Archives for May 2011

How your Team can Save Time and its Sanity

May 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Thanks to Zach Klein through Creative Commons

Thanks to Zach Klein Creative Commons

I was becoming frustrated with our team.  Three days and dozens of emails later we were still no closer to solving the problem.  The problem you ask?  Finding a date for our next meeting! Egads, for a group of reasonably competent, smart people we certainly were limiting our effectiveness by using the wrong technology. In my own experience on teams and from coaching other teams, the two time wasters I see are using email to make decisions (including scheduling meetings!) AND, get ready … emailing Word documents and using track changes to collaboratively work on something.

We’ve learned a lot over the years from virtual team practitioners and writers. Our favorite writers are Duarte and Snyder whose book Mastering Virtual Teams is a must have for anyone who works on a team, whether virtually dispersed or not. It is full of hints, tips and strategies.  A few years ago, we adapted some of their ideas to produce a collaborative task identification tool. We suggest that teams talk about the types of tasks they face and the types of technology they can use. The chart below does not deliberately identify specific technology as technology changes too rapidly for that, but we hope the chart is a useful starting place for teams. After the chart, I’ve listed 6 ways you can save time on your team by using the right technology for the right task.

Collaborative Task Tool

Collaborative Task Tool, Calliope Learning adapted from Duarte and Snyder

Here are 6 of my favorite tools and they all offer free versions:

  1. Meeting Wizard – Stop the email craziness and use this tool to schedule your meetings!
  2. Rypple – Easily get feedback and hand out kudos using this very neat online survey type tool.
  3. Skype – I probably don’t need to mention this one but if you are a virtual team, skype is a must have for real time chats.
  4. Google Docs – is a simple and easily accessible way to share and co-edit documents.
  5. Yammer – is a Facebook type application but more geared towards productivity. You can set up your own private yammer group and use it to communicate and collaborate, share documents, etc. It also has smart phone versions so you can use it from your phone or computer.
  6. Mindmeister – is collaborative mindmapping software for the creative types out there.

I hope this has given your team some ideas! Have you found any cool tools to use?  I would love to hear about them!

Today’s blog comes from our Teamwork Explorer, 10 of Spades card. Posted by Tammy.

Use Appropriate Technology

Use Appropriate Technology

Filed Under: communication, Leadership, teams, Uncategorized

Motivate your team with 2 simple words and 5 strategies

May 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Thanks to woodleywonderworks

Thanks to woodleywonderworks

Those readers who know me know that I have become a doting aunt to an adorable 4 year old niece and 2 year old nephew. Given that I have no children, hearing them say please and thank you (and in particular to me when I happen to find that perfect gift!) has been one of my greatest joys in the last few years. It seems to be the most common and universal lesson taught to children.

And it is the most common and universal lesson forgotten in the workplace. We adults start to take ourselves way too seriously, get overly preoccupied with our own stuff, and forget that many people are connected to OUR overall success and pleasure in life.  It’s no surprise that the most common and universal finding on employee engagement surveys is feeling unappreciated.

So here are 5 strategies to help you say thank you to your team and keep them engaged and motivated:

  1. Set a goal of saying thank you to at least 1 person a day. Be specific saying what it is they have done and the impact it’s had on you.
  2. At team meetings, monitor your “critical comments” vs your “thank you or appreciative comments”.  Get the balance right!
  3. Write your team’s vision/values on blank business cards. When someone on your team lives a particular value and/or really demonstrates the vision, write a note on the back of it saying thanks (and again be specific!).
  4. Use an electronic greeting card to say thanks if you are working on a virtual team. My favorite is Jacquie Lawson … for $12 a year I can send unlimited animated greeting cards that I can customize for any occasion.
  5. Pay attention to small wins during a long and complex project. Saying thanks to people throughout the project can keep people motivated, engaged and able to handle challenges that do arise.

What strategies have you used to say thank you and motivate your team? I’d love to hear them!

Today’s blog comes from our Teamwork Explorer, 10 of Hearts card.

