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 October 2007 Insights
e-zine Volume V, Issue 6
©
2007-All
rights reserved ISSN
1551-4234 Library of Congress
Goals InSight, Inc.
Facilitation &
Workshops for Organizational Team Building, Goal Setting and Business
Strategy!
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A Few Notes From Cheryl
Happy
Halloween! In the spirit of this fun holiday coming up, I
encourage you to be "real" with your team and not hide
behind any masks (except for October 31, of course!) - see this month's
feature article.
Taking it to the
next level: Many of you know that I
completed my coaching training and certification years ago, so I wanted
you to know that I also just completed the next level of certification
with the International Coach Federation, which is the PCC (Professional
Certified Coach) designation. I take this profession seriously
and want you to know that we at Goals InSight are continually looking
for ways to improve and enhance the quality of our programs for
you. This designation is just one example, since it is not a
requirement of the industry. Thanks to those of you who were open
to contact by the ICF!
Next month: Look for
an exciting new newsletter format in November, as it is being worked on
right now. I think you'll like the changes, so stay tuned!
Warmest regards,
Cheryl
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Feature Article: Are Your
Team's Agreements Promoting "Real" Dialogue, or Hiding Behind
"Masks"?
Halloween is this month, where many adults (oh yes, and kids!) dress up
in costumes and masks to disguise their identity on October 31 in
celebration of this
holiday. But, donning masks is not just limited to Halloween...
Team Masks
When I first begin work with a team, I often find that many team
members don "masks" that they hide behind in their communications and
interactions with their team members. In other words, they are
often afraid to be "real" with their colleagues - they are afraid to
speak their true thoughts/feelings because it might create conflict, or
because their organizational culture supports "sugar coating the truth"
instead. Or, sometimes team members don't feel that they can
safely speak these truths for other reasons, so they hide behind a mask
of not speaking up at all, which seems less risky to them. I
typically find that this hiding comes from teams who do not currently
have any
written team agreements about how they will communicate and interact
with each other, and sometimes I also work with teams who have
"unwritten agreements" where they have never talked about it but have
basically agreed to never speak about issues that could cause conflict.
Real/Robust Team
Dialogue: See behind the masks
By comparison, when I work with teams who have created explicit
agreements with
each other regarding how their team will interact and communicate with
each
other, those team members are much more likely to be REAL with their
colleagues - they speak their true thoughts and feelings, and know that
their voices will be heard, because the team has created agreements
that support a "safe space" for those diverse opinions and thoughts to
be discussed/explored. Whether you refer to these types of
communications as "robust dialogue," "speaking about the elephants in
the room" or something else, we're talking about the same thing --
speaking up about issues or concerns that are impacting the team.
Most Sustainable
and High-Performing Teams
From a team dynamics perspective, this place of being "real" and
proactively encouraging discussions regarding issues may be
perceived as conflict - but is actually the most healthy place for a
team.
Why? Because a team that has enough trust, respect, camaraderie
and the ability to navigate conflict is a team that will get results
and will also be sustainable, because they have a solid foundation to
do so. By contrast, teams who are not able to have these types of
discussions often are not sustainable. They are simply not able
to rise to that "higher level" to yield the results that they could,
because their performance is hindered by the limited dynamics they have
become mired in; thus, they are not
performing at their optimal level.
Think about your personal life. Are the more meaningful and
effective relationships that you have the ones where you keep the
discussion at a high level and don't talk about things that are truly
important to you? Or, are the more meaningful relationships that
you have the ones where you talk about very important aspects of
your life (including your deepest feelings) and really challenge each
other to be better people? In my life, I appreciate and encourage
people to challenge me so that I can learn more about myself and
continue growing to be the best person I can be in this lifetime.
The same is true with teams. The more your team challenges each
other to learn and grow and bring up whatever is on their mind, the
more successful they will be and the longer they will be able to
maintain success.
