How Does Personal Development Help in Business?

Teams run most businesses and teams work best if each member is aligned with the whole group and works in a happy friendly way. Team building has been very popular over the last ten years or so, but wouldn't it be so much easier if we naturally lived a life in synchrony with your teammates and your customers.

Businesses in the past has employed people for the purpose of fulfilling a role and paying a wage, were the employee may not really enjoy the job they are doing. As we move into the New Energy and develop our awareness. As New Spirituality develops and Self-love grows and your appreciation for fellow employees naturally changes, we grow in synchrony and Self-realisation.

This shift is happening now; employees and business owners are going through major changes both at work and in their home life. It is getting harder and harder to stay in a job you are not enjoying doing.

Your individual life's purpose and your job are aligning, it is possible to help this process through your imagination, your vision and your dreams to plan the next step on your life's journey. The best way to achieve this is to shift your focus from what you don't want to what you would love to have, be and do.

This shift in vision and what you are being will shift your energy to a more positive life where you are constantly choosing to follow your joy and stepping into happiness, as you take each step in life.

Your job may change during this process, as you become more aligned with your life purpose and your company's expectation. Companies are living things and they can only grow through change as they evolve and expand.

Employees also like changing and growing both within the company and within their own life. So what can we do to speed up this process of evolution and growth?

Turning the attention back on your self is one of the most useful things that you can do. This can happen as easily as becoming aware of ones own breathing and reaching out with your feelings and adjusting your energies each time you become aware of some tension within the body and relaxing and re-centring.

Following one of the many methods of meditation can do it, the main thing is we look within and just observe what we feel and see. We cannot use our gifts until we become aware of them. By taking a few minutes each day to align our own energies will have a tremendous effect on our co-workers and bring harmony and peace into the work place.

Message channelled by George Lockett (C) Copyright 2005, All Rights Reserved. Read HealerGeorge's Blog: <a target="_new" href="http://curezone.com/blogs/f.asp?f=95">Journey into the Self</a> Visit the website for more information and previously published ebooks to read, Guided Meditation CD or MP3 file. Request Absent Healing at: <a target="_new" href="http://www.healergeorge.com">HealerGeorge</a> Or ask at question at: <a target="_new" href="http://curezone.com/forums/f.asp?f=637">Ask HealerGeorge</a>

The Stages Of Team Development

One of the greatest challenges a coaching manager has is in moving his or her team though the various team development stages. If a manager has no, or little experience of teams and team dynamics then taking over a team and then leading that team can be a very stressful experience. Every manager should know what the various growth stages are of a developing team and they should know how best to move the team through these stages with the minimum of fuss and stress. Unfortunately, many managers do not get the necessary training or coaching in this area of team development and as such teams go through a lot of stress and turmoil when perhaps this could be minimised quite considerably.

In the next couple of pages I will take you through a simple team development model, which I find the most useful of all the models I have studied. The names of each of the stages sum up perfectly what you can expect at each stage!

Psychologist, B.W Tuckman in the 1970s, developed this model and Tuckman suggests that there are four team development stages that teams have to go through in order to be productive. The four stages are:

Forming when the team meets and starts to work together for the first time. Storming, when the members within the team start to &quot;jockey&quot; for position and when control struggles take place.

Norming when rules are finalised and accepted and when team rules start being adhered to.

Performing when the team starts to produce through effective and efficient working practices.

Some teams will go through the four stages fairly rapidly and move from forming through to performing in a relatively short space of time. A lot depends on the composition of the team, the capabilities of the individuals, the tasks at hand, and of course the leadership from management. One thing is certain ? no team passes over the storming phase.

All teams must be prepared to go through the difficult and stressful times as well as reaping the benefits of the productive phases. The task of the coaching manager is to identify where along the path of team development his or her team is and then move it on to the next phase with the minimum of fuss and resistance.

Let's look at each of the stages in detail.

Forming:
This is a stressful phase when new teams come together. Everyone is a bit wary of each other, particularly if they do not know anyone and particularly if the manager is new. Even more stressful, if the rumours circulating about the manager are not favourable!

