A TWO-DAY workshop held recently for the 35 Loddon Mallee women employed by the Country Fire Authority has resulted in a burst of creativity.

Each participant stitched a square on the theme of following the yellow brick road, and the squares now form a quilt on display at CFA's Swan Hill headquarters.

"The floods had a huge effect on our team," human resources manager Beverley Nixon said.

"Many of us were affected on the home front, then we had to come to work and deal with the floods all over again. There's a 50 kilometre head of water coming towards you and you're trapped. There was no escape and the stress really built up. You worry about a really good downpour. Where would the water go?

"We decided to spend some time together in a guided workshop and acknowledge that we'd done some valuable work."

The workshop was recognition that could have got lost under the huge workload of an emergency service at the forefront of flood response and recovery state-wide.

Studies have shown that, to perform effectively under stress, women need to communicate and collaborate.

"We started the workshop with a whole range of goals," Ms Nixon said.

"We wanted to get to know each other better, look at work/life balance, build self-confidence and get energised but also give ourselves permission to relax and just enjoy the here and now. Some people just wanted to learn to say 'No'!

"We have to manage a lot of difficult situations and women can be experts at doubting themselves. We have to be people others can lean on but, when you're working under pressure, you can lose sight of what you're doing and why: you can't see the bigger picture.

"The workshop facilitator got us all talking about ways we can support each other. We did a lot of work on communication styles. There was a lot of laughter and a lot of fun. It really united us as a team and helped us look forward."

The quilt squares, inspired by the yellow brick road theme from The Wizard of Oz, represent continuing on your way with purpose and keeping your dreams in focus. It meant each participant went home and made time and space to be quiet, reflective and creative.

"So many people in CFA brigades say they join because they want to make a difference and that's true of a lot of the staff too," Ms Nixon said.

"But we're aware that some volunteers aren't able to respond at the moment. They have to look after their families and properties before they can look at volunteering again.

"We spent two days looking after ourselves and returned to work feeling empowered, refreshed and ready to make a difference again."