Polarity Management for Managers - Option 1

Presented by: 
Jessica Earle-Meadows
Wednesday, June 8, 2022 - 1:00pm
Zoom meeting platform
AAPS PD Program
Focus Areas: Skills for the Future of Work, Management + Leadership

Head and shoulders portrait of facilitator Jessica Earle-Meadows

Program Descrption 

The Polarity Management™ model takes a both/and approach to a given situation when an either/or solution won’t work. Polarity Management is a powerful tool to help navigate complexity when you don’t have a problem to solve but a polarity to manage.

In this session we will be using flexible work arrangements as an example of a polarity to provide a participatory working demonstration of the model. Join this workshop to elevate and clarify the conversation around flexible work arrangements to include all perspectives, discover how to achieve the best of multiple worlds, and experience how Polarity Management can be applied in the workplace.

Polarity Management increases in value as the system or issue:

  • Increases in complexity
  • Increases in diversity
  • Increases in speed of change
  • Increases in resistance to change

Polarity Management can help:

  • Simplify the complexity without being simplistic
  • Value and leverage diversity without alienating marginalized groups
  • Provide predictability and stability amidst accelerating change
  • Convert resistance to change to a resource for sustainable, ongoing change-ability

Learning Outcomes:

  • Assess how Polarity Management can help create positive movement in situations that seem unsolvable, specifically in the context of flexible work considerations
  • Explore the impact of polarities in human systems like UBC when they are managed versus left unmanaged
  • Appreciate how Polarity Management allows for contrasting values, and therefore increased empathy and acceptance of difference, using flexible work as a timely example
  • Consider how the interdependent nature of a polarity creates better decision-making, team, and organizational culture

How you will learn:

  • Small group discussions (break-out rooms)
  • Theory “bursts”
  • Individual Reflection
  • Large group discussions (including zoom polls and chat)

Participation

  • The session will run from 1pm-3pm
  • The session is open to AAPS members only
  • The session will be held on the Zoom meeting platform
  • Video and your active participation are strongly encouraged during the sessions
  • We will be using breakout rooms
  • The Zoom sessions will not be recorded, but a recording will be made available to all registered participants
  • We will have auto-captions, or a live captioner can be available on request
  • If you have accessibility questions or needs, please let us know in advance by emailing aaps.pd@ubc.ca

Audience

This session is designed for AAPS members who are managers, senior managers, and directors with direct staff reports.

Abour Your Facilitator

Jessica has 15+ years experience specializing in high-impact coaching, leadership & team development, & organizational change. She has created and led:

  • Multi-year large-scale organizational culture change initiatives in higher education
  • Year-long culture change or culture creation projects for socially conscious start-ups, social change groups, not-for-profits, and higher education units
  • Large scale leadership development programs in both a Canadian university and national social change network!
  • Executive team development (including conflict resolution/group dynamics processes) across multiple sectors!
  • Leadership coaching for CEOs, presidents, directors, managers, and entrepreneurs!
  • A national conference for entrepreneurs and leaders in social change
  • Customized staff professional development in learning and change
Jessica knows firsthand the challenges that leaders, teams, and organizations across large institutions, start-up cultures, and not-for-profits. She has been the Director of a not-for-profit with over 30 city-wide partner-ships, and  Manager of a professional development team at the University of British Columbia. She is Owner + Principal Consultant of an organizational development and coaching boutique firm in BC. Jessica holds a Master's in Human Systems Intervention, a holistic degree in organizational development and group dynamics, as well as an Honours BA in Asian Religions.  She is a certified Integral Professional CoachTM. 
 
Registration

Before registering, please consider your availability to be there for the entire session and your interest in participating in breakout rooms, activities, and discussions. Technical issues arise, but not communicating during the session creates confusion and impacts other group members.

If you prefer to just listen, please do not register for the live Zoom sessions. Register for the recording – it’s why we made it!

You will be sent a confirmation with the meeting link in a Zoom confirmation email. If you do not receive this email, please email aaps.pd@ubc.ca.

If things come up and you are no longer able to participate in the session, simply cancel using the cancellation link in your Zoom confirmation email. We will automatically send those who cancel a link to the recording.