Say Thanks

Filed Under: communication, Leadership, teams Tagged With: , , ,

What your Team can Learn from JFK

May 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Amid much controversy, The Kennedys is now showing in Canada (well, at least the 2 episodes that I have taped on my PVR!). The reviews have certainly been mixed but I simply cannot help myself. I love a good story and I have been especially intrigued by the Kennedys for many years. I watched the episode highlighting the Bay of Pigs on the weekend and was reminded of the work of Irving Janis on groupthink.  Groupthink is a phenomena he coined which describes the tendency of  some really cohesive teams to ignore alternative pespectives and courses of action. The symptoms of groupthink according to Janis are:

    1. Illusion of invulnerability – the team thinks that they can do no wrong or harm.
    2. Collective rationalization – the team discounts alternative views and doesn’t challenge their own assumptions.
    3. Belief in inherent morality – the team thinks they are the moral compass for everyone.
    4. Stereotyped views of out-groups – people or groups with different views are made to be the “enemy”.
    5. Direct pressure on dissenters – anyone who disagrees with the team is greatly pressured to conform.
    6. Self-censorship – people do not express contradictory views.
    7. Illusion of unanimity – silence is assumed to be unanimity.
    8. Self-appointed ‘mindguards’ — stronger team members will filter out contradictory views.

I am especially interested in groupthink because I have been guilty of it myself and relate to the above 8 symptoms.  As someone who values harmony and cohesiveness, I need to work hard at hearing alternative perspectives.  I work on many faculty teams to deliver intensive leadership development programs and in our desire to deliver a high quality learning experience, I think we sometimes filter out feedback that challenges our particular philosophy of leadership.

Some remedies for groupthink include:

    1. The team leaders being aware of their power over the group and holding back on their preferences until other team members have spoken.
    2. The team assigning the role of critical evaluator or devil’s advocate to team members and/or bringing in expert, outside opinions to challenge the team.
    3. The team setting aside regular time to surface and assess their assumptions, as well as surface and consider alternative perspectives.

While the Bay of Pigs was devastating, some have suggested Kennedy learned from that mistake and avoided groupthink during the Cuban Missile Crisis by inviting outside experts to share their viewpoints,  dividing the group up into various sub-groups, and being deliberately absent from the meetings, so as to allow others open expression of viewpoints.

Has your team had a Bay of Pigs disaster?  Which remedies might work for your team?

This blog is based on the Jack of Clubs, Groupthink, taken from our Teamwork Explorer.

Groupthink

Written by Tammy

Filed Under: Leadership, teams Tagged With: , , ,

How to Stop Avoiding Difficult Conversations

May 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

While the old adage suggests that silence is golden, on teams it’s deadly.  That’s because in the absence of information and open communication, people make up stories about what is happening, whether positive or negative.  And once people start to make up a particular story about something, that story holds more power over their behavior than anything else happening on the team.

There are many reasons why people might avoid conversations, but in our experience the main reason is because they don’t know how, and they’re afraid that the conversation might escalate into conflict. We’ve worked with many tools over the years and next to the intention/impact tool we wrote about in February, this tool based on Sherod Miller’s work, provides a step by step process to preparing for and having a difficult conversation.

The First Step

So, instead of avoiding that difficult conversation or launching into it ill prepared, take a few moments to write down the answers to the following 5 questions:

  1. What have I seen or heard? Make sure you jot down the facts of the situation, those very objective details that are not debatable. If you find yourself having a hard time coming up with ‘just the facts’ then you know you have already made up a pretty compelling story about the situation and need to slow down, and identify just the facts.
  2. What do I think is going on? — This is the “story” part of the situation, the assumptions and beliefs you have about it, the meaning you have attributed to a particular situation. In our experience people are pretty good at identifying their story, but not so good at being open to the other person’s story.
  3. How am I feeling? Some people are really good at this step (and in fact can get stuck here or overwhelm others!) while others are uncomfortable identifying and/or expressing their emotions. The six basic emotions are anger, fear, sadness, surprise, happiness and disgust. Other emotions common to difficult situations are disappointment, frustration, betrayal, or anxiety. It is important to identify and name your emotion in order to deal with it in a helpful way.  In our experience, people who skip this step tend to “act out” their emotions and this then creates more confusion and unintended impact for others.
  4. What do I want? This is a simple question but it often stumps people. They are usually so preoccupied with their story and/or emotions that they get stuck there.  In our experience, often the main “want” is to feel heard.
  5. Am I open to another perspective? This is probably the hardest step of all.  If you really want open communication and a productive team, you need to be prepared to be wrong.  We often ask people “if the other person was 10% right what would that be?” If you can be open to even a 10% shift in your thinking, there’s a stronger possibility that your difficult conversation will turn out ok.

