Seven Steps to Resolving Conflict in Crucial Conversations

 

It’s time to talk. Really talk. About the national and global issues that are impacting our changed lives, including Covid-19, civil unrest and returning to work or school. I don’t mean a quick chat; I’m referring to real conversations about tough topics where the stakes are high, the opinions vary and the emotions run strong.

In other words, this is a time for crucial conversations, a concept pioneered by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler. We tend to avoid crucial conversations at work. However, it’s important to learn how to handle them productively and positively. So how do we do it? Use the seven steps to creating a successful crucial conversation.

Seven Steps to Creating a Successful Crucial Conversation

1.    Start with the heart

2.    Master your story

3.    Learn to look

4.    Make it safe

5.    State your path

6.    Explore the other’s path

7.    Move to action

1. Start with the heart: During the crucial conversation, start with the heart. Why are you having this conversation? Because you’re angry and want to prove your point? Or because you want to improve your working relationship? Focus on healthy goals like learning, finding the truth, and strengthening relationships.

2. Master your story: When managing crucial conversations, stick to concrete facts and avoid judgements about those facts. Instead of saying, “You’re late, again.”, try saying “This is the 3rd time you’ve been late in 3 weeks. What’s causing these delays?”

3. Learn to look: Look at your role in the situation before accusing the other person. How have you contributed to the problem and how can you improve it?

4. Make it safe: While engaging in crucial conversations, create safety which includes being fully present without distractions and avoiding dangerous phrases, such as “You always do this.” or “You never do that”.

5. State your path: Create an environment where asking for help is encouraged. State how you’d like the issue to be resolved and ask for help in finding that solution. Create an environment where asking for help is encouraged. State how you’d like the issue to be resolved and ask for help in finding that solution.

6. Explore the other’s path: Now it’s time to listen and hear what the other person wants. Looking at the other person’s perspective calms the conversation and helps move the discussion in the right direction.

7. Move to action: Moving to action plays a significant role in crucial conversation. What action steps have you both agreed to and how will you ensure those steps take root?

Three Tips for Successful Crucial Conversations

With practice, a crucial conversation can be simple and bring a positive outcome. Keep these three tips in mind:

1. Adjust your mindset: Gearing up for a crucial conversation can create anxiety. Instead of getting nervous, try to adjust your mindset to be more positive. A crucial conversation goes best when you think of it as a normal conversation in a normal day.

These types of conversations could trigger strained working relationships within the organization. To avoid the painful effect, be compassionate with yourself and the other person. No one is perfect so be gracious with those around you.

2. Listen: Listening actively before responding to the other person can often give you enough time to choose the right words. By doing so, you can address the right issues leading to fruitful conversations.

During the crucial conversation, listen deeply with an open mind. While listening to the other person’s points of view, you will get to know their needs and requirements.

After listening, acknowledge the other’s viewpoint. Expressing interest in understanding the other’s point of view helps clarify the difference between the perspectives.

The best way to listen in a crucial conversation is to keep yourself calm and relaxed. Don’t just rush into things. To keep yourself calm, try to take regular breaths and relax your mind. A relaxed mind helps you refocus, providing the capacity to absorb what the other person is saying.

3. Plan: Planning is an essential aspect of crucial conversations so make sure to understand all the factors related to your crucial conversation. Being prepared in advance helps you hold a simple, clear, balanced and direct conversation. Bringing a few notes is one technique; you could also role play with another colleague before the actual crucial conversation.

Ready to improve your crucial conversation skills? Start by asking for feedback on your ability to handle stressful situations, which will help identify your areas of improvement. Then practice, practice, practice. Practice makes crucial conversations substantially more relaxed and less daunting!

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.

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Creating Workplace Culture That Actually Works

 

Workplace culture often seems like some sort of abstract concept. We think, ‘Oh to build a great culture at work, we have to create something that mimics Apple’ or some other hot, tech company. In reality, building a dynamic work culture is much simpler, based on how the organization’s values, attitude and behavior manifest daily in person to person exchanges.

A recent article in Ragan cited twelve workplace characteristics that will have employees packing their bags and updating their LinkedIn profile as they look for a new job. When you go through the list, you’ll likely be walking down memory lane, recalling situations in previous jobs, or perhaps even your current, where the atmosphere was stifling.

