Joyce Weiss

I work with organizations and individuals who want to kick conflict and chaos to the curb - Queen of Conflict Resolution and Communication Coach

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Toolbox Alert! A Code of Conduct Reinforces Accountability

Lately, I have been asked to help clients create a code of conduct for their companies.  It’s easy to do during a 1 1/2 hour training.  The results are impressive because people discuss expectations and ideas from everyone on the team.  People feel heard after the code of conduct is created – unless the code is not followed by everyone and lack of trust exists in the company.

This article will cover the following topics:

  • Why the code of conduct is an important tool
  • Challenges while you create the code of conduct
  • A reality check about the code of conduct

Why is the Code of Conduct Important?

code of conductThe code is an important tool to use because accountability becomes a reality.  You probably have created a mission, values that represent your company, and a vision.  The code is a valuable addition because it is how your colleagues communicate and act.

  • The code of conduct is a powerful set of rules that govern the internal behavior of any team.
  • The code is created by everyone on the team – from top to bottom.
  • Each team member is personally responsible and accountable for his or her behavior.

Challenges Creating the Code of Conduct

code of conductThe following questions need to be answered by the entire team:

  • How should we handle this behavior when there is a breach in the code?
  • How do we have the conversation when others break the code?
  • What words do we use when others break the code?

The main idea is to align everyone’s behavior to the company’s values, mission, and vision.

An Important Reality Check About the Code of Conduct

  • The team will not be happy all of the time.
  • Confrontation is part of the code.
  • At times team members will be put on the spot.
  • The code will protect everyone from abuse if bold honesty, accountability, and support exist.

You will receive more information on how you can set up a Code of Conduct next week in part 2.  Part 3 will have examples of Codes of Conduct from my clients.

I want to hear from you

Add a comment to my blog on how a code of conduct works in your company. What benefits have you seen?  You will receive a response from me because I enjoy connecting with my readers! 🙂  You are always welcome to send me a private email HERE with concerns that you are experiencing at work.

Please share this and any article that speaks to you or your company

Loyal readers like you help us find more people who could benefit from these posts. Help us help them reduce conflict and improve leadership skills and quality of life.

Learn how I can leverage my 30+ years of leadership consulting and coaching experience to help your organization build a positive culture HERE.

 

This is Joyce Weiss
Corporate Communication Strategist and Career Coach

Have a great week.

Until next time, Remember…”You Get What You Tolerate!”

 

 

 

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Easy Ideas to Increase Morale

Do you want to increase morale?
Isn’t it time to break up some of the sameness of the week?
The workplace doesn’t have to be dull!
Sprinkle in some new events and see how the anticipation plus execution pays off in dividends!

Employee engagement helps keep star employees from leaving your workplace.
Ask your team for THEIR ideas on how to create a more energetic environment.

If STRESS is KING – that must be dealt with first to help employees perform in a positive atmosphere. Getting to the root cause is important and it does take time.  It is worth the effort.

Ideas to Increase Morale Strategy #1 increase morale

The following are ideas that my clients use to help place smiles back on their employees:

  • Theme days (Elvis, clashing outfits)
  • Talent contests
  • Employee baby pictures bulletin boards
  • Free time to exercise or walk outside
  • Dress down days
  • Give standing ovations to team members
  • Meet a team member at the airport

Ideas to Increase Morale Strategy #2increase morale

The following ideas will work if your teams share the same responsibilities:

  • Change partners every 5 days
  • Create peer team feedback sessions once per month
  • Empower teams to resolve conflict on their own before contacting management

Let’s Get Real

I can just hear some of you thinking – This will never work at my company.  Why not?
Start with small steps.  Reread some of my past posts on how other clients engage their employees to increase morale.

Let me know what you do to engage your employees to bring joy at work.

When I started my career over 30 years ago leaders told me not to have their employees laugh during my training.  Leaders only wanted serious training to increase productivity.  They wanted me to lecture and share strategies.  Those of you who know my personality realize that humor is part of my life and every training and coaching project.  Laughter and getting energy from each other makes a great training session rock!

I want to hear from you

Add a comment to my blog on how you increase morale. You will receive a response from me because I enjoy connecting with my readers! 🙂  You are always welcome to send me a private email with concerns that you are experiencing at work.

Please share this and any article that speaks to you or your company.

Loyal readers like you help us find more people who could benefit from these posts. Help us help them reduce conflict and improve leadership skills and quality of life.

Visit our knowledge base for more resources on how to increase morale – here 

This is Joyce Weiss
Corporate Communication Strategist and Career Coach

Until next time, Remember…”You Get What You Tolerate!”

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Team Building Strategies to Improve Morale

Leaders constantly ask me the following question:  What are team building strategies to improve morale?

