By Harvey Robbins
There are quite a few methods currently in use to get teams to work better. All the way from outdoor experiences like ropes courses and climbing mountains to the classroom and on the job experiences. Some, obviously, work better than others for your situation.
While many of these methods are enjoyable, they may not lead to better team performance over time. How many of you have gone out into the wild to "team" only to come back to the office and still not trust each other or have fuzzy goals or run across unexpected political barriers.
No matter what the method, you will have difficulty achieving successful team outcomes unless you turn on the eight engines of effective teamwork. Over the past 26 years of practice and research, the following eight engines have surfaced as consistently powering effective team performance:
• Defining goals/objectives/success
• Sorting out roles/responsibilities/accountabilities
• Identifying barriers to success and developing contingency plans
• Improving interpersonal relationships between team members
• Feedback systems
• Team member recruitment and departure
• Team leadership
• Intra- and inter-team communication
There is, however, a significant difference between how ordinary teams and high performing teams run these engines.
Ordinary teams list out all their goals and objectives and prioritize the entire list. I've seen some teams with lists of objectives as long as my sleeve. The best teams limit their goals to only a few. Those that need to be accomplished within a short period, say 30 days. These few near-term goals are then prioritized. As time passes, some longer-term goals move into the shorter time frame and are included into a newly re-prioritized list. What exceptional teams do, is identify those goals that seem to consistently drop to the bottom of the priority list. Then they get rid of them; delegate them upwards, outwards (outsourcing) or eliminate them totally since they will never have the time to get to them. This process seems to relieve a lot of guilt associated with not getting those things done that you know you'll never have time to do. In essence, then, high performing teams only work on short-term continuously high priority goals.
Ordinary teams divide up their roles and responsibilities as best they can. While exceptional teams take little for chance. The best teams identify the gaps and overlaps in roles so that people don't fight over their responsibilities (turf wars) and important (but often dull) tasks (hot potatoes) don't get left undone.
Exceptional teams go on to identify three types of barriers that have potential to upset the apple cart. People barriers, process barriers, and structure barriers. People barriers show up when someone doesn't get along with others and is seen as an impediment to progress. Most team jerks fall into this category. If fact, there are very few real jerks; they just may have a toxic relationship with someone else on the team. Process barriers are policies and practices that have outlived their usefulness but remain in place anyhow. Most effective teams either ignore these policy barriers or have them redone. One place to look to improving these outdated policies is to change the date at the bottom of each policy page to an "expiration date" instead of an "effective date" or "revision date." Structural barriers are created by a mismatch between how the team is structured (hierarchical vs. self-directed) and the skill level of the team members. For example, knowledge workers work best in a hierarchical structure.
The most effective teams tend to help each of their members understand their own personalities as well as those of the other team members. This knowledge not only goes a long way in helping the team build bridges across toxic relationships (versatility), but also helps assign roles that take advantage of the natural strengths of one's personality.
Exceptional teams tend to make sure the infrastructure supporting their team efforts is continuously maintained. They make sure, for example, that there is an informal continuous feedback loop between all team members/leader. They make sure every team member is operating from the same page in terms of agreed upon decision-making methods. They make sure that they are continuously looking for ways to improve communication within and between teams. They divide their team members up into "core" and "resource" to take advantage of time commitments and needed skills. And they look at varying their leadership models depending on the changing needs of the team.
Moving from ordinary to a high performing really depends upon your commitment to run your team using the eight engines of effective teamwork.
About The Author:
A world class speaker, author, and educator, Dr. Robbins focuses on transformational leadership by providing leadership skill training, team building / team leadership training, management development training, and executive coaching. See more on http://www.harveyrobbins.com
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.
Showing posts with label Team Building. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Team Building. Show all posts
Tuesday
Allowing Yourself To Grow And Make Your Team Leadership Even Better
By Jim Biscardi
The idea of creating a valuable team leadership role within yourself is something that you probably strive for on a regular basis. You want to make sure that everyone knows you are a team player, but also a team leader, because the best team leaders are able to do this without appearing like they know everything. Modesty goes hand in hand with leadership, and perhaps this is something that you just happen to be good at. However, you should know that no matter how good of a team leader you are, there is much that you can benefit from, including personal development.
