As Anne mentioned, the Management Academy for Public Health (MAPH) teams have been working hard on their feasibility plans and the meaning of the word "teamwork" has been made clear through a variety of tasks. Working together efficiently is of utmost importance now because each team has a lot of work to do in order to complete their business plan draft by January. The business plan must include detailed project operations, a marketing strategy, potential risks and a thorough description of a first year and a five year budget. The business plan development is a continuous process that has been building since the first MAPH retreat in July/August.
In the final hours of the first retreat, each group presented their first business plan idea to the other members of the cohort. Then as a follow-up, we had an almost 3-hour session during the second retreat for each group to present their current plan to their fellow colleagues. It was amazing to hear the changes and positive transformation that the plans have gone through. The members of the cohort, the business plan coaches and the local public health experts in the room were impressed by the research done to establish the true community need in a specific area. The topics of teenage pregnancy, the uninsured, childhood obesity, childhood immunizations/vaccinations, tuberculosis testing, community recycling, public health program evaluation and medical billing are all important to the residents of North Carolina, South Carolina and Wisconsin and each team had the statistics to prove it. What makes the Management Academy so unique is that each team has to consider how to address the community need, while at the same time, consider how to develop a self-sustaining program that doesn't merely rely on grant funds.
I would definitely be remiss if I did not mention the other activities that took place during the most recent on-site retreat. One of the goals of the Management Academy is to prepare the participants for new management challenges in public health. The faculty members focus, not only on business plan development, but also on improving the participants' individual managerial skills. The retreat included 360 Assessments, tips on negotiation and communication skills and work towards of a plan aimed at improving managerial competencies. Let's hear from the Management Academy participants about what they found most helpful during the retreat..................
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All of the sessions were very helpful. The session on Negotiation was particularly good. I really felt like Dr. Silverstein could have talked all day and it would have continued to be of interest and beneficial. While Dr. Shultz did a fantastic job driving home the points about HOW to communicate, Dr. Silverstein gave us case studies on WHY we should communicate. One case study, which involved two parties wanting different parts of the same tree unbeknownst to each other, makes me feel like the world would operate a whole lot smoother if we just made sure first that we were on the same page. It is the ideal that we are clear and specific about our wants and needs. However, too often, we try and get what we want without letting the other party know just how much we want it. I am going to try and be direct in my practice and see how the two techniques stack up.
I have always prided myself as someone who understands the importance of using many different ways to communicate. For example, if I am organizing an event, I use three forms of communication, email, hard copy and face-to-face to invite my guest to this event. I never rely on any one form of communication.
Your message confirms my new found discovery regarding communication to team members, bosses or coworkers. If you cannot be open and direct, you are not communicating. If you are going to work together as an effective team, you must communicate. Businesses and projects fail because all involved were afraid to discuss their thoughts and concerns. From this point forward, I am going to be more direct with the hope that all my endeavors will make a difference.
A point made during one of our sessions was the importance of managers being able to confront issues and communicate honestly without hiding behind the desk or hiding behind vague words via email/memo. I was reminded of this recently. A friend of mine was put in an awkward situation where an intern at her company was not offered a permanent position, as most interns are, because of her unprofessional habits. The intern was baffled by this since all of her evaluations were positive. The problem was the supervisor never confronted the issue. He/she decided to handle it by giving the intern positive evaluations and not re-hiring her in the end.
When I heard this story I was reminded of the MAPH communication session. An effective manager has to confront the tough and awkward situations rather than not communicate at all. I think someone showed a cartoon drawing of a manager hiding behind his desk during one of our sessions and that’s the first image that came to mind as I heard this story about the intern.
I felt that all of the sessions were helpful. I especially enjoyed the session on negotiation. As a supervisor, I have to negotiate with my staff, my peers, my bosses, and my community partners. It is not always an easy thing to do. Recently, I applied some of the things that I learned as I addressed a difficult situation. Although the negotiation went smoothly, I did not get the desired result. I consider this all a learning process and that is what I took away from the negotiation session at MAPH. I also have to say that one of the best things about MAPH is being able to network with folks who do what I do across the state and with folks who do things totally unlike what I do. It has been an interesting journey.
Carla,
I am sure negotiation is an art that needs to be practiced just like medicine and law. So, in the future I will practice a lot to perfect my negotiation skills. In fact, looking at it from the angle of practicing it already seems easier.
