Facilitation & Training
We facilitate clear communication among and across a diverse range of stakeholders in conversations that explicitly relate to inclusivity and when unspoken, applying principles of Radical Candor. Whether a difficult conversation between two people, delivery of feedback, performance reviews, a challenging team meeting, or engaging an audience on potentially volatile issues, we facilitate productive interactions in the workplace that allow for learning on all sides of the table.
In any workplace, candid conversations and constructive feedback are critical to organizational and individual success. No learning takes place and no goals are advanced without clearly communicating the needs of a situation, the impact of one’s actions, and ideas about what could be done differently to produce a better outcome. We approach conversations around race from this perspective.
Developed by Kim Scott, Radical Candor encourages you to be both clear and kind when communicating with people at work because you have confidence in their ability to grow and improve. We incorporate these principles into our training programs that help individuals and groups within organizations develop inclusive leadership skills to communicate and collaborate productively in the workplace.
Training Programs
We integrate inclusivity as a central part of core curricula to create tools that help shape the thinking and approaches of leaders early in their development and leaders at all levels to take action sooner rather than later. Partnering with client organizations to develop tailored content on priority issues, we design programs for a range of contexts, including leadership development, management training, workshops and seminars, and community-wide meetings. Our programs can either stand alone or be integrated into larger trainings and initiatives across levels of an organization from senior executive teams to first-time managers.
Programs on a specific topic can be developed for 90-minute sessions, and selected topics can be combined or expanded into programs between 3 hours and a full-day to best meet an organization’s needs. Some issues are better suited to smaller groups of 12-20, and others can be delivered for audiences of 30 to several hundred participants. Topics we have addressed both within and across stakeholder groups include:
Clear Communication Across Differences
- Finding a Common Language
- Microaggressions: Responding Effectively on Both Sides
- Feedback: How to Deliver and Receive It Effectively Across Differences
Effective Collaboration Across Differences
- Building Bridges to Genuine Relationships
- Demonstrating Respect in a Diverse Workplace
- Using Emotional Intelligence to Your Advantage
Strategies
- Allyship Training
- How to Be an Effective Mentor Across Differences
- Authenticity: Is Bringing your “whole self” to work a good idea?
Healing & Restorative Well-Being Practices
Given the levels of stress inherent in the current environment, many organizations have increasingly recognized the importance of self-care for everyone to produce good work and sustain energy over time. We have developed seminars and workshop series on healing and restorative well-being practices that provide support and promote community.
These programs explore how professionals internalize stress, embody various forms of trauma, and engage practices to restore our nervous systems. Participants will learn how to embody a greater sense of freedom, belonging, and grounded presence to support more effective cross-cultural conversations and collaboration. Our intention is to support everybody to restore and build the capacity to engage with and work together more effectively, especially across race-related issues. Skill building exercises and practices focus on Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, Somatic Healing practices, and Cultivating & Embodying Belonging.
Meetings & Conversations
With the best of intentions on all sides, conversations in the workplace can still prove challenging, even when the participants look exactly alike. One person can think they are communicating X clearly while the perception of the listener is Y in all kinds of situations. Particularly when anticipating that the information being communicated might lead to heightened emotions or awkwardness, the tendency can be for speakers to use euphemisms or softer language that do not in fact convey the intended meaning. At other times, attempts at candor seem to backfire and lead to conflict or silencing and avoidance.
Almost every profession requires convening colleagues in groups at times. Everyone has experienced meetings that go off on tangents, become dominated by particular individuals, and leave many people at the table unengaged. The meaning of what is said to a group often remains open to interpretation by each member, and dynamics can make it difficult to ask for clarification. When discussions continue without a common focus, meetings can ultimately feel like a waste of time that could have been better used getting work done.
When professionals across differences convene, we help them productively exchange information and interact in ways that can help to build relationships outside the meeting room as well. Whether the goal is brainstorming new ideas, developing a plan, building consensus, introducing new information, or problem-solving, we facilitate productive meetings across diverse groups that engage all participants to listen to one another and stay focused on providing thoughtful input aligned with the identified objective.