Course

Learning Labs

Hands-On Workshops

An educational series that provides learners with best practice guidance on a variety of technical and hard skills needed for public procurement success.

Course Availability:

View upcoming dates for this course.

Upcoming Learning Labs for 2023

NIGP is proud to present a wide variety of Learning Lab opportunities options for you to enhance some the key skills needed in today's workplace

ESSENTIAL SKILLS
MICROSOFT EXCEL
RFPs

Essential Skills Learning Labs

2:00 PM - 4:00 PM EST
Contact Hours: 2 | CEUs: 0.2

We’re part of a digital, global era. Educational expectations, needs and demands are evolving faster than ever before. The people who will be most effective in the workforce will be those who develop the essential skills that relate to how you think, work and interact. These essential skills are foundational and every procurement professional should be working to build them.

Resiliency and Adaptability

April 11, 2:00 - 4:00 PM EST

To be successful in today’s fast-paced work environments, professionals must be ready to overcome new challenges, embrace change while regulating their stress response. As the old saying goes, change is the only thing you can count on – it is so integrated into business that there’s no question of its validity. But why is it, then, that we struggle with change?

In this workshop, we will introduce you to the techniques that will strengthen your inner strength overcome adversity, embrace and handle daily stress in your pursuit of professional and excellence.

In this hands-on session, we will:

Define the terms Resilience and Adaptability
Discuss the pre-work assessment: Resilience Self-Test
Explore the 5 Pillars of Resilience and discover how to strengthen them with simple activities and practices
Discuss Adaptability strategies to help manage change
Create personal or profession action plans for building Resilience and Adaptability

Join us for an engaging and interactive session that will equip you with the skills necessary to bounce back from adversity and better adapt to change.

Register for Resiliency and Adaptability

Managing Both Your Time and Energy

April 24, 2:00 - 4:00 PM EST

Time is fixed and static while personal energy flexes. If you’ve ever wondered why there never seems to be enough time to do the things you need to do, this session is for you! Together we will share insights about maximizing the best use of our time including:

Priority setting for results vs frustration
Setting boundaries for time abusers
Managing distractions
Time traps to avoid
Using 'no' effectively

Register for Managing Both Your Time and Energy

Emotional Intelligence

May 9, 2:00 - 4:00 PM EST

Emotional Intelligence is about having the ability to read the personality style of individuals and adjust your communications accordingly without being controlled by your underlying emotions.

This course will focus on the application of the four core competencies of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.

Participants will identify the competencies that they need to improve and discuss ways to develop and implement these competencies to enhance work relationships.

Register for Emotional Intelligence

Presentation Skills

June 6, 2:00 - 4:00 PM EST

According to popular statistics, close to 40% of people fear public speaking. They stutter, stammer or are unable to convey what they want to say. This may have an adverse impact on their work, and they may not be able to grab the attention of the crowd.

Business leaders are often expected to present new ideas to staff, clients, partners, or even the public. Lots of money and pressure can be riding on these presentations. Therefore, it is up to the company to select someone who has strong presentation skills to take the lead on these kinds of projects.

Making a good first impression can have a profound impact on the success or failure of a business.

In this session, participants will be expected to give a 3-minute presentation and receive valuable feedback based on a set of criteria.

Outline

Making a positive first impression
Preparing and structuring your presentation
The art of storytelling
Voice projection
Projecting a professional image

Register for Presentation Skills

SPEAKERS:

Kisha Dixon

Critical Thinking &
Resiliency and Adaptability

Kisha is an award-winning learning consultant and diversity practitioner. As a training leader, public speaker, and culture change agent, Kisha has over 20 years of experience designing and facilitating behavior-based sales, coaching, and leadership solutions. Her refreshingly unique approach recognizes that identifying the specific rhythms in an organization’s culture is the key to creating visible, empowering leadership and culture change.

Lee Hubert

Time Management & Communication, Collaboration and Active Listening

Lee is a professional leadership trainer, coach, facilitator and speaker with over 25 years of experience in human resources and leadership development roles. His experience includes the laboratory, healthcare, technology, financial, and energy sectors. Previous clients include Carilion Clinic, MCI, Wisconsin Energy, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, and more. Lee holds a Master's of Business Administration degree in HR Management and current certifications as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and SCP.

Themum Crawford

Presentation Skills
& Emotional Intelligence

With over 20 years of experience in training and facilitation, Themum is an accomplished, hands-on consultant with deep practical experiences in variedworkplace environments. Described by audiences as an excellent facilitator with a positive and enthusiastic presentation style, she has the unique ability to effectively convey the learning points while building an open and comfortable learning environment.

MICROSOFT EXCEL LEARNING LABS

2:00 PM - 4:00 PM EST
Contact Hours: 2 | CEUs: 0.2

Microsoft Excel: Transforming Data with Power Query

May 16, 2:00 - 4:00 PM EST

Power Query is an Excel tool designed to help you import, clean, and consolidate data. With Power Query, you can process data from multiple sources and apply automatic actions to the data sets. In this session, explore how to transform data without wasting time on manual steps:

Getting started with Power Query
Shaping data to delete and move rows and columns
Building calculations
Performing actions on multiple worksheets
Combining data into one source
Summarizing data with PivotTables and PivotCharts

Microsoft Excel: Linking & Sharing Data

June 27, 2:00 - 4:00 PM EST

Some of the most valuable and time-saving features in Excel are the choices to link and share worksheet data. Find out how to easily reference and summarize data from other worksheets, learn how to use Excel data in other programs, and look at options to protect data.

