16

Sep

Are you using these annoying phrases?

3 comments

3coze

and, annoying, catch phrases, collaboration, communication, expressions, language, offline, teamwork, yes

Communicate, Horror Stories, Right Words to Say

“Help me understand what you’re trying to achieve.” Once upon a time, I encouraged you to use this phrase as a signal that you’re not connecting with someone’s point and you need them to clarify. Sadly, too many closed-minded, judgmental, passive-aggressive jerks commandeered “Help me understand” and now it’s a weapon. And that’s not the […]

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17

Sep

If Meetings Suck, Why Do You Keep Going?

1 comment

3coze

collaboration, management, matrix, meetings, meetings will kill you, Simon Jenkins

Connect, Contribute

I read an editorial by Simon Jenkins in the Guardian this morning about meetings crushing morale and killing productivity. Jenkins’ list of the perils of meetings touches the personal (meetings slow metabolism, lead to diabetes and cancer, and eventually kill you) and the professional (meetings waste cognitive resources, cause organizations to hemorrhage productivity, and eventually […]

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18

Jun

If you want teamwork, stop creating competition

2 comments

3coze

collaboration, compensation, individual contributor, KPIs, measurement, rewards

About teams, Be a better team leader, Horror Stories, How to fix teams

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been called into an organization to help build a culture of teamwork, only to learn that people are measured, managed, and rewarded around individual performance. If success in your organization is defined exclusively by personal effort and achievement, don’t bother paying lip service to teamwork, collaboration, […]

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28

Sep

3 Big mistakes you make when trying to influence

1 comment

3coze

clout, collaboration, decision making, influence, persuasion, persuasiveness

Be a better team member, Communicate, Contribute, Horror Stories, Personal Development, Right Words to Say

Imagine that you need additional resources to finish your project on time. Or you’re lobbying to get your choice in a procurement process. Or you want the design of a new product to go a certain way. You need to influence the outcome of a decision and you think to yourself “I’ve got this one!” […]

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15

May

Read the damn pre-read people!

4 comments

3coze

accountability, collaboration, Input, laziness, meetings, pre-read, preparation, responsibility

About teams, Communicate, Contribute, How to fix teams

I was talking with someone this morning about the sorry state of meetings. We spend so much time in the weeds and waste a precious opportunity to have valuable conversations about stuff that really matters. We talked about a few things, but the one that left me fired up was the amount of time we […]

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24

Feb

How to get stuff done

0 No comments

3coze

blocker, champion, collaboration, influence, power, resistance, stakeholder management

Be a better team member, Communicate, Connect, Contribute, Exercises

When I was writing You First, I was looking for a subtitle that conveyed a strong message about the importance of team effectiveness to productivity. In a flash of insight, I came up with “Inspire your team to grow up, get along, and get stuff done.” That title still makes me smile. [Of course those […]

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04

Oct

10 questions to increase collaboration

0 No comments

liane

collaboration, interdependence, shared goals, shared ownership, team building, teamwork

Be a better team leader, Communicate, Exercises, How to fix teams

  I’m on a bit of a roll on the topic of collaboration on teams. This little flurry of posts stemmed from three teams in a row that raised concerns about the lack of shared ownership for each other’s work. In the first post, I focused on the importance of getting input from teammates before […]

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30

Sep

How to provide input constructively

0 No comments

liane

advice, collaboration, communication, etiquette, Input, recommendations, suggestions

Be a better team leader, Be a better team member, Communicate, Horror Stories, How to fix teams, Right Words to Say

  In three sessions with three different teams recently, the key theme has been the lack of shared ownership: A phenomenon one participant described as “everyone swimming their own race.“ This affects the value added by the team in two ways. First, when you’re focused on your own responsibilities, you’re unlikely to provide input on […]

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27

Sep

When to seek input from your teammates

2 comments

liane

accountability, collaboration, cooperation, independence, Input, interdependence, matrix, Speed, teamwork

Be a better team leader, Be a better team member, Communicate, Horror Stories, How to fix teams

Many of the team members I’m working with right now feel caught between two opposing forces. On the one hand, they’re living in matrix structures that require tightly aligned team behavior and interdependence. On the other hand, they feel the weight of the expectations for personal accountability and speed of execution, which are inadvertently driving […]

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09

Nov

Quick steps to improve your decision making

0 No comments

liane

agenda, collaboration, consensus, decision making, flip charts, issue log, meetings, outputs, problem solving

Be a better team leader, Exercises, How to fix teams

  What are we solving for? Do your meetings go off on tangents so that two hours later you’ve covered a wide swath of territory but made no decisions? Do you find yourself at cross purposes with teammates getting frustrated that you can’t seem to figure out why you’re fighting? Does your team run off […]

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