I offer a suite of interlocking trainings to build a communication culture that integrates different values, cultures, and communication styles.
I focus on building teams that produce results because they are honest, solution-focused, and inclusive.
These tools total to a 2 day training. They are modular, so we can also mix and match them for everything from a half-day introduction to a series of trainings.
Designed Alliances
Designed Alliances are a tool to develop effective collaborations through meshing work styles and communication dynamics. Designed Alliances quickly establish a good communication culture by daylighting assumptions and preventing the collision of unspoken expectations.
Transforming Conflict
Disagreements are inevitable, so conflict transformation tools turn disagreements into problem solving and conflict into useful dialogs. They offer quick ways to drop below initial blockages, understand actual needs, and design solutions that work for both parties.
Generative Feedback
The next inevitability is broken agreements, unmet expectations, and generally being pissed at people – which generate the need to give feedback. Feedback is hard when it is framed as calling out someone. COIN offers concrete methods turn feedback into a way to clear tensions, find solutions, and build trust.
The Compass of Reactions
The Compass of Reactions strengthens people’s ability to stay involved in difficult conversations that are stressful or angry. It also helps people map the dynamics of a hard situation so they can adapt the conversation to get to a good resolution. As a bonus, the Compass increases people’s ability to deal with all stressful situations at work in general.
Accessible tools and training
The tools I use may sound complex, but they are surprisingly simple. That's an important element – they do not require a deep study to apply them. They are step-by-step methods that people learn them by using them. They don’t need a high degree of emotional intelligence to apply them. People gain emotional intelligence by using them.
My training style works for people uninterested in emotional intelligence because I am hands-on and practical – people learn by doing. People use the tools immediately in the training to solve communication barriers they are dealing with at work.
Trainings tailored to your organization & co-designed with you
A key element of my approach is in-depth and on-site research into the communication culture of your organization. I use focus groups, interviews, and surveys to understand communication at your company – your strengths, barriers and possibilities. I do not offer generic tools or off-the shelf presentations. It is one of the strengths of my work. I see and explain the dynamics of a company – where communication is breaking down, why it’s breaking down, and where it can be strengthened.
Knowing your people and your company allows me to facilitate a training that is specifically for you. I report my research findings to your Organizational Development team and we co-design the training together so it syncs with their wider development strategies. From there, I create my training materials from the research, so all of the role plays, scenarios and tools are specific to your people and the issues they face. At the training, people work together on their actual communication issues, so they can start solving problems and rebuilding relationships on the spot.