To avoid this type of attrition, let’s focus on three lessons learned:

1. Leadership is key. Let’s face it, we mimic our surroundings. If we’re new on the job, and not in a leadership positions, we often observe and copy the behaviors of others around us. Leadership is key in setting the standard,  and clarifying expectations throughout the organization.
2. What’s the real issue? Many employees bring you the symptom of a problem that they want you to solve. Your job as a manager is to dig deeper and find the real issue, by asking questions such as, “What’s underneath all this?” or “What’s the most important issue we need to look at now?”. Once the employee sees the real issues, help them tie it back to its impact on the team and organization. This will then start to create real change.
3. Structure enhances productivity and networking will aid efforts. Your colleagues are bright and good at what they do. However, what do they do? If you don’t know, it’s time to find out. Help every employee create a LinkedIn profile and encourage them to connect through the company page. Why is this important? When you’re trying to figure out who handles media inquiries, it’ll only take two minutes instead of an hour!

Simple habits build success. Take a look around your work; where do you see yourself succeeding? Start with what’s working and expand from there. What can you work on next?

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

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4 Steps to Maintain Organizational Culture with Freelancers

 

Organizational culture is crucial in creating a workplace where employees can work together as a team and contribute to furthering the company’s values and vision. Maintaining that culture in a shared office space is one thing…but when your freelance employees are scattered all over the country, maybe even the globe, that’s a different story. This management challenge is what I like to call “The Big Whopper.”

What do I mean about the “Big Whopper”? First, take a look at the following common scenario as it relates to freelance workers and organizational culture.

CHALLENGE: THE FREELANCE EMPLOYEE DOES NOT FIT IN WITH THE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE.

Freelancer’s Perspective: I freelance for a large corporation in Midtown Manhattan. They invited me to a party to celebrate a company milestone (I have no idea what it was) so I thought I should at least pop by for a few minutes. When I walked in, everyone was in corporate attire. I’d been running errands all day in my jeans and a bulky sweater, and was carrying a few shopping bags. No one was engaging me in conversation, so I just had a few cocktails, made some jokes with the Intern (he’s the only one I really communicate with there) and took off. Those people really need to lighten up!    

Manager’s Perspective: We sent out a company-wide invitation to celebrate an important moment in our corporate history. We’d finally broken ground to build a water purification plant for a community that had been drinking increasingly contaminated river water. As an organization, we take our work seriously and believe that if we work as a team with integrity, we can change the world. When my freelance employee, Rebecca, showed up to our celebration honoring six years of hard work coming to fruition, she was not dressed appropriately. She seemed to only come by to have a drink, gossip with our intern, and head out to finish her shopping. The fact that her attitude and behavior didn’t mesh with our organizational culture really stood out. Did I hire the right person?

How could the scenario have been prevented with effective management? Here are four steps that will help maintain organizational culture with freelance workers.

Maintain Organizational Culture When Managing

Freelance Employees with These 4 Steps

Step 1: Organizational Culture Starts with You

Like many management challenges, maintaining organizational culture with freelance employees starts with you. You have to model the desired culture through your actions, behavior and communication style. Make sure that you are dialed in to the organization’s values and vision, and use that as a backbone for all of your freelance worker interactions. If you don’t know what your company stands for, how will your freelancers know?

Step 2: Keep Organizational Culture in Mind During the Hiring Process

When going through the hiring process, always keep your company’s vision and values in mind. If your organization values teamwork, hiring a very independent freelancer may not be a good fit. When looking at potential freelance candidates, don’t just look for matching skills and experience. Be sure to include questions that will gauge if they are a good cultural fit as well.

Step 3: Take Time to Integrate Your Freelance Employee into the Organization

Just because your freelance worker isn’t physically in the office does not mean that they don’t need the same thoughtful onboarding that you give in-house employees. Since freelancers work remotely, you can’t shuttle them around from introduction to introduction with an orientation packet in their hands; however, there are other things you can do.

• Pair your freelancer with a seasoned employee who embodies your organizational culture. After an initial introduction, tell your freelancer that they can turn to this employee with any questions they may have.
• Create a photo and bio sheet to distribute to freelance workers. This allows them to take a virtual walk through the office by putting faces to names. This also helps identify the roles of fellow in-house employees, which will help in collaborative projects.
• If possible, invite your freelance workers to the office. Let them experience first hand what your culture looks and feels like.

