Meaningful Conversations

Let me digress from Change Management to another key element of being a leader - having meaningful conversations with staff.

This TedTalk, Have a Better Conversation by Celeste Headlee, hit home for me.  It speaks to having better conversations, and it is directly applicable to having meaningful conversation with your team and individuals. 


Have a Better Conversation by Celeste Headlee

1. Don’t multitask. More than just setting your device aside – be present. Be in that moment. Don’t be thinking about another part of your day; if you don’t want to have a conversation, don’t! Don’t be half in, half out.
2. Don’t pontificate. “If you want to state your opinion without any opportunity for response or argument or pushback or growth, write a blog.” Enter each conversation assuming that you can learn something new. As Bill Nye says, “Everyone you will ever meet knows something that you don’t.”
3. Use open-ended questions. Try on the shoes of a journalist, don’t go for easy yes/no responses. Have them describe what they are feeling, thinking, or expressing. Don’t do it for them. Liven up the conversation with open-ended questions and you’re guaranteed a more interesting response (see my previous post on Difficult Conversations and the Power of Open Ended Questions)
4. Go with the flow. Let thoughts come and go. Follow the conversation, not what you thought the conversation would be like. Don’t hold on to questions just because they’re really good questions. Listen, react, and keep moving with the conversation.
5. If you don’t know, say that you don’t know. Don’t make your talk cheap, err on the side of caution and always speak like you’re on record.
6. Don’t equate your experience with theirs. Your experiences are never the same, no matter what the situation. Everyone is unique in their situations and how they feel and most importantly it’s not about you.
7. Try not to repeat yourself. Repeating yourself sounds condescending and creates boring conversations. And we do it, a lot. When you want to make a point it becomes a habit. Stop it.
8. Stay out of the weeds. People don’t care about the little details – the years, names, dates, etc. Leave them out. Focus on you, what you like and what you have in common with the person you are speaking to.
9. Listen. This is the most important one. So many important, successful people have said it over and over again:

• Buddha, “If your mouth is open, you’re not learning.”
• Steven Covey, “Most of us don’t listen with the intent to understand. We listen with the intent to reply.”
• So, listen. Yes, we all would rather talk. It gives us control, it gives us the center of attention, it gives us the ability to bolster our own identity. We also get distracted very easily when we can listen at about 500 words per minute and the average person speaks at 225. 
• Listening takes effort and energy and is completely crucial for a great conversation. If you can’t then you’re simply just two people shouting out barely related sentences in the same place.

10. Be brief. As my sister has said, “A good conversation is like a miniskirt; short enough to retain interest, but long enough to cover the subject.”

All in all: Be interested in other people and prepare to be amazed.
https://www.ted.com/talks/celeste_headlee_10_ways_to_have_a_better_conversation

The Leader's role in change

Many of us have experienced initiatives when a  leader's involvement is at the time of the Kick off and the Cake.  Never let yourself be that leader.

Your sponsor, aka your Director, Chief Librarian, Commissioner depending on your organization, has a key and vital role in change.

In recent training, three roles are required from the leader for successful change or initiative:

1. Participate visibly throughout the project

The leader needs to be visible and active throughout a project - this is a critical activity. What does that look like?

• Support the team
• Proactively remove obstacles for the change management team
• Provide resources and control of the budget
• Understand the change process, its impact and the desired future state
• Champion the change
• Actively support the change management work, methodology and practices
• Participate in change activities and messages
• Own the change
• build excitement and enthusiasm for the project
• be the first adopter

2. Communications support and promote the change to impacted groups

• Communicate the end vision
• Create awareness about the specifics and the needs for change
• Advocate the change to impacted groups that might be resistant
• Vocally support the change
• Clearly and succinctly explain the "what's in it for me" (WIIFM) of the change to impacted groups

3. Build a coalition of sponsorship

• Engage across the organization
• Create work and maintain a network of change agents
• Encourage senior leaders to participate and support the change
• Cultivate management support of the project
• Clarify roles and establish expectations with mid-level and frontline managers
• Solicit and listen to management feedback

Biggest mistakes

1. Failing to remain active and visible throughout the life of the project
• aka as Launch and Leave leader
2. Underestimating or misunderstood the people side of the change
3. Failing to communicate messages about the need for change
4. Delegating the leadership role and responsibilities 
5. Failing to demonstrate support for the project in words and action

