Recommended Video List

"Our Workforce Development Group consultant was able, through a series of planning meetings, to lead our diversity group to: work together as a team, teach the group skills they would need to accomplish the goal, lead the group to draft a plan with specific objectives and timelines, guide the group in preparing, delivering, and selling the plan to senior management, and develop growth so that the group can move forward functioning as an independent team. In accomplishing these objectives, our WDG consultant demonstrated the skills to develop a working relationships with the team in such a way that as the team moves forward in accomplishing their goals and gaining their ability to work independently." –Anna B. Nevius, Ph.D., Chief Statistician, Center for Veterinary Medicine, US Food and Drug Administration

Training videos

1. Courage

Employee 101: Respecting the Team - This program gets your new employees off to a great start by focusing on team-building, respect, and value to the organization. Combining humor with eye-popping computer animation and expert testimonials, Employee 101 teaches your new team members the value of:

The Basics
Getting Informed
Respecting the Team
Increasing Your Value to the Team

Managing Diversity - Inspire managers to recognize the root causes of various behaviors; how to correctly assess andbring out the best in every individual. For managers, especially those who will play a role in promoting other managers, it has a good glass ceiling segment, business-based arguments. It covers some problems faced by people of color managing non-minorities, and illustrates importance of sharing unwritten rules. It's very basic, and could be more in depth with discussion afterwards.

2. Discernment

Cost of Intolerance - Our biases and attitudes can translate into poor service for external or internal customers. This course's separately available self-assessment instrument helps participants determine how much energy a customer who is "different" must expend to do business with them. Its video and skill-building courseware explore actual situations, which resulted in lost revenue to insurance, telephone, banking, hospitality and medical firms.

Eye Of The Storm - In 1970, an Iowa teacher named Jane Elliott divided her all-white, all-Christian third graders into blue and brown-eyed groups for a lesson in discrimination none of them would ever forget. For those wanting to learn about the dynamics of prejudice it's powerful and emotional. It does not offer practical information on eliminating discrimination, thus perhaps should not be used as a stand-alone.

A Class Divided Follow-up to Eye of the Storm - Reunites the class from the "Eye of the Storm" as adults and explores how the experience affected their lives. For those wanting to learn about the dynamics of prejudice it's powerful and emotional. It does not offer practical information on eliminating discrimination, thus perhaps should not be used as a stand-alone.

3. Effective communication

5 Values of GREAT Customer Service - This new video program takes on the challenge of formulating a values-based approach to meeting and exceeding our customers' expectations. By showing respect, personalizing service, paying attention to cultural issues, showing we care about our customers' needs and advocating on behalf of our customers, we are able to tailor our service to the specific expectations of each individual.

Power Dead-Even Rule & Other Gender Differences in the Workplace - Dr. Pat Heim explores the different culture men and women grow up in, the "rules" each culture uses to define appropriate adult behavior, why these cultures clash, and what to do about it. This video succeeds in getting people to laugh and talk about the culture differences between men and women as the first step in dealing with differences.

Can Conflict Improve Team Effectiveness? - The surprising answer is "yes"Š when conflict is managed effectively. To thrive, teams need conflict. While teamwork is part of what makes our work challenging and rewarding, it is paradoxically often the source of frustration and conflict. This innovative video explores conflict within teams, its causes, and consequences. Secondly, it provides a perspective-taking tool called the Information Importance Grid to help teams use conflict to their benefit.

Why is this program important? We need to understand conflict and make it less distressing for ourselves and for those we manage. This program demonstrates to team leaders how to use conflict effectively.

Changing the Rules - Understanding the dynamic of gender-related communication problems is the first step in creating a harmonious work environment. But that is only part of the puzzle. This video employs a case study based on an actual situation that zeros in on identifying communication problems. This video provides your viewers with three proven and effective solutions for solving your gender issues.

Communicating Non-Defensively - Have you ever expressed an opinion that led others to become defensive or hostile - even if you didn't mean it personally? Many people have reasons for believing they're being attacked. Defensive behavior can lead to hurt feelings, arguments and hostilities, often affecting a variety of relationships. The Defensiveness Chain that is created impairs communication and reduces productivity. Communicating Non-Defensively shows five essential skills that promote a productive work environment.

Participants will learn to:

Express themselves openly and effectively
Shift away from the defensive
Guide others toward better communication

Also available in Spanish.

Communication Nightmares: Solutions to Your Top Communication Problems - This program shows how to have an effective conversation with someone who is defensive, a poor listener or a discussion dominator.