Step 4: Make Your Freelance Worker Feel Part of Your Team

Have you ever felt like a complete outsider at work? It’s not very motivating. Often, that’s how freelancers feel. It takes effort to make them feel they are part of a team that they rarely, if ever, see. Here are some ways you can do so:

• Keep your freelance employee informed about “what they are part of.” For example, if they have to create a massive Excel spreadsheet of film festivals in Chicago, let them know why. If the freelancer knew that the company produced a transformational documentary on the water crisis and that the spreadsheet would help market the film, she would feel more aligned with the company’s mission.
• Create large goals that remind freelancers who the company is and where it is going. Using the scenario above, an example of a large goal might be, “Provide clean drinking water to every human being in South America by 2017.” With that goal stated and reiterated, it is easier for in-house and freelance employees to feel part of the company’s mission.
• Be open with your freelancers about achievements and failures alike. When a freelancer works hard on a project and never hears if it had any impact on the company goals, it’s difficult for her to feel part of the team.
• If you send company holiday cards or host holiday parties, don’t forget to include your freelance employees.

Now, let’s revisit the scenario above and examine how the problem could have been avoided.

SOLUTION: If Rebecca’s manager had embodied the company culture in their previous interactions, Rebecca would have known what to expect at the event. If, during the interview process, Rebecca’s manager had spoken to her about her interest in community and the environment, she would have a better idea if Rebecca was a good fit for an organization that values those things. Additionally, by having Rebecca primarily communicate with the intern (obviously not a seasoned member of the organization), she didn’t have a chance to be integrated into the company culture. So while Rebecca’s manager did include her in the company event, it ended up being an unpleasant experience for both of them.

Organizational culture is dynamic. As the centerpiece of culture among your organization’s workforce, you can make a tremendous impact. Start with yourself and take time in selecting and nurturing your freelance workforce. Above all else—remember that talent is not expendable, in-house or not.

Now that we’ve talked about communication challenges with freelance workers, how to facilitate effective collaborations between in-house and freelance teams, and explored ways to increase the likelihood of freelance employees meeting goals and making deadlines, do you feel confident you could successfully manage freelance employees? What challenges are you most wary of?

Tell us about it with a comment below, in an email, or on Twitter. Let’s get ready for the future of work together.

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Communicating Culture with Positive Reinforcement

 

A lot of big words for a simple theory. Or as Boyd so eloquently puts it in the recent Fast Company article, “People want to be inspired, not lectured. They tend to respond better to humor and gentle reminders than they do to dictates or presumptions of guilt before innocence.” In essence, people don’t respond as well to control as they do to subtle encouragement.

Many people think of organizational culture as a ‘soft’ skill, yet culture is directly related to the execution of your organization’s strategy. What is the ultimate goal within your company? What type of work do you want your employees to create? What type of attitude and atmosphere are you trying to construct? If you know where you want to take your company, then define the behaviors, values and attitudes that you want your employees to emulate as they execute your company’s strategy.

XPLANE’s Culture Map, Courtesy of Dave Gray

For example, one organization I work with values ‘customer service’. Yet customer service can be defined 100 different ways to 100 different people. It’s up to the leadership team to define what customer service actually means in practice in your organization. What’s the behavior and attitude that reflects excellent customer service? Is it a smile upon meeting? Always saying hello first? Do the employees have the authority to do whatever it takes to keep the customer happy, up to a certain dollar amount? These are the type of questions that need to be answered so the team can create the culture that is needed to execute your strategy.

Once your organizational values, behaviors and attitudes are defined, how do you enforce those cultural standards? While the strategy might be compelling, the article mentions using positive reinforcement to increase or maintain a certain type of behavior. Positive reinforcement refers to the behavioral and reinforcement theories developed by B.F. Skinner, in which positive reinforcement is the addition of an appetitive stimulus.

Again, a lot of big words for a simple, effective idea. What does this mean? Provide affirmative incentives. Incentives don’t necessarily need to be tangible, as we’ll discuss in the next post. Intangible are often best. In the case of Burning Man, reinforcement is provided with the use of humor. Humor in unexpected places is a nice surprise and reprieve from what could come across as a dry dictate; it helps employees to want to pay attention.

That’s what it boils down to. To foster a positive, productive, enjoyable culture, with happy employees producing superb results – take care to provide positive feedback where culture has been embraced or in areas you are trying to build up and develop. The result? Employees are inspired to take part and contribute to the organizational culture as they execute their daily tasks.

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.

