The Top 10 Tools Leaders Use to Create Teamwork

President Lincoln once summoned a newspaper reporter to the White House. As the reporter entered the Oval Office, Lincoln was petting his golden Labrador retriever.

The president stood up to shake the reporter’s hand.” Thank you for coming. Please, have a seat."

As they both sat down, the president continued, “I've been reading some of your reports about the Civil War. I don't think you have your facts right."

"Well Mr. President, my sources tell me the facts and I print them."

Just then, the president's dog got up and sauntered across the room. Lincoln sprang to his feet, pointed at the dog’s tail, and bellowed, "Son, if I told you that the tail on my dog was a leg, how many legs would my dog have?"

The startled reporter blurted, "Mr. President, if you told me that tail was a leg, your dog would have five legs."

"No," replied the president, "My dog would still have only four legs. Just because I told you the tail was leg doesn't make it a leg… AND just because a source tells you something about the Civil War doesn't make it true."

Just because someone tells you that you have a team doesn't make it a team. A team is a group of people working together towards a common goal. President Lincoln is reminding us that if you're not working together towards a common goal you don't have a team. You may have a single leader work group, but you do not have a team. Professors Kozlowski and Ilgen from Michigan State University state that the first fundamental question that needs to be asked before putting a team together is whether you actually need a group of people to come together to achieve a common goal. (1) If the answer is yes, here is what the research says are the top 10 tools to reaching your team goal.

1. Set a clear goal. The goal must also lead to specific objectives and create a sense of urgency. The more urgent, relevant and meaningful the goal, the more motivated the team.

2. Select the right team members. The reason a team is created in the first place is that the knowledge to accomplish the goal is not in one person’s head. An analysis of 6,000 team members and leaders by Frank LaFasto and Carl Larson found that the selection criteria for team members should include working knowledge and teamwork attributes. (2) The working knowledge attributes are the specific skills and experiences needed to solve problems and carry out the project tasks. The teamwork attributes included openness, supportiveness, action oriented, and a positive personal style.

3. Create metrics. Measurements eliminate arguments. Metrics provide a dashboard for team members and senior management to steer individual and collective performance. They also increase role clarity and accountability.

4. Encourage contact. Familiarity breeds compatibility. Frequent and informal social interactions among team members improves teamwork according to an analysis of 17,000 patents. (3) In addition, team members should maintain their connections with internal and external stakeholders.

5. Define norms. Norms are the rules, often unwritten, that dictate how team members behave. They are "the way we do things around here." Successful teams define which areas need clarity and then create specific norms for each of these areas. I recently facilitated a leadership retreat where I helped managers create well-defined norms for better communication, effective recognition programs, and motivating meetings. Which norms do you need to create?

6. Emphasize a learning culture. Teams that train together achieve more according to an analysis of 169 teams by MIT professor Deborah Ancona and her colleagues. (4) In addition to learning from each other, challenging the group with information from external experts reminds the team to search outside their own, narrow borders for new ideas, information, and experience.

7. Delegate decision-making. Responsibility without authority is lame. Too much leader interference is perceived as micromanaging and lowers team morale. The authority to decide how to reach the goal should be left to the team.

8. Develop an environment that supports execution. The most successful teams develop processes that encourage sharing external information, transparent decision-making, and scheduling tools that visibly communicate progress and flexible deadlines.

9. Reward team achievement. That which is appreciated appreciates. If you want teamwork, reward it. Brainstorm with the team the many ways to applaud both individual contributions to the team, as well as collective team accomplishments.

10. Involve the team in implementation. Handoffs are where the baton is dropped. If the project must be given to another group, involve a few of original team members during implementation phases to increase the probability that it is implemented well.

Cisco is at the forefront of collaboration and teamwork. (5) They have created a network of cross-functional and international councils and boards empowered to fund projects and launch new businesses. The company is also investing heavily in social networking applications. They promote an open-source culture by encouraging employee blogging, uploading of videos, and tagging of strengths in their Facebook-style internal directory.

