Winter 2010

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In This Issue:

• New Mediation Services Information Cards Available
  
  
• Free Online Crucial Confrontations Training
  
  
• Learn How to Create High-Quality Connections in Your Workplace
  
  
• Presentation on Generational Diversity in the Workplace
  
  
• Faculty and Staff Assistance Program - Returning to Work from a Medical Leave
  
  
• Want to Know More About Anxiety Disorders?
  
  
• Tips for Successfully Setting Goals!
  
  
• Towsley Children’s House Set to Open on March 8
  

 

Glossy new cards containing information about Mediation Services for Faculty and Staff have arrived! If you would like to have some on hand in your workplace, please give Mediation Services a call at 615-3789 or send a message to mediation.services@umich.edu.

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U-M Business and Finance’s Catherine Lilly has graciously given Mediation Services the go ahead to include her Crucial Confrontations training videos and accompanying worksheet on its Web site. Based on the bestselling book called Crucial Confrontations, the videos teach how to respectfully hold someone accountable when their behavior has disappointed you in some way. They are a shortened version of the much longer course that Catherine teaches on this subject. Together they last about an hour and twenty minutes.

U-M resolutions readers like you can view the training now, before it is on the Web site. Here’s what you do: Go to https://www.umich.edu/~busfin/crucial_confrontations/index.htm. Enter your Login ID and password. Then sit back, relax, and learn how to more successfully confront and resolve problems at work and at home.

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Could the members of your office or department benefit from practical advice on how to build trust and enhance workplace relationships? The Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship at the Ross School of Business and VOICES of the Staff sponsor one to two hour interactive workshops on these subjects. The sessions are free of charge to participants and tailored to your department’s specific needs.

A variety of workshops are offered. For example, their workshop entitled "Energize Your Workforce with High-Quality Connections" teaches you how to create interactions marked by mutual regard, trust, and respectful engagement. Another workshop, "Building Trust in Your Department," provides information on how to apply the principles of trust: reliability, openness, competence, and compassion.

If you are interested in learning more about these workshops or would like to schedule one for your office or department, contact workshop designers and presenters Mary Ceccanese (ceccanes@umich.edu) and Karen Dickinson (karend@umich.edu).

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You are invited to attend a presentation by Ross School of Business Professor Lynn Wooten, entitled "Creating a Culture of Inclusion: Leveraging Generational Diversity." Sponsored by The Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship at the Ross School of Business and Voices of the Staff, it will be given on Monday, March 22nd from 1:30 to 3:30 pm in Ross Business School R2230.

By the year 2012, there will be parity in the workplace:

30% Baby Boomers (1946-64),
30% Generation X (1961-81),
30% Generation Y (1976-2005).
Note: a person's perception of generational identity is important.

There are three different generations at work: people moving through time.

Generational diversity issues influence interactions with team members.

Creating an inclusive work environment aligned with a firm's mission and strategy enables organizational learning and effective change.

Successful organizations need to chart a course for effective diversity management.

Hear Professor Wooten talk on this most important topic that affects the entire University workforce.

If you’d like to attend or for more information,
please contact Mary Ceccanese (ceccanes@umich.edu)

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Returning to work after a medical leave can be challenging for many people. Individuals often experience mild physical and emotional symptoms as they return to work, including anxiety, worry and fears about this transition. For instance, individuals may become anxious about their job performance, changes in their job assignments or co-workers’ opinions of them. Additionally, supervisors may find it is difficult and/or awkward to transition employees back to work after a leave.

FASAP counselors can help staff and faculty with this transition. They can help achieve the following: (a) plan a strategy for talking to co-workers about an absence; (b) prepare a discussion with a supervisor; (c) identify referrals to relevant programs and services; (d) enhance coping skills; and (e) establish goals. These services may increase one’s comfort and ability during the return to work transition. For supervisors, guidance is available on how to make the return to work process less stressful and expectations more clear.

For additional information for a successful return to work following a leave, please see this PDF document:
Points to Consider for Work Re-Entry for Faculty and Staff
http://www.umich.edu/~fasap/pdfs/FASAP1.pdf

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Dr. Joe Himle of the U-M Anxiety Disorders Clinic presented at the Fourth Annual Symposium on Mental Health in the Workplace last October. If you would like to learn more about anxiety, how to identify it, understand it and the treatment options available to address it here is a link to video that is now on line in the Understanding U Web site in the “Common Concerns” section.

A Copy of his presentation is also available to download in the Understanding U site.
http://www.hr.umich.edu/mhealthy/programs/
mental_emotional/understandingu/learn/anxiety.html

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Tips for Successfully Setting Goals!

By: Tom Waldecker, Director, FASAP

Often we find ourselves wanting to succeed at accomplishing some new goals. Often many of us keep those goals in our head and do not share them with anyone else or write them down. To obtain goals we need to describe them in detail. Sometimes people can be frustrated with having vague goals and desires that never come to fruition. By not putting then down on paper it is often difficult to formulate the steps that are needed to successfully achieve them.

A method that can help is to write your goal down, and make it as specific as possible. For example,

• describe what is it,
• when do you want to achieve it by,
• how will you do it,
• how much if anything will it cost and
• what do you need from others to accomplish it.

If you want to buy a new appliance for your home, write down when you want to do it by, do you need to make any adjustments in your home for it? Also, it is helpful to ask yourself do I need to include others in the decision making process.

The more steps and questions you write down or share with a family member or friend the more likely one will be able to achieve their goal. Setting realistic timelines to achieve goals and being specific with what they are is always helpful. Another example of a goal is you have a goal of wanting to improve communication with a family member about a concern, writing out exactly what your concern is, what you want to achieve and by when are good steps.

If you would like assistance in setting and achieving some goals that are that are emotionally challenging to you, call 734-936-8660 or email fasap@umich.edu and schedule time to meet with a FASAP professional counselor.

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Towsley Children’s House reopen in its new building at 716 South Forest on Monday, March 8. The Center will begin taking applications for preschool age children (ages 3 -5 years) in March, with plans to open additional preschool classrooms in June. The center will also begin contacting parents of infants and toddlers currently on the waiting list for fall enrollment.

The program is currently enrolling school age children for summer camp. Children ages 6-11 years may attend. The center will have up to 70 school age summer camp spaces available. The program will provide summer camp activities from 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and will include field trips to many attractions around town. For more information about the summer camp program, contact the center at (734) 998-7600.

A community celebration of the center’s opening featuring live music, refreshments and facility tours will be held Friday, April 16, 2010 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Caring for children in a safe and developmentally nurturing environment is of tremendous importance to U-M students, staff and faculty. Access to high-quality child care can significantly enhance the ability of our students, staff and faculty to contribute to the University community, pursue their academic and professional goals, and support parents as they strive for balance between work and family life. The new Towsley Children’s House represents a milestone in achieving President Coleman’s goals for the University of Michigan Child Care Initiative by increasing child care, creating additional opportunities for infant/toddler care and improving facilities where child care is provided.

For more information, about the Towsley Children’s House, visit: http://www.hr.umich.edu/childcare/towsleychildrenshouse/index.html

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resolutions is published in the Winter, Spring and Fall of every year. To obtain additional information regarding our services contact FASAP, Mediation Services or Work/Life Resource Center at (734) 936-8660.

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