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Why Purpose at Work is More Important Than Ever

 

The radical changes happening in the United States workforce are impacting organizations. If organizations don’t plan to make changes now, they are at risk of losing relevance in tomorrow’s workforce, which will look and function differently than today’s workforce.

In particular, leaders are watching as every 8.5 seconds another Baby Boomer turns 50, leading to the reality that 75 million Baby Boomers will retire in the next 10-15 years. Losing 45% of the workforce is alarming. Who is going to take their place? Now that the Millennial generation has superseded the Baby Boomers as the largest living generation, leaders must look to them in order to fill the many job vacancies created when Boomers finally hang up their hats.

But Millennial workers don’t fit neatly into the roles Boomers left behind. For one, 58% of them expect to leave their jobs in three years or less. In addition, 52% of Millennials think the corporate environment is outdated and that true success comes from carving one’s own path. So you can see why 54% of hiring managers say they have a difficult time finding and retaining Millennials.

Let’s add another layer to up the ante—employee engagement. The United States workforce is suffering from a lack of engagement. According to research, 45% of employees in the U.S. are not engaged, and 26% are actively disengaged. Disinterested employees are more than disgruntled; they also directly affect the bottom line. $11 billion is lost annually due to employee turnover; companies with engaged employees outperform those without by up to 202%.

So what’s the bottom line? A huge swath of the workforce starting to head out the door into some version of retirement, a generation with different needs pouring in to fill the vacancies in companies they may not believe in, and a whole lot of employees with far away looks in their eyes, feeling uninterested and unfulfilled. Can we agree that something needs to be done?

Start at the Core: Purpose

If you’re going to make the internal shifts needed to survive and thrive in the next decade, you might as well start at the core: purpose at work.

What sets a company with purpose apart from one without? Imperative says there are three core elements for experiencing purpose: positive impact on others, personal development, and delivery of work through strong relationships. A purpose-driven company fosters these experiences for its employees, and has a stated and measured reason and mission for being. This mission should be something that every employee knows.

You may be thinking that “purpose” at work sounds like one of the many buzzwords that have no practical application. That’s not true. Purpose does make a difference, and it’s an actionable concept. Integrating purpose into the workplace will increase employee engagement, performance, and profit. This is shown clearly by the results of LinkedIn and Imperative’s global survey*, Purpose at Work, of 26,151 LinkedIn members in 40 different countries. Let’s take a look at some of the results.

In virtually every country and industry studied, the correlation of satisfaction at work and purpose orientation was consistent. 73% of purpose-oriented workers are satisfied in their jobs, and 37% of LinkedIn members globally (40% in the U.S.) are purpose-oriented. What does it mean to be purpose-oriented? It means that you prioritize work that matters to you, your company, and the world.

A purpose-oriented professional doesn’t need to be caring for orphan orangutans to find purpose in their work. In fact, purpose can be found in every job and industry.

Of course some job functions naturally attract more purpose-oriented people. The top five most purpose-oriented job functions are community and social services, entrepreneurship, education, healthcare services and research. On the low end we have operations, support, finance, purchasing and accounting.

Purpose + Performance

One of the key issues with disengagement is how it impacts performance at work. To show the correlation between purpose and performance, Imperative worked with New York University to conduct research on purpose-oriented talent in the U.S. The results show that purpose-oriented employees score higher than non purpose-oriented employees on every measure. For example, they were 50% more likely to be in leadership positions and 47% more likely to be promoters of their employers. 64% of those surveyed reported higher levels of fulfillment in their work as well.

The study also found that 39% of the purpose-oriented people were likely to stay at their company for 3+ years. In fact, 73% reported being satisfied with their jobs. That’s no small number!

There’s no shortage of information on how to make the Millennial worker happy, but when it comes to purpose, they aren’t the only ones who need it. The truth is, they are the least purpose-oriented generation at only 30%, as opposed to the 47% of Baby Boomers and the 38% of Gen X’ers who are purpose-oriented.

This is likely a “stage not age” scenario, where young adults are focused on different things due to their stage in life. German psychoanalyst Erik Erikson, identified a shift in identity between the ages of 18-35 and 35-36. The young adults (Millennials) are more focused on relationships at that stage, and the older adults shift to associating their identity with their contribution to society.