Cisco is not calling a tail a leg. Their team focus has expedited innovation and produced a tenfold increase in new projects. How much of an increase do you think you'll see by adapting these top 10 tools to your team? Let me know. I'd love to hear from you. (For 4 great Leadership ideas, check out Harvard Business Blog @ http://blogs.bnet.com/teamwork/?p=567&tag=content;col1 )

Keep eXpanding,

Dave

1. Steve Kozlowski and Daniel Ilgen; The Science of Team Success, ‘Scientific American Mind,’ June/July 2007, 54 -- 61.

2. Frank LaFasto and Carl Larson; “When Teams Work Best,” 2001, Sage Publications, Inc.

3. Lee Fleming; Perfecting Cross-Pollination, Harvard Business Review, September 2004, 22 – 23.

4. Deborah Ancona, Henrik Bresman, and Katrin Kaufer; MIT Sloan Management Review, Spring 2002, 33 – 39.

5. Ellen Mcgirt; Revolution in San Jose, ‘Fast Company,’ December 2008/January 2000, 88 -- 94 and 134 -- 135.

Leading Innovation - How Google Does It

The customer looked up from the computer screen, "Dave, this software module is fantastic. How did Siemens come up with it?"

"I worked with one of our recently hired programmers, Ray. He's part of our new, innovative engineering team. They focus on bringing products to market fast."

"OK Dave, I'll buy from you this time. But only because you're telling me that Siemens is becoming more innovative and responsive to customers. I still think they're like a giant elephant that has not learned to dance. But I'll give you and them a try."

Ray left the following year. The new team collapsed. The top salespeople (including me) left within two years. Siemen's U.S. west coast market share plunged from 50% to 15% faster than you could say "abandon ship." The elephant had not learned to dance (i.e., innovate) because Siemens didn’t know how to consistently tap into the innovative talent of their employees. Do you tap into yours?

Let's look to Google, the second most innovative company in the world according to BusinessWeek, to help you unleash the creative energy of your people. (1) Here are six strategies that researchers from Babson College discovered help elephants like Google dance (2):

1. Budget innovation into the job description. Managers are required to spend approximately 30% of their time on innovation. They are held accountable for this time in their frequent reviews.

2. Eliminate friction at every turn. Google's approach to innovation is akin to jazz, very improvisational. Any engineer in the company at any level can create a new product or a new feature to an existing product. One engineer tells the story of his first month on the job. He complained to a coworker about the Google e-mail system. His coworker told him to fix it himself. After doing so, his code was reviewed the following day by the e-mail engineers. A week later, his changes were incorporated into the software.

3. Let the market choose. Google has no grand design regarding how new offerings fit together. They let the market do that. They do not worry about identifying the perfect product mix. Google perceives their 132 million users as evaluators of new products.

4. Cultivate a taste for failure and chaos. Nature teaches us that experimentation is king of the jungle. Google plants a thousand flowers and analyzes which ones bloom. Executives are unfettered by failure. In fact, they perceive failure is merely corrective’s feedback. Google CEO Eric Schmidt encourages this experimental mindset when he says, "Please fail very quickly -- so that you can try again."

5. Create a collaborative work environment. Google packs offices close together for better communication, conducts all hands meetings every Friday, and maintains a rigorous interviewing and hiring process.

6. Use feedback to stay on track. Employees are scored on 25 performance metrics. Google systematically models the attributes of their highest performing employees, while continually modifying their hiring approach based on ongoing analysis of performance.

The 2008 Innovation Survey by BusinessWeek reported that Siemens is now ranked 38th in innovation among global companies (1). I'm happy to hear my former employer has taught their elephant to dance. Which of these strategies could be adapted to fit your team? How surprised will you be when your elephant starts performing the Nutcracker Suite?

See you in the ballroom,

Dave

1. http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/feb2008/id2008027_367300.htm

2. Bala Iyer and Thomas Davenport; Reverse Engineering Google's Innovation Machine, "Harvard Business Review", April 2008, 59 - 68.

