To the point, this is a post on what most people call “teamwork.” Bored already?
Believe me, I understand. Traditional talk on teamwork is overdone and underused. But the fact remains that most market evolutions rely on a team—somewhere, somehow, some way. And that’s why what happens inside teams, from a Presidential White House Cabinet to the Board of Directors at GE to your team, might be one of the most important topics we could talk about. Continue reading “The Ultimate Team”
Many leaders and organizations bring in a team building expert when things are going horribly wrong, feel better for a day or two and predictably go back to the same old type of interactions. This approach gives team building a bad name or makes it appear ineffective when it can actually be a powerful tool to create positive workplaces.
Let’s talk about five key reasons why team building doesn’t work for many companies and some tips on how you can make it much more successful: Continue reading “5 Key Reasons Why Team Building Doesn’t Work”
Based on five dysfunctions of a team Patrick Lencioni pinpoints the issue of building a great team and group behavior.
“Team building is not complicated”, declares Lencioni, president of his own management consulting firm and author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
Watch the short video below hear Patrick’s great advice: Continue reading “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team”
Despite rising unemployment recruiters of senior managers are claiming it is still far from easy to attract talent. People in secure employment are far less willing to switch jobs than they were two years ago.
It is therefore imperative to develop the talent within our organisations, a fact supported by a Deloitte survey Continue reading “The Importance Of Developing Talent Within An Organisation”
Overview
The challenge is to take a length of rope and lay it out on the ground to make a perfect square. Throughout the task all team members must wear blindfolds. Continue reading “Free Team Building Exercise: Blindfold Square”
What separates the greatest teams from the rest is their mix of talents and, crucially their understanding of one anothers’ strengths.
When team building there are a number of questionnaires (or psychometrics) that can be used to help teams identify their strengths and preferences. When this information is used to assign roles and tasks true teams are formed.
All teams need a blend of the following: Continue reading “How to work like a team of superheroes”
Wouldn’t it be good to know that every decision you take over the next 12 months will be the right one. This may sound impossible but there is a way to significantly increase the likelihood of your decisions being correct.
The secret is understanding. Without understanding we are very likely to make bad or the wrong decisions, with greater understanding we should have, not just the facts but also the instinct to make the right choices.
The key to gaining understanding is to ask the right people the right questions, whether they be staff, colleagues, customers or even our bosses. Here are some four pointers towards asking the right questions: Continue reading “Team building by asking questions”
Can having fun at work boost productivity? Professor Babis Mainemelis from London Business School thinks so, his study with Sarah Ronson found that: “Play at work improves employees’ motivational and cognitive processes and diversionary play fosters creativity.”
And the Institute for Social Research found that companies with high employee engagement saw a 13.2% improvement in net income growth over a one year period.
Innocent smoothies grew their business from nothing to £100 million in just eight years with grass flooring, table football and an indoor picnic area, review innocent success by clicking on the link and see how.
So here are 5 fun ideas to get your team working smarter: Continue reading “Funny Business – 5 ways to play at work and get more done”
The recession may be officially but do managers appreciate that Christmas needn’t be cancelled again this year?
Boozy parties are probably not the best way to mark the end of a tough year but that doesn’t mean there’s not value in gathering everyone together.
As we enter an era when return on investment is at the forefront of our minds the annual celebration needs to deliver more than just a few laughs and sore heads the next day.
So, while everyone is together in celabratory mood here are a few suggestions that will turn a turkey dinner into a turning point: Continue reading “Don’t cancel Christmas – do some team building”
The idea that staff set their own pay, come and go from the office as they please, all within a business that has no written strategy sounds like a recipe for disaster. Not the story of a company that’s gone from $4m to $160m.
Semco is no ordinary workplace, despite the fact that it operates in an industry as ordinary as engineering. Continue reading “A motivated workforce the Ricardo Semler way – Fresh or Foolish?”
