Barriers to Group and Team Problem Solving
January 25, 2012 | 
Author 
A number of things can keep teams and small groups from working to their full potential. Barriers or factors are a big roadblock that might keep a discussion between group members from achieving a goal. If people can begin to realize exactly what these barriers are and how to spot them, then you can begin to remove them from your team or group.
A barrier that can cause conflict in a small group is lack of structure. In this setting, group members desire specific direction that can help them come to a needed conclusion in a meeting or discussion. With a structure in place, the group can focus on the issues of a discussion and come to a consensus, both quickly and effectively.
I have had an opportunity to incorporate a structured job description database for a work force. This helped to establish guidelines and a focus on job duties for each position. When distributed to the departments, each member knew what they needed to perform the duties of the job. The job descriptions put structure in the way business was performed within the departments and the company.
Another barrier to problem solving is poor communication. This is a barrier that can wreak havoc for every group member that is involved. Some facets of poor communication are misunderstanding, inattentiveness and dominance that can be made by one or more group members. Ineffective communication will definitely be a negative against any discussion or meeting.
Once again, with the same company, I experienced this barrier in problem solving with a former employer. I had been involved in making a transition of employees to a new company. The corporate management and department management did not communicate well. Not only did they not communicate well, they did not communicate with each other. Messages were expressed and discussed with other employees about situations with other employees. These situations were approached third party and caused even more problems.
Poor communication by no communication would be a problem solving killer. A negative attitude will also be a barrier to problem solving in small groups. If members are not flexible and open minded during a discussion or meeting, then a balanced opinion can not be produced. Some group members may be more focused on the solution before the problem is defined.
I had also experienced negative attitudes in the transition of a new company coming in. The employees that had years invested in the company were most definitely displaying negative attitudes. This made it harder to have productive group meetings as we made changes during the transition period. Arguments were made before hearing all of an idea and this made for longer meetings. This in turn created new barriers and made other employees feel uncomfortable.
When having a team or small group meet for problem solving, it is very important to have a goal or agenda. This in turn will help to avoid most barriers and keep the group focused and organized. Always try clarifying what the group is trying to achieve and give all members time to participate and give their views and feelings. This path, in the end, will help to keep focus, structure, and communication open for all members.
8 Key Characteristics of Effective Teams
Teams have amazing potential to do great things. You can probably think of teams that you have been involved in that were highly effective. It might have been a business team but it could have easily been a sports team, a community team or a team related to a hobby or interest. So what characteristics do effective teams have?
1. Care for each other
The teams that are most effective care about each other. They have a genuine interest in each other and their success and fulfilment. Think about times when things were going really well in a group. More than likely one of the most powerful things that was pulling the team together was genuine interest in each other.
2. Open and truthful
Openness and truthfulness is the second key characteristic of effective teams. When teams are open and truthful, they step forward, say things that need to be said, all in the interest of helping the team to get results.
3. High levels of trust
Teams that are looking over their shoulder all of the time, who worry about what is being said in smaller groups, who don’t believe they can rely on others and are looking to points score will not create high levels of trust. If there are low levels of trust, it is extremely difficult to excel as a team. Why? You don’t have a team, just a group of individuals who are thrown together to achieve something.
4. Consensus decisions
If you are someone who looks at decisions through a lens of getting what you want and this is replicated across a team, how effective do you think that team would be? Consensus decision making is not about avoid taking decisions or watering down decisions. It is about looking for the best win-win outcome for the team.
5. Commitment
The teams that are effective are committed to getting the results they desire. They know where they are heading, are highly motivated and persistent even when setbacks arise. Commitment in many ways is about doing what it takes to get the result you want. Think of a team that achieved results and ask yourself what qualities they drew on to get the great results they got.
6. Address conflict
Sometimes people wrongly believe that in effective teams there is no conflict. The difference between those teams that excel and those that struggle is that conflict is addressed. Rather than seeing it as something negative, teams recognise it as healthy and to be worked through in order to get the desired results.
7. Real listening
Listening is key to effective communication and effective teams know that it is important to really listen and understand. Real listening is about focusing attention on the communicator rather than your own personal agenda. Teams who only master this will go a long way to being more effective.
