Managing Change – Puppy Lessons

by | 0

IMG_0990Yesterday we brought home a new puppy. Exciting and wonderful – yes! Absolutely. And also, perhaps, just a little bit scary. Any change, whether perceived to be positive or negative, holds unpredictability. Is this experience going to be as wonderful as we think? How will this change our lives?  Change means risk.

In her podcast Creativity and Risk Taking, Amy Climer talks about how we experience a sense of risk when the outcome of what we are doing is uncertain. So even when engaging in something we think will have a favorable outcome, it can feel risky. Any change can be stressful.

As individuals and as members of groups, we encounter change constantly. Some changes are small, others more significant; some work in our favor, others may work against us. Sometimes we cope with change better than other times. Think about a recent change that you’ve experienced. What are the things that helped you to be most successful at managing that change?

Here are some of the things my new puppy is teaching me about successfully managing change:

  • Learn as much as you can about the upcoming change. Read books, talk to people who’ve had similar experiences, talk to others who have expertise in situations like yours, use technology to broaden your understanding.
  • Prepare! In addition to learning all that you can, prepare your environment in advance. Consider the supplies you need and have them ready. Make a plan for how you will integrate this change into your daily life. Who is going to be responsible for what? How might your schedule or activities need to be modified? What support will you need from others?
  • Trust your own instincts. Listen to the experts, and at the same time, remember that every situation is different and yours may not fit neatly into the examples provided by experts.
  • Be ready to adapt when something unexpected happens. It always does!
  • Pay attention to what your experiences are teaching you and apply those lessons going forward.
  • Forgive yourself when things don’t go exactly as planned. There are almost always setbacks and mistakes along the way. Learn from them and move on.
  • Stay positive!

I’ve learned a lot in just one day. Imagine how much more I’ll be learning from this puppy in the years to come!

 

High-performing team transformation

by | 0

transformationTeams change. It will happen many times in your career. Team members come and go. It’s part of the team development process identified by Bruce Tuckman in the 1960s and 70s. Forming – storming – norming – performing, and at last, transforming.  After working so hard to reach and maintain the performing level, at some point things will inevitably change, and the team will transform to something else.

Perhaps you’ve been developing someone on your team to take on roles of greater responsibility, and that person has been an integral part of your high-performing team. And because of that individual’s efforts, your efforts, and the outstanding results of your team, the individual is offered a new position – one with even greater opportunities for development and impact. So the team transformation stage begins. The team loses a top contributor and you need to search for a quality replacement. The team is soon to find itself back in the forming stage as someone new joins the group, roles are re-evaluated, and the members of the new team get to know each other.

transformationIf this is your team, be glad! Yes, it’s going to be a lot of work. And there may be elements of sadness in losing a close working relationship. But teams need to continually evolve to maintain high-performance levels. New team members bring fresh perspectives and new skills to the team. Add these to an already strong team foundation, and performance can reach even higher levels than before.

It may feel discouraging to now feel like you are starting over at developing your team, after the high levels of performance you’ve achieved and become accustomed to. With focus and intentionality, you can help your new team develop through Tuckman’s stages more quickly. Over time, teams will naturally progress through the stages, but why not involve your team in purposeful activities to accelerate the process and improve their interactions? You might start with activities that build connection and trust among team members, and then progress to activities to improve communication, decision-making, and problem-solving skills. You’ll be back to working with a high-performing team that exceeds your expectations in no time!

Some great resources for team development activities are:

http://www.teamworkandteamplay.com/

http://www.training-wheels.com/

What kinds of things have you done to develop your team? I’d love to hear about your successes and challenges!

 

 

 

 

The Power of Story

by | 0

The Power of Story

What are the stories that you tell yourself?  We constantly have stories running in the back of our minds, explaining what we do and why we do it. In The Power of Story, Jim Loehr helps us understand the role those stories have in our happiness and success.

Loehr shows how managing energy, not time, is the key to achieving goals. Managing physical energy has to come first, laying the foundation for intellectual, emotional, and spiritual energy. The book takes you step-by-step through the process of identifying old, potentially flawed, stories and rewriting them to the new stories, grounded in individual purpose, that lead toward your goals.

Navigate change successfully as a team

by | 1

Navigate change successfullyJust when things seem to be rolling along smoothly for you and your organization – BAM!  Something changes.  Regardless of your industry or the size of your organization, you can be assured that you and your team will face changes in the months and years ahead.  We do not live in a static world and never have.  Those that survive and thrive are those who can adapt to changes in their environment and circumstances and turn those changes into advantages.

How does your team respond to change?  What do top-performing teams do?  Times of change often illuminate team characteristics that lead to success or failure.  Several factors that influence the way a team functions, especially when dealing with changing circumstances, include:

  • the level of trust team members have for one another
  • how well team members communicate with each other
  • whether or not each team member is personally aligned with and supportive of the organization’s mission.

Here’s an example that you may have encountered:

A key employee is called away suddenly to deal with a family emergency.  How does the team respond to this change?  Do they offer support for the employee during what may be a personally challenging time?  How do they make decisions in order to fill the gap during the employee’s absence?  Are the decisions based on a desire to achieve organizational goals, or is the focus more on individual achievement?  Some team members may be tempted to “protect” their own resources in this type of situation.  And while this may result in apparent success at an individual level in the short-term, the long-term and organizational outcomes can be incredibly limiting.

Think about any team sport, and those teams that have achieved the highest levels of success.  Everyone contributes, right?  Along with performing at a high level individually, team member’s support each other, raise each other’s spirits, offer encouragement when times get tough, give feedback for improvement, and help each other stay focused on the goal.

Navigating change successfully begins long before a change actually takes place. As a leader, how can you foster the kind of environment that will allow your team to consistently succeed under changing conditions?  Here are five ways:

  1. Include as many voices as possible in looking for solutions.
  2. Clearly focus on the overarching purpose of the team and how to best achieve it.
  3. Communicate with transparency.
  4. Recognize and show that you value the achievements of the group as a whole.
  5. Foster a collaborative rather than competitive environment on a daily basis.

What would you add to this list?

Change management made easy

by | 0

Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard

Change management made easyThis book by Chip and Dan Heath is filled with sensible gems and practical advice for making changes that stick.  When I pulled it off my shelf just now I found dozens of passages marked in one way or another for easy revisiting.  The methods for change suggested by the Heaths are easy to apply - and in fact, you may find (as I did) that many of their successful strategies are already going on around you.  If that's the case, the book will help you understand why they work, and prepare you to use those strategies more purposefully in the future.

Using the metaphor of a rider and elephant, the Heaths share three main concepts for effecting change:

- directing the rider;

- motivating the elephant;

- shaping the path.

Check it out and see how you can improve the processes for change - for yourself and those around you.

 

To purchase

 

Making a big impact

by | 0

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference –

Making a big impact with small changesHow is it that small changes can lead to widespread, even epidemic-like changes?  What causes something to reach the tipping point, where critical mass creates its own momentum?  Malcolm Gladwell made some surprising discoveries when researching these questions.  He shares insights on what makes certain people more influential than others, what makes some communications more successful and memorable than others, and the importance of situational context on shaping our beliefs and actions.

The small things we do can be powerful and have a meaningful impact on ourselves, our families, and our communities.  Sometimes it seems overwhelming to make a change, and we may feel like we need to take giant, dramatic steps to reach our goals.  But think about every journey you've ever been on.  They all start with a single step in the right direction.

 

To purchase