Summer holidays are a time when the pace of life slows enough for us take stock, reflect on the future and maybe catch-up with some reading.

Relax, Reflect & Resolve this summer

As you sit on a plane, a beach or in an armchair this summer, you might like to ponder one or two of the following:

- What have I achieved this year that was worth all the effort?
- Whose life has improved as a result of my contribution?
- What is the most valuable lesson I’ve learnt this year?
- Is the future more certain now than it was a year ago?

These periods of reflection can be motivating and inspiring, particularly as we recognise the ‘unique contribution’ we each make. It’s equally important for teams to take time to reflect on past successes and future challenges for the same reasons. So have a great summer, take time to think and set a date to do the same with your team.

Are you a “good” boss?  One of the most important aspects of an executive’s/manager’s/boss’s job is to manage employees; it is also the most challenging.

Bonus Rule 6: Don't dance in front of staff, especially if you can't dance.

A boss can either create a team unit or keep herself apart. All of us are given choices every moment of every day. How we respond to difficult situations is a choice. How we choose to react in a moment affects not only us but our employees. Employees perform best in an environment that is supportive, consistent, has good two way communication, and where everyone helps each other.

Follow these five tips to become a “good” boss:

1. Speak with respect - It seems that respect has taken a back seat to disrespectful verbal and non-verbal behaviour that is rampant in our society. It is time to put respect back into business and life. It starts at the top with the boss. Do not shout at or speak harshly to your employees or interrupt them when they are speaking. If a manager is harsh, condescending, arrogant or rude, how does that inspire an employee to want to do their best for the company? Speak with respect to your employees.

2. Eliminate sarcasm from your delivery style – do not make fun of or embarrass your employees. Sarcasm and public displays of criticism are negative. Negativity breeds anger, resentment, and frustration. These emotions and feelings create stress which can lead to decreased productivity, decreased enjoyment, increased illness, increased absenteeism, and increased turnover.
Give your employees positive feedback on what they are doing well.

3. Be a good listener – Communication is about more than speaking; it is also about listening. If we expect our employees to listen to what we have to say, then we must be willing to listen to them as well. Listening allows your employees to be heard and feel validated. It is not productive for an employee to leave your office thinking I’m never going to her again since she does not listen and acts like she knows it all. Be a good listener.

4. Think before speaking – Before reacting to a situation, think about the ramifications of what you will say to the employee. If an employee is not performing or doing what you ask them, then take a few minutes to figure out what you can say to inspire them to comply with your request, rather than discourage them with words that are harsh or demeaning.

5. Act calm and confident – Have a calm tone of voice, speak softer and slower, and smile. What you say and how you say it will either make your employees want to come to work because of the positive atmosphere that you create, or dread coming to work because of the negative environment. Take a look at your management style. Commit to being a positive, calm, caring, confident, and good boss.

These five tips will help you create an environment that promotes productivity, teamwork, and success to increase overall profitability and foster a winning attitude among your company’s stakeholders.

A blog by guest writer Anne Smith, Ph.D.

Anne Smith, Ph.D., the only tennis player in history who has won 10 Grand Slam championships and earned a doctorate, works with athletes, coaches, and parents who want to develop a prescription for how to win. Dr. Smith is the author of two books titled GRAND SLAM: Coach Your Mind to Win in Sports, Business, and Life and MACH 4TM Mental Training System: A Handbook for Athletes, Coaches, and Parents.  Visit her website at www.annesmithtennis.com.

Rule 4: Avoid micromanagement

Sometimes you can pinpoint the problem immediately (if, for example, your employee is lazy or unresponsive, comes in late and leaves early, shirks responsibility, or constantly questions your authority without cause).

But there are times when your personality just isn’t compatible with those on your team. Unfortunately, you still have work with these people and find a way to motivate them so that the whole team can realize success.

To that end, here are a few simple ways to keep the peace and get everyone working towards the same goal:

1. Talk TO them, not AT them. Talking down to your employees and acting superior is the best way to ensure that they tune out. You don’t necessarily need to be their best friend, but let them know that you’re open to conversation. You can offer clear and authoritative directions as well as keeping an open mind and listening to their suggestions. This is the best way to let your team members know that they are valued and give them a chance to truly participate in the process.

