Inspire workshop

The Inspire workshop in July could not have been more perfectly timed. We listened to Anthony Critchly talk about moving people from where they are now to where they need to be, focusing on the difficult conversations, because - let's face it - the happy ones are fairly easy to have.

The timing was so good for me because it gave me some skills and confidence to have some outside-my-comfort zone conversations as I worked on the ICVF Developer role. But I've got ahead of myself let's back up a bit to the EOI responses, which poured in - not just from the library but from other units too.

Well if felt like they poured in, it was actually only 22 but that's perfect, any more and the pilot would become too unwieldy. The next step was the matching and I will admit to being awed by the process. Christine and I helped but the lion-share of the work was done by the ODU experts, Abby and Kelly with input from Steve and Jenny from other UWS units. With pairs matched the applicants accepted and then came tricky bit  some of the pairs had concerns.

I met with them individually to see if it would be possible for them to continue and I was nervous. I took my notes from Anthony's talk in with me as a reminder but I didn't need them. 

These are the points that really helped

• focus on conversation that adds value
• I made myself available in whatever format they felt most comfortable
• used active listening to build trust and gain agreement
• kept discussion clear, simple and non-judgmental
• steered the conversation away from gossip

One other point that Anthony made that I didn't have to use in the conversations above but that I want to remember is that if I get angry the neurological emotional reaction only lasts for 7 seconds. 7 seconds that's how long my brain has me at it's mercy, so if I count those 7 seconds without responding I should be able to think clearer and respond more effectively. Comforting to know that Mum wasn't too far off the mark with her "count to 10 rule".

Oh and all the worried participants decided to stay so thanks for the wisdom Anthony Critchly.