8. Express feelings
We are often told to keep emotions and feelings out of the work place. Yet in truth, if teams want to be effective they need to create a safe and courageous space for feelings to be expressed. Think about an investment decision. Accounting, marketing, operations, production, distribution and human resources will feel differently about the decision. It is important that these feelings can be expressed without fear or ridicule.
When teams pull together, great things are achieved. So what area does your team need to work on to be more effective?
6 Key Benefits of Teamwork
There is a saying that many hands make light work. The essence of this statement is that more can be achieved as a collective than individually. There are numerous benefits of teamwork. Here are my top 6.
1. Creativity
We all have different skills, knowledge and personal attributes. By utilising all of these different aspects in a team, more ideas can be generated. As more ideas are generated, more creative solutions are generated, leading to better results.
2. Satisfaction
Lack of job satisfaction is often one of the key things highlighted in surveys of employees. Individuals working together as a team to achieve a common goal are continually developing. As they interact more energy and enthusiasm is created. When this energy is utilised, it produces results which positively impacts on motivation and leads to even more success.
3. Skills
Even the best qualified individual cannot have all of the skills to do everything. Some people excel at coming up with the ideas. Others love the detail while there are those that focus on the big picture. There are others who can be counted on when it comes to implementing and follow through of a plan.
The key point is that when a team works together, it has a huge range of skills available that it can utilise to deliver extraordinary results.
4. Speed
Imagine that you have a project that needs research, pulling together a proposition, financing it, implementing it and delivering specific benefits. If one person was allocated this task, it could take months and maybe years to make it happen. By splitting up the project, work can move forward in parallel and the ultimate goal achieved faster.
5. Sounding board
We all have a range of options open to us. If we are trying to figure out what is best, we might never move forward. In a team situation, other team members can act as a sounding board, allowing us to cut through the options and get on with those most likely to achieve the desired goal.
6. Support
It is amazing the amount of camaraderie that is created in teams, especially when the going gets tough. People will often go to what seems like extreme lengths when they know that they can rely on the support and encouragement of the team. Never underestimate the significance of this in achieving results.
Teams that work well make a huge impact and benefit from the rewards that go with this impact. So how might you leverage the benefits of teamwork in your organisation?
Starting a Women’s Group
Have you thought about starting a women’s group? Maybe you stop yourself because you don’t know where to begin or have some idea but can’t seem to find the time to organize the group. It does take some time to organize the group – though not as much as you may think – and the benefits all the women in the group receive are significant.
Women seem to naturally come together to share everyday activities. Life is easier when you can shop, exercise or share a problem with a friend. So creating a group around a specific topic feeds us emotionally.
We have different relationships in our lives, all of which are important. Yet it’s the women in our lives who add silly laughter, endless hours of conversation, caring for us when we are ill, and a loving ear when we are hurting. Are you more relaxed with your women friends?
We started our women’s group 11 years ago with the vision that women know how to naturally brainstorm and help each other problem solve. We meet once a month over dinner and the hostess picks a topic for the evening, usually around self-help. In the past, we’ve had psychic readings and massages, too. After 11 years, we have a special bond with each other. We’ve shared problems, joys, celebrations and grandchildren. More importantly, we have each grown because of our consistent connections with each other and the topics that we have chosen to discuss.
When you first start a group, it may seem a bit awkward. The excitement is there yet you haven’t bonded as a group. Over time, the group creates itself and the power of gathering together impacts each one of you individually.
Why would you want to start a group? There are many reasons why women gather. In the old days, women formed “quilting bees” where they talked and shared the sewing together. It’s all about sharing. So what would you like to share with other women?
To jumpstart your thinking, here are some ideas that women are interested in:
- Parents gather together who have similar aged children.
- Women want to become financially savvy so they start investment clubs.
- Spiritual circles – sharing a spiritual lifestyle together.
- Women at work – professional women creating mastermind groups to move them forward in their careers.
- Working moms – Moms don’t have to be alone in finding solutions to the challenges of working and creating a satisfying home life.
- Community oriented – helping impact the communities we live in.
- Building a stronger family – helping each other brainstorm on how to create a loving and caring family.
- Cultural – plan outings to different cultural events.
-…and more!
