We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

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Leadership Development Courses

Leadership development is a process that begins with reflection and self-awareness. It's about accountability and responsibility and continuous learning. Continuous learning is critical to the success of the organization and the growth of our employees as professionals as they move from rookies to seasoned professional individual contributors or maybe into management and/or leadership roles.

For those who aspire to develop leadership skills we present the following leadership opportunities:

September 2022

Managing the Hybrid Workplace for Success
Date: Thursday, September 22
Time: 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Location: Virtual Synchronous, Zoom
Target audience: Managers and above
Company: Virtual Team Builders
Facilitator: Claire Sookman

Adapt your management style based on the needs of your hybrid team.

It’s clear that the hybrid workplace is here to stay. What’s not clear for managers is how to deal with the challenges that come with a hybrid workplace. A recent KPMG Canada survey found that 81% of employees say their managers need to be better trained to effectively manage a hybrid workplace team.

Discover how to address both the challenges and opportunities to create the best hybrid workplace for your entire team or organization.

During this session, participants will learn how to:
- Describe the challenges of a hybrid team and apply practical ways to deal with them.
- Implement strategies to ensure everyone is treated fairly and equitably, regardless of location,
- Apply techniques to alleviate the challenges of each role in your hybrid team.
- Discuss techniques to adapt your management style based on the needs of your hybrid team.
REGISTER
High Impact Coaching through GROW
Date: Thursday, September 29
Time: 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Location: In person, SHA018
Target Audience: All faculty and staff
Company: Silver Consulting
Facilitator: Dr. Seth Silver

We see the effects of coaching clearly in sports. Most of the time, a team with a superb coach and average players will do better than an average coach and superb players. Great coaching will bring up performance every time. Legendary teams always have legendary coaches. The same is often true in organizations. The role of the manager, acting as coach, is to help bring up individual and team performance. The problem is, without effective training, many managers assume that “coaching” is simply “telling”. This approach is wrong, and can often actually worsen performance. A better method, proven first in sports and then adapted for the workplace, is the GROW Model: Goals, Reality, Options, and Wrap-Up. Sir John Whitmore from the UK developed the model and it was later refined by renowned sports coach-turned-consultant, Tim Gallwey. The model helps coaches ask deep questions, designed to help the ‘player’ (or employee) think through what they want to accomplish; what has happened before; what they have tried; what they can do; and what they will do. The outcome is greater buy-in to an action plan for improved performance that the employee has developed him/herself. In short, the GROW Model helps staff members grow, and obtain high performance.

In this session, you will:
- Relate personally to your experiences of being coached.
- Learn the difference between coaching, counselling, and mentoring.
- Learn about the GROW model and observe it being applied.
- Practice the GROW model, learn best practices in how to use it, and become comfortable applying this back to your workplace.
REGISTER

October 2022

Boost Productivity with a Growth Mindset
Date: Tuesday, October 5
Time: 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Location: Virtual Synchronous, Zoom
Target Audience: All faculty and staff
Company: Virtual Team Builders
Facilitator: Claire Sookman

What does it take to create productive, high-performance teams in the hybrid workplace? Key components for productivity are mindset, time management, and focus. Your mindset as a leader and the mindset of your team members helps determine whether your team is willing and able to explore new strategies, seek help from others and capitalize on setbacks. Productivity also stems from effective time management, such as how well you tackle interruptions and manage email overload. The most productive people don’t just manage their time well, they also manage their focus and attention, through sharing information in a timely manner.

Success in a hybrid environment requires new ways of thinking and the flexibility to respond and change. In this session we explore how to create powerful mindsets, develop effective time management techniques, and increase focus to boost productivity in the hybrid workplace.

