Professional Development Webinars

Managing Difficult Conversations

April 12, 2023 | noon–1 p.m.
Presented by Nan Gesche

Have you ever hesitated when faced with a disagreement or the need to confront someone about an uncomfortable situation? Whether it’s at home or work, most of us want to avoid difficult conversations for fear of how people will react.

Since ignoring disagreements doesn’t make them go away, being able to deal with difficult conversations effectively is an essential skill in maintaining good relationships and succeeding in life. We want to help remove the fear factor from difficult conversations by sharing tools to help turn that tough talk into a constructive dialogue to keep your relationships intact and your career on track.

Join our 60-minute program to discover:

• the most common mistakes we make when having a difficult conversation and how to avoid them.
• strategies for handling difficult conversations, directly and professionally.
• how to structure the opening of a difficult conversation more effectively.
• tips to avoid defensiveness when you are confronted.
• keys to focusing on problems and solutions—not blaming others.

Nan Gesche, MA, is an educator, speaker, and coach who aims to “help people play well together.” She has guided organizations through change management, resiliency building, and conflict management for over 20 years.

Team Building in a Virtual Environment

Everyone plays a role in team building, including supervisors with direct reports, project team leaders, and essential individual contributors. How we each show up impacts the level of collaboration and the success of the group’s work together.

Remote teams can present unique and sometimes hidden challenges in their virtual space, especially without face-to-face opportunities. Optimizing the advantages of online work requires cultivating trust, psychological safety, and interpersonal connections while neutralizing conflict, disengagement, and burnout. If you think you should have this down by now and can’t quite put your finger on what might be missing, you’re not alone.

In this webinar, we

• highlighted current trends and needs of today’s virtual teams.
• explored the different roles and key capabilities of virtual team leaders and team members.
• identified some ways that emotional and cultural intelligence can build stronger virtual teams.

Webinar presenter Karin Goettsch, PhD, CPTD, designs research-based strategic talent and organizational development solutions for prominent clients across industries and sectors. She consults and coaches on leadership, team building, effective communication, and other core topics.

Presented February 15, 2023.

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Dynamics of Power in the Workplace

There are five types of power in the workplace:

• legitimate - authority given by an organization—a formal “right” to command others
• reward - the ability for someone to reward compliance
• expert - possessing skills and knowledge
• referent - having gained a reputation, respect, or trustworthiness by others
• coercive - possessing the ability to punish.

When any of these types of power veer off into their negative aspects, the work environment can get quite uncomfortable. Whether it’s favoritism, lack of communication, inequitable workloads, or micromanaging, dealing with toxic power differentials can be detrimental not only to individual well-being and productivity but also to the organization. 

In this webinar we:

• explored challenges faced with those in positions of authority at work.
• examined the different types of power in the workplace.
• gpt tactics to neutralize power in the workplace.
• learned to express constructive disagreement with those in leadership positions.

Webinar presenter Jim Hoar recently retired after 31 years of service with Target Company, where he held many roles, most recently as senior consultant on Target’s Executive Development team. Jim’s teaching and research interests include strategy development, influence and influence tactics, and leading transformational change.

Presented on March 15, 2023.

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