Society has changed significantly. For women in the past, we were part of a large, strong and extended family network. For some of us that may still be true. For many of us, our families reside in different places nowadays. So our women connections fill in the gaps. Each one of us can build stronger lives on the strength of our connections with other women. Why not gather in one room, each member bringing their unique selves to share with others, so all of us can grow and build stronger lives.
In today’s busy world, we need to find a place that is there for us, and building a community of women adds a lot of value to your life.
Copyright (c) 2008 Pat Brill
Effective Meeting Management: 12 Tips to Improve Meeting Productivity
Meetings are the bane of employees in corporate America. Very few will dispute that they are a colossal waste of time. Most will admit to doing other work while in meetings to take advantage of the “down time.” Many managers go from meeting to meeting in a zombie-like daze. What can be done to break this spell and ease the pain? Here are a few tips for making meetings more effective.
1) Only Meet if You Must – If you can accomplish your goal without a meeting don’t have one. Why spend the time scheduling something if it’s not necessary?
2) Limit Attendance – The more people in a meeting the longer it tends to take. So, invite only those that need to attend. Additional parties can be included in the distribution of minutes or can be contacted as needed before or after the meeting.
3) Be Prepared – This usually gets a chuckle of disbelief. People can’t imagine finding the time to actually prepare for meetings since all their time is taken up attending them. The fact is that lack of attendee preparation just feeds the insatiable meeting monster. Things don’t get accomplished, so additional ineffective meetings are spawned, and the cycle repeats.
Prepare your schedule a week in advance and block off time, even if it’s ten to fifteen minutes, to prepare for upcoming meetings. It will be time well spent.
4) Send Out an Agenda – If people are to prepare for a meeting, they need to know what it is about. Let them know. Send out an agenda a few days in advance.
5) Arrive on Time – Meetings take up valuable time of multiple people, so they must be important, right? If that’s the case, showing up on time is not only the courteous thing to do, but it also necessary to maximize the time investment of the participants. Oh, and dropping off some of you personal possessions on the conference table to save a seat doesn’t count as being on time! You need to be in the chair as well.
6) Start on Time – A nine O’clock start means a nine O’clock start. Facilitators, don’t start a minute later. If you start on time habitually, people will get the message that they must be punctual as well. Don’t repeat things for those that arrive late. No need to penalize the many for the tardiness of an attendee or two. Latecomers can pick up what they missed from someone after the meeting, or from the meeting minutes.
7) Keep to Topic – Facilitation is improved with practice. The facilitator must learn to tactfully cut off the ramblers and remain on task. “That’s a very good point John. Can we take that up later or schedule another meeting to discuss it? We really need to get through a couple more items.” People invest their valuable time in meetings. The facilitator must ensure that he/she accomplishes what was set out to be accomplished in order to justify the time investment.
If it’s Worth Having, It’s Worth Recording – Take minutes. They don’t have to be extravagant. Keep it simple. While it is best to have an experienced minute taker at each meeting, it is typically a luxury, so more often than not, the responsibility falls on the facilitator. It’s not easy for the facilitator to be effective in both roles, but it can be done. Rotating meeting minute responsibilities among attendees for regularly scheduled meetings can ease the burden on the facilitator.
One of the most important things about the minutes is the action items. They must have completion dates and the dates must be honored.
9) No Grandstanding Please! – Some (typically manager types), use meetings to show that they are on top of things. They feel absolutely obligated to pipe up to show that they are the boss. Bosses, there is really no need to do this. These attempts to impress typically backfire and actually demonstrate a lack of knowledge.
Others use valuable meeting time to try to impress the boss. Try to refrain from doing this as well. The meeting is about getting things done, not about brown-nosing. Offer up your opinions when you think they will truly help accomplish something. Spend the rest of the time listening.
10) Be Present – Give your undivided attention to the meeting. Shut off the cell phone. Put away the PDA. The fewer interruptions and the more attention paid, the quicker you can accomplish the meeting objectives and be on your way. This is also the courteous thing to do. You wouldn’t want someone reading e-mail during one of your meetings, would you?
11) Plan Your Week – Plan your week to include time for you own tasks. Block items off on your schedule. People will then need to work around it. If you are attending more than 4 hours of meetings a day, odds are very good that you are not being effective. Don’t let people cram your schedule with meetings.
