Building Coalitions at Work

Develop the skills to establish, nurture, and sustain meaningful workplace coalitions that foster collaboration, build trust, and achieve shared mission success. This comprehensive one-day course explores the critical importance of building and maintaining relationships in the workplace. You will analyze proven approaches for communicating effectively, understand how to develop genuine influence, and master the skills necessary to create relationships that enable effective collaboration and organizational achievement.

Target Audience:

This course is designed for employees who aspire to leadership positions or have been identified as high-potential leaders. It is appropriate for anyone without current leadership responsibilities who anticipates moving into a leadership role within the next five years.

Course Includes:

• One day of live, project-based training led by experienced professionals
• Proprietary workbook with practical tools and frameworks
• Verified digital certificate of completion
• Learning at an accredited institution
• 0.6 CEUs (Continuing Education Units)
• Small class sizes that promote meaningful interaction and personalized feedback

What You Will Learn at a Glance:

• Discuss why building relationships is fundamental to workplace success and organizational performance
• Analyze approaches for communicating effectively with diverse colleagues and stakeholders
• Examine the importance of building and establishing influence in the workplace
• Build relationships that support effective work and drive collaboration toward shared goals

Course Syllabus

Module 1: Building Coalitions Through Relationships

• Examine the impacts of positive versus negative work relationships on team performance, morale, and employee retention
• Develop trust, respect, self-awareness, and open communication as foundational relationship traits
• Apply practical behaviors including investing time in one-on-one conversations, engaging meaningfully with others, collaborating effectively, addressing conflict constructively, following through on commitments, and seeking feedback proactively
• Create a personal action plan to strengthen at least one key workplace relationship

Module 2: Building Coalitions Through Communication

• Use proven techniques to promote effective dialogue, including asking open-ended questions, practicing active listening, demonstrating empathy, resolving conflicts, and maintaining composure under pressure
• Master the three A's of Active Listening: Attention (focus fully on the speaker), Attitude (approach with genuine interest), and Adjustment (respond appropriately). Learn practical tactics such as paraphrasing and being aware of nonverbal cues
• Assess and adapt your personal communication style across four dimensions: Professional to Personable, Open to Reserved, Functional to Intuitive, and Indirect to Direct
• Complete self-reflection exercises to identify specific communication behaviors you want to practice more, reduce, or change

Module 3: Building Coalitions Through Trust

• Build credibility using the Trust Triangle framework based on Logic (clear reasoning), Empathy (understanding others), and Authenticity (being genuine). Identify personal areas where trust may be fragile
• Self-assess your trust behaviors and receive structured feedback using guided questions about logical thinking, empathetic connection, and authenticity
• Strengthen trust by acknowledging emotions and overcoming internal and external barriers to genuine empathy
• Apply consensus-building and ideation techniques, such as structured brainstorming, to create buy-in and shared ownership

Module 4: Building Coalitions Through Collaboration

• Recognize how interpersonal skills and team dynamics directly affect productivity, quality of decisions, and team morale
• Follow a complete consensus decision-making workflow from initial discussion to clear action points and commitments
• Apply consensus skills to realistic workplace scenarios, such as fairly allocating limited office space while maintaining team satisfaction and efficiency
• Adopt daily practices that strengthen relationships, including effective communication, emotional intelligence, and expressed appreciation. Self-evaluate your progress and commitment