| The dramatic shifts that we have seen in the past year in our economy force all businesses and organizations to take an even harder look at how they run their organization and how they can best maximize productivity with the employees they retain. It’s not good enough to be a good manager or supervisor—you must also be an effective leader, one who not only leads others, but who also has strategic vision, financial acumen, and an understanding of the impact of new technologies. This conference will strengthen your skills both as a leader and manager in today’s changing times.
Agenda and Sessions
8:30-9 a.m.—Registration & Continental Breakfast
9-9:15 a.m.—Conference Welcome
9:15-10:30 a.m.—Concurrent Sessions
Leading Your Employees through Difficult Times
Leadership has taken on new meaning. Our world has changed. The economic climate is strained, security is not as certain, and stress levels are at an all time high. Both employees and supervisory staff share common concerns, which requires a different model than the usual hierarchical approach. Mutual trust has never been so important. When that trust is reciprocated, performance and cooperation are enhanced at all levels and partnerships are formed to face ever increasing challenges. This session will focus on practical leadership skills that are immediately applicable.
Presenter:
Gerri King, Ph.D., is a social psychologist and organizational consultant to corporations, nonprofits, governmental agencies, and educational and healthcare institutions. She works throughout the U.S., Asia, and Canada with a focus on Mergers & Acquisitions, Strategic Planning, Leadership & Supervisory Training, Conflict Resolution, Managing Change, and Enhancing Teams. Based in Concord, NH, she is a founding partner of Human Dynamics Associates.
Net 2.0—Digital Opportunities and Perils for Employers and Managers
The Internet is evolving rapidly, presenting vast new opportunities for businesses and individuals to network and communicate socially and professionally. Things like Facebook, My Space, Linked-In, Twitter, and Second Life are fast becoming household words, and blogs, texts, instant messages, and email continue to capture ever more bandwidth in our spectrum of communications. The tremendous opportunities presented by these digital media also create significant risks for employers. Managers need to be proactive in this time of rapidly expanding Internet technology to guard against the misappropriation of confidential information, the harassment of employees via digital media, and the danger that employees will waste time at work playing with these new toys. During this session, we will talk about the technologies inherent in “Net 2.0,” and we will train you to address the issues presented by these technologies before they can create potential problems for your business.
Presenters:
Cameron Shilling is a partner at McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton, where he chairs the firm’s Employment Litigation Group. His expertise is in complex business litigation, particularly employment and intellectual property disputes. He is adept at handling trade secrets and non-competition lawsuits, commercial and employment contract cases, employment discrimination and harassment, complex electronic discovery issues, and matters under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Family and Medical Leave Act. Cameron also counsels employers with respect to risk management issues, and he creates and implements electronic data management policies and procedures. He has an active practice in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and litigates cases throughout New England and around the country.
Robert Fitzgerald is the President of the Lorenzi Group and a Computer Forensics and Data Security Expert. Before founding the Lorenzi Group, he worked in several high-tech companies, developing products, services, execution strategies, and relationships throughout the industry. He has worked in manufacturing, research, staffing, telecommunications, and IT consulting.
10:30-10:45 a.m— Break
10:45 a.m.-Noon—Concurrent Sessions
How to Lead a Self-Managing Team
Leaders of self-managing teams experience a very specific set of challenges as they determine how to lead a team that manages itself. In this presentation you will disucss the findings of a study conducted by the presenter to identify the leadership strategies of leaders who developed the highest performing self-managing teams. The findings include a set of specific behaviors and strategies used more times and in more situations by the leaders of these top-performing teams. They also suggest a road map of actions for team members, team leaders, and upper-level managers who want to increase team effectiveness.
Presenter:
Vanessa Druskat, Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Boston University and M.A. in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University, is professor at the UNH Whittemore School of Business and Economics and an expert in group dynamics, team process effectiveness, team leadership effectiveness, leadership development, emotional intelligence, emotions in teams and organizations, and cross-cultural management. She is author of several articles and book chapters on emotional intelligence, group process, and transformational leadership, including a chapter in the book by Daniel Goldman and Cary Chemiss on “The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace.” In 2006 she also co-edited a book, “Linking Emotional Intelligence and Performance at Work.” Her most recent article examines the role of emotional intelligence in project team effectiveness.
Best Practices and Critical Issues Regarding Email and Other Electronic Data
In this session, you will discuss the cutting edge issues arising with respect to email and other forms of electronic data. You will learn about best practices with respect to managing the storage and preservation of such data for business purposes and for litigation.
Presenters:
Cameron Shilling and Robert Fitzgerald (see previous biographies)
Noon-1 p.m. Buffet Lunch at the Wentworth
1-2:15 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
The Communication of Emotion and its Effect on Team Outcomes:
”Do as I Feel, not as I Say”—How a Boss Influences Team Mood
You are having a bad day and subtly convey your mood to your employees or team members. The boss’ mood can make a different on employee and team commitment, cooperaton, effort, strategy, and coordination. The effect is automatic and unconscious. In this session you will look at the effects of mood and the concept of emotional contagion, suggesting that individuals, more often than not, become infected with the moods of others. You will take an emotional communication test and then discuss individual characteristics that best predict who is most susceptible to becoming “infected.” You will also discuss mood regulation strategies as well as ways to manipulate mood in the workplace. These questions will be addressed: :Do leaders influence mood with ‘Do as I Feel’ messages?”; “Is mood manipulation “good” leadership practice?”; and “Why is the emotional contagion effect so powerful?”
