Gaining Skills with LinkedIn Learning

With LinkedIn Learning, anyone can gain new skills. We offer expert-led, anytime training that you can take at your own pace, with tools and features to fit almost any learning style. Use this course to understand how you learn best and how LinkedIn Learning can help you set and achieve your personal and professional goals. Educator and content manager Aaron Quigley shows how to use LinkedIn Learning alongside cutting-edge, brain-based research to create a learning game plan, execute it, and make the knowledge stick. Understand which skills are in demand, how to find the training to reach your goals, and how to showcase your new skills.

Learning Objectives:

• Finding the right skills to learn

• Making a learning game plan

• Knowing your learning style

• Making learning stick

• Adding certificates to your profile

Developing Your Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence can help you build effective relationships at work. Executive coach and organizational psychologist Gemma Roberts explains what emotional intelligence is and why it's important. She helps you become more self-aware so that you can identify triggers that may hijack your performance. She also helps you align your intentions and your impact so that you can build strong and collaborative relationships.

Learning Objectives:

• What is emotional intelligence?

• Watching for triggers and hijacks

• Finding flow

• Disrupting thinking

• Reclaiming reaction time

• Shifting perspective

• Empathizing

• Listening and communicating

• Playing to strengths

• Collecting feedback

• Aligning intention and impact

Lead with Emotional Intelligence

Emotions are all around us in the office, and it's important for leaders to understand how to harness them to cultivate productivity and positive relationships. In this course, Britt Andreatta shares how to boost your emotional quotient (EQ) to better lead teams, work with peers, and manage up. Learn what emotional intelligence is and how it factors in at work, and discover concrete techniques for raising your own EQ. This includes perceiving yourself accurately, exercising emotional self-control, understanding and managing your triggers, and developing empathy. Then, turn those lessons around to build your awareness of others and become a more inspiring—and effective—leader.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the brain science behind emotional intelligence.

• Identify and assess your emotions.

• Determine how to exercise emotional self-control.

• Identify your triggers and how to respond to them.

• Assess how others respond at work.

• Determine how to maximize team performance using emotional intelligence.

• Discover how to catalyze change.

Learn Emotional Intelligence, The Key Determiner of Success

Explore the four domains of emotional intelligence—self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management—as defined by psychologist and author Daniel Goleman. The domains build on one another, starting with a greater awareness of self and others, and ending with the management of relationships that are critical to your personal and professional life. Learn how to become more mindful of your strengths, limitations, and the values that define them; explore ways to create space between yourself, your thoughts, and your emotions; develop awareness of how people see the world differently based on individual preferences, as well as social and environmental factors; and use awareness of self and others to work toward collaboration, innovation, and mutually beneficial relationships. This course includes videos from: Daniel Goleman, psychologist, lecturer, and science journalist Amy Cuddy, social psychologist and associate professor at Harvard Business School Susan David, psychologist at Harvard Medical School and cofounder of the Institute of Coaching Alan Alda, Emmy-winning actor, writer, and director Angie McArthur, CEO of Professional Thinking Partners Note: This course was produced by Big Think. We are pleased to host this content in our library. 

Time Management Fundamentals

Effective time management is an indispensable skill. Best-selling author and business coach Dave Crenshaw lays the theoretical and practical foundations for managing your time and becoming more productive.

Learn how to get more done in the shortest time possible and avoid the obstacles and distractions that can get in the way of good time management. Dave gives practical strategies for increasing productivity in three main areas: developing habits to be more organized and reducing clutter in your workspace; staying mentally on task and eliminate the to-dos you have floating in your head; and developing a time budget to get the most done during your workday and focus on your most valuable activities.

Learning Objectives:

• Discover the principles of time management.

• Avoid the pitfalls of multitasking.

• Identify why switch tasking is an ineffective way to work.

• Define the limits of your physical inbox.

• Determine the best ways to consolidate multiple accounts.

• Differentiate between personal and professional gathering points.

• Plan ways to manage unresolved tasks.

• Effectively schedule your time.

• Organize digital and physical information efficiently.

• Select the appropriate steps in order to get tasks completed efficiently.

• Manage scheduling conflicts professionally and courteously.

• Budget your time in a way that aligns with your personal and professional priorities.

