Workshops for Leading & Working in Hybrid Teams

Communicating within teams is challenging at best. Within hybrid teams, some members working from home and some from campus it is even more challenging. How to align team members around a clear vision and picture of the work to be done, communicating clear roles, responsibilities and accountabilities are important to avoid a team climate of blame. Ensuring team members are focused on the outcomes, building strong connections and being inclusive, despite these challenges is key. This one-hour session will equip participants with a practical 5-step framework to support positive team dynamics.

Learning Outcomes:

• Explore the learning dynamics that occur in hybrid teams that either support team member motivation and accountability or take it away
• Learn a practical 5-step framework for team alignment, strategic thinking, decision-making and delegation
• Practice this 5C model by coming to the session with a specific communication you’d like to practice working on
• Understand components of healthy team communication to include all voices no matter where the team member is located or how they are participating

“Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.” - Brené Brown

Encouraging input and creative buy-in from all team members can be challenging, especially during times of change. The added complexity of hybrid work environments (where some are working in person and some remotely) means that supervisors, managers and leaders need to find new ways to engage their team in problem-solving and creative idea generation. Sometimes newer team members can be reluctant to share, thinking their ideas are not as valued as longer-term team members. Also, for some personality styles, brainstorming can be awkward for those who need more reflection time pre- and post- meetings before sharing their ideas. The hybrid work environment and restructuring create new opportunities and challenges for teams, making it even more important that meeting hosts build in safe spaces and tools for the most positive, inclusive interactions possible.

In this 90-minute virtual workshop we will provide tools to help encourage feedback and facilitate effective collaborative conversations, while having some fun. This will be an interactive session with breakout rooms for insightful conversations to share meaning and context together.

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn a creative facilitation tool to encourage sharing of diverse opinions and ideas
• Ensure that all voices are heard during meetings no matter where people are located
• Foster better decision making by harvesting input/feedback from all team members
• Have some fun with fellow learners and think about how you can translate this learning back to your team

It’s been said that the only people who like change are babies with wet diapers and busy cashiers! During this webinar, we will examine how our brain processes change, the impact of that processing on how we behave and what we need for success. You will also look at a snapshot of how you are currently feeling about the changes you are experiencing, especially with all that is going on in the world these days and more specifically, at the U of A. Finally, we’ll learn a helpful model to understand what is normal during change and how to support ourselves and others either formally, or informally throughout the change. 

Learning Outcomes:

• Know how the field of neuroscience impacts how we lead ourselves and others through change
• Adapt to changing conditions, such as working on or leading a hybrid team
• Manage our own healthy perspectives regarding change to support others
• Understand the natural stages of change that people experience
• Have some fun with fellow learners on this journey

Trust happens between two people or people and an object (say an institution, a process, etc.). Psychological safety just is—you feel the safety or the ability to be vulnerable or you don’t. Yet they have a dynamic relationship and one can’t happen without the other. Trust is earned one conversation at a time. Learn about the four distinctions of trust, characteristics of trust in a hybrid workplace, what causes trust to break down and what we can do to increase trust in a hybrid workplace.

In this workshop we will examine the basics of trust, the types of trust and learn a model that will help you build trust with others especially working in a hybrid workplace.

Learning Outcomes:

• Examine how trust is developed/supported differently in a hybrid workplace
• Explore three ways we trust others
• Learn a practical 4-component framework to analyze trust
• Understand what are the enemies of trust
• Brainstorm ways to increase trust in a virtual environment through communication, meeting protocol, etc.

"The ability to constantly learn, innovate, and improve is vital to an organization's success" - Amy Edmondson, author of The Fearless Workplace.

There is a mistaken belief that psychological safety in the workplace is simply about "being nice" to each other or feeling good. This is incorrect—it is really about enabling high performance. Psychological safety is defined as "a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes." This is particularly important in hybrid work environments where some members are working remotely and others are in person. When we don't feel safe, we practice "impression management" by trying to fit in or by armouring up.

When there is low psychological safety, whether that is in teams or in the classroom, people practice dangerous silence—they may be aware of risks but don't speak up. This webinar will support you in adapting to changes within your teams, with new structures, to return to campus life, or when working in a hybrid (blend of in-person and remote work) environment, etc. This will be a virtual, interactive session with breakout rooms for insightful conversations to share meaning and context together.

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand the fundamentals of psychological safety—what it is/isn’t
• Examine the connection between psychological safety and motivation/accountability
• Learn the four domains of psychological safety and confidentially assess your current level of safety
• Discuss ways to increase psychological safety for yourself and others
• Have some fun with fellow learners on this journey