A six-part series designed to help managers, supervisors, operators,
engineers, and team members improve their leadership skills

Management
"Even if you don't directly supervise someone, these skills will have a positive impact on your ability to deal with others in a project or team environment and improve your organizational abilities." - Diane Murdock, Appleton International, Inc.

Dates: Wednesdays at 11 a.m. Eastern

Registration form on the PIMA website

1-page summary for this PIMA & CPBIS Online Seminar

Session 1: September 10
The Open Mind:
Using the 6 Patterns of Natural Intelligence to Improve Communication
Presenter: Randy Riggs, Operations Manager - NAM, DA Consulting Group, Inc.

Can you relate to any of these statements?
"I'm more of a visual learner, so I need to see things in pictures to truly understand complex ideas."
"Before Gary believes anything, he has to hear it coming out of his own mouth."
"Every time I sit down to talk to my boss, she starts doodling on a pad of paper. It really ticks me off! I want her to look me in the eye while I tell her what I think."

People are often classified as a "visual" or "auditory" learner, meaning that they only learn by seeing something or reading it out loud. Other people insist that they have to do something before they ever understand what it is they are doing. However, rather than relying on only one way of learning, we actually use a combination of all three modes. How our minds combine visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning can vary between individuals.

By discovering the pattern that most closely resembles the way you think, you can get "unstuck" in your thinking, applying new methods to solve old problems - see things the way that others see them, hear the underlying message, feel empathy for the other person's position. Conversely, you can practice using this same knowledge to translate your message into another person's native tongue.

Session 2: September 24
Conflict Resolution
Presenter: Randy Riggs, Operations Manager - NAM, DA Consulting Group, Inc.

Conflict occurs when two or more possible actions or responses are considered for the same incident or event. Maintaining composure in these situations can be rather difficult. Having a better understanding of the common types and sources of conflict can help you determine appropriate strategies for dealing with these challenges.

Conflict can result from a variety of tensions, such as:

Gender-based Tensions - Most gender-based conflicts in the workplace are not obvious or even intentional. Today's conflicts arise from an organization's culture that creates a systemic disadvantage for women. Most companies were created by men and are based on male experiences. The desired traits for management are stereotypically male: tenacity, aggression and decisiveness.

Generation-based Tensions - For the first time in history, there are four separate and distinct generations working together in a stressful, competitive workplace. In order to understand the different generations we need to examine their common history. The events and conditions experienced by each generation determine their perception of the world and the workplace.

Behavior-based Tensions - Conflict caused by behavior-based tension is usually associated with miscommunication. Only 7% of human communication is transmitted verbally - the other 93% is nonverbal. Facial expressions, body language and tone of voice are important facets of communication. It is not surprising so much conflict is caused by miscommunication.

Knowing the reasons for conflict is only a start. Through negotiations and associated compromise, mutually beneficial (i.e., win-win) solutions should be uncovered. Practicing a systematic set of steps to resolve conflict will help make the resolution process more natural.

Session 3: October 8
Setting and Aligning SMART Goals
Presenter: Frank Plano, Consumer Products Knowledge Manager, Georgia-Pacific

Setting and aligning goals are critical to producing deliverables for your organization. Yet most individuals are confused about defining goals, incorporating them productively into their performance and measuring the value.

"If I have been at my job for several years and know exactly what to do and how to do it, why do I have to bother with Goals?"
"If every organization sets goals, why is it that so much effort is expended in activity that is counter-productive to the goals of the organization?"
"If Manager A meets HIS goals, and Manager B meets HER goals, how can it be that the organization itself is failing to meet its goals?
"How can I be accountable for goals that I don't control?"

In high-performing organizations, personal accountability is present at all levels. Discover how accountability can be improved through goal-setting and alignment, as well as the answers to the above questions.
Also discover how individual goal setting can become destructive to an organization.
Finally, solidify your understanding of the essential ingredients in making goal setting work for you, your team, and the greater organization.

Session 4: October 22, 2003
Developing Personal Accountability at all Levels of the Organization
Presenter: Don Groover, CIH, CSP, Vice President, Behavioral Science Technology, Inc.®

Every organization wants its members to exercise personal accountability. The dictionary definition of personal accountability is one who readily assumes obligations, acquits oneself creditably, acts rationally, and is answerable for one's actions. When individuals within an organization are personally accountable, the result is a high-functioning, performance-friendly organization.

