Three Sources of Conflict

In my experience working with organisations there are three factors behind most organisational conflicts:

1. Differences in behaviour and communication styles

2. Differences in priorities and values

3. Workplace conditions, including poor communications from leaders

Some personalities just seem to clash. It's important to determine why two people rub each other the wrong way. Do they have opposing behavioural styles?

For example, an extrovert who is open and expressive could view an introvert as hard to read and perhaps untrustworthy. Likewise, a time-conscious, highly organised employee may harshly judge a spontaneous colleague. Someone who is highly analytical and precise might view an intuitive person as impulsive and flaky.

Teaching team members to understand basic human differences can help them overcome tendencies to judge and make assumptions. They can learn to accept coworkers’ differences. Consider using any of the commonly accepted assessment tools, such as PRISM or Belbin.

Workshops provide another option. An extrovert can learn to ask questions to draw out an introvert. The highly organized team member can learn to set more realistic deadlines.

Understanding personality differences can help prevent clashes and conflicts before they become ongoing problems.

I offer several options for learning about personalities in the workplace to help deal with differences and conflicts.

Expectations and Assumptions

People have different needs, values, beliefs, assumptions and cultural frameworks. Our expectations are fed by past experiences. If you erroneously assume that others are essentially mirror images, your lack of clarity can create strife.

Leaders and teams must explore others’ expectations, assumptions, underlying values and priorities. This can be accomplished in group or individual sessions, led by a manager or coach.

When there is an elevated degree of conflict, it's wise to retain a professional who is trained in interpersonal skills and mediation.

Behind every complaint is an underlying value that goes unsatisfied. Asking questions like “What’s really important here?” often allows people to uncover competing values and priorities. You will facilitate more authentic conversations when you ask the right questions.

What do you think about these ideas? What do you see as a major source of conflict in your organisation?

7 Things to Consider to Ensure your #TeamBuilding Event Hits the Spot

Are you planning a TeamBuilding event? If you are here are some of the things you need to think about.

 

1.       What do you want to achieve? When arranging an event it is important to ensure that you are clear about your aims and objectives for the event. Is it an event where you want the team to get to know each other better and have some fun? Is that your sole objective? Or do you want something more? If it is something more what are the desired outcomes you have for the event?  And how are you going to measure if the event has been successful?  All of these are questions you need to ask before you can decide on the type of event that you are going to arrange. If you are not sure, talk it through with your facilitator and event organiser to help you to clarify the intentions.
2.       How long have you got available? Realistically there is only so much you can achieve in an afternoon or even a full day. So don’t set your ambitions too high, but make sure they are realistic and practical. Remember that if you are not holding an event onsite (which is always the best option) you may need to allow travel time. In fact, why not make the travel part of the day and book a coach or mini bus to pick everyone up?
3.       Budget. Whilst money may not be your main concern, everyone wants to feel that they have got value for money. When organising your event, make sure your event organiser has a realistic understanding about your budget and be prepared to discuss it with them. Good professional organisers will not try and sell you something you can’t afford and will help you to maximise your budget to get the best possible event.
4.       Number of people. The number of people you have coming to the event can make a big difference to what works and what doesn’t. Make sure that your event is suitable for the size of your group
5.       How adventurous are your team? There are vast number of different types of team building events available now, so you don’t need to run outdoor activities if indoor ones are more suited to your team, or the weather! Climbing mountains maybe the right answer for some, but not all. And indoor events need to be equally carefully considered. Whilst some people love music and drama others may prefer cooking or painting. Remember that it is not always possible to please everyone in the group, but a general consensus is helpful. Always bear in mind however, that any experience outside the norm may make some people uncomfortable – after all that is how we learn and grow as people.
6.       Choose professional facilitation. A professional facilitator will not only ensure that the day runs as smoothly as possible, but will also add to the experience by bring his/her knowledge to the event. Good team events include good set-up and de-briefing by a professional facilitator. If you are not sure who to choose ask for recommendations from others.
7.       Follow up after the event. Make sure that you and your team take on any learning points from the day and start to work them into your daily routine wherever possible. This might be a different way of working together or recognition of someone’s skills that were not appreciated before. Whatever it is, make sure that the team event is part of an on going process in your organisation. Not a one off jolly!

Team events should be productive, energetic and fun. Make sure yours gets your team fired up and enthusiastic!

Why do teams get stuck?

If your team is struggling or seems to have got stuck, it may be for one of the following reasons.

1.    Inappropriate Leadership. Lack of structure or clear leadership can lead to a team becoming  dysfunctional and/or resistant. This in turn can lead to a high turnover of staff and without intervention disbandment of the team as being non -performing.

2.     Unqualified team members. Teams need to both have the appropriate technical skills as well as a balance to the necessary roles. If team members are lacking in basic skills, they need to have the appropriate training or be moved on.

