Course Recordings Now Available!
Course Dates: October 30, 2015- May 13, 2016
This course is over, but you can still purchase the session recordings and get the handouts!
Listen to Miki answer...
What’s exciting to you about this course?
"There are three ways of dealing with difference: domination, compromise, and integration. By domination only one side gets what it wants; by compromise neither side gets what it wants; by integration we find a way by which both sides may get what they wish."
–Mary Parker Follett, management consultant, 1868-1933
Let's face it: most of us don't expect to go to work and enjoy ourselves.
Instead, we spend our days interacting with people we don't expect to get to know really well, and assuming we'll either be told what to do, or tell others what to do, or both. And we tend to distrust that genuine collaboration is possible – whether it's across lines of authority, across departments, cultural or class differences, or even with our team members.
Yet most of us hope, somewhere deep within, that it's possible to meaningfully collaborate with others in contributing to a purpose larger than us.
Throughout this powerful 16-week telecourse, Miki will accompany you as you move towards adding more collaboration and meaningful engagement to your days – wherever you work, in whichever position. Miki brings you the distillation of what she has learned from years of working with a wide variety of people in many organizations.
Collaboration in the Workplace is designed for real people working in real organizations.
It's not just about creating a vision for thriving, collaborative workplaces – although Miki will certainly share hers.
This course is, primarily, about helping you find the inner strength and the tools that can support you in bringing the spirit of collaboration to your workplace, one thought, one conversation, and one meeting at a time.
What specifically might you learn?
- Tips to help you notice your own internal blocks to collaboration – and transcend them;
- Ways you can support your own and others' sense of choice when you engage with them in new ways;
- How collaboration can improve decision-making and deliver more robust outcomes with a lot of buy-in;
- What it is about power relations that makes collaboration less likely – and what you can do to form human relationships across those power differences; and
- Why systems matter – and what groups and organizations can do to encourage collaboration.
How is this telecourse structured?
The Collaboration in the Workplace series is divided into four sections that focus on several key aspects of collaboration in the workplace:
- The Inside Job of Collaboration
- The Building Blocks of Interpersonal Collaboration
- Creating and Sustaining Strong Teams
- Supporting a Culture of Collaboration
During each four-week section, Miki will develop – in collaboration with you – a vision of what's richly possible… offer her unconditional acceptance and empathy for any gap that may exist between your current reality and your vision; and provide practical steps – grounded in NVC principles and practices – designed to take you further towards your vision than you may have imagined possible.
Part 1: The Inside Job of Collaboration
Held October 30 - November 27 (4 sessions)
Although we are evolutionarily designed for collaborating with others when attending to our basic needs, the weight of the systems and cultural messages we have inherited interfere. Many of us are doubtful that collaboration is possible or effective, and most of us lack both the faith and the skills to live collaboratively, regardless of cultural imperatives.
During the first four weeks, your focus will be on learning to notice ways in which you've internalized cultural messages, and how to open yourself to the wide vista that becomes available when you engage collaboratively. You and Miki will also look specifically at the particular challenges to embracing collaboration within an organizational context built on competition and control. Each week, you'll focus on one key element through examples from participants' work lives:
- Why collaboration? Transcending either / or thinking;
- Moving from separation to shared purpose;
- Shifting from scarcity to creativity; and
- Embracing conflict as opportunity.
Part 2: The Building Blocks of Interpersonal Collaboration
Held December 4-18, 2015; January 8, 2016 (4 sessions).
One of the reasons why collaboration is the exception rather than the norm is because so many of us don't know how to work through differences effectively – even when we want to. In the workplace, in particular, the general perception often is that conflict or disagreement is a problem, an individual failure, or bad luck.
We also lack skills that would enable us to transform stuck moments into generative, mutually beneficial outcomes. We know we want to tell the truth, yet don't know how; we know we need to hear from others, yet don't know how to do that well while holding on to what's important to us.
This particular four-week segment centers on learning the skills and practices you need in order to engage with conflict and differences so you may continue to learn how to improve your ability to collaborate in a way that works for both parties. Each week, you and Miki will look at one key aspect of collaborating with individuals using examples from participants' work lives:
- Speaking truth with care and attention to cultural norms;
- Opening to hear and integrate others' points of view;
- Moving from conflict to dilemma: aiming for solutions that work for both of you while attending to the larger purpose; and
- Giving and receiving feedback for accelerated learning.