Top Strategies to manage change resistance

According to recent training, here are the top steps you can make to better support change - a summary sent out by the training facilitator:

•        Team meetings

•        Request ‘higher-up’s’ to attend meeting

•        Communicate your understanding of their issues to them to demonstrate you know how they feel

•        Be empathetic to their concerns

•        Utilize a variety of methods to facilitate an understanding of concerns/comments/suggestions

•        Go for a coffee offsite

•        Hold one-on one or group meeting to discuss objections

•        Show compassion when understanding the basis for resistance

•        Outline available alternatives/solutions to address concerns/objections

•        Ask open ended questions

•        If you cannot answer a question, find out the answer and get back to employees

•        Use immediate supervisor to connect with staff

•        Send out a survey

•        Send targeted emails

•        Unearth the silent resistance

•        Take time to listen to the silent person in a safe environment

•        Follow up a formal meeting with an informal conversation

•        Address objections when they come up

•        Use a private space for conversations

•        Empathize with employee

•        Talk about it at Shop Talk Meetings

•        Address rumors right away

•        The Directors/Commissioners should communicate the business change, immediately followed by smaller, individual group sessions to reduce time for rumors and misinformation to spread

•        Come with an open mind – don’t think that what you are doing or the way you are doing is always right

•        Respect people’s ideas, contributions and ideas

•        Communicate the outlet for your staff to raise concerns – give them a productive place to go

•        Provide anonymous way for staff to provide input, raise concerns (i.e. survey or Q&A box)

•        Promote an open door policy and stick to it

•        Conduct a town hall

•        Conduct a “word on the street” meeting for staff to share what’s going on, with a representative from leadership to address or escalate issues discussed at meeting

•        Conduct a focus group or forum for front-line staff

•        Work with the Two-Way committee to support communication about the change

•        Walk the floor and engage with staff

•        Ask for feedback with a timeline attached to receive  response and actually respond

•        Include what the feedback you heard was in your response

•        Build time in for questions when communicating about a change face to face

•        Have a Q&A word file that is updated frequently and your team has access to

•        Start with pre-engagement when you know a change is coming, and you can start to communicate little things you know

Avoiding manager/ supervisor resistance

Direct managers/ supervisors are your best advocates to support change. They work closest to front line staff and are key to build support or at the very least, identify roadblocks, miscommunication and pain points.

According to recent training by Prosci, these steps are the most effective to avoid resistance from managers/ supervisors:

• Communicate (refer back to the communication packet)
• Communicate openly, honestly, and timely - the best way to avoid resistance
• Communications need to be tailored to the audience and to set up feedback mechanisms for managers and supervisors to share thoughts and feelings about the change
• Involve impacted groups
• Early in the process, engage impacted groups. This helps to create a sense of ownership in the project and thus reduce resistance
• Address ADKAR barriers
• Awareness  

• Desire 

• Knowledge

• Ability 

• Reinforce 

• This includes coaching, having a highly credible sponsor and setting up reinforcement methods throughout the project
• Share the need for change (refer back to the communication packet)
• the leader such as a director, Chief Librarian or project sponsor needs to show support.  Sharing a vision for the organization's future state and informing people of business drivers
• Engage senior leaders/ sponsors
• Again, senior leaders as advocates early in the process, as key. They may even be asked to speak one-on-one with managers who are resisting.  

Showing the benefits of change from the onset help in avoiding resistance. Having an active and visible sponsor that employees trust to lead the change is a critical success factor.

Leaders or project sponsors are so importance that I'll speak to that next.

Change: Managing Resistance

Participants in the 2015 study identified five primary reasons employees resist change:

1. Lack of awareness
   This lack of awareness was caused by failure to communicate details of a change to employees.  Employees resist more when they do not know the answer to the question, "what's in it for me," (WIIFM).  Employees who lacked awareness reported that it was due to getting mixed message or the manager was uninformed.
   
2. Change specific resistance
   If there is an increase in workload if the change involves added process steps, changes to job roles and deployment of technology. Other notable sources include lack of involvement by employees, lack of incentives and increases to accountability.  Other time, resistance increased simply because staff did not like the change or did not agree with the solution that was deployed.
   
