Learning to be "Better Together" - Hope at Work: Creating Positive, Resilient Organizations

On November 9-10, 2011, the Mills hosted two workshops featuring Bruce Anderson of Community Activators. Here’s a brief overview of these workshops and a few personal reflections.

Hope at Work: Creating Positive, Resilient Organizations

So much of our work depends on our ability to be “better together”. Teams and work groups can get temporarily stronger via retreats or training exercises but, as Bruce Anderson pointed out to us, “teams stay strong through the use of carefully designed activities integrated into the ongoing work life of the group”.

In a nutshell, what I learned was:

·         Hopefulness and resilience are capacities which are integral to both a healthy work place and, consequently, an effective organization (or team)

·         Building hope and resilience takes more than “wishful thinking”

·         Resilience is “the maintenance of high levels of positive feelings and well-being in the face of significant diversity”. It is the pull which keeps us going.

·         Service quality is our focus as helpers/professionals but doing good saps our resilience. It’s hard work!

·         We must care for ourselves – individually, as teams and as organizations by building in “ritualized activities” (that ought to get your attention!) which replenish our “resiliency pool”.

There are a ton of myths and expectations which inhibit building a culture of hope and resiliency. As helpers we are heroes, altruists and, in those weak moments, martyrs. We are strongly committed to the people we serve. In order to honour this commitment and to be at our best, we need to “take care of the caregivers”(ourselves and each other) . Bruce’s time with us showed both a model for creating and sustaining hope at work. He helped us to identify practical strategies. Now the hard part…changing our behaviour and learning to “swim upstream” so that we can build our resiliency.

For more information on Bruce Anderson and his organization, Community Activators, visit www.communityactivators.com. Also, visit the Mills’ website, www.themills.on.ca, for a couple of Mills’ Minutes (video clips) with Bruce.