It's a Team Sport

One of the most successful motorsports company in NASCAR is Hendricks Motorsports. Currently the home of five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who is poised to make a run for a sixth championship, Hendrick's Motorsports is known as a team that depends on all its employees in order to succeed.

Even so, last year Rick Hendrick felt the need to do some switching around of personnel within some of the shops. Some teams he left together, some had crew chief changes.

A good leader knows when to make and changes and when to leave things alone. There is danger in resting on the laurels of a successful team, such as becoming complacent and not investing in leaders of the future. There is also danger in making constant changes, something creative leaders need to be careful about. Teams need time to adjust to changes and if you shake things up to often, they will become demotivate, thinking, "What does it matter? It'll change again next week."

You have to assess the state of your team from time to time, get their feedback, and evaluate their progress, not always by just watching numbers. Take that data, observation, and intuition and use it to make strategic, and timely changes when necessary so your team can regularly cross the finish line in prime form.

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Three Ways to Improve Your Listening Skills - When You Aren't a Good Listener

What's that you said?

I'm not a great listener. I'm sorry to admit that, but it's the truth. As a visionary, multi-tasker, fast-paced, creative person, I often miss the opportunity to truly engage deeply with others because my mind (and sometimes my mouth) are more likely to get active than my ears.

I hope there are others like me who feel the need to improve their listening skills. If so, listen up to these three tips on how to improve your listening skills when you aren't naturally good at it. (You great listeners out there can skip directly to the comments and tell us your pointers!)

Eliminate distractions. I may not be a deep listener, but I can pick up on a lot of stuff going on around me. While that can be a good skill (you need people on your team who can naturally sense the pulse of an organization), it can also cause me to get distracted. 

These days, we have made it even easier to be distracted with immediate access to email, texts, Facebook statuses, etc. Lately I've been making some changes to help eliminate distrations, These include turning off notifications for several items on my smartphone, dealing with work email when on work time and not giving out my work email address to any non-work-related contacts, listening to classical music when I am writing (I can't choose music with lyrics because that distracts me.) You can also reduce distractions visually by meeting with people in a private office and closing the door (a window is a good idea to maintain accountability with privacy--that's another subject.)

Practice. From time to time, put down the second or third task you are doing and simply engage in what is before you. Since social media became a big part of my life and business, I notice myself not even fully watching shows very often. Typically I'm scrolling through statuses or tweets while a TV show shows in the background. I need to reconsider how social media has reduced my attention span and practice taking in the conversation, play, movie, or whatever is before me.

Ask questions. Fight the urge to think about what you are going to say next. Instead, listen to what a person is saying and think of a question to ask them to draw out the facts or feelings even more. Examples include, "How did you feel after that?" "What happened next?"

Good listening is a wonderful skill but not everyone comes to it naturally. If you aren't one of the naturals, all is not lost. Improve by eliminating distractions, practicing and asking questions. Over time you will see improvement in how you engage with others.

Question: What do you do to help yourself listen more effectively?

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Questions to Invite Dialog with Your Team

“How do you think we are doing?"

How would your employees answer that question? Is the culture in your workplace such that they would feel comfortable sharing both the positive and negative issues? Or would they clam up, fearful of sharing openly?

To build a good team, you must invite dialog and provide a safe environment for it. Dialog begins with questions and is met with LISTENING. Leaders in particular need to develop their listening skills (speaking to myself here) so that their experience and intelligence don't get in the way of being open to other solutions. But listening will be dealt with in another blog post. For now, here are some questions to get you started in opening dialog with your team. Note that not all questions are directly related to work. That is on purpose. Your team mates are not robots...they have a life outside the workplace...they are people, not just workers. So try some of these questions to draw out your team.

What is the best thing that happened to you (outside of the workplace) this week?

What makes you feel most encouraged at work?

If we could change one thing about your workspace, what would it be? (Note how specific this is. Avoid asking what thing they would change about work as a whole. They may have several ideas and be afraid of being negative. Narrow it down to help them think more clearly.)

If I allowed you a $_______ budget for your department, to do with what you wanted, what would you try?

Which one of our policies seems most outdated to you?

What new thing did you learn personally in the last three months?

If we planned a staff field trip, where would you like to go?

If money were no object, what would you want to see the company do long-term?

What perk could we add to our benefits package that would help you the most?

Do you feel we are living up to our stated company values in day-to-day practice?

This is by no means exhaustive. What other questions can you come up with? Share in the comments below!

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Do You Change Your Oil Regularly?

