Institute for Copyright Leadership & Management (ICLM)

Pre-Conference Seminar on Change Management Skills

In this pre-conference workshop participants learn the critical leadership skills of understanding change and efficient communication. In the first half of the workshop participants complete an assessment, such as the Change Style Indicator (CSI) an assessment designed to measure their preferred style in approaching change, and dealing with situations involving change showing an individual’s distinct differences and preferences when approaching change. Led by a skilled facilitator, participants learn how their preferred style affects how others perceive them and how their style influences their perception of others. It also helps determine the "traps" in style that can limit flexibility and leadership while learning the advantages and strengths that each style offers in a team effort.

In the second half of the workshop participants engage in a fun experiential exercise designed for the adult learner. The exercise will illuminate the important leadership skill of establishing common language, effective communication, team-working and group problem solving. It reveals just how difficult shared understanding around abstract concepts really can be. Following the exercise, in a detailed debriefing adeptly conducted by a facilitator who helps bring forth all practical and hidden connections to real life communication problems, participants share insights and observations. Exercise outcomes are learning improved teamwork through improved interpersonal communication and understanding -- particularly through voicing different perspectives; enabling group creativity and increasing collaboration, and most importantly getting to the win/win solution more quickly. The exercise will illustrate the difficulty of communicating in an environment of drastic change, wherein we do not yet have a common experience or a clear understanding of the new paradigm.

Brought to you by The Center for Intellectual Property & The National Leadership Institute at University of Maryland University College