Make Teamwork Happen

I should have known better.  I was working with a team of experts from diverse organizations to consider a controversial proposal.  The participants were used to working together in previous meetings, and my client didn’t feel like a “team building” activity was necessary.  They said, “That’s just way too ‘kumbaya’ for these technical experts.”

The reality is, whenever you start a meeting (especially in the morning), people need a warm-up activity to engage the mind and senses and set the tone for lively interaction.

Knowing that all teams need some type of “warm up” activity, but faced with resistance, I planned on putting the group into smaller groups to discuss a work activity.  This would then serve as a team-building activity as well as one of the first agenda items.  Good idea, but it took precious time to get past the preliminary politeness to get agreement on the purpose and process of the meeting.  It became so awkward that my client asked to do a team-building activity to energize the group!

This meeting reinforced a basic team principle:  Always do something to break the ice and build the team.  Even if it is a nonthreatening, simple question that you ask everyone to answer, get your teammates involved right up front.

For example, when teams are first forming, ask each team member to complete one of the following statements.  Assure team members that they can pass if they want as well as ask questions for clarity (not to challenge):

• The purpose of this team is to …
• From this team experience, I want to gain/get …
• To help this team succeed, I bring these strengths to the team …
• One thing that makes me a good team player is …
• I am most proud of …
• My most significant accomplishment is …
• My main concern about being on this team is …
• The expertise I bring to this team is …
• The one thing that frustrates me the most about working in teams is …
• To achieve our goal, I think the potential hurdles we might face are …
• My most memorable moment on this team/doing our mission is …

As you listen to the answers, capture the main ideas on a flip chart.  When all have had an opportunity to share, debrief the list by asking, “Are there any common themes?  How does this affect our team’s work?  Is there some action we need to take?” 

This simple starting activity gets everyone involved and energized to focus on the team’s work.

Question:  Do you have other ice breakers that you use prior to your team meeting?

It’s two o’clock in the afternoon and your team has hit the proverbial wall.  Rather than focus on the topic at hand, many would prefer taking a siesta — especially after that huge “z-burger” or hamburger with fries!

Rather than succumb to the team’s distant melodic voices, try to keep focus by:

Keeping It Moving.  Stay within the time frames allotted on the agenda.  Don’t let the team get bogged down on minor, inconsequential matters.  Avoid domination by a few by encouraging others to speak.

Sharing the Load.  Give each team member the responsibility to lead a specific agenda item, record what’s being said, facilitate the discussion, keep time, etc.  No one should be allowed to just sit back and observe.

Breaking It Up.  Rather than scheduling multiple heavy issues in a row, throw in a few “lighter” agenda items as a change of pace.  Or try breaking the meeting into smaller groups to focus on a key task or issue.

Passing on the Heavy Food.  Skip the hot, heavy meals and choose light and healthy foods and snacks that won’t put you in a catatonic state.  Stay away from the afternoon chocolate chip cookies that give you a surge of energy and then leave you flat as a pancake 30 minutes later.

Keeping It Cool.  Most teams operate comfortably at 68 degrees.  Try keeping the meeting room a few degrees lower.

Making It Interesting.  Many people become hearing-insensitive in the afternoon.  Don’t just talk at your team, but make it interesting and interactive.  Rather than presenting information, facilitate discussion and next steps.

Engaging All the Senses.  If you find yourself in the “receive mode,” keep yourself focused by doodling on a piece of paper, creating shapes from Process Putty™ or otherwise doing everything in your power to stay awake.  As long as you aren’t too distracting, it’s better to have half a brain engaged than no brain engaged at all in the discussion!

Standing Up.  When all else fails, stand up.  Move your feet.  Discreetly stretch  your arms and back.  If necessary, take a “personal break” to go outside and get some fresh air.

Taking a Break.  Especially in the afternoon, prevent the marathon meeting.  Plan regular short breaks every hour to two hours, depending on the circumstances.

Question:  How do you fight off the afternoon blahs?

I just took my daughter, Marina, to her college orientation at the University of Virginia. We must have walked around the entire campus, taken the trolley and wandered through “the Corner” buying all sorts of UVA paraphenalia. Check out Mincer’s for a wide assortment!

I was schooled on what to expect (and not to expect) as a parent of a college student….and I was most interested in one presentation on “building community within UVA”. The presenter was Dr. Kathryn A. Neeley, Associate Professor of Science, Technology and Society. She, among other professors, invites their students to have dinner with them…to get to know them better and to build community.