Finding Your Time Management Style

When it comes to time management strategies, one size does not fit all. To create your optimal workday, you must consider many factors, including the nature of your job, the level of interaction you have with others, and your personal preferences. In this course, productivity expert Dave Crenshaw expands upon the concepts covered in his other time management courses to help you boost your productivity by crafting a personalized approach to time management. Dave takes you through an assessment to discover your time management style and then shows how to adapt fundamental time management strategies to suit your unique needs. Plus, discover how to work productively with coworkers whose time management style differs from yours.

Learning Objectives:

• Modify your time management system to suit your style.

• Use the variety-consistency assessment to discover your time management style.

• Adapt your time management system to suit the needs of your team.

• Show coworkers how to discover their time management style.

• Evaluate your language to collaborate more effectively.

Time Management Tips

Improve your productivity, get things done, and find more time for what's most important with Time Management Tips Weekly. This series provides actionable time management advice in just a few short minutes. Productivity expert Dave Crenshaw provides techniques on a wide variety of topics, designed to help people better manage their time and ultimately become more productive. Tune in to learn about everything from managing emails and calendars to setting priorities, collaborating with coworkers, reducing interruptions, crafting a "productivity mindset," and creating a more comfortable and effective work environment.

Learning Objectives:

• Reducing interruptions

• Dealing with feeling overwhelmed

• Responding to quick questions

• Making the most of meetings

• Following up

• Implementing a closed door, open calendar policy

Body Language in Your Role as a Leader

Research shows that when your verbal and nonverbal signals are out of alignment, people are forced to choose between what they hear and what they see. And subconsciously, they'll believe your body language. In this course, workplace body-language expert Carol Kinsey Goman, PhD, reveals how body language is perceived and often misread, and shares tips for making a positive first impression within the first few seconds of any interaction. She also discusses the role of body language in cross-cultural communication, delves into the importance of body language for leaders, and shows how you can establish leadership presence. Finally, she provides simple and effective tips on communicating with gestures and stance.

Learning Objectives:

• Assess how your body language signals are perceived.

• Discover how to align your body language with your words.

• Determine how to make a positive first impression.

• Identify how to convey confidence.

• Evaluate your vocal tone.

Interpersonal Communication

Communicating effectively isn't an innate talent that some people have and others don't—it's something that anyone can learn and practice. In this course, learn strategies that can help you hone and master your interpersonal communication skills. Join personal branding and career expert Dorie Clark as she shares techniques for getting your message across effectively in the workplace, and explains how to tackle potential communication challenges with your colleagues and supervisor. She also discusses how to grapple with tricky situations, taking you through how to handle interruptions, respond to critical feedback, and communicate across cultures.

Learning Objectives:

• Communicating with your colleagues

• When to use the phone or send an email

• Interpreting nonverbal cues

• Asking your boss the right questions

• Knowing when to listen and when to speak

• Communicating in tricky situations

• Handling an interruption

• Responding to critical feedback

• How to communicate as an introvert

Compassionate Directness

In any organization, communicating with directness is vital to success. But to build a truly healthy culture, directness must go hand-in-hand with compassion. When you combine these qualities, the result is truly powerful, creating a culture of increased clarity and productivity that also values and respects people's essential humanity. In this course, Arianna Huffington and Joey Hubbard discuss the art of effective, compassionate communication, giving you tools and strategies to be a more honest, kind, and director communicator.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the benefit of employees working within a culture of compassionate directness.

• Identify the drawbacks of a culture of directness compared to a culture of compassionate directness.

• Identify the qualities of mindful communication.

• List the components that make up trust in a business environment.

• Recall the positive end result for business operations when a company builds a culture of compassionate directness.

Effective Listening

Listening is a critical competency, whether you are interviewing for your first job or leading a Fortune 500 company. Surprisingly, relatively few working professionals have ever had any formal training in how to listen effectively. In this course, communications experts Tatiana Kolovou and Brenda Bailey-Hughes show how to assess your current listening skills, understand the challenges to effective listening (such as distractions!), and develop behaviors that will allow you to become a better listener—and a better colleague, mentor, and friend.

Learning Objectives:

• Define attentive listening.