This type of conversation is exactly what Steve and I were envisioning when we started this blog! Thanks to Monecia for getting it started, and for all of you for gamely stepping in with your thoughts and responses. Remember -- this is not a writing exercise (so it doesn't have to be perfect by any means) -- it is a way for us all to communicate with the "community of practice" at the Management Academy and beyond. "Communication" seems to be high on the list of things people are interested in -- confronting issues head-on, negotiating effectively by communicating needs, and networking with colleagues around the state and around the country. So keep them coming -- Steve and I will back off for a couple of days so that Monecia's prompt stays front and center while people weigh in -- what have you gotten, and/or used, from the MAPH so far?
In regards to negotiation, I was reading some quotes from a previous Newsweek on women in leadership roles and I thought that I would share the quotes to see what the group's thoughts were
Here is the quote
"Women in leadership roles share lessons learned from their experiences and offer advice to the current generation. 'Always leave something on the table,' Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia CEO and President Susan Lyne tells Newsweek. 'It's important advice in any business. A total win for one side in any negotiation is just wrong because it's almost always a pyrrhic victory. You end up with bad partnerships. And we have long careers, and it is very likely you're going to be meeting the same people at some point down the line, so it's important to make sure that nobody feels like they have been either embarrassed or beaten in a negotiation.' "
What do you think of this strategy?
I too found all of the sessions very helpful. However, there are a couple things that were extremely helpful to me personally during this last session.
First, the 360. I cannot tell you how much help that was! Being in Public Health for only 7 months, this gave me confirmation of the management skills that I felt that I was alredy strong in, and also gave me a clear picture of the priorities that I should focus on in order to become more knowledgeable of public health and the things that would make me more valuable to the health department for which I work. The "mini sessions" that we had with other cohort members who had similar goals was extrememly helpful! It is very nice to be able to form relationships and connections with other people who either have the same goals or have my weak areas as strengths.
Second, I cannot tell you how helpful it was to have our "experts" at the feasibility plan presentations...their questions, comments and suggestions were most helpful and very appreciated. A BIG thank you to each one who assisted in that session...
Overall, management academy has been a great experience. It is teaching me leadership and management skills as well as business skills - which is not something that people who work in Public Health often have as a strength. Public Health is rapidly approaching the need to function as a true business, and it is helpful to have training on how to focus that way and see the big picture...thank you to all who have made the Management Academy possible - and thank you to all my cohort members!
I want to say first that I too have found it extremely beneficial to be a part of MAPH. The speakers are truly ‘state-of-the-art’ and have a lot of ‘meat’ to give with their sessions. We all have attended workshops on various topics in the past such as the negotiation, teamwork or communications; only now our environment is very different from the past – electronics, team make ups (working with 3-4 generations, etc.) funding, guidelines/regulations, etc. The opportunity to be a part of this program is one to appreciate! We have to stay in touch and on top of changes or as they say, “get left behind”. This program has a wealth of opportunity and prepares us to not only stay in the running but to be at the front of the lines. Resources and tools are given to us along with feedback and needed guidance in order to develop our business plans. Then it is through our research, planning and hard work that it truly comes to life. This is the exciting part – to anticipate the actual plan, putting it to work and finally, being a part of making it happen! Learning to be effective negotiators and communicators, enhance teambuilding, be creators, financial planners, network with others and for sure, to enhance ‘Googleing’ skills; these things we will always have and can use in our day-to-day activities no matter what role we are in.
I really gained a lot from this past session. The feedback, suggestions, questions, comments, from the other teams and especially the team of experts all was very beneficial. This gave us different perspectives and a different set of eyes for a fresh approach to our plan. THANK YOU!! I also felt the financial session was very informative and provided more specifics to what is needed in developing the financial piece to our plan. Thanks to Dr. Cummings.
I do consider this program a wealth of opportunity for self development as well as an opportunity to grow in the field of public health. We have many challenges ahead of us in the future, from our community needs, environment and with financial resources. We have to be as ready as we can be to meet the demands and work within the restraints. This is a program needed in order to be ready! Thank you to my cohorts, team members, and the program leaders. My group of friends has truly grown!!
