If you’ve seen the movie, Up!, you’ve noticed that the first ten minutes of the movie are all about nonverbal communication. A variety of emotions were expressed without the characters having to speak a word.
Nonverbal communication is likely to convey more of the truth, so it is important that the sender’s verbal and nonverbal messages are congruent in oder for the meaning to be accurately understood.
Communications is the lynch pin for so much of a team’s effectiveness. But if it’s so important why is it often such a failure? Frankly, it’s not a complex answer. The skills needed have not been taught, fostered and insisted upon; mediocrity is too often accepted at great cost. What do you find works for improving team communications? What are pitfalls you’ve experienced?
Manage stress. Stress is a gift when it comes in the right dose. You need some stress to help you be fully on your game. Create challenges on the team, make them fun and meaningful. Also take time to honor work/life balance for one another!
Optimize conflict. Conflict just is; it isn’t good or bad until the team takes the conflictual event one direction or another. To make the most of the opportunities conflict offers, exercise patience with one another, be actively willing to see the matter from someone else’s perspective and bring your flexibility to the table. In times of conflict team members can ask themselves if they would rather be happy or be right. This can be a powerful tool for gaining perspective. It doesn’t call for compromising; rather it is important for team members to be an advocate for their perspectives if the situation calls for it, as well as to be willing to listen to others. Then when a decision is made all team members need to get behind it.
Intend to trust the team as a whole. Trust is a result as demonstrated in the Collaborative Growth Team Model. http://www.theemotionallyintelligentteam.com/takethetesi.asp. Trust develops as a result of respectful, consistent and active communications and interpersonal relationship.
Develop your team identity. Know who the team is individually as well as who they are as a cohesive unit within the organization. Survey your team and the organization to find the perceptions of your team’s identity, and then choose how you want to be known and act.
Know what motivates each team member individually and what motivates the team as a whole. Intentionally embrace the diverse motivations within the team.
Practice emotional awareness of team members and be aware of the emotional signals you are sending as well as those you receive. Emotionally aware teams are much more productive because they use all the data being transmitted, including non-verbal information.
Communicate, communicate, and communicate. There are more ways to communicate than email! Go talk to someone. Get team members to take email breaks. For example on Thursday mornings, commit to get up and talk to co-workers or call if they aren’t nearby.
2010: The Year of the Team! Our motto for this year says a lot. It’s time to highlight the value of teams to success – at the personal and organizational level. Very little can be done by an individual acting alone; real productivity and change happens because of focused team work. What do you find supports effective team functioning? What are some of your best and most challenging experiences with teams? Share your ideas!
10. Practice your 2% Solution. As I described in Life’s 2% Solution, the 2% Solution requires just half an hour a day (3 1/2 hours a week if it works better to cluster your time). Spend that time doing something that’s deeply nurturing, meaningful, fulfilling to you. It may be what you’ve vowed to do later when you are free to explore long-delayed purposeful pursuits. This seemingly small expenditure of time is even more critical in today’s harried world, where work deadlines loom, the carpool to soccer awaits, the dry cleaning is piling up, and a dinner party fills up whatever free time is left. We get it all done, yet feel incomplete. This stress-filled existence leaches away our creativity, passion and a sense of fulfillment. We sacrifice the long-view of our lives for short-term results, to check something off a list. No doubt, that scenario leads to burnout.
Action: Integrate your enhanced awareness from taking some of the above steps with your own 2% project. Investing 2% of your time in an unusual way on yourself will make a world of difference. It’s an achievable way of creating more work/life balance without having to turn your life upside down by radical change. You can learn more and follow the 10 step process found in my book Life’s 2% Solution.
Smile. It’s impossible to be grumpy and smile at the same time.
Action: If you are willing to change your emotional state, you will. Breathe, notice what is going on, notice any tension you are holding in your body, be willing to let it go. Be quiet and smile for a full minute.
Be you. Embrace yourself. Know your good points and that which you don’t consider so favorably. Know your styles and preferences and trust you are a good and resilient person. We received the following quote awhile ago and we give profound credit to whomever first said it though we don’t know the original source. “There is nothing wrong with you that what is right with you can’t fix!”
This month we are discussing 10 actions to make your 2010 a year of authentic success.
Create. It feels good! Humans are amazingly creative beings. You probably create much more than you realize and miss giving yourself credit for your gifts.
Action: Intentionally make a soup, draw a picture, write a letter. Whatever feels simply good to you and then stop and acknowledge the act of creating and give yourself time to enjoy.
Express gratitude. This is a big one. Anytime you want to build happiness, go find a way to give. So much of authentic happiness is based in giving your gifts and in being a good and compassionate human being. Don’t make it hard; find easy and natural ways to give with no strings attached. Pay it forward is a great strategy.
Action: Take time to stop and say thank you. Notice how you feel and how the recipient feels. Keep a gratitude journal. Notice five to ten events that occur each day for which you are grateful. Be specific. Feel the gratitude in your heart as you write your list and as you read it over.
This month we are discussing 10 actions to make your 2010 a year of authentic success. We continue this week with four deeds that may seem simple at first, however when done with intention can bring you the authentic success.
Practice mindfulness. While defined in a variety of ways, mindfulness simply means paying attention. Notice how you are feeling and why and then make a choice to stick with that path and or take a breath and intentionally shift. Action: Set a time each day when you will review your day with intention to notice and expand your mindfulness. Even a short review will make a difference.
Relationships matter. Take time for friends and choose friends who support the values you wish to live with. Action: Notice who your friends are. Ask yourself if you are giving the time it takes to cultivate valuable relationships. If not make a change. Keep your expectations of time with friends manageable. Carpe diem! Seize the day: Action: Today is the only version of this day you’ll ever have. Take advantage of it!
Know your values. It’s easy to get caught up in the multitude of options that expand daily from numbers of cereals to forms of entertainment to interesting books. We all have twenty-four hours in a day. Take advantage of your day by knowing what is truly important so you don’t get distracted with the job of making too many unimportant choices. Action: Make a list of your top values – somewhere between five and ten items at the most. Then practice connecting your values with your choices.
