KateNasser.com

Six months ago, a leader described this dilemma to me:

A team member who produced results with the other team members had fallen very ill. Let’s call this team member “Reach”.

When the leader approached the team members for a show of empathy, cards, flowers, and other help for “Reach”, many team members quietly avoided the subject and some clearly declined the outreach. The leader was shocked to learn that the team members saw Reach as a self-serving opportunist.

The concerned leader asked me to speak with the team members to learn more about the situation, what he had missed, and how to lead better in the future.

I agreed and asked the leader to think about his definition of teamwork in the interim.

Inside the Team Members’ Perspective

1. Reach was well-known for saying things like: “Always associate with people better than you to achieve success.” The team members wondered who Reach was referring to? Meanwhile, they perceived Reach overlooking them while always (metaphorically) looking up.




2. Reach helped himself grow — he didn’t help others to grow. He was also well-known for saying, “people give and help because they want to. They shouldn’t expect anything in return.”




3. Did they ever speak to the leader about Reach’s attitude? Two team members reported they had separately spoken to the leader who refocused the discussion on Reach’s work contribution and results. As they compared notes of the leader’s outlook — which they shared with the rest of the team — they felt is was futile to mention it again.




4. How had they been able to produce results with Reach while having these negative feelings? Interestingly, they had completely shut out personal feelings for Reach and focused purely on work results.




5. When the leader approached them for empathy, cards, flowers and other help for Reach, they were shocked. They had accepted the leader’s results only focus and said they felt both confused and betrayed by his call for personal help for Reach — when neither Reach nor the leader had cared about them. They asked me: What is the leader’s definition of teamwork? Getting the job done or caring for and helping each other to get the job done?

I reported my findings to the leader (without identifying who said what). He was stunned. I asked him for his definition of teamwork?

He told me he always believed that teamwork included caring and helping each other to grow.

When I asked him about his results focus with Reach, he confessed he didn’t know what else to do when the team members came to him about Reach’s attitude.

He didn’t see himself as a psychologist and quickly fell back on a traditional results only focus.


People-Skills & Leadership Lessons Learned?

---

Results only focus has at least one benefit and one risk. The short term benefit is clear. The risk is blindness to plummeting morale that can affect future work results.

Fear can mesmerize and stop a leader from growing. The team members had courageously approached the leader; the leader panicked in fear and took the easy way out.

Awareness and listening are critical leadership skills. Reach was well-known for saying things that this leader never caught. Even if Reach hadn’t said them in front of the leader, team members reported it to him.

It isn’t enough for a leader to let the team define teamwork. The leader must contribute to the definition. The leader is part of the team. The leader’s expectations of teamwork are critical in difficult times.

If you truly believe in a results only focus, be clear and consistent about it. You will attract team members who believe in it and work well with it. You may lose others who believe attitude impacts morale yet they wouldn’t likely last on your team anyway.

---

What Do You Think?

-What other lessons do you glean from this dilemma filled story?

-What does it leave you wondering? What other leadership questions does it raise?

-Are you concerned that you will lose high performing team members if you include more than just results in the definition of teamwork?


From my professional experience to your success,
Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach™

Related Post: Leaders, 10 Essential Thoughts to Proficient People Skills

©2012 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. If you want to re-post or republish this post, please first email info@katenasser.com for terms of use. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.

---

Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on customer service & experience, teamwork, and leading change. Kate turns interaction obstacles into business success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.

Leaders, you and your direct reports have great impact on attracting and keeping top talent. Though you might think it’s only about the money, it isn’t.

There are many behaviors that drive talent away. Talent includes full time employees, contractors, consultants, and even suppliers.

You as leaders and your directors and managers can attract and retain top talent by replacing behaviors that secretly repel them.

Image by: Dee_Gee via Creative Commons License


Behaviors repel talent for any of three reasons:

---

QL: They seriously reduce quality of life or
BS: They make it unnecessarily difficult to succeed or
$$: They indirectly cost the talent money.


Replace These 5 Behaviors to Attract Top Talent

1. Highly disorganized or uncertain. Top talent blossoms when leaders set a clear vision. Wandering through a disorganized morass when deadlines loom, leaves talent wondering if success is possible. They envision more attractive opportunities and yearn for success. Replace disorganization and uncertainty with valuable vision.