Here are some
questions and tips for you/ your team to explore:
- What does your
team typically experience in the categories above - "Masks" or
"Real/Robust Dialogue"? Think back to your three
most recent team meetings. Were team members holding back, or
"sugar coating" their words? Or, were they speaking about what
was really on their minds? And, if team members were speaking
their minds, how was the rest of the team responding - were team
members encouraging more dialogue and trying to get a better
understanding of the diverse opinions, or were they trying to shut down
the discussion?
- If your team
typically lives in the "Masks" world, what do they need to be able to
move into "Real/Robust Dialogue" more often? If your team
does not already have team agreements for their interactions and how
they will handle conflict, this is the place to start. Creating
team agreements should be a carefully facilitated discussion that
includes all of the aspects above plus much more, so that the team
creates as much
openness among team members as possible and has clear parameters for
moving forward (including accountability to their agreements).
If your team already has
team agreements and is still living in "Masks," then your team's
agreements need to be updated to specifically incorporate how they will
handle issues of potential conflict. Your team may also need some
help with conflict resolution skill building and practice, so be sure
to look at
- Do they know HOW to work through conflicts and are just not doing it?
or
- Do they need to learn the skills to work through conflict? (honestly,
this is what I see more often than not, which is why we often teach
teams how to work through issues)
- How is your
team using its agreements? Once your team creates its
agreements, there are many ways to integrate this into daily work
life. For example, I am working with a team in Rancho Cordova, CA
who printed out a poster size version of their team agreements and each
team member signed the agreements as their commitment, and then the
entire poster was framed and mounted in their workspace as a reminder
of their commitments to each other! Another team I am working
with in Burlingame, CA reads their team agreements prior to every
meeting, and when a team member breaks an agreement, pays a monetary
fine. There are many more examples of how different teams work
with their agreements, but the important thing is that the agreements
are
(a) Created and "owned" by the team, and
(b) Reviewed regularly, and
(c) Monitored/supported by team members who speak up when they see an
agreement being broken.
- What obstacles
are preventing your team from implementing these tips
above? It is important to
have candid conversations with your team about the specific things
that are getting in the way of your team being more effective in their
communications and interactions. By taking the time to explore
these ideas with your team NOW, your team is much more likely to be
more effective now and in the future!
Your team's success is our priority, so if your team needs assistance
with any aspect of the process outlined above, let us know and we can
explore how
we can
support you. Feel free to
contact us at (510) 482-8979 or info@goalsinsight.com - we
welcome your inquiry to explore what you need!
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Upcoming
Workshops
Public
Workshops (private/corporate events are not listed here)
Tuesday,
November 27,
2007 6:45 to 8:15 pm
"Communication
Skills for Excellence at Home and at Work!"
Learn the tools needed to enhance your
communication skills so that you can be more effective with your team
at work as well as your friends/family at home. By the end of
this seminar, you will have specific "next steps" designed to make sure
your messages are being received in the way you intended at work and at
home.
See details: http://www.goalsinsight.com/speaking.html
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Team
Building Events and Off-Site Meetings:
Could your team use some help to be more cohesive?
Is it time to enhance your team's relationships and
productivity?
Now is the time to
plan for Q4 2007 and Q1 2008 meetings!
Some teams know that something isn't working, but they don't know
exactly what that is or how to improve it. Some organizations
hold team building
seminars and employee retreats because they know it's time to enhance
their teams'
productivity and relationships. Do either of those statements
describe you/your team? If so, and if you
haven't already contacted us to discuss your needs, feel free to give
us a call to see if we can help you.
We offer a variety of programs to enhance the performance of your teams
as well as improve the ways in which your teams interact, so we invite
you to visit http://www.goalsinsight.com/programs/team_training.html
. This is a great
way to
show appreciation for your team and enhance their productivity,
thereby improving the bottom line for your organization!
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About Goals InSight, Inc.
Goals InSight, Inc. helps organizations
achieve their desired
results in the following ways - click on any of the links for details:
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