You might believe that you are as developed of a person that you are going to be. You probably went to school to learn all of the things that you know, and you have probably practiced your leadership skills with much success. You probably also feel that what kind of person you are outside of work has nothing to do with what kind of leader you are. However, all of these things are false. The type of person that you are outside of work is very important to your ability to be a team leader, and no matter how much you about leadership, you will always be able to benefit from personal development.
Personal development on your part means that you are able to think outside of the box when it comes to various things. A person who is working on their personal development is allowing themselves to grow and change with the times, and is always leaning new skills to deal with the various factors that might come up which might affect how they lead their team. A person with good personal development realizes that they are never truly developed as a person, and they much always allow themselves to change and grow.
Part of being a real and true leader is knowing that the skill set and the goals that you have at the present moment are not always going to be what you need. Sometimes you have to learn new ways to do things, and sometimes you have to learn things that are the opposite of what you might believe in. These are goals that are hard for some people, and they are things that some people remain against because they are set in their ways. However, if you truly want to be a good leader, you'll be able to find ways to grow as a person, which is all going to reflect in your team leadership.
As a team leader, you never want to stop learning and growing. Each step you make in your own personal development will help you in your leadership goals, and a leader that never stops developing means the strongest team imaginable.
About The Author:
Jim Biscardi is owner of Dynamic Wealth Systems, LLC and writes on a variety of subjects. To learn more about this topic Jim recommends you visit: http://www.DynamicWealthSystems.com
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.
The idea of creating a valuable team leadership role within yourself is something that you probably strive for on a regular basis. You want to make sure that everyone knows you are a team player, but also a team leader, because the best team leaders are able to do this without appearing like they know everything. Modesty goes hand in hand with leadership, and perhaps this is something that you just happen to be good at. However, you should know that no matter how good of a team leader you are, there is much that you can benefit from, including personal development.
You might believe that you are as developed of a person that you are going to be. You probably went to school to learn all of the things that you know, and you have probably practiced your leadership skills with much success. You probably also feel that what kind of person you are outside of work has nothing to do with what kind of leader you are. However, all of these things are false. The type of person that you are outside of work is very important to your ability to be a team leader, and no matter how much you about leadership, you will always be able to benefit from personal development.
Personal development on your part means that you are able to think outside of the box when it comes to various things. A person who is working on their personal development is allowing themselves to grow and change with the times, and is always leaning new skills to deal with the various factors that might come up which might affect how they lead their team. A person with good personal development realizes that they are never truly developed as a person, and they much always allow themselves to change and grow.
Part of being a real and true leader is knowing that the skill set and the goals that you have at the present moment are not always going to be what you need. Sometimes you have to learn new ways to do things, and sometimes you have to learn things that are the opposite of what you might believe in. These are goals that are hard for some people, and they are things that some people remain against because they are set in their ways. However, if you truly want to be a good leader, you'll be able to find ways to grow as a person, which is all going to reflect in your team leadership.
As a team leader, you never want to stop learning and growing. Each step you make in your own personal development will help you in your leadership goals, and a leader that never stops developing means the strongest team imaginable.
About The Author:
Jim Biscardi is owner of Dynamic Wealth Systems, LLC and writes on a variety of subjects. To learn more about this topic Jim recommends you visit: http://www.DynamicWealthSystems.com
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.
Team Building – Never Use A Sledgehammer To Guide The Ship
When it comes to team building, what kind of leader are you?
If you are the team leader in your company let me be the first to congratulate you. The role you possess is a difficult one to establish and even harder to perpetuate, but it can be an exceptionally gratifying position to hold.
You are saddled with the task of managing staff, customers, vendors and business associates. These four groups are the short list of team building for business. So much depends on your ability to effectively bring this team together and keep it together or replace internal team members as needed with new staff who have the same goal oriented approach required for long term business success.