2. Negativity. Top talent wants to hear what is possible. They feed off of a reality of belief, ideas, and action. Negativity drains their spirit for they see it as unnecessary difficulty. Replace this drain with energy and a call to action.




3. Perfectionism. Top talent see this as a triple whammy. It always comes across as unnecessary stress, it reduces the quality of their work life, and it costs them money. How? By reducing the time they can spend learning or accomplishing other valuable tasks or opportunities. Replace the scourge of perfectionism with the goal of excellence. What a difference!




4. Fear of failure. It produces behaviors that demoralize others. Even if you as leaders aren’t afraid, those that report to you may be. If you love to delegate, do it wisely. Replace delegation based on occupational skill with delegation based on inspirational leadership ability. Otherwise, top talent will move on to work with project managers and directors who aren’t stuck in fear.




5. Me-itis. Top talent tend to love a confident humble leader. Non-confident self-absorbed leaders drive top talent from the organization like a fire alarm. Replace the engineered comfort of me-itis with a belief in what the top talent can produce for the organization and thus for you.

Attracting top talent today is quite different than years ago. There was a time when casting doubt about a talent’s skill would make them work harder to prove you wrong and win out over other talent you are considering.

Though there is still some talent who respond that way, there is top talent who will walk away from you and toward positive inspirational leaders that embrace their talent.

Replace competition with collaboration and doubt with a coalition for success!

---

What other behaviors would you add to this list? What other leadership traits attract top talent?


From professional experience to your success,
Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach™

©2011 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. If you want to re-post or republish the content of this post, please first email info@katenasser.com for terms of use. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.

---

Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leading change, customer service, customer experience, and teamwork. She turns interaction obstacles into business success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.

Leaders, do you appoint someone the workplace pit bull believing it will make everyone more responsible and accountable? Let’s consider what workplace pit bulls do to accountability.

Image by:Vectorportal.com

The Story.
In a meeting with a brand new customer, one of my clients introduced herself to me as the one who pit bulls everyone. The boss had given her that responsibility believing it would make everyone more accountable.

I finished the engagement and for the first time turned down follow on business when they asserted the pit bull approach would remain. Her actions had few positive outcomes and many negative.


The Claim. Driving and pressuring people to the maximum creates accountability.


The Truth. Driving and pressuring people to the maximum creates a flurry of activity and fear of blame. It might create short term productivity but not accountability.


What Do Workplace Pit Bulls Do to Accountability?

1. Make team members very risk averse. They take the safe approach to avoid the pit bull’s bite. This has little to do with producing the quality outcome and is hardly accountable to the organization’s goals.




2. Breed a not my fault culture to avoid blame and punishment. This is the exact opposite of responsibility and accountability.




3. Stress people right out … of their knowledge. Have you ever been so stressed that you can’t even think? How can you be accountable to the organization’s goals if you can’t apply your knowledge, creativity, and critical thinking on a daily basis?




4. Reduce trust and respect. When a blame culture takes root, people begin to mistrust not only the pit bull but everyone around. Everyone covers their tracks instead of investing in true collaboration and teamwork to reach the organization’s goals. This is not accountability.




5. Demoralize team members. Workplace pit bulls may produce obedience yet it’s at the cost of morale, spirit, and the desire to be accountable.

Workplace pit bulls (or those who appoint them) are filled with fear of organizational failure and instill fear to prevent it. Ironic, isn’t it, that they can end up producing the very thing they wish to avoid — organizational failure!

---

Accountability does not foster this culture of fear and blame. It thrives in learning organizations that empower people within appropriate boundaries.

It rises out of honoring individual accomplishments as well as team successes. It both requires and engenders high levels of achievement by inspiring new possibilities and tapping the team’s current knowledge and ideas.

If you are a leader and aren’t seeing the performance and results you need from the teams, don’t seal your fate by confusing accountability and blame.

Blame won’t change their behavior; a change in your behavior will. Honestly assess your leadership style and make changes to produce change.

Inspire accountability in your teams. Don’t pit bull them into obedience.

---

What is the greatest approach you have ever used or witnessed that produced accountability? What resources will you recommend in the comments section below?


From my professional experience to your success,
Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach™

©2011 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. If you want to re-post or republish this post, please email info@katenasser.com. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.

Resource for Entrepreneurial Leaders: Something Needs to Change Around Here by Liz Weber, CMC.

