Retirement Planning for CSRS/FERS Employees (virtual) (Two-days)

This course will focus on a comprehensive look at employees’ Federal Benefits and financial and TSP planning for those nearing retirement.

The following topics will be covered, but not limited to:

Federal Benefits

• Retirement Plans
• FERS, Transfers or CSRS, Offset
• Creditable Service
• Disability Retirement
• Annual and Sick Leave
• Deposit/Redeposit
• Annuity Calculation
• Best Date to Retire
• Voluntary Contributions (CSRS)
• WEP and GPO (CSRS)
• COLAs
• Survivor Benefit Options
• Social Security/Medicare
• Resigning before Retirement
• Death in Service

Financial and TSP Planning

• Financial Planning for Retirement
• Managing Debt in Retirement
• Pros and Cons of Paying Down a Mortgage
• TSP
  • Borrowing from the TSP
  • Determining Allocation between Funds
  • Roth TSP vs Traditional
  • Withdrawal Options at Retirement
• Traditional and Roth IRAs
• Investments Beyond the TSP
• Funding College Education
• Overview of Estate Planning

Artificial Intelligence in the Federal Workplace: Understanding AI and Its Impact on Federal Work (2 Day Course)

This training event is designed for federal employees and managers to grasp the fundamentals and implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the context of federal operations. Participants will engage in a series of lectures, interactive sessions, and discussions focusing on how AI technologies are reshaping job roles, transforming federal operations, and the necessary pathways to integrate AI into federal programs effectively. This event aims to equip federal workers with the knowledge to navigate the evolving landscape of AI, fostering innovation and enhancing operational efficiency within their respective agencies.

Agenda:

Introductions and Administrative Matters

• Introduction to the day’s objectives

AI and The Future of Work

• The impact of AI on the workforce and workplace
• Interactive discussion: Real-world examples of AI transforming federal job roles

Generative AI-based Transformation

• Introduction to generative AI and its capabilities
• Group activity: Identifying opportunities for generative AI in participants' agencies

Pathways to a Federal AI Program (Part 1)

• Basic skills needed for AI - Introduction to Python and AI tools
• Overview of Federal AI Policy and its implications

Pathways to a Federal AI Program (Part 2)

• Big Ideas in AI and their relevance to federal missions
• Interactive session: Developing a roadmap for AI integration in your agency

The Road Ahead

• Group reflection: Sharing insights and action plans
• Closing remarks: Emphasizing continuous learning and adaptation in the AI era

Who Should Attend:

This event is ideal for federal employees and managers at all levels interested in understanding and leveraging AI to improve federal operations, decision-making, and service delivery.

What You Will Gain:

• An in-depth understanding of the transformative potential of AI in the federal sector.
• Knowledge of the basic skills required to engage with AI technologies.
• Insights into federal AI policies and how they impact your work.

Delivering Live and Virtual Briefings (Virtual: 2-day/8-hour)

Summary:

This course teaches students how to create impactful briefings and present them dynamically, both in-person and virtually. You will learn how to logically organize and write multiple types of briefings, build rapport, and connect with all types of audiences. Learn how to connect with your audience, build a solid foundation, use positive body language, and deliver your briefing live or over a virtual platform.

Learning Objectives

• Identify persuasive, informational, instructional briefings.
• Create clear, concise, and well-organized briefings.
• Define your objective.
• Organize key points.
• Clearly present ideas and recommendations.
• Analyze typical audience responses.
• Determine the appropriate tone and delivery style.
• Optimize your presentation style for various audiences.
• Deploy strategies for engaging a virtual audience.
• Build rapport with any audience.
• Use verbal and non-verbal expressions of communication.
• Present and build rapport while using a technology platform.

Group Facilitation Skills (Virtual: 3-day/12-hour Class )

Summary:

In this course you will learn how to tackle the challenges of facilitation into opportunities by strengthening your facilitation skills. We will practice incorporating key facilitator competencies into a proven and effective facilitation approach. You will apply proven strategy techniques for facilitating challenging scenarios through planning, feedback, discussion, and practical application. At the end of the course, you will be filled with the skills, tools, and techniques to make a diverse group’s work more effective in a variety of environments and platforms.