You must be an equal mixture of diplomat, coach, counselor and cheerleader. You are charged with carrying the torch for the team and they look to the light you carry and follow the path you forge.
If you are involved in the process of building a team of employees don't allow your vision to be too small. Take the idea of team building beyond the walls of your business to all those you deal with in the fulfillment of your vision for the company. A vision caster is always an interesting individual to follow.
It is easy to look at the job of team building and consider a dogmatic approach to 'whip' the staff into shape. However, Marry Poppins said it very well when she sang, "A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down." A little grace in the workplace can go a long way in managing blunders and endearing the staff to yourself.
When you are dogmatic in your approach to management you can take someone that may want to be on your side and resign them to the role of diplomatic adversary. What I mean by that is that when you criticize and complain about an employee they may remain in your employ simply because they feel they have no better option, but they may remove themselves from the roster of active team players.
These employees are often the ones who will talk negatively about you to other employees when you are not around. They will repay criticism with criticism and it has to potential of poisoning the entire team.
If, as a team leader, you need to be firm about something you should do so in the context of guidance through encouragement. Suggestions for team members might be best phrased in questions so the employee comes to a conclusion on a better way of handling an issue on their own while you simply ask leading questions instead of demanding immediate conformity.
No one on your team is a throwaway player. You need everyone on your team and you need everyone to move in the same direction. This will always work better when the team leader uses a rudder to guide the ship instead of a sledgehammer to get the crew's attention. One gets you to your destination while the other is liable to sink the ship.
About The Author:
Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites at: http://www.highpowersites.com or BuildAGreatSite at: http://www.buildagreatsite.com. Start your own ebook business with BooksWealth at: http://www.bookswealth.com
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.
If you are the team leader in your company let me be the first to congratulate you. The role you possess is a difficult one to establish and even harder to perpetuate, but it can be an exceptionally gratifying position to hold.
You are saddled with the task of managing staff, customers, vendors and business associates. These four groups are the short list of team building for business. So much depends on your ability to effectively bring this team together and keep it together or replace internal team members as needed with new staff who have the same goal oriented approach required for long term business success.
You must be an equal mixture of diplomat, coach, counselor and cheerleader. You are charged with carrying the torch for the team and they look to the light you carry and follow the path you forge.
If you are involved in the process of building a team of employees don't allow your vision to be too small. Take the idea of team building beyond the walls of your business to all those you deal with in the fulfillment of your vision for the company. A vision caster is always an interesting individual to follow.
It is easy to look at the job of team building and consider a dogmatic approach to 'whip' the staff into shape. However, Marry Poppins said it very well when she sang, "A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down." A little grace in the workplace can go a long way in managing blunders and endearing the staff to yourself.
When you are dogmatic in your approach to management you can take someone that may want to be on your side and resign them to the role of diplomatic adversary. What I mean by that is that when you criticize and complain about an employee they may remain in your employ simply because they feel they have no better option, but they may remove themselves from the roster of active team players.
These employees are often the ones who will talk negatively about you to other employees when you are not around. They will repay criticism with criticism and it has to potential of poisoning the entire team.
If, as a team leader, you need to be firm about something you should do so in the context of guidance through encouragement. Suggestions for team members might be best phrased in questions so the employee comes to a conclusion on a better way of handling an issue on their own while you simply ask leading questions instead of demanding immediate conformity.
No one on your team is a throwaway player. You need everyone on your team and you need everyone to move in the same direction. This will always work better when the team leader uses a rudder to guide the ship instead of a sledgehammer to get the crew's attention. One gets you to your destination while the other is liable to sink the ship.
About The Author:
Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites at: http://www.highpowersites.com or BuildAGreatSite at: http://www.buildagreatsite.com. Start your own ebook business with BooksWealth at: http://www.bookswealth.com
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.
