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WorkLife Connections:
August News
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Applying Key Questions to What Work Comes Back to Campus - an APA Example
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By Barbara Roberts, Ph.D., Executive Director and Senior Advisor to the Provost
A consistent set of principles, key questions or values goes a long way in clarifying complex decisions. When we get back to primary principles, and away from personal circumstances, we can make better decisions. I like what Fisher and Ury say in "Getting to Yes," at the Harvard Negotiation Project: "Separate the people from the problem. Be soft on the people and hard on the problem." If we can identify the "problem" or the challenge as the work that must be done on campus, independent of the people initially, we can solve the problem better together and protect the people.
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Respect, Patience and Compassion Essential in the Shifting Landscape of Work
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By Barbara Roberts, Ph.D., Executive Director and Senior Advisor to the Provost
An opportunity for profoundly positive culture change has landed in our laps with the onset of COVID-19 restrictions. Where we struggled with allowing people to work remotely, we suddenly faced stay-at-home orders. We learned. Where we struggled with flexible work schedules, we suddenly reconsidered how important particular hours are (or aren't) to both work and families, not to mention pacing our brains in a new medium all day long. We learned. We adapted. We still struggle, but we are making positive shifts in our abilities and in our thinking about work and personal lives, and how they intersect.
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Relationships in a time of COVID
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By Jaimie Hutchison, MA, LPC
For many, the pandemic has shrunk our circles of support. For others, it has magnified our family and couple time adding lots of togetherness. Our relationships outside of our homes have been stressed due to being isolated from one another. This is a huge shift in how we interact. How are your relationships going?
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Feedback Survey:
Your Chance to Provide Input & Suggestions
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The WorkLife Office needs you to help us help the community by sharing your voices, views, and experiences. Help us take a deeper dive into current experiences and needs, to identify newly emerging issues, and to inform our input to programs and policies that support you through collaboration.
All responses are voluntary, anonymous, and accessible only to WorkLife Office staff. We will use aggregate data to help determine program and policy development. Where particular quotes illustrate themes, we may paraphrase and use those anonymously as examples reflecting common community sentiments or experience.
We look forward to your input; please speak to us, so we can speak for you.
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Back-to-School 2020 Resource Guide for Parents and Caregivers
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The back-to-school 2020 season is looking very different for families and caregivers, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There's a lot more to factor in for everyone's health and safety, and adapted school schedules and day care closures are adding logistical hurdles on top of the usual child care struggles we've always had to manage.
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Team Leadership Practices
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- The role of leaders and managers during unsettling times
- Research related to why leadership matters - especially now
- What followers are looking for from their leaders
- Practical suggestions on how to lead in this environment and specific actions to take to lead and manage remotely
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Anti-racism: The Heart and Mind of the Matter
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A time of dissonance, disagreement between beliefs and one's own actions, offer each of us an opportunity to take a step back and look at the larger, deeper picture to engage in transformation. Following the viewing of a TED Talk, I welcome you to increase your knowledge, understanding and awareness of racial literacy. Learn how each of us can take action to be allies and affect change in support of anti-racism in our workplace and personal lives.
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Community Highlight:
Black Faculty, Staff and Administrators Association
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This organization serves as a change agent and collective voice promoting equity for Black faculty, staff, administrators, and students to pursue educational, scholastic, leadership, social, and professional development opportunities across all university environments and units. http://bfsaa.msu.edu/
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Let's Talk About it: What Exactly is a Consultation?
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By Jaimie Hutchison, MA, LPC
You may have heard the WorkLife Office staff talk about "consultations" as a service that is available to you as a staff or faculty member at MSU. But what exactly is a consultation and how can it help you? A consultation is a meeting with a professional in order to seek advice, information, or referrals. You can think about it as the WorkLife Office staff helping to answer your work life questions and assisting you and your family members to find the resources and solutions that will work best for you!
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The MSU Behavioral Threat Assessment Team has created the "Green Folder" as a resource guide and tool to help faculty and staff navigate difficult situations. The Green folder will help to identify a person in distress and the resources available to assist the person-in-need. Recommended actions may include notifying the Behavioral Threat Assessment Unit, contacting EAP, or some other helpful resource. This new remediated Green Folder is for screen readers, making it an accessible document.
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Celebration/Acknowledgement
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Jaimie Hutchison began her three-year term for the College and University Work-Life-Family Association (CUFWA) Board of Directors. Jaimie will also be co-chairing the Membership Engagement Committee beginning in September, with the Well-Being Manager at Northwestern University. Jaimie's participation in this leadership role will allow the MSU WorkLife Office to help guide national conversations about work-life, as well as provide MSU an opportunity to share and learn from other best practices in these areas from around the country and Canada. This new relationship will directly impact the great work being done at MSU.
Jaimie's interests in her role on the CUFWA Board include membership engagement, leading initiatives to promote personal and workplace best well-being, and being part of a vibrant, knowledgeable team in efforts to move our institutions forward by being leaders and innovators in the work-life industry.
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New Parent and Breastfeeding Series
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We are happy to announce we have 8 consecutive Friday sessions planned for Fall 2020 to support parents, both breastfeeding and the new parent series. These are always great sessions! Registration will be available shortly.
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Follow us on Facebook for more information and upcoming events
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Register Now!
6th Annual WorkLife Conference
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Learn new tools and resources that can contribute to a positive work environment at Michigan State University. Join us at the 2020 WorkLife Conference.
Toxic work environments, including instances of bullying and incivility, are highly prevalent in higher education. Workplace climate and culture, at an institutional level, can affect the lived experience of individual employees. Levels of safety and trust vary, resulting in different work environments within the same institution. This conference will address bullying, incivility in the workplace, and bystander intervention.
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Join WorkLife Listservs
The WorkLife Office manages several popular listservs. These email lists are an effective way for MSU faculty and staff to communicate directly with a group of people just like you! Join a Listserv
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Request a Workshop for Your Team
Do you have a request for a workshop not already on the calendar? Is there something specific you'd like to have presented or discussed with your team? We've now made it even easier to connect with us for those requests.
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Care.com has More Than Babysitters for You
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Whether you need ongoing help taking care of your kids or parents, a back-up pet sitter, or even someone to help you set up a party or organize your garage, you can depend on Care.com!
Check out Care.com/msu
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We're just like you. We're teachers, business executives, parents, retirees, students...you name it. But the one thing we all have in common is our dedication to change. And the more volunteers we have, the bigger impact we can all make. Together. Learn More about what it means to be a volunteer.
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