On occasion, some will disregard your schedule when setting up a meeting. If this is the case, delegate attendance to a surrogate. Go back to the meeting requester and explain that you can not attend. If the meeting can’t be rearranged, a surrogate will usually be an acceptable option.
12) Keep it short – Keep the meeting to an hour or less if at all possible. People just don’t have the attention span to go much longer.
If you execute the suggestions above, you will quickly discover that meetings will no longer be the horror that they have been in the past. Things will actually get accomplished, and interestingly enough, overall time spent in meetings will actually decrease.
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Linksys E1000 Router Set Up and Troubleshooting
All Linksys E series routers work on the N technology. You can get wireless speed up to 300 Mbps. You can connect wireless computers, wireless printers and other Wi-Fi devices up to 300 Mbps. Linksys E1000 is nothing but Linksys WRT160N router with a new Cisco connect software.
All the E series routers have Gigabit Ethernet ports which can give you speed up to 1000 Mbps wired connection speed. E1000 router works on 2.4 GHz wireless signal. E2100L router also works on 2.4 GHz wireless signal. This router has a USB port on it. You can connect the USB hard drive to the router and share the hard drive with all the computers connected in the network. E2000 and E3000 routers work on 2.4 GHz as well as 5 GHz powerful wireless signal. You can connect your gaming devices, blue ray players, DVR system to this router for smoother and faster video streaming.
Linksys E1000 router setup:
All the E series routers come with the great Cisco connect software for the easy installation. Before installing the router, make sure that your Internet is working properly through the modem. Connect your computer directly to the modem and try to go on line. If you are able to access the Internet from the modem, then your Internet is working properly. Now insert the CD in to the same computer. Do not run the CD on any other computer. Use the same computer that you used to connect to the modem. Follow the steps of the CD. It may not ask you to connect the computer to the router. But it is recommended that you should connect your computer to the router for the initial set up of the router. You will need to connect the computer to one of the Ethernet port on the router and the modem to the Internet port on the router. That means there will be 2 connections to the router. Now go to the next step on the set up CD. It will take up to 5 minutes to set up the router.
Definitely you can setup the router without CD also. You just need to open the setup page of the router and change the settings manually.
The Cisco connect software is a very intelligent tool. It will check your Internet connection settings and it will try to set up your router automatically according to those settings. It will also create wireless network automatically with the unique network name and password. On the final step you will see that the router is set up successfully. It will open the window where you can check the settings of the router. It will create an option on your computer in the all program list. If you want to change the settings of the wireless network, you can open the Cisco connect software and change the settings.
The Cisco connect software will run only on Windows XP with Service Pack 3, Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 or better, Windows 7, Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.9, Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.11, Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.8, Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.1.
This software will also give you option of parental control where you can limit the access to the Internet according to time as well as websites. This software is capable of creating a guest network access. You can limit the number of guest computers. The guest wireless network will be totally a different wireless network. This guest network works on different IP address range so that the guest people can not share your main wireless network. The guest will not be able to access the router settings or the computers in the main network. But you can set up the Guest network only if you run the Cisco connect software.
Once you have the main computer up and running through the router. You can use a small flash drive to create a set up key. On your other wireless computer, connect this USB set up key and run the program. It will connect your computer to the wireless network automatically. It will search for the wireless network and it will connect on its own. You don’t need to do anything. You can run the USB set up key only if the wireless connection is managed by the windows connection manager. If you change the wireless settings of the router using the set up page of the router, the Cisco connect software will stop working.
If you are not able to set up the router using the Cisco connect software, you can set up the router manually. But you will not be able to use the advantages of Cisco connect software like USB set up key or Guest network access. You can open the set up page of the router and change the Internet connection settings manually according to the Internet service provider.
The hardware warranty for Linksys E series router is 1 year but the free technical support is only for 90 days.
Top 10 Meeting Ice Breakers
Getting people comfortable in a group setting before a team meeting can be the best investment of ten to 15 minutes of time that you can make. Ice breakers get creative juices flowing, can increase the exchange of ideas, establish team identity, and create a sense of community. All of these items are important in forging top productive teams. But how do you get people to participate and not feel uncomfortable with an ice breaker?
