(via Nicole Swanson, CARLI)
CARLI is pleased to invite you to attend the upcoming webinar series Successful Workplace Communications presented by Ben Mead Harvey. This webinar series is free and open to Illinois libraries and members of the Professional Development Alliance. Please register for each session separately.
Navigating Difficult Conversations
Tuesday, July 25, 1:00-2:30 PM CDT
We all face moments at work where tensions are running high: an angry customer shouting in your face; an employee’s or coworker’s behavior causing disruption in the office; a peer or supervisor suggesting a change that you don’t agree with.
In this first session of the Successful Workplace Communications Series, Ben Mead Harvey will explain how to effectively navigate those conversations. We will open with a discussion of the fight-or-flight response, which leads to ineffective behaviors in tense conversations. We will follow with specific strategies you can use in-the-moment to guide the conversation to an effective conclusion. The session will finish with long-term strategies to implement that will help keep things amicable when difficult conversations arise.
Tuesday, September 12, 1:00-2:00 PM CDT
When someone gets in a disagreement with us, or when someone fails to meet expectations in their work, or when someone acts in violation of rules, procedure, or social convention, we make certain assumptions. We assume they are choosing to act inappropriately. We assume that they understand the problem the same way we understand it. We assume that if they truly meant well, they would not be acting the way they are acting.
In this second session of the Successful Workplace Communications Series, we will explore a big-picture perspective that will assist you with all interpersonal communications in the workplace. Ben Mead Harvey will present the case that others’ intentions are irrelevant in deciding how to handle situations. Further, he will propose that you always assume they are acting with good intentions, even when there is evidence to the contrary. We will discuss techniques that encourage you to assume positive intent and explore the effectiveness of those strategies.
Ben Mead-Harvey is an Instructor at the iSchool at the University of Illinois. He teaches “Personnel Management” and “Financial Management of Libraries”, the former of which he designed and created for the college. He has been working in libraries since 2007, the bulk of which has been in management of municipal and district libraries. His major passion is learning about and teaching others how to effectively manage. He has authored many short articles on effective management practices which can be found here. Ben has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master of Library Science from the University of Illinois, in addition to a Master of Business Administration from North Dakota State University.