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October 8 at 9:00 am to October 10 at 11:30 am EDT - Virtual Event
Conversations are at the heart of everything we do and are essential to effective communications, leadership, high performing teams, and strong relationships. We know that conversations influence us, but we rarely stop to think about how much they affect our well-being, the well-being of others, or the health of our organizations and communities.
Communication remains the top issue for organizations, teams, and relationships. Most people struggle to effectively communicate when they are frustrated, angry, hurt, or facing conflict. The effects of poor communication are costly and show up in organizations as:
- Employee disengagement, malaise, and turnover;
- Dysfunctional teams;
- Poor performance;
- Inability to give and receive critical feedback;
- Negative attitudes, cliques, and gossip: a culture of “me”.
If you’re dealing with any of these outcomes, the Conversation Bootcamp from Conversations Worth Having will give you the skills and tools to turn them around. This program is grounded in Appreciative Inquiry, one of the most widely used positive change approaches. Two simple Appreciative Inquiry practices can turn your entire culture around, creating a culture of conversations worth having.
BOOTCAMP DATES AND TIMES:
The Conversation Bootcamp consists of two virtual sessions with each session lasting 2.5 hours. Below are the dates and times of both bootcamp sessions.
SESSION 1 | SESSION 2 |
TUESDAY | THURSDAY |
9:00am-11:30am EDT 1:00pm-3:30pm GMT 2:00pm-4:30pm BST | 9:00am-11:30am EDT 1:00pm-3:30pm GMT 2:00pm-4:30pm BST |
Please note: ALL virtual sessions for this conversation bootcamp will be recorded and saved for participants who are unable to attend a scheduled webinar. Links to the recordings will be provided so that participants can view/listen to the recording at a time that works best for them.
CONVERSATION BOOTCAMP OVERVIEW:
The Conversation Bootcamp is grounded in Appreciative Inquiry, one of the most widely used positive change approaches. Two simple Appreciative Inquiry practices – positive framing and generative questions – can turn your entire culture around, creating a culture of conversations worth having. Get the tools needed to help you establish communication practices that support productivity, engagement, high performance teams, regular feedback, positivity, and a culture of “we.”
BOOTCAMP MODULES
The Conversation Bootcamp consists of four (4) modules. Click on any of the module titles below to display the purpose and learning objectives for each session.
THE POWER OF CONVERSATION
PURPOSE: Understand the nature of our conversations, how they affect human being and doing, and develop your ability to choose.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
• Choose to be intentional with your conversations.
• Experience the nature of your conversations and the effects they have on you and others.
• Use mindfulness tools to shift reactionary communication to deliberate conversation.
THE ART OF ASKING QUESTIONS
PURPOSE: Understand the basics of Appreciative Inquiry and improve your ability to ask generative questions to foster effective communication.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
• Choose curiosity over knowing and assuming.
• Experience the impact Appreciative Inquiry has on individual and organizational capacity.
• Use generative questions to shift the dynamics of personal and workplace communication problems.
INTENTIONAL FRAMING
PURPOSE: Use positive framing to intentionally foster effective communication and continue to develop your ability to ask generative questions.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
• Use flipping to frame workplace communication issues.
• Experience flipping negative conversations to conversations worth having.
• Develop generative questions to fuel productive and meaningful engagement around workplace challenges.
STEP UP TO FEEDBACK
PURPOSE: Develop the skill and the motivation to routinely seek out feedback and promptly provide effective feedback, even in the most critical of situations
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
• Adopt a learning mindset to support openness and interest in feedback.
• Experience and choose to change feedback avoidance patterns.
• Use effective feedback strategies with common workplace situations.
BOOTCAMP OUTCOMES
Following this bootcamp, participants will be prepared to:
- Keep your cool when you want to explode!
- Effectively challenge assumptions and preconceptions, including yours.
- Deal with conflict quickly and effectively.
- Fuel productive and meaningful engagement.
- Communicate successfully with people who hold negative attitudes or defensive positions.
- Give and receive critical feedback in ways that promote learning and high performance.
- Ask the kind of questions that deepen understanding, strengthen connections, and inspire possibility.
- Talk with colleagues in ways that invite them to collaborate on projects and strategic outcomes.
- Listen with genuine curiosity.
- Frame any conversation, even one around a highly complex problem, to inspire creative and innovative thinking and solutions.
ADDITIONAL BOOTCAMP INFORMATION
METHOD OF DELIVERY
These live events will be delivered and recorded using Zoom. You can participate in these live events using any device: computer, tablet, or mobile. Please participate using the dial-in method you feel most comfortable with. You will receive the meeting login information from your trainers in two separate emails. First email will be sent two weeks prior to the event; the second to be sent the day before the bootcamp.
We invite you to learn more about the STRATEGIC CONVERSATION BOOTCAMP also offered in partnership with Conversations Worth Having.
SUGGESTED READING
The Conversations Worth Having (CWH) Bootcamps are built upon the book, Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement (2nd Edition) written by Jackie Stavros and Cheri Torres.
This book demonstrates how Appreciative Inquiry (AI) – one of the most widely used approaches for fostering positive change for individuals, groups, organizations, and communities – can help everyone communicate better and flourish in all areas of their lives.
BOOTCAMP OFFERED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
AI Practitioners
Cheri Torres understands that relational dynamics inform any group or organization endeavor; therefore, she works with leaders and teams to co-create positive, strength-based relationships capable of achieving extraordinary outcomes. She emphasizes excellence and success as an evolving target that is best achieved through continuous appreciation and inquiry. Working with Cheri means learning to use a simple set of tools and practices that generate human connection, positive relational dynamics, broad-based inclusion, creativity, collaborative action, and collective impact.
Cheri also partners with communities and organizations for whole systems change and strategic planning, bringing all stakeholders together for planning, design and collaborative action. She has worked across all sectors: education, social profit/NGOs, government and corporate, supporting their capacity for learning and innovation, shared leadership, teamwork and collaboration. She has trained thousands of trainers and teachers in the use and practice of Experiential Learning, Appreciative Inquiry and other strength-based practices with a particular focus on leadership development, teamwork, creativity, and collaboration. In addition to North America, she has worked in Mexico, South America, Europe and India. Learn More>
Jackie Stavros’ passion is working with others to discover their strengths, identify opportunities and create a plan with meaningful results for positive change! She is internationally recognized for her creation of SOAR, a positive approach to strategic thinking, planning, and leading that focuses on strengths, opportunities, aspirations and results in strategic conversations. The heart of her work is using Appreciative Inquiry (AI), one of the most popular approaches to positive change – that is bringing out the best in people, their organizations, and communities to fuel conversations worth having that produce meaningful engagement and results. She has presented her research and work in over 25 countries.
Jackie has been integrating strengths-based, whole system practices into her research, teaching, training, coaching, and consulting work to strengthen relationships, impact performance, and create positive change. She works with organizations in leadership development, team-building, and strategic planning. She helps organizations identify and articulate their values, vision, mission, strategy, and strategic initiatives and build collaborative teams and communities for results-oriented action. She has worked across all sectors including for-profit, non-profit, government, and a wide spectrum of industries. Learn More>