For meetings in a business setting in which participants are professionals, ice breakers that require actions not normally associated with day-to-day behaviors in the office generally make people uncomfortable. Successful ice breakers for these type of groups generally consist of having attendees share memorable information with each other, create innovative ways to get people to introduce themselves to each other, or have group members collectively work on a problem where everyone has to contribute.
We’ve selected our top ten team meeting ice breakers that are sure to get your meeting participants relaxed and ready to focus on your agenda as well as to connect with others in the group.
1. Brainstorm!:Break the meeting into teams of four or five. Give each team a topic. Pick topics that are fun and simple like, “What would you take on a trip to the desert?” or “List things that are purple”. Give your teams two minutes, no more, and tell them “This is a contest and the team with the most items on their list wins.” Encourage the teams to write down as many things as they can and not to discuss anything, just list things as quickly as possible. At the end of two minutes, the team with the most items on their list wins! This helps people to share ideas without fearing what other people will think.
2. Same or Different:
Divide the meeting into teams of three or four and give each team a large sheet of paper and then give each person a different colored marker. Have each person draw a large oval such that each oval overlaps with the other ovals in the center of the piece of paper. Give the group or groups, a theme that pertains to your meeting objectives. Ask the participants to write down at least five or more entries in the non-overlapping and mutually overlapping areas of their ovals. Give them five minutes, no more than that, to talk about their similarities and differences and write them in their own ovals on the paper. If there is more than one group, compare results and identify common themes in both parts of the diagrams and what light these similarities and differences shed on the purpose of the meeting. This helps team members develop an understanding of shared objectives and in a non-confrontational way learn how their views differ from others in the group.
3. Fact or Fiction:
Have everyone write down three surprising things about themselves, two of which are true, and one of which is made up. Each person, in turn, reads their list and then the rest of the group votes on which “fact” they feel is the “false” one. If the group does not correctly pick a person’s made up “fact”, then that person wins. A group can have more than one winner. At the end, the whole group votes on which of the “winners” of the final round, had the most deceiving “fact”. This helps people get to know and remember their colleagues.
4. Free Association:
The object of this ice breaker is to have small groups generate as many words or phrases as they can that are related to a particular topic that focuses on the objective of your meeting. Give the group or groups a key word you want them to associate with and then give them two minutes to list, as quickly as possible, as many words or thoughts that pop into their heads. For example, if your company is trying to decide on whether to reduce travel and increase the use of teleconferencing, you might use the word “teleconferencing” and have people list as many words or phrases they can that they associate with the key word. For example they might say: “saves money”, “saves time”, “impersonal”, “need to see other people”, “get distracted”, “sound quality”…. This reveals what people are thinking, similarities in viewpoints, and possibly even problem areas or topics that need addressing or further discussion.
5. Nametags:
Prepare nametags for each person and put them in a box. As people walk into the room, each person picks a nametag (not their own). When everyone is present, participants are told to find the person whose nametag they drew and introduce and say a few interesting things about themselves. When everyone has their own nametag, each person in the group will introduce the person whose nametag they were initially given and mention something of interest about that person. This helps participants get to know and remember each other.
6. Desert Island:
Group people in teams of five or six and tell them they will be marooned on a desert island. Give them 30 seconds to list all the things they think they should take and each person has to contribute at least three items. At the end of 30 seconds, tell the teams they can only take three things. Have the person who suggested each item on the list tell why they suggested it and defend why their item should be one of the chosen three. This helps the team learn about how each of them thinks, get to know each other’s values, and how they solve problems.
7. Commonality Plus:
Group your meeting participants at tables. At each table ask the group to list ten ways that everyone in that group is similar. Let them know that they cannot list body parts or clothing and that what they select cannot have anything to do with work. One person at the table should be tasked to make their list. At the end of your time limit have the group share their list with all meeting members. This is a great opportunity for your meeting attendees to learn about each other’s hobbies, families, and common interests.
8. Line Up:
As people enter your meeting hand each one a piece of paper with a different number written on it. Ask the group to arrange themselves in numeric order without using their voices, hands, or showing their number. This helps the team to think of other ways to communicate with each other and to work together to achieve a common goal.
