Defence Magazine

Julie-Anne McIntosh has joined the Renewal Branch as Assistant Director RtP Support. Her four and a half years' experience in facilitation will be used in conjunction with Steve Newton to present the Personal Effectiveness workshops.

Previously Julie-Anne was primarily involved in leadership development and renewal. Additionally she managed the Capstone Program for Senior Leaders. Some of her other background experience within Defence consists of working in the Materiel People and Performance Branch of the Defence Materiel Organisation; and as the National Training Delivery Manager in the Defence Business Training Centre.

Holding a Double Masters from the University of New South Wales in Human Resource Management and General Management, Julie-Anne has extensive experience in Human Resource Management and 15 years' experience in facilitation and consulting in Change Processes.

Personal interests include leadership, development and organisational effectiveness. She looks forward to sharing her knowledge with participants on the Personal Effectiveness workshops during the coming months.

The Personal Effectiveness Workshop is a great way to take time out for yourself, develop yourself and in turn improve your effectiveness in your work and home life.

If you happen to work in a region, which is where the majority of Defence employees are, the workshop gives you an insight into what's happening in Canberra. The priorities of the Chief of the Defence Force and the Secretary are shared with the workshop participants, and their high-level support of the Results through People (RtP) philosophy and the RtP network is discussed.

Defence is one team made up of a wide range of people—military, civilians in the Australian Public Service, reservists and Defence contractors—and the workshop looks at the unique environment of Defence in order to assist Defence people in meeting their individual and work group expectations.

The two Defence facilitators, Steven Newton and Julie-Anne McIntosh, are highly professional, and their enthusiasm and passion is tangible. Their background in Defence is evident as they share personal stories and experiences, allowing participants to relate well to them and the topics presented. The use of multimedia and the interactive nature of the workshop make it very dynamic. Participants are strongly encouraged to share their own experiences, thus learning from each other and building relationships across Defence groups.

Stress is a reality of life, and a key to living with stress is managing it. As part of the workshop, participants are given a simple self-assessment survey to help determine their stress level. It's interesting to know that what stresses one person doesn't necessarily create the same stress for another. Knowing what stresses you and those you work with is good for developing relationships. The 'RED' principle is a way of combating stress: 'R' is for rest, taking time to do things that recharge you; 'E' is for exercise; and 'D' is for diet. These are things that each of us can control and have the benefit of reducing stress.

One of the messages of the workshop is that the workplace should be a place of fun. A DVD entitled 'Fish' is shown early in the day. It illustrates the transformation of a workplace from somewhere the staff didn't want to be, to a place where they couldn't wait to go because it was a fun place to be. It describes four principles that were implementated in the workplace. Simply put, every person has a choice about what their attitude is going to be each day.

Some of the other topics the workshop covered were change, motivators, emotional intelligence and relationship management. There's something for everyone in this workshop since the topics covered are wide ranging. Although you might already have heard it all, you'll be able to take something new away with you. The workshop will challenge you to take what you hear on the day and apply it in your life. This is a worthwhile workshop, and I highly recommend it.

Defence

Results through People

A journey to self-discovery

Sharlene Andrijich recently attended the Personal Effectiveness Workshop at Leeuwin Barracks and offers her thoughts on this one-day experience.