Middle Tennessee Staff Development Week

Join us for an In-Person Peer Communities Gathering and connect with peers throughout the TN Y Movement! Peer Communities are open to all staff and provide a space for participants to discuss emerging practices, troubleshoot common challenges, learn innovative approaches and inspire collaboration. Haven’t joined a peer community yet? Learn more and register here.

Leading People is a one-day course that develops and supports Y leaders to be successful at inspiring, motivating, compelling, supporting, and sustaining effective people. Whether it is a team you are assigned, create, or serve in the Y or in your community, this course will help you build the competencies to lead others in a supportive, inspiring, and non-authoritative or managerial way.

Be prepared to learn and develop competencies on topics such as:

• understanding yourself as a leader
• building a collaborative community of people committed to achieving collective goals
• creating a positive environment where all can thrive
• establishing a trusting communication style that supports others to develop into stronger leaders

You will be asked to use your own experience as a personal case study. You will "think and ink" personal reflections on your own leadership hopes. This course is required for Team Leader Certification.

The YMCA is both a volunteer led and driven organization which continues to be rooted in the spirit of community volunteerism. The course is designed for any level of staff who work in a Y where volunteers support programs, assist with special events, serve on committee or boards, raise funds, or serve to make their communities a better place to live. Learn why volunteers are essential to the YMCA's cause and to our future as a vital not for profit committed to developing community beyond our walls. This interactive course will strengthen the volunteer culture at your Y.

This course is designed specifically for Team Leaders and is an overall introduction to fiscal management and finance principles. Participants will explore the connection between the YMCA mission and their role in responsible fiscal stewardship. Participants will learn the steps in a budget development process and review sample program budgets, then engage in experiential learning activities that will actually take them through all of the steps of creating a budget. The course also includes an overview of finance terminology and an introduction to the four-step pricing process model.

As leaders, a primary role we hold is caring for others. Join us for an engaging day learning together about how caring for ourselves is an essential component of effectively and sustainably caring for others while building a culture of caring in our homes, neighborhoods, communities and Ys.

Keeping Y materials on-brand doesn’t have to be complicated—Canva can help make it easy. Whether you're just getting started or already comfortable with the platform, this interactive session will give you the tools to create polished, brand-compliant designs with confidence. We’ll explore key Canva features, break down Y branding in a way that makes sense, and even workshop real flyers—so bring examples from your center, whether they need a quick fix or a full refresh. By the end, you’ll walk away with practical skills and a better understanding of how to make Y branding work for you.

Facilitation Skills teaches participants how to enhance their presentation skills in order to create an effective learning environment for all students. Skills for both presenting and facilitating in a classroom setting will be not only discussed, but also practiced. Participants need to come to class prepared to conduct two, 10-minute presentations. The evaluation score on the second presentation will determine if a participant passes the course. This course is the final Faculty/Trainer Resources prerequisite course for all trainer candidates.

At the Y, it can seem as if there’s so much to do with so little time to get it all done. With all of the “to-dos” it’s easy to lose sight of the time needed to engage in meaningful conversations that lead to supportive and collaborative relationships. Yet, it’s these kinds of relationships that position the Y to strengthen community. Listen First is the core set of skills and provides the fundamentals for developing and sustaining relationships with everyone we engage at the Y, including staff, volunteers, health seekers and other members. Introduction to Listen First helps Y staff at every level and in every position gain the knowledge and skill-building practice to interact and converse in ways that supports the well-being journey of others and deepens their engagement to the Y. Introduction to Listen First is a hands-on learning experience that engages course participants in lively discussions that enables them to put skills to practice and challenges them to think differently about how they interact with others. Listen First skills are developed with time and practice. To complement the classroom experience and provide additional opportunity to practice the skills, course participants are required to participate in four, 1-hour conference calls following the classroom session. The dates and times for these calls are determined by the trainer per the availability of course participants.

Project Management is designed for YMCA professionals in the Team Leader, Multi-Team or Branch Leader and Organizational Leader Levels. The course is relevant for anyone who supervises programs, branch projects, special events, or fundraising campaigns. This course outlines the four phases of Project Management: Initiation, Planning; Execution; Control; and Closeout, and makes the connection between the process and YMCA project work. Also included are time management tips and best practices that assist in the implementation of Project Management principles. Participants will leave with tools that will help any type of project become efficiently managed and successful.

A Crucial Conversation is a discussion between two or more people where the stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. When conversations turn crucial, people tend to follow one of two ineffective paths: they either speak directly and abrasively to get the results they want but harm relationships, or they remain silent with the hope of preserving relationships only to sacrifice results. Crucial Conversations® for Mastering Dialogue gives people the skills to step into disagreement—rather than over or around it—and turn disagreement into dialogue for improved relationships and results.