Teambuilding - Inside Out

Brick Wall Managers: No more barriers!

noreply@blogger.com (TCB Consulting) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:07:00 +0000

In my many years of teambuilding training, I discovered three common reasons teams do not bond properly. Certainly, others exist, but I am going to focus on three I have seen most frequently. Remarkably, managers and team leaders set the tone for the work group dynamic. Examine the following barriers to ensure don’t inhibit team cohesion.

Barrier to Teambuilding #1: ‘Who Are We?” Team
Most work groups draw their identity from their department name. In my workshops, I often ask: “Just because a bunch of people work in the same department, does that make them a team?” The answer is often a resounding NO!

Etienne Wenger, author of “Communities of Practice”, says that among other elements, a team needs a domain or a conceptual reason to exist. For instance, the accounting department must know that their significance is more than the processing invoices and handling fiscal matters. Who are they outside those tasks? How do they solve problems? How do they interact on a daily basis? Who they are defines how they will carry out their tasks – productively or problematically.

Wenger describes a domain as “a shared competence that distinguishes members from other people.” I assert that the competence to which he’s referring ventures far beyond the technical and relates to how individuals interact while executing the domain itself.

Barrier to Teambuilding #2 – A Hyper, Insecure Manager
A high functioning manager is confident and comfortable in their own “professional” skin. If a manager is highly functional, he or she allows the staff to grow, succeed and even fail without fear of reprimand. In the event of a missed expectation, the functional manager coaches the team through reflective processes that transforms a perceived failure into an invaluable teachable moment.

As a manager, be aware of your strengths and improve upon your weaknesses. This is the cornerstone of self-awareness. A confident leader can liberate and empower professionally, a bound person cannot.

Barrier to Teambuilding #3 – A Team with Blind Spot
Have you driven along the freeway and noticed a car hiding in your blind spot? Just like cars, teams often have “blind spots” that prevent them from seeing the personal assets within the group.

Meaningful teambuilding experiences allow teams to explore the myriad of ways each person contributes to team success. Further, a guided and well-facilitated exploration of communication styles, learning styles and stress-generating behaviors can propel a team to a high performance state of being.

Online Tips:
Twelve Tips - Team-Building
Building Effective Teams: What Managers Can Do

No More Boring Meetings!

noreply@blogger.com (TCB Consulting) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:38:00 +0000

I call them a necessary evil. They may not always be fun, but meetings are critical to sustaining team cohesion.

Meetings are an opportunity for teams to connect, learn what others are doing and negotiate roles. Most people have attended an assortment of poorly planned or pointless meetings during their career spans. Don’t plan another one. Here are a few tips to help make your meetings fun, functional and expeditious!

1. Plan your staff meeting to: connect, deliver and assign. Set aside a small contingent of time for people to connect interpersonally. Give them a chance to share “a-ha” moments or workplace successes. You can also allow people to share the most pressing item on their plate for the week. Well-constructed meetings can be great opportunities to offer congrats or ask for help without feeling apprehensive.

Secondly, use the meeting to deliver important information and updates about departmental changes, needs and challenges. This portion of the meeting gives the staff an opportunity to learn what is going on departmentally.

Finally, provide the opportunity to assign roles and tasks. Whenever appropriate, assign tasks during staff meetings. It builds accountability and provides opportunity for voluntary collaborations.

2. Start on time. Do not delay the meeting because someone is tardy or late. Further, do not stop to get a late person “caught up”. If they are key team members and could not attend on that day, then perhaps it should not have been scheduled.

If the late culprit is management then shame on them. Such managers are setting a poor example professionally. Secondly, tardiness shows a disregard and disrespect for the team’s time.

Note: I understand that everyone is going to be late from time to time. I’ve been an offender myself. Just do not let it become part of your professional persona to be late regularly.

3. Remember multiple learning styles. People tend to learn and take in information in one of three ways. First is the visual learner. Use varied visuals for this learner. Some could include: handouts, whiteboards and flipcharts. Also, allow them to take notes and write details as they see fit. Once I in a meeting, I heard the facilitator single out a participant and say “you don’t have to write this down”. I wanted to pinch her. Let people process information however they need to.