Part 3: Creating and Sustaining Strong Teams
Held February 12, 26; March 4, 11, 2016 (4 sessions)
Sometimes strong, vibrant teams are simply miracles.
More often, though, they are an accomplishment that emerges from implementing key practices that make collaboration productive and generative. Sadly, many teams lack both the commitment and the skills for taking on complex group issues, leaving teams vulnerable to power play, hidden competition, and plain old ineffectiveness. Meetings turn into a waste of time, and work is mostly done by individuals on their own – with only formal nods to collaboration.
During February and March, you and Miki will move the topic of collaboration from the individual level to the team level. Here, collaboration goes far beyond simply engaging with more individuals.
To work effectively within a team you'll need to master new capacities. The challenge of collaborating within a team invites you to extend what you learned about interpersonal relationships to the rich tapestry of what happens when groups of people work together towards a shared purpose. Each week, you'll focus on one key element through examples drawn from participants' work lives:
- Attention to both relationships and shared purpose;
- Working with power differences – from above;
- Working with power differences – from below; and
- Maximizing efficiency and collaboration during meetings.
Part 4: Supporting a Culture of Collaboration
Held April 15-29; May 13, 2016
However much we individually dedicate ourselves to collaboration, we cannot singlehandedly transform a culture and make it more collaborative. This requires attention and change at the systemic level.
Collaboration rests on finding effective ways of attending to multiple needs. Its full benefits require aligning all systems with the principle of focusing on needs and purpose at all levels.
During the final four weeks of this powerfully transformative course, exploration and learning will be centered specifically on systems. Committed to embracing collaboration on a larger scale within your team and organization? Then, you'll find this particular section uniquely appealing!
The first week is all about learning which systems are critical for any organization to establish and clarify – whether collaborative or not – and on the basic principles of shifting to a collaborative orientation. During subsequent weeks, you and Miki will be reviewing specific systems, including proposing ways of aligning those systems with collaborative principles:
- Basic principles of collaborative systems;
- Shared purpose and values;
- Decision making and resource allocation systems; and
- Feedback and conflict resolution systems.
Why Take This Course?
If you'd enjoy learning:
- How to remain open to collaboration while holding onto what's important to you;
- Skills and practices that can enable you to engage with conflict collaboratively;
- Tips designed to enable teams to function more effectively and harmoniously;
- Ways you might reclaim the benefits of collaboration for your group or organization;
Then register for Miki's Collaboration in the Workplace – either the full 16-weeks course or the first four-week section – and reclaim the faith that it is indeed possible to meaningfully collaborate with others.
Purchase Course Recordings for
Collaboration in the Workplace
| Purchase Course Recordings Only |
$487.50 (25% off original course fee of $650.00 ) |
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Sessions last 2 hours on Fridays from
12:00-2:00 PM
Pacific (California) Time
All registrants will receive access to all course recordings.
and April 22
What Happens After I Register?
Upon registration, you will receive an email with complete instructions on how to access the course recordings.
About Miki Kashtan
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Miki Kashtan is a co-founder of Bay Area Nonviolent Communication (BayNVC) and Lead Collaboration Consultant at the Center for Efficient Collaboration. Miki aims to support visionary leadership and shape a livable future using collaborative tools based on the principles of Nonviolent Communication. She shares these tools through meeting facilitation, mediation, consulting, coaching, and training for organizations and committed individuals. Her latest book, Reweaving Our Human Fabric: Working together to Create a Nonviolent Future (2015) explores the practices and systems needed for a collaborative society. She is also the author of Spinning Threads of Radical Aliveness: Transcending the Legacy of Separation in Our Individual Lives, and The Little Book of Courageous Living. Miki blogs at The Fearless Heart and her articles have appeared in the New York Times ("Want Teamwork? Encourage Free Speech"), Tikkun, Waging Nonviolence, Shareable, Peace and Conflict, and elsewhere. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from UC Berkeley. |