• Explore what happened when you are distracted by delivery.

• Recall what a mental filter is and how it can affect assumptions.

• Explore methods for choosing the best paraphrasing response in the situation.

• List the five listening intentions.

Communication Foundations

Learn how to communicate more effectively. Your communication skills affect your career prospects, the value you bring to your company, and the likelihood of your promotion. This course helps you communicate better in a variety of professional situations, including meetings, email messages, pitches, and presentations. Instructors Tatiana Kolovou and Brenda Bailey-Hughes introduce the four building blocks of communication—people, message, context, and listening—and show how they apply in different circumstances. Through the use of vignettes and applied tools, the course shows how to build this core competency and communicate in a way that effectively and professionally conveys your message.

Learning Objectives:

• Recall the four pillars of a business scenario.

• Explore the term 'people' in the context of a communication scenario.

• Recall how the Think, Feel, Do model applies to a communication scenario.

• Identify the parts of the message in a communication scenario.

• Recognize the 'channel' in a communication scenario.

• Apply the importance of context in a communication event.

• Review the most important components of listening.

Managing Stress for Positive Change

In the workplace, stress is often viewed in purely negative terms. It's seen as a response that should simply be minimized or pushed aside; however, it's possible to use stress to fuel positive change. In this course, join instructor Heidi Hanna, PhD as she discusses what stress is, exactly; how you can train yourself to use stress in more effective ways; and what managers can do to reduce employee stress when an organization experiences difficult times. She covers how individuals can use stress for good by assessing and adjusting it, as well as what you-as a manager-can do to create an environment and communication style that helps connect employees to the bigger picture.

Learning Objectives:

• Define “stress” and explain why it often occurs in the workplace.

• Recognize the differences between acute and chronic stress.

• List the three steps for managing stress.

• Name three things the brain craves.

• Identify the differences between primary stress reactions.

• Recall the benefits of rhythmic breathing.

Thriving @ Work: Leveraging the Connection between Well-Being and Productivity    

Live a life filled with less stress, greater well-being, and enhanced productivity by learning how to make transformational changes. Continue your Thrive journey and discover how to go from coping and surviving to actually thriving. In this course, Arianna Huffington and Joey Hubbard—the director of trainings at Thrive Global—discuss how well-being can contribute to your productivity and success at work.                      

Learning Objectives:

• List four ways to ease stress and increase energy.

• Determine boundaries and set limits to prevent overworking.

• Identify the benefits of building relationships with employees.

Managing Stress            

A little stress can be motivational; a lot of stress can damage your health and your relationships. The good news is that with the right management techniques, you can reduce the amount of stress in your life. In this short course, Dr. Todd Dewett shares his tips for managing stress. Learn how to identify and assess your stress triggers, manage your responses more effectively, and make positive personal choices.

Customer Service Mastery: Delight Every Customer

When a customer receives exceptional service, you don’t just earn their business—you earn their loyalty. And while every customer is different, the methods for thinking about delight are shared by all. In this course, Chris Croft focuses on these methods, sharing over two dozen practical ways to inspire yourself and your team to generate ideas for delighting your clientele. Regardless of your industry, these tips can help you and your colleagues go beyond the basics and create personalized, meaningful customer service experiences.

Learning Objectives:

• Creative swiping

• Breaking the rules

• Nailing the basics

• Contact points

• Marketing

• Communication

Phone-Based Customer Service

Customer service expert Jeff Toister helps customer service specialists develop the specific skills needed to help customers over the phone. Learn how to break the ice and develop rapport with the people you serve, even when you're pressed for time. Tune out distractions and develop listening skills that are critically important to phone service. Last, learn how to express empathy, de-escalate angry callers, and stay focused throughout the day.

Learning Objectives:

• Developing the perfect phone greeting

• Filling dead air

• Managing holds and transfers

• Listening

• Expressing empathy

• De-escalating angry callers

Customer Service: Handling Abusive Customers

What is the best way to handle a customer who steps into dangerous territory? What strategies will help diffuse and refocus a bad interaction, and when is it appropriate to walk away? In this course, join customer service expert David Brownlee—the author of Rock Star Customer Service—as he shares real-life examples and actionable steps that can help you confidently handle abusive customers in a variety of contexts. Upon wrapping up this course, you'll have the knowledge you need to formulate a plan of action and navigate difficult customer service interactions with poise and professionalism.

