Workplace Skills
Ontario Tech employees have many opportunities to develop the skills and knowledge they need to advance in their careers. Managers and supervisors are encouraged to support their staff in pursuit of professional development and personal growth in order to contribute to a positive and productive work environment.
January 2026
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January 16 - AI Prompt Engineering
Date:January 16, 2026
Time: 8:30 a.m. to Noon
Location: Virtual
Audience: EmployeeArtificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot can be used in a business setting to generate text that is unique, thorough, and highly effective at communication. In response to your written prompts describing what you require, these tools can quickly summarize information, generate ideas, solve problems, participate in conversations, and engage in a wide range of other purposes, enabling you to save time designing and developing text-based content. In order to achieve these goals, you must learn how to tell AI tools what you want in the right ways through prompt engineering.
This course teaches how to create well-structured instructions for Generative AI tools that generate usable results. Along the way, participants will learn about key ethical and organizational factors that need to be considered when using AI-generated content.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will gain practical skills to:
- Select and use a generative AI tool to create text from prompts.
- Use prompt-engineering techniques to optimize text generation for your specific needs.
- Implement text generation in a business setting.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This course is designed for people who want to develop the skills needed to put generative AI-based text-generation tools to work in their own tasks and workflows.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
Module 1: Using AI to Generate Text - Generating Text
- Selecting an Appropriate AI Text-Generation Tool
- Using Foundational Prompt-Engineering Techniques
- Using Advanced Prompt-Engineering Techniques
- Solving Business Problems Using AI-Generated Text
- Addressing Ethical Concerns
February 2026
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February 13 - Intro to AI for Professionals
Date: February 13, 2026
Time: 8:30 a.m. to Noon
Location: Virtual
Audience: Employees
This session will enable you to describe the fundamentals of AI and generative AI, generate text, code, images, video, and audio using generative AI; identify the challenges of generative AI; and implement organizational strategies for generative AI.
This course equips employees with the knowledge to leverage generative AI technologies in their workplace. This course covers key concepts around how generative AI systems work, including the basics of machine learning models and natural language processing. It also highlights practical applications such as content creation and process automation.
Organizations adopt this knowledge to drive innovation, enhance efficiency, and maintain competitive advantage by automating complex tasks and generating insights from large data sets.
Tailored to non-technical leaders, this course is crucial for strategic decision-making and knowing how to best implement AI-driven solutions.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will gain practical skills to:
- Describe what generative AI is and how it relates to and can benefit organizational functions.
- Identify potential risks and challenges of implementing generative AI in an organization.
- Develop a milestone plan of key steps and becoming a generative AI–driven organization.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
Module 1: AI Fundamentals - AI terms and concepts
- Generative AI terms and concepts
- Generating text using AI
- Generating images and video using AI
- Generating audio using AI
- Shortcomings
- Ethical risks
- Business concerns
- Best practices for implementation
- Measuring and evaluating results
March 2026
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March 2 - 6 2026 - Crucial Conversations - managers/directors
Crucial Conversations: Employees
- Date: Monday, March 2, 2026 to Friday, March 6, 2026 (2.5 hours x 5 days)
- Time: 9:30 a.m. to Noon
- Location: Virtual
- Target Audience: Employees
Note: Participants must attend all dates to receive their certificate.
When it comes to the health of relationships, teams, and organizations, one thing affects everything: communication. Backed by 30 years of social science, Crucial Conversation skills represent the standard in effective communication. Improve your skills and get better outcomes by attending a training course.
The communication skills taught in this training focus on a specific kind of interaction: those when stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. This is not a course on winning friends or winning people to your way of thinking; it’s about strengthening relationships and securing results in the moments that matter most.
This course teaches nine powerful skills for working through disagreement to achieve better resources: Get unstuck, Master my stories, Start with heart, State my path, Make it safe, Learn to look, Seek mutual purpose, Explore others’ paths, and Move to action.
April 2026
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April 17 - Social Influence & Awareness
Social Influence & Awareness - April 17, 9am - Noon
Influence begins with understanding. Learn how to read group dynamics, interpret unspoken cues, and
build trust that drives collaboration.Learning Outcomes:
• Recognize social signals that shape workplace interactions.
• Use positive influence to guide outcomes, not control them.
• Build authentic credibility across diverse teams. -
April 27 - May 1 - Crucial Conversations - Employee
Crucial Conversations: Employees
- Date: Monday, April 27, 2026 to Friday, May 1, 2026 (2.5 hours x 5 days)
- Time: 9:30 a.m. to Noon
- Location: Virtual
- Target Audience: Employees
Note: Participants must attend all dates to receive their certificate.
When it comes to the health of relationships, teams, and organizations, one thing affects everything: communication. Backed by 30 years of social science, Crucial Conversation skills represent the standard in effective communication. Improve your skills and get better outcomes by attending a training course.
The communication skills taught in this training focus on a specific kind of interaction: those when stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. This is not a course on winning friends or winning people to your way of thinking; it’s about strengthening relationships and securing results in the moments that matter most.
