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Do You Want to Know What Your Team Really Thinks?

June 3rd, 2010

High Performance Team Challenge-Day 3

Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” – Andrew Carnegie

So now you’ve had a couple of days to think about and ideally, to work on your team’s Vision and Mission. Now it’s time to start finding out what’s really going on for the people on the team.With a little editing for time and continuity for our 21 day HPTC, this next set of action items come straight from Marshall Goldsmith‘s “Team Building without wasting time”:

Begin by asking all members of the team to confidentially record their individual answers to two questions:

(1) “On a 1 to 10 scale (with 10 being ideal), how well are we doing in terms of working together as a team?”

(2) “On a 1 to 10 scale, how well do we need to be doing in terms of working together as a team?”

Next, compile all of the answers,calculate the results and distribute the numbers to everyone. If you have time today, schedule a short meeting to do the following:

Step two. Ask the team members, “If every team member could change two key behaviors that would help us close the gap between where we are and where we want to be, which two behaviors should we all try to change?” Have each team member record his or her selected behaviors on flip charts.

Step three. Help team members prioritize all the behaviors on the charts (many will be the same or similar) and (using consensus) determine the two most important behaviors to change (for all team members).

Step four. Have each team member hold a one-on-one dialogue with all other team members. During the dialogues each member will request that his or her colleague suggest two areas for personal behavioral change (other than the two already agreed on above) that will help the team close the gap between where we are and where we want to be.

These dialogues occur simultaneously and take about five minutes each. For example, if there are seven team members, each team member will participate in six brief one-on-one dialogues.

Step five. Let each team member review his or her list of suggested be­havioral changes and choose the two that seem to be the most important. Have all team members then announce their two key behaviors for per­sonal change to the team.

Building awareness of team behaviors is the first step in changing the ones that need changed, and developing the effective behaviors.

At the end of the 21 days, we will ask team members to get together and give each other feedback on their progress with these behaviors.

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Is Your Team On a Mission?

June 2nd, 2010

Your Mission, if you choose to accept it...

High Performance Team Challenge-Day 2

“Fit no stereotypes. Don’t chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team’s mission.”- Colin Powell

Mission and Vision are often “lumped together” in business circles as if they are interchangeable. They’re not. They are, however, mutually supportive.

Adapted from Diffen.com :


The Differences between Mission and Vision Statements
Time: A Mission Statement describes the organization’s present state. A Vision Statement clearly describes the organization’s desired future state.
Function: A Mission Statement lists the broad goals for which the organization is formed.

It provides an outline for understanding around WHO the organization serves and WHAT the organization will do now in order to achieve the goals and objectives that will drive it toward successfully fulfilling the Vision.

A clearly written Mission statement will serve as a reference tool for day-to-day decision making.

 A Vision Statement vividly describes the organization sees itself some years from now.

A clearly articulated Vision provides the inspiration and “reason for being” of the organization.
About: A Mission Statement describes HOW the organization will get to where it wants to be. A Vision statement outlines WHERE and WHAT an organization wants to be.

Ask Yourself:

1.Is our team’s mission clearly articulated?

2.Does everyone on the team understand and buy in to the mission?

3.Can our (organizational and/or team) mission statement be used as a day to day decision making tool?

If you find that these questions cause you to realize that you need to re-write your mission statement, here are a few points to remember:

  • Writing a Mission Statement is NOT a “wordsmithing” exercise in making sure that everyone in the room agrees with each word.
  • A Mission Statement is a decision making tool: individuals should be able to weigh their current actions, tasks and priorities against it in order to ensure that they are furthering the organizations mission, in order to ultimately achieve the vision.
  • A mission statement does not need to be set in stone-it can change as market or human realities change-it should have longevity built in, but not necessarily permanence.

It should include:

  • What do we do today?
  • For whom do we do it?
  • What are the benefits?

Remember-if  the mission statement is just a laminated collection of words thumbtacked  in everyone’s cubicle, or even worse, framed in the lobby, if no one can just say the mission statement at any time- then it is worthless as a high performance team tool.

Now go out there and inspire people to undertake an exciting mission!

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How to Create a Clear and Compelling Team Vision Statement

June 1st, 2010
Team Vision

Does your team see where they are going?