3. Resistance due to change saturation
   If there are an overwhelming number of current changes, along with previous failures during project implementation, the likelihood of change resistance among frontline employee increases.
   
4. Fear
   The fear can range widely, but employees may fear job loss, fear of the future and lf losing power, status, influence or compensation.
   
5. Lack of support from management or leadership
   Managers and direct supervisors impact resistance. If leadership does not provide a good role model, or direct supervisors are resisting the change, then resistance grows.  Lack of trust in the executive leadership by employees create resistance to change, citing "flavour of the month" projects as being disconnected with the needs of employees and the organization. 

It is also noted that some changes cause resistance simply because something is changing. Comfort with the status quo is frequently cited as a contributing factor to resistance. 

Next: the primary reasons Managers resist change. 

Managers and Supervisors critical roles in change

Based on a recent in-house training regarding change management, it was emphasized that Managers and Supervisors have a critical role during change.

1. Communicate with Direct Reports about the change
   Communicating the need for change, the vision and the impact are the most critical activity identified for managers and supervisors to perform during change.
   Employees require a consistent message from the leadership team and direct managers. They want to know why the change is occurring, what's in it for them (WIIFM), and what the expected benefits for the organization are.  Listening and allowing discussion are two-way communication are critical success factors concerning employees' ability to receive and internalize messages from managers
2. Advocate and champion change
   Direct managers need to support change and play a visible role during the transition by attending training and project events and leading by example.  This requires a managers to be proactive in obtaining timely information and complete details about the change.  Most importantly, managers need to speak positively about the change and be engaged.
3. Coach employees through change
   Managers need to be available for coaching throughout the change, to listen to concerns, to answer questions and to be respectful of the impact changes have on employees.  They also identified helping employees understand the required behaviours, articulating how their contributions support the initiative, removing barriers as needed and identifying corrective actions.
4. Engage and liaison with project team
   Providing input to the project team and engaging in the design and engagement phases are critical roles for managers. Employees need to be incorporated into the feedback and be incorporated into the solution. Having a close working relationship with a project team enables managers to have difficult conversations with employees to help increase the desire to participate in change.
5. Identify and manage resistance (more on this later)
   Managers are reported as being in the best position to identify resistance and fulfil the role of mitigating resistance throughout the life of the project.  Managers are able to report resistance.  Manager/ supervisors' role include understanding the root cause of resistance, removing barriers and having difficult conversations with employees to help increase the desire to participate in change.
6. Continuing managerial responsibilities
   No one said it was easy. You need to continue to their normal roles in daily team operations and in operationalizing new ways of working. This includes maintaining reporting function and team engagement tactics such as huddles and meetings, and providing structure and accountability for the new way of working.  This includes adjusting schedules and responsibilities as needed to attend training events and engaging in preparation and reinforcement activities.

Most common mistakes for managers and supervisors
Some of the biggest mistakes made when managing change are below.  Make sure you avoid these.

1. Role abdication
   Perhaps due to lack of understanding, managers have abdicated their roles during change or did not take the responsibility for change:
• Not accepting responsibility is the largest factor. If managers do not understand their role as change champions, they are seen as abdicating. Others say change management duties as extra work and not a normal function of their role.
• Ignoring change: others felt if they could ignore or hide from change and focus on business as usual. The adopted the mindset that the changes would either go away or happen on its own regardless of their efforts.
• Not seeking better understanding: one of the most common mistakes occurs when managers do not seek to understand the change and its impact - operational ignorance.  They struggle to ask for support during change management and did not acknowledge their personal journeys through change
  
  
2. Communication mistakes
   Some managers feel that a single communication should be sufficient - they communicated to rather than with employees. Rather than admitting their own knowledge gaps, managers would communicate what they knew at the time.  Supervisors often did not understand how to filter messages appropriately, or what messages to filter, often oversharing or adding personal bias.
3. Failing to support staff
   Many managers feel that employees would change if told to do so and did not need additional support. This led to unrealistic expectations because supervisors did not acknowledge that individuals accept change at different paces. Supervisors also struggle to manage resistance appropriately due to fear, empathy or a general misunderstanding of the root cause of resistance. Supervisors got caught up in their own journeys and how the change impacted them, keeping them from addressing their teams' needs
4. Ill prepared
   Managers can underestimate the impact change can have on their teams or overestimate their teams' ability to handle change. Either due to false assumptions about change or not knowing how to prioritize change among daily operations, supervisors can be ill prepare when it is time for change
5. Resisting the change
   Some managers are more receptive to change than others and this can cause problems. Some supervisors would talk the talk but not walk the walk. Managers would take sides, usually with their direct reports causing a us-versus-them mentalities. If you are personally resisting a change "seek first to understand."

