I loved the game and being part of the team, first as a rookie and then captain. We won a whole lot more than we lost and we beat many teams that we weren’t supposed due to our strategic coach and our shared efforts.

I was always amazed that other teams we played argued on the court. It simply didn’t occur to me that a member of my team wouldn’t do their best and leave nothing in the tank at the end of a game.

You can imagine my shock to find that the first team I played on after school—my first workplace team—was brimming with conflict. It is coach I channel in times of conflict at work and I think he would join me in recommending a couple of Conflict Resolution workshops hosted by the Minnesota Council for Quality in January 2011.

Unfortunately, the average manager spends between 30-50% of their time grappling with the fallout of mistrust and lack of cohesiveness. In a recent Gallup poll, nearly 70% of employees report they are disengaged from work.

Conflict in the workplace impacts productivity, worker effectiveness, and ultimately customer satisfaction and the bottom line. Fortunately, there are proven strategies to resist and reverse these discouraging trends.

The Minnesota Council for Quality – in cooperation with the Mankato Area and Rochester Area Quality Councils – is pleased to announce a special, encore workshop: “Self-Defeating Habits of Otherwise Brilliant People: Reversing Workplace Mistrust, Disengagement, Tension.” The workshop will be held January 13 in the Twin Cities and February 17 in Rochester. The sessions will be facilitated by Anna Maravelas, founder of Thera Rising (Thera is Greek, meaning “to heal”).
An expert in workplace conflict resolution and a devotee of Deming, Maravelas will share how to create emotionally resilient teams, avoid risk factors for heart disease and depression, eliminate five root causes of simmering hostilities, and maintain your integrity by sidestepping invitations to blame. Rather than undermining relationships by “searching for stupidity,” Maravelas introduces techniques for avoiding blame and self-righteous indignation and focusing on the true causes of workplace inefficiency and waste.

Thera Rising has an international reputation, in workplace conflict resolution, team building and leadership development. The founder, Anna Maravelas is the author of, “How to Reduce Workplace Conflict and Stress” (Career Press) which readers rate a five-star “must read” on Amazon.com. Anna’s work has been published in the NY Times, Oprah Magazine, and MSNBC. More information on Thera Rising can be found at http://www.therarising.com/.

For more information, visit http://www.councilforquality.org/specialevent3.cfm.

One of the best mangers I ever worked for was at a local wine shop. He knew how to motivate, he always knew profit margin and he provided even the lowest peon (me) with health insurance. I learned a lot from Steve; the difference between Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir and how not to make a suckers bet.

Steve had a head for numbers. Once a year he would arrive at work with an extra spring in his step armed with the knowledge that his wages for the rest of the year were his to keep. The logic being that all the income he had generated up to that date covered that year’s tax owed. Bizarre logic, I know, but a great conversation always ensued for the rest of the week. How much further into the year it took over the previous year, what else would you rather spend that money on…and how many hours, days, or weeks would you work to attain other things you want in life.

Keep in mind, I worked at a wine shop, it’s a very nice wine shop, but alcohol is the chief product and friendly wagers were usually a part of most “team building” activities. We all knew the tournament point differential for the NCAA, employees bonded at basement rec room craps games and the Las Vegas marathon was a notable third to the Twin Cities and Duluth races for the company running club. The Minnesota races are close to home were beautiful to run, Vegas just had better odds. The draw of Las Vegas was so appealing to one of my wine shop co-workers that he honeymooned there. Unfortunately, he and his new wife ended up walking to catch the flight home having gambled and lost everything down to cab fare.

I think that if I still worked in Steve’s shop today the conversation would have turned to heath care and how much we paid or were worried about spending in the future to secure our health. How to pay for health care has made just about every list of critical community issues I have ever seen. Many employers are currently buried by health care costs, and it’s not just the current workforce, but the growing retired workforce adding to this growing debt.

How much are we willing to gamble to pay for health care? Are the odds on health-care reform too long for us? The facts are that the past several administrations all failed to put together and pass health-care reform and that no matter what happens with the current administration attempts, our local government and employers will still be left with a large funding gap to provide health care.

I don’t have to go to Vegas to know the odds are long for passing health-care reform. The honeymoon is over my friends and there is no cab fare in the kitty. You and I are being forced to bet the “hard eight”. Fortunately, we do not have to settle for a blind bargain. Ask for more information and don’t let the “shouters” prevent our representatives from creating health care we all can live with.