’ competency levels challenge all trainers. Explore inherent learning
challenges, and ways to avoid self-fulfilling prophecies about ‘difficult students.’

Training styles and learning styles can clash or mesh. Practice adapting to four types of learners. Learn to modify your training to engage each learner’s style.

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of how to successfully manage a retail business in a competitive environment, including how to develop and implement the product mix, pricing, promotion, location and positioning strategies needed to survive and prosper.

Starting a business? Or running one without a current business plan?  Need business financing?  Success in small business depends on hard work, good fortune, and business knowledge. Attend this ten session course to develop your management skills. Experts in law, accounting, banking, insurance, management, and marketing cover the fundamentals of small business management. Gain knowledge about growth stages and problems, marketing, promotion and advertising, legal issues and requirements, record-keeping, accounting and financial management, financing, insurance and risk management, and business plans.  Instructor and NxLevel Entrepreneurs Guide provide what you need to write a successful business plan.

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of how to successfully manage a retail business in a competitive environment, including how to develop and implement the product mix, pricing, promotion, location and positioning strategies needed to survive and prosper.

First-line managers need good leadership skills. Topics include (1) the transition to management, (2) analyzing leadership styles, (3) motivating employee performance, and (4) discipline and work rules. Supervisory Management 1 is an excellent introductory course for new managers facing the challenges of leading a work group.

Understand how the internet can improve your business by taking the series which the sessions below and save 10%.

Sessions include:
-Creating a Smart “Web Business Plan"
-Building an Effective Web Presence
-Best Tactics for Promoting Your Website
-Web copywriting, branding & persuasion
-Search engine marketing & optimization

 In this program you will learn QuickBooks™ basic features.  Topics include: entering transactions, producing invoices and checks, setting up vendors, customers, jobs and items, reconciling bank and credit card statements, and producing financial statements. This program is best suited for people who want to start using QuickBooks™ 2009 or have recently started using QuickBooks™ 2009.

This program is a hands-on workshop in a computer classroom. Required abilities:  Basic computer and keyboarding skills including using Microsoft Windows™.

Where do I start when my computers (and desk) are a mess?

• how to get a handle on organizing my files (hard copy and computer files)

• how will this help me in my job (example of looking for files that are needed to use to create project plan from one that was done a year ago –use person’s names as file folder names in example)

• creating a functional file system

•  naming conventions to use

•  rules of thumb to keep in mind for how long to keep files

•  backing up files

•  maintaining files

•  how can this be used company-wide

Hands on section using Windows Explorer:

Supervisory Leadership I offers guidance for aspiring or new leaders and pragmatic recommendations for leaders who seek to develop strong teams and drive outstanding results.  Explore different leadership styles and discover your own unique style.  Understand the transition into leadership and how your role and responsibilities are defined.

Starting a business? Success in small business depends on hard work, good fortune, and business knowledge. Attend this eight-session course to develop your management skills. Experts in law, accounting, banking, insurance, management, and marketing cover the fundamentals of small business management. Gain knowledge about growth stages and problems, marketing, promotion and advertising, legal issues and requirements, record-keeping, accounting and financial management, financing, insurance and risk management, and business plans.

The UW-La Crosse Project Management Certificate Program is an innovative and collaborative education opportunity that provides participants with a targeted and unique learning opportunity. Each participant’s program is custom designed to fill the individual skill gaps and designed to work for their planned future career needs. Participants are required to complete 56 hours of learning activities to earn their certificate. Participants will work individually with the instructor to select learning activities in-line with their goals and learning style.

• What is performance appraisal?
• Sources of performance data available

• Communicating clear, specific expectations
• Importance of Ensuring Rater Accuracy

Critical Skills in the Coaching Process

• How coaching differs from supervising
• Giving feedback constructively

Conducting Coaching Conversations

• Mastering coaching techniques

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of how to successfully manage a retail business in a competitive environment, including how to develop and implement the product mix, pricing, promotion, location and positioning strategies needed to survive and prosper.

 Optimizing your Web site’s content will improve your search engine rankings when someone searches on keywords relating to your business. This workshop is ideal for small business owners and managers who want to learn an efficient and effective process for dramatically improving their site’s rankings and doubling monthly unique visitors.  

A business owner does not need to know technical skills, like Web programming, to be successful at search engine optimization (SEO). Instead, business owners will rely on their marketing skill and the ability to think like their customers and prospects, versus an ability to write HTML or other form of Web programming.

This workshop will teach you how to select keywords that are proven performers, blend the keywords into site content, boost site popularity, and more. More specifically, attendees will learn basic SEO terms, how to use several free SEO tools when selecting the best keywords, how to implement a practical and tactical 15-step process for optimizing site content and building popularity, and how to measure results. 