This course teaches nine powerful skills for working through disagreement to achieve better resources: Get unstuck, Master my stories, Start with heart, State my path, Make it safe, Learn to look, Seek mutual purpose, Explore others’ paths, and Move to action.
May
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May 8 - Discernment
Discernment - May 8, 9am - Noon
In an age of information overload, discernment is wisdom in action. Learn how to separate signal from noise
and make sound judgments.Learning Outcomes:
• Evaluate information sources and credibility.
• Practice decision-making under ambiguity.
• Develop intuition informed by evidence, not bias.
June 2026
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June 12 - Charisma
Charisma - June 12, 9am - Noon
Charisma isn’t innate — it’s a blend of confidence, warmth, and presence. Learn how to connect, engage,
and inspire authentically.Learning Outcomes:
• Explore the three dimensions of charisma: visibility, voice, and values.
• Practice techniques for confident, compelling communication.
• Balance authority with approachability.
July 2026
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July 10 - Showing Initiative & Ownership
Showing Initiative & Ownership - July 10, 9am - Noon
Move from waiting to leading. Learn how to take intelligent initiative and own outcomes with confidence.
Learning Outcomes:
• Distinguish between proactive and reactive mindsets.
• Build accountability through clear communication.
• Turn initiative into consistent results.
September 2026
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September 29 - Managing Innovation
One of the most pressing business challenges is keeping up with the pace of global innovation. To be competitive, organizations must create value by developing, selecting, and exploiting the best new ideas for improvement or radical change in products, processes, positioning, platform, or paradigm. In this program, you will discover and practice the mindsets and skill-sets needed to increase both the quality and quantity of innovation. As a result, you will be able to lead and manage a successful “Innovation Journey” from a strategic initiative to the creation of value.
The program is based on research by David L. Francis, Ph.D. and his colleagues at CENTRIM (The Centre for Research in Innovation Management), identifying the best practices of successfully innovative organizations and leaders. You will incorporate innovation management skills and processes into your work by absorbing the results of research on exceptionally innovative organizations. You will then put that knowledge to work through structured activities, cases, and skill practice. Later, you will experience and practice many of the skills and tools used by the most successful innovation managers.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will gain practical skills to:
- Learn best practices in innovation management.
- Analyze and develop mindsets and skill-sets for the innovation journey.
- Reflect systematically on your own strengths and weaknesses as a manager of innovation.
- Identify organizational innovation capabilities and barriers.
- Participate in and facilitate a real “Innovation Journey.”
- Create an “Innovation Agenda” that can be implemented following the program.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
Introduction - Opening exercise & discussion
- Exploration of core definitions and concepts related to creativity, innovation, and innovation management
- Examination of participant and organizational strengths, needs, and experiences regarding innovation management
- Introduction to the core model for innovation management
- Applying the model to participants’ past experiences
- Exploration of the mindsets and skill-sets required during each phase of the innovation journey
- Review of the mindsets and skill-sets as applied to participants’ own management practices
- Identification of further learning needs
Searching and Exploring
- Analysis of the Searching and Exploring phases of the innovation journey
- Skill practice, observation, and feedback
- Introduction to several tools for generating, developing, and selecting promising ideas
- Practice in managing a competitive, time-bound innovation journey through all the phases
Organizational Capability: Research and Application
- Application of six areas of innovation capability identified through research on successfully innovative organizations to participants’ own areas of influence and responsibility
Innovation Agenda
- Development of a draft plan for implementing innovation management skills.
October 2026
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October 2 - Accountability Skills
Accountability Skills - Oct 2, 9am - Noon
Accountability builds trust, credibility, and high-performing teams. Learn how to deliver on commitments and
model reliability.Learning Outcomes:
• Understand the mindset of personal responsibility.
• Practice accountability conversations with peers.
• Build systems that sustain follow-through. -
October 8 - Applied Creativity
Creativity is the aptitude that has enabled human beings to survive and to thrive under challenging and changing circumstances. Research suggests that everyone can think and act creatively, but many organizations are not gaining the most value from the creativity of their human capital. Great ideas walk out the door of your organization every day between the ears of employees.
The foundation of individual, team, and organizational creativity is a mindset that stimulates, nurtures, and supports creative thought. Building on that mindset, there are many tools and processes that provide stimulation and focus for generating ideas that lead to continuous improvement or breakthrough innovation.
In this session, you will practice using creative thinking tools to break through persistent problems and take advantage of opportunities. You will discover your “inner innovator” as you learn how to generate, develop, and gain support for creative ideas.
The Applied Creativity™ workshop engages you in developing the mindsets, skill-sets, tools, and processes needed to build a culture of creative thought. You will learn to encourage people to look both inside and outside the organization to find ideas and opportunities for innovation. You will be able to apply the tools and methods to harness the creative energy of your teams and organization in solving persistent problems, responding to business opportunities, and opening up new ways to create value through innovation.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will gain practical skills to:
- Develop your ability to approach everyday challenges and persistent problems with a creative mindset.
