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Tag: teamwork (Page 2 of 3)

Getting around the limits of empathy

14/07/2016 /

Although empathy is considered to be at the heart of several crucial sectors – from product development to customer service, including also leadership, failing to recognise its limits can impair individual and organisational performance.

As Adam Waytz brilliantly describes in its article there are three main problems you can run into when dealing with empathy, and luckily three valid recommendations for getting around them.

Problem #1: It’s exhausting

Being an heavy-duty cognitive task empathy depletes our mental resources.

Several studies on health and human professionals, as well as those who work for charities and other non profits, show that empathy is exhausting, in any role in which it’s a primary aspect of the job.

Problem #2: It’s zero-sum

Empathy doesn’t just drain energy and cognitive resources – it also depletes itself.

The more empathy we devote to one aspect of our life, for example our job, the less is left for others (family for instance). Moreover the zero-sum problem leads to another type of trade off: empathy toward insiders – people in our team or organisation- can limit our capacity to empathise with people outside our circles.

Problem #3: It can erode ethics

Empathy can cause lapses in ethical judgment. Extreme loyalty toward insiders may push us to take their interests as our own and to overlook transgressions, or even worse to behave badly ourselves. With actions like cheating or stealing to benefit those in the immediate circle people put empathy for a few before justice for all.

So how to rein in a land of excessive empathy?

As a manager there are a number of things you can do to mitigate these problems.

1. Split up the work

2. Make it less of a sacrifice

3. Give people breaks

Despite its limitations, empathy is essential at work.Understanding and responding to the needs, interests and desires of human beings involves some of the hardest work of all. Managers shouldlook for ways to give employees breaks,Encourage individuals to take time to focus on their interests alone. When people feel restored they’re better able to perform the demanding task of listening to what others need.

Empathy

Image source: Flickr – AleKsa MX (CC-BY 2.0)

 

 

Image source: https://locallocale.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/empathy-schmimpathy-why-bother-nathan-mctague-empathy-parenting-advice/

15 quotes to inspire great teamwork

21/07/2015 /

The difference between success and failure is a great team.

A successful leader is one who can inspire his or her team members to work better together toward a common vision and goals.

Here are 15 quotes from well-known coaches, athletes, business leaders, and authors that will inspire you and your team members to work better together:

– “Individual commitment to a group effort–that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” –Vince Lombardi

-“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” –Michael Jordan

-“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” –Andrew Carnegie

-“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” –Helen Keller
“Remember teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability.” –Patrick Lencioni

-“I invite everyone to choose forgiveness rather than division, teamwork over personal ambition.” –Jean-Francois Cope

-“None of us is as smart as all of us.” –Ken Blanchard

-“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” –Henry Ford

-“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” –Henry Ford

-“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” –Phil Jackson

-“Collaboration allows teachers to capture each other’s fund of collective intelligence.” –Mike Schmoker

-“It takes two flints to make a fire.” –Louisa May Alcott

-“Unity is strength. . . when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.” –Mattie Stepanek

-“To me, teamwork is the beauty of our sport, where you have five acting as one. You become selfless.” –Mike Krzyzewski

-“The best teamwork comes from men who are working independently toward one goal in unison.” –James Cash Penney

 

Read more: Dave Kerpen on Inc.

 

team

Image source : Luigi Mengato – Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Being diplomatic at work

05/03/2015 /

Mary Wroblewski, in her article How to become a diplomatic employee published by The Global Post, suggests 9 steps to reach such an ambitious goal.

Step 1 – Listen carefully and respectfully to your co-workers, especially those whose ideas differ from your own.

Step 2 – Refrain from criticizing your coworkers. If you disagree with a coworker about an idea or decision, don’t tell him you think he’s wrong or question his competence.

Step 3 – Avoid participating in workplace gossip or other behaviors that might pit one side of the workplace against another.

Step 4 – Demonstrate compassion, support and encouragement to coworkers who disagree with a particular strategy or agenda.

Step 5 – Build a consensus by soliciting feedback and ideas.

Step 6 – Recognize when conditions deteriorate and take proactive measures.

Step 7 – Maintain your composure when tempers flare.

Step 8 – Acknowledge your mistakes when they occur.

Step 9 – Share credit with others for accomplishments.

Read here the full article: http://bit.ly/1uDPX6b

6231641551_541c96e583Image source: Flickr – highersights (CC. by 2.0)

10 Secrets of Successful Leaders

18/12/2014 /

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.” But, becoming a great leader isn’t easy. Successfully maneuvering a team through the ups and downs of starting a new business can be one of the greatest challenges a small-business owner faces.

Here’s a list of 10 tips drawn from the secrets of successful leaders.

1. Assemble a dedicated team.

2. Overcommunicate. 

3. Don’t assume.

4. Be authentic. 

5. Know your obstacles.

6. Create a ‘team charter.’

7. Believe in your people. 

8. Dole out credit.

9. Keep your team engaged. 

10. Stay calm.

Read more: Entrepeneur

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Image source: Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)

The “Creative” Benefits of Multiple Teams

04/11/2014 /

Serving on multiple teams can distract our focus, but it might be worth it.
Creative work is teamwork. As we push to solve bigger and bigger challenges, we seem to inevitably need more and more people to solve them. When it comes to organizational life, however, few people even find themselves a member of one team. Sure there’s your department, but there’s also the cross-functional team, the special task force, and the party planning committee. Many have found that serving as members of multiple teams at the same time is their new organizational reality. This presents a challenge for both team members and leaders: how do we allocate time to all those teams and how do leaders find the right people from the right team?
In a study published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, two professors studied the inner workings of teams at a large, multinational corporation. When they analyzed the data, professors found that performance was higher for teams whose members committed more of their time to the team. Surprisingly, team performance was higher for teams whose members also served on a large number of teams at the same time. How could this be?

One explanation is that highly skilled individuals were more likely to serve on multiple teams. Those high performers may not have been the ones allocating lots of time to the team. Instead, they bring the benefits of expanded networks, additional knowledge, and greater access to resources…even if they don’t bring the benefit of allocated time. It’s worth noting there is an exception: teams whose members are involved in lots of other teams and are geographically dispersed don’t see a performance advantage.

If you’re leading a team or serving on one, the study has implications for you. To the best of your ability, try to allocate your time on teams who need your specific skill sets. If another team has a more important project, but has an equally qualified member, that should be your indication that you can spend time elsewhere. Likewise, if you’re recruiting new members to your team, make sure you know whether they bring an ability to allocate enough time, or enough connections, or enough resources to make it worth their minimal commitment.

Read more: The “Creative” Benefits of multiple teams

Team_4

Images source: Pixabay by geralt (CC0 1.0)

Post by: marisalerno46

 

 

 

The “Creative” Benefits of Multiple Teams
The “Creative” Benefits of Multiple Teams

Team-building and dry spaghetti

07/10/2014 /

In his Ted Talk, the designer Tom Wujec presents some surprisingly deep research into the “marshmallow problem” — a simple team-building exercise that involves dry spaghetti, one yard of tape and a marshmallow. He also explains what  it takes to turn us from an “uh-oh” moment to a “ta-da” moment.

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