This program will be held online via Zoom. We will meet from 10am - 12pm on Fridays October 3, 10, 17 and 24th.  It is designed for both professional and elected officials.

This webinar series, of two-hour sessions conducted over four weeks, will equip local government professionals with the knowledge they need to understand and manage citizen incivility.  The series will give an overview of the nature of citizen incivility and how it affects local government employees; introduce civility policies as a tool for managing citizen behavior; cover messaging to citizens that encourages respectful behavior; and address strategies that managers and employees can use to manage the emotional labor required for dealing with uncivil citizens. Registration includes supplementary resources that support these topics. 

Registration to this online series includes access to each live online session and to the recordings of each session in CANVAS. 

October 3, 2025 Part 1: Understanding Citizen Incivility

This first session will ground participants in an understanding of citizen incivility. Topics to be covered include:

• Examples of citizen incivility
• Evidence of its impact on local government organizations and employees
• Reasons why citizen incivility is increasing
• Emotional labor, which all local government employees do when the interact with citizens
• An overview of the next three sessions

October 10, 2025 Part 2: Influencing Citizen Behavior Through Messaging

The second session will report on ways to influence citizen behavior through messaging. Topics will include:

• Results of the City of Thomasville Incivility Project
• Different types of messages: humanizing, empathetic and prohibitive
• Fighting misinformation
• Implementation strategies

October 17, 2025 Part 3: Crafting Civility Policies

The third session will report on civility policies, which seek to influence citizen behavior. Topics include:

• Purposes of civility policies
• Forms of policies
• Common elements
• First amendment implications
• Prohibited behaviors
• Desirable behaviors
• Consequences of noncompliance

October 24, 2025 Part 4: Helping Employees Cope with Citizen Incivility

This fourth session address how managers, supervisors and elected officials can help employees cope with citizen incivility. Topics to be addressed include:

• Reframing tactics
• Mission focus
• Due diligence
• De-escalation approaches