Free Webinar Series
U of A Professional and Workforce Development is pleased to offer these 1 hour webinars at no cost to all interested participants. Registration is required and additional information will be provided via email in advance of the course date.
Be Happy for No Reason
Based on the bestselling book Happy for No Reason by Marci Shimoff, a Certified Happiness Trainer will explore the tools you need for living a joyous and happy life.
Learning Objectives
- The Seven Pillars of Happiness
- The techniques for each pillar
- How to implement into everyday life
September 17, 2020
Online / Live Stream
10:30 am - 11:30 am
Denise Thomas
Director of Africa & Middle East Trade
Arkansas World Trade Center
Leading Your Virtual Team
More of us are working virtually than ever before, which can make leading a team more challenging. Shelly Walters remotely managed a team of 15 and led the transition of nearly 30,000 U of A faculty and students to online learning platforms when concerns regarding COVID-19 led the University to suspend face-to-face classes in Spring 2020. In this course, Shelly will provide tips on how to quickly mobilize while still monitoring both task and project management with your virtual teams.
Learning Objectives
- Building or maintaining a team culture in the virtual environment
- Strategies for both live (online meetings) and delayed forms of communication (email, messaging apps, etc.)
- Creating informal learning spaces for virtual teams
- Monitoring performance and developing talent
September 24, 2020
Online / Live Stream
10:30 am - 11:30 am
Shelly Walters
Associate Director of Instructional Design and Support Services
University of Arkansas
Before a Business Plan: How to Think Through Your Business Idea in One Page
Most people don’t need a 40-page business plan and 5-year financial projections to start or scale their business. Instead, they need to think through a few key concepts in a short and strategic manner. In this webinar, you’ll learn the critical components to think through for any business or venture. Using the Lean Canvas technique, you’ll develop a one-page overview that explores and identifies all of the aspects to consider when starting or scaling your business.
Learning Objectives
- Identify all aspects to consider before starting a business
- Strategically assess the elements of a business plan
- Understand and organize a business plan on one page
October 1, 2020
Online / Live Stream
10:30 am - 11:30 am
Morgan Scholz, SHRM-CP
Consultant
Startup Junkie Foundation
Computers Through the Decades
This webinar will explore the ever-changing life of technology, how it has changed over time, how it relates to today’s technology, how new changes are implemented on a daily basis, and the importance of continuing education in the tech industry.
Learning Objectives
- Moving from one tech to another
- How it relates to today
- What’s in store for the future
October 8, 2020
Online / Live Stream
10:30 am - 11:30 am
Christopher Mitchell
CEO & Founder
MPerial Web Solutions
Forest Therapy to Reduce Stress in the Workplace
These are challenging times and stress levels are on the rise as people navigate the many changes affecting personal and professional lives. We need to renew our minds and bodies to maintain motivation, productivity, happiness, and wellness. This session will start with an overview of what forest therapy is, followed by information and research supporting forest therapy as an option to reduce stress. Finally, the session will conclude with a call to action for participants to deliberately slow down their daily pace and experience nature.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the basic tenets of forest therapy
- Examine the benefits of engaging in nature
- Examine simple actions that can be taken to reduce stress, improve clarity, and increase happiness
October 15, 2020
Online / Live Stream
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Dr. Heather Sprandel
Instructor
University of Arkansas
Using Food to Your Advantage - Improving Focus and Productivity in the Workplace and at Home
This webinar will introduce working professionals to the essentials of a healthy diet, including foods that improve focus and support productivity. It will teach methods of incorporating foods that have a direct impact on productivity into recipes that are quick and easy.
Learning Objectives
- Learn essentials of healthy eating
- Identify foods that improve focus and support productivity
- Learn quick and easy recipe modifications based on these foods
October 23, 2020
Online / Live Stream
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Nancy Harris Buckley,
MS NDTR
Instructor
University of Arkansas
Cultural Competency
This webinar will explore the importance of being able to maneuver cultural and business nuances that differ from your own to be successful in social, professional and business settings.
Learning Objectives
- Navigate working across borders within your own team, organization, partners and clients
- Overcome challenges you may encounter when interacting with other cultures
October 29, 2020
Online / Live Stream
10:30 am - 11:30 am
Denise Thomas
Director of Africa & Middle East Trade
Arkansas World Trade Center
Docker Basics
This course will provide an introduction of Docker, including installation and an overview. You will build and deploy working services in standalone environments and using Docker Compose.
Learning Objectives
- Build imager
- Run image
- Connect to container
- Deploy multiple services
November 5, 2020
Online / Live Stream
10:30 am - 11:30 am
Ben Walcutt
Senior Software Engineer
JB Hunt
Do Your Projects Support Your Strategies?
This course will explore foundational concepts of Benefits Realization Management (BRM), which is both a discipline and a process used to align projects undertaken by an organization with their organizational strategy and culture.
Learning Objectives
- Understand Benefits Realization Management concept
- Outline Benefits Realization Management process
- Evaluate opportunities by applying Benefits Realization Management
November 12, 2020
Online / Live Stream
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Phil Jones
Facilities Consultant
Lockwood 2 Creations
Agile Scrum 101
In this course, you will learn the history of Agile, why Agile is useful over the Waterfall method, and a basic introduction of Agile vs Scrum. We will also discuss the certification options for Agile and Scrum.
Learning Objectives
- The history and development of Agile
- Agile vs Scrum
- Certification options
November 19, 2020
Online / Live Stream
10:30 am - 11:30 am
Jennifer McCool
PAL 1 and Scrum Master
Owner
Organize This AR
Kubernetes Basics
This session will offer an introduction to Kubernetes using Kubectl and MiniKube. You will deploy and interact with working services on local installation and a cloud installation.
Learning Objectives
- Deploy namespace
- Deploy deployment
- Deploy service
- Deploy Ingress
November 24, 2020
Online / Live Stream
10:30 am - 11:30 am
Ben Walcutt
Senior Software Engineer
JB Hunt
D.I.Y. Entrepreneurship
Want to start a business or side hustle and aren’t sure where to start? Learn the steps to D.I.Y. a small business from the ground up: from business licensure to logo development/recognition to the day-to-day operation of a business and more—there is a lot to figure out before you start! We will go through the steps of starting up a business from scratch with limited resources and share what we have learned along the way.
Learning Objectives
- Translate an idea and your experiences into a money-making business
- Steps of starting up a business from scratch with limited resources
- Understand the difference between a service and a product (and potential tax liability associated with each)
- Explore the different types of business organizations and which might be best for you
- Most important components of running a business (legal, financial, service/product development)
December 3, 2020
Online / Live Stream
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Communication and Time Management
In today's workplace there is a plethora of communications form and channels. There are many theories on how best to manage these to stay on track. In this course you will hear tips and tricks from someone who has tried them all!
Learning Objectives
- Managing communication channels
- Identifying priorities
- Time management strategies
December 10, 2020
Online / Live Stream
10:30 am - 11:30 am
Eric Howerton
Chief Growth Officer
SKU Ninja + WhyteSpyder
