Trades Women Resources

Learning & Skills Positive Thinking Self-Motivation Problem Solving Decision Making Time & Tools Total Time: 45 minutes Necessary Tools: Pencils or pens and blank paper Optional Tools: Flip chart or writing board Note: The room needs to be large enough so that partners or groups are not sitting directly beside each other. A classroom setting is ideal. Step 1 Give everyone a pencil or pen and blank paper. Tell everyone they will be performing an exercise that involves problem

Learning & Skills Listening Skills Body Language Communication Skills Communication Barriers Time & Tools Total Time : 25 minutes Necessary Tools : None Optional Tools : Flip chart or writing board Note : The room needs to be large enough so that sets of partners or groups are not sitting directly beside each other. A classroom setting is ideal. Step 1 Tell everyone they will be performing a communication exercise. Tell each person to select a partner to work with (they will

Download the resources below for inspiration on starting a mentorship program.

As Chair of a Sisters in the Brotherhood committee, you have an opportunity to showcase the kind of leadership skills that will benefit Sisters. Take advantage of those opportunities by showing meeting attendees and committee members how to be an effective leader. Below are a few critical leadership skills with examples of how you can demonstrate those skills: A. Communication Skills When making Presentations or giving Reports, follow these tips: Structure – Have a logical or

Being involved with your Sisters in the Brotherhood committee offers many opportunities to learn leadership skills. Some opportunities will require you to step in and help when asked. Others will require you to step in and offer your help without being asked. In either case, you will have a chance to assist your committee while developing the leadership skills you need. Consider the following examples: Always Arrive Early! This will allow you to assist where needed. Distribut

There are many things you can do outside of your Sisters in the Brotherhood committee to learn leadership skills. Some things will involve taking advantage of opportunities that exist. Others will involve creating your own opportunities. Sometimes this will mean moving “outside” of your comfort zone. At other times this will mean staying “within” your comfort zone. Accept all situations with the same amount of enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Consider the following exampl

If you are the Chair of a Sisters in the Brotherhood committee, there are many reasons why you should encourage Sisters to learn leadership skills. If you are a Sister who is involved with a committee, there are many reasons why you should want to learn leadership skills. To determine these reasons, answer some “What’s In It For Me” (WIIFM) questions: WIIFM Question 1: “What’s In It for the Committee?” if Sisters learn Leadership Skills Questions to help you Answer WIIFM Ques

Leadership Websites White Stag Leadership Development www.whitestag.org Emerge America – Women Leaders for a Democratic Future www.emergeamerica.org Leadership Training Programs for Union Women Cornell University – The Worker Institute https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/worker-institute/union-leadership-institute The 38th UALE Northeast Regional Summer School for Union Women, July 20-25, 2013, is a five-day residential program, hosted by Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and co

An ally listens to as many voices of those they are allying with, is engaged in constant learning, reflects on how someone’s status of race/gender/class/religion/sexual orientation (and more) confer advantage. Most importantly, an ally takes ongoing (public and collective) action to support the communities that do not benefit from conferred advantage. Advantage is not negated by one advantage versus another. Advantage is about how society accommodates you. Acknowledging advan

An Ally is someone who will support and assist you. Alliance building takes time, effort, and commitment. Various types of communication and actions can be used to develop allies. Be Active and Visible: Allies must first get to know you. Volunteer for any position (e.g. election committees, picnics, political activities, area standard events, member appreciation, banner work, voter registration, working the polls on Election Day for union candidate, etc.). Attend your Local U

The construction/Industrial Manufacturing industry is no different from any other work environment when it comes to establishing best practices for working well with others and achieving success in the workplace. Listed below are some ideas to assist you in being productive and successful. Respect is the most important rule of all. Treat people the way you want to be treated and always demonstrate good character. Keep your personal life out of the workplace. For example, no o

Have you ever thought about giving a report at a Union Meeting? If not, think about how you might benefit: Gain visibility among people who could influence your career at the union. Develop speaking skills. Feel good about working for a personal cause. Learn more about the union during your research on the topic. Learn more about training or other developmental opportunities during your research on the topic. Connect with staff members who can become aware of your skills. Ser

While having a full-time staff person on your committee to handle ongoing operations may be ideal, this is not always possible, so you have to find other ways to get things done. You can do that by involving Sisters. What’s in it for your committee? Bring in new committee members Increase the visibility of your committee Develop committee members Gain recognition from the Council or Local Have less need for full-time staff person Have more ways to involve committee members Im

There are many tasks required to maintain an effectively functioning SIB committee. This document contains some of those tasks. Some tasks require Sisters to work as part of a group, while others can be done by Sisters working alone. There are two ways to use this list of tasks. One is to identify ways to involve Sisters who do attend meetings. Another is to identify ways to involve Sisters who do not attend meetings. All Sisters have a lot to offer and you should try to invo

After you have determined what success means to your committee, you want to develop an approach to achieve success. Start by asking some relevant questions about your committee and the Sisters you want to involve. This document contains questions to assist you. These questions are grouped by the categories listed in the document titled: Ways To Decide What SUCCESS Means To Your Committee. Added to this document is a What’s In It For Me (WIIFM) question along with answers. Sis

Approaches and Questions Situation – Target – Proposal Draw – See – Think – Plan Situation - Evaluate the current situation and how it came about. Target - Define goals and/or objectives (sometimes called ideal state). Path/Proposal - Map a possible route to the goals/objectives. Draw – See – Think – Plan Draw - What is the ideal image or the desired end state? See - What is today's situation? What is the gap from ideal and why? Think - What specific actions must be taken to

A Timeline is an ordered representation of events generally displayed on a time scale. It can be an effective tool to display activities, goals, and action items. Some Basic Timeline Questions Include: What is the purpose of this Timeline? For example, conduct Outreach for recruiting women to join the UBC; increase Sister participation in committee meetings; or get your local SIB committee involved in National Events. What is the basic unit of measurement for this Timeline? F

Gaining Leadership Support for Your Committee Make an appointment with your EST requesting support/approval for starting a committee in your area. Do this whether you are starting a committee in a Council or Local(s). If you are establishing a committee for one Local, also seek support/approval from the President of that Local. Additionally, as a courtesy, contact your EST (see step 1 above.) A multi-Local committee works best sometimes if there are small numbers of women in

Use the following to set and achieve goals for your Committee: Ways to Choose Among Important Goals Questions to Develop a Goal Action Plan Ways to Choose Among Easy Versus Difficult Goals How to Set SMART Goals Ways To Choose Among Important Goals Extremely Important Very Important Somewhat Important Useful: When all goals are important and you need to make a choice Extremely Important (Do These First) Ways to Determine: This has to be done before anything else can be done.

Success might mean different things to different committees at different times. For some committees, success might mean to have more women attend meetings. For other committees, success might mean to have women at meetings focus on solutions rather than problems. Given these differences, there is no “one size fits all” approach committees can use to become successful. The key is to know what success means to your committee, right now, and to take actions to move in that dire