8:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

In this highly interactive half day workshop in which participants will learn and practice techniques for dealing with challenging situations and people in the scientific workplace. This is not a generic workshop – it specifically addresses interactions which scientists deal with daily – interpreting data, negotiating budgets or project plans, receiving and giving scientific criticism and dealing with interpersonal conflicts in the lab or workplace.

During the workshop we will explore the impediments to successful management of these situations and will learn how our own personalities and behaviors influence our ability to perform successfully under stress. We will provide practical approaches to conflict resolution and negotiation to help participants deal with such interactions productively.

Skills include:

• Identifying how do you negotiate.
• Gaining insight into your preferred negotiation style.
• Becoming a skillful negotiator.
• Dealing with difficult people.

1-4:45 p.m.

Meetings can be powerful tools for accomplishing tasks requiring input from multiple participants, generating ideas and communicating information. Yet they are also a source of frustration when not managed properly. It is becoming increasingly clear that managing a team of scientists requires more than just scientific or project management skills, it requires a high degree of emotional intelligence. This solution focused half-day workshop will use didactic materials, case studies and role playing to provide a set of cores skills for managing scientists in a group setting. Participants will learn and practice the key interpersonal and organizational skills that are associated with productive project teams.

Skills covered include:

• The basics of effective team meetings.
• Managing roadblocks and challenges to meeting productivity.
• Six group behaviors that hamper effectiveness in meetings and how to recognize and counteract them.

8:45 a.m. -12:15 p.m.

One of the most challenging aspects of running a research team is the hiring of new post-docs, professional staff and technical personnel. So many times, this is a process that is guided mostly by our “gut” feeling of who is the right candidate. And so many times we end up regretting decisions made in this way. Since hiring decisions have such a profound effect on productivity and scientific advancement, it makes sense that we should use discipline and methodology to guide our intuition. This is not a generic workshop; it is specifically focused on issues faced when hiring in a scientific research setting.

Skills include:

• How to organize the selection and hiring process so that you get the data you need to make an informed hiring decision.
• How to conduct candidate phone screens, face-to-face interviews and reference checks.
• The importance of “onboarding” and setting goals and expectations.

1-4:45 p.m.

Setting goals and giving feedback can be powerful tools for keeping scientists focused and motivated. Scientists at all levels want and need to hear how they are doing from their mentors, managers or leaders. Yet all too often feedback is minimal or non existent, leaving scientists anxious or uncertain about their performance. The result can be impeded scientific progress.

In this highly interactive workshop participants will learn and practice how to set meaningful goals for scientists, how to give effective and useful feedback and how to conduct performance reviews that help keep projects and people on track.

Like being a good manager, being a good mentor also requires time and effort on the part of scientists in management positions. But the payoff is significant – well mentored staff are motivated and productive and can contribute significantly to the productivity of a research group. This workshop introduces tools that are critical for creating and maintaining good managerial and mentoring relationships. The workshop uses team-based discussion, group exercises and role playing to enable participants to practice behaviors associated with excellent managing and mentoring.

Skills include:

• Identifying the challenges of setting goals in a scientific setting.
• Creating high quality mentor mentee relationships.
• Using goal setting and feedback as productivity tools.
• A five-step model for giving useful feedback.
• The importance of individual development plans and performance reviews.
• How to conduct a performance review for scientists.