9. Meet and Greet Shoe Pile:
This works great in large groups and is a variation of the name tag ice breaker. Have everyone take off one of their shoes and throw it into a pile. Have each group member pick up a shoe and walk around the meeting room greeting other people as they try to match their selected shoe to the one another team member is wearing. This is a great way for new people to meet several members in a group.
10. First or Worst:
Have each member tell the group their first or worst job in turn. This easy to use ice breaker works great with teleconferences too and allows team members to spark conversation with each other and to have some fun commenting on the jobs that they have each done. Many of our top ten ice breakers can be used for on-site meetings and teleconferences alike. The nature of ice breakers is to get the group to talk, to share, and to get to know each other in a casual exchange. The best and most successful teams start with a little bit of fun; learning how to value what each member brings into the group. Ice breakers can help facilitate this exchange of information and comfort in doing so at the very start of the team forging process.
Five Stress Relief Games for Groups
Stress can be defined as the external forces of the outside world impacting on the individual. Yet stress is also a normal part of life that can help us develop and grow as people. On the other hand, stress can cause us significant problems.
Stress releases potent neurochemicals and hormones these prepare us for action. The common reason for stress is to either fight or flee. If we don’t take action, the stress response can lead to health problems. Prolonged, uninterrupted, unexpected, and unmanageable stresses are the most damaging types of stress.
Day in and day out we face stressful situations. They meet us at every corner of our life. We can face to face and with stress in life’s low valleys as well as on the mountaintops where we experience life’s real joys. The good and the bad both come with there own patterns of stress.
Meeting groups of people can be particularly problematic. Everybody, no matter how experienced they may be, will feel a degree of stress when faced with a group situation.
Bear in mind that if you are feeling under stress then everyone else in the group is feeling in much the same way. However, if you’ve been called to lead that group then the stress on you is going to be that much greater. You will be concerned about how others perceive you, about whether you will be accepted or not and you will be thinking about the task that the group must face as well. Never lose sight of the big picture, the reason for the existence of the group.
The group will operate and perform their task much better if they are feeling comfortable with the group. The group dynamics can be influenced by the degree of interaction of the members of the group. If you are the leader then it’s your responsibility to get the group performing.
You will find the task much easier and less stressful if you are adequately prepared. One way you can prepare is to have a bank of stress relief games for groups at hand, or at least have an idea of how these stress relief games for groups work.
You’ll find that these games will help to break down the natural barriers that exist as groups begin to form and develop.
Stress Relief Games for Groups #1: If I Were A…
These stress relief games is extremely good at getting people out of their shells and begin communicating. Good communication assists with group performance and without it the group would never achieve its stated aims.
Its best to have the group stand or sit in a circle, this will create a sense of the belonging. The leader starts by turning to the person on his right and ask the question “if you work and animal what animal which you be?” That person will answer the question and turn to the person on his right and ask a similar question, such as if you were a famous writer who would you be? The game that continues and everyone has a chance to ask a question and give an answer. Just remember that nobody is allowed to repeat a category.
This is a very simple game with no preparation beforehand and that is the best type of stress relief game for a group.
Stress Relief Games for Groups #2: Who Likes What?
In this game everybody has a pencil and a piece of paper on which to list five categories. Basically the categories can be about anything such as “composers”, “actors” or any other category like a fancy.
Now everybody is simply lists their favourite item in each part of the category.
Give everyone a piece of paper and a pencil. Then list five categories such as “foods” or “musicians.” Everyone should list his or her favourite thing in each category. All the slips of paper should then be given back to you (the leader). As you read each list aloud, the other members of the group try to guess whose list you are reading.
Stress Relief Games for Groups #3: Liar, Liar
Here we have each person in the group making three or four comments about themselves. Some of the comments should be true and some should be false, its up to the rest of the group to decide which are true and which are false.
Stress Relief Games for Groups #4: Gossip
This one’s especially great for groups that have to go on to develop a serious sense of communication but you do need at least 10 people for it to be most effective. The maximum for this game is 20. so bear these details in mind if you plan to use it.
The idea is that the leader begins by whispering a long sentence to the person on his right. That person passes the message onto the person to her right and so the message goes around the group.
