Category: Decision Making

#TEAMS365 #1722 – 10 things to do with your team #4 – Tips 8 – 9

9/18/2018

Teams like to have fun! When the word team building comes to mind, Fun is often the first thing that does emerge. What are you doing to have fun on your team? Spending time together to get to know each other in a social context can be invaluable in creating stronger bonds. AND, it should be supported by a focus on what needs to get done as well.
Here are a couple of ideas on different team building processes:

Getting creative thinking happening:
Tool #8 - Word Grams – Creative Thinking
Word Grams were a popular approach in 1990s training, and a great energizer for training of all kinds. Research some word grams online and use them to warm up the space for creative thinking in your next team meeting. Here are some examples:

Creative Thinking is important today given the complexities that exist, the need to think “outside of the box” and the need for innovation.

Tool #9 – Working Around Decisions
Team members and leaders face decisions every day.
A 2015 article indicates that we make 35,000 decisions a day, including 227 on food alone. Read it here.
Helping team members make better decisions is critical for team alignment and success.
Across the span of a day, we may be making decisions around resourcing, priorities, relationships, and what gets our attention.
What are the tools and processes you want to build skills in with your team? Consider the Decision Matrix. Steven Covey’s Urgent/Important matrix is probably one of the most familiar, and popular ones that exist. There are many others so do some research around tools you can bring in to help team members make better decisions.
Check out this article from Concordia University on the 7 Steps of the Decision Making Process, which also includes a focus on some of the challenges we can have with decision making. Read it here.

What is important for your team to take action on right now? Let us know using the comments below.

Warm regards,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of several books including the 2018 Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner & Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

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#TEams365 #1606: #FlashBackFriday:

5/25/2018

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It's time for another FlashBack Friday. This month we've been exploring teamwork skills required during times of complexity. A key theme has been to equip all team members with skills so they can do their best work. Earlier thsi week, I focused on skills for problem solving. If you have not checked out an older audio post #Teams365 #488, I invite you to do that now. Likewise, decision making skills are also important. Check out Teams365 #495 for another audio post on 2 Decision Making Skills.

If you enjoyed these two posts, and are looking for more facilitation tools and processes to share with your team, do check out some of my past series including these posts on Facilitation. The posts range from virtual conversations to in person events. Check them out here.

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326

You can grab a copy of my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, at Amazon. You can also purchase a copy direct from our site, signed by me!

Looking to schedule some team development this fall? Contact me to discuss whether the Everything DiSC or the Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team may be a great starting point.

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#TEams365 #1604: Team Skills in Complexity - Problem Solving

5/23/2018

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Part of the workplace today is the ongoing change and complexity. This not only impacts leaders but many of the team members we work with as well. Given this, it's important to take time to equip our team members with skills in a variety of areas including today's focus, problem solving. Given that team members may be working remote, or may be working more autonomously, equipping team members with skills in this area is key.

Earlier this month we've looked at other kills such as curiosity and open-mindedness as well as experimentation. What other skills do you think your team could benefit from?

Problems can take a number of forms - from not having enough resources, to not having the information we need. Equipping team members in this area could involve using problem solving skills like:

Lewin's Force Field Analysis - this process helps us explore the forces that will both enable us in change, as well as hold us back.

The Fishbone - Originating out of Toyota, the fishbone helps us explore the varying factors around an issue. For example, if poor customer service is occurring, what are the issues feeding into this from a people, process, environmental standpoint. Identifying each of these factors helps us explore what is at play.

Is/Is Not - As I wrote a short while ago, the is/is not tool, allows us to get clearer on parameters. Part of problem solving also involves this. Think about the problem or challenge you are facing, and make a list of what "it is" and what "it is not".

Five Whys - The Five Whys tool gets us to unlayer an issue by asking WHY around each of the layers. If customer service is poor ask WHY? If that points to lack of training - ask again WHY? With that response - explore the next layer with WHY. Many coaching models also encourage this unpacking or unlayering of issues to root cause.

What tools will help your team thrive?

With best wishes,
Jennifer

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Teams365 Blog

#TEAMS365 #1722 – 10 things to do with your team #4 – Tips 8 – 9

#TEams365 #1606: #FlashBackFriday:

#TEams365 #1604: Team Skills in Complexity - Problem Solving

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