Higher Education CoP – Effective Communication

Abstract

Effective Project Management requires effective communication of tasks, requirements, responsible parties, deadlines, and more. During this session, you will learn how to improve your communications -- no matter how good they already are -- to increase the chances you get the things you need by the time you need them and with less stress. In this session, learn specific strategies for improving your professional communications to both enhance your effectiveness and improve your efficiency. Topics covered will include knowing your audience, choosing the right information, avoiding common pitfalls, and having difficult conversations. Content will be applicable to a wide variety of settings and needs.

Learning Objectives

Participants will learn

• Specific communication strategies to enhance your effectiveness and improve your efficiency
• How to avoid common communication pitfalls
• How to have difficult conversations

Speakers

Joanna Downer, PhD
Joanna Downer, PhD, is Associate Dean of Research Development, Duke University School of Medicine. Joanna has been in the Chancellor’s and School of Medicine’s Dean’s Offices at Duke Health since January 2006. In 2009 she founded the Office of Research Development at the School of Medicine to provide project management, editing, guidance and more to faculty submitting complex research grants. As of early 2023, the Office's efforts have contributed to more than $850 million in awards over the life of the awarded grants. She previously worked in science writing & media relations, first at Duke Medicine and then at Johns Hopkins Medicine. At Duke, she covered basic and clinical cancer research, and at Hopkins she covered the biomedical sciences, genetic medicine, and cell engineering. She also has extensive experience in scientific editing. In 2022 Joanna became a Certified Professional Coach and now also provides coaching to research-intensive School of Medicine faculty as part of her Duke responsibilities. Joanna holds an MA and PhD in nuclear chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis. and a BS with Honors in chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. While in graduate school, she was a Mass Media Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, placed at Time Magazine in Washington, DC.