This workshop is hosted by the Office of Faculty Development and co-sponsored by the Office of Research.

Join us for a full-day program designed specifically for scientists and faculty in the research space. This comprehensive program offers two tailored workshops to meet the unique needs of the community:

• Difficult Conversations in the Research Workplace: Fundamentals of Negotiation
• Hiring and Retaining Your Science Team

Don't miss out on this opportunity to enhance your skills and become a more effective leader and collaborator. 

This program is highly interactive and includes small group breakout sessions.

Difficult Conversations in the Research Workplace: Fundamentals of Negotiation

This is a highly interactive workshop in which you 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 that 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 you deal with such interactions productively. We will present a framework for identifying and interacting with a variety of types of people in the scientific workplace. We will provide concrete tools for dealing with anger, hostility and passive-aggressive behavior. The workshop will make extensive use of participatory role-playing exercises to demonstrate the application of these tools. 

By the end of the session, you will:

• Be better prepared to handle challenging situations in your own group and/or with your superiors and peers 
• Have begun to build skills associated with effective leadership

Hiring and Retaining Your Science Team

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.

In this workshop you will learn:

• How to organize the selection and hiring process so that you get the data you need to make an informed hiring decision.
• You will learn why over reliance on selecting for technical skills and qualifications can lead you to make poor hiring decisions.
• The importance of consistency when interviewing candidates and checking references.
• How to recognize and counteract “implicit bias” during interviews.

Facilitator

Carl M. Cohen, Ph.D
President of Science Management Associates

Please email us at UMMS-Faculty-Development@med.umich.edu if you have any dietary restrictions or food allergies. Advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the University to arrange.