High Performance Team Challenge (HPTC) Day 1

“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion” – Jack Welch

The first step in building or being an effective member of a high performance team is having a clear vision for that team. Ask yourself:

1.Why does this team exist?

2.What is the ultimate “pinnacle of performance” that this team should aspire to?

3.How will that “Pinnacle of Performance” look and feel?

4.When should we be achieving this “Pinnacle of Performance?”

5. Is everyone on the team aware of this vision?

Write these answers down, think about them, look at them occasionally and allow your mind to refine them until you are ready to share them with the other folks on your team.

When you have refined the vision to a level of clarity that you can passionately own-then articulate it to your people.

Ensuring that everyone knows and understands the team vision is the cornerstone of building a culture of high performance.

“A vision is not just a picture of what could be; it is an appeal to our better selves,a call to be something more.” – Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Creating a compelling vision for your team is so much more than writing a good vision stament- although that may be a part of it. Creating a vision is about being able to describe a desired “future end-state” that is so clear and so tangible, that  when you  close your eyes, you can actually see it, smell it and feel it in your mind’s eye. The next step is to be able to articulate it so clearly that the other members of the team can do the same-and also  be able to articulate it to others- so that it can grow organically and eventually  become a sort of internal tool to guide team decisions, behaviors and tasks,-”Does what we’re doing help to make our vision into reality?

For inspiration, here are a couple of masterful examples of articulating a vision:

Martin Luther King, “I have a Dream”

John F Kennedy, “Man on the Moon”

Ronald Reagan, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”

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Is Your Team’s Success Worth 10 Minutes A Day?

May 27th, 2010

The 21 Days to High Performance Challenge

“Talent can win games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” -Michael Jordan

In the current economic and business environment, many organizations are still downsizing, not hiring, and/or on a budget “freeze”. At the same time, teams, departments and leaders are expected to perform at current and sometimes higher levels-with less resources. Getting maximum performance from yourself and your team is one way to stay productive at current levels, but…

If you lead a team, a department or run your own business, you know that the challenges of keeping everyone informed, communicating, aligned, and performing at any level is a huge challenge, much less while trying to improve your “numbers”, effectiveness, customer service or products.

With these thoughts in mind, we decided to devise a 21-day plan for building more effective teams, then challenge our friends, colleagues and readers to put it (and yourselves) to the test.

On June 1st, 2010 we will begin the challenge by posting one simple Action Item, Question, Team Discussion Topic, Thought Catalyst, or Team Activity per day. The daily challenge will be posted every day on the Team Training Unlimited Facebook page. There, you will also find links to additional information, be able to discuss your results and challenges with TTU staff and other leaders. Are you up to the challenge?

The staff at Team Training Unlimited has decades of helping Leaders and their teams learn to:

„ Do more with less (less can be a good thing-it’s all about priorities!)

„ Accomplish the objectives that matter

„ Be proactive and responsive to change

„ Create innovative solutions to business problems

In order to create a simple 21-day series of tips, activities, and discussions for you, we’ve drawn from our own experiences in building teams, and from plenty of the “best of the best” in the Team Development world; Jim Collins, Patrick Lencioni, Dan Pink, Chet Richards, Marshall Goldsmith, Peter Scholtes and many more!

Most team building efforts succeed (or fail) through focus in each of the 3 following areas:

1.Clear priorities:

  • Vision
  • Mission
  • Strategy
  • Values
  • Metrics
  • Daily Tasks

2.Training and knowledge:

  • The right people in the right job
  • Technical skills
  • “Soft” skills
  • Systems and Processes

3.Shared practice and experiences:

  • Effective meetings
  • Collaborative, cross functional training
  • Off-sites
  • Brainstorming/Innovation sessions
  • Completed projects

The 21-Day HPTC will focus on these areas. Actively utilize the tips, lead the discussions and activities with your team, ask the questions, (and listen attentively to the answers) and in 21 days–you can be well on the way to having a truly high performing team!

So if you’ve got about 10 minutes a day for 21 days (beginning June 1st, 2010) – “Like” us on Facebook, join the discussion, and build a team that can do more with less!