Learning Objectives

• Identify effective preparation strategies.
• Demonstrate effective facilitation roles and behaviors.
• Manage group processes toward a desired outcome.
• Apply strategies for moving through stages of development.
• Demonstrate effective intervention techniques.

Communication Skills: Managing Difficult/Crucial Conversations (virtual) (two-days)

Summary:

Having difficult conversations and being able to manage them effectively is a vital leadership skill which all good leaders should possess. Dealing with a delicate situation, like appraisals, solving a staffing or performance problem, or important customer conversations, requires sensitivity and finesse. This workshop teaches participants how to be assertive, honest and fair whether with team members or with customers. You will learn to approach challenging situations with confidence, positivity, and practicality.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain why certain conversations are so difficult
• Shift their perspectives about difficult conversations, for those who dread or retreat from having these conversations
• Strategically prepare for and initiate a difficult conversation
• Confidently engage in a difficult conversation
• Make conscious decisions about the best verbal and nonverbal ways to communicate
• Act with integrity
• Demonstrate empathy
• Successfully “recover” from a difficult conversation
• Manage their emotions during a difficult conversation

Leadership and Management for Non-Managers and Aspiring Supervisors (virtual) (three-days)

Overview

Leadership is not contingent on a title or status within an organization. One can be a manager or director and not be a leader. One can also be a ‘newbie’ and have a very low GS ranking yet demonstrate tremendous leadership among peers, customers, community members, and senior people in the organization. Leadership is about one’s qualities, character, and behaviors, not about one’s job description. This course is designed to help everyone assess her/his leadership abilities and capacities while also practicing specific leadership skills.

Objectives

1. Understand core presuppositions, purpose, principles and paradigms for effective leadership regardless of level within an organization.
2. Determine the behaviors, attitudes, skills, and knowledge that are necessary for effective leadership for peer leaders.
3. Review and develop OPM leadership competencies for non-managers and aspiring supervisors.
4. Assess communication transactions and learn to clean communication filters.
5. Consider a few best practices for written communication.
6. Participate in peer problem-solving and practice using problem-solving tools.
7. Examine the sources of conflicts at work and understand conflict styles.
8. Explore interpersonal values that impact workplace cultures.
9. Engage in the evaluation of teams and units.
10. Participate in peer presentations and learn about public service motivation, accountability, and decision-making.

Format, models, tools, and activities

• Interactive workshop format
• Peer advising practice and peer teaching activities
• Self-assessment and individual development planning
• Small group activities

Organization and Time Management (virtual) (Two-days)

Organization and time management are difficult when juggling multiple priorities. That is why it is important to blend priority management into any task and time management program. Many things may be important, but not everything is a priority. This course helps professionals identify priorities, establish expectations and boundaries, organize time based on task importance, and balance their days to maintain sanity.

Objectives

1. Review professional competency supporting time, priority, and organization management.
2. Engage in the assessment of priority, time, and task management.
3. Differentiate and prioritize urgent and important tasks for action.
4. Make sound strategic-level decisions in a timely manner.
5. Manage competing priorities and maintain accountability.
6. Learn to establish boundaries around space and time, confront time wasters/bandits, and halt interruptions.
7. Recognize the value of operating as a strategic leader in both work and personal life.

