Balancing Besties and Business

Run Time: 1-3 hours (depending on customization)
Description: Determining where to draw the line on friendship with those you manage – or those who manage you – seems more complicated than ever. Conventional wisdom says we should avoid building friendships across reporting lines, but today’s current leadership practices embrace connection and openness. In real life, the actual line between our personal and professional lives is very thin. This session will help you examine the benefits and challenges of friendship in the workplace. We will discuss common stumbling blocks like social media posts, as well how you can coach others to create healthy boundaries in your organization. It will encourage you to redefine what workplace friendship should look like for you, and how to set and maintain those lines going forward.

Recommended Readings: Balancing Besties & Business Pinterst board

Think Outside the Text Box

Run Time: 2 hour
Description: Libraries have been thinking about the evolution of communication and our role in the changing media landscape for decades. But often we cling to traditional styles in our own communications. We use writing as a default mechanism for relaying information. Our signs, our emails, our handouts, our website are still often solely text. How and when could we find other ways to communicate?
Recommended Readings: Think Outside the Text Box Pinterst board

Expanding Your Mentor Network

Run Time: 1 hour
Description: Mentors provide inspiration, motivation and development. They can play a key role at any point in your career, but how do you find one in the first place? And, where do you turn when you begin to “out-grow” the mentors you found early in your career? In this session, we’ll discuss different styles of mentors and show you how to go beyond the traditional mentor-protégé relationship to expand your mentor network.

Recommended Readings: Expanding Your Mentor Network Pinterst board

Internal Communications: Beyond the Coffee Pot

Run Time: 1-3 hours based on customization

Description: Internal communications is a constant struggle. People often complain that they don’t know what is going on inside their organization, but then they don’t pay attention to the information you try to give them. In this session, you’ll learn how to evaluate your internal communications needs, develop a communications plan based on the information you gather, and how to execute the process for your employees. Although your plan probably won’t ever be perfect, your employees will appreciate your efforts, and your company culture will most likely improve in the process!

Recommended Readings:

Patience, Poise & Panic: Managing Emotion in the Workplace

Run Time: 2.5 hours

Description: Emotions are a part of life, and they affect how we work and interact with others. This session will explore the range of emotions that impact our work and how we can manage ourselves and conflicts with professionalism and respect.

Recommended Readings:

Think Like a Writer

"Think Like a Writer" is one of my favorite session to present. I write. A lot. I write for the web, blogs, social media, I write news releases, newsletters, magazine articles, business letters, emails, proposals, fundraising solicitations, even a couple book chapters.

Luckily for me, I love writing. And, I consider myself a writer. That's probably why I notice how much all of us write: we write to communicate, we write to document, we write for ourselves, we write socially, and we write for work. Everyone who take this class is a writer. It's my hope that by the end of this session, even if you don’t think of yourself as a writer, you can at least, learn to think a bit, like a writer.

Run time: 2-4 hours based on customization

Description: A writing process trains us how to write, improves quality, and helps us avoid mistakes. In this session, participants will see an example writing process and learn techniques for dealing with blocks along the way. Then we will apply the process to improve different writing projects like reports, memos and emails. The application portion of the session can be customized to fit the group’s needs.

Recommended Resources: Think Like a Writer Pinterest board