What if?

Today, in our latest experience of terrorist threats, I am compelled to ask….

What if the threat is real?

What if we are in danger?

What if we can’t do anything about it?

What if we had a choice?

What if we looked at our options?

What if we looked at each other?

What if we looked to each other?

What if we looked each other in the eyes?

What if we did that for a moment longer?

What if we joined hands?

What if we held hands?

What if we banded together?

What if we could bond together?

What if what’s missing, is connecting? 

What if you could take steps to change that?

What if we could feel safe?

What if it only took making an effort?
What if you did make that effort?
What if we all did?

We feel safe when we are with others.  Even, especially, when we are in danger.  We need to stop isolating.  We need to stop connecting in a superficial way and begin doing it in a meaningful way.  With our children, our parents, our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers, the waitress, the store clerk, the stranger we pass in the hall, or on the street.  We need to start.  We need to take control of the life we want to lead.

My Sports Bet

I’m a baseball fan – a Dodger fan to be specific, and I typically don’t pay much attention to other sporting events or teams.   But, I’m betting on UCLA football this year.  Why?  Because I heard about Jim Mora’s efforts to build his team during pre-season camp.  Beyond the drills and the practice, coach Mora instilled another principal about building a team – getting to know each other off the field.  I respect this, because I also understand the importance of building relationships – it’s what I see as the change agent in a business’ success.  

 

Coach Mora did this by discouraging the use of cell phones during the two week training camp in San Bernadino.  Some assistant coaches took it a step further, actually confiscating the phones of some players.  The message was clear – if you want to work well as a team, you need to bond.  You need to be on the same page.  You need to get away from connecting with people via text and Facebook, and start building relations with those who are on your team- literally and figuratively.  Likewise, true in business.    

Spending time together, making eye contact, listening to each other's stories.  These are the things that will help a team learn about each other.  And as they do, players (just as co-workers) will begin to anticipate each other’s responses and reactions.  Their intuitions will develop, as will their capacity to understand each other.  I expect they will become more comfortable at being direct and honest, and likewise, more capable of showing compassion to their fellow teammates.  By developing their connections off the field, the Bruins are insuring their success on the field. 

The message is simple:  Teams need to work together, to support one another, and to be aligned in their goals and their methodologies.  A lesson that rings true both on the field, and in the office.

Preschool Wisdom meets the Modern Workplace

Developing teams who work well together and support one another is an on-going challenge – and a frequent topic of my articles. However I recently recognized a way to address that challenge that’s so simple it brings to mind the popular book of nearly 25 years ago, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” by Robert Fulghum.

The revelation is based on an activity at my daughter's school which keeps kids connected and engaged, (qualities all employers want of their staff) while bolstering their self-esteem and giving them opportunities to be a leader (qualities that are difficult to both develop and assess). The activity is Share Day, and here’s how it works: Each child has an assigned time when he or she gets to share something with his classmates – by way of show and tell, and they get to ask questions about it. Through this activity the children get to know each other better, learn of their shared interests, and develop a level of interpersonal appreciation and respect for one another.

Apply that lesson to a business setting and the outcomes could be far greater. Share Day would facilitate staff in getting to know one another beyond the scope of their work. It would create an atmosphere of understanding and compassion, which translates into better workplace relations and stronger teamwork. It can help shy and quiet staff to connect with their coworkers, and it creates a platform for developing – and recognizing - natural leaders that others will follow.

There’s more good news. Share Day creates a specified time and place for engaging in personal conversation. This means staff would know when they get to share, and likewise, when not to share. Share Day presents staff with an appropriate place to talk about their recent accomplishment, to brag about their kids, or to share good or bad news that is affecting them. Rather than sending non-work related emails, this would be the forum in which staff could talk about their recent vacation, ask for sponsors for the marathon they'll be running, or to buy cookies for their child's scouting troop.

Here are a few guidelines for implementing Share Day at your company or organization:

1. Incorporate "sharing" into team meetings, either as the warm up, or as a way of closing the meeting.
2. Limit Share Day groups to a maximum of 12 people. If you have more than that, the team should be divided into logical groups based upon who staff work most closely with.
3. Limit each person’s sharing to 5-7 minutes. Lunch and breaks are the time for added sharing if desired.
4. Share Day does not need to be a part of every meeting, but should occur about once a month.
5. Each person should be allowed (and scheduled) to “share” about once a quarter.
6. Strongly encourage all staff to participate when it is their turn. Allowing staff to opt out will likely cause other staff to feel vulnerable or judged by their peers and ultimately undermine your goal of improving teamwork and employee relations.
7. Have a kick-off meeting in which staff help in creating rules for Share Day.

Remember that the immediate goal is to help staff bond. Bonding yields trust, better workplace relations, higher productivity, greater loyalty, lower turnover, etc. If you follow the guidelines above, you are spending less than 20 minutes a month on staff relations, and likely yielding a huge return on that small investment.