I'm married to an auto technician. Keith knows the value of doing a regular oil change on a vehicle. After a number of miles, oil begins to get dirty, fluids go down, and an engine doesn't run at peak efficiency. Gas mileage goes down and the life of the car may be shortened.

It's the same way with the professional development for members of your team. Unfortunately, with a tight economy, professional development can be one of the first budgeted items to cut. It can seem hard to justify the cost of a class or conference when profits have gone down or income is low. But there are ways to continue to develop your team while keeping costs down. Here are a few ideas:

Read a book together. Select a recommended business book and assign a reading and discussion schedule.

Watch a webinar. Have your teammates enroll in an online webinar on a particular topic. It's even better if the webinar is offered multiple times so your employees can choose what works best for them. (Set a deadline for completion of the seminar.) Discuss the topic as a group over box lunches.

Encourage networking. If there is a professional organization for  your industry that has a local chapter, encourage your employees (particularly support staff who can feel neglected when it comes to professional development) to get involved. Often these local meetings are inexpensive and a great opportunity to learn. (I'll be speaking to an organization for legal professionals in February, for example, in my own city.)

Check into local training. You may not be able to afford to send all your team members to an out of town conference, but there may be a local training center that offers classes on computer skills, work relationships, writing, etc.

Bring in a speaker. Partner with one or two other organizations to bring in a speaker on a topic that would help all of you. This could be less expensive than sending all your employees away yet still give a sense of "newness." For example, HOPE Unlimited (sponsors of this blog) offers several seminar topics that can be customized for your team needs and budget.

Think outside the box. Professional development doesn't have to be restricted just to your own industry. Consider generic but valuable topics such as wellness, CPR, proofreading skills, or financial skills training (i.e. budgeting) that can improve your employee's quality of life and have positive effects on your workplace culture. Sprinkle in a seminar or field trip "just for fun," such as visiting a local museum or having a cooking class.

Keep professional development a priority. By regularly instituting "required" professional development opportunities, and even rewarding those who attend, your employees will feel cared for and you will experience a more effective and positive workplace culture. This, in turn, can build your bottom line...whatever that may be!

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Keith and I would love to come work with your team, to build better relationships and productivity. Contact us about our DISC assessments, workshops, and consultations.

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Relational Assumptions

"Oh, it will be fine. She won't mind." Have you ever said that? Have you assumed that a friend would, for example, welcome another person to come along for lunch? That a coworker doesn't mind when you run ten minutes late regularly? Think again.

You have unique relationships with every individual in your life. You are close to some friends and co-workers, pleasant with others, and perhaps even at odds with others. Some of the challenges that can occur in relationships (at home, work and in the community) happen when assumptions are made. So keep the following in mind as you relate with others.

How would you describe this person’s personality? Some people have a "the more the merrier" attitude about life and it may be safe to assume they don't mind others joining in the fun. Try not to assume their willingness every time you make plans though. Other personalities are thrown off when plans are changed or unexpected guests arrive.

Have I been listening to them? Sometimes we get to know people well enough that we start tuning out their thoughts and feelings, thinking we already know how they will respond. However, they may be changing as they grow or face different circumstances. So always listen attentively.

Am I asking questions? Rather than assume, as in our example, that is okay to invite others to an activity to which you have been invited, why not just ask? "Would you mind if others joined us?" can help avoid assumptions and hard feelings.

Am I being flexible? Take a look at your own personality and tendencies. Do you want things a certain way and feel out of sorts when it doesn't go your way? We feel more strongly about certain things than we admit sometimes. I have had that happen. Often, there is no need to strongly react. If I do, and examine my heart, it may be from a place of pride or fear.

Avoiding assumptions goes a long way toward protecting relationships. Even if someone's behavior is predictable, never assume something more isn't going on in their lives. It is better to ask questions and communicate rather than make assumptions, even with people you know well.

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Teambuilding Activity: Scavenger Hunt

Have a creative person on your team develop a scavenger hunt or quiz based on facts about your organization. This works well, for example, if you work in a building that holds a lot of history, but you can do it with any situation.

Hand out or email questions and have a deadline for turning them in, and schedule a little party for giving out prizes for the most answers correct, or fastest completion of the quiz.

If you want to be a little more elaborate, set up clues around your building, town, or city and have people work in teams to get to a final destination. You can be waiting at a restaurant or rented room with a special treat to congratulate the employees as they finish.

The goal in this game is three-fold. First, if well-researched, it will provide information about your company and location that will educate your employees. Secondly, it will sharpen your teams' thinking skills. Lastly, it will be fun. Fun companies retain good, devoted employees which has a positive affect on your culture and bottom line. That's a win-win for everyone.

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