Volume 4, Number 1 -  September, 2007

Avoiding Workplace Harassment

Resolving Workplace Conflict

Eight Reasons to Use Multimedia in Your Classroom

Dealing with Stress in the Workplace

Interviewing Effectively

Educational Media

This three-times a year news letter is published by the Renton Technical     College Library. It is intended to  spotlight  RTC Library media resources, and issues regarding the use of  educational media—videos, DVDs, audiotapes, software, and other electronic resources.

If you have any questions or suggestions for topics, please call the library at (425) 235-2331, or email Laura Staley at lstaley@RTC.edu.

It is easy to assume that students know the basic skills of being a good employee. But if that were so, we wouldn’t hear these comments:

“Technical skills get you hired, people skills get you fired.” 

“Employers want people who show up, show up on time, and get along.”

This issue of Educational Media highlights videos and DVDS that teach basic employee skills: meeting employer expectations about showing up ready to work, communicating respectfully and effectively with coworkers and customers, and resolving conflict with co-workers and customers on the job. These first three resources quickly cover the minimum skills needed to succeed in the workplace.

Get Ready in Your Job. Call number: 650.14 GET-R 2006i. This DVD covers what you need to do before you show up for your first day on the job.18 minutes. 

The advice offered includes:

-  Clothes: If you provide your uniform, make sure it fits before your first day of work.  If there’s no uniform, find out what constitutes acceptable work attire.

-  Transportation: Try out your route ahead of time to check for traffic problems.  Find out where the employee entrance is.

This advice may seem too simple to offer your students—but most people can probably supply at least one first-day-at-work horror story to illustrate it.

Get Going on Your Job. Call number: 650.14 GET-G 2006o.  More basic information on how people  succeed on the job:  Display initiative. Fix problems as they occur. Do an honest day’s work. Ask  for,  and offer, help.  18 minutes.

Get Ahead on Your Job. Call number: 650.14 GET-AH 2006i.  Once you are established with an employer, how do you  create a career development strategy that will get you where you want to go? How do you ask for a raise? For a promotion? 18minutes.

These DVDs include pauses for class discussion.

No matter what the job, we need to talk to other people. Com-munication works best when it is  respectful and clear.  These resources teach effective communication styles.

How to Say It. Call number: 302.2 HOW-TO 2002s. Giving bad news is difficult.  How to Say It  offers  tips on formulating what you want to say, planning your approach, and anticipating possible  responses so that you can convey your message effectively.  18 minutes. 

The Arts of Criticism...Giving and Taking. Call number: 158.2 ARTS-CR 1996. Attack the problem, not the person.  This video demonstrates this approach to one of the most difficult jobs in the workplace—giving criticism.  The section on  accepting criticism and turning it into a useful tool is also well done. The Leaders guide offers six exercises to  get the students to think about the material. 22 minutes.

Cross-Cultural Communication: How Culture Affects Communication. Call number: 302.2 CROSS-C 2005.  This DVD covers different cultural attitudes towards time, taboo subjects, change, individualism, logic, power and authority.  It’s not solution-focused—it doesn’t recommend specific ways of interacting with particular cultures—but it is a good introduction to the areas where cultures tend to differ. 21 minutes.  (For an additional culture title, see the excellent   I’m Normal, You’re Weird, the featured title described below.)  21 minutes.

Business Basics: Business Writing. Call number: 808.06665 BUSINES 2001. Sometimes the communication has to be in writing.  This video looks at the writing process: deciding what the reader needs to learn from your communication; determining the best format for the writing; editing your work  for clarity and to avoid slang or offensive language. Proofreading is stressed.  20 minutes.

 Call number:  303.402 I'M-NOR 1998y

Since RTC’s student body includes people from many different countries,  we occasionally  experience cultural conflicts in the classroom.  This video explores some of the differences between cultures with the intention of encouraging  understanding.  Topics covered include  differences in body language,  in looking at and  speaking to strangers, different conceptions of suitable food, attitudes toward time and definitions  of honesty.  24 minutes.

A Citrus Fruit Colorer is someone who alters the color of citrus fruit (with the help of steam and chemicals) to a more marketable color.

(This issue’s trivia is from Jobprofiles.com.)