Remember, you are the preferred senders of communications messages for both personal messages and organization-level messages.  Executives and senior levels are the preferred senders of the business messages, overwhelmingly, an employee's direct supervisor is the preferred sender of personal messages. So while the leader may communicate the change, direct supervisors can support it especially with the WIIFM conversations. 

*based on Prosci Change Management

Correcting for Misinformation and Misunderstandings

Regardless of your best efforts, there are times when you have to correct misunderstandings.  These can arise from background information, conjecture or the rumour mill.  These following tactics have been determined as effective tactics:

1. Enabling open discussion time
   Open discussion times include events that allow people to exchange information freely, present questions and provide feedback.  Open discussions happen in my different format such as
• town halls
• brown bag lunches
• road show presentations
• conference calls
• site visits
• forums
• small group meetings
• focus groups
  
  
2. Identifying current rumours and addressing them immediately
   It is important that the identification of current rumours be done anonymously through
   telephone hotlines, designated email addresses, help desks or collection boxes.
   It is best to address rumours when possible in a face-to-face format. Added note: in my experience, there is typically a staff member who comes forward with the rumours
3. Engage sponsors
   Sponsors are recognized as the most effective group to address and correct background conversations resulting from misinformation.
4. Providing regular communications
   Regular communications were a source of consistency and provided updated information on the change. The most common interval of regular communications is weekly. Monthly is also a viable option depending on the change.
   Example: During one construction project, updates were given weekly. The email discussed what was expected to happen during the upcoming week. If there were delays from the previous week, it would be identified e.g. drywall installation will continue this week and it is anticipated that sanding will start Thursday.  Other weeks, the communication would state that there was nothing new to report this week.  Would would continue as outlined the week before.  Monthly face-to-face meetings were also arranged.  Closer to opening, there were daily emails.  During a particularly critical week, we had daily morning meetings at the coffee machine.
5. Updating Frequently Asked Questions
   FAQs answer common questions and address misinformation.  FAQs need to be updated regularly and circulated among staff in various ways including a newsletter, electronic postings and written documentation
6. Providing electronic sources of information
   Make sure there is a source of electronic/online information that is accessible by staff and can be updated by the change team.  By having a source of info that is available to everyone in the organization gives a sense of transparency and open communication.  This can include a blog, discussion board and online postings. 

The Most Effective Communication Methods

When communicating change, face-to-face methods of communicating with staff are the most effective.  Methods include:

1. Group meetings and presentation
   Group meetings that include the opportunity for feedback and interaction are recommended. Q&A sessions allow for additional interaction and clarification. Examples include:
• forums
• town halls
• small group meetings
• large group presentations
• focus groups
• workshops and seminars
  
  
2. One-on-one coaching sessions and discussions
   One-on-one sessions to address individual concerns and points of resistance among employees is recommended. These sessions create an environment of trust, honesty and safety and enable you to genuinely listen to and answer employee concerns. Examples include:
• individual coaching meetings
• informal personal conversations or walk-arounds
• the use of "champions" within a group or department

One-on-one discussions, although more time-consuming, allow full discussion of proposals and understanding on both side

Be prudent, but you may also want to use non-personal, electronic or written feedback mechanisms as a way to allow employees to ask questions and provide feedback through alternative channels.  Options include:

• Electronic messaging system
• Employee surveys and quick polls
• Web boards on online forums
• Notice boards with comment cards throughout the departments
• Suggestion box by email or voicemail

Tomorrow, let's discuss what to do to correct misunderstanding, background conversations or the rumour mill. 