The instructor is Stephen Woessner, author of The Small Business Owner Handbook to Search Engine Optimization: Increase Your Google Rankings, Double Your Site Traffic…In Just 15 Steps. Guaranteed! Each attendee will receive a complimentary copy of the book.

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of how to successfully manage a retail business in a competitive environment, including how to develop and implement the product mix, pricing, promotion, location and positioning strategies needed to survive and prosper.

In a small group setting, you will review the basics of going into business and identify your next steps. This 2 1/2 hour session allows time for questions and answers.

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of how to successfully manage a retail business in a competitive environment, including how to develop and implement the product mix, pricing, promotion, location and positioning strategies needed to survive and prosper.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SERIES
You may attend individual sessions but many participants benefit most from attending the entire series.  Register for the entire series and save
10% over the cost of individual sessions.

Sessions include:
Basics of Financial Management

Using Finanacial Statements

Budgeting and Profit Planning

Managing Cash Flow

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of how to successfully manage a retail business in a competitive environment, including how to develop and implement the product mix, pricing, promotion, location and positioning strategies needed to survive and prosper.

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of how to successfully manage a retail business in a competitive environment, including how to develop and implement the product mix, pricing, promotion, location and positioning strategies needed to survive and prosper.

This course is taught by a certified eBay instructor. Participants will learn the basics of selling on eBay, including the following topics: safety, creating an account, creating titles and descriptions, determining pricing, shipping, returns, photography, PayPal, collecting payments, selling strategies, following up after the sale, and general eBay navigation. Optional: a copy of The Basics of Selling on eBay can be purchased for $20 when you arrive in the classroom.

Distilled from the best-selling "marketing" book series in history (with more than 14 million copies sold worldwide in 39 languages), Guerrilla Marketing In 30 Days encourages busy business professionals and CEO's to hurdle the excuses of time, money, or motivation, and take dynamic strides toward new client acquisition and increased sales by following a successful and proven blueprint.

This practical and tactical course begins by providing participants with an introduction to process improvement, such as lean design and Six Sigma. The discussion will then shift toward identifying how organizations utilize process improvement to increase employee and customer satisfaction, decrease cost, and increase profit. The course will also focus on identifying how the people within an organization play a vital role in the success of any process improvement including how managing people-driven efficiencies requires tact and skill. 

Any process involving people always has emotion and subjectivity, which call for something much more than a book, calculator, and flip charts. Process problems can not be solved without effective employees. Employees must feel that they are valuable and that their contribution is appreciated. An organization cannot effectively improve processes without the buy-in, input, and involvement of those closest to the process. The question is what can be done to increase the likelihood that process improvement efforts are achieved and sustained?

Leaders at all levels are continuously learning and growing whether through on-the-job experiences or planned learning opportunities. If you are looking for a way to enhance your skills to help you succeed in the challenging role of the leader in your organization then check out our High Performance Leadership Series.

This three program series will help you sharpen the tough skills of influencing and motivating people to perform, grow and thrive during the ever present change we all live with.

You may choose individual programs, but participants benefit most from taking the entire series and save

Session #1 of the High Performance Leadership Series
Develop skills to create win-win outcomes in both business and personal situations. In today’s world, you are confronted with many competing priorities, resources and values. To lead or supervise people effectively, it is necessary to skillfully handle disputes and conflicts to achieve the best outcomes with the least damage to relationships.

By learning to build a workplace that is inspired, leaders have the opportunity to create a culture of growth and increase the competitive advantage of employee innovation and production.

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of bringing new p[roduct ideas to marketing, including how to protect intellectual property rights. There will also be a discussion how to license new product ideas, and ways to raise investor and grant financing for research & development.

• What is performance appraisal?
• Sources of performance data available

• Communicating clear, specific expectations
• Importance of Ensuring Rater Accuracy

Critical Skills in the Coaching Process

• How coaching differs from supervising
• Giving feedback constructively

Conducting Coaching Conversations

• Mastering coaching techniques

The 7 Habits for Small Business Managers program is on two consecutive Thursdays.  It follows a reinforced learning process that includes:

  *A rich, comprehensive participant guidebook

  *A Management Essentials book with insights on the role of the manager

  *An audio CD with Stephen R. Covey explaining how the 7 Habits apply to managers

  *Paper and electronic versions of the tools introduced in the workshop

The 7 Habits for Managers workshop is a powerful application of the 7 Habits to the role of the manager.  Learn to write a new story with this powerful workshop from FranklinCovey, the recognized leader in developing effective leaders, effective employees, and effective organizations.