Customer Service in the Field

Improve your customer service where it matters most: face to face. This course teaches customer service reps how to provide fantastic service in the field, and create positive, profitable, and long-term relationships with customers. Customer service expert Noah Fleming shows how service is directly tied to customer loyalty, and how loyalty impacts the bottom line. He introduces tried-and-true techniques for creating powerful first impressions, knowing the customer, being prepared, and setting crystal-clear expectations. He also provides tips for dealing with angry or disgruntled problems. Plus, find ways to be proactive and sell more by servicing more in the field.

Learning Objectives:

• Knowing your customer

• Implementing a process

• Using a personal touch

• Listening

• Soliciting feedback

• Saying no

• Following up

Note-Taking for Business Professionals

Learn to take better and faster notes in business settings. Effective note-taking is a core skill that professionals at all levels can improve upon—and this course shows you how. It explains how to decide when to take linear vs. visual notes, how to effectively listen, how to document action plans, and how to effectively write meeting minutes.

Instructor Paul Nowak also explores techniques for taking notes more quickly, including capturing ideas rather than sentences, improving typing speed, and using simple shorthand.

The final, bonus chapter walks through a number of note-taking templates from XMind software that help with project planning, SWOT meetings, timelines, and more. This chapter is optional and is not necessary for course completion.

Learning Objectives:

• Exploring the keys to active listening

• Focusing on the ideas

• Capturing an action plan

• Brainstorming

• Taking notes while reading

• Creating to-do lists, project plans, and meeting notes

Working with Difficult People

In every workplace, you're likely to perceive some colleagues are being more difficult to work with than others. Before you rush to judgment, you should determine if and how you might be contributing to the situation. (After all, it's entirely possible that you're the problem.) If you've determined that the problem isn't you, then this course can help.

In this course, Chris Croft shares methods for recognizing the characteristics of some of the most common types of difficult people, and gives you strategies for dealing with these individuals more effectively. Chris provides practical techniques for dealing with a variety of different behaviors, including negativity, aggression, childishness, and selfishness. Plus, he explains how to overcome your own negative thinking, and get the best from a difficult boss.

Learning Objectives:

• Identifying and understanding difficult people

• Handling aggressive and passive-aggressive people

• Working with negative people

• Working with procrastinators and people with bad habits

• Conquering your own negative thinking

• When the difficult person is your boss

• Dealing with micromanagers

Bad Boss: Dealing with a Difficult Manager

Bad bosses are everywhere. In every industry, at every level. Dealing with a difficult manager is frustrating and impacts anyone's job performance. This course describes all sixteen different types of bad bosses—and their underlying issues—and gives you a playbook of responses for dealing sanely with these obstacles to your career. Chris Croft provides tips for dealing with abusive, demanding, and incompetent managers, and getting the credit, payment, and respect you deserve.

Learning Objectives:

• Types of bad bosses

• How to handle a boss who doesn't listen

• How to handle a boss who doesn't give you authority

• How to handle a boss who plays favorites

• How to handle shifting priorities

• How to handle lack of payment

• How to handle lack of credit

Handling Workplace Change as an Employee

Workplace change is hard. In this course, Chris Croft explains why we struggle with change, and shares many practical techniques that can help you manage—and even thrive—in a world of constant change. Chris begins the course with general overview of change, explaining why most of us dislike it and how to prepare for the changes you'll inevitably encounter throughout your life. Next, he outlines five common types of workplace change—restructuring, layoffs, new initiatives, starting a new role in a team, and getting off to a good start with a new boss—and provides strategies for dealing with each. Even as he addresses particular types of workplace change, Chris shares helpful techniques that could easily apply to other changes in your life.

Learning Objectives:

• Why we dislike change

• Planning for change

• Developing mental toughness

• Maximizing your interpersonal skills

• Setting long-term career goals

• Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone

• What to consider if you're thinking of leaving your job

• Building up your network

• How to be low maintenance employee

• Establishing goals and plans with a new boss

• How to deal with a bad boss

Embracing Unexpected Change

When we’re caught off guard by a job loss or the crumbling of a personal relationship, it can be tough to move forward. But while we can’t avoid these kinds of unexpected changes, we can control how we deal with them. In this short course, Dr. Todd Dewett explains how you can harness the power of change for your benefit and the benefit of those around you. Learn how to put change in the proper context, create the right perspective, and ultimately become more resilient.