The first meeting is a nervous one and a good coaching manager will recognise this and make attempts to ensure the team is put at ease. As the forming stage is the stage where cliques can develop, the coaching manager should be aware of this and should be aware of the various alliances that will occur at this stage. Not all alliances will be counter-productive to the team's future success but it pays for the coaching manager to watch and observe the behaviours of potential cliques. The challenge for the coaching manager is basically to give an inert group of people who hardly know each the best start possible as a new team. The coaching manager should attempt to do the following in order to give the team the best possible start. Outline specifically the task the team has to perform.

Be specific about each person's role in the team's task.

Outline how the team has come together and give reasons as to why the various team members have been brought together for inclusion within this team.

Be open about the way you operate as a manager ? what are your strengths and weaknesses? Outline your expectations of both the team and the individuals within the team. In other words, start to contract with the team.

Encourage each team member to do likewise.

Ensure that the team has a set of rules and guidelines and that the team has an input into how these rules are formed and agreed.

Have a discussion about reward and recognition. How does the team want to celebrate its achievements?

How are the team going to make decisions?

How are the team going to give feedback on each other's performance?

By having an open discussion right at the start of the team's task then people get the chance to air views, concerns and queries. The coaching manager will enable this to happen with the result that people feel they have been listened to; they have been able to contribute; they know the rules and regulations by which the team will operate and they now have a greater appreciation of the people they are working with.

Storming:
Storming is a challenging phase and the coaching manager who has led the team through the forming stage well and is starting to feel quite good about progress may have quite a rude awakening. Storming always seems to come as a surprise, no matter how well the coaching manager has prepared and led the team up till now. This is where the leadership qualities of the coaching manager are tested to the full. I have had the privilege of working with some managers who have handled this stage well and also have witnessed (and suffered) at the hands of managers who have had no idea of what to do to move the team forward.

Storming usually arises as a result of goals, roles and rules all becoming confused and unclear. No matter how clear the team was in relation to the goals, roles and rules during the forming stage it is very often the case that the individual team member interpretations of these roles and rules is somewhat different in reality. This results in confusion when different behaviours are evident and conflicts can arise with the potential for factions being created within the team.

It is during this stage that the coaching skills of the coaching manager should come to the fore. Both individuals and the team as a whole should be coached to enable and support them to ensure agreement as regards what specifically the goals, roles and rules are with respect to the team and what that means to each and every individual. Many managers get frustrated at this stage because they believe that they have already done the work at outlining the goals, roles and rules at the early stage of the formation of the team. I have seen managers go from a state of immense pride about the way they have guided their team through the early stages to a state of anger where they look to blame the team and its individual members. What is it they say, &quot;Comes before a fall&quot;?

The coaching manager must go over again the agreements made by the team during the forming stage and ensure that the understanding is uniform across the team. The earlier in the storming stage this is revisited the better and this is where the aware coaching manager comes into his or her own. The unaware manager will tend to panic and blame and will be unable to control the behaviours of the team even though they may take a very authoritarian stance and start to order that people behave. All that achieves is compliance and team members will still have the same misunderstandings about what is going on. This is when a lot of talking goes on &quot;behind the manager's back&quot; This is very unhealthy for a team.

Once the coaching manager has got his or her team through the storming phase they have to be aware of a challenge that can come out of the blue. And that is the challenge of a new member. No sooner has a coaching manager got their team through the &quot;storm&quot; then it is joined by a new member who then starts to question the ways of working and potentially starts to destabilise the team. All new members to the team must be made aware of the team goals, roles and rules before they join and they must be made aware of the process that is in place or the giving and receiving of feedback if they have any suggestions as to how they can improve the ways of working for the team. Again, this is an area where I have seen managers lose the progress that they have made with their team. Instead of taking time out to bring a new member up to speed with all the rules, roles and goals, the manager lets the new member join the team without much of a briefing. The result can be chaos. Beware.

