Three Ways to Build Accountability in Your Team

Effective teams are accountable to each other for completion of their part of projects and for communicating how initiatives stand. Here are three ways to build team accountability. Be accountable yourself. As a leader, set the example. Commit to your teammates that certain tasks will be done by a particular date, and then follow through. Communicate regularly. Set up a recurring team meeting (live or virtual) and/or utilize group communication tools online or via email for communicating progress. For example, I work part time for a firm and we have a weekly staff meeting where we give updates on our responsibilities. Knowing I will be giving a report can keep me motivated and help me consolidate my actions into reportable elements. Allow...

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Five Ways to Help Your Team Develop their Professional Skills in a Tight Economy

In a tight economy, professional development is one of the budget cuts often made. While this is sometimes necessary, pulling back from providing development opportunities can be short sighted. Here are a few ways to keep your team learning while not breaking the bank. Keep it a priority. Instead of "professional development" being the first thing to be cut, how about looking at other line items such as meal expenses, excess office supplies, or professional services that may be a bit overdone? Consider local opportunities. There are still businesses out there that provide training classes that may not require your team to travel. Search "professional education" in your area and check out options. Watch for community programs. Sometimes, recreation...

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Holiday Hints for Team Leaders

Give out small gifts or gift cards. Hang cards or small gifts on a tree and draw numbers to see which employee gets to choose first, second, etc. Check into laws about how much can be given in gifts/gift cards before it becomes taxable income to an employee. Work on a community project together. Volunteer projects abound as well as opportunities to collect items for food banks and non profit agencies. Encourage your team to get involved. Consider shutting the office down early or allowing team members to take a half day with pay sometime in December to run errands/do shopping. If you can afford it, treat your team to a really nice restaurant and include spouses/guests. Then again, simple celebrations are nice too. Maybe the boss can have everyone...

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Approaching the Resistant Team Member

Not all team members will appreciate your team building efforts. Some people gravitate toward working as a team and others toward working independently. Here are a few ideas about engaging with a resistant team member. Consider his/her personality. Some people are just naturally more cautious, private and contemplative. They aren't going to jump into activities right away. Be careful about demanding they participate in all team initiatives with the same enthusiasm your outgoing team members will display. Use variety. Don't do high energy team building activities or require full participation all the time. Keep some initiatives low-key. Talk one-on-one. When you can, spend some time with this team member in private and ask his or her advice...

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Integrity in Appreciation

I was listening to a leadership podcast recently. The speaker was sharing ways to show appreciation to your team. Most of the ideas were spot on, but I was concerned about one of them. This business owner greets his employee's birthdays with a Happy Birthday email. Nice idea, right? Well, he went on to share how the process was automated so that employees automatically get an email from him on their birthday. His assistant reminds him of whose birthday it is so in case they thank him in the hall, he will know what they are talking about. Ouch. That struck me as rather impersonal and borderline dishonest. Now, before you challenge me about automated systems, yes, I think there is a place for them. I, for example, do utilize pre-written text...

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Is Your Timing Off?

"Hi honey. What did the doctor say?" Innocent question, unless you are asking it at a fast food restaurant, of a man getting ready to serve customers, in front of said customers. Then it is poorly timed and inconsiderate. This was a true story I observed not long ago. Before you judge this person though, think about the following points regarding your timing when interacting with your team. Do you allow people to settle in before hitting them with questions? Maybe you don't mind "hitting the ground running" when you get to work, but many people prefer to have time to take off their coats, get their computer booted up, use the restroom, get coffee, insert routine here______ before tackling their tasks. If you've waited this long to get an answer,...

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Team Building Activity: Are You Puzzled?

What's the point? This exercise requires cooperation, strategy, and project management. It cannot be completed by just one person, although various employees may spend more time on it than others. The goal is to complete a project using something from everyone, and to celebrate the accomplishment without having to identify the "best" contributor. What you'll need: A puzzle made up of enough pieces that you can equally divide among all employees in a particular department. Each employee should have no more than 10 pieces. What to do:  Announce that the team will be assembling a puzzle together over the course of a period of time that you select. (I recommend your first puzzle take no longer than two weeks to complete.) Distribute baggies...

