Prepared for the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) in support of its Ontario Job Grant application. This syllabus describes the proposed training, its curriculum and skills, and how completion is assessed.

Program Syllabus · CMPA · Ontario Job Grant

AI-Enabled Workplace Performance

Building Trust, Collaboration and Productivity

An applied program that develops the communication, collaboration, problem-solving, prioritization, and AI skills professionals need to work effectively across teams, resolve issues at the right level, and lift everyday productivity.

Program overview

This applied, company-specific workplace program develops the communication, collaboration, productivity, and digital skills employees need to work effectively in today's workplace. It is highly interactive, using facilitated discussions, case studies, simulations, peer learning, and role-specific exercises, and participants apply each module to current workplace challenges and build action plans they can use immediately on the job.

Program goal

To equip staff at every level to collaborate across teams, resolve issues at the right level, and apply sound judgment and AI-enabled productivity to everyday work, so the organization performs with greater consistency, trust, and speed.

  • Delivered by: Mastering Negotiations Inc.

On completion of the program, participants will be able to:

  • Coordinate work across teams and resolve routine issues at the appropriate level, reducing unnecessary escalation.

  • Conduct structured workplace conversations, including feedback and conflict, using recognized models.

  • Apply a structured method to frame problems, make sound decisions under ambiguity, and own outcomes.

  • Prioritize competing demands and sustain productivity while adapting to new systems and workflows.

  • Use AI and digital tools responsibly to speed and simplify routine work.

  • Build and sustain trust with peers across the organization, using the MLX Trust Formula.

Program-level learning outcomes

The program follows recognized adult-learning design. Each module runs the full experiential cycle (experience, reflect, conceptualize, apply), and the design is weighted to the 70-20-10 principle: the sessions are the formal 10 percent, the peer learning circles and coaching are the social 20 percent, and applied work on real tasks is the on-the-job 70 percent where most capability is built. Following constructive alignment, every module outcome is tied to both an activity and an assessment.

Learning approach

Program structure at a glance

Trust and Psychological Safety

Module 01

Workplace Communication and Cross-Team Collaboration

Module 02

Conversations, Conflict, and Feedback

Module 03

Problem-Solving, Decisions, and Accountability

Module 04

Prioritization, Productivity and Adapting to New Systems and Workflows

Module 05

Module 06

Applied AI in Daily Work

Module detail

  • Establishes the foundation of the program: the peer trust and psychological safety that let work move sideways rather than routing upward.

    Learning outcomes (participants will be able to):

    • Assess a real working relationship against the Trust Formula (Credibility, Character, Connection) and identify the weakest dimension.

    • Take one concrete action to strengthen trust with a specific peer.

    • Apply two practices that create psychological safety for raising issues.

    Topics covered:

    • What trust is and how it breaks down

    • The three dimensions of trust

    • Psychological safety and speaking up

    • Why work escalates when lateral trust is low

    • Setting team norms

    Key frameworks: Trust Formula (Credibility x Character x Connection); Edmondson: psychological safety

    Key takeaways:

    • Trust is built deliberately, not assumed

    • Safety to speak up is the condition for resolving issues sideways

    • Small, consistent actions rebuild lateral trust

    Practical application:

    • In session: Paired diagnostic of a real cross-team relationship using the Trust Formula; identify the weakest dimension and agree one action.

    • On the job: Take the trust action with that peer before the next module.

    • Peer circle: Each member reports the relationship they worked on and what shifted.

    • Assessment: Completed trust-action plan and short reflection.

  • Builds the skills to communicate clearly and coordinate directly with peers across departments.

    Learning outcomes (participants will be able to):

    • Deliver a structured update or request that a peer can act on without clarification.

    • Use active-listening techniques to confirm understanding in a real exchange.

    • Map a shared cross-team workflow and assign handoffs using RACI.

    Topics covered:

    • Where communication breaks down across teams

    • Structured updates and requests

    • Active listening

    • Coordinating handoffs

    • Shared accountability

    Key frameworks: Active listening (reflect, clarify, confirm); RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed)

    Key takeaways:

    • Clarity is both a courtesy and a control

    • Listening to confirm prevents rework

    • Handoffs need named owners

    Practical application:

    • In session: Cross-functional pairs map one shared workflow and assign RACI to each step.

    • On the job: Run one structured handoff on a live workflow; note what improved.

    • Peer circle: Share the workflow map and the result of the handoff.

    • Assessment: The completed workflow map and a handoff reflection.

  • Builds the skills to hold the everyday conversation early, resolve conflict, and give and receive feedback.

    Learning outcomes (participants will be able to):

    • Conduct a structured feedback conversation using the SBI model in a realistic scenario.

    • Identify their default conflict style and select a more effective approach for a given situation.

    • Initiate one real workplace conversation they have been avoiding.

    Topics covered:

    • The cost of avoidance

    • A structure for a direct conversation

    • SBI feedback

    • Conflict styles

    • Resolving a live conflict

    Key frameworks: SBI feedback (Situation-Behavior-Impact); the three conversations (Stone and Heen); Thomas-Kilmann conflict modes

    Key takeaways:

    • Address issues while they are small

    • Separate impact from intent

    • Match your conflict approach to the situation

    Practical application:

    • In session: Role-play real workplace conversations at increasing difficulty, with structured feedback.

    • On the job: Hold one real conversation before the next module; debrief it.

    • Peer circle: Rehearse an upcoming conversation, or debrief one just held.

    • Assessment: A conversation plan and a post-conversation reflection.

  • Builds the skills to frame problems, decide under ambiguity, own outcomes, and resolve at the right level.

    Learning outcomes (participants will be able to):

    • Apply a structured problem-solving cycle to a real workplace issue.

    • Use an escalate-or-resolve rule to decide the level at which an issue should be settled.

