Team Effectiveness

Employees Can’t Get No Satisfaction

January 14, 2010

With a clumsy nod to the Rolling Stones’ classic tune, it appears to be true: since 1987, workers have become steadily less satisfied with their work.  This is according to research results released last week by The Conference Board.  What’s more, it’s not a generational thing: satisfaction is decreasing amongst all ages groups.  While the [...]

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Praising Mastery

November 6, 2009

I’m reading the book The Power of Respect by Deborah Norville.  She cites a very interesting study from the journal Motivation and Emotion. In this study, a group of researchers from Reed College in Oregon studied whether one form of praise was more effective than another.  The researchers used two different types of praise: “mastery”, [...]

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The TMI of Leadership

September 29, 2009

The other day, I was having a discussion with a training manager named Sally.  Her staff designs training for her company’s field sales force. Sally works for a large organization that has a reputation for promoting from within. Here’s what we were discussing: Leaders higher up in her organization have noticed that when the sales people [...]

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The Sweet Spot for Mentoring

September 24, 2009

Note: this blog post is a collaborative effort between Jennifer V. Miller and Lisa Rosendahl.  We’ve each taken a different perspective on the topic of mentoring. Lisa’s post explores what attributes Human Resource/Talent Managers look for in potential mentors. This blog post explores mentor readiness from a personal perspective, asking: “How do you know you’re ready [...]

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Boo or Yay Manager?

September 20, 2009

One of my favorite experiential activities for management training is an oldie but goodie called the “Boo/Yay” exercise.  In it, two volunteers separately try to guess a per-determined task such as walking to the front of the room and picking up a marker. The audience is instructed to give the volunteers feedback to help them [...]

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Bully on the Track Field

September 18, 2009

So I’m reading Bret Simmons’ post When the Bully Boss is Female . . . There’s a slight whooshing sound in my brain and all of a sudden time sort of shifts.  It’s the 1970’s and I’m in 8th grade.  A new family has moved from Chicago to our tiny farming community in Michigan.  They [...]

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Book Review: The Sharp Employee

September 18, 2009

In preparation for reviewing the Marcus Buckingham’s soon-to-be released book Find Your Strongest Life, I decided to pull some of Buckingham’s earlier books off the shelf and give them a second look.  This review is the first of a three-part series. Now, Discover Your Strengths Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton The highlights: In the [...]

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No-Cost Ideas for Energizing Your Team

September 15, 2009

In my post Not Everyone Loves Putt Putt, I advised leaders to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of hosting an offsite gathering that’s “fun day” or social in nature.  In a well-intended effort to promote team cohesiveness, these outings sometimes fall short. So what’s a leader to do if the team isn’t interested in an [...]

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Not Everyone Loves Putt-Putt

September 15, 2009

For many of us in the United States, September means “back to school”.  In the business world, that sense of starting anew often prompts team leaders to consider some sort of social off-site activity (lunch, golf, attending a cultural event) as a means to energize their team.  Off-site activities, when properly conceived and aligned to [...]

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