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Tangible Improvements to Workplace Culture

There's a lot of talk about culture in workplaces, the atmosphere created by the people who spend time there and the norms that everyone in that particular environment adapts to. Cultures vary widely. You'll find a different culture at Google than you will on Wall Street. Part of that relates to the type of industry, the need (or not) for formality, etc.  There are several tangible elements to consider as you develop a sense of culture and teamwork unique to your organization. Here are some random but important segments of a workplace culture. Purpose. Do your employees have a real purpose for working for you other than getting a paycheck? Do you get them excited about the mission of your organization? Meetings. The type of meetings you...

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Four Things Your Team Needs from You

If you are a team leader, you will have followers. To do the job well, you have to provide them with some important things. Here are four of them. Clear expectations. It is difficult to read someone's mind. When you clearly share what needs to be done and what the priorities are, your team members can plan their work accordingly. When in doubt, spell it out, but don't be patronizing! A listening ear.  You can learn a lot by listening to your team members. Prompt discussion. Ask questions. Find out how things can be better, from their point of view. Time. Particularly if you are new leader, your team will need time to learn how you like to do things. Don't expect them to adjust to your preferences over night. Space. Micromanaging doesn't...

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Four Warnings for Team Leaders

Do you want to be a leader? Consider these warnings first. It's not about you. Obvious, right? Not so fast. How many people take on a leadership role because it positions them for advancement or recognition? Many natural "leader types" also can struggle with affirmation addiction. You must instead serve your team and that could mean a lot of time staying in the background. Eventually, they won't need you. That is if you do your job right. Your goal in leading this team is that they will eventually handle the project, do the tasks, or fulfill the mission with less and less input from you. The best sign that you are a good team leader is when people don't even notice you at all, but instead see the great work your team has done. Attitude flows...

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Four Ways Criticism is Good for You

It zaps the energy from your day--that snide comment you overheard about how you handled the project or that email from a disgruntled customer. Criticism. We've all experienced it, and if you are in any position of leadership or influence, you'd better be prepared for a higher dose of it than some. But criticism can actually be good for you--if you handle it right. Here's why. Criticism humbles you. Pride is a dangerous thing. On the one hand, being appropriately pleased at a project you have accomplished or something someone you supervise has done can be a healthy element of team building. But thinking more highly of yourself than you ought to can lead to bad feelings and embarrassment eventually. Criticism can be a helpful early warning...

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Team Building Tip: Make Employee's Jobs a Little Easier

A simple tip today...pick one or two employees on your team and ask them this simple question: "What would make your job easier today?" Then, as quickly as possible, try to act on that suggestion if it can be reasonably applied. If not, suggest an alternative that will help improve that employee's day. For example, let's say one of your support staff has to drop off the outgoing mail at the post office each day after she leaves work. Is it possible to hire a courier, or erect a secure mailbox at which she can put the outgoing mail inste...

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Did You Hear about Ryan's Peformance Review?

Gossip is a rampant problem in organizations. Some organizations have a very strong policy against it, to the point of someone being possibly fired if caught participating. It can be a cancer that will ruin your team, but even the best people can get caught up in it. Why? There are a few reasons why participating in gossip is the "easier choice" for people, even if they truly believe it is not a good practice. Need for acceptance. It's perhaps counterintuitive, because after all, gossip by naturealienates someone. But for those doing the gossiping, there is some satisfaction inknowing that someone else sees a situation or another person the same way or hasexperienced the same problems with them. In the illustration above, if severalcoworkers...

