Conversations Worth Having Bootcamp for the Workplace 1

What kind of conversations are you having in your workplace?

Are you tired of conversations that focus on what’s wrong, without producing actionable results? Do you want to create meaningful, respectful engagement in your organization that builds connection, fuels productivity and generates positive change?

We are almost always engaged in either internal dialogue or external interactions at work. You may not realize how much influence conversations have on the well-being of your team or organization. How often are those conversations worth having? What if you could learn to fuel meaningful engagements while energizing people to solve problems? Conversations Worth Having bootcamps do this through Appreciative Inquiry (AI), which teaches ways to find the best in people, organizations and communities by inquiring into strengths, possibilities and successes.

Research shows the need for upwards of three positive interactions to every one negative one. Most teams function at a 1:1 ratio of positive to negative. Working towards a higher positivity ratio creates more engagement.

What will you learn?

The practices you will learn are from AI, one of the most widely used approaches to fostering positive change in organizations. You will hear stories from different work environments and learn about the research behind this work. This research shows that positivity gives people access to higher order thinking, creativity, engagement, self-motivation and relational capacity. You will learn to use evidence-based practices, principles and tools to shift the dynamics of workplace conversations from reactionary to deliberate communication, to ask generative questions, to flip conversations to the positive opposite, and to give effective feedback.

The Results

The focus of these sessions is on how to have productive conversations while strengthening relationships and generating possibilities for a future that helps everyone succeed. It provides an opportunity to give your employees the tools to be able to communicate more productively and positively. Research shows that creating a climate of positivity and openness supports engagement, performance, employee and customer satisfaction, retention and trust. The bootcamps are developed by the authors of “Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement” – Jackie Stavros and Cheri Torres.

CONVERSATIONS WORTH HAVING BOOTCAMP 1 (How to Have Appreciative Conversations)

Four 1.5 hour seminars/webinars – April 19, 26, May 10, 17.

Module 1: The Power of Conversations

• Explore the nature of the conversations and the effects they have on you and others.
• Discover the science behind negative and positive conversations, what happens to your hormones in each, and how this causes us to react.
• Experience how to choose to be intentional and stay calm under stress.
• Learn to use mindfulness tools to shift from reactionary to deliberate communication.

Module 2: Asking Questions

• Learn to ask generative questions to shift the dynamics of workplace communication problems.
• Experience the impact of AI on individual and organizational capacity.
• Discover how to choose curiosity over knowing and assuming.

Module 3: Positive Framing

• Experience flipping negative conversations to conversations worth having.
• Learn how to use flipping to frame workplace communication issues.
• Develop generative questions to fuel productive, meaningful engagement around workplace challenges.

Module 4: Step Up to Feedback

• Discover how to adopt a learning mindset to support openness and interest in regular feedback.
• Learn how to change feedback avoidance patterns.
• Adopt the use of effective feedback strategies with common workplace situations.