Leading Research on Goal ACHIEVING

In the extraordinary book Goal Setting and Task Performance, Professors Locke and Latham summarize 393 separate research studies on goal setting, involving 40,000 subjects engaged in 88 different tasks, over time spans ranging from minutes to years. (1) According to their exhaustive research, the probability of reaching a goal increases when leaders:

- Set specific and difficult goals

- Limit the number of goals

- Create short-term and long-term goals

Many of us have dreams and desires, few of us write them as goals. We start out all fired up, then something happens; we slip, we fall, we get caught up in the same old routine... In no time, the fire that fueled our goal is a tumbleweed in the desert wind. Have you ever wondered why that is?

People often confuse foggy dreams with clear goals. Having a foggy goal is like setting sail for an uncharted island that you hope is out there... somewhere! In reviewing hundreds of research studies on how people achieve their goals, I discovered it is best to just say KNOW to foggy dreams, and yes to S.M.A.R.T. goals:

Soul – Are you in your goal?

Measurable – How will you measure what matters?

Attainable – Is your target out of sight?

Responsible – Who is on your team?

Timed – Do you have a date?

S – Soul. An acorn becomes an oak because that is its nature. Grass pushes through the sidewalk cracks because it’s expressing its true nature. You are here to nurture your nature. This means your goal should connect with who you are and encourage your 'YOUnique' talents to shine. We often fail to reach our goals because we don't hear what our soul whispers. Instead, we listen to well-meaning friends, coworkers, or the media advising us to set sail for destinations that do not truly capture our imagination. There is little soul in a goal when someone decides it for us. As you set sail on your journey, how will you (and members of your team) put soul in your goal?

M – Measurable. People often become sidetracked from their goal because they don't have a method of keeping track of their progress. A physician has her patient charts, a salesperson has his quotas, and sports have the scoreboard. How might you and your team monitor your success throughout the year.

A – Attainable. There is a greeting card that reads, 'Shoot for the moon - if you miss you’ll be among the stars.' The problem is, if you miss the moon, you could also end up lost in space! After analyzing 175 scientific studies on goal difficulty, Professor Locke from the University of Maryland concluded that hard goals lead to greater effort than easy goals, assuming the goals are accepted. Some leaders set their goals so far out there that the team never fully accepts them. How will you ensure that the team can see and believe that your destination is attainable?

R – Responsible. The sun is setting on the individual goal achiever. We all need a little help to reach our destination. There's just too much to know, too many obstacles to overcome, and it's too easy to let ourselves stay down when we slip. The Lone Ranger had Tonto, and Frodo had Sam in 'The Lord of Rings.' Whom do you have? The R in S.M.A.R.T. refers to your supporting cast, people who are 'Responsible' for encouraging you and holding you accountable to reach your destination. These few allies are usually friends, coworkers, or family members who believe in you and your goals.

T - Time. There is a reason the word, 'deadline' begins with dead. This last simple step announces to your subconscious that you're dead serious about reaching your destination. It is not good enough to say you will accomplish your goal in six months; you must write a specific date and then review your S.M.A.R.T. goal every day.

Now you know why you shouldn't be a tumbleweed in the desert. Just say 'KNOW' to foggy dreams by saying yes to S.M.A.R.T. goals.

Keep eXpanding,

Dave

1. Locke E and Latham G: A Theory of Goal Setting & Task Performance. Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, 1990.

Is There Paradox In Your Leadership?

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function," wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald. After reviewing hundreds of research articles and books on leadership success, I'm convinced that leaders can achieve eXtraordinary results by eXpanding their capacity to hold opposing ideas and manage the tension of leadership. Here are three paradoxical qualities to get you started.

1. Lead with Your Strength and Manage Your Weakness. Eight-time gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps would have come up short if he tried to become a horse jockey. He was born to swim. Research on more than a million employees by the Gallop organization teaches us that, if we want to excel, we should nurture our nature. Great leaders understand, leverage, and celebrate their team members’ "YOUnique" gifts and talents. Knowing thyself (and your team) and then bringing your best to life every day are the first steps of achievement, work satisfaction, and life-long happiness.