You will find at times that there will be people who tend to hold back the storming process or perhaps prolong it. These people have a decision to make. Go with the majority or get out. Business has no place to let the odd individual hold things up. That may seem tough coming from a &quot;coaching&quot; manager but this is reality and in many cases management is a tough role. This is one of these instances.

Norming.
Do you remember what it is like when a real storm passes? The winds drop, the sky brightens, the birds sign again. Teamwork is like this also. There is a calm, a focus. Goals are clearly understood. Roles are clarified. The rules and regulations are being adhered to and people are working together positively. Relationships become stronger as people are more aware of each other. Strengths and weaknesses are realised and utilised accordingly. Norming is characterised by acceptance. Whereas in the storming stage, people were apt to rebel very quickly, this is now not the case and if someone has a grievance, complaint or suggestion then the proper processes are used and people tend to be listened to.

The role of the coaching manager in this stage is to ensure that this calm continues and that any behaviours that arise that may threaten the calm are channelled in the right direction. Also the coaching manager has an important role in conveying information particularly in relation to the successes that are starting to occur within the team. The coaching manager should be spending a lot of time with individual team members coaching them and supporting them to develop their capabilities that relate to the individual's team role and the tasks that they have to perform in relation to the team goals.

Performing.
Not every team makes it to the performing stage. Many get stuck at Norming and although everything appears normal, there is a lack of momentum and motivation towards achieving the all important team goals. It is as though the team is comfortable in this stage and does not want to progress further for fear of returning to a storming stage, a stage that probably was very uncomfortable for most people.

It is at the performing stage where team members really concentrate on the team goals. They are determined to work towards them, as they know what rewards are available to them on completion. They are also aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the team, and they appreciate these, and also works towards developing the weaknesses. This is a period of great personal growth among team members. There is a good deal of sharing of experiences, feelings and ideas together with the development of a fierce loyalty towards team members. There will be arguments, disagreements and disputes but these will be facilitated positively as the team will now live and die by its rules. The coaching manager at this stage will play very much a non-directive role, concentrating on strategy to plan the next way forward. The team will be in many ways, self-directing, perhaps even self-appraising with the manager taking very much a back-seat role. Again the manager's role will be to facilitate communication and ensure that the successes are communicated and rewarded.

In summary:
Forming. The successful coaching manager will ensure that the team meets and understands the team goals, the roles they have to take on and the rules by which they have to play. The coaching manager will realise that although there may be a great deal of agreement and compliance about what is discussed many people will have different interpretations of what is agreed. One to ones help but inevitably there will start to be undercurrents of disagreement as to what has exactly been agreed. Storming. Once the disagreements and blame start, get the team quickly together to thrash out what the concerns and disagreements are. The coaching manager at this stage is strong, directive but also fair. The team needs direction at this stage and perhaps people need to hear things that perhaps they don't want to hear. Get things out in the open. Let the team bleed a little and then begin the healing process by facilitating their coming together.

Norming. Lessen the direction and spend time with individuals starting to coach them in relation to their roles within the team and the tasks that they have to perform. At the same time the coaching manager will be challenging team members to take on extra capabilities in order to move the team on to the next stage.

Performing. Take a step back and allow the team to become self-directing. Be there for them and continue your coaching role with both team and individuals. Allow individuals to take on leadership roles and encourage rotation of roles. Communicate success and reward success accordingly.

Allan Mackintosh is Head of Performance at Reivers Development Ltd and also oversees the Management Coaching Consultancy, PMC Scotland. He is the author of 'The Successful Coaching Manager' and creator of the OUTCOMES? and CARERS? performance coaching models.

He can be contacted on 00 44 1292 318152 or e-mail at <a href="mailto:allan@pmcscotland.com">allan@pmcscotland.com</a>

Presenteeism - present in body absent in productivity

Presenteeism is alive and 'not well' in many businesses today. It will visit your business or may even be present as you read this article.

Presenteeism may be described as 'attending the workplace with minor or serious illnesses' when in fact your employee or you should be away recovering'!