Purpose + Profit

Let’s not forget the correlation between purpose and profit. Research from the E.Y. Beacon Institute and Harvard Business School shows purpose-driven companies are more likely to be profitable. From 2013 to now, 58% of companies with clearly articulated and defined purpose experienced growth of 10%, while only 42% of companies not prioritizing purpose experienced growth. Further, 42% of non-purpose led companies showed a drop in revenue, while 85% of companies led by purpose showed positive growth.

All of these statistics point to one thing: purpose is integral to success in the future of work. Here are three tips to get you started in your effort to become a purpose-driven organization that attracts purpose-oriented candidates.

Ready to be Purpose-Driven? Three Tips to Get You Started

1.     Find Purpose-Oriented Employees By Seeking Passive Candidates

If you want to foster a purpose-oriented organization, you’d be wise to seek candidates who are themselves purpose-oriented. These people are still the minority however, which means recruiting passive candidates (candidates not actively looking for work.) Actually, as 69% of purpose-oriented employees report—they are more likely to be passive, probably because they are invested in their current positions. To grab their interest, focus on your mission, vision, products and services more than perks and benefits. Also, check out Red 5 Studios innovative strategy for recruiting passive candidates here; it’s one of our favorites.

2.     Brand with Purpose

From a more macro view, incorporate your purpose directly into your branding efforts. Do the images on your website, recruiting materials and social media channels reflect an organization that values a positive impact on others, personal development and strong relationships? One common misstep is organizations that value diversity yet publish materials with pictures that don’t represent diverse populations. Look at your visual images, evaluate the language used, and align all your branding and communications with your purpose.

3.     Don’t be Afraid to Start From Square One

If your organization doesn’t have its purpose clearly defined, you’ve got some serious, and very rewarding, work to do. Where can you get started? On a basic level, leaders can first define their personal values, then, move on to clarifying the values and purpose of their organization, and finally look at the organization as a whole through this lens of attracting, hiring and retaining their talent. Leaders must make purpose a fundamental piece of each step of their own, and their team’s, talent life cycle.

The massive shifts happening in the U.S. workforce are forcing organizations to take a closer look at what matters most: their talent. This closer look leads to the importance of purpose, for both their own survival as a company, and for the engagement, productivity and fulfillment of their employees. A massive shift towards purpose will benefit the economy, and the people who fuel it.

I’d love to hear your experiences with organizations with clearly defined purposes and ones without any purpose at all. What was it like to work with them?

 

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.

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Want To Build Excellent Teams? Try This Efficient Model

Working as a team is how the best organizations operate, yet it can be challenging, especially without a roadmap. The Drexler-Sibbet Team Performance Model provides a step-by-step framework for understanding team development. It’s one of the most efficient models I’ve seen, and I’m happy to share how it works.

First, take a look at the following graphic. It shows you the basic model structure. 

As you can see, there are 7 sequential steps in this model, represented by circles.

1.    Orientation

2.    Trust Building

3.    Goal Clarification

4.    Commitment

5.    Implementation

6.    High Performance

7.    Renewal

Each step has:

·         A question in the circle, which is the question someone on the team is likely to ask.

·         Resolved and Unresolved Traits on either side of the circle. If the resolved traits are demonstrated by the team, then the team can move to the next step. If the unresolved traits are demonstrated, it’s not yet time to move to the next step.

·         Arrows that point to other steps. If a team is facing challenges on a certain step, the arrows will tell the team which step to move to. For example, if a team is challenged on step 4, they would go back to step 3. However, if a team is challenged on step 5, they would go back to step 3, because the arrow from step 5 points to step 3.

A Diagnostic Tool

It’s important to note that while this model is sequential from steps 1-7, building teams is rarely a linear process. So teams may go back and forth through the steps, as the team matures. That’s why this model can be used as a diagnostic tool. For example, if a team is facing challenges, anyone on the team can look at the model to see where the team is stuck, and then know what to do.

A Way To Build Teams From Scratch

In addition, the model can be used as a way to build teams, giving the team lead and the team members a path to building a sustainable team. Steps 1-4 build the team; steps 5-7 maintain the team. Step 4 is known as the crux of the team’s success.

While this looks like a complex process, it is possible to move through these steps quickly. However, if steps are deemed unimportant and skipped, the team will progress more slowly.

I am going to review the entire Drexler-Sibbet model (DS model) over the course of two weeks. In the end, you will be able to use the model on a daily basis on your various teams. This week, we will focus on steps one, two and three.

STEP 1

Orientation – Why am I here?

