Welcome to Partnerwerks TeamWisdom Tips!
by Christopher M. Avery, Ph.D. (http://www.partnerwerks.com)
July 15, 2002
Read by 2930 professionals in 46 countries.
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Wish to subscribe or unsubscribe? See last section, below.
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TeamWisdom(TM) Tips promotes individual mental skills and
behaviors that create highly responsible and productive
relationships at work.
This week's line-up:
1. Welcome Notes
2. PROJECT LEADER TEAMWISDOM Q&A
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1. Welcome Notes
Hi! Partnerwerks offices are closed July 10-31 but I timed
the release of this brief issue so we could stay in touch.
I hope you are getting some time away from work this
summer.
--
Are you as powerful in teams as you want to be? You can be.
Join me to build powerful team skills at Being Powerful in Any
Team:
October 21-23, 2002
December 2-4, 2002
Find details, more dates, and on-line registration at
http://www.beingpowerful.com. Enter affiliate code "TIPS"
for a 10% discount only available to TeamWisdom Tips readers
and their colleagues.
--
Check out the re-newed Work Team Coaching E-Magazine. Get
your free subscription at http://www.workteamcoaching.com
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3. PROJECT LEADER TEAMWISDOM Q&A
Most people I talk to are uncertain about how to behave
powerfully in shared responsibility situations. When I had a
chance recently to talk informally with a small group of project
leaders (ProjectWorld Boston, May, 2002) I immediately invited
their questions, but only if they were also willing to take
responsibility for their role in the situation. Here's two of the
questions and responses. I hope considering these makes you a
little more powerful.
Q: How do you handle the difficult team member, especially when
you aren't her manager?
A: Notice the assumption. The question posits that only a
manager has the right to address someone's behavior. This is a
common and widespread misperception. The truth is that if your
performance, and thus your assessment and eventual reward is
dependent on the actions of others--and isn't that exactly what a
team is--then you have the right to address and solve perceived
performance problems. And that includes giving yourself
permission to address the behavior of a difficult team mate.
Here are some tips:
1. Own the problem. You are the one concerned about someone's
behavior, so it is your problem. Good! Then own it.
2. Take only responsible action. It can be damaging to complain
to other teammates, yet that's the first thing we often do. While
possibly cathartic, such blame-storming seldom enhances team
performance. Instead of laying blame, ask yourself, "If I were to
take effective action to address and correct this difficult behavior,
what might it be?"
3. Talk about your problem to the person closest to solving it--the
diffcult one. Ask your difficult teammate for permission to talk
with her about how the two of you work together. Then use the logic
of cause and effect to invite her to see her behavior as you do.
Report the behavior that troubles you and the results you see from
that behavior. Then ask her for what you would like to see different
in the future. This may be difficult and confronting for you, so
start early and small, before problems get big and daunting.
Q: What do you do when a team member isn't as committed or
motivated as you are?
A: This is an excellent question about teamwork and collaboration.
The reason is that team performance is better predicted by
commitment and motivation of the members than it is by the skills
and resources members bring. Think about it. You can take a random
sampling of teams formed with all the right skills and given all the
right resources yet evidence of true teamwork will still be hit or
miss.
The truth is that teams perform to the level of their least
motivated member. Why? Because it is unfair to do a greater share
of the work yet share the reward equally. So, when low-motivated
people are assigned to teams that we serve on, we all tend to
decrease our own commitment to that effort, do the least we can
to get by, invest our own enthusiasm into other activities, and bide
our time until we can get off of that team.
So, what can you do? I find it helpful to presume that I can't
motivate anyone else, but that I can discover what already motivates
him and illuminate that for him. I call this "brightness of the future"
and I apply it to every relationship. I always ask him "What's in it for
you to do this project with me?" I show a personal interest in learning
what will be a "win" for him, and I support him in getting that win out of
the joint project. That's what's meant by the term "win/win." I'm willing
to take responsibility for the other person winning too. Try it.
I wish you a world of responsible and productive relationships
at work.
Faithfully,
Christopher
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Get your copy of "Teamwork Is an Individual Skill: Getting
Your Work Done When Sharing Responsibility" at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1576751554/partnerofficeont/
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FREE! . . . Introduce me to any company's meeting planners
and/or leadership development managers and I'll send them a
marketing kit full of testimonial letters that will make you
proud. Then I'll send you my book (sells for $18.95) or the
print version of the Leader's Guide (sells for $22.95). Just
direct folks to the page below and cc us at
teamwisdom@partnerwerks.com:
http://www.partnerwerks.com/ServProd/ca_talk.html
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Christopher will be traveling to and speaking...
- October 14, AT&T Project Management Symposium, Basking
Ridge, NJ
- October 21-23, Being Powerful In Any Team, San Antonio, TX
(http://www.beingpowerful.com)
- October 26, Pepperdine MSOD Alumni Conference, Lake Tahoe,
NV
- November 12-13, The LawPartnering Forum, NJ
- December 2-4, Being Powerful In Any Team, San Antonio, TX
(http://www.beingpowerful.com)
- December 12-13, ProjectWorld, Santa Clara, CA
(http://www.ProjectWorld.com)
- February 17-19, 2003, Being Powerful In Any Team, San Antonio, TX
(http://www.beingpowerful.com)
- May 13-15, 2003 Being Powerful In Any Team, San Antonio, TX
(http://www.beingpowerful.com)
Is Christopher coming to a city near you? Want him to speak
at your company or meeting? See
http://www.partnerwerks.com/Servprod/ca_talk.html
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TeamWisdom Tips and Partnerwerks are trademarks of
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An Individual Skill: Getting Your Work Done When Sharing
Responsibility," and president of Partnerwerks
(http://www.partnerwerks.com). And please send us a courtesy
copy of the publication in which it appears.
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