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What We Have To Offer

Kim has devoted most of her career to customized adult education in a training and faculty development capacity. Her extensive design and facilitation experience, coupled with her commitment to learner success, offer a compelling reason for you to choose Meridian Learning for your training needs!

We offer programming in a broad range of topics, including Leadership Development, Training and Facilitation, Communication, Personality Profiling, and Governance.

Leadership Development

Type and Leadership

Type and Leadership

Knowing yourself and others is the best kind of power!

Type and the MBTI are widely used in organizations that really care about understanding their people. Leadership style and type are closely related. This workshop guides participants to discover how type can be used to improve communications, reduce and prevent conflict, manage relationships, and promote outstanding leadership.

When participants have completed this workshop they should be able to:

– Describe characteristics of their team and how it functions in the workplace
– Express their “Grip” triggers; predict “Grip” experiences and how to prevent them
– Use team building activities to explore the real-life expressions of type in terms
– Discuss the advantages of using their leadership team (BMS cohort) as a resource for building relations in their unit with type.

This activity-based workshop combines video, music, and teambuilding activities to make your work unit the most envied of the institute. Come prepared to relax, participate, learn, and have fun.

Leader Communication

Leader Communication

This communication workshop for leaders explores the critical link between type and leader communication. Through case studies, participants will experience the practical side of type while working as leaders in organizations. Participants will learn how leaders can use type as a dynamic model to assist them in communicating ideas and instructions to others and, equally important, in being an effective listeners!

When participants have completed this workshop they should be able to:

– Identify and evaluate the efficacy of communication patterns, and explore alternative patterns to enhance efficiency
– Clarify and reframe information to accommodate the communication styles of others
– Explain how type can be used as a tool for building stronger relationships
– Identify biases and hot buttons for listeners that distort meaning

″Get a Grip!″

″Get a Grip!″

Type is much more than 4 letters that describe our typical behaviours. It also includes characteristics of our opposite- sometimes to our advantage and sometimes not. At this workshop we will look at what type looks like under control and what it looks like under stress. We understand why it affects our lesser preferences.

The “grip” is often triggered by stress and fatigue. It is the “Jekyll and Hyde” reaction of your least dominate personality function. You must know your 4 letter MBTI “type” (i.e.:ENFP) in order to get full benefit from this workshop. This workshop will allow you to predict and recognise grip experiences in yourself and others, and minimize or prevent confrontations. Come prepared to actively participate in activities to use the tools.

When participants have completed this workshop they should be able to:

– Review the basic ideas of type
– Provide descriptions to understand type theory and identify your type
– Describe inferior function and how it is expressed
– Identify “triggers” and how we return to our usual state
– How knowledge of inferior function can enhance our personal and professional leadership.

Live Fully! Development is the Only Way

Live Fully! Development is the Only Way

Our Psychological “Type” influences how we learn from our experiences and thus how we develop as leaders. Our understanding of type is important to gaining a sense of our strengths and biases as we try to develop increased effectiveness in our leadership roles. It also contributes to the realization that others’ needs may be very different from our own. A general understanding of how we fully develop our typical mental patterns fosters our ability to grow as leaders. What would allow you to live fully in our roles? Would it be engaging to others, promoting individual differences and developing and maintaining shared goals? If so this workshop is for you!

This will be an active workshop dedicated to discovering ways to thrive as a leader… not simply survive!

When participants have completed this workshop they should be able to:

– Identify leader strengths and blind spots
– Create a plan for enhancing leadership effectiveness through type
– Explore sources of potential development
– Identify five core values that promote effective leadership in the 21st century

Reflective Practice: A Tool for Improving Management

Reflective Practice: A Tool for Improving Management (2-3 hours)

Reflecting on our own performance as managers and leaders is one form of feedback. Good professional practice is making wise decisions only after giving serious consideration to both theory and experience.

″It is in the practice of making decisions, then, that managers and leaders take responsibility for what transpires in organizations″ (Jacobs, 2002)

Keeping a reflective journal, either online or on your desk, helps you to reflect and learn from experience. In re-reading a journal, many managers find that over time they have developed strategies to deal with particular problems. Many professional development programs take this approach and use it as part of the performance management and or mentoring program. However, reflective practice is not just for improving performance but is also a way of continually challenging current practices and ensuring that managing and leading are primary to the success of every organization.

Come and explore ways that reflective practice can benefit your development as a manager and leader in your organization. Look at different techniques and templates that provoke intention and thought. Become more deliberate in your professional development with reflective practice.