Yet Michael Phelps knew that talent alone wasn't enough. He swam every day, worked on his weaker strokes, and continually searched for motivation from the naysayers. He managed the tension between nurturing his nature and shoring up his weaknesses to win. How can you leverage your team's strengths and manage their shortcomings?

2. Focus Like a Laser and Keep the Big Picture in Mind. Great athletes like Michael Phelps and Tiger Woods are passionate about winning the most esteemed races in their sport. Yet they also aims to elevate their sport. It's ironic that motivation flows from a dedication to specific goals and a connection to the big picture. How do you and your team stay focused on your daily objectives AND still keep the big picture in view?

3. Celebrate Me and We. While the media kept telling us how great Phelps was, he often reminded us how terrific the team was:

"It wouldn't have been possible without the help of my teammates." Phelps said. "For the three Olympics I've been a part of, this is by far the closest men's team that we've ever had. I didn't know everybody coming into this Olympics, but I feel going out I know every single person very well. The team that we had is the difference."

Sometimes we forget that behind every great athlete and leader is a team. It's not all about the leader or the team. To achieve success in today’s interdependent world requires both the me and we mentality. How are you applauding each team member's individual contribution as you build teamwork?

Scientists are finding that the ability to "hold two opposing ideas in the mind at the same time" is mandatory in today's complex, global environment. In the book ‘Good to Great,’ researcher Jim Collins identified personal humility and professional will as cornerstones of great leadership. (He and his team spent about 15,000 hours researching the keys to enduring organizational success.) Authors Lombardo and Eichinger reported in their book ‘The Leadership Machine’ that dealing with paradox and ambiguity are two critical, yet underdeveloped, skills needed in leaders. (They collected data on 6,000 managers, at all levels, of 140 companies.)

So, how well do you manage paradox? Most leaders need work in this area, especially in today's challenging environment. The importance of managing paradox and the tension in work is why I developed my own, evidence-based eXpansive Leadership Model (XLM - See below). I reviewed hundreds of scientific studies to discover what really works in leadership. Our new course, ‘ParadoXical Leadership - How eXceptional Leaders Achieve eXtraordinary Results in taXing Times,’ shows leaders how to apply the XLM to their difficult situations. They also learn how to map and manage the paradoxical tensions they face. (For a more complete description of the course or a list of the top ten ‘paradoxical tensions’ most organization face, e-mail me DJensenSSS@aol.com ).

Keep eXpanding,

Dave

300 Leading Companies Reveal THE Four Drivers of Employee Motivation

My first job after graduate school was coordinating research at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). I had the privilege of working with an extraordinary team led by luminary leader, Dr. Victor Froelicher. In the four years that our small, productive, and highly motivated team was together, we published 33 major research papers. Several members of our team went on to become productive leaders in their respective fields. What accounted for such productivity, effectiveness, and motivation? The latest research in neuroscience, biology, and psychology confirm that Dr. Froelicher created an environment that satisfied the four fundamental drives (the ABCDs) of human motivation.

Professor Nohria and his colleagues from Harvard surveyed employees at 300 of the Fortune 500 companies (1). They found that you can motivate your team IF you address these four basic, emotional drives:

A. Acquire. This drive relates to our desire to obtain physical goods, positive experiences, and social status. It is a relative drive - meaning we always compare what we have to others. Many leaders think this drive is met when everyone receives the same share of a reward or perk, regardless of their contribution. NOT TRUE! Equal is often not fair. Dr. Froelicher satisfied this drive by making sure rewards were clearly tied to performance. For example, we were not invited to go to scientific meetings unless we had our research accepted for presentation. The rule was clear and fair: if you didn't conduct excellent research, you didn't attend scientific meetings. How should your employee rewards better differentiate good performers from average performers?

