[Baynet] Infopeople's Oil on the Waters workshop in Mountain View

[Linda Rodenspiel]

Infopeople is pleased to announce an additional session of our workshop 
that furthers the goal of preparing front-line library personnel to 
de-escalate challenging situations and successfully deal with difficult or 
emotionally charged library users. An earlier workshop, "When Being Nice 
Isn't Working," taught staff what to do in difficult public service 
situations; this workshop will teach them how to do it. Since some people 
who may be interested in this workshop might not receive this notice 
directly, we would appreciate it if you would print and post or route this 
announcement to staff and colleagues. Thanks!

Title:  Oil on the Waters: Practical Techniques for Calming Difficult 
Library Users

Date and location:

Monday, March 13, Mountain View Public Library

To register for this workshop:  Use the online registration form at
http://infopeople.org/WS/workshop/Workshop/211

Fee:  There is a $75.00 fee for this workshop.


Do you feel confident in your ability to deal with difficult or emotionally 
charged library users? Effective verbal and non-verbal communication skills 
can be the key to defusing volatile incidents. This highly interactive 
workshop will help you:

Reduce your risk of being caught off guard or of being unable to cope with 
potentially explosive interactions.

Redirect danger and irrationality before it escalates.

Increase your persuasiveness to interpret and divert the flow of heated 
emotions, words and events.

Effectively control conflict and facilitate productive resolutions.

At the conclusion of the workshop you will be equipped with powerful skills 
and the confidence you need to de-escalate and resolve challenging 
interpersonal situations in your library setting.


Workshop Description: In this course you will learn how to interact and 
communicate with non-cooperative, confused, disruptive, angry or 
potentially violent library users. The AACT® - Awareness, Attitude, 
Communication, Training ­ approach teaches effective techniques for 
persuading users to comply with library policies, thereby minimizing 
disruption to the flow of library business and reducing the potential for 
stress, emotional upheaval or physical trauma to staff and other library 
users. Exercises, demonstrations of real life scenarios and lots of 
practice will help you identify and hone skills you can use to diffuse 
troublesome situations when you return to your worksite.

Pre-workshop assignment: Students are asked to be prepared to present a 
library workplace situation that they have experienced or observed that 
involved a difficult customer.

Preliminary Course Outline:

Awareness: Identifying Dangerous Interpersonal Dynamics
--Danger cues
--Recognizing the motivations for conflict and violence
--The "Assault Cycle"
--Employee responsibilities, resources and legal obligations

Attitude: Controlling for the "Predator or Prey Reality"
--I've got the power!
--Projecting a professional, competent attitude to avoid being a target
--Using the SELF to gain cooperation and avoid or defuse explosive situations

Communication: Avoiding the "Head in the Sand Syndrome"
--Clear perceptions and non-defensive responses positively impact on our 
social environment
--Non-verbal communication skills
--Verbal formulas for gaining compliance
--Control the course of verbal confrontation

Training: Practice Makes PerfectLearned Reactions for Personal Safety
--Maintaining emotional balance and mental focus while under stress
--Leaving and/or calling for assistance
--Reacting to the most common types of assault
--Skill demonstration and practice

Workshop Instructor: Edmond Otis. Edmond, Senior Consultant with Baron 
Center, Inc., combines experience as a licensed psychotherapist (MFT 
31194), trainer and accomplished university educator, with 37 years of 
intense traditional karate practice, and international recognition as a 
world-class competitor, instructor and coach. He blends these distinctive 
skills and insights into his training by applying classic martial art 
strategies to some of life's most difficult personal and professional 
challenges and creating practical strategies and interventions for 
difficult workplace situations.

Who Should Attend: Any library staff member or volunteer who works with 
library users.

Prerequisites: None.

Other Logistics:

*On-site check-in is from 8:30-9:00 AM;  instruction is from 9:00 AM-4:30 PM.

*Maps, directions, and parking information are available on the Infopeople 
Web site at http://infopeople.org/WS/workshop/Directions.  Infopeople does 
not validate or pay for parking.

*Infopeople does not provide refreshments or lunch.  Since some training 
locations do not have in-house or convenient food service, Infopeople 
recommends that participants bring a sack lunch.

To view a complete list of Infopeople workshops and for general information 
about Infopeople training opportunities, go to the main Infopeople 
Workshops page at http://infopeople.org/WS/workshop

If you have questions about registration or scheduling of workshops, please 
contact Linda Rodenspiel, the Infopeople Project Assistant, at 
assist at infopeople.org or by phone at 650-578-9685.