    • State a decision and name the accountability for closing it out.

    Topics covered:

    • The escalation trap

    • A repeatable problem-solving method

    • Deciding when it is not black and white

    • Accountability and closing out

    Key frameworks: Structured problem-solving cycle (define, analyze, options, decide, act, review); escalate-versus-resolve rule; RACI accountability

    Key takeaways:

    • Most issues can be resolved one level down

    • A method beats reacting

    • A decision is not done until it is owned and closed

    Practical application:

    • In session: Teams work a real, unresolved issue through the method and decide the level at which it should be settled.

    • On the job: Resolve one issue at your own level that you would previously have escalated.

    • Peer circle: Bring a live issue; apply the method together.

    • Assessment: The worked problem and a decision or close-out note.

  • Builds the skills to manage competing demands and absorb new systems and workflows with resilience.

    Learning outcomes (participants will be able to):

    • Sort a real workload using a do-delegate-defer-drop method.

    • Reset one overcommitment and communicate the change.

    • Apply one practice for adapting to a new system or workflow with less stress.

    Topics covered:

    • Competing demands and the cost of unclear priorities

    • A prioritization method

    • Managing workload and focus

    • Adapting to new systems and workflows

    • Practical resilience

    Key frameworks: Eisenhower matrix / do-delegate-defer-drop; a lightweight adaptation and resilience practice

    Key takeaways:

    • Prioritizing is deciding what not to do

    • Overcommitment is a communication problem

    • Change is absorbed in small steps

    Practical application:

    • In session: Prioritize your real current workload against the method; reset one overcommitment.

    • On the job: Run your week against the method; report the change.

    • Peer circle: Share your priorities and one reset you made.

    • Assessment: The prioritized workload and the outcome of the reset.

  • Builds the skills to use AI and digital tools responsibly to speed routine work and simplify workflows, and integrates the full program.

    Learning outcomes (participants will be able to):

    • Apply an AI tool to automate or simplify one routine task and verify the output.

    • Redesign one workflow to remove steps using AI or digital support.

    • Apply responsible-use principles (judgment, verification, privacy) to their AI use.

    Topics covered:

    • Where AI helps, and where it does not

    • Delegating routine tasks to AI

    • Designing a simpler workflow

    • Responsible use

    • Integration on a live project

    Key frameworks: Responsible-AI-use principles (verify, judge, protect); workflow redesign (map, remove, automate)

    Key takeaways:

    • AI is for routine work, not judgment

    • Always verify the output

    • Protect confidential information

    Practical application:

    • In session: Automate or simplify one routine task using an AI tool; check the output for accuracy.

    • On the job: Keep the improved workflow in use; capture the time saved for the Skills Audit.

    • Peer circle: Share the workflow improvement and the time saved.

    • Assessment: The improved workflow, a time-saved process, and a short program-integration reflection.

Assessment is aligned to the program outcomes and mapped to the four levels of the Kirkpatrick evaluation model, moving from learning gain through on-the-job application to workforce impact. It has four components and a clear completion standard.

Assessment and evaluation

1. Pre- and post-program Skills Audit (Kirkpatrick Level 2: learning)

A Skills Audit customized to your organization is completed at intake and at completion. Each participant rates and evidences their capability against the same competencies, drawn directly from the program outcomes. The pre-audit baselines the cohort and tailors delivery; the post-audit demonstrates gain against baseline.

2. Applied assignments during the program (Level 3: behavior)

Between modules, participants complete one assignment applied to their own role, aligned to that module's outcomes. These are the assessable evidence that each module's outcomes were met.

3. On-the-job application through formal peer learning circles (Level 3: transfer)

Participants join a standing peer learning circle of four to six people that meets on a set cadence between modules. Each member brings a real application of the module's skills, following a simple reflect-and-adjust structure (e.g., what I tried, what happened, what I will change). Because roughly 70 percent of on-the-job behavior change depends on reinforcement rather than training alone, the circles are paired with manager check-ins at 30 to 90 days.

4. Completion criteria and certificate

A certificate of completion is issued through Certifier, with a unique verification link, on meeting all three criteria:

  • Attendance at a minimum of five of the six modules

  • All between-module applied assignments completed

  • The post-program Skills Audit completed, demonstrating gain

The certificate reflects completed applied work and assessment, not attendance alone.

Facilitation

This program was designed by Dr. Tatiana Astray. She facilitates it herself, alongside PhD-level and industry experts who have deep subject-matter knowledge and extensive experience in workplace-skills and applied AI training. Delivery is customized to teams, tools, and workflows.

Lead facilitator: Dr. Tatiana Astray, PhD

Dr. Astray holds a PhD in Organization Studies with a minor in Social Psychology from the Schulich School of Business, York University, an MSc from the University of Guelph, and an Honours BSc in Psychology from Trent University. She also holds a certificate in Applied Data Science from MIT Professional Education covering machine learning and generative AI in business settings, which underpins the applied AI components of this program.

Since 2019, she has facilitated programs at the Schulich Executive Education Centre , York University, spanning workplace negotiation, stakeholder management, team dynamics, trust, persuasion, and difficult conversations, delivered to client organizations across media, technology, financial services, government, mining, and the non-profit sector, with content and delivery ratings consistently above 90 percent.

She has also held an appointment at the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University, as Assistant Professor; the Conrad School at the University of Waterloo, where she was recognized for teaching excellence; and lectured at the Schulich School of Business and the Ivey Business School.

Her doctoral research examined how trust is built and broken between professional counterparts, and how relationship quality and emotional expression shape cooperation, conflict, and the willingness to work together again. That work is the evidence base for the trust, collaboration, and difficult-conversation content in this program. She has published peer-reviewed work in the Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences and presented at the International Association for Conflict Management.