The following provides background
information about Michael H. Smith Ph.D.
Biography
Michael H. Smith, Ph.D., has been an Oakland-based
organization consultant and speaker for the past 38 years, specializing
in resolving organizational conflicts and improving productivity (coaching,
building teams and management training). His clients have been in
high tech, law, medicine, government agencies and non-profit organizations.
Training
& Facilitation
Dr. Smith also trains and facilitates organizations to tackle some
of the very tough issues that are strong precursors to litigation
such as sexual harassment, workplace violence, poor management skills,
and boundary and self-control issues such as anger.
Common Organizational Situations
Dr. Smith enters organizations when situations are tense, defensiveness
is high and productivity is often suffering as a result. Employees
usually manifest their concerns indirectly in increased use of sick
leave, higher turnover and sometimes litigation. Some productivity
measures that indicate problems are missed deadlines and increased
customer complaints. He uses individual coaching and third-party facilitation
techniques to resolve interpersonal and team issues.
Crisis Intervention
A key part of Dr. Smith's conflict resolution work involves providing
crisis intervention services to organizations and the community. Such
interventions can occur prior to, during or after a disaster, either
natural or human-created. Dr. Smith specializes in critical incident
debriefing and training for police, fire, environmental and emergency
medical services personnel.
Dr. Smith has conducted crisis intervention
debriefings around bank robberies, armed robberies, suicides, missing
persons, natural and accidental deaths and workplace violence. He
was directly involved in debriefing personnel and the community in
major disasters such as 9/11, the 1989 Loma Prieta, CA earthquake
and the 1991 Oakland, CA fire. Dr. Smith has also conducted successful
hostage negotiations and directly prevented two potential deaths.
He has been trained in crisis intervention and trauma response and
directed a crisis response unit at the Hayward, CA Police Department.
Presentation Topics
Dr. Smith's presentation topics include Creative Conflict Resolution,
Dealing With Difficult People and Building Optimistic Workplaces.
He's spoken with groups such as the Bar Association of San Francisco,
Federal Manager's Association, Tri-Valley Human Resources Association,
International Data Group, National Association of Credit Managers
and more.
Author
Dr. Smith is the author of the book, Management
Techniques That Really Work. He's also been published
in CAL Law Recorder, Northern California
Human Resources Association Bulletin and other management
and trade journals on topics such as managing change, team management
and visionary leadership.
Newspapers and Media
He has been interviewed by newspapers including the The
Wall Street Journal, San Francisco
Business Times and the Sacramento
Business Journal. He has also appeared on numerous radio
and television programs such as "Daybreak" (KRON/NBC, San
Francisco, CA) and "People Are Talking" (KPIX/CBS, San Francisco,
CA).
Universities and Professional Associations
Dr. Smith is an Adjunct Professor in the College of Professional Studies,
University of San Francisco. He is also a member of the San Francisco
Bar Association, Northern California Human Resources Association (NCHRA)
and the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD).
