Opening Remarks & Welcome from Lois Brooks

If you’re asked if you’re artistic, would you raise your hand? The good news is for design thinking, you don’t need to be. Adults are often hesitant to put their words or ideas into drawings and visuals. Overcoming this fear can elevate and escalate design thinking. Leave your need for perfection behind! A visual doesn’t need to be a permanent project artifact. Rather, it can serve as a tool for overcoming hurdles and moving ideas forward. Attendees will learn more about the concept of design thinking, whiteboard solutions for virtual meetings and how to select the right visual for design thinking around a variety of problems.

Inclusivity and Belonging and how we create the environment for that
A few points about inclusivity they may not have heard before, inspired to look deeper at their org/team's culture, perhaps a few facts about hockey they didn't know before

Supervisors are in a unique position to encourage growth and development within their team. Doing so can keep employees engaged, build strong leaders and strengthen the internal talent pipeline. Attend this session to learn more about the importance of employee career development and the positive outcomes of investing in your staff. Attendees will leave with actionable steps they can implement within their team.

Servant leadership is a transformational leadership style that can be used to build mutual trust and empower staff. Flip traditional leadership upside down and turn it into one of service to staff and customers. Attendees will learn the 10 characteristics of a servant-leader, enabling you to practice servant leadership. This leadership style can improve staff outlook, customer satisfaction and organizational success. 

Think you need to be in a managerial role to lead effectively, advance your career, and make an impact? Think again! There are several benefits to bouncing between managerial and individual contributor roles. Join me to learn more about how to lead from where you are. 

So little time, so much to do. This session will review what “Lean Management” really is and why it works so that we can see our work differently and perhaps accomplish more, with less stress. By understanding concepts such as value and waste, and keeping track of work in progress, cycle time, and throughput, we might be able to transform work as we know it into something way better.

Deanna is a business consultant, speaker, and podcaster who is internationally recognized for her work in leadership, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Deanna helps her clients create more equitable and inclusive work environments and engage more authentically within their internal and external communities. A gifted communicator, she is a champion for marginalized communities through her work. Her podcast, Uplifting Impact with a focus on looking at the intersection of Leadership and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, focuses on solutions and is directed at people who want to break the status quo. Singh earned her Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Fordham University, a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University, a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and certification in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from Cornell University.

Our campus is collectively striving towards creating a more equitable and inclusive environment for all. One way to contribute towards these efforts is to collaborate with leaders of your organization to promote online and digital accessibility. Attend this flash talk to learn how you can help non-IT leaders understand the importance of accessibility in the digital age.

Our campus is vast and has a complex organizational structure. Knowing how to skillfully navigate the workplace can help you build and maintain positive relationships, influence change and build trust among an organization. These skills can help leaders of all types lead more effectively. Attendees will gain an overview of organizational politics including how they work, types of politics that occur, and how organizational politics relates to our daily work. The session will also explore how coalitions can be used to achieve goals when someone lacks positional power.

Multi-generational workforces are popping up in a wide array of industries, including IT. When working with people of different ages, managers and team members should capitalize on each person’s unique experiences and encourage collaboration. This moderated panel will feature professionals from across campus sharing strategies and techniques to lead multi-generational teams. Topics of discussion will include the roles of leaders within a team, identifying needed skills to lead at each level, and benefits and challenges of leading multi-generational teams.

Multiple generations comprise today’s workforce and each has varied work habits, motivations, communication styles and expectations. Whether you’re a young professional or a seasoned staff member, we all have something to contribute. Sometimes challenges arise but there are benefits to these teams, too. Bring your questions about being an effective leader or member of a multi-generational team and learn from our four panelists as they share their varying experiences

The web is all about providing access, information, and opportunity to as many people as possible. It is only right that the University community fosters inclusivity, and works to ensure that all can participate. UW-Madison approved the new digital accessibility policy in November 2021 to update the web accessibility policy established in 2001. Join us to learn more about why the policy is important, the positive impact it has on our campus community and how Digital Accessibility Liaisons can help you implement the policy in your area.