Business and Leadership Skills Program

IRM's BLS Communication course includes five lessons: Effective Communication, Business Correspondence, Business Ethics and Quality Assurance, Effective Presentations, and Customer Service.

• Effective Communication is an integral part of most people’s jobs. Using correct communication techniques enables employees to be more effective in almost every aspect of their jobs. Communicating in a way that is comfortable and understandable for the receiver is key in getting positive results. This lesson will focus on a variety of effective communication basics and on behaviors that hinder positive and productive communication exchanges.
• The objective of Business Correspondence is to enhance students’ communication skills by providing an understanding of effective business writing techniques. These techniques apply to any kind of written business communication, such as conventional letters, e-mail, reports, etc.
• Business Ethics and Quality Assurance is designed to provide an introduction to the topic of ethics in the workplace and to highlight the role of the manager or supervisor as role model in the demonstration of ethical behaviors and making ethical decisions. It is important for every manager and supervisor to have a thorough understanding of the current legislation that regulates employee behavior, training and decision making. This lesson will provide the participant with an overview of typical ethical dilemmas that occur in healthcare facilities.
• Effective Presentations will provide the student with the tools necessary to communicate effectively in today's dynamic organizations, to demonstrate the ability to identify the key components of successful presentations, to identify “evident mannerisms” that detract from an effective presentation and work toward eliminating them, and to identify and practice “effective mannerisms” that add to a presentation’s power and affect the desired results.
• Customer Service provides an overview of basic customer service techniques. The focus of the lesson is on identifying specific customer service behaviors that demonstrate excellence and on delivering excellent customer service in all situations.

IRM's BLS Leading Teams course includes six lessons: Mentoring, Giving and Receiving Feedback, Leading Customer-Focused Teams, Team Behaviors, Motivational Skills, Conflict Resolution, and Managing Change and Ambiguity.

• Mentoring, Giving and Receiving Feedback is designed to provide the leader and the employee with a framework and tools for positive employee mentoring in an effort to support and ensure a safe, cooperative, and productive work environment.
• Leading Customer-Focused Teams is designed to promote discussion around the topic of leadership roles and responsibilities in a goal-focused, high-performing organization. It explores the competencies any leader is able to develop as well as the consequences for modeling these competencies. Each leader is given the opportunity to focus on his/her strengths and to determine strategies to further build these skills and abilities.
• Team Behaviors is designed to provide the learner with a framework for positive behaviors that support team efforts and ensure a positive, cooperative, and productive work environment.
• Motivational Skills introduces the fundamental concepts that are the foundation of modern motivational theory. It will explore the impact that managers and supervisors have when they challenge personal assumptions about motivation and adopt a strategy that focuses on the motivational needs of each employee and considers each employee’s personal development needs.
• Conflict Resolution introduces the concept of “emotional intelligence” and engages participants in an exploration of five strategies for handling conflict. Participants will assess their preferred strategy and will identify the strengths and limitations of each of the strategies. In small groups, participants will examine workplace conflict scenarios and determine the most effective and appropriate lesson of action.
• Managing Change and Ambiguity develops a deeper understanding and comfort level with the change process. Recognize the cycle of reactions to change and utilize strategies to coach and motivate employees to improve their resilience and increase production results. Increase the effectiveness of your organization, your department, your team, and your own performance when you are responsible for managing and monitoring change initiatives. Better meet customer needs through improved performance and employee satisfaction.

IRM's BLS Management course includes four lessons: Time Management, Meeting Facilitation Skills, Project Management, and Directing Meetings.

• Time Management enables the participant to view time management from a "purposeful perspective," identify strategies to improve daily time management, to reach long-term goals, to clarify what can and cannot be controlled, and to create helpful work habits that maximize personal productivity and increase a sense of accomplishment and well-being at work.
• Meeting Facilitation Skills introduces the fundamental principles of group facilitation. The focus of the lesson is on teaching participants to effectively facilitate groups in a variety of situations, utilizing approaches that support adult learning. Participants will learn to pose learning process questions and to use proven facilitation tips and techniques.
• Project Management provides the student with the understanding of projects and their component processes. A project is a unique set of activities designed to accomplish a specific objective, within a specific period of time, with finite resources. After completing this lesson, you will be able to: know the different components of a project, understand the different activities of a project, know how to build proper agreements with all involved, deal with risks and focus on desinging documented and successful projects.
• Directing Meetings introduces a structure for preparing meetings that get results. The focus of the lesson is on identifying skills and behaviors that enable supervisors and their team(s) to conduct meetings that produce positive results and allow for input from all team members. Students will practice developing a purposeful agenda, utilizing group facilitation techniques, and handling situations where meeting participants are out of alignment with the team’s immediate goals.