Auditory learners learn best when they hear information. Allow plenty of time for questions and let them to explain information back to the group, if they desire. I have even seen auditory learners bring mini-cassette players into meetings. Make room for this learning style by supporting or suggesting staffers [who want to] bring in such devices.

Finally, the kinesthetic learner feels very comfortable writing or doodling. Kinesthetic learners are fully engaged during the meeting, but they learn best when they are moving around a bit.

Also, allow small breaks for meetings that last more than one hour. Breaks give the kinesthetic a chance to move somewhat. Five minute pauses enable others to step away and return with their best thinking.

Some others tips include:

• Assemble your team frequently. Nothing to talk about? Then pow-wow for only five minutes or take a three minute afternoon jaunt around the block as a team.
• For regular meetings, allow process evaluation. Create a short (very short) evaluation tool to receive anonymous feedback on meeting pace, structure and other critiques. If you’ve attended one of my trainings, use something like my quad evaluation.

There’s no “cookie cutter” formula to great meetings. Take into account your corporate culture, the objectives of each meeting and the needs of your team!

The "Gold" Manager

noreply@blogger.com (TCB Consulting) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:26:00 +0000

Managing in Color!

What are you talking about?

As Gold, leading comes very natural to you! But just like the other temperaments, there are a few “blind spots” you can avoid so that you won’t be a barrier to your team interactions. Here’s how:

Your Innate Strengths:
One of your most basic needs is for order, structure and organization. Your team loves that expectations are clearly outlined and tasks are fairly distributed. You also have excellent follow-though.

Possible Weakness: Unwilling to take risks and compromise.

Beware of: Your ability to maintain control can easily morph into becoming “controlling”. Allow your team room to make decisions, try new ideas and manage themselves. Your team will learn just as much from failure as they do from success. You simply must coach them and guide them through debriefing the process.

Gold Values: Responsibility, Dependability and Consistency

Stressors: Lack of order, Procrastination and Time-wasters
What you may enjoy most about your work:Having responsibility, being helpful and organizing the team.

Don't Forget Your Brain When You Retreat!

noreply@blogger.com (TCB Consulting) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 02:09:00 +0000

Retreating, Recharging – An important tip for staff retreats

Years ago, I attended training with a great trainer, Rob Bocchino. He taught us that when people first assemble (like in a training or class), their brains are stuck in a survival mode of “flight or flight”. It is called the reptilian part of the brain. The purpose of this brain mode is to protect. It’s devoted with securing one’s own safety and well-being so interpersonal guards are up when people are operating from this part of the brain. When guards are up or basic needs aren’t being met, participants cannot learn or take in information very well. For a trainer, that’s professional kryptonite.

Recently, I was contracted to plan a retreat for a work team in Kansas City. It was an eight hour retreat on a warm, sunny Friday. About half way through the day, the team was beginning to lose steam. They had worked in small groups, large group and taken in quite a bit of information. Although they had breaks and snacks, they needed what I call emotional calisthenics.

Across the street from our training site was a beautiful walk-through garden for the community to enjoy. I took the team outside for an opportunity to re-charge. It was great! We sauntered across the busy intersection into an almost magical multi-colored garden. The sweet smell of floral was thick and inviting. It was amazing to watch this ordinarily fast-paced team unwind to enjoy nature together. People from different departments casually strolled through the garden giggling, chatting and re-discovering one another’s strengths and individuality.

Positive mental and emotional imprints were made that day. Imprints that will impact workplace interactions for months – or even years – to come! Likely, the result will be more constructive work groups, higher productivity and even fewer turnovers if the tools learned are infused into workplace culture.

The remainder of the afternoon was a facilitator’s dream. I enjoyed spending time with a content-hungry group that was eager to try new things and learn innovative information. Evaluations from the team about the day’s processes were glowing. Under the right circumstances team cohesion can just happen – no harnesses or pointless games needed!