Business Writing and Email Etiquette (virtual) (Two-days)

Course Objectives: Participants who successfully complete this course will be able to:

• use guidelines for business writing
• plan their documents by identifying purpose, audience, main message, and scope
• identify key topics and subtopics and use them to create an outline
• write powerful topic sentences and use transition phrases skillfully to guide the reader
• use proper grammar and sentence structure
• use plain writing techniques, including active voice, action verbs, and headings
• write professional emails
• edit their writing for content, organization, relevance of supporting detail, ranking of importance of supporting detail, style, and correctness

Course Outline:

Module 1—Welcome/Orientation

• Introductions
• The elements of writing (Higher Order Concerns and Lower Order Concerns)
• Review of examples

Module 2—Plain Writing and Its Focus on the Reader

• Identify the target audience and their needs
• Identify the intent of the document
• Identify a main message
• Choose content
• Make a hierarchy of points of information
• Assess the need for supporting detail
• Write useful headings
• Choose the right words for your audience
• Revise passive voice to active voice

Module 3—Grammar

• Review of subject-verb agreement, vague pronoun reference, and pronoun reference agreement
• Review of common errors with commas, semicolons, and colons

Module 4—Writing Style and Refinements

• Maintain a professional tone
• Atlantic Management Center, Inc.
• Avoid nominalizations
• Choose appropriate sentence and paragraph length

Module 5—Email Label

• Write modern greetings, salutations, and transition phrases
• Choose effective subject lines
• Use an appropriate and helpful tone

Module 6—Editing and proofreading

• Understand the difference between editing and proofing
• Use Microsoft Word tools for editing and proofreading

Module 7—Conclusion

• Individually set goals for improving writing skills and describe action steps
• Group discussion of goals and action steps
• Evaluations and closeout

Accountable Leadership (virtual) (one-day) two sessions

Managers who understand and embrace leadership accountabilities are key to a company’s success. This powerful program lays the foundation for a new mind-set of managerial responsibilities and behaviors. You will learn proven techniques for decision-making, managing change, empowerment, delegation, motivation, coaching, and feedback. Through accountable leadership, you will influence others to accomplish your goals as if the goals were their own.

Learning Objectives

• Accept personal accountability and influence others
• Lead by example
• Make decisions with confidence, without hesitation
• Apply higher levels of thought
• Create a formula for following up – at all levels
• Anticipate the impacts of actions and non-actions
• Avoid common barriers in multi-cultural business
• Successfully evaluate business practices
• Embrace change as a tool for success

Course Agenda

Elements of Leadership

1. The Role of Power
2. Managing vs. Leading
3. Self-Regulation
4. Cognitive Thinking Skills

Fundamental Leadership

5. Communication Model
6. Assigning Proper Job Responsibilities
7. Delegating
8. Over-commitment
9. Under-promise, Over-deliver

Influencing Others

10. Types of Influence
11. Methods of Influence
12. Common Mistakes
13. Persuasion Tactics
14. Worldwide Accountability

Critical Thinking: The Basics and Beyond (virtual) (1-day)

During this intense program, we cover the skills taught in Principles of Critical Thinking and then go beyond. We will teach you how to apply logic and reasoning to enhance work processes and improve decision making. And then we delve deeper into cognitive and lateral processes of critical decision-making.

Learning Objectives

• Apply higher levels of thought.
• Identify, construct, and evaluate arguments.
• Detect inconsistencies and mistakes in reasoning.
• Create a broader range of solutions.
• Logically breakdown and solve problems.
• Better anticipate the impacts of decisions.
• Apply ongoing analysis.

Course Agenda

The Discipline of Critical Thinking

1. Self-Assessment
2. The Broad Brush of Thinking
3.  Elements of Critical Thinking
4. Origins of Critical Thinking
5. Bloom’s Taxonomy
6. Critical Thinking in Business
7. Keys to Critical Thinking
8. Dispositions Toward Critical Thinking

Reasoning

9. Evaluating Arguments
10. Statements and Arguments
11. Types of Arguments
12. Fallacies
13. Elements of Reasoning

Evaluating and Analyzing

14. Evaluative Questions
15. Seeing the Big Picture
16. Big Picture Guidelines
17. Universal Intellectual Standards

Problem Solving and Decision-Making

18. Problem Solving Defined
19. Decision-Making Defined
20. Drawing Conclusions
21. Elements of Decision-Making
22. Evidence-Based Decision-Making
23. Cognitive Problem Solving
24. Lateral Thinking
25. Rules of Brainstorming
26. What is Decision-Making?
27. Six Thinking Hats
28. Ongoing Analysis