B. Bond. Human beings have an internal impulse to connect to others. This includes small groups such as our families, as well as larger collectives, including organizations, associations, and nations. At work, employees who feel proud of an organization are very motivated. At UCSD, Dr. Froelicher fostered bonding among coworkers by having Friday afternoon parties, occasional picnics at the beach, and encouraging us to exercise together. In addition, we frequently collaborated with other divisions. We attended their meetings, invited them to ours, and shared best practices. How might you motivate your team by building more camaraderie, collaboration, and cross-functional communication?

C. Comprehend. Everybody wants to make sense of the world around them. We become frustrated when things don't make sense. At work, people try to satisfy this drive by making meaningful contributions. This was satisfied at UCSD because we had a wide latitude in the type of research each of us was able to conduct. We were able to investigate areas that we found interesting and meaningful. We also contributed to each others comprehension by educating each other at our numerous staff and research meetings. How could you increase job flexibility and lifelong learning on your team?

D. Defend. We all want to defend our property, positions, and accomplishments. This drive is rooted in the fight or flight mechanism that has evolved over millions of years. In a competitive market, staying in touch with what may threaten you is critical and motivating. Knowing that we were competing for very limited research funds kept motivated at UCSD. How can you motivate your team regarding market conditions, threats, and opportunities?

These are the ABCDs of human motivation. (Check out http://blogs.bnet.com/harvard/?p=517#comments for other ideas.) Don't worry if you are unable to affect all of these to the degree you would like. Fortunately, employees understand that there are limits to the boss's ability to change policies. Research tells us that employees attribute as much importance to their bosses meeting these drives as they do to the organization's policies.

So, let me know your favorite motivational tools or how you choose to adapt these ideas to meet the four core, emotional needs of your team members.

Keep on eXpanding,

Dave

1. Nitin Nohria, Boris Groysberg, and Linda-Eling Lee; Employee Motivation - A Powerful New Model, ‘Harvard Business Review,’ July-August 2008, 78 - 84.

How Leaders Find Meaning In Work?

Ron was a successful senior executive with an insurance firm. I say successful because he had all the appearances of success. He had money, prestige, friends, family, and three homes. But he wasn’t happy at work. At age 60, he retired in order to take care of his ailing mother. He recently told me that he has never experienced such fulfillment as he does now caring for his aging Mom. Ron had found much more meaning in his new "career" as a caregiver. How about you and your team? How much meaning is in your work?

The definition of meaningful work is “the ability to earn a living doing that which satisfies an individual’s psychological, spiritual, and social sense of purpose and contribution.” (1) The four key elements of meaningful work are shown below. The list represents Professor Miller's modification of Neal Chalofsky’s model. (2)

I. The Sense of Self

• Bringing one’s whole self (mind, body, emotion, spirit) to the work (and the workplace)

• Recognizing and developing one’s potential

• Knowing one’s purpose in life and how work fits into that purpose

• Having a positive belief system about achieving one’s purpose

II. The Work Itself

• The act of performing – mastering one’s performance

• Challenge, creativity, learning, continuous growth

• The opportunity to carry out one’s purpose through the work

• Autonomy, empowerment, and a sense of control over one’s environment

III. The Sense of Balance

• The balance of work self and personal self

• The balance of spiritual self and work self

• The balance of giving to oneself and giving to others

• The balance of family self and friendship self

• The balance of individual self and supportive others

IV. The Sense of Contribution

• Using one’s skills, strengths, and talents to serve others

• Making a difference

• Making the world a better place

• Feeling part of something larger than ourselves

• Experiencing mutual benefit -- by helping others, I help myself

Ron was missing in several of the areas identified in this list of meaningful work. Where are you and your team members lacking?

Although it is not entirely your responsibility to make work meaningful for employees, it is in your best interest to help them see that work can be meaningFULL. You can accomplish this by helping them master all aspects of the job, presenting them with challenging and creative tasks, and providing them with a sense of autonomy and control. In addition, frequently reminding your employees that they are making the world a better place will contribute to their sense of meaningful work. As you increase meaning, researchers remind us that your employees' performance and retention improve. (3)

Ron said he had to leave work to find more meaning in his life. You don't have to. Could you and your team find more meaning if you distributed the meaningful work list and invited employees, individually and collectively, to brainstorm ways to increase the meaning in their work? Let me know how it goes. I'd love to hear from you.

