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Remember Me
Well
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To make a lasting positive
impression all you have to do is listen to your mother…
1. Smile
2. Keep your shoulders back
3. Stand still
4. Smile (yeah, it’s that important)
When you smile, you will
actually begin to feel better. People will also perceive you as being
nicer, smarter, and more attractive. And really, couldn’t we all use a
little more of that?
Smile brightly; smile often!
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Shorter Board Meetings
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Board meetings can feel like they go on forever. And
when they do finally end, you’re wondering, “What was the point?”
To have shorter, more effective meetings, ask anyone making a
report to have a written copy of their report AND a 30-second oral
statement of the most salient points. See how much more gets done in a
shorter amount of time.
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The Procrastinator in You
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At any given time, ask
yourself Lakein’s question: “What is the best use of my time right now?”
Start
by asking yourself the question when you find yourself obviously
procrastinating. Move on to asking BEFORE you start any activity.
Before
you know it, you will find yourself procrastinating less and less. And when
you do procrastinate, you will start to ask yourself, “Why?”
But
that’s another article…
Who is Lakein?
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Grab bag o’ goodies
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v When
giving someone a business card, hand them two and explain that the second
is for them to pass on when they come across someone else who could use
your services.
v Wear
your nametag on the right side to make it easy for new contacts to read
your name as they shake your RIGHT hand.
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Taylor Training & Development would like to thank
Issue Editors, Lori Timm de Villasmil of inlingua Venezuela, and
Jonna Naylor of the Mt. Airy Learning Tree (MALT), for their hard work. Click here for more information about
inlingua. For more information about MALT, click
here.
Unless otherwise specified, all articles written by
Taylor Training & Development consultants.
If you are interested in a FREE subscription to
Tailored Briefs please contact us.
© Copyright 2003 Danielle D. Taylor / Taylor Training
& Development.
All rights reserved. Please contact us if you are interested in
content partnerships or reprint information.
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We are committed to providing organizations, and the individuals within
organizations, with the knowledge, skills and values
needed to maximize their potential and actualize their goals.
We accomplish this through
training and education programs, organization development consulting, and
professional development coaching uniquely created
for each client.
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Tailored Briefs®, Taylor Training & Development®,
taylortraining.com®, "Maximizing Potential. Actualizing Goals.®"
& Taylor Training & Development logos are all registered service
marks of Danielle D. Taylor and Taylor Training & Development.
© Copyright 2003. All Rights Reserved.
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Facilitation
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Thaw out your icebreakers
Too many
people are looking for icebreakers for their trainings or meetings. Like an
urban legend, facilitators “know” there has to be an icebreaker ten minutes
into the event. But like most urban legends the origins of this myth have
become lost and no one knows why they must have an icebreaker, only that
they must have one.
Before you
start looking for an icebreaker for your next program, ask yourself three
questions:
Who is my audience?
What is my objective?
What is my approach?
Audience
With the first question, think in terms of how comfortable these
people are going to be with each other. Has intimacy and trust been
established or are they complete strangers? If they are strangers then you
might want to use this time to allow them to get to know one another.
Objective
Objective refers to knowing what you want to do first. Do you want
to get to know them, do you want them to get to know one another, or do you
want to convey the content of the event? Fortunately, there are a lot of
exercises out there that allow you to do any combination of the three. The
important thing is for you to clearly know ahead of time just what your
objective is.
Approach
Your approach is the tone of the event. Do you want to have
old-fashioned, light-hearted fun or do you need a formal exercise appropriately
reflective of the tone of the event? The answers to this, as well as the
earlier questions, will exponentially shorten your search for the right
opening exercises.
Now, go to
your “icebreaker” collection and on each, note the audience, objective and
approach so the next time you need an icebreaker, it will already be
thawed.
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Management Development
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Understanding work group behavior
The most
important thing to remember in managing an effective team is that teams are
developing organisms. They go through stages of development the same way
plants and animals do.
Wheelan’s
Integrated Model of group development combines the predominant research on
the evolution of groups. In this model, groups progress from immaturity to maturity
in four stages.
The first
stage is similar to that of a toddler or young child. Members of a work
group in this stage are unsure of themselves, the group and the structure.
Groups in this stage need direction and guidance. Establishing a routine will
help the members gain security in their roles and enable them to move to
the next stage.
Groups in the
second stage of development are often easy to recognize: there are a lot of
disagreements; subgroups and cliques have emerged; some of the members hate
the leader. The leader becomes frustrated with the team at this point
because no matter what she tries to do, it is wrong. Stage two can be
compared to the teenage years.
The goal for
the leader of a group in this stage of development is to get the members on
the same page. This is where conflict resolution skills come into play the
most. The leader also needs to let go of the notion that only their idea or
“page” is the one the group should be on.
Now is the
time to give the member a larger role in writing the page. This is NOT the
time to abdicate authority or withdraw completely. It is simply the time to
give members a chair at the table; their first chance to participate in
charting the course or direction of the group.
A group that
survives stage two and matures into stage three has realized, to accomplish
the task, they have to give equal weight to how they do the work and
to what the work entails. During this stage roles are fine-tuned and
positive coalitions and partnerships are formed. As they master this, the
group now seamlessly moves on to stage four.
Groups in
stage four are great to see. They focus a proportionate amount of time
carrying out the work, the task, as figuring out how to carry out the work,
the process. Groups in the fourth stage of development are characterized by
an independence from the leader. The leader at this point delegates to the
team. They have the authority to make decisions on their own. Of course,
they have the maturity at this point to effectively wield that power.
The
group-leader relationship now resembles that of the adult child - older
parent relationship. The leader is consulted, as needed, for feedback and
clarification of the parameters of the responsibility, but the decisions
rest in the hands of the group.
Understanding
the stages groups move through and their needs in a given stage will help
you achieve an effective team. Armed with this knowledge, look at your team
and ask yourself two questions:
1. In what stage of
development is my group currently?
2.
How can I best meet the needs of my group in that stage?
Who is Wheelan?
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Thirsting for More?
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For more
information about groups and their behavior check out the resource
library of the Taylor Training & Development
website. There you can find links to other great sites, and articles on
the subject. There is also a list of books for further research.
If you would
like to accurately assess the group effectiveness and productivity of
your team, contact us by e-mail or by phone. We look forward to an opportunity to serve
you.
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