In this two-day course you will learn how to enhance performance in public and private sector workplaces through the development of productive professional relationships. You will explore the deeper issues of communication and learn patterns that shape people’s behaviour.

Course overview

 

Public and private sector workplaces have entered a period where there will be enhanced and on-going pressure to achieve more with less in a fast-paced, uncertain and complex world. These are environments where people may not have the time and all of the resources to develop policy, strategy and the design for implementation processes, or appropriately implement them.

This pressure inevitably leads to major failures, reflecting poorly on the performance of government agencies and, ultimately, on Ministerial performance.

Although time pressures will always be part of the work landscape performance can be dramatically enhanced by improving:

• interpersonal relationships
• the way we communicate with each other
• the nature of conversations and how they are conducted for decision-making in policy and strategy development, operations and innovation.

Underpinning this approach is the belief that an organisation is fundamentally about people conversing with each other leading to a variety of decision and actions by focusing on enhancing the type and quality of conversations (and relationships) in an organisation, peoples’ capacity to perform in an increasingly demanding environment is enhanced.

Part of the process of conversation is the attempt to understand other peoples’ beliefs and assumptions (models of the world) and their corresponding patterns of behaviours. This enables us to better understand differences between people, why they are operating in a particular way and to identify ways for enhancing work relationships that will assist to achieve intended results.

While communication courses assist us to develop enhanced communication skills, this workshop explores the deeper issues of the patterns that shape peoples’ behaviours and provide the insights to explain why they do what they do. This is critical in developing working relationships especially in critical situations.

What you will gain from this course

• An understanding of the tools and techniques to identify patterns in peoples’ behaviours that suggest their particular approach to the world.
• An understanding of a range of linguistic patterns that reflect patterns in how people view the world and insight into their personal ‘operating system’.
• Techniques to better understand the characteristics of meetings and discussions and ways to determine how they can be changed to achieve enhanced results.
• Techniques to enhance your personal flexibility so that you can enhance your working (and personal) relationships with others to achieve the results that you want.
• An enhanced understanding of who you are and how you respond to others.
• Techniques to enhance your work and personal relationships with others.

Course convenor

 

Dr Gary Saliba

Dr Gary Saliba, a Visiting Fellow at Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU, specialises in the integration and implementation of processes such as futures studies (understanding what the future could look like), strategy development, computer simulation modelling and change management.

He consults extensively across a range of government and commercial enterprises worldwide in developing organisational strategies based on plausible futures which are aimed at improving responsiveness, flexibility and informed decision-making.