Hopefully writing down the answers to these questions has allowed you to develop some perspective about the situation and deal with your own emotions in a positive way.

The Second Step

Now, you are ready to have the conversation using the first 4 questions above to structure it. If you are completely new to having this sort of conversation, we would suggest you choose a very low risk situation to practice and let the person know you are trying out a new tool.  Here’s how to structure the conversation:

I ‘m trying a new approach to our teamwork (communication) and would like to chat about what happened at our last team meeting.  Would you have a few moments to do that? Assuming a yes, then identify your responses from question #1 above and ask the other person for theirs. Once you have agreed on the facts, you can proceed to your story (#2 above) and ask for theirs.  Move through all  4 questions above, asking the person for their perspective at each point.

In our experience most people who have a solid relationship going into the conversation are able to come to a better understanding and strengthened relationship with each other.  If the situation has been going on for some time, trust has been eroded and either party is not open to the 10% shift, you may need to call in a third party to help out with the conversation.

What tips do you have for difficult conversations?  We’d love to hear from you!

Filed Under: Leadership, teams Tagged With: , ,

8 Steps to Protect your Team from Disengaging

May 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

What are the chances of you being actively disengaged when your manager primarily:

  • ignores you
  • focuses on your weaknesses
  • focuses on your strengths

Drum roll please …40%, 22% and 1% respectively according to a 2005 Gallup poll.  Translated, that means to me that managers who are too busy to spend any time with their employees are at risk of them being 40% less productive … that’s pretty staggering. In my experience this stat translates equally well with teams. Those teams who focus on and play to their respective strengths are highly engaged, productive and enjoy their teams. Those teams who ignore the conversation about strengths and/or do not ever revisit roles run the risk of losing momentum and energy.

The best resource we’ve seen about uncovering strengths is StrengthsFinder 2.0, developed by Tom Rath and based on years and years of Gallup research. The most powerful aspect of this framework is its definition of strengths – those activities we find energizing. Most of us think of strengths as the things we are good at … seeing strengths as those things that energize us is a subtle but powerful shift.

So how does a team go about exploring strengths in a structured and meaningful way?  Here’s what we suggest:

  1. Each member buy the StrengthsFinder 2.0 book, complete the online assessment, and read the customized report.  Amazon online has it available for $15 per book, a great deal!
  2. Set aside 2 -3 hours (depends upon the size of your team) at a next team meeting to work with the results.
  3. Draw up a big wall chart … listing the 34 strengths horizontally across the top and team member names vertically along one side.
  4. Each team member then places an x in each of their strengths.
  5. Based on the results, organize your team into groups of 2 people, each group of 2 exploring a shared strength by identifying what it means to them and some concrete examples of the strength.
  6. After the report out, have a broad discussion of the team’s strengths.
  7. Then, list all of the projects your team is engaged in and identify the strengths most needed in those projects.
  8. Finally, have a conversation about roles/accountabilities … are the right people doing the right things? Can you shift your team work to more readily accommodate team strengths?

We have facilitated this activity with dozens of teams and are inspired by the conversations that people have and the level of excitement and engagement.  It is one of the most useful tools we have seen to protect a team from disengaging, or to put it more positively, Play to your Strengths, our teamwork tip of the week.

Play to your Strengths

Jack of Spades – Play to your Strengths

Everybody performs better when they play to their strengths. Make sure that individuals’ strengths are taken into account when roles are assigned and tasks allotted. One way to do this would be to have the team discuss what strengths would be needed to accomplish a role or task before it is allotted. Also check out Gallup’s Strengths Finder book for a more formal approach to discovering your strengths.

What % of time do you think your team is playing to its strengths? What might happen if you increased that by 10%?

Would you like more help re-engaging your team?  We offer customized teambuilding and team coaching experiences. Contact us today for a free consultation.

Filed Under: Leadership, teams Tagged With: , ,