Question: Do you invite your teammates to break bread with you…simply to get to know them better and build the team?

When it comes to teamwork, most of us think we are pretty good team players.  We participate; we offer opinions; we help when we can; we ask for feedback so we can be a better teammate, etc.

Unfortunately, some people are not even mediocre team players.  They are simply toxic to the team.  You know who I am talking about.  Toxic people suck the life out of other people.  Every time they open their mouths, it’s about what’s wrong with the world, who did what to whom and why others make their world so difficult.  They are simply miserable and want to share their misery with anyone who will listen.

The sad thing is that you have to listen to that garbage!  Before you know it, you are infected with the toxic virus and start spewing the same garbage.

Surely, all of us can have a bad day, a bad week, a bad month, or even a bad year.  We’re not talking about those folks.  They need our help and support through a relatively brief period of time.  On the flip side, chronically toxic people need a quick, swift kick in the can.  (Okay, spare the physical violence, but these people have spent years perfecting the art of polluting every great idea or possibility.)

Toxic people need a significant emotional event to jar them from their toxic behavior.  You may ask, “What kind of significant emotional event?”  For example, the team leader calls them on the behavior — first in private, and if that doesn’t work, the team calls them on the behavior while all team members are present.  Give the toxic person direct, objective, specific feedback between the eyes.  Calmly describe the impact of the toxic behavior on the team’s performance and relationships.  Describe the consequences of the inability or unwillingness to change the behavior.

And, as a last resort, if they can’t get their act together, kick them off the team.  If you have done everything in your power to buff them up, upgrade their team skills and bring them up to an acceptable level of team behavior, then you are doing your team a disservice to keep them on the team.

No one likes to kick someone off the team, but it’s certainly the avenue of last resort that you should not be afraid to explore.

Question:  If you are toxic to your team, how can you change?

My daughter, Marina, just graduated from the number one public school in the country, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (at least that’s what US News and World Report says).   I am sooooo proud of her!

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity: Prom was last week, graduation was on Saturday and everyone is down in Corolla for “Beach Week” taking a deserved vacation from four years of serious studying.

For me, Prom Pictures was the highlight. Marina looks so beautiful and glamorous….and don’t forget she’s incredibly smart!

And her group of friends were having a great time as well!   (Marina and her date, Will Beckman are on the right).

So…sometimes it’s okay to do things by yourself, and at other times, it’s better to do things in a group. Everything does NOT have to be done in a team, nor do you have to do everything yourself.

Question: Are you optimizing your strategy to team or not to team?

More and more organizations have moved toward open office spaces designed to foster communication and teamwork.  Rather than hide behind closed doors, each person has a cubicle or “pod” to do individual work and several areas or rooms to gather as a team.

Conceptually, open space design sounds great.  Unfortunately, many don’t understand or appreciate these neighborly rules of behavior.

Leave Me Alone.  When you see anyone in a “Dilbert Pod,” assume the person is intently working.  When they want to commune with their teammates, they will get up and move to a communal area.

Imagine a Door.  If you must interrupt, knock on the partition before entering the cube space.  Consider each pod has a “door” that deserves the same courtesy as an enclosed office.

Back Up.  Sit with your back facing the entrance to your a cubicle to minimize distractions and discourage people from entering your space.

Post a Sign.  When intently working, post a “do not disturb” sign on the outside of your cubicle or try draping a velvet rope across the entrance. 

Talk Quietly.  Even though you may have a loud voice, that doesn’t give you the right to have loud conversations, use the speakerphone or shout across the bay.

Move It.  When having a mini-meeting of just a few people crammed into your pod, move to a real meeting room.  Team conversations are naturally louder than one-on-one dialogue and will distract others around you.

Be Discreet.  You’re fooling yourself if you think your personal business will not be overheard by others.  If you must conduct personal business on company time, take a walk and make personal calls from your cell phone.

Popcorn, Anyone?  Unless you are willing to share (or suffer the consequences), keep your popcorn, aromatic leftovers, perfume overdoses and other overbearing scents at home.

Check It.  Periodically, review these rules of cubicle behavior.  Provide an avenue to bring up any irritants, express grievances and improve the overall environment.

By following these ground rules, you can work comfortably, enjoy open communication and enhance your team’s work.

Question:  What are your pet peeves while working in a cubicle office space?