Key training points:

Identify problem issues
See the situation from the other person's point-of-view
Understand the impact your words, body language and tone of voice all have in sending a message
How to give and receive feedback
How to lighten up a heated discussion

4. Integrity

Getting Along: Words of Encouragement - Build harmonious relationships, even with those most different from you! Under the stress of a constantly changing workplace, it's hard to remember to practice the compassion and interpersonal skills that make our workplaces harmonious and productive places to be. This unique and simple video is a reminder that we can all get along, even with those who seem very different from ourselves.

Through the use of thought-provoking words and inspirational music, your audiences will be moved to practice this video's positive messages and profound principles. Use it at your next meeting.

5. Intellectual energy and curiosity

"Yes, ButŠ" Defend Your Ideas Against Killers of Creativity - We tend to blame superiors and co-workers for nixing creativity and innovation with deadly "killer phrases"... all purpose, politically correct phrases like "it'll never fly," or "we tried it before." But sometimes we ourselves are guilty of using these and dozens of other "put downs" when people are trying to advance an idea for the benefit of the organization.

Viewers learn to...

Identify killer phrases
Deal with their root causes
Explore options for giving negative thinkers new perspectives
Act on the strongest options

Diversity At Work- Racially diverse individuals present strategies for employee self-development, teamwork and relationship-building with supervisors and peers who are different form themselves. For people of color who want pointers for succeeding in traditional corporate settings, it offers very realistic views of realities of corporate life and good tips on remaining unique while fitting in. It has emphasis on cultural and racial diversity yet does not address people with other aspects of diversity.

6. Intercultural proficiency

Communicating Across Cultures - Shows how misunderstandings result from different styles of communications. It also addresses the discomfort people feel when dealing with issues of race and gender. It's good for any level and for self-study. It has a compelling flow of information, solid scenarios, good commentaries. It's too general for people with more advanced cross-cultural experiences.

The Power Dead-Even Rule and Other Gender Differences In The Workplace - Dr. Explores the different culture men and women grow up in, the "rules" each culture uses to define appropriate adult behavior, why these cultures clash, and what to do about it. This video succeeds in getting people to laugh and talk about the culture differences between men and women as the first step in dealing with these differences.

7. Leveraging diversity and inclusion

Diverse Teams at Work: Ten Characteristics for Success - Based on the business book by Lee Gardenswartz and Anita Rowe. It is the companion video to DIVERSE TEAMS AT WORK: CAPITALIZING ON THE POWER OF DIVERSITY, the ground-breaking video which shows how to identify and manage the many differences inherent in today's teams.

DIVERSE TEAMS AT WORK: TEN CHARACTERISTICS FOR SUCCESS addresses:

Personal ownership: the merit of the mission to each team member
The importance of a clearly defined performance outcome
The impact of differing cultural norms on team interaction
The need for a shared set of team values
The "no fewer than three viewpoints" principle
Personal and collective responsibility for achieving outcomes
Loyalty and devotion to the team experience
Growth through personal and collective knowledge acquisition
The problem of "We've always done it that way" attitudes
The role of shared laughter and humor

Pigeon-holed In The Land Of Penguins - A follow-up to Peacock in the Land of Penguins: explores how stereotypes can negatively impact productivity. Recommended audiences are intact teams, managers, individual contributors. Easy to watch and understand, uses humor effectively, nicely illustrates business case. It may be too basic for those seeking advanced concepts Pigeon-Holed In The Land Of Penguins is an important journey from awareness to action.

Viewers will learn:

The disconnect between assumptions, stereotypes and teamwork
The value of diverse work styles
The positive aspects of personal differences

8. Managing up

The Goal: The How-To Version - The video based on the 2 million+ best-selling book by Eli Goldratt. This engaging "how-to" video fosters bottom-line, team-driven commitment through a real-life drama that demystifies buzzwords like "bottlenecks" and "improvement measurements." If you're charged with rallying employees behind the concepts of quality and continuous improvement, this inspiring video will put you well over your goal.

A Peacock In The Land Of Penguins - This story echoes one that is unfolding each and every day in organizations all across the country - how to manage the increasing diversity of the workforce and capture the talent, energy, and commitment of all employees. For those being introduced to concepts of diversity, it's easy to watch and understand, uses humor effectively, nicely illustrates business case. It may be too basic for those seeking advanced concepts.