---

Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on customer service, teamwork, and leading change to corporate teams. She turns interaction obstacles into business success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.

Non-intuitives and many technical professionals tell me that mastering the not so obvious aspects of people-skills (soft skills or interpersonal skills) is a real head scratcher. Where are the people-skills rules?

Scratch your head no more. If you have the desire to connect well with others, you can master and use these 15 not so obvious people-skills so that everything stacks up.

If you’re not sure why it matters, consider that people-skills impact comprehension, influence, and trust. All of that impact what you can achieve with others — the results.

15 People-Skills Must Knows (USA)

---

1. People cannot observe your intentions so they infer them from your words and tone of voice. State your intention to minimize confusion.




2. Everything you say impacts others emotionally. Even if you stick to the facts, your message leaves a human mark. Consider a doctor telling a patient “You have cancer” and then leaving the room. The lack of empathy inflicts extra pain.




3. Basic etiquette is a starting point for connection with others. Rules of etiquette are more relaxed today than years ago yet they are still a powerful base to rely on when meeting new people.




4. Ask people how they feel and/or what they think; don’t tell them “I’m sure you feel”. It shuts out dialogue and seems presumptuous.




5. Addressing someone by name (or at least surname or title), eases tension and helps communication. In the South, start with sir/ma’am.




6. A handshake is your silent resume. Make it great. If someone extends their hand to you, give them more than your finger tips. A “finger tip” shake tells the other person no, I don’t like you, I don’t trust you. Shake the hand all the way to the thumb joint, up and down, with eye contact.
   
   

7. Words can woo or wound. To succeed, create bonds with your words and tone of voice — not scars. Speak the truth with tact and caring. Blunt burns forever.




8. Sarcasm is often misunderstood especially in tough times. With those you don’t know well, skip the sarcasm. Leave it to the late night comics. With those you know well, don’t direct it at them. It is often seen as an attack.




9. Good questions unearth possibilities for connection, results, and success. Ask open-ended questions to learn; closed-ended to confirm. People who do well with others, ask more open-ended questions than closed and are thus seen as more open than closed.




10. Use focused words instead of minimizing words. For example, primarily is a focused word whereas just and only are minimizing words. “Are you just concerned about the deadline?” can minimize someone’s perspective and sound dismissive. “Are you primarily concerned about the deadline?” can fuel a valuable discussion. “What are your primary concerns?” is even better because it is open-ended and allows for true perspective.




11. Great listening is about balance. Too much silence or too much talking can be annoying. The former is also seen as manipulative, the latter as self-absorbed.




12. Ask permission to give help before offering advice. Else you may come across as intrusive and patronizing.




13. If someone thinks you have flattered them with your words or actions, don’t tell them you didn’t mean to! This is not the time to give literal details. It’s the time to simply say, you’re welcome.




14. One “I told you so” sticks forever. Even if you don’t use those words, the message becomes your blatant blemish. People will avoid interacting with you to spare themselves the emotional scourge. Celebrate your foresight silently.




15. Authenticity and adaptation are not contradictory behaviors. Today’s trend is to be your authentic self. Sure — as long as you adapt to others when interacting. Being yourself without adapting paints you as a boorish nit and earns you the label of selfish and/or self-absorbed.

---

What will keep you using these 15 people-skills? Desire and results, pure and simple. Lack of desire will inhibit your progress.

As I was teaching one day, a technical professional in the room showed high resistance. At break, I asked him privately if he wanted me to explain anything again or differently. He said no — that he understood. He doesn’t use the people-skills because “it’s just too much trouble! If people want his help, they will adapt to him.” Quite a decision. It will hold him back.

If you are not in a position of leadership yet strive to be, improving your people-skills will be essential. Here’s a related post — Leaders, Develop Your Intuition — to take you beyond the 15 people-skills must knows to even grander connections.


From my experience to your success,
Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach™

©2011 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. If you want to re-post or republish this post, please email info@katenasser.com. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.

---

Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach™, is a former techie (BS Mathematics) turned people-skills guru with a natural intuition about people. Her consultations, workshops, and coaching transform your primarily occupational focus into business success with leading change and great teamwork. From inspiration to action, Kate will help you fill the gaps of diversity with business wins. See this site for workshop info, customer results, and book Kate now.