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Eight Team Building Lessons from Jesus

By today’s standards, Jesus may not be the first person you would pick as an example of a great team leader. He wasn’t on Facebook sharing links to leadership articles. He didn’t have an organizational chart. He often did things that didn’t make sense to His followers. But take a look at what we can learn from Him. He consulted His own leader. Jesus spent a lot of time with His Father. In fact, it was after an extended time in the wilderness that Jesus then picked his team. I imagine that God gave Him some wisdom about who to select and why. He kept His team small. Although Jesus interacted with a lot of people along the journey of His ministry (at times speaking to very large groups), His core group of disciples consisted of only 12 people,...

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Team Building Activity: Explore Your Community

Take your team on an exploration of the neighborhood, town or city in which your workplace is located. The longer we work at one place, the more likely we will fall into "auto pilot" in our commute and as we interact on our grounds. To do this well, pick a couple of creative employees and give them permission to take an afternoon to develop a short tour of the neighborhood. Ask them to find places that may have been overlooked. (For example, when I went to work in a new place, I discovered a beautiful park just up the road. Others who had worked there for quite awhile were glad to be reminded of the  nice place for a lunch break.) Allow them to do a little research about the history of the town or to try out a new place for lunch.) Select...

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Four Ways to Improve Your Communication as a Leader

Why is it that some companies have a reputation for being poor in communication? Hundreds of emails are sent, policies posted, and meetings held, yet employees find out about issues that affect them "through the grapevine," or don't have input into important decisions, or take surveys that don't seem to cause any ongoing, helpful changes. Could that be said of your organization? Are the people on your team just floating along in their jobs, frustrated because they aren't aware of what is going on or aren't consulted on matters that affect them directly? If you are a manager, you have a responsibility to improve communication with your team. Here are four ways to do so. Spend time with your employees, especially your direct reports. Shadow...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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,...

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When YOU Leave

It's hard to say "goodbye" isn't it? Last week's post was about handling the departure of a teammate. This week, let's talk about you. At some point in your career, and maybe several times, you'll be saying "goodbye" to a job and teammates. How you leave is important. The following principles apply whether you liked your job, or hated it, or somewhere in between. Give a good notice. I know, I know. Some people feel that because a company can kick you out at any time with little to no notice, you shouldn't have to give them a notice when you want to leave. Sorry folks, that's not professional. Do that, and  you are ultimately hurting yourself. You can't control the company, but you can take responsibility on your end. Give at least a full...

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When Someone Leaves

The day I wrote this was my last day on a church staff. I'd been working part-time for a large church for over five years, and full-time at my own church for ten years before that. I worked for non-profit organizations prior to that, and with only one exception (and my own business) I've been in the non-profit sector for all of my career. I'll be continuing my own business, and later this summer will be joining a firm part-time for a position related to, but different from what I have been doing. It's exciting but odd to step into a somewhat-new industry. I've been blessed with good teams at both churches I've worked for. I didn't experience the "but if you really knew him/her behind the scenes" stuff some church staff members experience....

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Peanut Butter and Honey

As I write this, I am sitting in my favorite writing spot, a coffee shop on the banks of the river in my city. Today I decided to have a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and banana. There is leftover peanut butter, so I decided to add a little honey to it, stir it together, and finish it up just as it is.  Yum! You can't see the honey in the container. But you can taste it. It's that little bit of extra sweetness that brings the peanut butter to "treat" level. That "honey" is the same thing you will find in a workplace culture that has the undeniable, indefinable feeling of "this is a great place to work." Where does that culture come from? Taking care of your employees. Your people are your teammates. One organization I know refers...

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Administrative Lessons from Esther 8

Over at my Break Time Bible Study site, we are going through the book of Esther. Chapter 8 is fantastic for noting the value of teamwork and effective administration so I am sharing the content here that will appear there later this week. Enjoy! - Beth In chapter 8, some excitement occurs in the story of Esther. It is at this point that the king makes a decision to "approve" Esther's request that her people, the Jews, be saved from destruction. Isn't that great? Yes, but... What if the king's scribes didn't respond quickly to write the edict? (v. 9) What if people didn't know all the individual languages, to be able to write in that language, for all the various provinces? (v. 9) What if the "sealing" of the edict hadn't happened properly,...

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