Subject: [Partnerwerks TeamWisdom Tips] MYTH-BUSTING PART 1 OF 3
Welcome to Partnerwerks TeamWisdom Tips!
by Christopher M. Avery, Ph.D. (http://www.partnerwerks.com)
November 11, 2002
Read by 3109 professionals in 48 countries.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Wish to subscribe or unsubscribe? See last section, below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TeamWisdom(TM) Tips promotes individual mental skills and
behaviors that create highly responsible and productive
relationships at work.
____________________________________________________________
This week's line-up:
1. 10-Second TeamWisdom
2. Welcome Notes
3. MYTH-BUSTING PART 1 of 3
4. 5-Minute TeamWisdom Stretch
____________________________________________________________
1. 10-Second TeamWisdom
Teambuilding can be easy, safe, and effective even in the
hands of novices. Expect more focus on outcome alignment
from yourself and others at work.
____________________________________________________________
2. Welcome Notes
Thank you for caring enough about responsible relationships
at work to read TeamWisdom Tips.
--
Invest in this!
Today, teamwork effectiveness among corporate professionals
remains hit-or-miss. Don't settle for those odds. Learn all
my best tools and strategies. Attend Being Powerful In Any
Team. Dec. 2-4, 2003. http://www.beingpowerful.com Bring
your teammates. It's guaranteed. Your performance and reward
depends on it.
____________________________________________________________
3. MYTH-BUSTING PART 1 of 3
At Partnerwerks we drum to a unique beat in collaboration
and teamwork circles. For instance, rather than "do" the
teambuilding ourselves, we prefer for individuals and groups
to intentionally build themselves into teams using simple,
easily learned, and reliable strategies we provide. Our
rhythm leads us to label as myths many popular teambuilding
practices. Explore two of these myths today and more in
coming issues.
Myth # 1. You need to hire a teambuilding consultant.
A corollary to this myth is that teambuilding is art--or even
magic--practiced by a special few who don't reveal their
secrets. The truth is that "being built" results from a
predictable set of realizations people make about each other
and their collective work. However, HOW these realizations
are (or aren't) arrived at often flies under people's radar,
so people see but can't explain (or reproduce) the effects.
However, we know that these same realizations can be pointed
out to people in groups who then can then observe them for
themselves. They can also learn to generate them in their
groups, so those realizations can regularly be fostered
through a specific set of conversations (like Partnerwerks
Team Orientation Process).
What's the value of this awareness? It's huge. We estimate
that at least 50% of the gains we have helped clients
achieve come from pursuing clarity about the group's
collective purpose or task. There certainly is no magic in
getting a group to confront shared task clarity, nor must
one be a consultant--or even an outsider to the group--to
demand that it be addressed.
The teambuilding industry thrives on Myth #1, but you and
your company can't afford to perpetuate it. Instead, let's
raise our expectations that smart professionals can and will
view the need to align with one another as a basic role
responsibility.
Myth #2. The first agenda in teambuilding is for people to
like each other.
There is a good reason for this myth. From early in this
century until the seventies, researchers defined "group
cohesion" on the basis of interpersonal attractiveness,
i.e., how much people in a group liked each other. So,
psychologists developed personality inventories to help us
understand and classify people. And consultants use these
personality inventories to help us appreciate each other's
differences. This is truly a valuable relationship service,
but it is a teambuilding cart without a horse. Today's
scientific literature defines group cohesion on the basis of
linked individual and collective outcomes. That is, what
causes a group of people to cohere as a unit is not so much
their affinity for each other but their affinity for a
common outcome (task, result, experience, etc.). Hence, when
people in a group are at odds, don't automatically assume
that personality awareness training will bring them in line.
Instead, check their outcome alignment and see if they
perceive each other as a credible ally or credible threat.
Get started with this week's 5-Minute Practice Tip.
____________________________________________________________
"It contains more practical information and advice about the
conditions under which we humans optimize our work together
than any other book you are likely to have read" (Terry
O'Keefe, Executive Bookshelf). Buy "Teamwork Is an Individual
Skill: Getting Your Work Done When Sharing Responsibility" at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1576751554/partnerofficeont/
____________________________________________________________
4. 5-Minute Practice Tip
Think about when and how you have bought into Myths 1 & 2
and what you can do different in the future. What do you
need to do now so you will respond differently next time?
I wish you a world of responsible and productive
relationships at work.
Faithfully,
Christopher
____________________________________________________________
FREE! Introduce me to meeting planners and 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 ($18.95 list) or the print version of the
Leader's Guide ($22.95 list). Just direct folks to the url
below and cc us at teamwisdom@partnerwerks.com.
http://www.partnerwerks.com/ServProd/ca_talk.html
____________________________________________________________
Christopher will be traveling to and speaking...
- November 12, Denver, CO
- 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)
- Januaru 14, Denver, CO
- February 17-19, 2003, Being Powerful In Any Team, San
Antonio, TX (http://www.beingpowerful.com)
- May 5, PMI/NJ Chapter Regional Symposium, Edison, NJ
- 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 association? See
http://www.partnerwerks.com/Servprod/ca_talk.html
____________________________________________________________
Copyright 1998-2002, all rights reserved. TeamWisdom,
TeamWisdom Tips, Being Powerful In Any Team, and
Partnerwerks are trademarks of Partnerwerks, Inc. Please
contact us for permission to republish TeamWisdom Tips.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe, send a blank message to TeamWisdom-on@partnerwerks.com
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to TeamWisdom-off@partnerwerks.com
To change your email address, send a message to TeamWisdom-change@partnerwerks.com
with your old address in the Subject: line
To contact the list owner, send your message to
TeamWisdom-list-owner@partnerwerks.com