A Story of Blindness from No Assumptions

Image by: Auntie P

Years back, at a dinner with research scientists, one asked me to describe some of my engagements so he could better understand my work.  When I mentioned a leadership team needing more effective meeting agendas, communication and collaboration, he quipped:

---

“Agendas. Wow. That’s something.

Next week you can invent minutes.”

---

Many laughed. In spite of the barb, I chuckled too — at what this intelligent scientist didn’t know. Common wisdom isn’t always commonly used.

Common wisdom, e.g. use an agenda, is impacted by uncommon views. These views can be unstated and strong.  Overlook the unstated uncommon views and they will live as hidden assumptions that can strangle the organization’s success.

To counteract this, leaders have added “question assumptions” to best practices, quality programs, and effective meeting techniques.  Yet the more common the wisdom, the less likely we are to even think that someone is viewing it differently.

---

To question assumptions about uncommon views of common wisdom, we must first believe that someone would have an uncommon view!

---

The research scientist noted above never considered that anyone would question the value of a meeting agenda. He was blinded by his own view. Yet in his daily work, this scientist searches for the unknown and uncommon.


How can we unearth uncommon views and assumptions when our view blinds us to the possibility?


#1 Know Where to Look.
Uncommon views are often found in personality type, previous experience, occupational culture and between generations. On my client’s team, personality type differences were causing the struggle over whether to use an agenda. Some felt empowered by it, others felt constrained.


#2 Know When It Is Likely to Happen.
In settings with many different personality types, experiences, occupational cultures and generations. For example, if technical and non-technical people are interacting, you will find hidden uncommon views. Draw them out and turn silos into success.

In times of great pressure or great change. Although many people get more vocal under pressure, they don’t clarify their assumptions. They express their opinions yet they leave much hidden. Uncover the hidden and move people from pressure to progress.


#3 Spot the Telltale Signs of Hidden Views.
Discussion with no progress. If wheels are spinning, something hidden is holding you back.

Frustration rising for no apparent reason. Find the reason in the hidden assumptions.

Conversations that don’t flow. Ever been in a meeting where you don’t understand how one comment connects to another? Hidden views and assumptions are in full swing. Identify them and watch your meeting results turn from mediocre to meteoric!

---

Uncommon views of common wisdom can be helpful to you and your organization — as long as you know they are there.

What would you add to this list of how to discover hidden assumptions? What have you discovered?

Here’s to clearer vision and success!
Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach


©2011 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. If you want to re-post or republish this post, please email info@katenasser.com. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.

---

Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach, delivers coaching, workshops, keynotes, and DVDs that turn interaction obstacles into interpersonal success for collaboration, teamwork, customer service, and leading change. See this site for workshop outlines and customer results. Fill the gaps of diversity with business wins!

Communication is the vehicle of innovative collaboration. Words can sink or stimulate innovative collaboration and teamwork.

Here are 5 real life examples of collaboration sinkers turned into stimulants with great people-skills for outstanding results.

Whether these are said live in a meeting, on a virtual conference call, or online in email/chat, change them from presuming to exploring and from limiting to expanding.

Turn 5 Collaboration Sinkers into Stimulants

1. Sinker: “The question should be …”. The word should suggests that the person who posed it, is wrong, ignorant or off base. This offense can limit collaboration.

   Stimulant: “What if we asked …”. By providing an alternate question with what if, you explore and expand without limiting others’ contributions.




2. Sinker: “Don’t you think …”. Nothing great ever comes after this phrase because it is a statement masquerading as a question.

   Stimulant: “What do you think about …” opens dialogue and true listening.




3. Sinker: “Relax, calm down …”. When people work together, respect for individual styles is critical to the trust needed for collaboration.

   Stimulant: Accept diverse styles to stimulate collaboration.




4. Sinker: “Don’t take me where I don’t want to go”. Often said by leaders when extremely different ideas emerge. It sinks collaboration because it sounds directive.

   Stimulant: Establish the parameters and criteria up front so that all can work knowledgeably within them.




5. Sinker: “We have already finalized. Why are you bringing up new ideas?”

   Stimulant: This is a common collaboration conflict between doers (aka implementers) and innovators. To foster innovative collaboration, try “Given the deadline and parameters, shall we proceed with this plan and use that idea in the next revision?”

When do these sinkers emerge?
Perhaps when people …

are results driven

feel insecure or threatened

are on a dysfunctional team with issues

lack effective leadership

face unrealistic deadlines

Being aware of these and other difficult conditions empowers each of us to watch for sinkers and replace them with stimulants — for outstanding collaborative results.