3.     Unconstructive Climate An effective team needs to have an open climate that bridges differences and encourages individuals. If team members become defensive or secretive the team will struggle to thrive. Important issues must be openly discussed and resolutions found wherever possible.

4.     Projection and scapegoating  where the teams problems are being caused by "external influences". By making others part of the problem the team is adopting a "it wasn't me" attitude.

5.    Dominance of one or more personality/ behaviour types. It is not uncommon for the leader of a team to recruit "someone like them" or "someone who fits in" who consequently adds to the teams skills and strengths in a particular area, but does not necessarily address any gaps the team may have. Lopsided teams can often find it difficult to move forward.

6.    Teams , like the people within them, have a sense of self-esteem. Low self esteem can be a result of many things but might include: lack of drive, lack of recognition, lack of pride in their work. If their perception is  one of low self esteem, they will find it difficult to develop and move forward.

7.    Low creativity. Teams that are allowed to explore their creativity are more flexible in their approach and quicker to solve problems than those that are asked to deliver things in a fixed and rigid way. There is a difference between setting and measuring standards for particular tasks and preventing any creativity in achieving them. Harnessing creativity requires a level of risk and clear risk assessment should go hand in hand with the creative process.

 

 

Training trends 2013

 

Whilst over the past few years organisations have been sitting on their budgets and rationing training more heavily than usual, the trend for 2013 seems to be that new spending is on its way. Training (and marketing) your way out of a recession has often been quoted as the way forward and as new shoots of growth begin the appear, this can be expected to rapidly take off.

But the recession has changed the training world. Here are 5 trends that we expect to see more of in 2013.

Trend #1. No longer is it as common to have a class full of participants who have been sent because "it might be useful". Far more is the trend towards personalised learning using a wide range of resources, from classroom based training to on-line and on-mobile resources.  In fact, a training manager is now far more a resource manager providing knowledge based learning opportunities. Their role is to find and disseminate learning opportunities and reinforce learning to ensure it is embedded in the organisation.

Trend #2. Senior executives are taking more interest and applying more influence in the learning requirements. The potential impact of learning on project outcomes is being seen as critical as organisations move forward. Learning initiatives are about increasing the productivity and effectiveness of the organisation.

Trend #3. Another trend has been the rise of the knowledge repositories. Using social media, such as closed and open groups on Facebook and Ning, members of the organisation can share information with their colleagues. Whilst file sharing has been around for years, opportunities for sharing content have become much easier and more widespread. Content creators and curators will become far more important as they collate and collect libraries of information for use in the future.

Trend #4. All things video are set to dominate over the next few years. Video traffic reached 51% of online activity in 2010 and is set to climb to 70-80% by the end of 2013. And with the growth of smart phones and tablets enabling us to watch video anywhere and everywhere it has to be the key trend of the year.

Trend #5. And finally, we are seeing the rise of virtual online video based training. Products such as Livestream, which allow you to join and watch live events are becoming all the rage.

So where will your learning take you in 2013?

7 Ways to Say Something Difficult

Have you got something difficult to say?  Check out this Prezi which will give you a few ideas about how to approach it.




Find out more in the A Useful Guide to Resolving Conflict

Stress - The 7 C's

Stress - The 7 C's

In time for National Stress Awareness Day, here are the 7 C's behind Stress and what you can do about them.

Stressor No. 1 - Poor COMMUNICATION

•       Poor communication leads to misunderstanding, missed opportunities, bad feeling. 

•       Assertive communication helps deal with these. Learning  good communication skills can help you at work and at home.

Stressor No. 2 - Lack of CAPABILITY

•       If you have not been trained to do a job then is it fair to expect you to do it well?

•       Give yourself the best possible chance to do well by getting the best possible training for the job in hand.

Stressor No. 3 - Too little CAPACITY

·        Not having enough capacity to deal with day-today issues can lead to a sense of overwhelm which can be overpowering and cause you to want to give up or walk away.

·        This may be a case of needing to review your work life balance or getting yourself organised.

·         It may be the case that you need to learn how to say "No."

·        Make sure you review where you are in your life, the things you want to keep and the things you want to walk away from. Now work out a plan to do just that.

Stressor No. 4 - Loss of CONTROL

•       People get stressed about a situation because they feel out of control.

•       Different people react in different ways to loss of control and will use different strategies to  get back to a level of acceptable control for them .

•       Learning how you react to loss of control and the strategies that you use, can help you to understand what you might do differently.

Stressor No. 5 - Dealing with CHANGE

•       Many people don’t like change and get very stressed as a result.

•       The first steps to dealing with change is to accept it is inevitable and then deal with the consequences rather than the fact itself.

•       Learn to embrace change so it doesn’t scare you as much.