It's a fact of life that when we don't feel good we don't operate at our best!

Many of us have observed workers and co-workers who have come in for the day and seemed present at the job only to observe a decrease in productivity or an overrun of deadlines. Some of us would have experienced this ourselves.

Employees or managers attending your workplace with minor sicknesses such as asthma, irritable bowel, migraines, arthritis, stress, fatigue may cause your business serious risk such as legal claims, productivity loss, declining employee morale and a occupational health and safety problem.

With more seious illnesses such as surgery recovery the effect on your business may lead to serious consequences.

In our business culture of lean and mean, fewer people more work, many employees come to work ill just to protect their jobs. After all there are bills to pay, medical expenses, school fees and the list goes on.

With many businesses reliant on team structures the presure by an ill employee to 'not let the team down' is a very real pressure. You can train your team to recognise these factors and save your business considerable grief.

Presenteeism is a concern in our workplaces today as pressure continues on individuals, families and enterprises to remain competitive. Fear is a terrible negative motivator! In the end your business will suffer consequences.

By way of example; at a company I worked for in a senior management capacity we disturbed an executive who had his door closed for quite some time. A staff member of mine had a master key and required access to the executive's office to get some material and on entering disturbed the executive who was sleeping under the desk on the floor. He was recovering from eye surgery and needed 5 days off on Doctors orders!

From our experience many workplaces do not have the human resource infrastructure or capacity to ensure that they comply with the myriad of regulations and complex legislation that is required to protect your business interests in today's workplace. However, you are not alone and there are practical solutions for your business.

A few questions could be

1. Have I noticed present employees who are not performing because of illness?

2. Am I actively looking after their welfare?

3. Do I know what my obligations are?

4. Have I policies and procedures to circumvent organisational illnesses such as stress?

5. Do I understand the risk involved in allowing the person to remain at work?

From our experience most employers are not aware of their obligations, consequences and risks and ignorance of these issues is 'no defence' in the eyes of the law. There are practical solutions to minimise your risks and give your biz momentum. For more information see www.biz-momentum.com

Philip Lye started his career in banking and finance as postage clerk for a major bank. He moved through various industry sectors and achieved executive management roles in business as Chief Executive Officer.

He has worked in small business, national and global companies and has significant international experience. Previous to founding Biz Momentum, Philip managed two companies out of impending ruin while being able to retain and develop the current employees.

Philip is a Certified Professional Human Resources Consultant and a qualified Accountant. Contact Philip at <a target="_new" href="http://www.biz-mmentum.com">http://www.biz-mmentum.com</a>

Story Telling With a Purpose

For a brief time, I tried to sell life insurance. And, the operative word was 'tried' I can assure you. Although I thought I did a good job on the presentations and scripts provided by trainers, I did not make a single sale.

On the other hand, the veteran who trained me didn't spend much time with presentations or scripts. He simply told stories about clients who spared their loved ones great pain by getting proper coverage. Just as importantly, he talked about the troubles suffered by people who did not have coverage. And, he sold a lot.

Which takes us to the subject of purpose-driven story telling. I've bumped up against the idea of it as a strategic communication skill several times recently, so maybe it's time to discuss it here.

For starters, let's distinguish between stories by talkers who believe the world wants to know what they think about everything under the sun, and stories told with the express purpose of advancing an objective. Let's call the latter 'strategic stories' (and you know what we call the other kind).

You can use strategic stories to help your cause or project by figuring out, in advance, what you'll say and why you'll say it. In other words, before you make your speech or presentation, identify the stories you'll use, and know why you'll use them.

Leaders frequently use stories to add emotion to their communication. Adding emotion allows listeners to buy in with their hearts, as well as accept with their minds. One specific type of emotional charging evokes shared values or memories. For example, "I know you'll keep providing great customer service because you all did such a great job when the product recall was announced. Do you remember how the calls started coming in right after the first announcement?"