During this session, participants will learn how to:
- Examine our productivity mindset.
- Discuss how to shift our mindset for greater productivity.
- Discuss how to manage challenges to productivity work-life balance issues, inadequate reporting, and inefficient task planning.
- Identify strategies that can increase your productivity for yourself and your hybrid team.
REGISTER
Creating an Inclusive Hybrid Environment
Date: Tuesday, October 18
Time: 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Location: Virtual Synchronous, Zoom
Target audience: All Faculty and Staff
Company: Virtual Team Builders
Facilitator: Claire Sookman

Gain strategies to ensure equal visibility and connectivity for your entire team

If you’re a manager, you know that the hybrid workplace offers attractive benefits for your staff as well as your company. But it also poses several challenges to be implemented effectively. Companies must be careful not to create a two-tier workforce where the in-office people get preferential treatment and better career opportunities than remote workers.

During this session, participants will learn how to:
- Develop an inclusive hybrid environment where everyone can freely speak out.
- Implement Intentional collaboration strategies to improve productivity.
- Apply techniques to keep your hybrid team connected.
- Prepare leaders to manage hybrid teams.
REGISTER

November 2022

Boost Productivity with a Growth Mindset
Date: Thursday, November 17
Time: 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Location: Virtual Synchronous, Zoom
Target audience: All Faculty and Staff
Facilitator: Claire Sookman
Company: Virtual Team Builders

What does it take to create productive, high-performance teams in the hybrid workplace? Key components for productivity are mindset, time management, and focus. Your mindset as a leader and the mindset of your team members helps determine whether your team is willing and able to explore new strategies, seek help from others and capitalize on setbacks. Productivity also stems from effective time management, such as how well you tackle interruptions and manage email overload. The most productive people don’t just manage their time well, they also manage their focus and attention, through sharing information in a timely manner.

Success in a hybrid environment requires new ways of thinking and the flexibility to respond and change. In this session we explore how to create powerful mindsets, develop effective time management techniques, and increase focus to boost productivity in the hybrid workplace.

During this session, participants will learn how to:
- Examine our productivity mindset.
- Discuss how to shift our mindset for greater productivity.
- Discuss how to manage challenges to productivity work-life balance issues, inadequate reporting, and inefficient task planning.
- Identify strategies that can increase your productivity for yourself and your hybrid team.
REGISTER

December 2022

Mastering Hybrid Leadership
Date: Thursday, December 8
Time: 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Location: Virtual Synchronous, Zoom
Target audience: All Faculty and Staff
Company: Virtual Team Builders
Facilitator: Claire Sookman

Hybrid team leadership is a relatively new experience for most organizations. In fact, 65% of experienced leaders have preventable failures in their first attempts at hybrid teamwork. That percentage is even higher for new managers. If poor leadership behaviours go unchecked, they become entrenched and grow over time. These are highly preventable failures that negatively impact the entire organization.

In this session participants will learn to:
- Discuss the 4 types of hybrid leaders.
- Describe strategies to implement the six key skill sets of a hybrid leader.
- Rank your leadership skill set.
- Create norms of behavior to foster team connection.
REGISTER

February 2023

Engagement: Fact, Fiction, Application
Date: Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Time: 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Location: In person, SHA018
Target Audience: All faculty and staff
Company: Silver Consulting
Facilitator: Seth Silver

This informative three hour session begins with participants reflecting on when they “felt very engaged” and when they “felt highly disengaged”, noting the key differences and coming to a basic understanding of employee engagement as a state of mind in the workplace. The session then provides an important summary of the origin of the concept (antecedent ideas over the past 50 years); the most accepted definitions at this time (e.g. “a state of vigor, absorption and dedication”); and key research findings from the past 15 years on engagement levels globally, the impacts of engagement on individuals and organizations, and the most accepted measures. The session then presents a ‘Top 10 List’ of practical ideas, many supported by research, to foster employee engagement. As always in these programs, there are partner exercises, relevant YouTube clips, and numerous opportunities for reflection, best practice sharing and action planning. If your organization is thinking about an engagement strategy, or is already measuring engagement, this program will be revealing and helpful.

Learning Outcomes:
Participants in this three-hour workshop will:
1. Reflect on their own experience being engaged, or not, at work
2. Learn in some depth about the concept of employee engagement, its origins, limitations, measures and effects
3. Learn ten practical ways to help any organization improve employee engagement, with positive results both to individuals and to the organization’s bottom line
REGISTER