Presenter:
Richard Saavedra, Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology, is associate professor of management at UNH’s Whittemore School of Business and Economics. His research interests include social comparison and social influence process in work groups, mood in groups and organizations, and the design and leadership of organizations and work teams. He has has been a frequent presenter and published numerous articles about work groups and organizations, including: “Extinguishing Candles and Kindling Fires: The Wind of Mood Contagion in Work Groups”; “The Contagious Leader: Impact of the Leader’s Mood on the Mood of Group Members, Group Affective Tone, and Group Processes”. He has consulted to companies and organizations across the U.S.
Understanding Corporate Financial Statements
The session will introduce the basic financial statements that all public corporations must file. It will explain the contents of each statement, show what that data can reveal about the condition of the firm, and explore the reasons why various business and public audiences have an interest in that information. The session will also introduce you to the basics of ratio analysis and will examine the ways that ratio analysis can influence the decisions of business managers, lenders, and investors.
Presenter:
Jack MacMillan, MBA, is a Lecturer at the University of New Hampshire and has taught Economics, Financial Accounting, Financial Management, and Managerial Accounting at Regis College, Daniel Webster College, and Granite State College. He has also taught business communications courses at Babson College, UMass Lowell, and Cornell University.
2:15-2:30 p.m.—Break
2:30-4 p.m.—Concurrent Sessions
Accountability: The Key to Organizational and Individual Success
“It’s not my job,” “Tell me what to do,”....“If only we had the resources.”
Finger pointing, excuses and dodging accountability are individual and organizational behaviors that are a recipe for missed goals, unsatisfactory results and poor performance. Learn how you can rise above the “blame game” and how leaders can promote a culture of accountability. Your personal and organizational success depends on it! In this session you will learn how to detect the symptoms of victim mentality and the ‘responsibility avoiding syndrome;” discuss benefits and barriers of personal responsibility and accountability; and be able to identify action steps for increasing individual and organizational accountability.
Presenter:
Lynne Richards, MBA, is a member of the National Speakers Association, author, and founder of Leading Generations, a training and leadership development firm. She specializes in helping people develop their leadership, supervisory, and training skills. With over 20 years’ experience in management and training, she brings a wealth of hands-on, practical experience to the classroom, providing clients with workshops on leadership, supervision, communication, and training design and delivery.
Strategic Planning for Operational Transformation
This dynamic and highly interactive session will bring focus and insight into the fundamental planning strategies and behaviors leaders and managers can use to create a new dimension of success within their operations. You will leave with a deeper understanding of the Positive Change Transformational Planning Model and how this planning model can create a sustainable level of operational success within your departments and operating units. This session is designed for managers who want to make a strategic difference by transforming departments into higher performing organizations. Call it strategic planning or transformation leadership, this is about creating a state of excellence through strategies and behaviors that any leader or manager can use. You’ll examine: the role of the manager as it relates to strategy development and implementation; how managers support and enable organizational strategies to be achieved; and characteristics of highly effective strategic-oriented managers.
Presenter:
Peter Hughes, M.Ed, is the President and CEO of High Performance Leadership, Ltd. He has worked as a consultant with companies and has taught at the UNH Browne Center.
General Information
Conference Fee & Refunds
Cost is $295 if registered by November 6 ($325 after Nov. 6). (Includes lunch/breaks/materials). Refunds, less a $25 processing fee, will be given if written cancellation is received at least 10 business days prior to the conference. What the Cost Includes
Cost includes conference materials and handouts, continental breakfast, lunch, coffee breaks, and parking. Cost does not include overnight accommodations. Participants will receive .6 CEUs (continuing education units), attesting to your professional development. How to Register
• On the Web. Click here.
• By Phone. Call (603) 862-2015 or (800) 313-5327 with VISA, MasterCard, Discover or Debit Card.
• By Fax. Complete and fax the registration form with credit card information to (603) 862-0655.
• By Mail. Mail the registration form with payment to UNH, Registration Office, 11 Garrison Avenue, Durham, NH 03824
Forms of Payment
• Check or money order (payable to UNH)
• VISA, MasterCard, Discover, Debit Card Be an Exhibitor!
If your company would like to be an exhibitor please send an email to Linda.Conti@unh.edu.
Overnight Accommodations
Overnight accommodations are NOT included in the conference fee. If you wish to reserve lodging, call Wentworth-by-the-Sea Reservations at (866) 240-6313.
For More Information
About the Conference: Call (603) 862-4234 or send an email to: professional.development@unh.edu
About Registration: Call (603) 862-2015 |