 

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of bringing new p[roduct ideas to marketing, including how to protect intellectual property rights. There will also be a discussion how to license new product ideas, and ways to raise investor and grant financing for research & development.

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of bringing new p[roduct ideas to marketing, including how to protect intellectual property rights. There will also be a discussion how to license new product ideas, and ways to raise investor and grant financing for research & development.

During this interactive project management training workshop, participants learn about the benefits of project management, the project management life cycle, and the nine project management knowledge areas. The workshop provides participants with practical hands-on experience and real world examples that they can apply immediately in their projects. We focus on the following learning objectives and competencies:

§   Explore the project manager's role and responsibilities

§   Establish a common language and understanding of basic project management terms and concepts.

§   Explore the project management life cycle to be able to understand the work of the project manager in relation to the project phase.

§   Explore the nine Knowledge Areas of Project Management and the processes in each.

This workshop establishes a basic knowledge and understanding of the following project management tools and techniques and how and when to use them:

§   Project charter

§   Project scope statement

§   Work breakdown structure

§   Responsibility assignment matrix

§   Network diagrams and critical path calculations

§   Scheduling

§   Earned value techniques

§   Lessons learned repositories

§   Risk identification, quantification, and mitigation tracking

This workshop qualifies as an elective in the UW-La Crosse Supervisory Management Certificate Program. Participants do not have to pursue their certificate in order to attend this workshop.

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of bringing new p[roduct ideas to marketing, including how to protect intellectual property rights. There will also be a discussion how to license new product ideas, and ways to raise investor and grant financing for research & development.

At the end of the day, what matters most to your company’s bottom line is whether or not every member of your team contributed to your company’s success. Whether this contribution comes in the form of exceeding customer expectations, meeting a challenging performance goal, or solving quality or productivity problems, sustaining your company’s performance and profitability requires that your employees do the right things. This new SBDC program presents a model for managing employee performance and provides you specific tools you can use for setting performance goals, maintaining communication, managing performance, conducting the performance review, and developing performance improvement plans.

This two-hour workshop will discuss the basics of bringing new p[roduct ideas to marketing, including how to protect intellectual property rights. There will also be a discussion how to license new product ideas, and ways to raise investor and grant financing for research & development.

Each participant will complete an emotional intelligence assessment in class and will receive access to the online version of the assessment to complete in six months to measure their progress.  This assessment reflects ones style or approach to emotions.  Participants will also complete an assessment that will help them determine specific skills areas to develop for a higher EQ.

You may choose from the individual programs listed below, but most participants benefit from taking the entire series of all four sessions and save 10% over the cost of individual sessions.
Emotional Intelligence: Master teh othe IQ 

Having Difficult Conversations

Managing Change & Innovation

High Impact Communication Using Majors PTI

This two session workshop is designed to enhance the career potential of women within the 7 Rivers Region. Participants will consider the “big picture” of the working lives of professional women while learning practical how-to strategies designed to help align their long-term goals with day-to-day activities. These thought provoking sessions consists of five core topics: 1) women’s strengths and challenges in today’s workplace, 2) expanding effectiveness and influence, 3) work-life balance, 4) mentoring and finding mentoring, and 5) stages of effectiveness and career development.

• Moving from an operational to a decision-making role
• Making the transition smoother and less stressful 

Understanding Your Leadership Style

• Six leadership styles—characteristics, advantages and disadvantages
• Matching appropriate leadership styles to the situation

Motivating Employee Performance

• The managers responsibility for employee performance and productivity
• Guidelines for understanding employee behavior

Dealing with Non-Performance

• Developing a correcting / coaching model
• Understand why workers dont do what is expected

Do you have lots of “stuff” you would like to sell? Are you looking for a way to dramatically grow your eBay sales? Have you considered opening an online eBay Store, but are not sure how it all works?  Join certified eBay University Instructor Jack Waddick for this fun and informative eBay Stores class. Besides explaining the many benefits of having an online eBay Store, Jack will show you step-by-step how to open and fine-tune your store for maximum results. With over 3,000 successful eBay transactions, Jack will share tips, tools, and strategies for marketing to the millions of buyers on eBay. Optional: a copy of The eBay Stores Workbook can be purchased for $20 when you arrive in the classroom.

Every workforce is a complex mix of people. What can be done to overcome the barriers to productivity, communication, and work satisfaction? Learn techniques to help all employees thrive.

First-line managers need good leadership skills. Topics include (1) the transition to management, (2) analyzing leadership styles, (3) motivating employee performance, and (4) discipline and work rules. Supervisory Management 1 is an excellent introductory course for new managers facing the challenges of leading a work group.

