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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Do You Have a Super Bowl Team?

Today is the Super Bowl and I am getting ready to go to a party to watch the best team win. How can you tell if you have a winning team?

I just returned from a training in Wynne Arkansas and worked with the winning East Central Arkansas Regional Library System Team. I am extremely impressed at how hard all the team members worked together to develop into an even stronger team.

I asked the group to define what team building meant to them. They came up the following characteristics:

  • Support
  • Building relationships
  • Keeping up the slack when team members are not at work
  • Building Trust

We discussed all of these characteristics during the training. Building Trust was the one that we all agreed to concentrate on during the training. We discussed that silence in meetings is probably a good indication that lack of trust exists. We came up with a solution for everyone on the team to be fully engaged at meetings. Silence does not hold you accountable. If you agree with your team, tell them. If you don’t agree, tell them why. It is a risk to open up our mouth when we don’t agree with the team. If trust exists, then it is easier to do.

I encouraged the Wynne AR team to talk to team members when an issue comes up in the future. It is dangerous to let it go or gossip with each other. We went around the room and discussed what each team member needed to build trust with each other. We came up with some great suggestions on how to build trust even during challenging times.

Decide how you can build trust with your team when things get stressful. Hope these ideas will help you build your own team synergy.

Please let me know your biggest challenge with your team.
Write your challenge in the comment box of this blog and I will answer.
I am committed to stay in touch with my loyal readers – so please keep in touch!

Please watch Holly Mercer’s (Director of East Central Arkansas Regional Library System) video testimonial that she made right after the team building training:

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For more information, articles, and podcasts, visit https://www.joyceweiss.com

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Do you have an open or closed mind when others describe people who you have not met yet?

We can’t let cynicism and negativity impact new experiences.  I recently visited Paris and Provence with my family.  Several people warned us that we better be prepared for rudeness.  Others told us that we needed to learn several key phrases in French and start all conversations in a positive way.

Let me ask you a question.  When is the last time that you were “warned” about a new colleague or boss?  People may have been cynical and you prejudged the new person before you even met him or her.

Now for the rest of my story – We had such a positive experience in France!  We attempted to speak their language when we were lost or had questions about food or prices.  We started our conversation in a positive way.  The response was almost always the same.  We all laughed and used a lot of grunts and hand gestures.  People wanted to help us.

I feel that we all need to think about our own communication and ask ourselves an important question.  Are we being open or closed when we meet new people  – especially after we were “warned” about them before we even met them?

The response is up to you and how you approach any new situation.  I choose to make up my own mind about others and do my best to look for possibilities instead of starting off negative and sticking to an old bias.

Please let me know what experience you have had when you meet new people after others were cynical about them?  Did you tell the cynic how you felt?  I’m here to listen to my loyal readers!

Was this helpful? Let us hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Feel free to share these tips with your team – just be sure to give Joyce credit when you share or publish.

Sign up at the RSS feed on the blog site to be included in future blog posts from Joyce on this subject.

For more information, articles and podcasts, visit https://www.joyceweiss.com

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Use Be Direct with Respect® with Your Team

When there are unresolved issues festering below the surface, they will eventually cause energy to be diverted from your team.  Group cohesion is a good thing to have especially while conducting  honest and assertive communication!

Some teams are open and use open communication with honesty while others don’t speak with candor.

To refocus your team, ask the following questions:

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

Was this helpful? Let us hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Feel free to share these tips with your team –  Just be sure to give Joyce credit when you share or publish.

For more info, articles and, pod casts visit: https://www.joyceweiss.com

Contact Joyce

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