An always on, fast-paced, production-propelled, TNT – Time-Numbers-Technology – Driven and Distracted Work Environment means performing and managing on the shifting priorities and “dockets and deadlines” edge. It also means people can be stressed and edgy: some people take feedback or interactions in an overly personal manner; others project their frustration with impatient, impersonal, or harsh words as well as defensive attitude, body language, and tone. Add the spice of diversity and a telecommuting workplace and you often have an organizational-cultural stew ripe with the potential for both positive and negative conflict: a) productive pressure, genuine critique and dialogue, mutual support, shared recipes, and collaborative synergy and b) smoldering or heated tension, arguments or wall-building between and among the chiefs, chefs, and cooks. Which recipe we try or path we take usually depends on our communication skills – purposefully and empathically giving and receiving feedback – and the ability to effectively engage with interpersonal conflict.

And popular PTO presenter, Mark Gorkin, LICSW, the “Stress Doc” ™, is here to provide Foundational Self-Awareness and Communicational Concepts along with Conflict Defusing Feedback and Collaborative Problem-Solving and Partner-Building Skills and Strategies. The Doc’s thought-provoking, interactive, and FUN program and group exercises also maximize “insider” sharing and collegial learning. You will practice and take home “hands on” tools, techniques, and strategies for productively engaging real world, day-to-day challenges facing PTO employees, supervisors, and managers. (And the skills learned definitely have home front application.)

Training Objectives

A. Foundational Awareness-Communication-Hardiness Concepts

1. Understand the connection among culture, diversity, and authority dynamics and productive or dysfunctional communication with a mind-puzzle exercise

2. Increase awareness of personal “hot buttons,” authority voices, the “danger” and “opportunity” in change, and self-esteem/identity issues

3. Discover the “Four Faces of Anger” Matrix: (a) Constructive-Destructive and b) Purposeful-Spontaneous dimensions; illustrate model with workplace application

4. Discover the Four “C”s of Psychological Hardiness: Commitment, Control, Change and Conditioning


B. Strategic Communicational and Relation-Building Tools & Techniques

1. Understand the “Four ‘R’s of PRO – Professional, Reciprocal, & Ongoing – Relating”

2. Review briefly the basics of body language and nonverbal communication

3. Discover the meaning and power of “Asking Good Questions” and practice active listening/questioning/feedback skills with the CPRS listening exercise

4. Learn the APT way of saying “No”: Being Assertive, Positive, & Tactful with colleagues and friends; reframe, self-empower, and jointly establish priorities with management personnel

5. Grasp the strategic and empathic difference between assertive “I” vs. blaming “You” messages and the aggression disarming power of “metacommunication”

6. Learn the Stress Doc’s centering mantra in the face of conflict: Count to Ten and Check Within…When in Doubt, Check Without

7. Discover six consensus-building steps, skills, and strategies


C. Strategic Conflict Engagement, Collaborative Resolution, and Consensus Building

1. Gain strategic and empathic skills for understanding and defusing power struggles by “Asking Good Questions” and reducing status differences while building trust

2. Engage in a feedback exercise that underscores key emotional and communicational techniques for disarming a critical aggressor

3. Discover the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Style – Assertiveness x Cooperativeness – Inventory (TKI) by analyzing “pros and cons” of personal styles and “how to” work with a different style

4. Apply the TKI Exercise to everyday project/document management, deadlines, and priority issues, as well as challenging employee-supervisory interactions and/or telecommuting connection problems

5. Learn when and how to bring in third-party mediation (formal or informal); reach out to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

D. Recognizing Cultural Diversity and Universal Humanity while Strengthening Social Standing and Leadership Potential

1. “Share an Embarrassing Moment” Exercise: playfully encourages acceptance, risk-taking, resiliency, trust, camaraderie, and community building

E. Develop a Take Home Action Plan

1. Design a take home plan: a) Two or three Issues I will work on, b) How can I enlist a supportive other in an action plan? and c) How might I share what I’ve learned with others?

Mark Gorkin, MSW, LICSW, "The Stress Doc" ™, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, is an acclaimed keynote, kickoff and webinar speaker as well as "Motivational Humorist & Team Communication Catalyst" known for his interactive, inspiring, and FUN programs for both government agencies and major corporations. In addition, the "Doc" is a Team Building and Organizational Development Consultant as well as a Critical Incident/Grief Intervention Expert for Business Health Services, a National EAP/Wellness/OD Company. He is providing "Stress and Communication,” as well as “Managing Change, Leadership and Team Building" programs for a variety of units at Ft. Hood, Texas and for Army Community Services and Family Advocacy Programs at Ft. Meade, MD and Ft. Belvoir, VA as well as Andrews Air Force Base/Behavioral Medicine Services.

A former Stress and Violence Prevention Consultant for the US Postal Service, the Doc is the author of Practice Safe Stress and of The Four Faces of Anger. The Stress Doc blog appears in such platforms as HR.com, WorkforceWeek.com, and MentalHelpNet. His award-winning, USA Today Online "HotSite" – www.stressdoc.com – was called a "workplace resource" by National Public Radio (NPR). For more info on the Doc's "Practice Safe Stress" programs or to receive his free e-newsletter, email stressdoc@aol.com or call 301-875-2567.

Stress Doc Mantra: "Think out of the box, perform outside the curve (the Bell Curve) and be out-rage-ous!"