Barriers to Team-building and Team Cohesion

noreply@blogger.com (TCB Consulting) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:20:00 +0000

Without even trying one can be a barrier to team cohesion. Individuals cannot assemble around a common goal unless they feel safe and secure within the team unit. Before you accuse me of being warm and fuzzy, let me explain. Safety is not limited to physical wellbeing. There is another, and often more important, aspect of safety. In order to thrive inside a team unit each person must feel free to express themselves emotionally, professionally and creatively without attack or mean-spirited rejection.

In my ten years of team-building and training experience, I have discovered three common reasons teams do not bond properly. Certainly, other challenges exist, but I am going to focus on the most common that I have seen.

Barrier to Team-building #1 The ‘it’s all about me’ Syndrome.

Many people interpret work and workplace functions in the context of what the workplace system can do for them and only them. But any athletic coach will tell you that the “all about me” philosophy simply does not work in building a healthy team dynamic. For a team to be all that it can be, there must be a specific purpose [ to exist] or as Etienne Wenger of the book “Communities of Practice” would say, a specific domain. He defines the domain as “a commitment to the domain, and therefore a shared competence that distinguishes members from other people.” That is a team.

Barrier to Team-building #2 – A Hyper, Insecure Manager

A healthy manager is confident and comfortable in their own “professional” skin. If a manager is secure, he or she is free to allow their staff to grow, succeed and even fail. Should the staff fall short, the manager coaches them through reflective processes and transforms a perceived failure into a teachable moment.

The confident manager is not threatened by members of their team. A skilled leader is fully aware of the top-quality skills and experience that they – as a manager -possess. This awareness means they don’t need to have their “foot” on the professional neck of their team. Why? Because they know as a manager of a winning team, they are qualified to handle any situation that arises. No micromanaging required.

Barrier to Team-building #3 – A Blind Team

I’ll bet you never heard that term before! A blind team is a team that hasn’t had the opportunity to explore the skills-sets within the group. In today’s world of high turnover, most teams disassemble before they have an opportunity to advance toward a performing stage. Instead, they get stuck in norming and storming.

Companies and organizations benefit when they provide a meaningful teambuilding experiences that allow teams to explore the myriad of ways each person contributes to team success. Further, a guided and well-facilitated opportunity to explore communication styles, behaviors that cause stress can propel a team to a high performing state of being.

A Tool and Nothing But A Tool

noreply@blogger.com (TCB Consulting) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:15:00 +0000

Important Note
It is very important to state that the purpose of temperament research is not to ‘pigeon hole’ individuals into the some box or set of behaviors. Just like any tool, if it used properly, it can make our lives (and especially our relationships) richer and more effective. However, if this research is used outside of it’s proper context, it can wreak havoc and accomplish very little to help anyone. Think of a hammer. This heavy tool is very useful if you are trying to drill a nail into a slab of wood. On the other hand, if you attempt to use it tape a package closed, you’re looking at an entirely different set of outcomes.

Couldn’t if I Tried...
As a human being, you are entirely too complex to fit “neatly” into any body of research. You are an individual with a history, a psychological makeup and a core set up values. There’s no way anyone could make a sweeping generalization about you and how you should behave! So, relax. Again, this research is a tool based on commonalities and similarities of individuals.

Research To Help
Temperament research – as I use it – is a great way to facilitate conversations about the particular needs and differences within a work group or relationship. Recognizing the commonalities and similarities within the team, can help people embark on meaningful discussions about stress-generating behaviors, needs and how their strengths contribute to team success. This tool of temperament research can help you gain a little insight into how someone else may view and experience the world. Isn’t that a great idea?

That’s it. No fortune-telling, no hocus- pocus – just a tool to help. If the shoe doesn’t fit, don’t wear it!

The Green Manager

noreply@blogger.com (TCB Consulting) — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:53:00 +0000

If you are likely a "Green", avoid being a barrier to your team interactions by considering the following:

Your Innate Strength
You love the challenges of managing others. You likely enjoy analyzing the behaviors and dynamics within your team.

As a systems-thinker, you can easily pick apart a concept and brainstorm solutions to many situations. You may particularly enjoy working somewhat autonomously.

Possible Weakness: Over-analyzing and over-thinking

Beware of:
Don’t let your knack for problem-solving be misconstrued for incessant fault-finding when it comes to your staff interactions. Offer meaningful praise regularly and share your knowledge in respectful ways. This accommodation will likely coach your team toward improvement without making them feel inferior to you.

