Whenever a team changes it’s new team:

• If someone leaves, it’s a new team.
• If someone joins, it’s a new team.
• If someone rejoins, it’s new team.

Excellent managers understand the process of team building, accept that a new team means there will be some conflict and a drop in performance and manage the team to shorten the time between the new team formation and high performance.

The Forming – Storming – Norming – Performing model of group development was first proposed by Bruce Tuckman in 1965, who maintained that these phases are all necessary and inevitable in order for the team to grow, to face up to challenges, to tackle problems, to find solutions, to plan work, and to deliver results.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forming-storming-norming-performing accessed January 2009

Forming

Someone leaves, someone joins – team productivity will drop below the previous level.

Storming

 Team members will have to adapt to each other, find out who is good at what and decide how they will interact. Team productivity will drop as conflicts emerge and suspicion may grow.

Norming

The team works out who will be taking on which roles, who is good at what and how they will work together. Team performance stops dropping and starts to improve.

Performing

The team now know each other and are performing as expected.

Managers can intervene to shorten the time between forming and performing - often by organising a team building event, especially if the team have to work together to achieve something.

Managers may also need to intervene to move a team along to the next stage. For more information – just contact me and ask.

                   upd8 hints   help    inspiration    news    tips
It’s a difficult job management and as anyone who’s been on one my management courses or worked with me will know, I’m all for sharing my knowledge to help make management easier. Managers are also busy people, so management hints are very short messages, gentle reminders to help keep focused.
Sign up – and tell me what you think.

      H - help
      I - inspiration
      N - news
      T - tips

Two are now available – Study Hints and Management Hints.

I decided to produce the Study Hints to help anyone who is studying to achieve more. I see too many of my students struggling with the same problems, so I’ve written this short series of hints, delivered one each week, so there’s time to implement each suggestion and the whole series is delivered over 6 months – a reasonable length of time to build up study skills without having to wait until the week before an exam for exam hints and tips.

Each hint is short, but useful. I know that if more of my students followed these hints then their study skills would improve and that leads to improved course results. Great for them and great for me too
Sign up today – and tell me what you think

I was talking to a client recently who was struggling to manage a team member who worked from home. It turned out that the arrangement had ‘just sort of happened’, no rules or way or working had been agreed … 

I spoke to both the employee and the manager - and it turned out both were equally dissatisfied with the arrangement.

Why don’t people talk to each other? Well, because the manager has to make the time and be open to listen to what the team member is really saying and the team member has to feel able to raise issues with the manager.

This is all related to feedback skills. If the manager in this situation had explained his frustration (in terms of the impact on performance) and then listened to the team member’s point of view, then this could have been resolved months ago.

If you have an unresolved issue, then deal with it. If you need help with feedback skills, then why not send me an email for help - or ask a coach to talk it through with you.

No-one can motivate someone else. Motivation comes from inside – it’s internal and individual. You can affect someone’s motivation by the environment you provide. So understand what motivates each individual and then provide the right environment for them.

Agree a SMART objective with each team member – one that will move them towards one of their own goals (one of their great big outrageous exciting goals) and watch their motivation soar and the smart objective be achieved. It’s the job of  a manager to match the organisation’s purpose, the managers objectives and the person’s individual goals into SMART exciting objectives for the team member.

Invest in yourself and help future proof your career, business and life whilst you’re at it. Learn something new – book yourself on a training course (and ask work if they’ll pay for it!) Too busy? No time? Then try a public course or seminar where all you have to do is make sure you arrive on time and stay there until it’s finished (let’s face it you manage to do that all the time).

Put some resources into your health and well-being. Whether that’s joining a gym (yuk?) or as simple as buying some extra vitamins, you can make a difference. Work out the easiest thing you can do for you … then do it.

Update your image. How do others see you? Need new clothes or accessories – decide what you need then go get them. Need to be seen differently at work? Then work out what the new you will be and start being that person from today

Work out a goal or two based on yourself. Doing something for ourselves is motivating – and once you’ve learnt the art of achieving for yourself, it’s easier to achieve in all areas of your life.

Devote an extra hour a week to you, keep going, believe in yourself and your investment will pay. Need a little help to invest in yourself? Why not book a 1 hour coaching call contact Dawn for details.

Want a quick tip on how to keep motivation high in your team (or even your life)? Here it is – ready for it – it’s really simple, so bear with me - just do something different.