Linking within a workbook
Linking and updating across workbooks
Sharing Excel data with other programs (Word, PowerPoint)
Applying protection
Handling comments
Creating hyperlinks to other files and resources

SPEAKER:

Dawn Bjork, MCT, CSP, MOSM

With over 25 years of experience as an internationally recognized productivity speaker and software trainer, Dawn is The Software Pro®. Her informative and engaging style helps you discover easy ways to be more productive with software.

The author of hundreds of training programs, Dawn is a Microsoft Certified Trainer as well as a Microsoft Office Specialist Master and Certified Virtual Presenter. In addition, Dawn has earned the Certified Speaking Professional designation or CSP, a credential held by less than 17% of all global members of the National Speakers Association. She is the only female CSP that is also a Microsoft Certified Trainer.

RFP Learning Labs

1PM - 5 PM EDT
4 Contact Hours | 0.4 CEUs

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Introduction to RFPs and Starting with the End in Mind

April 6, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM (EDT)

An introduction to Request for Proposals and how it relates to the NIGP Global Best Practice on Request for Proposals. Learn how to select the right type of RFP for the situation, focusing on ‘Start with the End in Mind’.

Engaging with Suppliers and the Importance of Flexibility & Organization

April 13, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM (EDT)

Engaging with Suppliers is key for public procurement professionals. It is also important to ensure there is communication and engagement during the solicitation process. This adds tremendous value to both the supplier and entity. The second part will review example RFPs and discuss the importance of using templates.

Responsiveness, Compliance and Responsibility and Evaluation Criteria

April 20, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM (EDT)

Focus on evaluation methodologies, the process, and evaluation criteria - all of which are part of determining responsiveness, compliance, and responsibility. Proper execution of these elements will help your entity create an RFP that will identify the best Supplier. Use of the proper criteria is critical for the successful outcome of your RFP. Properly crafted criteria will help identify the best proposal, the best solution.

Treasure Map for Suppliers and the Scope of Work

April 27, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM (EDT)

Ensure you have the essential information required to portray intent correctly in the RFP. It is important to provide Suppliers a good ‘Treasure Map’ in order for them to be successful in their quest for your entities business. A critical component of the ‘Treasure Map’ is the Scope of Work. What is it you want the awarded Supplier to do. Discuss Scope of Work and dissect sample scopes of work.

Evaluation Committee and Process

May 4, 1:00PM - 5:00 PM (EDT)

Having the right members on the evaluation committee is a critical element for a successful outcome. Learn how having the correct members provides a defensible evaluation process. Having a well-documented process that is understood by all participants is essential. This session will focus on the areas that are probably the most time consuming of the RFP process; managing the evaluators and the evaluation process.

Post Evaluation Steps and RFP Misfits

May 11, 1:00PM - 5:00 PM (EDT)

The RFP is not over until it is over. Issuance of a Notice of Award is not the end. There are several post evaluation steps to be completed. Review how the post evaluation activities can be easier if they are considered in the beginning. Finally wrap up the full learning lab series with samples of some unconventional RFP types: seldom used variations/elements to customize your RFP documents and evaluation methodology. Think of them as highly specialized tools for very specific situations.

SPEAKERS:

Stéphanie Dion, NIGP-CPP, CPPB

SUMA-Kinetic GPO

Stéphanie Dion is the Director, Procurement Centre of Excellence, Government of Manitoba. Stephanie practiced extensively in both the contract A and non-contract A paradigms. She is also the co-founder of the #RFPDreamTeam who provides advisory services and training on executing RFPs. She is the recipient of NIGP’s 2021 Buyer of the Year award.

Victor Leamer, CPPB

Spokane County, WA

Victor Leamer has 35 years of public procurement experience at the county, state department, and state-wide levels. He teaches Sourcing in the Public Sector and the Core Certificate: Foundations in Strategy and Policy for NIGP (virtual), the 10-part Learning Lab RFP series, and has presented NIGP webinars on protests, evaluating responsiveness in bids, virtual leadership, and contract price adjustments.

Mike Thornton, CPPO

Civic Initiatives, LLC

Mike Thornton is a Senior Procurement Consultant with Civic Initiatives, LLC. Mike was most recently the Purchasing Manager for the City of Leesburg, Florida for 16 years and Mike has more than 30 years in the public procurement sector. In his current role, Mike works with public procurement organizations across the United States and Puerto Rico providing support and consulting for their procurement activities. These roles include services from facilitating their solicitations to providing consulting on public procurement best practices and process. Mike takes a specific interest in promoting and encouraging innovation in public procurement using technology. Mike has volunteered for several opportunities at NIGP including co-author for Global Best Practices.

Full Webinar Series Recordings and Handouts

Creating Excellence: Learning from Great Procurement Teams

View

Testing

Learning Labs

Hands-On Workshops

Upcoming Learning Labs for 2023

Essential Skills Learning Labs

SPEAKERS:

Kisha Dixon

Lee Hubert

Themum Crawford

MICROSOFT EXCEL LEARNING LABS

SPEAKER:

RFP Learning Labs

SPEAKERS:

Stéphanie Dion, NIGP-CPP, CPPB

Victor Leamer, CPPB

Mike Thornton, CPPO

Creating Excellence: Learning from Great Procurement Teams

Upcoming Learning Labs