Cultivating Civility in the Workplace

Hi all! I just finished attending an eye-opening webinar on cultivating civility in the workplace, presented by our university's Interim Director of Institutional Research and Diversity & Inclusion Specialist. They both did an excellent job bouncing off of each other and explaining certain things like creating expectations and being the example you want to see in the workplace. 

It was thought-provoking to me because after working many years in customer service fields, I thought civility and professionalism was common sense. I have switched gears in my job and now I work closely with college students as well as working to guide these same students in their classes via library research instruction. I need to understand that they are still learning what it is like to be in a workplace, especially when this may be their first job. My goal is to provide and exercise the skills they will need in a post-graduate world. I hope by being an example--especially utilizing the guidance given in this webinar--the student workers will understand the how and why the decisions were made in the workplace. 

Did you know that active listening and reflective listening are a thing? I hadn't thought about reflective listening before but now that I am aware, I hope to meditate and use that in how I process things. Sometimes it is difficult for me to express confusion or to ask others to repeat themselves. I feel better with these new tools. 

Sometimes it is good to get a refresher, even when you think you know these things as common sense already. Best of luck!