Online and Remote Learning

Organizations use quality management and process excellence to deliver value for customers, generate returns for shareholders and improve workplaces. This course gives you a solid grounding in the ideas and practices of quality management. You'll learn the core ideas that underpin the leading quality and process excellence methodologies and frameworks used today (ISO, TQM, Lean Six Sigma) and how to apply Lean Six Sigma Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (DMAIC) methodology to business and work situations. Understand how quality relates to business strategy. Measure and define quality in your processes from your customer's perspective. Map and analyze your processes. Understand and identify waste in your processes. Understand and be able to apply fundamental project management and Lean Six Sigma tools to improve processes.

Lean Six Sigma is a strategic tool organizations use to deliver value for customers, generate returns for shareholders and create a meaningful workplace environment for employees. This hands-on course covers widely used concepts associated with the Lean Six Sigma methodology. You'll learn how to identify improvement opportunities, develop solutions and ensure that the benefits are realized. Map the value streams in your organization. Analyze a value stream to improve flow and create demand-driven pull. Calculate takt time and quantify the baseline performance of your value stream. Establish and define standard work. Lead kaizen events to improve the effectiveness of your value stream.

If you've completed 2355 Understanding & Managing Conflict or have equivalent experience, this course will teach you the practical skills you need to effectively manage conflict either as a neutral third party or as a participant seeking the best possible outcome. If you want to excel and lead in managing the conflicts that arise in today's workplaces, this highly interactive and practical course takes you through a learning plan of your own design, starting with a detailed self-assessment. Explore the full range of skills needed to manage conflict. Get insights into which skills to improve. Practise a wide range of conflict-management skills. Develop a meaningful plan for continued skills development.

Fantasy and science fiction allow writers and readers to step outside familiar boundaries into imaginary worlds. In this workshop-style course, you'll learn the elements of both genres and get feedback from a community of writers as you craft the first draft of a new short story. You'll explore the foundations of world-building, plot, scene-setting, character development, and dialogue, as well as honing your critiquing skills. You'll also find out more about the business side of writing fantasy and science fiction. Create plot, narrative and characters that use elements of fantasy and Science Fiction. Learn some of the business aspect of fantasy and science fiction writing. Benefit from a critique of your manuscript.

Accident prevention should be a top priority for all organizations. Reducing accidents means fewer injuries and a boost to your reputation and employee morale. You incur fewer costs related to property damage, reduced productivity and legal liability. In this course, you'll learn the importance of approaching accident prevention systematically. Topics include occupational health and safety (OHS) programs, hazard identification, auditing tools, investigations and case studies. This online course has live webinars.  Understand the true cost of workplace accidents and how to prevent them. Investigate the direct and root causes of workplace accidents. Review the essential elements of an internal responsibility system. Understand the purpose of loss control and loss management programs. Implement an occupational health and safety (OHS) management system.

There are many paths to success, but proven strategies and principles allow some people to become top performers. In this course, you'll learn these principles and strategies and how to apply this knowledge immediately. Self-awareness, leveraging feedback, goal-setting, career strategy, handling adversity and managing your reputation are only a handful of the topics covered. This program is for public or private sector managers, emerging leaders and anyone seeking greater success. Understand the importance self-awareness plays in performance improvement.Leverage your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.Set goals and increase productivity to get results.Learn strategies to grow your job responsibilities and compensation.Manage your reputation and build your leadership brand.

Successful teams are built on clear goals, purpose and strategy. This fast and focused course will give you the foundation to build or shape a highly effective team. You'll learn what it takes to succeed in a team environment: goals and purpose, collaboration, leadership, talent selection, member profiling and measurement and successful execution of team strategy. This program is for private and public sector managers, project managers, emerging leaders or anyone who wants to enhance their team development skills. Select talented individuals and manage them effectively. Define team goals and purpose. Manage team and individual conflicts. Build short- and long-term teams and align members with your defined strategy. Measure team performance to stimulate continuous improvement.

Advance your understanding of occupational health and safety (OHS) management and get the tools to develop and apply the right system for your organization. If you're a professional with responsibility for managing OHS, learn about legislative compliance, risk management, hazard recognition and control and due diligence. You'll analyze and discuss precedent-setting case law, scan contemporary systems and thoroughly review the amendments to Bill C-45 that established the crime of OHS Criminal Negligence in the Criminal Code. Apply and interpret federal and provincial occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation. Ensure compliance with industry standards and best practices. Apply the principles and key requirements of an OHS management system. Review Bill C-45 (Section 217.1 of the Criminal Code) and know how to comply with it. Create a safety culture within an organization.

Memoir writing urges us to uncover the pattern and shape of our lives and tell our stories. Through intention, stillness, loving kindness (metta) and generative writing exercises, we can connect to the creative energy which is part of the Universe itself. We will look at how faith and philosophical traditions offer us essential strategies for fortifying the “inner citadel of our mind”; we learn precise and powerful ways to keep our “guardian spirit” “inviolate and free from harm” (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations). From a space of equanimity, clear seeing and compassion, write your stories. Through careful reading, learn the toolbox of the writer's craft: description, dialogue, point-of-view, character, rhythm, and sound. We will practice sitting and walking meditation and cultivate fearlessness and kindness as we revisit our past. We listen deeply to ourselves and to each other. We will do plenty of timed writing exercises to connect to our emotional truth, and engage in writing workshops and book discussions. Emphasis will be put on workshopping, beginning something new, or revising a memoir you may be working on. This class is open to writers of all levels.   Meditation practices that will give you enhanced insight into the narratives that are unique to your own individual life. Awareness of how your own individual experience can become a universal message that is of interest to readers. Techniques to enhance your writing abilities, and deeper insight into your own dynamic story. Engage in generative writing exercises to connect to your authentic voice and story and the creative energy of the Universe itself. Work through the neurosis, cravings and fears that block your writing and experience joyful creativity. Engage in writing workshop and receive feedback and make progress on your story.

Building on your project management experience, this micro-course will help you develop the skills and competencies you need to establish, lead, and/or work within a Project Management Office (PMO). A PMO provides structure to centralize and standardize project management initiatives so your organization improve its project management maturity and can achieve its goals. You’ll learn about the different types of PMOs, how they create value, and how to select the right type of PMO to best support the unique needs of your organization to be successful. By the end of this learning experience, you’ll know how to create, grow, and sustain a PMO that delivers value to your organization, and how to navigate important risks and challenges. In addition, you’ll gain the ability to assess the maturity of an existing PMO, and how to align the PMO to organizational strategy. Within 4-6 weeks of successfully completing this course, you will receive your micro-credential indicating achievement of the outlined learning outcomes and competencies/skills. Micro-credentials are tamper proof, verifiable, blockchain-based and 100% digital. They can be shared on social media, including LinkedIn and Facebook, embedded in websites or downloaded as PDFs. For more information, please visit: https://learn.utoronto.ca/programs-courses/unique/micro-courses. By the end of this micro course, you'll be able to: Describe what a PMO is and does Assess the appropriate type of PMO for an organization Evaluate the considerations for creating a PMO Assess the maturity level of a PMO Design a PMO to add value to an organization Create a PMO execution plan Competencies developed and assessed in this course include: Assessing the type of PMO needed Writing a PMO business case Building and sustaining a PMO Assessing the maturity of a PMO Aligning the PMO with strategy