Chances are you've seen the unfortunate impact of negativity in the workplace. Negative mindsets and interactions can breed conflict and erode productivity. However, research in the field of positive psychology shows that positivity can be learned and, when applied, can lead to high performing teams and workplaces. This workshop will first provide an understanding of this research by exploring how much positivity is needed in the workplace, how to get it, and how it increases performance. Then you'll learn specific techniques to apply this research for yourself as a leader and for your workplace. The skills include: flipping negativity; enhancing work relationships (easy and difficult ones); engaging your team through authentic recognition, discovering strengths and welcoming dissent; discovering positive meaning in the work environment; spreading and absorbing positivity; fostering the proper balance between inquiry (asking questions) and advocacy (stating viewpoints); exploring the power of a growth mindset with your team, and coaching individuals using a four-step model that builds your capacity to foster team member growth and performance. You'll practice these skills through interactive exercises and case studies and be ready to apply them immediately back at your workplace--bringing out the best in each of your team members, and yourself.
(This is part of the Leadership and Management Certificate Program, but you do not need to be enrolled in the program to take this workshop.)
In this hands-on course, students will learn how to focus on their staff's needs by observing daily performance, setting up coaching conversations, providing/gathering feedback, and recording performance.
Students will also analyze the G.R.O.W. Model and learn how to apply it to every day situations:
Goal
•What do you want to accomplish today?
•What is your ultimate goal?
•If you could remove all obstacles, what do you want to accomplish?
•What do you most need from me in working towards this goal?
Reality
•What is happening right now?
•What does [the issue/problem] look like?
•What does [a person] say or do about it?
•What have you and/or the team tried so far?
•What difference did those actions make?
•Who else is involved in the situation, and how? (e.g., other team members’ leaders)
Options
•Ideally, what would you like to see happen now?
•Let’s shoot for at least five potential actions that you/the team could take? What else can you do?
•If you had unlimited resources and knew you could not fail, what would you try?
•What have you seen others to that might work for you?
•Would you like to hear my ideas?
Way Forward
•Which option(s) do you want to pursue?
•What step will you take this week to move you towards the solution?
•On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely is it that you will take this step?
•Are there obstacles we need to address?
Katherine Maloney, M.B.A., is an accomplished coach, program manager, facilitator, and consultant with over 25 years' experience helping individuals and teams connect with success in health care, financial services, and higher education organizations. Workplace affiliations and clients have included Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Fidelity Investments, BankBoston, and Babson and Emmanuel Colleges. She has owned and managed her firm, WorkPaths Consulting, since 2012, that provides strengths-based career coaching and consulting and workshops that build positive workplace communications.
Janet Edmunson, M. Ed., is president of JME Insights and partner in sPeak Performance. She has over 30 years' experience in leadership in both large and small organizations. She was the Corporate Manager of Wellness Programs for Georgia-Pacific Corp., and has been a leader in, or consultant to, small and mid-size from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mass. as Director of Prevention and Wellness, and has been a consultant and national motivational speaker, having spoken to over 300 groups.