- Apply tools for generating creative, interesting, and promising ideas.
- Conduct an “innovation search” based on market needs, technology push, or strategic intention.
- Frame persistent problems in a practical and effective way and generate creative solutions.
- Build stakeholder support for creative ideas and solutions.
- Facilitate others’ creativity.
- Identify key challenges in your own organizations that require applied creativity.
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October 27 - Puzzles, Mysteries, and Muddles: Naming and Taming the Problems That Keep You Up At Night
In any industry, success is a direct result of an organization’s ability to solve problems. In this workshop, we take a deep look at the components of effective problem-solving. You will learn exactly how to make your problem-solving efforts more precise, efficient, and effective.
Most of us have learned an approach to solving problems that is analytical and produces a “correct” or “best” solution. However, not all problems can be dealt with as if they were “puzzles.” Different types of problems require different approaches to finding solutions. Armed with definitions of those differences, you will be able to understand more precisely the unique and subtle features of any problem situation and how to target your approach.
Einstein is quoted as saying that if he had an hour to save the world, he would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem and five finding the solution. Puzzles, Mysteries, and Muddles ™ is based on 20 years of research by Jerry Talley, Ph.D., and will provide you with sophisticated understandings that will enhance your success as a problem solver.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will gain practical skills to:
- Define four distinct phases of problem-solving.
- Apply key criteria to differentiate among six different types of problems.
- Identify the problem type(s) that you are dealing with and the most appropriate path to resolution.
- Find high-quality solutions at the lowest possible cost in time, effort and other resources.
- Produce a plan that is ready to execute in your organization.
November 2026
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November 6 - Curiosity
Curiosity - November 6, 9am - Noon
Curiosity fuels learning, creativity, and innovation. This session turns questions into a professional
superpower.Learning Outcomes:
• Develop the habit of inquiry over assumption.
• Frame better questions that lead to insight.
• Cultivate curiosity as a daily leadership mindset. -
November 10 - Intelligent Risk Taking
To keep pace with customers, organizations are challenged to make highly risky decisions in a fast-moving, continually changing environment. In order to capitalize on opportunities, we need to minimize time spent on analysis and decrease the probability and/or consequences of failure. Any organization, team, or individual involved in innovation or change will benefit from learning and applying a process for making intelligent risk decisions. Risk means taking action under conditions where key variables and potential outcomes are unknown and could prove to be negative — yet where not taking action could lead to paralysis and ultimate failure. Intelligent risk-taking, as difficult as it can be, is essential to innovation and change leadership.
Intelligent Risk-Taking™ provides you with practical tools and processes to identify your own risk-taking style and compare it to others. You will apply a framework for making intelligent decisions about which risks to take and when, and how to adjust the level and impact of risk. You will develop ideas for improving your own and your team’s entrepreneurial risk-taking and for influencing others to support your risk-taking efforts.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will gain practical skills to:
- Be able to define, describe, and recognize intelligent risk-taking and distinguish it from gambling.
- Assess individual and organizational risk-taking styles and their impact on risk decisions.
- Identify factors that block risk-taking or support it in individuals, groups, organizations, and the environment.
- Apply strategies for influencing others to share risks
- Apply an eight-step risk decision model to a real-world situation.
- Identify ways to support greater and more intelligent risk-taking in your organization.
December 2026
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December 4 - Cognitive Flexibility
Cognitive Flexibility - December 4, 9am - Noon
The skill of the future. Learn how to shift perspectives, reframe challenges, and think adaptively under
pressure.Learning Outcomes:
• Recognize thinking traps and mental rigidity.
• Practice reframing and divergent thinking exercises.
• Strengthen decision-making in dynamic contexts.
January 2027
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January 15 - Self-Regulation
Self-Regulation - January 15, 9am - Noon
Master the skill of keeping calm and clear-minded when situations heat up. This workshop builds emotional
control for smarter, steadier decision-making.Learning Outcomes:
• Understand emotional triggers and physiological responses.
• Practice reframing techniques to manage reactions.
• Strengthen consistency and composure under pressure.
February 2027
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February 19 - Strategic Adaptability
Strategic Adaptability - February 19, 9am - Noon
Adaptation is not reaction — it’s informed evolution. This session develops the foresight to pivot
strategically.Learning Outcomes:
• Recognize when to shift direction versus stay the course.
• Integrate change into long-term goals.
• Practice scenario planning and agile decision-making.
March 2027
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March 26 - Change Management - Scope and Scale
Change Management - Scope & Scale - March 26, 9am - Noon
Change is no longer a project — it’s a constant. Learn how to manage scope, scale, and human impact with
empathy and clarity.Learning Outcomes:
• Understand change psychology and stakeholder dynamics.
• Map the scope of change and anticipate ripple effects.
• Lead through transitions with communication and care.