Once a year, the “girls” at Baltimore Gas & Electric and I go golfing. I have worked with Jeannette, Darlene and Doreen on-and-off over the past eight years, and we enjoy bringing each other up to date while trying to hit an itty-bitty tiny white ball. This year, we graced the Turf Valley Country Club on the hottest recorded temperature for that day EVER!

It was the first time out for the season for most of us, so we reasonably decided to play “best cart ball” which means that we would take the best ball that was hit from one of us in the cart, and keep the game moving along. Good thing too, since it was so bloody hot!

Our game is a social event, and we try to stick to the rules (as much as you can stick to rules with a “best ball” format!). Scores are kept more as a frame of reference, but we have won some tournaments in the past, so the score is no slouching matter.

Jeannette and I were in one cart, and Doreen and Darlene were in the other, keeping the official score. What cracked me up is that the end of each hole, we’d ask, so how’d you do and compare scores. Of course, we know how we did (that’s an achievement orientation) and the comparison to others is more about competition. Both are normal and natural in teams. It’s when the competitive aspect moves ahead and overshadows the desire to do your best that makes a team less constructive and more aggressive.

Question: What kind of team are you on? More constructive and achievement oriented or more aggressive and competitive?

Ever wonder where the term “ground rule” comes from?

Frank Bell, a facilitative trainer says the term comes from baseball.  Each baseball park might have different conditions not anticipated in the “book rules.”  For example, when a batted ball bounces over the fence on the first bounce, the book rules declare that the play is a double.  This rule applies to all playing venues.

But at Wrigley Field in Chicago, ivy grows on one of the outfield fences.  The “ground rule” there is that a hit ball that gets stuck in the ivy and consequently becomes out of play is declared a double.  This is an example of a ground rule, not a book rule, because ivy exists only at Wrigley Field, not at Yankee Stadium, Camden Yards or Dodger Stadium.

Every team meeting should have some ground rules – explicit agreements on how the team will function in their specific ballpark.  Ground rules should be established or reviewed at the beginning of each game, before getting down to business.

As you formulate your ground rules, consider how the team is going to deal with their specific concerns such as:

• Interruptions:  What to do when members are called out of the meeting.  How to deal with telephone calls and messages.  Will pagers and cell phones be tolerated?
• Assignments:  If members can’t complete their “homework,” who should they notify and by when?
• Roles:  Should the team  rotate roles?  Which ones and how often?  In the event that a team member can’t make it to the meeting, are “substitutions” allowed?
• Decisions:  How will the team make its decisions?  Are the members aiming for consensus?  Is there a “fallback” in case the team can’t come to a consensus?  Is the team leader making the final decision?
• Confidentiality:  Are there topics or kinds of information that shouldn’t be discussed outside the meeting?
• Penalties:  How will the team deal with minor and chronic violations of the ground rules?

Ground rules simply cover all the bases to ensure effective teamwork.

Question:  What ground rules have you set for your team?

I am in Las Vegas working with Choice Hotels International and had the pleasure to hear Deepak Chopra speak about “Spiritual Leadership”.

Aside from his Liberace/Elton John red rhinestone studded reading glasses (not seen in this picture), Chopra talked about happy people. He said, “Happy people are more successful, have better relationships, enjoy better health and live longer.

It is not the other way around.” You don’t become happy once you acquire success.

Chopra continued, “And people are as happy as they make up their mind to be. The best way to be happy is to make someone else happy.”

Question. Do you make other people happy?

In the April 2008 issue, Meetings & Conventions magazine reported on Personality Hotels’ “Emergency Resources Kit” - given free for planners who book meeting space at certain properties. The article then suggests that “other planners might want to create their own.”

Whether you are a meeting planner, team leader or facilitator, carry your own caboodle of supplies. Here’s my list that I keep stuffed in a briefcase/bag, ready to go for my next meeting:

• Advil, Tylenol or other pain remedies.
• Alcohol swabs
• Bandages (especially finger band aids!)
• Hand sanitizer
• Kleenex tissues
• Low tack masking tape (drafting or painter’s tape)
• Marking pens (Watercolor & Dry Erase)
• Mints, candy, gum, cough drops
• Name tags/name tents
• Index cards
• Paper clips
• Post-it flags
• Post-it notes
• Post-it correction tape
• Power strip and/or extension cord
• Push pins or upholstery “T” pins
• Rubber bands
• Scisssors
• Shout wipes or a Tide pen
• Stapler and staples
• Straight edge ruler
• Tape measure/level
• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• 3 Prong adapter

Question: Do you keep a fully stocked kit that will save your caboodle in a pinch?