2. Be generous. Nothing motivates people better than the knowledge that their efforts are appreciated, so let employees know that you have noticed their hard work and compliment or reward them for both individual and team successes (anything from a weekly paid lunch to a team-building day to gift certificates could fit the bill, although sometimes a pat on the back will suffice). On the other side of the coin, avoid lambasting them in front of the entire crew if they make a mistake. Simply inform them of their error privately, talk about how it happened, and brainstorm a solution to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.

3. Provide the necessary tools. You don’t want to set your team up for failure, so make sure they have what they need to get the job done. If they tell you that they cannot proceed without a costly piece of software or machinery, take the time to determine if you really need to spend beaucoup bucks, if there is a comparable alternative at a lower price, or if they’re just blowing smoke. Don’t simply throw out the idea because you think it is too expensive. It’s your job to determine the needs of your team and outfit them for success.

4. Avoid micromanagement. You hired people for a specific function, so operate under the assumption that they know what they’re doing. Check in periodically to make sure they’re on track (or ask for updates), but don’t hover and intimidate them. It will only make them nervous and more apt to make mistakes (small and large). Let them know that they can come to you with concerns or stumbling blocks and then adopt an attitude of beneficence rather than berating them.

5. Pick team players. No matter how good of a boss you are, there are going to be times when you just can’t motivate an employee. Some people resist every attempt at inclusion. If that is the case, you can’t allow them to compromise your goals and drag the whole team down with them. So don’t be afraid to cut dead weight and find someone who fits your team dynamic and does their fair share. Everyone will be happier when all the cogs fit together and turn as they should.

This is a guest blog written by Kathleen McKenzie who is a writer for Student Grants. Kathleen also gives advice on the pursuit of higher education and career options for young adults.

Boss's come in all shapes and sizes.

It’s 40 degrees C in the mountains, with a dry headwind evaporating the riders’ sweat before it can cool their surging blood.  Consequently the riders are dehydrating faster than expected.  The support teams must get more water to them more quickly and in the midst of the race.

Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins is reported to have gone through 20 bottles of water and during the climb, Côte de Laffrey, he called up his team car so that he could pour a two-litre bottle of mineral water over his head in an effort to cool off.

This took place as up to 10 team cars jostled for position to get close to their riders, without making contact with competitors, curbs, fans or other team cars.  Simultaneously the teams’ water carriers had to lean out of the moving vehicles to pass bottles to and from their riders, who themselves then have to sit up in the saddle and ride “no hands”  All this taking place on winding mountain roads and through narrow village streets lined with spectators advertising hoardings and TV crews.

So if you are feeling hot and bothered today spare a thought for the likes of Steve Cummings, Geraint Thomas and Serge Pauwels who are risking their necks to keep Team Sky’s riders hydrated.

This lively RSA Animate, adapted from Dan Pink’s talk at the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home and in the workplace.

How will Fabio Capello communicate with the England team this world cup?

It seems as though weak internal communication is a virus that has infected most organisations, often the larger the business the worse the condition. Strangely high tech systems and gadgets, rather than help seem to make the problem worse, so put your Blackberry in your drawer and try some of these low tech approaches:

 - Encourage chatter: let the banter flow, this is where great ideas are born, not during email exchanges.
 - Be authentic: be yourself, lower your guard, bury the high flying corporate executive image, it’s not fooling anyone.
 - Listen more and tell less: use your ears and mouth in the proportion they were given, 2 to 1, listen twice as much as you speak.
 - Get about a bit: visit people, stop to talk in corridors, queue for lunch and talk to the person next to you, close the conversation gap.
 - Feedback is a gift: be generous with praise and recognition, people long to know how they are doing.
 - Keep the information flowing: just like the news channels keep reporting breaking news and events, especially successes no matter how small.
 - Speak up: when something isn’t right say so to the person it concerns without delay.
 - Meaningful one to ones: make dedicated time to give praise and encouragement, set targets and when necessary correct and reprimand.

There are a few exceptional organisations where people say ‘Communication here is really good’ Leaders in these businesses follow the points above and know that relationship is the answer not technology as Jim Brown wisely says:  “High tech communication is in danger of creating a society with relationships a mile wide and an inch deep”.

Our latest training resource Innocent Success is a short film about innocent drinks, exploring how they have managed to continually improve their internal communication despite achieving periods of rapid growth and change, call us to arrange a preview screening.

Yes that is Liam Neeson as Hannibal!

“In 1972 a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit, these men promptly escaped…today, still wanted by the government they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe, you can hire the A-Team.”

