HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center is hosting the second Focus Week of 2022 from April 25-29.
Focus week is a quarterly opportunity for personnel to complete mandatory and discretionary leadership and acquisition training, along with the potential to earn continuous learning points.
“The AFLCMC environment has changed rapidly without pause, and Focus Week provides courses to help our workforce manage these changes while enhancing their career development,” said Jason Sibrel, program manager, AFLCMC Focus Week.
Dozens of courses will be available, ranging from career and functional area-specific training and coaching to personal development classes.
Focus Week offers a number of courses for acquisition and program management personnel. A few examples this quarter include Defense Acquisition Enterprise, Survey of Airborne Communications, and Introduction to Environment, Safety and Occupational Health in Acquisition.
In Defense Acquisition Enterprise, facilitators will introduce how to leverage collaborative web-based tools in an effort to transform the defense acquisition workforce. Enrollees will be educated on Web 2.0 tools and concepts in order to generate innovative solutions within the acquisition community. Instructors will also highlight new approaches to collaboration and reporting, and demonstrate personal steps to improving daily operations. This course is worth one continuous learning point.
For those wishing to gain an overview of airborne communications, Survey of Airborne Communications introduces enrollees to terms, technologies, spectrum, interoperability and more. In this course, facilitators will demystify technical communications terms with graphics and simple animations. Designed for program and logistics managers, finance, contracting and other program personnel, this course is worth two continuous learning points.
Introduction to ESOH in Acquisition was developed to introduce students to the recommended approach for integrating environment, safety, and occupational health into system acquisition efforts. Designed for program office representatives, engineers, project leads, program managers, and others who handle ESOH and hazardous material matters as a part of their daily activities, this course is available on April 25 and worth two continuous learning points.
Multiple personal development classes are also available this focus week, including several new courses. A few examples include Leading Hybrid Teams, Counteracting Unconscious Bias, and How to Write Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time, or SMART, Standards.
To better equip the modern workforce with tools to assist in exceling in a hybrid or virtual team environment, AFLCMC is partnering with Sinclair Workforce Development Office to provide Leading Hybrid Teams. Developed for both supervisors and employees, instructors will teach soft skills for leading and managing teams, hard skills to excel in virtual teams, team building and communication tips for virtual and hybrid environments, and tools to facilitate success. Leading Hybrid Teams is available on April 25 and 28 and worth two continuous learning points.
Counteracting Unconscious Bias is an Air Force Materiel Command course designed to provide enrollees with a proactive diversity and inclusion training session that informs our perceptions of people and groups that can influence our decision making behavior. Included in the session are methods, like the ACT Model, for counteracting unconscious bias. This course is available on both April 25 and 26, and worth one and a half continuous learning points.
In an effort to assist employees with writing SMART standards and preparing them for performance evaluation conversations with supervisors, AFLCMC has again partnered with Sinclair Workforce Development Office to provide How to Write SMART Standards for Employees. This two hour virtual session is worth two continuous learning points.
Courses are hosted on platforms such as Zoom, Defense Collaboration Services, and Microsoft Teams.
“A vast majority of the Focus Week courses are now held virtually and are open to the entire AFLCMC workforce, regardless of geographic location,” said Sibrel. “Course attendance has increased dramatically as a result of the virtual learning environment.”
Attendance is open to military, civilian, and most contractor personnel, as long as the contract allows for the attendance of training and the course is open to all, he added.
For a list of all the courses and step-by-step instructions on how to register, visit the Focus Week course catalog by clicking here.
Registration for all courses is available on the Acquisition Now Continuous Learning website.
For questions or additional information, contact Jason.Sibrel@us.af.mil.