Attributes of a Successful Communicator

You have prepared your communication packet, you have crafted your message and reviewed the attributes you need to include in a successful change message. Now you have to prepare personally.

The most successful and effective demonstrated the following ten attributes in rank order:

1. Committed, engaged and passionate about the change
   You need to be positive, enthusiastic and passionate about the change. You BELIEVE and you're committed and engaged in the change. Visibly show your support. Be the champion of the change and lead by example
   
2. Credible
   Effective communicators are trusted and respected. They have the ability to influence all levels in the organization. They have experience and authority
   
3. Able to deliver a clear message
   Clear messages are simple, focused and concise. Effective and successful communicators were able to deliver clear messages in non-technical language that could be understood by all
   
4. Knowledgeable 
   To be a successful communicator, you need to understand why the change is needed, the purpose and benefits of the change and its impact on the people. Prepare and be knowledgeable about the organization's internal processes and history.  In summary, explain clearly the organizational reason for the change and the personal impact on the individual; and do this in an informative and respectful way.
   
5. Consistent and timely
   It can take 5-7 times for a message to be accepted. And that doesn't mean 5-7 emails. You need to deliver frequent messages that are consistent and repeated often.
   
6. Open and honest
   Be genuine and deliver with truth and transparency
   
7. Two-way communicator
   Make sure you are ensure there is two-way communication. That means you have to be prepared to listen. Be open to conversation and feedback.
   
8. Fluent in the "language" of their audience
   Tailor your message to make it relevant to your audience. Make sure you include the answer, WIIFM for your audience.  In summary, take the broad message and make it meaningful for the group you are addressing
   
9. Personable
   Be patient, confident and compassionate.  Ensure you develop your excellent interpersonal skills, and communicate with empathy and be approachable
   
10. Choosing the right channel
    This means you have to show the ability to offer communications in a variety of ways while ensuring that face-to-face communication is one of the channels

You can do this.

Attributes of a success change message

There are a number of key attributes that you will want to include when sharing your change message to employees

Share what the change will mean to the employee 

• Employees want to hear about how the change will impact them personally, including 
• What will I being doing differently?
• What's in it for me (WIIFM)
• How will the change affect my job
• the impact on day-to-day job duties, reporting responsibilities and changes in compensation, if any

Explain the business reasons for why the change is happening

• Employees want to know why the change is important and necessary and the benefits to the business as a whole.  Employees need to understand the business reasons and how the change aligns with organization's goals, vision and strategy.  Additionally, you need to communicate what could happen if the changes are not made, and the consequences of inaction

Honest and Clear

• Ensure you are sincere, truthful and accurate. The message needs to include the good and the bad.  And you need to be honest about what you know and admit what you don't know.  

Additional Attributes of an effective change message

• Share what is changing
• The message should outline the overall nature of the change and what specifically is changing. Include information about the transition from the current state to the future state and what is expected of the employees during this transition period should also be included.
  
• Convey the impact on the organization
• Employees should know how the organization and specific departments will be affected by the change, as well as any benefits or negative impacts that may result.
  
• Prepare employees for the change
• employees should be assured that they are not alone when moving into the future state. They should have a clear picture of the training and support they will receive to enable them to make the transition. They may include desks, ongoing training or online resources.

Next, let's discuss the attributes of the successful communicator

Difficult Conversations & the Power of the Open Ended Question

A difficult conversation was required this week: a staff member passed away unexpectedly.  He was popular and was doing meaningful work. Although many of us didn't work with him closely, he was well known.

How does one best convey this message? 

As a first step, the Leadership team was informed.  The  details were given - basically that our colleague had passed away the previous day, and we did not have any details surrounding his passing. Nor did we have any details regarding the funeral.

The communication approach was shared:

• Reach out to staff and have face-to-face communications 
• Confirm that additional information would be shared if it came forward 
• Support services such as EFAP were to be offered

These were difficult conversations. I went to individuals and informed them that I had some sad news to disclose.  I asked them if they knew our colleague well -- he worked out of another location. I continued to inform them that our colleague had regretfully passed away.  I shared how the news had affected me personally, and shared a recent fond memory and interaction.

The range of emotion was wide.  Thankfully, I was able to meet with staff in a private location and they had the option to have some time for quiet reflection.  I asked them if they had a memory to share with me.  I asked if they needed to time away from the public to process.