Training & Facilitation

Train the Trainer

Train the Trainer( 3-5 days)

Train-the-trainer is a blended learning environment, where we utilize both classroom and online learning techniques, to simulate real-world workplace training. Online pre-work and resources help to build an environment of current learning practices and a “toolbox” of both face to face and online active learning techniques.

At the hands-on workshop, you will learn how to assess needs, design, develop, deliver and evaluate adult training programs. This highly participative workshop blends a presentation course with the training basics that you can use immediately. It covers not only what you need to know and be able to do to be an effective trainer, but also presents “insider tips”. This course has been designed to present essential train-the-trainer knowledge and skills to those that engage in training and instruction in all settings.

Course Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of this course you will be able to

– Complete a training needs assessment
– Develop objective and lesson plan for a training presentation
– Design active learning strategies to enhance learning
– Manage classroom environment and participants
– Deliver a presentation and receive feedback for improvement

Innovative and Creative Teaching Strategies for the Adult Learner

Innovative and Creative Teaching Strategies for the Adult Learner (1 ½-3 hours)

Many adult educators today want to move from passive learning to active learning to find ways of engaging students in the learning process. But, many teachers feel they are not “creative” or that they need ideas to add to their “bag of tricks” that are meaningful, as well as, appropriate to the content and context of their classroom.

This workshop will be an “active” demonstration of 12 proven teaching strategies for the adult learner. You can experience the power of active learning. Prepare to be engaged!

Participants will be supplied with a handout of 12 strategies.

MORE! Innovative and Creative Teaching Strategies

MORE! Innovative and Creative Teaching Strategies (1 ½ – 3 hours)

Current brain research suggests that when a concept or skill is processed in a variety of ways, the opportunity for learning is greatly enhanced for all learners. Some researchers believe that the novelty involved in a variety of strategies seems to engage the students with the material, increasing both motivation and memory.

Here are 12 more innovative and creative teaching strategies that have been triple-tested by extraordinary post-secondary educations in Alberta! The workshop will be an active demonstration of these skills and a discussion on when and how to use them to your greatest advantage.

Participants will receive a handout of 12 NEW strategies.

Learning Styles Can Help Your Students Help Themselves

Learning Styles Can Help Your Students Help Themselves (1-3 hours)

Most of us have a preferred way of processing and perceiving information. These preferences make up our Learning style. By learning more about our own learning style and those of our students, we can help them to help themselves learn.

This session will discuss the use of learning styles in the classroom, as a self-awareness tool for students to manage their own learning. We will also explore ways instructors can use learning styles to:

– Help students be responsible for their own learning and attend to their learning needs.
– Encourage growth by students that may not be comfortable with other learning styles.
– Nurture tolerance and teamwork with students.
– Attend to each learning style during every class period.

Powerful Presentations!

Powerful Presentations! (4-8 hours)

Presenting in front of a group is one of the most challenging skills that we face as leaders and employees in today’s competitive workplace. What are your choices? Will you choose ″ Death by PowerPoint″, or just ″Wing it!″ This workshop will provide you with the knowledge and ″visual aid advice″ that you need to prepare, present, manage, and impress any audience. The key is in knowing yourself, your audience and what is expected!

You won’t regret having the skills and resources that will prove themselves valuable over and over again in your professional development. This workshop will add many techniques to your ″bag of tricks!″

Teaching to the Generation Gap

Teaching to the “Generation Gap” (1-2 hours)

Is the classroom changing or is it just the instructors that are aging. Both are true to some extent. Research shows that there are 4 distinct generations in our college classrooms today. It’s the greatest challenge since downsizing!

Come prepared to discuss the differences and the dynamics they create in our classrooms, without the whining! There are tips and techniques that can help instructors recognize and deal appropriately with everyone in the class.

* Caution: Over generalizing about age and generations- like gender, race and ability- is just one factor to consider in learning. Proceed with positive intent and energy only! Leave your baggage at the door and learn more about creating an atmosphere of cooperation and successful learning!

A Mirror Image: Improving Your Teaching Using Reflective Practice

A Mirror Image: Improving Your Teaching Using Reflective Practice (3 Hours)

Consciously engaging in reflective practice enables the teacher to learn from and therefore potentially enhance their practice and learning about their practice. Practice here can include teaching, encouraging learning, research, scholarship, course design and management. Indeed, it can include and of the myriad activities of the professional teacher.(McGill and Brockbank, 1998)

Reflecting on our own performance as educators is one form of feedback. Keeping a reflective diary, either online or on your nightstand, helps you to reflect and learn from experience. In re-reading a diary many educators find that over time they have developed strategies to deal with the formal assessment or mentoring program. However, reflective practice is not just for new facilitators but is also a way of continually challenging current practices and ensuring that teaching is developed and enhanced.

