Develop@City 2022

All staff are invited to join us for Develop@City on Thursday 14 July, which we are excited to see return in-person after three years.

Develop@City is our award-winning, annual staff extravaganza – themed around community, creativity, development and wellbeing.

View our programme below of interactive internal and external sessions taking place, open to all City, University of London staff and PhD students to join. The day will close with a Develop@City celebration, with refreshments provided.

Register your interest for the sessions you would like to attend via the sign up button. Registration on the day will take place in the Pavilion, from 9.30am, where you will be given room details.

For any queries, please contact the Organisational Development team.

On-site massages and Coaching tasters

15 Minute On-site Massage – Workplace Healthcare
Come along and enjoy a mini seated chair or Indian head massage. Benefits include stress reduction, enhanced circulation, increased physical flexibility, a more vibrant immune system, pain relief, deeper sleep, improved athletic performance, and better chronic disease management. Please note: we cannot treat you if you are currently unwell, or if you are within the first trimester of pregnancy.

Coaching Taster sessions
Try out a 30 minute one-to-one coaching session with one of our trained coaches from the City Internal Coaching Network. Bring along a challenge or opportunity that you’d like to discuss and see how coaching can support you in gaining clarity and moving towards your goals.

Full programme

As well as the sessions below, you can also drop-in throughout the day to meet a range of internal teams and departments from across City at our marketplace in the Pavilion.

10am – 10.30am

Introduction to Teams Meetings (Blessing Isreal-Theophillus, IT)
Teams Meetings are a space to run online video and audio sessions with others. This session will take you through accessing Teams, preparing for a Teams Meeting, sharing your screen and meeting controls.

10am – 10.50am

The power of language (Steve Creffield)
Explore how the smallest shifts in our language can have an immediate impact, some are called turning words and some are connecting words – either way, when you use them you strengthen your capacity for empathy, negotiation and getting past conflict.

Physio session: Move well (Workplace Healthcare)
The knowledge and skills gained from this presentation will enable you to make a change in your postural behaviour immediately, to help reduce the stress on your body and reduce the risk of pain and discomfort caused by spending long hours sitting at home and at work.

Understanding the science of wellbeing: Psychological and emotional wellbeing (Dr Nick Baylis)
Do you want to achieve radiant wellbeing and have the ability to thrive in spite of whatever life throws at you?  Dr Nick Baylis will discuss origins of wellbeing in the evolutionary context, as well as psychological and emotional wellbeing. Learn how to overcome obstacles in life, achieve wellbeing, and become resilient.

Building psychological safety in teams (Kathy Toogood)
Research tells us that psychological safety is the most important pre-requisite for high performing teams. But what exactly is it and, as a manager, how do you develop it in your team. This workshop will answer these questions and help you clarify your own steps forward with your team.

All change! Turning change from a stressor into an opportunity (Mike Roarty)
Are you currently experiencing changes at work that have stressed or demotivated you? Would you like to feel you have more control of how change impacts you? This workshop will introduce you to a solution-focused and strength-focused way of thinking about change.

Taking ownership of your career (Minerva Executive Search and Leadership Services)
We’ll encourage you to think proactively about enriching your career, sharing some tips and insights from a head-hunter’s perspective on how to plan for and secure the ideal next role. We’ll cover crafting an impressive CV and cover letter, building a strong personal brand and social media profile, and performing well at interview.

10am – 11am

Walking tour: Clerkenwell and Industrialisation (Jiff Bayliss)
Clerkenwell has a rich history as a working-class suburb from the C17th. This tour looks at the first industrial site, the industries that grew up here and the role that the Northampton Institute, the predecessor of City, had in nurturing it.

11am – 2pm

Craft drop-in: Make a friendship bracelet or origami sweet box (Tea and Crafting)
Join at any time between 11am and 2pm to learn how to make friendship bracelets, with two quick methods and a wide variety of colours to choose from. You can also learn origami, the Japanese art of paper folding and an activity associated with mindfulness. We'll take you through a simple project to make a small gift box – a skill you can adapt to make at any size from home.

11am – 11.50am

Creative writing (Dr Poonam Madar, School of Arts & Social Sciences)
Joseph Beuys understood creativity as our primal instinct when he said, “Every human being is an artist.” Sometimes though, ‘life’ as we know it can get in the way. Using a variety of mixed media as writing prompts, this workshop invites you to play, discover, and unleash the creative self. Come with an open-mind and the willingness to give writing a go. All materials provided.

