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 happens to everyone: You walk into a meeting and no one knows what’s going on. There’s no agenda, but there are multiple items to cover.  You can either dive right on in — or invest a few minutes in creating structure from the chaos.

Quickly hop up out of your seat, grab a flip chart marker and ask, “What do we need to accomplish at this meeting?”  Write down each idea the way it was stated and the name of the person who suggested the idea.  Note:  You are asking the team to identify outcomes or expected reesults — not just a laundry list of topics.

Before you move on to the next step, ask whether everyone understands the outcomes and clarify if necessary.  Combine similar items — if there’s any dissent, assume that the ideas are distinct and should remain separate.  Elapsed time to list the outcomes:  two to five minutes.

Next, take each item and ask the suggesting person how long it will take to achieve the outcome.  If the team disagrees, allow a few seconds for discussion and write down the most agreed-upon time.  Remember:  An agenda is just a roadmap, and the time limits are guideposts.  If the team later agrees that it needs more time, it’ll have the flexibility to adjust the agenda.  Also ask the suggesting person whether he or she would like to lead the discussion.  If not, ask the team for a volunteer.  Beware:  If just one or two people are leading all the items, you’ll end up with a one-way conversation!  Elapsed time to identify time limits and leaders:  two minutes.

Last, prioritize your list.  Most teams have too much to do and not enough time, so it’s critical to start with the most important.  Some teams simply rank the agenda iems, with No. 1 being the most important, No. 2 as the next-most-important, etc.

Or try the ABC concept, where A is vital (we must accomplish this outcome at this meeting, B is important (we should accomplish this outcome) and C is trivial (we could do this, but the world won’t come to an end if we don’t accomplish this today).  When prioritizing, quickly go through the list and ask, “Is this an A, B or C?” and write down the most agreed-upon letter.  Some teams continue to prioritize by sequencing each group of letters, identifyhing A1, A2, A3; B1, B2, B3; and C1, C2, C3.  Elapsed time:  one or two minutes.

You’ve now built your agenda!  Start with the A1 and move through the list.  Total time:  five to 10 minutes — a worthwhile investment to the teams’s work.

Question:  Do you create an agenda before your 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?

Napoleon Hill coined the concept of the mastermind alliance in his classic book, “Think and Grow Rich.”  He believed that a group of like-minded, achievement-oriented individuals could dramatically leverage each other’s success.  It’s all about creating the synergy of like-minded professionals to have a safe place to celebrate success, solve pressing issues, offer support and encouragement, unleash creativity, gain valuable insights and expand and grow their businesses.

Mark Sanborn is an international speaker on leadership and teamwork, and he suggests the following guidelines to pursue a meeting of the minds:

Find the Right Mix.  Find great people with complimentary businesses, functions, positions with similar career levels and shared values.  The diversity of the group is a strength, and everyone should have something of value to bring to the group.  Mark warns that “too much disparity between experience levels, however, can hamper the sharing of ideas.”

Agree on Purpose.  Each member should share his or her own “What’s In It For Me” (WIIFM) for participating in the group.  Be very clear on what you are trying to accomplish;  generate leads, provide support, offer advice, encourage each other, etc.

Establish Ground Rules.  Agree on the administrivia that can drive teams crazy, e.g., meeting time, length, attendance and other fundamental beliefs to support the effective functioning of the team.  Melanie Mills, another national speaker from Indiana, phrased this aspect so well when she said, “Establish guidelines for how you operate with each other, like not putting down other members, a solutions-orientation versus a problem-orientation, sharing time so nobody dominates, confidentiality, and mutual respect.  This is probably the most important step, as it creates the atmosphere for you to operate in.  I would keep them simple but clear.”

Agree on Format.  Detrmine location, time and agenda.  Most Masterminds start with an update from each member.  That time can be used to share good news, ask questions, solve problems, etc.  Then the meetings usually move into a specific topic area (agreed to ahead of time) and each team member brings ideas, best practices, resources, suggestions, article reprints, book recommendations, etc.  The meeting usually concludes with a commitment to each other on what each member will do in between sessions.

Select a Coordinator.  One person needs to coordinate schedules and meeting logistics.  This position can be permanent or rotated between team members.

Use a Facilitor.  Make sure that each meeting has a designated facilitator (a Mastermind member or an external facilitator) to keep the process moving, ensure balanced participation and move actions forward.

Keep Checking.  All Mastermind groups evolve into new formats and mixes of people.  Periodically, check the “pulse” of the team by reinforcing what’s working well and what can be “upgraded.”  Mark assures us that it’s OK to “revisit your purposes, goals and time commitments frequently, so you can address whether adjustments should be made.”

Question:  If you are a member of a Mastermind group, what is your key to success?

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?

I am very proud of my Dad and Mom. Mom (Mary Ann Wahlner) just forwarded an article from the Alzheimer’s Research Forum about their participation in a clinical drug trial.

“Each day for one and a half years, 78-year-old Alan Wahlner popped four pink pills—two in the morning, two in the evening. Diagnosed with Alzheimer disease in early 2004, he was hoping the tablets were Flurizan, an investigational treatment for mild AD developed by Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The retired Hughes Aircraft purchasing agent was participating in Phase 3 clinical trials of the small-molecule compound at the University of California, Irvine—a 40-minute drive from his home.

Wahlner will never know whether he had gotten Flurizan or placebo pills throughout the 18-month trial that ended in late 2007. Yet he and his wife, Mary Ann, dutifully participated in what many hope is the final stage of testing for the Myriad drug thought to work by reducing levels of Aβ42 peptide. Before enrolling in the trial, the Wahlners signed an agreement stating they would not find out what was in the pills they took home. “That’s why most Alzheimer’s patients I know don’t participate—they don’t want to have the placebo,” said Mary Ann, 75, a retired research manager for California’s Employment Development Department. “My response is, how are you ever going to know if a drug actually works if you don’t have in the trials people who are not taking it? I understand the process and rationale behind double-blind studies, and I’m willing to be one of the participants.”

Bravo, Mom and Dad! You volunteered because it’s the right thing to do….not just for Dad, but for all the other Alzheimer’s patients who will benefit from the knowledge gleaned from the trials.

Question: Do you volunteer to do things for the greater good of the team, community or even the world?

CNN’s Cafferty Report yesterday posed the intriguing question: “Can Hillary Clinton muscle her way into the V.P. slot?”

My ears perked up when Jack Cafferty mentioned that “Jenny from Rome, Georgia says that He [Obama] seems to have surrounded himself with an excellent team and Hillary is not a team player.”

I wonder, what would give the impression to the American public (Jenny specifically) that Clinton is not a team player?

Question: What signals are we sending to the general population that we are (or are not) a team player?

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?

I have been looking forward to jury duty ever since I saw the movie “Twelve Angry Men” with Henry Fonda.

After being eligible for 30 years, my name finally came up to serve on the (ok, you do the math!).

Now that the civil personal injury trial is over, I can blog about my experience!

I was most impressed with the process known as “voir dire” where the plaintiff and defendant’s attorneys are able to question the jury candidates - and from that small pool of resources, select the best candidates who will serve their clients well. Our voir dire took 45 minutes. Most companies don’t even take 4.5 minutes to consider the best candidates for their team.

Question: Do you do a fair job of to “voir dire” the people you select to be on your team?