In reply to Dee Dee's question -- what do you think of this strategy? I think it is the only strategy to use if you aspire to have a successful career. In fact, Dee Dee, reading your thoughts brought back many fond memories of Janet Porter, my former boss, Associate Dean for Executive Education and the person who wrote the MAPH grant. Janet told us many times if we interested in building our career we had better leave something on the table when negotiating. This advise comes from someone with a very successful career. At this time, she is Chief Operating Officer at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
First, let me start by saying that MAPH has been a learning experience for me. I've learned a lot from the different sessions, yet it's the other members that I can and will contact in the future for advice and direction.
I think in Public Health we all spend a great deal of time in Negotiation not only with our co-workers/employees but with our clients/patients, Dr. Silverstein provided valuable information that I will use in the future when dealing with the public and my coworkers. Dr. Schultz definitely left me with a lot to think about in communication and public speaking and I truly appreciate her tips and suggestions.
I personally enjoyed the 360 evaluation. It was enlightening to know what others saw as my strengths and weaknesses in comparison to what I thought my strong and weak points were.The break out sessions to me was very beneficial, I like networking with my peers to brainstorm and share ideas.
But most of all I think I learned a great deal more about "teamwork". I realize that teamwork is needed in order for us to accomplish our Business Plan...but my team went the extra mile as they put in over-time to coach and encourage those of us that was giving a presentation! I personally can't thank them enough for all their tips, smiles, patience and understanding!
I really enjoyed and learned a tremendous amount from all the sessions. However the information I will have the opportunity to use daily is from the writing clinic. I was able to share the powerpoint with my co-workers who regularly write grant proposals, news articles, and reports. Now we are all critiquing each other's work using the same "rule book".
Lynn, I agree that learning from each other after the 360 was very helpful. I got some tips from both of the people with me at the team building table. I've implemented one of their suggestions (sincere praise for members of my team) and I tried some other things that I learned from an article in Harvard Business Review on teambuilding.
Things are looking up for my team. We had a productive meeting this past week, where members volunteered for assignments and we stayed on track and actually learned from each other.
I enjoyed the negotiation session and communication as well. I wish we had time for Dr. Shultz to give everyone advice on presentations.
I really enjoyed the session on negotiation. The activities "made it real" and I found myself working hard to get what I wanted and thinking I was one up on my partner- but was I really. The session really reminded me that emotion guides one more than we know.
As I think about the 360 Assessment I share Lynn's views on how "enlightening" the analysis was. Overall, the analysis was very positive and that was a nice surprise.
I share many of the same positive thoughts and feelings of my colleagues regarding the MAPH experience. I have found that this academy has allowed me to objectively assess my professional skills and to develop a successful plan to improve my leadership and management abilities.
The management academy presenters/instructors have been wonderful! They have managed to take topics which all of us heard and maybe even taught before and given us a fresh perspective. They have also been extremely successful in holding our attention, and encouraging new ways of thinking. It has been exciting to experience and witness several “AAAHA” moments throughout this process.
Personally, I found the 360 and subsequent sessions relative to the components we were assessed on to be extremely helpful. The sessions allowed us to not only share our own personal struggles (in a safe, non-judgmental environment), but to be pro-active in the development of strategies that would help us to improve upon our needed areas. I am extremely grateful to my colleagues who shared their experiences and am now working to incorporate some of the strategies we discussed.
The negotiation session encouraged me to view negotiations in fresh new way. I was inspired to look beyond what my own (or my agency’s) needs/wants are and to open my mind to what my prospective partner’s wants/needs and motives are. Even though I thought I had been doing this, the exercises we participated in really drilled the importance of fact finding, research, and listening to ensure that all parties involved walk away feeling that they have participated in a ‘win-win’ situation.
As we work feverishly to finalize our business plans and prepare for the holidays, I am again reminded of the importance of time management, teamwork, effective communication and negotiation. Our business plans have required a great deal of our energy and time, and will require more in the near future. However, I encourage each of you (as I will do, this time of year) to take time to review, refresh and renew so that we can give all our to ourselves to our families, our careers and own personal and professional development.
I anticipate our final session with bittersweet feelings and am excited to see what our feasibility plans have birthed. However, I will walk away from this experience knowing that I have met and networked with a wide spectrum of wonderful public health professionals. I look forward to many years of networking and possible partnerships!
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