People were sad and shocked. Some had a closer connections than imagined. For others, this individual's death triggered their own emotions.  For others, it was sadness and regret that they had never met the individual but they had heard so many good things.

The power of an open ended question
An EFAP consultant offered some good advice: never underestimate the power of an open-ended question. Some suggested conversation starting included the following:

• What can I do for you?
• This news is shocking.  How are you doing?
• And then do active listening.

For people who are obviously upset, ask them if they are open to counselling.  Confirm that they are able to cope today. If they're not able to cope, offer them a taxi chit.  In a state of trauma, people should not drive.

Making up stories
Some individuals started to conjecture as to why and how this person passed away so unexpectedly. I had to gently redirect some people:

• Please understand that the family has asked for privacy.  Let's respect this request and his memory.  I know you're trying to process but suggesting different scenarios of how he died is not helping the situation. It's especially hard for those who were closer to him. I know you're upset. This is hard, but let's stop this conversation now. 

Such a sad time, but difficult conversations are a part of being a leader.  Take a moment to ensure you have mapped out your conversation and key points. Be kind to others and yourself. 

No one said leadership was easy. Rewarding, but not easy.

Alternatives to Team Building

Here are a few situations in which team building is not the appropriate intervention. A recommended alternative is offered as a better approach.

When NOT to do team building

Situation:
Team members lack the skills required to do their job.
Recommended action:
Provide training for the team. This is appropriate when teams are having problems making decisions or communicating.  Indicators of poor decision making, communication, priority setting etc., should be explored to determine if training is required rather than, or in conjunction with team building. 

Situation:
Individual performance problems are impacting team effectiveness.
Recommended Action:
Individual issues need to be addressed independently of team building. Team building should not be done to handle performance issues of an individual. The can damage the morale of the entire team.  Deal with these situations one-on-one. 

Situation:
There is confusion about the team's authority
Recommended action: 
Although teams can clarity their shared purpose or mission, they may not be able to resolve problems related to their limits of authority. This is particularly true for cross-functional teams.  When appropriate, the management sponsors and team leader need to agree on the scope of the authority, boundaries and limits. 

Situation:
The team has had a bad experience with team building
Recommended action:
In these situations, it is important to delay team building. Look for ways to set aside time in regular team meetings to help the team improve its effectiveness. As the team make progress, it may become ready to engage in full-fledged team building. 

Situation:
Team members feel stuck and perceive there is a lack of opportunity for career growth or development.
Recommended action:
Organization wide, companies need to put in place systems that allow individuals to develop their skills and talents. You should do all you can to provide growth and learning opportunities for team members.  This includes making sure individuals assigned to cross-functional project teams get the full benefit of this experience. For intact teams, you can use rotational assignments and special project to increase personal satisfaction.

Situation:
It is not possible to get all the team members involved in team building.
Recommended action:
Sometimes there are geographical or logistical factors that impede a team's ability to come together for team building. Alternatives include:

• Convening a meeting of managers and supervisors and working with them to resolve issues.  They can take the agreements back to their team.
• If team is scarce, focus the team building on key issues, so you can conduct team-building activities as part of regularly scheduled meetings.

Situation:
The team does not have the resources it needs
Recommended action:
This is an issue the team may not be able to resolve.  You need to work with the leadership team to determine how to acquire the additional people, budget, equipment or other resources the team needs to meet its goals. 

Team Building Exercises

In an early post, I referred to a document to help you evaluate your team - a good exercise for any team. There are many other activities you can do to support the members of your team.  An Internet search will produce a number of options ranging from ice-breakers to activities for small or large groups. 

Ask your HR department for some resources that are readily available. Personality or behaviour assessments are often provided and popular. The premise for personality assessment is to give team members a better awareness of their behaviours and how they may be viewed by others. Having a better understanding of your teammate is viewed as helping team members work together better. 

