An organization's biggest opportunities for productivity gains are typically found in its interpersonal relationships. After all, it's the people that make the organization work, and they are NOT like cogs in a machine. But even in the most progressive or enlightened of organizations, it's easy for them to feel that way.

To reduce that interpersonal friction and increase productivity, staff members need opportunities for skill development and relationship building.

Skill Development

Formal education typically equips people with the technical skills to do their jobs, but no equivalent system insures that they will have the personal effectiveness skills to blend their efforts harmoniously with colleagues.

We design and deliver practical skill-building experiences that can help your staff work together better. The content of your training depends on your staff needs, but might include skills like:

communication

• asking questions that get results
• active listening to elicit the right information
• clarifying to minimize confusion
• summarizing to make efficient use of time and increase clarity
• giving constructive feedback to increase learning from experience

brainstorming and co-creating

• idea generation
• encouraging and supporting the creative process

creative problem solving

• problem identification
• criteria for solutions
• winnowing

team effectiveness

• conflict resolution
• negotiation and compromise
• decision making
• consensus building

Relationship Building

Staff members are people too, and despite exhortations to "leave it at the door" they inevitably bring it all with them. But from that rich mixture of humanity also comes the passion, commitment, motivation, creativity, and humor that make your organization function well.

So it's vitally important for the people in your organization to get to know each other as people. And while they'll not likely always be one big happy family, at least they'll have strong enough ties to pull them through the tough times they'll inevitably encounter, individually and collectively.

The team at Community Matters is highly skilled at creating opportunities for the people in organizations to strengthen their relationships, and their relationship skills; we make it relevant, inspiring and genuinely enjoyable, like a breath of fresh air.