Stories can also be used to add context or background information, "I know you'd like to launch the new product line, but when I was at the industry conference a couple of weeks ago, I heard banks want to get into our business, which means...." Very often, information by itself has little meaning or impact without context. Stories buttress our arguments by explaining the rationale we used, and not just the conclusions we reached.

You can use stories as a type of proof. My life insurance experience is a pointed example. The most effective stories, of course, talk about the good and bad things that happen to survivors after an unexpected death.

Sometimes, a story can be used for self-deprecation. By making fun of myself, I can further illustrate the point I'm trying to make. For example "Did I ever tell you about the time I spilled coffee on a client while he was sitting at our boardroom table? As it turned out, it broke the ice between us and we ended up talking serious business. Now, I'm not suggesting you spill coffee on clients, too, but I would suggest that you look for ways to connect with them on a personal level."

Where can we find stories? The best ones come from our own experience, from things that happened to us and things we've done. But, don't overlook magazines, television, and other mass media. For example, you might warn against doing something by explaining what happened to characters in TV sitcoms when they did something similar. Remember, most sitcoms are morality plays in modern garb.

Which reminds me of the time when....

In summary, strategically-used stories can help us communicate more effectively by adding emotion or context, providing proof, or giving us a chance to poke fun at ourselves.

Robert F. Abbott writes and publishes Abbott's Communication Letter. Learn how you can use communication to help achieve your goals, by reading articles or subscribing to this ad-supported newsletter. An excellent resource for leaders and managers, at: <a target="_new" href="http://www.communication-newsletter.com">http://www.communication-newsletter.com</a>

Your Administration Team - Look After Them

In most organisations the administration/support team, although they can be acknowledged as being important to the business, they are treated as if they're not.

Day after day, week after week they are in the office, slogging away making sure the work gets done. Many of them are so conscientious they won't take time out and stay at their desks until the work is done. Not only are they integral to the running of any business, their income and the way they are treated may not always reflect the importance of their role.

Jenny's Story

Jenny has worked for her current employer, for the past three years and thoroughly enjoys her role as Personal Assistant to the General Manager. They have a great working relationship. Whenever she needs time off to attend her children's sports days and special events, it's never an issue. If she requires the occasional afternoon or morning off to deal with personal matters, all she has to do is ask. Because of this attitude with her employer, she does her utmost best in her work and never thinks twice about working overtime on the odd occasion. In fact she works twice as hard.

This is a totally different situation to Jenny's previous employer. Jenny had been working for another organisation where her boss was 'married to the job'. Although he had a wife and family, his behaviour didn't reflect this. He worked all hours of the day and night and couldn't understand why everyone else went home at 5.00 p.m. Although she did her utmost best to organise him and get the work done on time, he would always ask for tasks to be done just when she was getting ready to leave for the day.

On the many occasions when she worked back or took work home so that her boss would have what he wanted for the next morning,he never thanked her. He just assumed that's what she should do. He never considered her needs. She was a single parent and therefore had major responsibilities. She had a life too. Her boss on the other hand was fortunate to have a a wife who didn't work and took care of their personal life.

Prior to Jenny being in this role, there had been three other people who had worked in her position, and all three had lasted less than three months.

Jenny had enough, she left after 6 months and found her current position. It wasn't the money that was her main issue. It was the flexibility and appreciation. Although her boss was pleasant enough, he just didn't understand that there is more to working with someone than just paying their wages.

The Final Word

When employing staff make sure they are the right fit. If you're looking for someone who can be extremely flexible in their hours and can come in early and stay late, then make sure that person is in the right personal situation to do that.

Employing people is a skill in itself. Keeping them happy so that they will be an important part of your business is another story. As mentioned in prior newsletters, when you look after your people, they will look after you and your business.