Explore ways that Reflective Practice can benefit your development as an educator and online facilitator. Look at different techniques and templates that provoke intention and thought. Become more deliberate in your professional development with reflective practice.

 

Personality Profiling using Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI)

*Delivery times will vary depending on the need for completion of the MBTI instrument prior to the workshop.
Most require 3-5 hours for maximum participation.

Leverage the Power of MBTI- The Value of Personality Profiling

Leverage the Power of MBTI- The Value of Personality Profiling

The MBTI provides a positive constructive way of understanding and valuing differences between people. It is one of the most widely used psychological instruments. It is a questionnaire used to capture fundamental differences between people: the framework is elegant and easy to apply in a range of occupational and general settings.

This is the starting point for people who DO NOT know their MBTI “type”. Taking the inventory and receiving feedback will help you identify your unique gifts and understand and appreciate people who differ from you. Don’t miss this interactive and fun workshop!

Help! You're Driving Me Crazy!

Help! You’re Driving Me Crazy!

This workshop will be a more in-depth look at “Type” and relationships. You will be actively engaged in exploring the four dichotomies of “type” to discover why and how people like to be appreciated, and how work and play look different “types.” How do different individuals handle conflict depending on their type? Is it better to give people “space” or “lay your cards on the table‽” Discuss what communication strategies will help your team have smoother interactions with less stress. This is sure to be an eye-opener for those that work and learn together. See what fun this team builder can be.

The Grip: Understanding Type, Stress and the Inferior Function

The “Grip”: Understanding Type, Stress and the Inferior Function

What aspects of your life are most energizing and satisfying? What aspects are most dissatisfying‽ the “Grip” is often triggered by stress and fatigue. Is it the “Jekyll and Hyde″ reaction of your least dominant personality function. You should know your 4 letter “type” (i.e.: ENFP) in order to get full benefit from this workshop. This workshop will allow you to predict and recognize grip experiences in yourself and others, and minimize or prevent confrontations. Come prepared to actively participate in activities to use tools. Helping you “Get a “Grip!”

Let’s Talk Teamwork: Problem-solving with Type

Let’s Talk Teamwork: Problem-solving with “Type”

You will discover benefits of knowing your type and using the knowledge to better understand the relationships you have with colleagues. Your team is about to discover how “type” can make problem-solving and teamwork a rewarding experience for everyone. This workshop will combine video, music, teambuilding activities and a sound problem-solving model to make your work unit the most envied of your company. Come prepared to have fun.

 

Miscellaneous Presentations – Worth a Look!

Lighten Up and Live-a Lot!

Lighten Up and Live-a Lot!(1-2 hours)

When you are stressed you take shallow breaths and have less oxygen in your system. Stress weakens the immune system opening the door to over 70 illnesses including high blood pressure, heart disease and insomnia. Stress… is an inside job! It’s caused by what happens between your ears, by how you look at, think about, and respond to events. It is time to reframe your thinking. This action-packed workshop will have laughing at stress! Did you know that you cannot laugh and be angry at the same time!

This workshop uses humour as a tool for stress relief. Based on techniques from all the great humorists of our time! Join the fun…you won’t be sorry!

Mix and Mingle

Mix and Mingle (1-2 hours)

‘You only get one chance to make a first impression.″ this is a familiar adage. Paradoxically, to make a great first impression you have to stop focusing on yourself and focus on the other person. Relationship building is vital in business today. Your ability to connect positively with others is critical. (Bussandri, 2003)

This fun and active workshop is designed to give you an edge in business and personal settings where you are asked to ″mingle″. You will get practice in the art of “small talk″ and keeping a conversation going. Learn to handle that initial uncomfortable moment, those nasty interruptions and create positive feelings with your greetings.

The Juggling Act: The Art of Time Management

The Juggling Act: The Art of Time Management

The result of trying to juggle elephants is that no one, including you, is thrilled with your performance. Ever see a “one person circus?” Ever feel like you are in one? Come to this engaging workshop to get your act together and experience tools for work/life balance, time management and productivity. Become the ‘Ringmaster of Your Circus” and learn how to focus on priorities based on personal and organizational priorities.

This engaging and active presentation will give you “food for thought”, on your way to envisioning a work community that is productive, sustainable and yours to enjoy.

