Shapes in Practice Programme

How to Say No, Prioritise Powerfully, Set Boundaries and Deal with Pushback

Traditionally, when the workload builds up, the answer is to work harder and fit more into already busy days, and conventional time management and resilience training focuses on trying to fit more in, and help people increase their welling so that that they can survive. But should healthcare teams do when they are at capacity and it’s not possible to work any harder?

The only answer is to set limits, say no and keep a laser focus on what’s really important. This is easier said than done, people may not have the time and headspace to start to prioritise their work, and they may worry that if they say no, their patients and colleagues will be affected, or people will think badly of them. However, if nothing changes, serious mistake may be made, or staff end up going off sick with stress or burnout.

So in this Shapes in Practice workshop, we explore how delegates can prioritise their time so that they know what to say yes to, discuss why our limits as a human being can actually help us to set boundaries, explore what the consequences might be of setting boundaries, and consider how to deal with the inevitable pushback that saying no might bring with it.

Change has been a constant in our world of work for many years….but no more so than now. The levels of uncertainly and flux that people are facing and dealing with daily is relentless. For some they are able to thrive in this environment, yet for most it can create high levels of anxiety.

Leaders in healthcare may be uncertain how to deal with this – and may be affected by the change themselves. They may be finding it difficult to engage their staff and may be noticing sickness absence due to stress or a higher turnover in their teams. They may worry that they don’t have any of the answers and are unable to support their teams effectively for resilience and wellbeing through times of change. This workshop will be highly interactive and we will examine key shapes, such as the Zone of Power and the ‘In the Corner’ Shapes – particularly how they apply to stressful triggers relating to change. We will look at the Bridges Transition model and the Kubler Ross change curve and consider how they might apply to ourselves and our teams.

Many staff are so focused on surviving their day jobs right now that they don’t have the time or headspace to think about their own career and craft a working life which is manageable in the present and in which they can thrive in the future.

This session will help you to craft a career in which you can avoid burnout and love what you do. Participants will use a simple model to take a ‘snapshot’ of their satisfaction with their current role and then use principles from the science of happiness, success, and positive psychology to determine what changes are possible to work happier now. We’ll then explore some tools and strategies to enable you to design an enjoyable and sustainable work-life in the future which allows you to use your unique strengths, motivations and values and be in it for the long haul.