Find here descriptions of MIT Libraries' implementation of Managing for Learning and Inclusion Program, a year-long training program developed and offered by DeEtta Jones and Associates to enable the Libraries to develop its managerial capacity, to align leadership styles and skills with the Vision and Values, and to strengthen understanding of cultural competence across the organization.
The following slide show was shown at the kick-off to the program.
The Equity Toolkit is a four-course online series. It provides the knowledge, language, skills and framework needed to become proficient working across cultures. The courses are offered in a sequence, with concepts and skills introduced in earlier courses becoming a foundation for strategic and systemic action by the end.
Description: This online course provides essential tools, understanding, and self-reflection to help you enhance your own cultural competence, while increasing the organization’s overall capacity related to equity, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) goals. Participants follow the course individually, and it takes 5-8 hours.
Description: In this online course, you will learn about the subtle and not-so-subtle ways that bias shows itself, concepts such as implicit bias and microaggressions, and specific tools and resources for addressing bias, your own and others', in ways that are constructive, not judgmental or shame-inducing, and lead to measurable change. Participants follow the course individually, and it takes 4-6 hours.
Description: In this course, the connection between cultural competence and everyday managerial effectiveness will be reinforced. The kinds of skills and abilities you will learn will help you nurture a more inclusive workplace environment, and increase overall employee motivation and levels of engagement. You will learn practical techniques for increasing creativity in teams, giving feedback, managing conflict and coaching across cultural differences.
This course was not carried out fully in the Libraries, as it has a different sort of intent. Use of this course will be determined when the Libraries develops its next strategic plan.
Description: In this final course, you will use the concepts, tools, and skills from previous courses to examine ways to breathe life—and implementable process—into your inclusion efforts. You will move from having diversity goals to having a plan for transforming your organization’s culture, using very specific examples that will help you customize more inclusive approaches to engaging your key stakeholders. You will receive guidance to help inform how you look at and approach human resources systems that impact your inclusion goals, like writing job descriptions, conducting performance conversations and creating career paths for people from underrepresented groups.
Description: In this first set of workshops, the focus is on the manager as an individual. Managers in the Libraries will, as a team, learn how to recognize their own behavior style preferences, and how to adjust as needed; to identify what motivates people and explore options for increasing staff engagement; to recognize when and how best to influence organizational goals; and to give feedback using a time-tested technique that minimizes resistance and builds commitment.
Description: In this set of workshops, managers will focus on skills that support the organization. Managers in the Libraries will, as a team, learn how to articulate and use organizational values to enhance engagement; to communicate strategies and build a culture of shared buy-in; and to implement strategies for creating multi-directional influence
See basic agendas for each of the two sets of workshops below, along with a PDF of the workbooks we received. These include descriptions, explanations, and exercises.
The following summaries of the LSMI 1 workshop days were written by Felicity Walsh, for the ID&LA Blog.