Have you ever had a great idea for your company and got everyone excited about doing it, but then no one took       action and the great idea died? Such is a common occurrence in organizations across the country. In fact, in most companies generating great ideas isn’t the problem – it’s turning those ideas into action that stalls a company’s growth.

In order to help your team take action on new ideas, use the following team building strategies to get from idea to final delivery.

Team Building Strategies #1:  Generate at least 50 ideas for your current dilemma Team Building Strategies

How do you know if an idea is truly great unless you challenge it with new ideas? That’s why you need to generate a lot of ideas to get the idea process started.

Have people write one idea per “sticky note.” During this phase, temporarily ignore rules and budgets. Anything goes. Don’t self-edit and don’t think anything is “stupid.”

Encourage wild ideas from everyone; be playful. And since this is a group effort, feel free to expand on other people’s ideas. Remember, it’s not a competition.

Team Building Strategies #2:  Move the most exciting ideas forward

Take all your sticky notes and group similar ideas together. Decide on a category heading for each group. Then, rather than decide on a single idea to pursue, begin by deciding on an idea-group what is most attractive given the current situation. Use past experience and the current need to help with the decision process.

Team Building Strategies #3:  Remove hurdles and identify holes Team Building Strategies

Analyze the selected group and come up with reasons why the ideas may not work using the following questions to refine the idea to implementation:

  • What are the consequences if we do these ideas as presented?
  • What could potential challenges arise in the workplace?
  • How will these ideas work within the available resources of time, money, and people?

If you don’t like your answers, refine the ideas – don’t kill them.

Team Building Strategies #4:  Create a specific step-by-step action plan

Create a plan to ensure that the idea can be implemented successfully. Consider such things as:

  • Training and resources: Does the timeline and task schedule require training or resources not currently at hand? If so, how do you get them?
  • Budget: Do you have the financial resources to see the idea through to completion? If not, what creative things can you do to offset costs (trade out products or services, use contract labor, etc.)?
  • Timelines: What is the chronological order for doing each step?
  • Celebration points: At what point will you celebrate milestones, and what celebration activities will be most appropriate?

Let’s Get Real

When people have a thought-out plan for carrying out an idea, they are better equipped and better able to turn that idea into reality. So use these team building strategies for every dilemma, whether large or small. You’ll get the most creative solution for your current challenge, as well as the ability to turn that idea into action. This will reduce conflict in the workplace to move your team to the next level.

I want to hear from you

Send me an email with your most pressing issue that you are experiencing with your team. Please share your team building strategies in the comment section.

Please share this and any article that speaks to you or your company

Loyal readers like you help us find more people who could benefit from these posts. Help us help them reduce

Joyce Weiss
Corporate Communication Strategist and Career Coach

Until next time, Remember…”You Get What You Tolerate!”

PS  Learn how I can leverage my 30+ years of communication and leadership consulting and coaching experience to help your organization address team building strategies here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Working Together to Build Trust in the Workplace

Bob, a top leader in his company came to me to figure out why his team was not working together.   He told me that no one gave him input and he was wondering if trust was an issue.  We worked together for 3 months to work on his communication skills.  This article describes 3 strategies that Bob used to improve his communication skills which supported his team to begin working together.

Working Together Strategy #1:  Define what trust means to the team

 

working togetherThe American Heritage Dictionary defines trust as – “the firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing.”  No wonder why there’s a challenge with people working together.  It’s hard enough to rely on only one of these characteristics.

Bob asked his team the following questions:

  • What does trust mean to you?
  • How can I gain your trust as your leader?

This exercise was eye opening to everyone because each person required distinctive characteristics to gain his or her trust.  Bob called me right after he conducted this exercise and expressed how people were starting to speak more openly with each other.

Working Together Strategy #2:  Understand who is on your team

My clients have seen great results after we conduct a training using different assessments.  It’s important to identify the different behavioral styles because we are all wired differently.  Bob asked me to give each team member the DISC assessment which uncovers 4 behavioral styles.

  • Directors may want authority, challenges, freedom, logical approach and difficult assignments.
  • Interactors may want social recognition, people to talk to, freedom from details, and a chance to motivate.
  • Steadys may need status quo, time to adjust, appreciation, and work patterns.
  • Carefuls may need security, exact job descriptions, and attention to detail.

We divided the group to find people who shared the same behavioral style to discover how they are the same.  We then divided the group with the assorted styles to discover how they could improve their communication with each other.  There was a lot of laughter and deep conversation about the distinctive styles.  They figured out in a positive way why certain groups worked well together and why others drove each other crazy.

Working Together Strategy #3:  Discuss how the team can use this information to build trust

Understanding how each person defined trust and being aware of the 4 behavioral styles brought the team closer.  Bob took advantage of this positive environment to go deeper with his team.

