Update as of 1 August 2024: Unfortunately, registrations have been slow. We understand that with the timing of holidays, conflicts, politics, Olympics, etc., people have limited attention and energy in this season. So today we have decided to postpone these sessions until we can get enough people committed. As facilitators, it’s important to protect the integrity of the group learning process, which requires a minimum number of people. We are sorry for this delay, but we don’t want to compromise the peer learning experience. We will continue to promote all of the offerings, and will pick new dates once we have a full group. Reach out to be included on the mailing list for future offerings via this google form: https://forms.gle/eLdtZkyWfJNkBPqU6
To learn “out loud” in our workplaces can be risky. Professional models of leadership rooted in dominant culture prepare and require us to be “experts” – to present ourselves as knowledgable, self-confident, decisive, and always having the answer.
That makes it really hard to develop new skills at work, particularly those that help us recognize and address power imbalances.
Our professional, organization-related identities provide the setting for self-knowledge that transfers into group dynamics. Honing observation skills and having templates for giving and receiving feedback contributes to more chosen organizational cultures, rather than unconscious interactions and inherited dysfunction. The steps we take as professionals support our individual capabilities, as well as our ability to collaborate more effectively across difference.
How are you practicing learning on a regular basis? What resources are you putting towards your learning on a professional AND a personal basis?
Consider yourself invited to do so in the following six group learning spaces (two six-week cohorts and four stand alone) with myself, Jennifer Lentfer, and my trusted colleague Amanda Lindamood. For each of these topics, we offer original authored content, instructional frameworks, formative opportunities for peer-to-peer learning, and skillful co-facilitation, plus invitations to practice and integrate learnings in your organizational context. See the details below, as well as registration links for each.
Six-week group learning spaces
The topics of these learning spaces reflect two areas of support often sought–how to design and facilitate a meeting, and how to create strong supervisory relationships. Both represent essential functions in our organizations, and represent a wide range of experiences good and otherwise.
Ever been in a meeting and left disappointed in the facilitators? We’ve all been there, observant of dynamics that were not addressed in a group space, and outcomes that led to for attendees. What if that disappointed feeling was replaced with additional preparation? What if those insights pondered as correction or follow up were applied to the design phase? This cohort is a space to view yourself as a facilitator, and consider the elements of meetings that can be both more effective and more equitable. Over the course of six sessions, cohorts will explore the themes of space, intervention and self knowledge, and how to complement and strengthen healthier group dynamics.
Dates/Time: 12 August 2024 – 16 September 2024 (Mondays) 11-1pm EST / 4-6pm BST
Cost: US$750 (Early bird rate), US$900 after July 10th
Click here to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/938003251977
(Space is limited to 15 people.)
There is a familiar axiom in relationships that says ‘move at the speed of trust’. In this short phrase it’s made clear that having expectations and pacing in relationships is important, and this is equally true in our workplaces. The relationships we have with people we supervise ripple into larger attitudes and behaviors in an organization, making these relationships highly influential. How are you thinking about that influence and role? How would you like to think about it? What considerations are you open to reevaluating? This cohort is a space to view yourself as a supervisor, and consider the elements of supervision that can be intentional from the beginning. Over the course of six sessions, cohorts will explore the themes of expectations, formality and socialization, and how to anticipate and model behaviors that foster a trusted relationship with a supervisor.
Dates/Time: 14 August 2024 – 18 September 2024 (Wednesdays) 11-1pm EST / 4-6pm BST
Cost: US$750 (Early bird rate), US$900 after July 10th
Click here to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/938037524487
(Space is limited to 15 people.)
Stand-alone sessions
Within our discussions and frameworks, accountability is a word with many disconnected and incongruent meanings. We might hear accountability and think of punishment, or roll our eyes because it feels meaningless or heavy handed within our workplaces. This session considers one aspect of accountability–motivation, and provides a group exercise to clarify our relationship with both the word and practices of accountability we can imagine and apply to ourselves. This 90 minute virtual space will guide participants in these thought exercises. Registration is required to participate, and the number of spots are limited.
Date/Time: 4 August 2024 (Sunday) – 4pm EST / 1pm PST
Cost: US$75
Click here to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/938993172857
(Space is limited to 25 people.)
Have you ever had an intense response at work and thought to yourself, “I don’t know where that came from.” Or alternatively, have you found yourself caring less, struggling to focus, becoming less aware of yourself and the people around you. You might be experiencing a trigger, brought on by overwhelming stress and experiences that have shaped our brain and body’s support needs. Humanizing this part of work benefits our workplaces, and changes how we interpret and observe what is happening within us and around us. The focus of this session is to give context and provide examples of how workplace triggers might show up. A follow up session will provide tips for how to respond when you’re triggered at work. This 90 minute virtual space will guide participants in these thought exercises. Registration is required to participate, and the number of spots are limited.
Date/Time: 18 August 2024 (Sunday) – 1pm EST / 10am PST
Cost: US$75
Click here to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/938720808207
(Space is limited to 25 people.)
This follow up session picks up where getting triggered at work left off, and asks the next important question–how can I handle this? This session aims to illuminate options, offer self led exercises, and allow participants to have new examples of how to take care of themselves when they’re triggered. It is disingenuous to distinguish between taking care of ourselves personally and professionally when it comes to overwhelming amounts of stress, and our responsibility is to integrate gaps in our existing thinking and responses when it comes to triggers. Let a group of people who’ve been there too help us move past the embarrassment and disorientation together. This 90 minute virtual space will guide participants in these thought exercises. Registration is required to participate, and the number of spots are limited.
Date/Time: 25 August 2024 (Sunday) – 1pm EST / 10am PST
Cost: US$75
Click here to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/938791830637
(Space is limited to 25 people.)
Communication is one of those areas where we can forget our choicefulness, or never experiment with how to use our public voice. Choicefulness is what allows us to draw on options without coercion, and to move beyond defaults that limit us or feel restrictive. Join an experienced communications professional in examining necessary and helpful self questions that enable less friction and separation between what you believe and what you say, and feel encouraged to be choiceful in using your public voice. This 90 minute virtual space will guide participants in these thought exercises. Registration is required to participate, and the number of spots are limited.
Date/Time: 12 September 2024 (Thursday) – 4pm EST / 1pm PST
Cost: US$75
Click here to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/938684088377
(Space is limited to 25 people.)
Have more questions? Feel free to check out the FAQs on each of the registration links, or get in touch with the facilitators at: email.howmatters@gmail.com.
