Peer Empathy Resources
Staff Meeting in a Box - Diversity and Inclusion: Tapping into Workplace Empathy
Need staff meeting ideas? Welcome to our Staff Meeting in a Box! Each month, we provide a full staff meeting worth of materials on a particular topic, taking all of the planning off of your shoulders!
This month’s topic is diversity and inclusion. By clicking on the link below, you will be directed to our online platform, where you will have access to a 20 minute video, created by Brenda Tassava Medina, as well as several activities for your staff!
Wellness Tip of the Month
One of the biggest barriers to empathy is our own brain. Our sympathetic nervous system automatically reacts to high emotion situations and causes our rational brain to retreat. Getting this system to recognize that there is no threat and thus the hormones and stress responses are not necessary can take practice. Before making any decisions or having any discussion, get your body’s responses under control by deep breathing and actively relaxing your muscles, starting at the top of your head and working your way down.
Employee Handbook Tip of the Month
Within your employee manual (and even job descriptions) it is recommended to have a “Commitment to Mutual Respect”. This outlines the communication standards when it comes to working together, and with clients. Empathy, an incredibly important component to effective communication and conflict resolution, should be mentioned and educated upon. Empathy is even more important during busy, and high stress times. Ensure that you define empathy. To me, it means being able to “figuratively put yourself in someone else’s shoes. The ability to try to understand where that person is coming from, and what is influencing their communication; even if you do not know the whole story. To see beyond the surface.” Making assumptions is the opposite of empathy.
Veterinary Empathy: Real People, Real Stories
Book Review/Recommendation
Title: Compassion Fatigue in the Animal Care Community
Featured Product: Practice Managers Weekly Planner
VetSupport has created the perfect organizational tool for practice managers! This weekly planner is specifically designed to organize each week in a straightforward manner, with a methodology that organizes your workweek by categories found on the CVPM Task Analysis list. With a 52-week spread, you’ll be using this planner all year long!
Vet Med After Hours Podcast Recommendation
Reicpe: Taco Salad Tuesday Pitch-In
Looking for a way to increase morale, while not worrying about whether or not team members have dietary limitations? Here’s an easy way to pull-off a team lunch pitch-in which is all-inclusive:
Post the following sign-up list:
___ Cooked taco meat (traditional ground beef, 2 pounds)
___ Cooked, seasoned chicken (diced or shredded, 2 pounds)
___ Cooked, seasoned tofu (diced, 2 pounds)
___ Refried beans (labeled vegetarian, 2 cans)
___ Black beans (2 cans)
___ Shredded cheddar cheese (multiple spots for employees to sign up for 12 oz. packages)
___ Tortilla chips (large bag)
___ Sour cream (16 oz. package)
___ Salsa- Hot (12 oz. container)
___ Salsa- Mild (12 oz. container)
___ Shredded lettuce (2-3 heads of iceberg)
Have everyone BYOB (bring-your-own-bowl) and recommend a large, deep bowl for making and eating a “big” salad (as opposed to a side salad). Have everyone bring their ingredient and bowl to the staff break room, and at the designated timeframe, heat up the meat, tofu, and beans. Then set everything out buffet-style, and encourage team members to assemble their taco salads for lunch break. The “best” assembly method is to start with tortilla chips, which you “crunch up” in the bottom of your bowl, then add the chosen protein, followed by choice of beans. Follow with your cold ingredients of choice. This approach means no one feels left out because not only are all the ingredients gluten-free, but you’ve also accommodated vegetarians and vegans with the choices available to them.