Green Values: Intellectual stimulation and Competence

Stressors: People that interfere with strategy and processes that don’t make sense [to you]

What you may enjoy most about your work:
Figuring out the barriers to productivity and identifying systems to remedy them; Learning and exploring new data or ideas

COLOR MANAGEMENT: BLUE

noreply@blogger.com (TCB Consulting) — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:20:00 +0000

Tips for BLUE Managers

Often the most prominent barrier to team success is at the top of the organizational chart. Consider these tips to ensure you are not inhibiting team cohesion - with your management style. Here are some at-a-glance considerations to keep your team effective, functional and productive.

Your Innate Strength
As a member of the “Blue” temperament, you are a champ at interacting with people! Developing and cultivating interpersonal relations are proven strengths for you. You can make friends with just about everyone!

Possible Weakness: Misplaced emotions and wearing your "heart" on your sleeve.

Beware of:
Be careful that your patience and caring isn’t mistaken for weakness by others on your team. Maintain clear boundaries to ensure that your subordinates cannot mistake your management style for friendship or your flexibility for indecision. Friendship and management don’t mix in most settings and can lead to team disharmony, tension and even legal action. Keep it professional.

Don’t be afraid to make decisions that may hurt feelings. As a decision-maker, it is inevitable to that someone will be disappointed at some point. That’s part of the responsibility you carry as a manager. No matter how much you wish it to be so, everyone cannot win all of the time.

Blue Values: Communication, Authenticity and Self-Improvement
Stressors: Tension, Office “Politics” and Unfairness

What you may enjoy most about your work: helping others, expressing creativity and being part of a functional and sensitive team.

These tips will aid in building a strong team and cultivating a healthy organizational or department culture.

Confessions ...

noreply@blogger.com (TCB Consulting) — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:17:00 +0000

Confessions of a True Orange

People are often amazed at my weekly schedule. On any given day you could find me facilitating an invigorating workshop for a lively staff or engrossed in a web design project for a law firm or a nonprofit organization. If you’re not careful, you could also find me creating some hot new business cards for a new entrepreneur or maybe speaking about team dynamics at a conference for busy professionals! Oh yes, let’s not forget that every other month I am at the library conducting a board meeting for my nonprofit Sisters Helping Sisters. Dizzying, isn’t it? But I would have it any other way.

Surprisingly, the hectic – and often chaotic – pace of my life brings me great joy and genuine fulfillment. I absolutely love the variety of my professional projects. I am thrilled when I encounter new challenges and new professional mountains to climb. What can I say? It works for me. But certainly, some people would find my life incredibly overwhelming and exasperating and that’s okay. The old adage, ‘different strokes for different folks’, rings true for everything from relationships to lifestyles to business interests. We all experience life and attain fulfillment in different ways. Understanding the complexity of individual diversity is the key to successful interactions in the workplace, in families and in a myriad of relationships.

In the context of True Colors, the Orange temperament excels and flourishes in busy and rapid paces of life. Excessive sameness and repetition may generate stress in this temperament. It’s no wonder that Orange people tend to be entrepreneurs or managers. These free-flowing and fluid professional tracks ensure assorted activities and autonomy – at least to some degree. Further, this group of people find it stressing with people nag them or attempt to micromanage them - so consulting works well for people like me.

I must admit, however, that I must work much harder than other temperaments to maintain order and structure in my life. To play up my “Gold”, I have two planners and rely heavily on my Blackberry to organize my many tasks, obligations and commitments. My office (and my desk) may not look like "order" to my Gold counterparts, but it works just fine for me - as does my shedule. Sure, life gets crazy, but again, I’d have it no other way.

To my fellow Orange folks, I offer the following tips:

Beware of over-committing yourself- it’s easy with so many interests.
Painstakingly write EVERYTHING DOWN so that you can organize your time effectively.
Set realistic goals so that you’re not all over the place.
Remember that everyone doesn’t operate well with your fast-pace – so be patient with others.

Color the world fantastic!

What in the world are you talking about?