VENUE II

co-located with

Special registration rate for Beyond Genome 2004 attendees
(see registration page for details).

June 20, 2004
The Fairmont Hotel
San Francisco, California

8:30 Registration and Morning Coffee

9:00 The Ten Most Difficult Situations for Scientists and Science Managers
In this section of the workshop we will examine those work situations that most scientists find difficult to handle. Many scientists are surprised to learn that their problems are not unique but are shared by others. Reviewing these situations will help reveal what they have in common.

• What are the situations that give scientists the most trouble?
• Why do scientists have difficulty in these situations?
• What can they do about it?

9:45 Knowing How You React in Difficult Situations: The First Step to Improved Leadership
The first step in improving your effectiveness as a manager or leader is to become aware of how you act in difficult situations. In this section of the workshop you will participate in exercises and scenarios familiar to most scientists that will enable you to examine your own behavior and reactions in tense circumstances. You will learn how to recognize the inner signs of anxiety and anger before they take control of your behavior.

• What is an "emotional hijacking" and how can you prevent one?
• How to gain perspective in emotionally charged situations.
• What to do when you lose your cool
• What to do when someone else loses their cool

Participants will engage in one or more exercises that will enable them to experience their own reactions to difficult situations in the scientific workplace.

10:30 Morning Coffee Break
During the break you will be given a Conflict Resolution Style Inventory to take and score. The results will be used in Part 3.

11:00 Five Key Skills for Dealing with Disagreements and Conflicts
Beyond becoming aware of your own behavior and learning to control it, the most important skills you can learn are those that enable you to work through disagreements and conflicts. In this section of the workshop you will learn six key techniques for handling difficult situations.

• How to prepare for a difficult discussion or negotiation
• How to manage yourself in difficult situation
• How to influence the state of mind of someone else
• How to keep a negotiation on track to ensure a useful outcome
• How to deal with brick walls, flat out rejections and rebuffs.

11:45 Using Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Skills in Real Life
In this part of the workshop you will use the tools you have just learned in one or more difficult situations that arise in scientific workplaces. These include:
• Discussion of first authorship on a publication or report
• Negotiating for budget, space or manpower for a project
• Discussion involving a contentious scientific disagreement.
• Discussion of a promotion or salary increase

Workshop participants will observe and review their own and others performance and behavior.

12:30 Lunch on your own
The 2nd half of the workshop will review techniques that you can use to deal effectively with difficult people in a scientific setting. You will learn guidelines for dealing with people who are:

• Hostile
• Passive aggressive
• Argumentative or stubborn
• Critical and judgmental

Workshop participants will have the opportunity to present examples of difficult people or situations form their own work experiences for discussion and suggestions.

2:00 Dealing with Difficult People in the Science Workplace
As a scientist, whether you work as part of a scientific team or lead your own group you will routinely have to deal with people who will challenge your interpersonal skills. Scientists as a group have a hard time dealing with difficult people and as a result often find themselves in uncomfortable or professionally challenging situations. This workshop will help science professionals identify, cope with and manage people with a variety of difficult behavioral characteristics. Such people may be: argumentative, overly critical, micromanagers, chronic complainers, blamers and more.

2:45 Review of the Workshop and the Skills Presented
During this session participants will be able to present and discuss specific management issues they are dealing with in their own organizations

• Participants will receive a set of guidelines summarizing the key elements of the workshop.
• A reading list will be distributed that will enable participants to expand their skills on their own.
• Time permitting; participants will have the opportunity to present cases and examples from their own work settings for consideration and discussion.

3:45 Close of Workshop