Keep eXpanding,

Dave

1. Cynthia S. Miller; Meaningful Work Over the Life Course, Dissertation, Fielding Graduate University, 2008, p22.

2. Chalofsky, N; The humane workplace: Aligning of value-based organizational culture, meaningful work, and life balance. Presentation delivered at the Organization Development Network Conference, Baltimore, October 23, 2007.

3. Wesley A. Scroggins; ‘The Relationship Between Employee Fit Perceptions, Job Performance, and Retention: Implications of Perceived Fit,’ Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 2008, 20:57–71.

Leaders Reveal 7 Tips to Engage Employees

Terry delivered results. He knew how to get things done, and the senior leadership rewarded him. He rose quickly in the sales organization; from district manager to regional sales manager to senior vice president. As the senior VP, Terry was not afraid to shake things up in the complacent, bureaucratic company known for quality, but sorely lacking in innovation.

Within three years, most of the top salespeople and sales managers left. Market share dropped rapidly and Terry was fired. Terry’s over-bearing style had enraged, not engaged, his employees. How well do you engage your employees?

Employee engagement is defined as the connection employees have to their jobs, careers, and organizations that leads to value-added effort. When engagement is high, employees go the extra mile to get the job done. Without this connection, leaders like Terry may get employees to comply, but they won’t ignite the fuel of commitment needed to drive the engine of growth. Leaders who push for results without engagement are driving with one foot on the break.

Despite the importance of engagement, the Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study of 90,000 employees found that only 21% are fully engaged in their work, 41% are enrolled (they occasionally go the extra mile), 30% are disenchanted (they rarely go the extra mile), and 8% are fully disengaged (1).

This means that on any given day, an astounding 71 per cent of employees worldwide fall into the muddled middle of engagement. This is the “engagement gap” - the distance between what employees actually contribute and what they are capable of contributing. Terry's team and many of his top salespeople disengaged soon after his arrival and it eventually cost him and the organization dearly.

According to the Gallup organization, the cost of lost productivity due to disengagement is $300 billion in the United States, $226.5 billion in Germany, and $6 billion in Singapore. (2) The U.S. economy is estimated to run at only about 30 percent efficiency because of a low engagement (3). Imagine walking into your organization and telling 70% of your employees to go home! That's effectively what leaders do when they don't engage their employees on a routine basis.

The Corporate Leadership Council surveyed 50,000 employees at 59 global organizations and reviewed more than 300 drivers of engagement across the globe. The good news is that they found that increasing an employee’s level of engagement improves performance 20 percent and reduces the probability of departure by 87 percent. (4)

Here are several tips science says will help you increase engagement, performance, and retention:

- Ask each employee how they feel about their work.

- Help team members do their best every day.

- Demonstrate that you care about what is important to them by involving them in decision-making whenever possible.

- Create meaningful work by frequently delegating tasks that help employees grow in a mutually beneficial way.

- Discuss organizational goals on a regular basis.

- Find ways to remind employees that what they do on a daily basis influences the long-term organizational strategy.

- Demonstrate a strong commitment to diversity in your hiring and promotion practices and by encouraging diverse opinions in daily discussions.

These are several tactics to engage employees. How do you engage your team? As you adapt these to fit your style and culture, you’ll also eXpand your empowering leadership style – one of the four key styles research reveals is critical to leadership success.

Keep eXpanding,

Dave

1. http://www.towersperrin.com/tp/lobby.jsp?country=global

2. Rodd Wagner and James Harter; The Heart of Great Managing, ‘Gallup Management Journal’, June 12, 2008.

3. Bates, S. Getting Engaged. ‘HR Magazine’, Vol 49, No. 2, 2004.

4.http://www.lloydmorgan.com/PDF/Driving%20Performance%20and%20Retention%20Through%20Employee%20Engagement.pdf