Managing Emotions in the COVID-19 Workplace Webinar Series

The School of Government is hosting a series of live webinars for Managing Emotions in the COVID-19 Workplace. Each webinar will include guest speakers and there will also be time for Q&A.

Purchase all three webinars with a 10% (COVID-19) discount registration fee of $202.50. Each webinar separately is $100 with a 25% (COVID-19) discount fee of $75 per webinar. The discounts will be applied automatically at checkout. Can’t make it to a session? Don’t worry, you’ll have access to the recordings soon after the sessions. 

The topics and times are as follows:

Permission to be Human, Dr. Tina Brookes, Wednesday, June 3, 10:00 a.m. - noon 

This course invites individuals to take off the Superhero cape, study the predictable reactions to the human stress response, and discover practical tools for wellness and self-care so they can develop a mindset for post-traumatic growth and resiliency. Taught by Dr. Tina Brookes, President of The Network-Dynamic Crisis Response And The Academy -National Institute for Crisis Response Training, “Permission to be Human” acknowledges and honors those in high stress careers as humans with super-human demands placed on them and equips them with education and support to prepare for the long-haul in a noble profession.

Handling Transitions in Changing Times, Dr. Andrea Gould and Dr. Michael Marks, Wednesday, June 10, 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

COVID-19 has imposed significant changes on local government workplaces, changes that are affecting employees emotionally. To assist local government supervisors and managers in navigating these emotional effects on employees, Drs. Andrea Gould and Michael Marks, both clinical psychologists, will teach “Handling Transitions in Changing Times”. This webinar will help participants to better understand their own emotional responses to COVID-19 and recognize these responses in others as well. Skills to be reviewed include empathy, listening, readiness, discernment and understanding the nature of what all transitions ask of us. Participants will come away with a better understanding of workplace dynamics related to COVID-19 and how to navigate them successfully.

Managing Emotional Labor During COVID-19, Leisha DeHart-Davis, Wednesday, June 17, 10:00 a.m. - noon 

This workshop will introduce the topic of emotional labor, the process of projecting one emotion – e.g., calm, courtesy, compassion – while feeling another, e.g., frustration, sadness or anger. Emotional labor is a valued asset for local government organizations, but one that can produce stress on the employees, which in turn leads to adverse health effects. Emotional labor is particularly important for local government employees who work on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis. Consequently, workshop participants will (1) receive an overview of the concept of emotional labor; (2) learn the importance of emotional labor for individual and organizational health; and (3) acquire organizational strategies for mitigating the negative effects of emotional labor.