Manager’s Playbook is a professional development opportunity and resource for the prevention of employee sexual harassment in administrative and academic departments. It is designed as a series of 10-15 minute discussions that are facilitated by a leader with their team during regularly scheduled times, such as staff meetings.
To implement the program, leaders attend 3 hours of training to sharpen their facilitation skills and receive a comprehensive facilitator’s guide of discussion prompts. Supervisors choose at least 4 prompts to discuss during a semester. Additional support and coaching is available, but not required, from the PATH to Care Center.
The program can be implemented by anyone who has positional or influential power including:
- Supervisors of student staff
- Volunteer coordinators
- Postdocs, academic appointees, & visiting scholars
- Faculty, chairs, PIs, Equity Advisors
- Administrators & Deans
Discussion Topics
- Gender-Based Respect
- Consent in the Workplace
- Modeling Consent for Others
- Inclusive Language in the Workplace
- Healthy Communication & Conflict
- Taking Personal Responsibility as Bystanders
- Gaining Confidence Intervening
- Inclusive Practices
In The Facilitator’s Guide
- Facilitation tips
- Suggested language for introducing and closing each topic
- Discussion prompts & examples of answers
- Additional resources for leaders to strengthen facilitation & communication skills
Outcomes
Program evaluations show that implementing Manager’s Playbook:
- Results in a more inclusive climate in the department
- Has a positive effect on the unit/team’s climate of sexual harassment
- Increases investment by department members in preventing sexual harassment
- Results in the team being better able to collaborate to address a complex problem
- In addition, some leaders report that these skills also enable them to engage in other difficult conversations with their teams.
Why It Works
The Manager’s Playbook deepens a team’s capacity to prevent sexual violence and harassment by:
- Incorporating more frequent sessions of prevention programming than a single annual training
- Creating a culture of respect beyond compliance with policy
- Addressing individual, interpersonal, as well as structural opportunities for growth
- Reinforcing positive, healthy norms within intact communities (the team)
- Developing leadership and skill in facilitating challenging conversations and modeling healthy behavior
- Integrating prevention into an organization’s regular work