Here are five tools that I have experienced at different organizations:

• DISC: assessment based on four different personality traits. Promoted as a means to build more effective relationships in the workplace
• True Colour Key System uses four colours to describe and explain temperaments and personality types with the goal of building more effective relationships
• Strength Finder 2.0 by Tom Path - a book that helps you discover your talents and better leverage them. Being self aware is key for leaders.  Each leader's different strength combination were shared as a means for better awareness
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator with 16 personality types. It gives a description of your personality type when you're at your best and when under stress and not working at your best.
• Experiential Training: there are a wide range of services who offer different elements to have team members work together.  It included a wide range of activities specifically designed to work with people's dislikes e.g. we had to climb 50 foot poles, work in the dark, and play games under extreme elements such rain and mud. Think of the activities done in the reality show, Survivor.  It was very similar.  I loved the experience and I left with a greater appreciation for a wide range of people.  It is an more expensive option and not often frequently in my experience. 

So what has worked well for me in the past?

Scenario: I had two team members who were generally in conflict.  It was evident that they were very different people just by looking at their style of dress and the work spaces.  One individual had a wide assortment of whimsical elements in her workspace and a kitten calendar.  The other team member was more spartan and had a NASA calendar.  

Myers-Briggs: Their different approaches frustrated each other and projects were suffering as a result. Thankfully they realized this and when I suggested that all three of us take the Myers-Briggs assessment, they were were open and willing to do it. 

The result was that the two individuals scored exactly the same except for one indicator: one was an introvert and the other was an extrovert.  

• The introvert was ISFJ (Introverted sensing feeling judging and is often summarized as the "Protector."  Her celebrity counterpart was Mother Teresa

• The other team member was ESFJ (extroverted sensing feeling judging) and can be summarized as the Provider personality because people with this personality type are interested in taking care of others in practical ways.  Celebrity counterpart is Barbara Walters

This was a break-through moment for the two individuals.  They realized that they both wanted to take care of people but with a different approach. We started focusing on the end result of the project noted how the project was helping people. We incorporated their different approaches into the project charters and work plans.  

What did not work well?
True colour key system's success has not been largely successful in my experience.  I've been at two different organizations where this has been facilitated and both were not particularly successful. People have a tendency to rate different personality types as superior to others.  Even though the facilitator emphasized that each "colour" has inherent strengths and weaknesses, the sessions seem to be more divisive than creating better working relationships.  

One staff member, for example had a rating for Green at the highest range (24) and was seated next to a Gold who also rated at the highest range (referred to as a 24 karat gold personality).  They both had nothing but disdain for Oranges who were far too "flighty and disorganized" for their preferences.  The Blues were tolerated because they were seen as "friendly."  

Workplace relationships did not improved and this session actually created more conflict as people would say such statements as, "I'm a 24 karat gold. Deal with it," or "It's not easy being Green. But I will continue to ensure all processes are adhered to for the benefit of all."

People are complex and nuanced and working with them can be challenging. It is also very rewarding.  Make the effort to know and understand people.  Find out their pain points and what makes their hearts sing. Be kind and generous and focus on the positive. Recognize that people won't generally change unless you change your approach. You need to be flexible in your approach (this is not the same as weak).  If you are working with a Green for example, focus on the process and how it will improve things.  You may explain the exact some situation to an Orange but focus on how things will be fun, and the processes will support them in an emergency. 

And my final point is never give up on an individual.  If they drive you crazy, give some thought as to why they push your buttons and try to adapt your approach.  Make sure you spend ample time with the people who you are aligned and develop them.  Success breeds success and can often help that who you don't feel an alignment to be more willing to accept your leadership. We can discuss conflict and mitigating it in future discussions. 

The Creative Process

Here is some comfort for the times when you need to a creative solution. It could be a project, initiative, framework, book or a craft. The example doesn't really matter as the process tends to be the same. 

Creative Process:

• Fear
• Self Doubt
• Questioning yourself - Should I do this?

Why would anyone do something creative if these are the initial steps? How is knowing this comforting in your leadership role?

Because we are creative creatures, we need a means of self expression. There are so many vehicles to express yourself creatively.  It can vary widely - from the way you dress or the way you play chess. 

Your work place is a perfect environment to let your creativity shine - and by extension, your leadership.  In public service, creativity is often demanded.  Where you have policies, and processes and a high level of accountability and scrutiny you often need to be creative to work within that construct. Add politics and public opinion to add to the mix, and you have an environment that can be challenging. It requires a lot of creativity - in your thinking and problem solving.

