Women Advancing Together Workshops

Dr. Wayne’s WOMEN ADVANCING TOGETHER® workshops are practical, goal-oriented, problem-solving experiences that leave participants energized and empowered to address the challenges of their daily lives.

Small group learning is a dynamic, effective and engaging way to empower and educate. As such, the ideal size of Dr. Wayne’s interactive workshops are 50 participants.

Watch this 3-minute video for more information about the workshop experience.

Scroll down to view all workshop topics:

The Competence/Confidence Conundrum. Women may have equivalent or higher skills than men, but often lack confidence compared to their male colleagues. This makes women less successful in the workplace, where overconfidence often trumps competence. Workshop objectives include:

• Understanding the ramifications of gender differences in confidence levels and its impact on career advancement
• Recognizing the skills at which you excel
• Identifying ways to promote your skills in order to get recognition

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Bullies in the Workplace. Bullying and micro-aggression create such a toxic environment that 70% of targets leave their jobs. This costs companies through lawsuits, workers’ compensation payments and the loss of valuable human resources. The costs to targets and witnesses of the bullying include deterioration of mental and physical health, stress, and potential lost wages if they leave the company. Workshop objectives include:

• Recognizing the costs of bullying in the workplace, and the disproportionate impact on women
• Formulating strategies to stop bullying and micro-aggressive acts
• Learning tactics to bolster your mental and physical health if you are a target
• Understanding the importance of building allies at work

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Imposter Syndrome. Pervasive self-doubt plagues many highly skilled and accomplished professional women. Do you sometimes feel like a fraud, or have strong feelings that you don’t deserve some advancement – even when there’s evidence to the contrary? Workshop objectives include:

• Learning the causes of the Imposter Syndrome
• Identifying specific areas in which you have experienced self-doubt
• Formulating strategies to ward off or attenuate these feelings of inadequacy

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Negotiating What You Want. Women are far less likely to negotiate for what they want/need than men, with men initiating negotiations at work four times as often as women. There are huge costs to not negotiating. For example, by not negotiating a first salary, a worker is estimated to lose more than $500,000 by age 60. Workshop objectives include:

• Understanding the costs of not negotiating
• Learning proven strategies to negotiate for what you want
• Making a plan and learning how to ask so that the negotiation doesn’t backfire

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The Need for Self-Promotion. Women feel far more uncomfortable promoting themselves than men do, but without self-promotion, accomplished and skilled women will not advance at the rate that they deserve. Workshop objectives include:

• Learning how and why self-promotion is critical to career advancement
• Identifying strategies for promoting your work while not looking like a self-serving jerk
• Formulating tactics for building relationships at different levels in your organization – and beyond

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Work-Life Balance. Career women typically have disproportionate responsibilities at home, especially with childcare, compared to their male colleagues. It is often a struggle to balance attention and time spent on work vs. the rest of your responsibilities. Workshop objectives include:

• Understanding the negative impact of work-life conflicts on organizational performance and career
• Learning how to prioritize in order to achieve better balance
• Formulating tactics for resolving work-life conflicts to your advantage
• Learning how to stop micromanaging and allowing your spouse/partner to take care of things at home so that the workload is equitable

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Pick Your Battles. Not every conflict at work (or at home) carries equal weight. Knowing when to fight for what you want/need and knowing when to let-it-go is important in order to achieve your greater goals. Workshop objectives include:

• Determining if a battle is worth initiating or engaging in
• Learning that timing is everything
• Understanding the importance of allies if the battle has broad impact

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Effective Communication. Conversational conflict is a common problem in male-female communications, and has been suggested to reflect the broader gender-power relations in our society. To improve communication, especially between men and women, it is best to be armed with information on gender differences in communication styles and goals. Workshop objectives include:

• Reviewing professional communication do’s and don’ts that influence how you are viewed
• Understanding gender differences in communication characteristics
• Understanding how gender differences in communication styles created stereotypical gender roles that can impact behaviors in the workplace
• Developing constructive engagement approaches and ways to deal with communication problems

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Building Your Network For Success. Networking and developing connections is required to understand strategic directions and priorities of your organization. And working to support the priorities of your organization is key to your professional success. Workshop objectives include:

• Understand the importance of developing a diverse network
• Understand the power of ‘connectedness’
• Understand who should be in your network
• Understand the ‘two-way street’ of a successful network
• Understand the importance of trust for collaboration and building a network

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Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: Setting Priorities In Order To Thrive. Are you a very busy person with a lot of responsibilities at work (not to mention what is going on at home)? Does everything seem to need your immediate attention? Are you drowning in work and cannot see a clear path to getting through that ever-increasing To-Do List. Workshop objectives include:

• Understand that not everything you do is equally important
• Learn tips on how to be more efficient with your time
• Learn that managing your day/week/semester is critical for career management
• Use the PRIORITY MATRIX to sort out your work activities/responsibilities

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Reinventing Yourself: Activating Your Plan B: Has your carefully planned career trajectory hit a wall? Is your meticulously thought-out “Plan A” no longer working for you? Do not fear developing and implementing “Plan B” — a career change could be just the thing to put you on a more fulfilling path. Workshop objectives include:

• Learn the importance of developing multiple career plans (Plan B), even when things are currently going well
• Understand the relationship between self-confidence/resilience/risk-taking/motivation and comfort with developing and implementing a career transition
• Learn how a career change can lead to improvement in levels of job satisfaction, job security, and salary
• Develop an alternative career plan that is in alignment with your values, skills, and goals; receive group feedback to help you refine your plan

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Applying SMART Goals to Your Career and Life. Everyone should practice strategic planning as a part of their work-and-life goal setting. One very effective approach is the use of SMART Goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Workshop objectives include:

• Understanding SMART Goals and the importance of strategic planning for your career and life
• Recognizing what you want to achieve in your career and life, right now and in the future.
• Starting to formulate your own SMART Goals approach for a one-year or five-year strategic plan