By Carl Robinson, Ph.D., copyright 2005 In today’s business it’s obvious…or it should be, that each of us has only a part of the expertise or information we need to get our jobs done. As a result, we are more dependent on each other than our “American” independent spirit may want to acknowledge. We were Read More >
Teams
Managing Virtual Teams
By Carl Robinson, Ph.D., copyright 2006 A colleague of mine from Australia, Geoff Taylor, recently wrote a great piece on managing virtual teams. I’ve included most of it below because I think it dovetails nicely with my recent briefing, “Prospering in a Flat World.” My additional comments are at the end. Geoff Taylor: In these Read More >
Team Building Without Time Wasting: A Case Study
By Carl Robinson, Ph.D. copyright 2007 In the book, Coaching for Leadership: How the World’s Greatest Coaches Help Leaders Learn, Marshall Goldsmith and Howard Morgan describe a practical team building approach that is effective, empowering and highly focused. Called, Team Building Without Time Wasting (TBWTW), their approach offers the specific steps and the insights needed Read More >
10 Steps to Improve the Performance of Any Team – Even in a Down Economy
by Carl Robinson, Ph.D. © 2008 When the economy is down, some bosses regress when it comes to being effective leaders. Because they are afraid, they focus too much on “demanding” higher levels of performance rather than inspiring and leading the way. They stop thinking about motivating and slip into “command and control” mode and Read More >
Trust – The Secret Ingredient to Team Performance
High levels of Trust and Productivity are intricately linked. You can have one or the other independently, however to maximize team performance you must have both. And it’s not just a matter of trusting one another. Every team member must “buy in” to the mission of the team. Why is this particular group of individual being asked to work Read More >
5 Key Steps to Building Team Energy
A few years ago, a client of mine was leading the marketing department of a major financial services firm: high profile, internationally respected brand. Many of his people worked long hours and some traveled quite extensively. Yet, no one ever seemed to mind. In fact, there was always an energetic buzz about them. The group Read More >
3 Team Building Activities For All Business Budgets
A 2009 data analysis published in the journal “Small Group Research” examined 103 team-building studies over 50 years’ time. Businesses that made a conscious effort to enhance and fortify relations among team members showed measurable positive effects in company cultures and bottom lines. The key to making team building activities effective? Avoiding awkward and invasive Read More >
The Future of Teamwork: How to Manage Remote Employees
Recent polls indicate that the number of traditional employees who work from home has grown exponentially; about 3% of employees work from home at least part of the time. In addition, about one third of the workforce is “independent,” whether they are contractors, freelancers, or self-employed. Many of these independent workers work remotely (not in Read More >
6 Steps to Develop a Powerful Leadership Team
The leadership team is one of the most important components of an organization, if not the most important. Collectively, members of this group determine where the organization is going and how it is going to get there. Yet, the percentage of leadership teams operating at dysfunctional levels is staggering. In 2007, 42 percent of senior leadership teams were considered dysfunctional. Read More >
The Importance of Commitment
Bill has been the CEO of a prominent financial services firm for nearly a decade. He knows the industry and his company well, has adequate visibility with his employees, and delivers powerfully-worded speeches that have the capacity to get them motivated. The only problem is… they’re not. In fact, morale is down, performance is declining, Read More >