Its amazing how the message will turn out as it gets passed on. This game will demonstrate just how informal communication gets changed form its original idea into something that never happened. It’ll stress the need to write down important notes as the need arises. We cannot always rely on word of mouth alone.
Stress Relief Games for Groups #5: Ethics
This game works well for a small group of adults who know each other who love to discuss/argue issues and don’t get offended easily. The leader starts the game by turning to a random group member and presenting an ethical dilemma. For instance, “If you knew someone was going to kill your worst enemy, would you try to warn him?” The person answers the question and explains his or her rationale. Then the group votes on whether or not they believe the person would really act as they said they would. If the majority of participants think the person is lying, he or she is out of the game. If the majority thinks he/she is telling the truth, that person picks another “victim” and poses another ethical dilemma. Last player left is the winner.
Group Mentoring – Bringing Members of Your Team Together
Mentoring is an excellent way to bring people together for the purpose of working toward a goal by learning and problem solving. Often, companies will give newer employees a mentor, usually a senior employee, who can teach and show the newer employee how to most effectively perform their job. The mentor is essentially providing on-the-job training to the inexperienced in this example.
There are other ways that employees can come together to help each other work through challenges by coming up with processes and strategies that will make their days more efficient. Bringing a team of more than two employees together is a great way for each employee to gain the benefits of having a mentor, and the benefits don’t end there.
A major benefit of bringing employees together in a group for learning sessions is that it can potentially increase morale in the department. When peers work in small groups, they are able to get to know and understand each other a little more with each meeting. Employees may not make lasting friendships with each other, but they can at least come to work feeling equal to their peers. When employees are able to feel as if they can approach each other, and when they can learn to respect each other, the overall attitude in the department can improve.
An increase in social skills is often shown when groups are formed within businesses for the purpose of working together. Many companies will even implement teams to work on company newsletters for this reason. This group activity is especially useful for those few employees who come to work each day and put their head down to work, not showing any interest in interacting with others. Learning how to interact and be social with other employees is a critical skill to business success, so these group sessions can be especially helpful for quiet workers.
The most obviously reason for bringing employees together in a learning environment such is this is to bring everyone up-to-date with work procedures at the same time. Group mentoring will allow each individual to benefit from the material being presented, without individual meetings, which can be time-consuming and costly.
7 Ways to Improve Efficiency in the Workplace
Your business is doing well but you want to see more efficiency from it. You can accomplish this in a variety of ways. Most importantly, you want to focus on improving some small things that can greatly increase production across the board.
As you do so, you are sure to find a wide range of things you can do to eke out just a bit better result. Look at a few methods to improving your team’s and your own efficiency.
1. Establish step by step milestones. When working towards a goal, having small steps to accomplish before reaching the goal is critical. For example, if you want your sales agents to make 30 contacts over their workday, show them that they just need to make five contacts each hour. This makes the goal more sizable and easier to grab and hold.
2. In instances where there is a lot of time being wasted doing things that should not be done, such as browsing the Internet, take away the risks. For example, you have a presentation to complete but you keep finding yourself browsing online. Instead of doing that, go to the park to work. There is no Internet and you can get the project done.
3. Tackle the hardest tasks first. That way, there is no worry about procrastinating with them and instead, they are done and taken care of leaving more time for the important tasks.
4. There will be days when there just is not enough time. What should be done? Increase efficiency by focusing on the most important things. Keep in mind the Pareto principle that 80 percent of the value of any activity will come from the 20 percent effort that is put towards it. Concentrate on that 20 percent.
5. Stay organised and get rid of clutter. Cluttered spaces often means cluttered minds. It will hold you back from achieving your ultimate goals.
6. Offer rewards to those who achieve the goals. These do not have to be big things but they should be something that they want. For example, if a team is working on a big project, offer to take them to lunch if it is completed prior.
7. Utilise resources. If the team has the required resources on hand to complete the task, they are more likely to be able to do just that. Encourage them to do this to increase their efficiency.
These are a few tips that you can incorporate into the day to day tasks to achieve your goals. Ultimately, by increasing the ability to perform the task at the best level will enhance the ability of the group to do well in the long term as well as the short term. That means benefits for everyone.