The Twitter Links: follow @ksteamtraining and/or @rlteamtraining on Twitter-we will tweet links to the challenge, related quotes and tips.

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Target Practice with Bullet Points?

April 27th, 2010

PowerPoint slide "explaining" US Military strategy in Afghanistan

The use,misuse,(or more often, abuse) of Microsoft PowerPoint that so many people inflict on their co-workers, colleagues, teams and sometimes even customers, has long been a pet peeve of mine (and many others.)I have been involved in so many corporate retreats and meetings where PowerPoint presentations announcing huge successes, failures, changes, etc, which should have been exhilarating, exciting, shocking or even disappointing, were reduced to bullet-pointed snooze-fests, read to us in a monotone (with plenty of “ums”, “ahhs” and “uhs” thrown in for good measure). As a trainer, I have been instructed to submit slides to the  legal department for approval, and to download company approved fonts and PPT backgrounds so that “all of the slides in the meeting will be uniform.”, I have also been told ,”There are too many pictures and not enough content in the presentation you submitted, how will the audience know what you are talking about?.” Wow.

Powerpoint made the New York Times yesterday, in an article entitled “We have met the enemy and he is PowerPoint”, which quotes military leader Gen. Stanley McChrystal  making the comment, “When we understand that slide, we’ll have won the war”, in reference to a PowerPoint slide intended to “clarify” the complexity of American military strategy. It’s a great article, discussing how the military and the government are using PPT as a weapon-against themselves (tongue in cheek).

Honing your presentation skills, learning to tell effective stories and actually communicating valuable and actionable information is so much more than just “shooting slides” filled with bullet points, graphs,and charts at your audience. Ask yourself , “Would I be interested in this presentation if I weren’t giving it? Am I sharing this information in the most effective and compelling way possible?” Some core principle(s) to remember when presenting with PowerPoint:

1.Tell a memorable story to illustrate or even encompass your main points.

2.Tell people what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them.

3.Your slides should enhance your presentation, not the other way around.

4.Don’t read your slides to your audience! (unless they don’t know how to read-but then,wouldn’t it still be better to tell them informational stories enhanced with pictures?)

5.Think about this;” If I asked my audience to tell me the “plot” of my presentation could they? Could they tell me the plot of last night’s CSI Miami?”

There are plenty of  great resources out there on how to improve your presentation skills, find some here.

Don’t practice “Death by Powerpoint!”

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Do you like easy to find information?

April 20th, 2010
FInd business, team building and leadership information fast

Easy enough for one finger typists!

In the interests of bringing exceptional learning tools to our readers, clients and staff, we are building a categorized and linked list of outstanding team building, training, leadership, and business reference resources. (We have added a tab at the top of the blog, titled ” Team Training Links and Info ” ) The sites, books and articles we list there will all be chosen based on “useability”, the coolness factor, and whatever other stringent guidelines seem good to us at the time!

The categories we have started with are:

  • Leadership and management
  • Creativity, ideas and innovation
  • Presentation Skills

In the near future, expect to see some great resources in the categories of:

  • Teams,Teamwork and Teambuilding
  • Social Media
  • Technology
  • Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Adventure
  • Health and Wellness
  • Travel and the Road Warrior Lifestyle
  • Much more!

We will continue to expand this list-so bookmark it on your new iPad, iPhone or Macbook and check back often!

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Want to be the Smartest Business Leader in the room?

April 5th, 2010

TTUSometimes, it’s tough enough to find the time to clear out your inbox, much less study and read business books or go to training workshops. But with the speed and complexity of business, you can’t always be “up” on every business model or theory. In the interests of giving you some easy places to find good leadership, management and business info, here are a few content rich, low frills websites that you can use to instantly get up to speed on pretty much anything business, management, team or leadership related:

1. Business Balls

2. Value Based Management

3. Periodic Table of Visualization Methods

4. 12 Manage

5. Meet The Boss.TV

6. Ceo Express

7. Free Management Library

Bookmark these seven sites on your computer and your Blackberry or iPhone, and you can always have the answers!

Don’t forget to bookmark Team Training Unlimited too.

We would love to see your favorite business leadership or team building sites, leave a comment with the link – we will compile them into a business resources page in the near future.

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