Team Building – The Choice Of Champions
Many workers tend to look at the job as simply a means of funding what they enjoy doing on the weekend (when they are no longer at work). Employment is relegated to the lowly position of simply paying bills while carving out just enough time to enjoy some time away from work on occasion.
What if work could be more than that? What if work did not feel have to feel like work? For some people this scenario is true.
A story has been told about a truck driver who appreciated the money involved in over-the-road trucking, but struggled with the many hours behind the wheel. He had been partnered up with an older driver who never complained about getting behind the wheel and even seemed to enjoy the many hours of driving. The young driver felt as if his partner actually seemed more invigorated the longer he drove and could never understand why.
When his curiosity could no longer stand it the young man asked for the secret the old man had that allowed him to withstand the rigors of over-the-road travel. The old man looked at the younger man with a smile and said, "You went to work this morning while I took a ride in the country."
The older man learned a valuable secret. Every day you get to choose your attitude.
If you have employees who come to work, watch the clock and are ready to leave long before the day is up perhaps you can help them rethink work. It could be these employees are not enjoying their work and that can and should be addressed, or it could be they are filling a position that is not well suited to their skills. However, it could also be that the employee has simply never considered the joy involved in actually doing work.
The truth is you can't actually enjoy work if you have made a conscious decision not to enjoy it. As a business owner you can help your staff learn skills that make them better employees and essentially allow them to enjoy what they do
1) Each employee has a choice to make about how they respond to work. They can have negative attitudes and be clock-watchers or they can be productive and find themselves surprised when the workday has come to an end. They can even look forward to a new day of employment.
2) By finding the right fit in a career employees can tap into their own personal passion for the work they do and it becomes something much greater than a job.
If you have a team member who seems to be borderline you should do everything you can to invite them to join in the fun that work can be. They will likely resist at first and feel as though those who are having fun are living a lie. However, for those whose perspectives have been altered the difference is compelling and will be noticed by other team members as well as customers.
About The Author:
Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites at: http://www.highpowersites.com or BuildAGreatSite at: http://www.buildagreatsite.com. Start your own ebook business with BooksWealth at: http://www.bookswealth.com
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.
What if work could be more than that? What if work did not feel have to feel like work? For some people this scenario is true.
A story has been told about a truck driver who appreciated the money involved in over-the-road trucking, but struggled with the many hours behind the wheel. He had been partnered up with an older driver who never complained about getting behind the wheel and even seemed to enjoy the many hours of driving. The young driver felt as if his partner actually seemed more invigorated the longer he drove and could never understand why.
When his curiosity could no longer stand it the young man asked for the secret the old man had that allowed him to withstand the rigors of over-the-road travel. The old man looked at the younger man with a smile and said, "You went to work this morning while I took a ride in the country."
The older man learned a valuable secret. Every day you get to choose your attitude.
If you have employees who come to work, watch the clock and are ready to leave long before the day is up perhaps you can help them rethink work. It could be these employees are not enjoying their work and that can and should be addressed, or it could be they are filling a position that is not well suited to their skills. However, it could also be that the employee has simply never considered the joy involved in actually doing work.
The truth is you can't actually enjoy work if you have made a conscious decision not to enjoy it. As a business owner you can help your staff learn skills that make them better employees and essentially allow them to enjoy what they do
1) Each employee has a choice to make about how they respond to work. They can have negative attitudes and be clock-watchers or they can be productive and find themselves surprised when the workday has come to an end. They can even look forward to a new day of employment.
2) By finding the right fit in a career employees can tap into their own personal passion for the work they do and it becomes something much greater than a job.
If you have a team member who seems to be borderline you should do everything you can to invite them to join in the fun that work can be. They will likely resist at first and feel as though those who are having fun are living a lie. However, for those whose perspectives have been altered the difference is compelling and will be noticed by other team members as well as customers.
About The Author:
Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites at: http://www.highpowersites.com or BuildAGreatSite at: http://www.buildagreatsite.com. Start your own ebook business with BooksWealth at: http://www.bookswealth.com
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.
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