Stressor No. 6 - Resolving CONFLICT

For those of us who don’t like conflict, it can be a major source of stress. Learning to deal with it can be a major benefit. There are many ways of dealing with conflict, dependent on your situation. Here are a few:

1.       Don't take the bait.

2.       Consider the underlying causes. Is it obvious why someone is upset?

3.       Pause before you react. This will give you thinking time.

4.       Check your own behaviour. Is it part of the problem?

5.       Listen.

6.       Acknowledge that they may be correct in part of their concern.

7.       Be willing to negotiate if appropriate.

8.       Remain assertive.

9.       Stay in adult.

10.    Look for warning and danger signs.

11.    Check your distances.

12.    Avoid competing.

13.    Think Win/Win.

14.    Be prepared to deal with emotion and anger.

15.    Be aware, be alert.

16.    Know your legal position.

Stressor No. 7 - Dealing with a CRISIS

•       We all have to deal with crisis from time to time, whether it is personal or at work. Knowing how you are likely to react will help you plan on how to deal with things in the future.

•       Crises can hit us at anytime. Illness, a death in the family, divorce, bad debt. Unfortunately they are all too common. And can really knock you for six when they happen.

•       If you are dealing with a crisis, make sure that you have the support mechanisms in place to help you as much as possible,. This might include medical and legal professionals, friends and family, a coach or counsellor.

Want to find out more about how you can manage stress more effectively? Here are some useful links:

De-Stress You- Kindle Version

Useful Guides from Pansophix including:  A Useful Guide to De-Stress You,  A Useful Guide to Resolving Conflict, A Useful Guide to Create a New You - by Berry Winter

For Stress Coaching - http://www.jamberry.co.uk/coaching/coaching_home.html

For a variety of online products - http://www.jamberryonline.co.uk/index.html

Top 10: Ways to Lead by Example

Good leaders must lead by example. Through their actions, which are aligned with what they say, they become a person others want to follow. When leaders say one thing but do another, they erode trust, a critical element of productive leadership. Here are 10 of the dozens of ways to lead by example.

1. Take responsibility. Blame costs you your credibility, keeps team members on the defensive and ultimately sabotages real growth.

2. Be truthful. Inaccurate representation affects everyone. Show that honesty really IS the best policy.

3. Be courageous. Walk through fire (a crisis) first. Take calculated risks that demonstrate commitment to a larger purpose.

4. Acknowledge failure. It makes it OK for your team to do the same and defines failure as part of the process of becoming extraordinary.

5. Be persistent. Try, try again. Go over, under or around any hurdles to show that obstacles don’t define your company or team.

6. Create solutions. Don’t dwell on problems; instead be the first to offer solutions and then ask your team for more.

7. Listen. Ask questions. Seek to understand. You’ll receive valuable insights and set a tone that encourages healthy dialogue.

 
8. Delegate liberally. Encourage an atmosphere in which people can focus on their core strengths.

9. Take care of yourself. Exercise, don’t overwork, take a break. A balanced team, mentally and physically, is a successful team. Model it, encourage it, support it! 

10. Roll up your sleeves. Like Alexander the Great leading his men into battle, you’ll inspire greatness in your company.

 Find out more about how to lead your team and deal with difficult behaviour. Visit Dealing with Difficult Behaviour

Give Yourself a New Job Title

How much does your job title define your job? How much does it determine your approach to your job? How does it affect other people's approach to you? The name of your job very often tries to describe what you do. so on that premise if you want to do something different, or want your staff to, then change the name!

Imagine you had a new job title. Not any old title but one that would make a difference - to you and your team. Take for example Director of Making a Difference. What is the difference that you would make? It could be a different way of getting things done, or it might be making the difference to your customers.

What about Head of Momentum? Where might you find momentum in your organisation? How would you go about creating it?

Here are a few more different job tiles you could use:

Company Journey Planner
Director of Money Matters
Head of Executions
Company Team Tracker

Changing the name of your job may change the way you view it and where you place the emphasis - so go on give your job a new name!

Pitfalls of Managing Change

"There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle than to initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all who would profit by the new order.

The lukewarmness arises partly from fear of their adversaries which have the law and tradition in their favour and partly from the incredibility of mankind who do not truly believe in anything new until they have had actual experience of it."

Machiavelli (1513)

Reshuffle Your Cabinet

With a reshuffle in the air, what shoud Gordon Brown remember about change management?


1. Establish a sense of urgency - there's nothing worst than change that drags on, leaving everyone frutated in its wake.
2. Develop a vision and strategy - make sure you are clear on where you want to get to and when
3. Communicate the change vision - don't forget to tell everyone where the organisation is now headed for and why
4. Introduce new customs and practices - make change visible so that it doesn't just become bsuiness as usual
5. Empower a broad base of people to take action - action makes change happen, without it you are lost
6. Generate short term wins - and celebrate them appropriately
7. Consolidate, consolidate, consolidate

Good luck Gordon!