About The Author

Lorraine specialises in working with businesspeople showing them how to dramatically boost their productivity, reduce the stress and the mess in their lives and have more time for enjoying their life. <a href="http://www.office-organiser.com.au" target="_new">www.office-organiser.com.au</a>, <a href="mailto:lorraine@office-organiser.com.au">lorraine@office-organiser.com.au</a>

High Performing Teams: 10 Things You Want To Know About Building A High Performing Team

&quot;Conflict becomes politics, commitment becomes 'Only if it's in my best interest', accountability becomes 'Only when it serves me,' and results just fall by the wayside.&quot; - Patrick Lencioni, author of &quot;The Five Dysfunctions of a Team&quot;, speaking about dysfunctional teams

Based on my experience as a manager, a member of many teams, an HR professional, and a coach, below are 10 things you want to know about high performing teams. Don't try to do everything at once. Choose up to 3 things that will give you the biggest lift in results.

Building a high performing team is not just about shared experiences. Yes, attendance at workshops, experiential and adventure kinds of activities, bowling, etc. often create an increased sense of closeness. You get to know others on a more personal, even human level and that helps foster a willingness to work together. Hopefully, you'll be more disposed to having conversations. But this doesn't mean you'll be much more effective back at the office.

High performing teams are not about high performing people just getting on with it.

Getting things done through teams is a strategic choice. Like any strategy, &quot;getting on with it&quot; actually requires some up front and on-going investment in building clarity, trust, relationships, accountability, commitment, and process.

If not, call yourself a working group not a team. A working group is a bunch of individual contributors who focus on their own piece, based on shared information, rather than getting things done that serve the whole. Be clear about what you're choosing.

High performing teams have high performing sponsors and leaders. High performing sponsors champion the work of the team and have the authority to make the work happen, including authority over the people who will implement the results and control over other required resources.

High performing leaders take the time to set context, create commitment, and engage the team. They define specifically what is expected from the team, including bottom line, process and behavioural goals and measures. They are attentive to patterns in their own behaviour that encourage what is happening or not happening on the team.

High performing teams have a clear sense of purpose and a vision that excites them to action and creates commitment. Otherwise it can just feel like more work, more stuff, added to an already overloaded calendar.

High performing teams are clear and follow through on accountabilities and authorities, within and outside the team.

High performing teams ensure team members have the authority to act and make it clear what others outside the team are accountable to deliver. So people are not left to waste time using influence skills, including bullying, cajoling, and complaining, nor are they left wondering when and if someone is going to deliver on their requests. They are also specific about how members will be held to account and the rewards and consequences for doing or not doing so. They manage performance within the team.

High performing teams focus on process and relationships as well as bottom line results and set measurable goals for each.

If you look at something like Outward Bound, which I attended, the group quickly focuses on goal setting and process ? what is the end game, what is important to the group (i.e. values), what decisions need to be made, how will we make them, who is in charge, who is best suited to do what kind of work, how will we work together, etc. It is this awareness that needs to be transferred back to the work setting.

Usually, goals are focussed on the achievement of financial, customer or task based results. Process is about how the work of the team gets done. Relationships speak to how people collaborate to accomplish process and bottom line results. Explicit objectives should be set for such factors as how the team will work together and behave with each other, how decisions will be made, speaking outside one's discipline, how conflict will be managed, and the giving and receiving of feedback.

High performing teams manage behaviours that have been linked to bottom line results.

What's the point of agreeing to team values and ground rules if people are not held to account for acting in accordance with them? High performing teams constantly monitor the &quot;health&quot; of the group and challenge values conflicts and habitual patterns of behaviour that impede high performance. The team is in charge of noticing what is working and isn't working from an internal operating perspective. What's going on? What needs to be done about it? Who is going to do it?

High performing teams have courageous conversations.

Work is done through people and relationships. High performing teams have conversations that lead to action, including the tough ones that are about passionate debate, arguments, and conflict. Assumptions are surfaced and conflict moves to creativity and results.

Otherwise, people hold back and won't commit, the issue pops later, or dissention surfaces in the hallways. Allow people to put their issues on the table. If they are heard, they are more likely to remain engaged, even if they are disagreed with.

High performing teams manage meetings effectively.

It's not the meeting that's the problem but the lack of process associated with calling and running them. Stop complaining about them. Do what is required to make them work.