*Fully booked* Playing at work? Seriously? An introduction to Lego Serious Play (Susannah Quinsee, Vice-President (Digital and Student Experience)
Yes, you can play at work! And it is amazingly effectively and productive. This session will give you an overview of the Lego Serious Play methodology for strategy building, team working and all sorts of other applications. You might even get to play with some Lego. But only seriously, of course.

Nutrition (Dr Swrajit Sarkar, School of Health Sciences)
Is brown bread better than white bread? Is tinned salmon better than fresh salmon? Explore the truth about the various types of carbohydrate, proteins and fats that we regularly consume and learn some facts about them to help make the right choice for your healthy eating.

Time and pressure (Steve Creffield)
You can’t manage time, yet you can lift your resilience to pressure. In this session we will identify the three primary pressure situations that occur in every workplace, no matter its size or sector. We will explore how-to strategies for amplifying the pressure and then consider our alternatives, the pathways and choices, to being more resilient and empowered at those times.

Understanding the science of wellbeing: The cultural, social, and economic perspectives (Professor Andre Spicer, Bayes Business School)
Wellness has gone mainstream, and it dictates the way we work, live our lives and study. The ideological element of wellness is particularly visible when considering the prevailing attitudes towards those who fail to look after their bodies post-op. Hear Andre’s thought-provoking presentation on ‘wellness syndrome’, in the cultural, social and economic perspective.

Building self-belief and confidence (Kathy Toogood)
Would you like to feel more confident and display more self-confidence in any situation? Learn what natural self-confidence looks and feels like, and some techniques to be able to access your natural self-confidence any time.

Coaching your staff during change and uncertainty (Mike Roarty)
Are your staff experiencing changes at work that have stressed or demotivated them? Is their performance suffering? This workshop will increase your confidence to have conversations with your staff which acknowledge the challenges and support their increased motivation.

12pm – 1pm

Walking tour: Communities of Islington
Designed for International Cities Week in 2018, this walk looks at the cultures that made up the Islington community. Its aim is to show the sights related to some of the most prominent immigrant groups in Islington as well as the sites of some of their most famous – and infamous – people.

12pm – 2pm

Drop-in: Lunch
Drop in for a light lunch and networking in the Pavilion.

12pm – 12.50pm

Create a collage book cover (Simon Abbott, SMCSE)
This creative workshop will provide an introduction to collage and printmaking techniques, and how they can be used in illustration and design. Materials will be provided for participants to experiment on their own or collaboratively, producing artwork on notebooks to take away after the session.

Breath Reset (Workplace Healthcare: 20-minutes)
In this 20-minute session, explore how utilising your breath and simple movements can enhance a state of coherence and rebuild the nervous system. You will pick up some tools to help you de-stress and help you to recharge your batteries.

Understanding the science of wellbeing: Physiology and neuroscience (Dr Natalie Green)
Natalie will highlight the physiology and neuroscience of wellbeing by examining the role of nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle on wellbeing, including the role of physical environment and work.

Solution-focus at work (Steve Creffield)
The key principle here is ‘what you focus on grows!’ But what do you want to grow, problems or solutions? It is astonishing how much time we can give to growing problems, when, with a simple shift in our thinking we can start growing solutions instead. In this session we will discover how.

Developing an interdisciplinary sustainability module (Arthur Shearlaw, Sustainability team; Dominic Pates, LEaD)
Introducing ‘City 2030’, a proposed module to give every student the opportunity to learn about global issues and explore how to tackle the climate crisis. Join to share your insight into what the module should look like – what topics should it include? Who should run it? Should other universities be included?

1pm – 1.50pm

The power of stories: Lessons from Wonderland (Albina Shashyna)
An imaginative and interactive session that will guide you through an exploration of self-stories and self-permissions – while giving you practical tools to enable personal growth and to choose how you respond to circumstances in a fast-changing world.

Nutrition: Gut health (Workplace Healthcare)
Gut health is not just about digestion. How happy our belly is can affect everything, from our mood, to brain function, sleep, weight, allergies and immune system. This workshop offers practical dietary and lifestyle tips to nourish and support your gut microbiome, supporting good health, wellbeing and productivity.

Life in view (Dr Paul Flaxman, School of Health Sciences)
In this session, explore a point of view (or psychological ‘lens’) that can be used to enhance self-awareness. Paul will invite you to reflect on what you most want to move towards in your daily life. This involves becoming more aware of your personal values, which can be used as a guide to daily behaviour.

What’s important to me? Clarifying what you are looking for in the next steps of your career journey (Kathy Toogood)
If you were asked where you would like to go next in your career would you say, “I’m not sure”? This workshop will introduce you to the importance of clarifying your values in relation to your work and career, and to give you a clearer idea of where to go next.