Publisher 2016 Essential Training

This course offers in-depth instruction in all the core features and tools in Publisher 2016, the desktop publishing software from Microsoft. Author David Rivers demonstrates Publisher's features using real-world examples of the different kinds of publications you can create with Publisher, from greeting cards to brochures to newsletters. The course explains how to work with text frames and format and edit text; insert and position shapes, pictures, and tables; and customize and automate the layout and design of publications. Plus, learn about Publisher's features for sending out mass mailing with Mail Merge and sharing publications on the web or in print.

Learning Objectives:

• Creating new publications

• Saving publications

• Inserting pages

• Working with text

• Creating bulleted and numbered lists

• Inserting and deleting objects, pictures, and tables

• Creating master pages

• Using building blocks

• Creating web publications

• Performing a mail merge

• Printing a publication

Learning Canva

Canva is an easy way—without any graphic design experience—to create professional graphics for social media, presentations, newsletters, business cards, brochures, gift certificates, and more. Flexible design templates provide the correct layout for your target destination, letting you focus on the design, not the size or file formatting. And because Canva lives on the cloud, you can access your graphics from anywhere you can get online. Learn how to get up and running with Canva in this short, fun training course from Canva expert Marley Baird. Marley shows how to add and edit images, work with typography, and use the built-in design templates to build your next project with Canva.

Learning Objectives:

• Adding your brand to Canva

• Adding images

• Editing images

• Typography

• Using design templates

• Designing presentations

• Designing logos

• Creating animations

WordPress 5 Essential Training

WordPress powers millions of blogs and websites. Available in 180 languages, WordPress can be hosted on any server, accessed in any browser, and built into almost anything you imagine: blog, portfolio, website, or online store. Learn how to create your own web experiences with this powerful and open-source publishing platform. Instructor Morten Rand-Hendriksen helps you get the most out of WordPress and create feature-rich blogs and websites. Morten explains how to create and publish posts and pages; create and edit blocks; and define reusable content blocks to take full advantage of the new block editor codenamed "Gutenberg."

Note: This course covers WordPress 5. The training will be updated as WordPress evolves.

Learning Objectives:

• Installing WordPress

• Creating posts and pages

• Formatting text

• Publishing and scheduling posts

• Adding images, audio, and video

• Bulk editing posts and pages

• Working with reusable blocks

Business Etiquette: Phone, Email, and Text

Phone, email, or text? Learn what communication method to use when. Suzanna Kaye starts with email, explaining everything from setting up signatures to striking the right tone. She also explains how to best use autoresponders, acknowledge receipt of an email, and follow up on unanswered email. The lessons help viewers evaluate their own email communications, ensuring that the recipients won't misinterpret them in any way.

Next up is text etiquette, including what and what not to say in a text message. Suzanna then looks at common business communications like letters, requests for payment, and thank-yous, and how to make action items communicate the right level of urgency.

Finally, the course covers phone etiquette, including proper greetings, voicemails, out-of-office messages, and essential phone behavior.

Learning Objectives:

• Understanding subject, greeting, and signature etiquette

• Using CC, BCC, and Reply All

• Text messaging etiquette

• Writing business letters

• Leaving voicemail

• Understanding what to say over the phone

Writing Email

Discover the secrets to writing powerful emails your colleagues will read and answer by crafting your message and delivery. In this short course, author and business writing professor Judy Steiner-Williams shows you how to write emails for maximum readability and impact. Discover how to craft a compelling opening, how to message the right people at the right time, and how to leverage etiquette to use email as one of many communications tools.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the appropriate recipients for any given email.

• Establish a clear purpose for an email and convey it effectively.

• Determine who the audience of an email is and write it accordingly.

• Apply a variety of rules and techniques to create a strong message.

• Assess the need to CC and BCC and select recipients thoughtfully.

• Cite general etiquette rules for sending emails.

