HR Virtual Workshops and Programs

Take 15 minutes out of your work day and join HR's Wellness Team as they host an online trivia game.

4/28/2021: TV Theme Song Trivia - Join us for a 15 minute online interactive trivia game testing your TV theme song knowledge. Break up your work day by battling your colleagues. We guarantee you will be humming these theme songs the rest of the day.    

Take an art break and go on a virtual tour of Karyn Olivier's exhibition Everything That's Alive Moves!

Karyn Olivier makes monuments. She investigates scale, public memory, and how they relate to issues of inclusivity and acceptance. The exhibition Everything That’s Alive Moves brings together two themes the artist has focused on in recent years: larger-than-life scale and the minute, modest gesture. An obelisk sculpture, a car made entirely of shoes, and a brick wall built using discarded clothing as mortar are among the works selected to be reimagined and constructed on-site at UB Art Galleries.

The tour will be led by UB Art Galleries curator Liz Park and graduate assistant and MFA candidate Maria Barrientos.

Activity line-up:

• STEM activity
• JINDO class
• Breakdancing class
• Seed starting activity

Individual activities will last approximately 30 minutes. (Attendance at all activities is not required)

Learn to create an inclusive and respectful workplace by utilizing strategies to build positive relationships and foster a collaborative work environment. In this workshop, strategies are reviewed to help you effectively manage differences and reduce negativity and the impact both can have on you and your colleagues. You will learn how you can build positive relationships and assist in creating an environment that allows for the exchange of differing ideas where parties feel equally heard, respected and unafraid to voice dissenting opinions.

If you’re thinking about getting into podcasting but feel a little intimidated, join Grace Lazzara for a presentation on getting started. Grace will share her experience creating a podcast and explain the key to podcasting: a willingness to devote effort to choosing a unique topic, learning about production and distribution, and promoting your work once it’s ready for the world to hear.

Learn how to leverage your preferred approach to communication and effectively interact with others in a more positive and productive way. This follow-up workshop is intended for those who have previously attended the Become a Better Communicator workshop. Understand how to assess the motivations, fears and intentions colleagues may have when interacting with you. Learn how to adapt your approach accordingly to be more effective. This workshop addresses one-on-one interactions as well as communicating in team environments.

This presentation will discuss the basics of strength training. The presentation will include the principles behind strength training, the benefits, common myths and how to structure a workout.

In this workshop you will learn what bias is, recognize where it comes from and gain insight on how to recognize the impact of bias on yourself and others. This workshop will help prepare you to push bias attitudes aside on a personal level and improve your capacity for engaging in and promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Empathy is an important element of Emotional Intelligence (EI). It can be described simply as “to put yourself in another person’s shoes”. By doing so, you become more aware of the feelings and emotions of other people. We know emotional intelligence is a critical skill in the workplace. Empathy is a key factor in demonstrating high levels of emotional intelligence when interacting with colleagues and customers. Increasing your ability to be empathetic is shown to build effective leadership skills, drive performance and improve the customer experience. In this session we will define empathy, assess your ability to display empathy and examine some of the actions you can take to sharpen your empathy skills and become more emotionally intelligent.

Join us for an interactive introduction to the idea of servant leadership – the stories behind it, the research supporting it, and most importantly, how to do it. This presentation will explain what servant leadership is, address some of the myths around it, and provide some tactical tools to try putting it into practice immediately.

Our speaker, James Lemoine, is an Assistant Professor of Organization and Human Resources here at the University at Buffalo. His research focuses on leadership, ethics, and creativity and has been published in the Harvard Business Review and Business Horizons, as well as prestigious academic journals like the Academy of Management Annals and Journal of Applied Psychology. His work also frequently appears in magazines such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, and Entrepreneur. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, an international organization dedicated to sharing and promoting the servant leadership philosophy. Prior to obtaining his Ph.D. at Georgia Tech, he was an entrepreneur, consultant, and manager at companies such as AT&T.

Learn how to set up your student employees for success by providing clear expectations, planning and directing the students' work and developing their skills. This program examines the role of a supervisor and teaches the value of coaching, training and orienting your student. Best practices and other successful student management strategies are shared from various units across campus. 

A Safe Zone is an intentional space, climate and/or person that is affirming of all students, staff and faculty regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Creating inclusive and supportive spaces for LGBTQ+ students, staff and faculty decreases stigma and increases social interactions, participation in campus activities and feelings of safety. In this interactive session, you will be introduced to what a Safe Zone is and how creating one and being a part of the Safe Zone Network, has a positive impact at the individual, group and institutional level.

Participants will elevate their understanding, empathy and capacity to engage with colleagues and students who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community in a welcoming and inclusive way. This session will help participants support a safe workplace community for everyone as part of their everyday work interactions in a variety of ways.

Chair yoga, offered in partnership with Recreation & Intramural Services, increases flexibility, strength, mental clarity and body awareness. Chair yoga is similar to a universal yoga class, however, a chair is incorporated with each pose. When standing poses are included in a chair yoga class, the chair is used to help with and improve balance. Chair yoga will be offered every Wednesday. Note: we recommend using a chair without wheels.

Join Christopher Wilson, Change Management Specialist, every Tuesday for a 20 minute guided meditation session to restore your body, reduce your stress and calm your mind so you can perform at your best.