Civil dialogue involves creating a safe place for participants to assemble to discuss a challenging issue. The process of dialogue typically involves some level of facilitation, agreement to a set of guidelines, and has a central focus on increasing understanding among participants on the topic. Civil dialogue will always seek to foster listening and understanding. This particular framework focuses the dialogue efforts on race relations.
Micro-inequities fall between the cracks of what is considered traditional discrimination because they don’t fit neatly into a legal framework. They are subtle forms of discrimination-where a person is singled out, overlooked, ignored, or discounted due to their membership in a particular group.
Professional Development is offering a one day workshop for Extension and Outreach staff, faculty and council members, “Coming Together for Racial Understanding,” based on the national initiative developed by the Cooperative Extension Service Rapid Response Team.
We were thrilled to have Dr. Kevin McDonald, the vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion from the University of Virginia as the Keynote for our virtual Annual Conference this year. Dr. McDonald gave an inspirational message on Inclusive Excellence. Enjoy the video again that he shared with us: To Speak Up for Inclusion, we need to speak about inclusion.
Virtual Organizational Professional Development Book Club - Privilege, Power, and Difference
Professional Development will be offering an on-line 4-week opportunity, June 11-July 2, 2020 to engage in cultural conversations with our colleagues centering around the book, Privilege, Power, and Difference, by Allan G. Johnson.
The events of the past few weeks have ushered in a deep sense of uncertainty. In the face of these fears, fostering a sense of safety and belonging starts with supporting each other. A great way to promote inclusion and support from afar is virtual team building!
Now that the majority Iowa State University Extension and Outreach employees are working remotely, they rarely get the opportunity to causally interact with their coworkers and managers like they would in a “regular” office.
While virtual teams have so many positive effects on production and work-life balance, they make organizations lose that “water cooler chat” that is so crucial to employee satisfaction and retention. Teams lose that opportunity to casually bump into each other and talk about things unrelated to work such as their home life, pop culture, and interests.
Some may think these interactions mean nothing, they are just useless small talk, but they actually impact team performance a great deal! When teams feel closer together and included, morale goes up, happiness goes up, and in turn, production goes up.
We all seem to be participating in video conferencing meetings with our teams. For remote teams, having an activity during a meeting that allows the team to take a few minutes to bond and focus on something other than work can help facilitate relationships and trust with their coworkers that they do not otherwise have the opportunity to see each other face-to-face. Find a variety of ideas and think about how you might foster inclusion and fun with virtual team building!
Professional Development is offering a one day workshop for Extension and Outreach staff, faculty and council members, “Coming Together for Racial Understanding,” based on the national initiative developed by the Cooperative Extension Service Rapid Response Team.