A Tale Of "O" - An entertaining, captivating parable about what happens to any new or different kind of person in a group and how the situation can be managed. For those being introduced to concepts of diversity, it's easy to watch and understand, nicely illustrates business case. It may be too basic for those seeking advanced concepts.

9. Mentoring others

Why Didn't I Think of That? Second Edition - Unleash your employee's potential! Cultivating the creative spirit requires tools to help view surroundings in a new light. Stretch your employees' thinking skills with the 10-challenges presented in this mind-expanding video.

Employees learn to:

Break the well-worn habits of thought to enhance creativity.
Stimulate others to share ideas and generate alternatives.
Avoid paradigms that influence the way you look at problems.

Sincere Trust and Belief in People: The Wainright Story - Through interviews and action sequences, this program shows how Wainright successfully empowered middle managers as change agents who implemented unique measurement systems to drive culture and performance.

Results Were Dramatic:

Reduced costs
Improved work environment
Increased customer satisfaction
Increased profits

The story also demonstrates how important the connection is between employee involvement and trust.

10. Pragmatism

Are You with Me? - This program begins by asking a simple question. Why does there seem to be one set of rules for the way we behave when we're physically with other people, and a whole different set of rules for the way we act when we're separated, as we are when we're on the phone? "Are You With Me?" stresses the importance of making a personal connection with whomever is on the phone. It suggests that if we just take the time to on the phone to make the kind of connection that we naturally try to make when we're face-to-face with others, all the basic do's and don'ts of common telephone courtesy will naturally follow.

Key learning points:

Making a call is like making a visit
Taking a call is like receiving a visitor
Putting a caller on hold is like asking a visitor to wait at the door
Transferring a call is like introducing two people

Supervising Differences - Shows how first line supervisors, plant managers and others can get the best out of their diverse workforce. Dramas and interviews help supervisors with dealing with employee conflict. For new managers and supervisors in non-office settings, it addresses entry of new people in positions traditionally monopolized by other groups (such as women in manufacturing or Asians in management). It gives impression that intercultural conflicts are inevitable. If used as self-study, should be followed up with discussions.

11. Self-knowledge

But I Don't Have Customers! - This video will teach your employees to respect internal customers as if they were paying clients. By asking questions, listening and keeping their word, your employees can create a positive and productive work environment, which will inevitably reflect on your external customer as well.

How to training points:

How to show respect for internal customers by determining their needs
How to keep internal deadlines and make commitments that stick
How to listen, ask questions and improve relations with coworkers
How to review policies and procedures that may inhibit serving internal customers

Also available in Spanish, French, Greek, Cantonese, Hebrew, Mandarin, Portuguese, and Swedish.

Teamwork: What's Trust Got to Do With It? - Have you ever been on a team where you couldn't seem to get anything done? Or the team members just couldn't work together? It is quite possible that the team members did not trust one another; lack of trust is one of the main impediments to effective teamwork. This video training program demonstrates how to build and maintain trust among team members.

Teamwork: What's Trust Got To Do With It? follows a team which is stuck and unable to move forward on a crucial project. One team member, Walter, is especially frustrated, blaming the other team members for the lack of progress. His office mate, Sean, suggests that the underlying problem may be a lack of trust. He guides Walter through the building blocks of trust: openness, credibility and respect.

Key training points:

Trust is the foundation of teamwork.
The 3 most important trust building behaviors are:
Openness
Credibility
Respect
Trust-building behaviors must be consistent and ongoing.

Winning Balance II - This newly revised video-supported workshop will help all your employees explore their personal attitudes towards differences, and how these attitudes affect their interactions with others. Employees will develop the skills needed to become diversity change agents, and to foster an environment in which all employees are valued for their unique talents and perspectives.

12. Sense of humor

FiSH! - FiSH has been called an antidote to cynicism, depression, burnout and anger. People are using this video for nearly every issue facing business today: leadership, orientation, teamwork, retention, creativity, customer service, quality improvement, change‹anything involving human interaction.

People watch FiSH one because it's fun, but they watch it over and over because its message is fundamental to satisfying work and delighted customers.

The key is in four choices that each of us is free to make every day:

Play‹Work made fun gets done, especially when we choose to do serious tasks in a lighthearted, spontaneous way. Play is not just an activity; it's a state of mind that brings new energy to the tasks at hand and sparks creative solutions.
Make Their Day‹When you "make someone's day" (or even moment) through a small kindness or unforgettable engagement, you can turn even routine encounters into special memories.
Be There‹The glue in our humanity is in being fully present for one another. Being there also is a great way to practice wholeheartedness and fight burnout, for it is those halfhearted tasks you perform while juggling other things that wear you out.
Choose Your Attitude‹When you look for the worst you will find it everywhere. When you learn you have the power to choose, you can look for the best and find opportunities you never imagined possible. If you find yourself with an attitude that is not what you want to be in the world, you can choose a new one.