It can be something very simple or is can be something bigger, need some examples? Here you go then:

•  
  • Change your standard team meeting agenda
    • Ask someone else to chair the meting – or take the minutes
    • Add a new topic to the agenda
    • Take a topic off this time
    • Change the usual running order
    • Move it outside. Yep – sit on a park bench or go to the local cafe
  • Next time someone asks you a ‘how do I’ question’, instead of telling them the answer – ask them a good strong coaching question. Don’t know what a coaching question is? Then send me an email and I’ll help you
  • Give someone a different job to do for the day
  • Book the whole team into an all day meeting – and then on the day, buy them all a coffee and tell them there is no meeting and they can now spend all day catching up with whatever they like (you’ve just granted them an interruption free day!) think about it
  • Try a different route to work (yawn – heard that before – well give it a try) – include a coffee stop on the way, go earlier or later, catch the bus (hey, they’re not like they used to be!)
  • Book yourself on a training course (away from the office)
  • Invite a speaker/trainer to your next team meeting for a 1-hour training session (you’d be amazed at how well this works – just make sure the trainer is used to packing useful and practical tips into one hour of fun) (contact me for more details on this one)
  • Buy a new outfit… and wear it to work
  • Buy something new and unusual for you to use (pen, bag, notebook in a different design for example) and start using it at work

Why does this work? Well, it helps prevent sleepwalking – you know what I mean, you’ve seen it… when each day is the same and everything is as expected we can cruise through without really trying – and without using our brains very much and without enjoying ourselves.

Try something different. Give it a go – let me know what happens.  Happy New and Motivational Year to you all.

One of my favourite days of the year. Why? Well, if you think back to one month ago it was the shortest day of the year – not much daylight –but within 4 weeks (from 21 December to 21 January) it’s all changed. In fact this morning I can see blue skies and even some sunshine. Great!

Why does this matter? Well if all that can change in 1 month, then what could you change in 1 month?

If you’re a manager you could improve your performance as a manager in less than 1 month – Here’s How! – and let’s face it, in these perceived tough times wouldn’t you like to be a manager who’s exceeding performance?

Everyone could make a big change in one month – it’s all about picking the right change to make and then focusing your effort on that change. Not sure what to change? Try the free wheel of life exercise and if you’re still struggling, then email me for inspiration – just say you read this post and need some help.

A portfolio career is one where a person has more than one career at the same time. Take me for example:

Career 1
I work for the Open University as an Associate Lecturer on three different courses:
- Understanding Management (Y159)
- Data, Computing and Information (M150)
- Business Organisations and their Environments (B201)

That means I’m actually an employee of the Open University – PAYE, part time work.

Career 2
I’m also employed by my own company. I’m a Director of upd8 technology ltd. That company publishes websites (like this one amongst others) and provides coaching and training services as well as technology advice.

Career 3 and 4 and …
And that’s not all – I build websites, I write (like in this blog for example, as well as elsewhere) and I’m also an authorised distributor for utilities. And more!

If I came to work for you and you had to manage me, what difference would it make that I have a portfolio career rather than one, more traditional career?

Well, speaking personally … I won’t depend on you for my livelihood, so if you don’t treat me the way I want, I’ll walk … I love what I do, so I’ll always be enthusiastic and energetic about what I do … I’ll meet deadlines, because I’m good at juggling (I have to be) … but also, when I say I’m not available, then I’m not, because I really do have to be somewhere else.

If you’re managing someone who has a portfolio career, then are things really any different from managing someone who doesn’t have one? It’s still about understanding your employee and working out how to bring about the best possible performance, together.

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Timebound

and then checking that what we do works towards these goals. But I think that’s a bit boring - where’s the excitement? Where’s the motivation to complete a SMART goal?

I like my goals to be SMART and also to be WISE:

• WOW! Make sure that achieving the goal is a WOW!  You really want to do this – for you, not for anyone else.
• IMAGINE What will it be like when this goals is achieved- if you can’t imagine it, then it won’t happen.
• STEP Make sure that your goal is a step forwards. The size of step does not matter – the direction of the step does. 
• EXPECTATIONS Make sure your expectations are realistic. Expect to make mistakes, expect to go backwards sometimes. Expect and demand to move forwards.

For more information on SMART and WISE goals and how to achieve them, sign up for the ACHIEVE e-course - a short 5 step course which will help you towards your goals. Start today!