Yours in service,
Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach™


©2011 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. If you want to re-post or republish this post, please email info@katenasser.com. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.

---

Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, workshops, keynotes, and DVDs that turn interaction obstacles into interpersonal success for customer service, collaboration, teamwork, and leading change. Fill the gaps of diversity with business wins! See this site for workshops outlines and customer results.

Collaboration expands everyone’s greatness when they all seek opportunities and are not opportunists. Whether an entrepreneur, a corporate employee, a leader of a business or corporate team, an educator, a student, or a non-profit volunteer – we all reap the benefits of collaboration when we contribute at least as much we take.

Opportunists build their own success while seeming to help others. On the surface the appearance is one of collaboration; you will see it is superficial by (ironically) looking deeper. Why think about this? If you encounter opportunists, why not just avoid them in the future?

Collaboration is powerful mechanism for success. It also requires trust, belief, giving and confidence in others. Opportunists betray the trust through manipulation with often hidden ulterior motives. This impacts future collaboration, teamwork and morale.

It changes the dynamic in sometimes unidentifiable ways. You only know that things are not the same. Collaboration and teamwork are not as dynamic, natural, or successful. Mistrust and feelings of foolishness have taken root.

Preserve the Purity of Collaboration

Give yourself permission to be on the lookout for opportunists. It doesn’t mean you are a cynic. You can collaborate as an optimistic realist and keep your radar tuned for signals.

If you are a leader, define with your team the difference between a collaborator and an opportunist.  Of course make sure you are the former!   Build a culture of collaboration through initial discussions, modeling the behavior, monitoring progress, and making changes.

Cut opportunists if they are unwilling to authentically collaborate.  This is tough decision for some if the opportunists are contributing results while the impact of their manipulation is less tangible.

If an opportunist has stung you, don’t leave the stinger in. Learn the signals to avoid being stung again. Life is learning so learn from it. Discover your inner strength to recover from bad times. Go forward and create success with authentic collaborators.

Tune Up Your Radar to Spot Opportunists

It is the pattern of behavior that defines an opportunist — not any one moment. Spot the pattern to avoid cynicism.

Opportunists …

1. Give half-baked praise or promotion of your contributions.
2. Compliment you personally or ask about your personal well being while ignoring your occupational pursuits and professional contributions.
3. Sometimes, not always, they take credit for your thoughts and ideas.
4. Take more than they give. They accept help from authentic collaborators when the focus is on them or their work and contribute the minimum for apperances when it isn’t.

What else would you add to this pattern list?

What other implications are there for having opportunists on your team?

What ambiguity or confusion do you experience in spotting the difference between collaborators and opportunists?

---

Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach, delivers workshops, consultations, and keynotes to take you and your teams from inspiration to action. Corporate teams, mid-size businesses, and governmental agencies have achieved more success with Kate’s insight and experience in teamwork, leading change, customer relations, and communication within diversity.

Leadership, teamwork, sales, and customer relations hinge on great people skills and communication. Most business owners and corporate leaders agree that it is the great questions that develop rapport, build understanding, and unearth solutions and ideas. True — except questions that don’t ask.

Statements that masquerade as questions — that don’t ask but rather tell — are a true people skills killer.

Replace Questions That Tell with Those That Ask

1. Don’t you think … ? At best this question sounds like you don’t want to hear opinions and at worst comes across as passive aggressive or accusatory.  This is a people skills killer.
   The simple change to what do you think increases rapport and understanding.




2. Why don’t you …? Generally what follows is a statement of what you want the other person to do.  It also puts the other person on the defensive.  This is a people skills killer.
   People will respect you more when you state your ideas as a suggestion.  “Here’s one idea … what do you think?”




3. Wouldn’t it be better …? This question is actually a statement “I think it would be better …” posed as a question.  Although not as damaging as don’t you think, it still risks insulting the other person.  A people skills killer.
   Better to state your opinion and ask for opinions or combine the two with What if …? The latter doesn’t insult and invites other ideas.




4. Could you help me? Although it sounds harmless, it shrinks away from the true question “Will you help me? Show others you honor their choices by affording a true option to say yes/no.

Statements that masquerade as questions are people skills killers. They confuse, accuse, manipulate, and sometimes insult.