You Make The Difference - Deals with the necessity for entry level employees to work well with people different from themselves. Dramas andinterviews with workers explore the issues of cultural differences and environment that promote productivity. For all new hires and newly promoted managers and supervisors it is motivating, basic, simply presented. It has a good use of humor, emphasis on inclusive behavior and avoiding assumptions. It can be somewhat emotional at points, could be construed as blaming white men at points. The production quality not as good as some of the others.

13. Skilled with change

Beyond Impossible - When a young boy discovers a rusting Model A in a cornfield, Henry Ford himself appears to espouse his doctrine that nothing is impossible if you think outside your self-imposed limitations. An exciting, story-driven film touting expansive thinking.
Summary:

Go beyond your boundaries
Discover your capabilities
Believe in yourself

Mission Critical - Is your organization dealing with change? Is your team challenged to do more with less? Do bureaucratic barriers hinder your progress? To get different results, you need a different approach.

This is the story of how NASA built a new Mission Control Center faster, better and cheaper by:

Attacking conventional thinking and the traditional approaches to project management
Demonstrating that sometimes even proven ideas and tested approaches need to be reexamined to make critical projects success

Soaring With the Phoenix - This video program profiles three highly successful organizations that have taken the renewal spirit of the Phoenix to heart: Ingram Micro Company, the largest distributor of computer products in the world; the Sheraton Berkshire in Reading, Pennsylvania, owned by the Meyer-Jabara Hotel chain; and the U.S. Navy's North Island Naval Air Depot in California's San Diego Bay, where the Navy's Fleet of F-18 fighter aircraft go for repairs.

Participants Will Learn To:

Turn over the responsibility for work to the people who do the work
Give people learning opportunities and facts that enable them to make key decisions
Reward people for keeping customers always in their line of sight, and leave a legacy that makes a difference.

Gung Ho! - Based on the best-selling book, Gung Ho! by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles. This is an inspirational story of business leaders, Peggy Sinclair and Andy Longclaw, who save the company with a successful turnaround using the three cornerstones of Gung Ho which can increase productivity and foster excellent morale:

The Spirit of the Squirrel‹seeing work as worthwhile
The Beaver‹putting workers in control of achieving the goal
The Gift of the Goose‹cheering the team on

How-To Training Points:

How to get employees to understand the importance of their contribution to the "big picture."
How to gain commitment by establishing shared goals guided by enduring values.
How to instill pride and respect in employees by giving them control over the work they perform and the goals they achieve.
How to create enthusiasm by recognizing both progress and results.

14. Strategic vision

FiSH! Sticks - Organizations today are seeking more commitment from their employees, not compliance. FiSH! STiCKS proves that commitment does not begin with top-down directives. Wholeheartedness begins with the invitation to dream inspiring new visions and a culture in which we help each other achieve those possibilities.

Some organizations have visionsŠon the wall. But the vision of Pike Place Fish is a living being. It lives in the way its employees think and act from moment to moment. You see it in the smiles of the people who benefit from their commitment.

Champions Of Diversity - Senior executives share why they are "champions of diversity" and how they change their own behavior and lead their organization in change. Special emphasis is given to personal growth and the benefits of diversity. It's appropriate for management trainees, senior managers without prior diversity training, entry level HR staff Business related. It uses very high profile executives from major corporations and good information. It does not offer specific solutions, just needs. It is lengthy and somewhat repetitive.

Flight of the Buffalo Soaring to Excellence, Learning to Let Employees Lead - Now managers in your organization can benefit from the same principles found in the Warner Books best-seller, Flight of the Buffalo. Authors and management consultants James A. Belasco and Ralph C. Stayer, help America's top businesses and governmental agencies achieve unprecedented success by challenging traditional management practices.

Using this video, viewers can learn to:

Replace "top-down" management with employee empowerment
Tap the capabilities of all the employees in your company
Vest employees with responsibility for solving their own problems
Create meaningful, face-to-face relationships between customers and employees
Build trust, increase satisfaction and sales by putting the customer at the center of your organization

Non-Training Videos

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