Some of the objectives addressed in this workshop are:

– Look at self-efficacy and its effect on your thinking
– Complete a “balance wheel” for your personal goals
– Examine your attitudes in relation to your goals
– Adjust your personal behaviour in a constructive way
– Apply your personal learning to benefit the work community
– Discuss the ways that you can contribute to the growth of your workplace in a positive and appreciative way.

This session will give you hands on activities and time to work on a strategy for you to be more productive individually and in your workplace. We know that when your time is managed effectively you can enjoy your life with your friends, family and colleagues more while reducing the overall stress in your work community. A combination of theory, practical activities and video will delight your senses. Bring your positive attitude, sense of fun and friendship, and discover what a difference each of us can make if we learn to be the Ringmaster of our own circus!

Juggling 101 (2-3 hours)

Juggling is a mind-altering experience. Newly trained jugglers show changes in shape of the brain. European researchers have found human brains actually change shape while learning a complicated skill such as juggling. Brain scans reveal that gray matter expands in people as they learn how to juggle, then retracts as they fail to practice. The findings appear to bring scientists closer to answering a major question: do humans gain more brain cells over time, or are they stuck with what nature gave them.

The mystery remains, but by unearthing evidence of physical changes in the brain, ″we challenge our view of the human central nervous system,″ says study co-author Dr. Arne May , a researcher at the University of Regensburg in Germany. ″Human brains probably must be viewed as dynamic, changing with development and normal learning.″ Scientists have long debated what happens in the brain during learning.

Learn to juggle and use this tool to increase your knowledge of learning, and improve your reaction speed, while reducing stress.

What’s TRUST got to do with it?

What’s TRUST got to do with it? (2-3 hours)

Everything! Trust is foundational to the health workplace. Trusting environments help people to develop mutual respect, understanding of one another, communication skills and cooperation. Trust is the responsibility of each individual- no exceptions. When it’s there, you feel it. In a trusting environment, you see more teamwork, partnering, and productivity. This workshop gives you hands-on, proven strategies for building trust in the workplace.

Workshop Objectives

By the end of this workshop you should be able to:

– Identify and describe key requirements of building with individuals or in a group using the metaphor of the emotional bank account.
– Interview a co-worker to gain insights into ″trust″ dilemmas.
– Describe the two basic dynamics of trustworthiness: competence and integrity.
– Identify ways in which trust can be built in a group
– Build a ″Top 10″ list of trust traps in your work environment.

Come prepared to be actively engaged with discussion, video and non-threatening activates. You’ll be glad you did!

Radiating Possibility!

Radiating Possibility! (2 hours)

Sustaining and nurturing a workplace to be proud of, requires leadership and self assurance. What do you see for the future of your workplace? Come and participate in an appreciative look at building strong work communities and focus individually, and as a team to “Radiate Possibilities”.

This engaging and active presentation will give you “food for thought”, on your way to envisioning a work community that is productive, sustainable and yours to enjoy.

Some of the objectives addressed in this workshop are:

– Look at self-efficacy and its effect on your thinking
– Complete a “balance wheel” for your personal goals
– Examine your attitudes in relation to your goals
– Adjust your personal behaviour in a constructive way
– Apply your personal learning to benefit the work community
– Discuss the ways that you can contribute to the growth of your workplace in a positive and appreciative way.

This session will give you some hands on activities and some time to share your thoughts about the possibilities you see for work community, with your friends and colleagues. A combination of theory, practical activities and video will delight your senses. Bring your positive attitude, sense of fun and friendship, and discover what a difference each of us can make if we radiate possibility!

Team Communication – “Why’d you say that?”

Team Communication – “Why’d you say that?” (2 hours)

This communication workshop is designed to explore the important links between individual and team communication. The goal is to enable participants to experience the practical side of communication. In the most basic sense, you will use a dynamic model that will assist in communicating ideas and instructions to others and, equally important, in being effective listeners!

Objectives completed in this workshop are;

– Communicate more completely and listen more intently to:
– Identify hot buttons that inhibit good communication
– Identify specific communication patterns, as well as, the strength of these patterns and potential issues that need to be addressed
– Discuss generational differences that influence communication
– Commit to applying 10 Techniques for Team Communication and customer satisfaction.

This activity-based workshop will combine video and teambuilding activities to make your work unit the most envied of the university. Discuss what communication strategies will help your team have smoother interactions with less stress. This is sure to be an eye-opener for those that work and learn together. See what fun this team builder can be. Bring the whole team!