Working with Others

Coworkers using a tablet together

At the U of A we collaborate so our ideas can collide and grow allowing us to create change and meet our teaching and research mission. Our ability to work productively on and across teams is central to our ability to meet these challenges.

Working effectively with others has always been a key workplace skill but it has grown in importance in recent years. Globalization has prompted greater connectivity and interdependence. This has offered the opportunity to benefit from diverse thinking and perspectives, while at the same time adding complexity to how work is accomplished.

Our ambitious transformation, University of Alberta for Tomorrow, has resulted in a new operating model that has profoundly shifted how work is accomplished, making our ability to work effectively and collaboratively with one another more important than ever before.

Working effectively with others means:

  • Working in a way that reflects an understanding of the interdependent and interconnected nature of our organization.
  • Examining personal attitudes, behaviours, and ways of working, and considering the impact on others.
  • Demonstrating professionalism and workplace etiquette.
  • Seeking out and drawing on others’ expertise.

Learn more about how we define workplace skills.

Curriculum

Collaborating in a Complex Environment

Facilitator: Wendy Wilton

Whether you are in an administrative or an academic role, work in a research lab, or in facilities and operations, collaboration is one of the most important skills you bring to the workplace. It is at the core of high functioning teams, interdisciplinary collaborations, cross-functional work and service excellence. Effective collaboration lies at the heart of our ability to reach our individual and organizational goals. Collaboration, though, can be quite challenging at times. Different perceptions of what it means to collaborate and how to get there, misaligned goals, ambiguity about roles and responsibilities, and challenging collaborative partners can easily derail our best efforts.

This interactive workshop will help you be a more effective collaborative. In this session you will explore the components of collaborative success and be introduced to practical tools, processes, and techniques that support effective collaboration. Finally, you have the opportunity to practice using the tools and techniques in the session before taking them back to your day to day work reality.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Define collaboration and explain four key components of successful collaboration.
  • Describe characteristics of successful individual contributors in the collaborative process.
  • Discuss the stages of successful collaboration.
  • Identify tools for effective collaboration.
  • Outline the process for giving positive and constructive feedback and practice using the process.
  • Apply the tools and techniques for effective collaboration in a case study scenario.

Strategic Conversations and Conflict Resolution

Facilitator: Wendy Wilton

(Formerly titled: Impactful Communication and Conflict Resolution)

Strategic Conversations is for faculty and staff who would want to develop their ability to have difficult conversations with colleagues, supervisors, direct reports, students, clients or in personal relationships. You will explore proven practices that promote positive, respectful relationships and head off the need for potentially difficult, but strategic conversations. You will explore why strategic conversations at times feel difficult, examine levels of conflict, and will engage with a strategic conversation model. You will examine your own conflict style using the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument and will explore how to communicate more effectively. Using the conversation process and tools, you will plan and practice a strategic conversation you need to have but may have been avoiding. Finally, you will set some personal goals around the behaviours you want to develop, those you want to continue to grow, and those you want to leave behind.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Explore key concepts involved in difficult conversations.
  • Use templates to prepare for planning and execution of difficult conversations.
  • Reflect on personal conflict preferences using Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument.
  • Plan and practice strategic conversation skills.
  • Produce a plan for areas of focus around strategic conversations.

If you have already attended Impactful Conversations and Conflict Resolution, please do not register in this course as the content has not changed.

Workshops that address the curriculum are offered and added throughout the year. Please visit the U of A Events hub to find available courses. If you are interested in offering a workshop to your team that currently has no availability, please contact org.learning@ualberta.ca to discuss options.