High performing teams don't get together to just share status reports. Information sharing can be a colossal waste of time. It's what needs to be done with the information that counts. If all you want to do is share information, use voice mail or e-mail. Use the team to ask questions, seek clarity, make decisions, get creative, and figure out what to do about obstacles, including what's not working well in the team.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

? Think back about the teams you have been a part of. How many of them could truly be described as high performing? What was missing? What was present in those that were?

? What kind of assembly do you honestly lead ? a true high performing team or a working group? Under what circumstances does it really matter?

? How often do you neglect the up-front work required to create a true high performing team? To what extent do you allow yourself and your team to avoid accountability for the actions required of a high performing team?

&quot;When the leader is morally weak and his discipline not strict, when his instructions and guidance are not enlightened, when there are no consistent rules, neighbouring rules will take advantage of this.&quot; - Sun Tzu, Philosopher

Copyright CoachingWorks2005

This article may be reprinted in its entirety with express written permission from Sharon A. Miller. The reprint must include the section &quot;About the Author&quot;.

About the Author
Sharon Miller has worked in and with large corporations since 1978. She has distinguished herself in 3 different careers ? Investment Trading & Sales, Strategic Human Resources, and Coaching. She was noted as one of the top 3 salespeople in Canada in money market securities. She's been a high potential, exceptional performer, partnering with individuals as senior as Vice-Chairman, and has managed teams in both line and staff functions. She is professionally certified as coach through The Coaches Training Institute and has built a successful home based business on her terms.

Sharon helps high achievers have more impact with less struggle. Sign up for her FREE monthly e-zine, More With Less, which practically explores business, team, and individual challenges to high performance and high enjoyment. Sign up at <a target="_new" href="http://www.sharonamiller.com">http://www.sharonamiller.com</a>

Top 7 Ways to Motivate Your Team

1. Involve them. Many employees want to be involved in the ongoing development and progress of their company. Plus, they often have insightful ideas that can make a significant difference in the company.

2. Communicate. A frequent axiom in business is, &quot;No news is good news.&quot; However, employees want regular updates on the progress of the business and their personal performance. Use memos, email, telephone, and one-on-one and group meetings to keep your team apprised of changes, updates, new products, etc.

3. Celebrate individual and team performance. Catch people doing something right and focus on recognizing excellent performance. Provide positive reinforcement, issue awards, use a corporate newsletter to highlight specific achievements. Send thank-you cards and congratulatory notes, make phone calls, and send emails.

4. Set challenging goals. My experience has taught me that people strive to achieve what is expected of them. If you set challenging goals your team will work hard to accomplish them, providing of course, they are realistically attainable.

5. Give them the tools to succeed. No team will stay motivated if they do not have the necessary tools required to do their job. This includes; equipment, internal support, inventory, marketing materials, training, etc.

6. Manage poor performance. Your team expects you to manage individuals who do not perform to standard. However, many managers ignore these situations because they are afraid to deal with them, hoping instead that the situation will resolve itself. It never does and this &quot;blind&quot; approach affects profitability, causes higher turnover, and generates low morale.

7. Believe in your people. The majority of people want to do well ? very few individuals approach a job with the intent of screwing up. Yet, many managers run their business thinking that employees must be treated with a &quot;watchdog&quot; mentality. They install hidden cameras, monitor email, and set up procedures that require employees to get multiple approval signatures for decisions.

Copyright 2004 Kelley Robertson. All rights reserved

Kelley Robertson, President of the Robertson Training Group, works with businesses to help them increase their sales and motivate their employees. He is also the author of &quot;Stop, Ask & Listen ? Proven sales techniques to turn browsers into buyers.&quot; Visit his website at <a target="_new" href="http://www.RobertsonTrainingGroup.com">http://www.RobertsonTrainingGroup.com</a> and receive a FREE copy of &quot;100 Ways to Increase Your Sales&quot; by subscribing to his 59-Second Tip, a free weekly e-zine.