You can often overhear leaders asking, "How can we get our employees to have a "fire in their bellies" for performance?" We want them to develop a passion for performance. To get to that passion, organizations try a number of different techniques including slogans, posters, and motivational speakers, giving out incentives or dishing out punishment for non-performance. While some of these techniques might reach a few people, they rarely develop a widespread sense of responsibility and passion.

In a high-functioning organization, personal accountability is present at all levels. Organizations develop and nurture this sense of responsibility at each level and channel it into behaviors and practices that support the desired performance.

This talk will focus on a proven change model. This model starts with setting the right expectations and establishing an organizational "tone" for change. Next identifying the specific practices and behaviors that are needed to demonstrate this passion. Finally, clarifying what systems prevent employees from doing the things we say we desire and removing these barriers.

There is no silver bullet for developing a fire in the belly of our employees. There are underlying reasons why this passion doesn't exist or has been extinguished. Change starts at the senior most level of the organization. We will discuss how we can get alignment at this level and identify the crucial few practices they must demonstrate to get their direct reports enthused about the performance target. Next we will discuss middle management and supervisors and finally the workers themselves.

Session 5: November 5
Group Dynamics - Determining the Basis for High Performance Work Teams
Presenter: Eric Coryell, LeadershipTraining Specialist, Appleton International, Inc.

Think back to the last time you were part of a highly functioning team. Maybe it was a high school sports experience, your favorite social group or a work project team that really got results. What was it about that team that made it exciting, effective and fun? When everything seemed to fall in to place. Most highly functioning teams have a few things in common. They usually had a shared fate that aligned their purpose and passion. They demonstrated a vested interest in each other's success. And they always forced each other to work to their maximum potential. Renown behaviorist Pat Murray translated these behavioral observations into a series of steps designed identify the weaknesses that most group suffer while suggesting very practical tools and methods get your team operating to its maximum potential. This presentation will introduce you to these concepts and provide you the background needed to take your team to the next step.

Session 6: November 19
Change Management
Presenter: Don Groover, CIH, CSP, Vice President, Behavioral Science Technology, Inc.®

Change is a constant. It can come in the form of upsizing, rightsizing, downsizing, takeovers, implementation of an improvement initiative, changes in leadership, just to mention a few. The natural desire is to maintaining the status quo, but this has been a well-traveled road to going out of business. In today's business environment, it is the companies that are adaptable that survive and thrive.

Culture and individual beliefs work against change. Culture is commonly defined as the shared values and beliefs of a group. Culture reflects people's shared perceptions about how things work - in practice, not in theory. Beliefs are the way we see the world and identify for us what is important and what is not.

The starting point for change is to assess an organization's current acceptance to change. We need to understand which levels welcome change and what levels might be an impediment to change and why.

New research has proven that there are organization attributes that predict organizational performance. Additional research has identified the root cause issues that drive these organizational attributes. Organizational factors that impede progress become visible through resistance.

Resistance to change is natural and expected. It comes in many forms and frequently accompanies any sort of change. In the dynamic environment of today's world, leaders can count on resistance management being a part of their jobs. Understanding how to recognize and overcome resistance while maintaining an effective working relationship is an important skill for leaders.

To successfully manage resistance, a leader needs to know how to diagnose the cause of the resistance and recognize the different ways in which resistance is manifested. With this knowledge, the leader can devise a strategy for handling the resistance.

There are three common forms of organizational resistance to change.

" Cognitive resistance manifests as constant requests for more information, a need for endless details, and arguments over the necessity for the change.
" Minimal compliance is most common where there is strong cohesion amongst the group members. The members do the absolute minimum the change requires but resist the change vision at every corner.
" Out-waiting the change is widespread when organizations fall into the "flavor of the month" trap, and employees know that they don't have to alter what they are currently doing. Eventually management will drop the initiative.

This talk will focus on understanding how organizational functioning affects acceptance to change and describes a model for successfully driving change through an organization and overcoming resistance.

If you wish to get more information about past and future programs please contact Professor Vinod Singhal.