So how is the fear, self doubt and questioning a comfort? 
If you are feeling these emotions, then you are on the right path - you're willing to look at things differently.  Growing to new levels is not a comfortable state. I'm sure you can think of a number of times when you felt "growing pains" in past leadership opportunities. 

Fear is such a prevalent element that it has been fully fleshed out in the book, Feel the fear and do it anyway, by Susan Jeffers.  It is one of my favourite books and I recommend it.  There are many YouTube summaries including this one that will give you a sense of the book and fear. 

Examples

Some of my most creative endeavours have been working with the policies, processes and people to create a necessary framework.  You noticed, I didn't say that I ignored the policies, processes and people.  True, there have been times when I had to re-write a policy and revise some processes, but the majority of the times project and initiatives have been successful because the environment required a more creative approach to work in that environment. 

• Instituting logic models into work initiatives
• Launching new software
• Lean processes (yup, a very creative process)
• New frameworks

Team building exercise: Zoom by Istvan Banyai

As a new leader, you will want to do some team building or team bonding exercises.  Not only can the activities be illuminating, they can be a lot of fun and start your leadership off on the right foot.  

You may find that after completing team building activities together, your staff better understand each other's strengths, weaknesses and interests.  This understanding helps people work even better together on future progress.  Here is an example of successful team building activity that is low cost and flexible.

Zoom by Istvan Banyai

This activity is based on the picture book Zoom by Istvan Banyai. It consists of 30 sequential “pictures within pictures" (there is also a second book titled, Re-Zoom).  
The team is tasked with putting together the story - a set of sequential images. Each person is given an image, or a number of images based on the size of the group.  I inform the group that they are creating a sequential story and they have to work together to build the story.  The only help I give them is the first and last image and tell them the title of the book needs to be their guide. Together, the team has to figure out the correct sequence. The activity focuses on effective communication and problem-solving skills.

When the team feels that have completed the task, you have to confirm it is correct.  If it is not correct, you may simply say it is incomplete, or you may say where the problem is occurring.  

As the team leader, take notes as the team works through the task. Note good questions, moments of disagreements, or spontaneous celebration. Review these observations with the team. 

Discussion

Here are a few suggested questions to ask the team:

• What difficulties did your team experience?
• What communication methods did you team use?
• What did  your team do well when you discussed the sequence of images?
• Is there anything that frustrated you?
• Did everyone agree with the sequence? If not, did you have to compromise?
• How well did you work as a team? Is there anything you could have done better?
• Did others in the team listen to your opinion? Did everyone have input?
• Did anyone emerge as a leader? How did having a leader help?
• What is the one thing you can take away from the task?

Now discuss the key elements of an effective team (see earlier post).

Variations

• If there are more people than cards, you can pair up participants
• For smaller groups or to increase difficulty, don’t let participants talk at all during the activity. Let them use gestures and actions to put the images in sequence.
• For smaller groups, you can give each participant more than one image.
• You can make the activity more competitive and measure team performance by the number of images that are in the wrong sequence.
• You can enforce a time limit to make it more difficult. 
• You can tell people that they cannot show anyone else their picture/ page of the book until it is put down as part of the sequence. 

Different applications and settings:

• I have used this in a Library setting as a team building exercise.  It doesn't matter if an individual is familiar with the book. The individuals knowledge provides the opportunity to discuss the benefits of having experienced staff or subject specialists.  
• This team building exercise was introduced to me at a coaching certification course. Basically, 30 strangers were given a page of the book and we were told to create a cohesive story. 
• This was a useful exercise to introduce project management concepts to a small department in a large municipality.

Resources: 

• Two copies of Zoom by Istavan Banyai in paperback format. Tear one copy apart at its spine.  These will be distributed to the team.  Keep one copy as the source document to confirm the team puts the story in its proper sequence.  
• You need a room that is spacious enough to have all the pages displayed in sequence (either on the floor or around a long, narrow table) 

This exercise can be done in 30 minutes: 

• 5 minutes to explain and clarify the task
• 15 minutes to do the task
• At least 10 minutes for discussion

I thoroughly enjoy this exercise and hope you can apply and modify it to best suit your situation. Enjoy.