Session II: July 18-22, 2011

17. Managing and Leading Small Groups in Challenging Multicultural Environments:       An Applied Approach to Successful Intervention Todd Conklin and Richard Harris Featuring a variety of learning experiences, this workshop will help participants develop practical tools and strategies that can be used immediately for achieving positive results with real-life groups in their workplaces. By means of hands-on experience and evaluative discussion, participants will develop a sense of confidence in their ability to intervene safely and positively.

Designed for Objectives Learning Activities Todd Conklin Richard Harris Leaders, managers, trainers, teachers, coaches, consultants, facilitators, and others involved with “difficult” groups or who are interested in acquiring tools to help them understand the dynamics of leading, coaching, and creating opportunities for improving performance for multicultural groups. Participants will have the opportunity to: Consider a new approach to achieving reliability and predictability in organizations by understanding the interface among the worker, culture, and the workplace Experience a range of intervention approaches and strategies, including appreciative inquiry, wisdom of crowds, positive language for change, creative café, multiple intelligences, equilibrium theory, and others leading to shared awareness and consensus Learn and practice several quick and easy methods for creating “a-ha!” moments in groups Understand the theoretical underpinnings of different interventions Discuss how a changing world economy adds to the challenges faced by work-team leaders Use the Thomas-Killman Instrument to understand their own and others’ attitudes toward potential conflict situations Practice facilitating interventions in a safe, supportive environment Discuss the intercultural implications of different intervention approaches Devise and discuss specific approaches for their individual situations and concerns The workshop will be highly interactive, and include: Hands-on experience in facilitating interventions Mini-lectures on intervention approaches Frequent small and large group discussions Use of different media to illustrate relevant concepts Case studies based on participants’ experiences Design and testing of interventions tailored to participants’ specific needs   Dr. Todd Conklin is a senior advisor in the Safety Improvements Initiatives Office, working with human performance/human factors to develop a new look at error, safety, and failure. He is interested in organizational culture, especially the cultures that seem to arise around workplace power and communication. Todd lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and works extensively in his home state with community groups, schools, civic clubs, and nonprofit groups with special social impact. Dr. Richard Harris, born in London, U.K., is currently chair of the faculty of management at Chukyo University, Japan, where he has taught intercultural communication and intercultural management at undergraduate and graduate levels for over 30 years. Richard’s eclectic research interests range from the influence of physical and psychological space on intercultural encounters to the representation of ourselves and the other in media, museums, tourism, and interpersonal interaction. He has written several papers on the cultural impact of space, on the representation of cultures in Southeast Asian museums, and is the author of Paradise: A Cultural Guide, a study of cross-cultural concepts of the ideal.