They are inspiring on a number of levels, not least because like so many great teams they are a disparate bunch of individuals, who come together as a single unit that is greater than the sum of it’s parts. For teams to succeed they must possess a balance of Leaders, Creators, Gluers and Doers.

The A-Team are no exception, they have a wise Leader in Hannibal, the charming relational Gluer Faceman, the eccentric Creator Murdock and of course the Doer, Mr T himself, B.A. Baracus. Using questionnaires developed by Belbin and others we are able to identify individuals preferred roles in teams, which once known enable work groups to assign tasks according to strength.

As someone once said “We love it when a plan comes together”.

The A-Team is released 11th June, see the trailer here.

It's important for partnerships and teams to be able to embrace conflict in order to resolve differences and move on

Unlike Glasnost, Clegg and Cameron don’t just have to shake hands and smile to the cameras, they must govern, together, as one unit. Can they be a team?

We define a team as a group of people working towards a shared goal, so on that basis if they can agree on the same goal they stand a chance. Will it be a harmonious relationship?

I doubt it and in all honesty I hope it wont be. Like a good marriage it’s important for partnerships and teams to be able to embrace conflict in order to resolve differences and move on. There’s nothing more toxic to a relationship than unspoken resentment.

So we wish the new Cabinet all the best, in the words of a wise board chairwoman “May they debate with many voices but govern with one”

The biggest of these projects is a semester long research project in a lab class, for which I have so far invested upwards of 20 hours a week, one all-nighter and countless late nights with my two partners. The class has a required team building component, one that we were all contemptuous of at first. Team building? Setting ground rules? Why should we waste our time learning things like that when there was real work to be done?

Although we all wanted to jump right into our research projects, we weren’t given a choice. Instead, over the course of a four-hour team-building lecture, we established ground rules for the semester and started getting to know each other. Thanks to this, my three-person team became more cohesive than I could have imagined. We know each member’s personality and commitments, and have adopted a “we’re all in this together” attitude.

The value of that team building became even more apparent when I started a group project in a different class. This short, intense four-week project required creativity and collaboration; a positive group dynamic was sure to make it more successful. Although we were encouraged to get to know each other and choose a group leader, this was nothing compared to the highly structured team building I experienced in my lab class.

As a result our project got off to a rocky start and we quickly fell behind schedule. We had a hard time establishing how and when we were going to communicate and weren’t able to split the workload effectively because we didn’t understand each other’s commitments. The project got done, as they always do, but it could have been a better experience for everyone if we had used the techniques I learned in my lab class.

Just like my classmates in lab, most MIT students resist the idea that teamwork is important like oil resists mixing with water. And through my experiences this semester, I’ve seen that even when suggestions for how to have a successful team experience are offered, the process is not organic.

As you read in last week’s article about internships, building trust, loyalty and commitment in a team is vital to the success and sanity of everyone involved. And learning how to lay the foundation for a strong team is a skill that will be valuable even beyond the MIT bubble.

So take a risk: challenge your group’s aversion to team building and take a few simple steps to put your group on the path to success.

1) Set some ground rules. Decide who will do what by when and make sure that everyone commits to doing their part. Lay out a method for how, when and how often you will communicate as a group. Use texts, e-mail, Dropbox and Google docs to make sure your team is on the same page.

2) Get to know your group members and understand their commitments. What are they involved in on campus? What do they have going on in their other classes? This part is especially vital to understanding how to divide up workloads. But don’t just stop at learning about their commitments. Building relationships with your group members shows them that they are important to the team and will strengthen their loyalty to the project.

3) Don’t be afraid to step up and be the team “coordinator.” This doesn’t mean that you need to be the taskmaster or the one who does all the work. It’s a role that you can fulfill simply by keeping track of the group’s progress and facilitating communication.

Ultimately, effective team building takes practice and the ability to relate to different people in different situations. You can join clubs, project teams or programs like the MIT Gordon Engineering Leadership Program to gain this valuable experience.

Eventually our time at the Institute will come to an end and we will step into a world where our success depends on how well we perform as members of a team. So stop dreading the words “team project” and think of group work at MIT as an opportunity to learn skills that will someday enhance your career.

This is a guest blog written by Elizabeth Ohrt who is a junior in the Department of Chemical Engineeringin and on the Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program.

Team building is not complicated, declares Lencioni, president of his own management consulting firm and author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.