True questions honor others — even in disagreement. They communicate respect, openness, and a commitment to collaboration. Leadership, teamwork, sales, and customer relations gather momentum and dimension with true questions.

I think it’s well worth it. What do you think?


From professional experience to your success,
Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach™

©2011 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. If you want to re-post or republish the content of this post, please first email info@katenasser.com for terms of use. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.

---

Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leading change, customer service, customer experience, and teamwork. She turns interaction obstacles into business success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.

Great Teamwork: Competitive or Collaborative?

“Is great teamwork competitive or collaborative?”   This is the one question I still face after 20 years of team-building in corporations across diverse industries.  In today’s tough economy with great business challenges, the question is front and center once again.

It is popular right now to call for collaboration – in politics, in government, and in business.  Yet are your team members more frightened by the potential for job loss than they are inspired by success through collaboration? The old belief, knowledge is power, may be a hidden yet active virus affecting how far your teams go in collaboration.

Some tangible examples.  Which category on this list applies to you?

Sales Departments Your company wants to capture a new sector.  There is a learning curve involved.  Are your Sales Reps sharing knowledge learned with all the other reps to help the company reach its goal of capturing a new sector?  Or are they tempted to share less in a competitive team atmosphere to achieve individual sales goals?

Customer Service Solution Centers: Solution Centers and Help Desks are the front lines of service to customers and clients.  Customer satisfaction goes up the sooner the rep can accurately solve the problem.  When a rep receives a call s/he doesn’t know how to solve, do other reps freely offer their knowledge and creative problem solving?  Or do they focus on their own calls and follow-throughs to be ranked high in # of calls taken and closed?  Do you inspire knowledge sharing?

Project Teams: Years back in IT, I was on several project teams.  Many were collaborative because all the pieces had to fit together for the project to succeed.  Yet I recall two project teams where knowledge didn’t flow.  The reply instead was “Give that piece to me and I will do it.”  Those of us sharing knowledge spoke to our manager about this concern.  His response was: Well some people don’t like to share their knowledge.  His comment was a small revelation about his beliefs on teamwork.

As a leader, how can you assess whether your teams are more collaborative or competitive?

In your next team meeting, have team members discuss a current team issue which affects them individually and about which they have differing opinions. Have them come up with possible solutions.  Observe how they interact and what solutions they develop. It will give you insight on how they balance their individual needs vs. coming up with solutions that meet the team goal.  Are they more competitive or collaborative in their approach?  Would their solutions bring team success?  Did they meet your expectations for team collaboration or competition?

How can you unearth if the knowledge is power virus is alive on your teams?

Hold a “Food for Thought” symposium. In advance of this meeting, send out an invitation to each team member asking them to create a “menu” of 5 knowledge items they will share with the rest of the team. Purpose of the symposium: to strengthen everyone’s knowledge and performance.

• Item #1 should be a true “food” item they like to eat. For this item, they must outline what they like about the food, a very short history of that food, and how long they have eaten it. Have fun with this segment. It creates a positive environment and team interaction.
• Items #2-4 must be job related knowledge. Each team member takes turns presenting her/his menu and fielding questions.
  Observe the depth of knowledge team members share. Do some contribute only surface level knowledge? Or are most engaged in true knowledge sharing?

This Food for Thought symposium also builds awareness of who knows what for subsequent teamwork, can develop presentation skills, and connects a fun vibe to knowledge sharing.

You are welcome to share this info with other people, on other blogs, on other website, and in articles.  I ask only that you credit me as the source with URL link (www.smartpeopleskills.com) to continue sharing.

Discussion and Comments

So what is your philosophy of teamwork?  Teams use different approaches.  I would love to have your questions, comments, and perspectives here.  I encourage debate.  I ask only that it is civil.  Despite the online trend toward wild sometimes insulting exchanges, I think people can hear better when they are not insulted.

1. Does a competitive spirit between team members strengthen teamwork and morale?
2. Does individual competition between team members inspire them to work harder and smarter?
3. Would it be better to have a collaborative spirit to help each other rather than compete with each other on a team?
4. Are you seeing knowledge sharing on teams that are pressed to do more with less in this economy?

To receive updates on this post, click on the RSS feed.

Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach
Thanks for 20 years and counting …
MA Organizational Psychology
www.smartpeopleskills.com
908.595.1515