Orientation is about understanding the purpose of a team and assessing what it will mean to be a member. Team members will need to understand three things:

1.    The reason the team exists

2.    What will be expected of them

3.    How they will benefit from team membership

In a new team, these are individual concerns, because the group is only potentially a team. Often, these concerns are felt at an intuitive level; rarely will a team member ask these three questions. That’s why it’s important to provide time and space to address these questions in the first meeting and repeat the answers in each meeting to reinforce the message. Once the members know the answers to these questions, they will feel more connected and are more likely to participate in achieving the group’s goals.

How do you know when Orientation challenges are resolved? You will see:

·         Purpose

·         Team Identity

·         Membership (What are the rules/agreements we play by)

How do you know when the team is blocked at Orientation? You will see:

·         Uncertainty

·         Disorientation

·         Fear

Remember – repetition is key to saturation and understanding. So keep repeating what you want understood. Say it again and again, to those in the team, and with those you serve.

STEP 2

Trust Building – Who are you?

Trust is a measure of your willingness to work together with others for something important. Teams that know they can depend on the others to work together and accomplish the team’s purpose far exceed teams that do not have this understanding and appreciation of other team members. Because team members have to depend on each other to be successful, trust is essential in direct relation to how much cooperation is needed to get the job done.

In the beginning of a new team, trust involves some risk and uncertainty about dealing with strangers. This is why the key question is “Who are you?” An unstated aspect of this question is wondering, “What will you expect from me?”

So how do you quickly build trust? It depends and it doesn’t have to include trust falls or outdoor ropes courses!

As we evaluate the trustworthiness of potential team members, we generally look at two things about the person: integrity and competency. Most of us start our team building by granting members a moderate to significant amount of trust (depending on our comfort level) from the moment the individual becomes part of the team. As the author Ernest Hemingway reminds us, “The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” Then we increase or decrease that trust based on our continuing experiences with that individual, hopefully achieving consistency and reciprocal trust.

How do you know when Trust Building challenges are resolved? You will see:

·         Mutual regard

·         Forthrightness

·         Reliability

How do you know when the team is blocked at Trust Building? You will see:

·         Caution

·         Facade

·         Mistrust

STEP 3

Goal Clarification – What are we doing?

“What are we doing?” is a more specific question than the larger question of purpose asked during Orientation. During this stage of a team’s life, it will need to develop clear understanding of the job that is required, as well as generate agreements about goals and specific deliverables. Sometimes teams have precise charters that specify what they are responsible for accomplishing. More often, they are given a broad mandate and need to make choices about how they will pursue that mandate and translate it into goals.

There is an expression in the Navy that says, “If you are just one degree off, you end up in Madagascar instead of Kenya.” One degree is not a big number, yet the result is vastly off course. How many teams are exactly on the same page about goals? Usually the team roughly knows where to go, yet is fuzzy on the specifics. For example, what is the specific metric being used? When is the deliverable due? How does it align with the bigger purpose?

General, unclear goals are demotivating; clear specific goals are motivating. So how do you set clear goals and metrics? Here are three steps to do so:

·         Ask the team lead and team: What are the meaningful results the team is trying to achieve?

·         Develop clear guidelines on the performance required that will help to deliver meaningful results.

·         Confirm the goals and intended results with others in the organization.

·         Bonus question to ask: What would you have to do differently if you were trying to improve by ten times instead of by ten percent?

Involve your team in adding the detail to these steps. The more they’re involved, the greater their sense of ownership and commitment will be. As a side note, goals shouldn’t be so specific that they don’t allow flexibility to achieve things differently; the context and situation may change over time so be nimble and adaptable.

How do you know when Goal Clarification challenges are resolved? You will see:

·         Explicit assumptions

·         Clear integrated goals

·         Shared vision

How do you know when the team is blocked at Goal Clarification? You will see:

·         Apathy

·         Skepticism

·         Irreverent competition

I hope you’re finding value in the DS model so far. There’s more to come! Next week I’ll cover the remaining steps:

·         STEP 4: Commitment – How will we do it?

·         STEP 5: Implementation – Who does what, when, where?

·         STEP 6: High Performance – WOW!

·         STEP 7: Renewal – Why continue?

Then you’ll have a complete system to use to build amazing teams or diagnose teams that are struggling. Stay tuned!

Have you used a team-building model before? I’d love to hear about your experience with it.

share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.

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