High quality feedback using a coaching style (Mike Roarty)
Done badly, feedback can damage the important relationships between you and your team members. Done well, research shows that it lifts performance and engagement. This workshop will show you how, as a manager, to give feedback in a high quality coaching style.

Excel tips and ‘tricks’ (Mark Brace, City Strategic Planning and Performance Unit)
Join an interactive session to learn and try out a range of different Excel tricks and techniques, and an opportunity to ask questions about any tricky Excel problems you might have. Practice VLOOKUP, FILTERS and TABLES as well as some other functions.

2pm – 2.50pm

*Fully booked* Gamelan taster (Andrew Channing, School of Arts & Social Sciences)
City is home to several ornate percussion orchestras from Bali and Java called gamelan. These gongs, drums and metallophones produce rich and mesmerising sounds. Join Andy Channing who will teach you to play a piece of traditional Indonesian music – the session is fun and accessible, no experience needed.

A clear line of sight (Steve Creffield)
When things get connected we have ‘ah ha’ moments, or ‘oh I see’ insights. But when things become disconnected we can experience confusion, loss of motivation and apathy. The solution resides in ‘story’ – how the brain naturally connects the dots so that we can develop a clear line of sight. Learn how these connections are vital in making PDRs, team meetings, and everyday conversations meaningful.

Sleep well (Workplace Health Care)
How much sleep is enough? What is normal sleep? Why do we sleep? This session will explore sleep stages and rhythms, dispel common sleeping myths, consider sleep problems and talk about solutions, to help you gain a good night’s sleep every night.

Drawing it out (Drawing for mental health with Ruby)
Join illustrator Ruby Elliot (@Rubyetc) for a drawing and illustration workshop. Learn how to draw from emotions and find new ways to express yourself through art, letting go of inhibitions and promoting positive mental health.

How to do CPR: Mini demo (Robin Kerrigan, Health & Safety team)
Join this session with City’s own Health and Safety team to learn how to do CPR, a life-saving skill that you never know when you might need.

How to have a wellbeing conversation (Kathy Toogood)
The pandemic, and everything that came with it, seems to have increased managers’ awareness of the need to focus on staff wellbeing. This workshop gives you an opportunity to explore a useful approach to having those wellbeing conversations.

Handling conflict (Mike Roarty)
Most people find conflict at work difficult to handle. This workshop explores five different ways to respond to someone you might be in conflict with, and which one you might lean towards most often. It clarifies when each is appropriate, and which one most often gets everyone the best results.

Introduction to Continuous Improvement (City Change Support Unit)
Aimed at those who are brand-new to CI or wish to know more about how CI is going to be applied at City, attendees will learn what CI is and some of its core concepts and key tools and techniques used – for example, how to remove waste from your processes and ways of working.

3pm – 3.30pm

An introduction to Modern SharePoint sites (Blessing Isreal-Theophillus, IT)
SharePoint has gone through an upgrade from the 'Classic' to the 'Modern' version. This session will take you through an overview of SharePoint Team sites vs Communication sites, how to create and structure content in a site, how to manage permissions, how to add contents and apps to your site, and how to request access for external users.

3pm – 3.50pm

Playing on the page (Drawing with Ruby)
Join illustrator Ruby Elliot for a drawing and illustration workshop. Learn how to create playful images, unlock new ideas and experiment with saying as much as you can with as few lines as possible!

Be Active, Feel Well – 7 reasons why exercise is important for your health and wellbeing (Viktoria Faltusz, City Sport)
An exciting presentation from CitySport's fitness manager Viktoria, who is also a former professional football player and an active lifestyle, fitness and wellbeing enthusiastic.

Transforming meetings with the thinking environment (Kathy Toogood)
90% of the conversation at the average workplace meeting is had by 30% of those attending. Many people don’t contribute in meetings at all. If you are keen to find out how to run meetings that give people an altogether different and superior experience then this workshop is for you.

Negotiation skills (Mike Roarty)
We are often put in a situation at work where we need to negotiate the best outcome. But what is the best way to achieve this? This workshop clarifies the key elements of preparation, and the stages of an effective negotiation conversation.

Campus tour (City Organisational Development team)
Come along to one of our City Campus Tours, where you’ll have the opportunity to meet colleagues and get acquainted with City’s facilities, staff benefits, campus layout and best coffee spots. We’ll also explore the hidden history of City’s buildings that contribute to its unique story.

From 4pm

Develop@City celebration
Get together with colleagues for a celebration, with food and beverages.