• Demonstrate the appropriate way to send an attachment.

Administrative Professional Tips

Being an administrative professional is a rewarding and challenging career. This series provides tips to help you stay focused, balanced, and in sync with your boss-and become an invaluable asset to whatever company you work for. Executive assistant and coach April Stallworth helps you develop key skills such as gatekeeping, project management, and navigating office politics. She introduces tools to help you be more productive and efficient, and resources to find answers specific to your industry. She also helps you build your brand and your network, to help pave the way to your next job or promotion. 

**includes videos on capturing professional meeting minutes, emotional intelligence, organization, managing interruptions, partnering with your boss, coping with change, office politics,  customer service, delegation, coaching others/yourself, and office technology

Administrative Professional Foundations

An administrative professional is often called "the role with no job description," because the responsibilities can vary so much. When you support an executive, you need to be prepared to expect the unexpected. However, there are basic job duties and skills that most administrative professionals share. In this course, Aimee Reese reveals the secrets of seasoned and successful admins, and describes what the path looks like as you advance toward C-level executive support. She describes the interpersonal skills required, from working with colleagues and supporting multiple executives simultaneously, to working on a team and managing other admins. Plus, learn job-specific skills such as handling mail and email, managing a calendar, setting up flawless meetings, and using the latest technology.

Learning Path: Become an Administrative Professional **

**You need access to Linked In Learning - Learn more about requesting a license to activate your account here. 

• • • Business Etiquette: Phone, Email, and Text

    • Learning Typing

    • Time Management Fundamentals

    • Note-Taking for Business Professionals

    • Communication Foundations

    • Learning to Be Assertive

    • Learning Word 2019

    • Learning Excel 2019

    • Learning Outlook 2019

    • Learning PowerPoint 2019

    • Learning Access 2016

Learning Path: Improve your Organizational Skills

• • • Time Management Fundamentals

    • Outlook 2016: Time Management with Calendar and Tasks

    • Managing To-Do Lists

    • Improving Your Focus

Learning Path: Improve your Interoffice Politics Skills 

• • • Managing Office Politics

    • Interpersonal Communication

    • Developing your Emotional Intelligence

    • Confronting Bias: Thriving Across Our Differences

Learning Path: Master In-Demand Professional Soft Skills

• • • Build Resilience 

    • Get Things Done

    • Critical Thinking

    • Teamwork Foundations 

    • Communication Foundations

    • Building Trust

    • Effective Listening

    • Writing in Plain English

    • Creativity Bootcamp

(Free Video Webinars)

• From time to time, The American Society of Administrative Professionals offers free webinars with changing themes. 

Topics may include: Effective Communication, Event Planning, Success Tools for Assistants and other relevant training for Administrative Professionals.

(Free Videos)

• Vector Solutions has launched a complimentary coronavirus (COVID-19) video microcourse series on Vector Cares to help you and your loved ones stay safe and healthy. We strongly encourage you to share these video resources with your family members, friends, and colleagues so that everyone can collectively take proactive steps to stay healthy and prevent the spread of the virus. 

Coronavirus 101: What You Need to Know 

• How coronavirus spreads

• How to recognize symptoms

• How to prevent and treat the virus

• What to do if you become sick with the virus

Coronavirus 102 - Preparing Your Household 

• Identify actions to take before an outbreak occurs in your community.

• Identify actions to execute during an outbreak.

• Identify actions to take after an outbreak occurs.

Coronavirus 103 - Managing Stress and Anxiety 

• Define stress and anxiety.

• Identify common signs and symptoms.

• Identify how to reduce stress for yourself and others.

Coronavirus 104 - Transitioning to a Remote Workforce 

• List best practices for leadership when transitioning to a remote workforce

• List best practices for working remotely

• Identify pitfalls to avoid during the transition

Coronavirus 105 - Cleaning and Disinfecting Community Spaces

• Identify the difference between Cleaning and disinfection

• Identify best practices for cleaning and disinfection

• Identify PPE and hand hygiene best practices

Coronavirus 106 - CDC Guidelines for Making and Using Cloth Face Coverings

• List the steps for creating a sewn cloth face covering

• List the steps for creating a non sewn cloth face covering

• Identify best practices for wearing a cloth face covering