Manage Up is a series of workshops that will help you develop the skills and savvy to successfully navigate professional situations both during your time at UCSF and in your future, including important decisions, challenging conversations, and the power differentials that exist in scientific training. Workshops are intended for students and postdocs at different stages, as indicated. Effectively managing up could include avoiding difficult situations and navigating it skillfully.
Choosing opportunities wisely
How can you frame questions and assess a workplace, lab, clinical setting or workplace to help you determine if a job, postdoc or residency is a bad fit for you or toxic? How can you get accurate information when current staff might not be motivated to be candid with you? In this interactive workshop, we'll show you how to use your interview effectively!
Choosing your thesis lab
Choosing a thesis lab is a big decision. Come to this workshop to figure it out! You’ll brainstorm with peers about your goals, your options and important criteria to help you choose the lab that is right for you.
Choosing your postdoc position (This workshop is under construction!)
Finding the right postdoc - the one where the science and the professional relationships will help you position yourself for your career - can be a challenge. Come to this workshop to figure it out! You’ll brainstorm with peers about your goals, discuss how to identify your options s and important criteria to help you choose the lab that is right for you!
Positioning yourself for success
MyIDP for PhDs: Hit the ground running/get back on track with your Individual Development Plan (This workshop is under construction!)
This interactive workshop will help you hit the ground running/get back on track and make the most of your time at UCSF. You'll brainstorm and develop a written list of goals mapped to a timeline, including goal setting for research projects, skills development, and career planning. Students and postdocs who complete a written plan report improved productivity and more effective interactions with their PIs and mentors with respect to career and research goals. Join your peers and make a plan for success!
How to establish yourself in a new lab or workplace (This workshop is under construction!)
Establishing yourself in your new work situation is more than "working hard and doing your best". It's about assessing key factors in your new situation, determining which of your goals you can achieve and avoiding pitfalls. We'll discuss how to evaluate 1) your new boss/PI/Preceptor/CI/etc., 2) your colleagues, and 3) your environment to determine the metrics of success, how to handle the politics and set yourself up for success.
Finding your 5 mentors (and a sponsor!)
Everyone says you need mentors, but do you know how to find them? In this interactive workshop, we'll discuss the types of mentors there are, and you'll identify which ones you currently need as a student or postdoc. We'll also discuss how students/postdocs establish a mentorship relationship, resources like ucsfconnect.com, and you'll begin to brainstorm a plan to build the community you need for success.
While there is a lot of information about the importance of mentoring and finding a mentor, this workshop focuses on the skills to maintain a functional relationship with your research mentor. We'll define a mentorship relationship and the stages of a mentoring relationship, identify criteria to evaluate your mentor and the 'heath' of your relationship, and discuss strategies to proactively respond when you find your relationship is off track.
A career conversation with your research mentor is essentially a negotiation. Students and postdocs are seeking support to conduct work and engage in opportunities that will position them for their future goals. For a research mentor, it's a time to clarify and confirm your career path, what types of support they are willing and able to offer, and the level of productivity they'll need to see. In this workshop, you'll use best practices from Harvard's Negotiation Project to prepare for and engage in this conversation for a successful outcome. First, you'll learn how to assess where you are in your career exploration, your research mentor's position, and what a successful outcome from this conversation looks like for you. Then we'll give you strategies for starting, having, and ending the conversation and go over common troubleshooting issues.
How to navigate - and not get crushed by - workplace politics (This workshop is under construction!)
Are people's different professional priorities or personalities causing a challenging situation at in a lab or clinical setting? We talk about how to conceptualize what's happening, how to handle it the moment, and strategize in the short and long term.
Have you ever wondered how to navigate a collaboration as a junior member of the team? In this interactive workshop, we identify criteria to assess the health of your collaboration, red flags in collaborations, proactive strategies to address issues, resources to support you if you have concerns and ways to skillfully seek help from resources and mentors.
Building your professional brand (This workshop is under construction!)
What do you want your professional community to think of when they think of you? In this engaging workshop, you'll articulate your professional identity, and we'll brainstorm common strategies to intentionally begin building your professional brand in person and through social media.
