Team Dynamics

Teams are tricky. Just when you think you've got your team figured out, configured properly, fully set and ready to go, it changes on you.

Every time someone enters or leaves your team, you've got a different team. That's what makes recruiting, hiring, orienting, training, and development so important. If you don't develop your team the way you'd like them to develop, they'll change in ways that you might not care for.

Team dynamics require us to build a team as a group, and also as a one-team-member-at-a-time proposition.

It's a project just juggling all of the pieces. It's a big responsibility and as a team leader there is no ducking that responsibility. I've tried -- you can't do it. Teams need their team leader's attention every single day.

One on one conversations.

Highly productive meetings.

Occasional fun (and frequent sense of humor).

Coaching to motivate when someone gets stuck.

Prodding to get productive when someone gets lazy.

Inspiring when the work is hard, the days are long, and the problems many.

All of this (and more) while keeping current in your field and working on your own development.

Team dynamics will wear you out if you let them -- or, you can draw energy from the value being created right in front of you, and largely -- because of you.

-- doug smith

Comments

Build and Connect

The world is full of "buts" in search of more "ands." In improv. In leadership. In life. Let go of the fear and build on what's here. -- doug smith

Speedy, Pause

Speed is great. It overcomes indifference, it outruns hesitation, it gets things started. It can also lead to mistakes. Sometimes a mistake comes from moving too fast. Pause. Practice patiently to filter out the flaws. -- doug smith

Be Careful of Your Measures

Peter Drucker once said "what gets measured gets done" and there is much truth to that. Point people in the direction you want and they will do their best to get there. Just make sure, very sure, that you are measure what you really want and doing it without creating paths to cheating your way there. Given an incentive, people will find a way to achieve it. Most will work fairly but some will be tempted to game the. system, to stack the deck, to churn the number on their own behalf. That's not what you want. Ask yourself this question: how can we measure quantity and quality without gaming the system? Until you've answered that question, you'll never know how accurate, or useful, the measure is. -- doug smith

Sizing Our Influence

Our influence is usually smaller than we want it to be but greater than we realize. That's a good thing because humility helps our influence grow. -- doug smith

What's Your Creative Prompt?

The best place to wait for inspiration is in a place where it is certain to show up. Where is that for you? Onstage? Backstage? Greenroom? Workplace? Library? Laboratory? It could be your office, the factory floor, your work vehicle, anyplace where creativity is welcome. Your creative prompt can be solo and it can be in groups of people, too. Your best creative prompt is within you. How about this -- wherever you are, bring your inspiration with you. -- doug smith

Five Whys vs. Fishbone

Every once in a while a great article that explains an idea well appears that is worth sharing. This is one example, from HRDQ: Five Whys vs. Fishbone Diagrams for Root Cause Analysis . The article is worth reading but in brief, it describes two powerful and commonly used root cause analysis tools and how to use them. It makes a convincing case that it is not exactly one vs. the other -- start with the classic Fishbone diagram. If you uncover what appears to be one dominant cause path, drill down on that path using the 5 Whys. That's the order: 1. Fishbone 2. Five Whys I use variations of each of these tools in our workshops on Creative Problem Solving. The common versions are still effective and will save you time in problem solving. The root cause analysis is essential. Done properly and thoroughly it will prevent you from chasing solutions that do not actually solve the problem. What problem are you working on today? Have you identified the root cause? -- doug smith

Avoid the Trap

It's easy to fall into it. A juicy bit of information about someone you know hits the air. Do you comment? Do you defend? Do you ignore the situation? Gossip is a trap that tricks our tongues into poisoning ourselves. Honor the absent, don't talk about them. If you wouldn't say it TO them, keep it to yourself. Gossip is a trap; don't fall in. -- doug smith

Practice Again

Neglect is not neutral. Power comes from practice. Know it. Show it. Do it again. -- doug smith

Wrong Is Wrong

There may be more than one right way to do something but that does not make the wrong way right. -- doug smith

Pause First

Falling behind might not mean catching up. It could also reveal change and opportunity. Would you rather chase, or lead? Has one moment or movement gone leaving room for something new? Don't let a treadmill turn into a dread mill. Haul that rock up the hill if it is part of your future, not just because it was part of your past. -- doug smith

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