Supervisory Leadership I offers guidance for aspiring or new leaders and pragmatic recommendations for leaders who seek to develop strong teams and drive outstanding results.  Explore different leadership styles and discover your own unique style.  Understand the transition into leadership and how your role and responsibilities are defined.

• What is performance appraisal?
• Sources of performance data available

• Communicating clear, specific expectations
• Importance of Ensuring Rater Accuracy

Critical Skills in the Coaching Process

• How coaching differs from supervising
• Giving feedback constructively

Conducting Coaching Conversations

• Mastering coaching techniques

• What is performance appraisal?
• Sources of performance data available

• Communicating clear, specific expectations
• Importance of Ensuring Rater Accuracy

Critical Skills in the Coaching Process

• How coaching differs from supervising
• Giving feedback constructively

Conducting Coaching Conversations

• Mastering coaching techniques

Leadership development continues in four key areas (1) orienting people to your work unit, (2) understanding your communication behaviors, (3) managing time, and (4) using delegation as a development tool.  We build on the leadership skills learned in the first seminar and focus on maintaining a productive work group.

The UW-La Crosse Project Management Certificate Program is an innovative and collaborative education opportunity that provides participants with a targeted and unique learning opportunity. Each participant’s program is custom designed to fill the individual skill gaps and designed to work for their planned future career needs. Participants are required to complete 56 hours of learning activities to earn their certificate. Participants will work individually with the instructor to select learning activities in-line with their goals and learning style.

Everyone negotiates, even if they don’t realize it. Negotiations exist in everyday life with family and friends. They exist in business, politics, and within all organizations, institutions and companies. This interactive seminar will help you develop principled negotiation skills.

Conflict is inevitable and it can be part of everyday life. We have two basic choices when conflict arises: 1) shy away and try to avoid it, or 2) move into it and work to resolve it. Many people may not realize that by habitually avoiding the fear and emotional tensions that make conflict seem difficult, they are usually increasing the amount and intensity of future conflicts they will have to deal with. Put another way: “If you have to eat a frog, get it when it’s a tadpole.” This takes courage and skill. We can learn a lot about ourselves and others if we can develop the critical skills and self-regulation that can turn potential conflict into discovery, self-confidence, and increased personal power. Your skill and ability to communicate clearly and effectively while addressing conflicts smoothly will be a distinct factor in your future success. These skills are often what separate star performers from the rest of the organization.

• Moving from an operational to a decision-making role
• Making the transition smoother and less stressful 

Understanding Your Leadership Style

• Six leadership styles—characteristics, advantages and disadvantages
• Matching appropriate leadership styles to the situation

Motivating Employee Performance

• The managers responsibility for employee performance and productivity
• Guidelines for understanding employee behavior

Dealing with Non-Performance

• Developing a correcting / coaching model
• Understand why workers dont do what is expected

By learning to build a workplace that is inspired, leaders have the opportunity to create a culture of growth and increase the competitive advantage of employee innovation and production.

Communicating clear, specific expectations to your people is critical for operational effectiveness.  Giving feedback during day-to-day coaching sessions as well as during formal performance reviews is an essential skill. We discuss why there is resistance to performance assessment, how to establish job expectations, and how to conduct productive coaching sessions.

For the first time in American history, four distinct generations are in the workforce at the same time. Additionally, the American workforce is the most diverse ever and is diversifying at a dizzying rate. Managing employees has never been more complicated and effective communication has never been more important than it is today. Unfortunately, many managers may find it difficult to work with Generation Y workers, claiming these employees have no patience, believe everything is owed to them, are not loyal, and expect to be told how to do everything! Effectively managing these employees is extremely important. Management researchers believe that Generation Y is the most highly educated generation of workers in our history and their exposure to technology, diversity, and international travel make them the key to America’s ability to remain competitive in the age of globalization.  

The most successful managers are those who understand the unique motivations of the workforce generations. These managers are finding ways to create work environments that are productive, fun, engaging and build of the strengths of each generation. Management experts argue that if managers evolve as their employees evolve, the end result will be a more dynamic and competitive organization where knowledge is shared, action is taken quickly, and new avenues are opened. In this course you will learn about the unique qualities and motivations of the four generations that make up today’s workforce and how to communicate effectively in an ever-diversifying workplace.

• What is performance appraisal?
• Sources of performance data available

• Communicating clear, specific expectations
• Importance of Ensuring Rater Accuracy

Critical Skills in the Coaching Process

• How coaching differs from supervising
• Giving feedback constructively

Conducting Coaching Conversations

• Mastering coaching techniques