He asked them to brainstorm the following ideas:

  • What the team needed from each other to become more productive
  • What they needed from the executive team
  • How meetings could be improved to improve time management

The ideas were discussed with the executive team and meaningful change happened.  I realize that some of you may not trust your executive team.  An executive coach would have to work with top leaders to discuss communication issues and transparency.  Leaders need to know how they can improve to help employees start working together.  Communication is a 2-way street!

I want to hear from you

Send me an email with your questions or comments on how to improve your team so they can start working together.

Read more articles and listen to podcasts at our Team Building Strategies Knowledge Base

This is Joyce Weiss, Communications Strategist and Coach

Learn how Joyce Weiss can leverage her 30+ years of communication and leadership consulting and coaching experience to help your organization address team building strategies here.

Until next time, Remember…“You Get What You Tolerate!”

P.S.  Feel free to call me at 800.713.1926 or send me an email to find out how the DISC assessment can help you or your team improve communication and career growth.

 

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Team Building Strategies to Create Open Communication

Team building is successful when employees feel safe to share ideas on how company policies can be improved. Communication issues are uncovered when I interview both leaders and their direct reports on what is working and not working with the team.  I take this information and create a personalized training for the company.  This only works with companies whose leaders are open to constructive feedback.  Team Building training will backfire when employees feel it’s the program of the month for appearance sake only.  Morale and trust are deflated when employees “know” that nothing will change after these sessions.

  • Are you a leader who wants to hear what your employees are talking about at the water cooler and use this information constructively?
  • Are you an emerging leader who wants to know how to create successful team building strategies during meetings?
  • Are you tired of the status quo and want to see positive change and results at work?

This article contains  3 team building strategies to help you create some interesting and productive conversations with your team.  All of these ideas are team building strategies that my clients use successfully during staff meetings.

Team Building Strategy #1:  Make the meeting safe

Everyone in the room is told that the feedback that I share is anonymous since all departments and job functions were interviewed.  Only patterns are shared.  There are usually negative or cynical employees who don’t trust this system. They have attended other training and nothing seems to change. This elephant in the room is addressed immediately.  All I ask is for everyone to give the training a chance before they judge the process.  If you decide to take these ideas and use them for your own training be prepared for these necessary and tough discussions!

team building

Team Building Strategy #2:  Share patterns from the interviews

The patterns are revealed.  The most important part of the training happens when employees and leaders answer the following questions in small groups:

  • What do we need to be talking about?
  • Let’s now beat around the bush.
  • What issues haven’t we been talking about?
  • How is this currently impacting you and how will this impact our future?

Another important “rule” is to make sure names are not used and blaming is not the purpose of the team building program.  It’s all about change, openness, trust, and results.  

Team Building Strategy #3:  Be specific when giving feedback

Take time to choose your words wisely so that you convey exactly what you mean – you can’t assume that people know what you want.

When giving feedback use the following 2 strategies:

  • Don’t use vague communication such as, “We need to sell more products.”
    Suggest that, “We need to create at least 2 new products in order to keep up with the competition.”
  • Don’t use hazy messages by saying, “Everyone needs to be to work on time.”
    Tell others, “We begin working with members at 8:00 am each day.”

This one team building strategy will improve communication within the entire company.  Hopefully, people will stop mind reading what others need from each other.

Team Building Strategies #3:  Ask important questions to change the status quo

The results from the phone interviews are shared after employees are face to face in the training and discuss their important feedback.
The following questions are asked during the phone interviews:

What if you were the CEO or President and had your own set of rules to keep your customers/clients?

  • What would you do differently?
  • What restrictions would you remove?
  • How would you treat your star employees?
  • How would you handle poor behavior?

So Joyce, what are your thoughts about creating successful team building training?

There are a couple of ways to conduct the important training sessions.  You can have both management and employees together depending on the trust level in your company.  You can also divide the training so management and employees work separately.  Once the training is complete the results are given to both management and employees.  I conduct an executive debriefing to discuss what changes will be made as a result of the research and employee input.  The real magic comes when employees are included in the last part so they feel that they were heard.  Of course, some of the ideas will not be used but being listened to is the #1 factor to improve your morale.  These team building strategies work!

I want to hear from you

Send me your questions or comments on what team building strategies you use.  What works and what challenges do you still experience with your team.  I will answer all comments.  Feel free to email your questions or concerns that you don’t want to share with others. 

Learn how Joyce Weiss can leverage her 30+ years of communication and leadership consulting and coaching experience to help your organization address team building strategies here.

 

This is Joyce Weiss, Communications Strategist and Coach
Until next time, Remember…”You Get What You Tolerate!”

PS Read more articles and listen to podcasts at our Team Building Strategies Knowledge Base 

 

 

Contact Joyce

Email: joyce@joyceweiss.com
Phone: 248-681-5831