Teambuilding Idea: Appreciation Lunch

Bring in lunch for your staff "just because." Yes, it's fun to celebrate milestones and achievements, but it's also great to fellowship over a meal just because you are a team. Have no particular agenda for this lunch meeting, and for an even better treat, allow the staff to leave an hour early on the same day. That way they will feel like they also received their normal "lunch hour break" rather than having had to use it for a mandated lunch activity.&nb...

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Five Ways to Ease Tension at Work

Most of us want to enjoy positive relationships in our workplaces, yet work is often a source of tension. Here are five tips to help you mitigate some of the tension that occurs in workplace relationships. Understand personalities. Begin to study the people you work with. What makes them tick? What ticks them off? Over time, you can see patterns and learn to smile about some tendencies. You can also develop strategies when you know what you are dealing with. For example, if your co-worker is very talkative when you walk in the door, plan your arrival time to be a bit earlier than him or her so that you are already busy at your desk when they come in.  Have a boss that is a quick mover and decisive? Don't go into his office with information...

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The Light Bulb on Your Team

When you walk into a room, do you look at the ceiling lights or lamps and say, "Thank the Lord that these lights are working!" do you? Likely, you don't. You just expect the lights to come on when you flip the switch. If anything, it's most noticeable if you lose power and suddenly what you have come to depend on, and take for granted, isn't working anymore. Your organization probably has a lot of "light bulbs" on the team. These are the folks that, day in and day out, do the background work with excellence. They are attentive to detail. They like routine. They feel unsettled if things are not predictable. They may be somewhat critical, shining a light on people and tasks that can show their negative sides. You need these light bulbs. They...

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The Candle On Your Team

Warm and inviting. That's the atmosphere created when we light candles. There are people who create an environment that is warm, welcoming, and secure. These are the candles on your team--the ones who rarely get into conflicts, who lend a listening ear, who are stable and supportive. We need plenty of candles on our team. They tend to follow more than lead, so they will more likely carry out the work that is determined by the more direct individuals. They will often be the peacekeepers as well. They hate conflict. But beware. If a candle is continue snuffed, or irritated by drops of gasoline, they can "explode," surprising everyone and perhaps even themselves! Because they don't speak up as easily when conflicts occur, they let things build....

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