Over the past year, we've been offering a free monthly webinar on different NetSpeed Leadership module topics. We just wrapped up that program with Transforming Team Conflict. Why free? Well, we wanted to get our feet wet, experiment with web conferencing as a delivery mechanism for training, and practice building in interactivity and participation.

I confess I have been hesitant in the past about using web conferencing in this way. I came up through the training ranks when we would take a group of new supervisors at a bank off-site for five days to a fancy resort, then train them within an inch of their lives. With that mental model, the underlying fallacy is that you can stuff someone's brain full of communication techniques, human resource policies and practices, and practical case studies, and when they return to work they are officially "trained".

As technology has evolved, my thinking has evolved. First, we embraced shorter classroom training sessions with learning delivered and practiced in bite-sized chunks. (Each NetSpeed module is about 3-hours in length.) Then we paired instructor-led classroom training with practical, post-class reinforcement tools, and finally we built in a level III assessment tool to make it easy to gather data about how people are using what they learned on the job.

The move to web conferencing took several years for me to make. We began by using a web conference platform tool as way to bring groups of people together across the country, whether they were our own consultant partners, prospective clients, or new clients who needed to learn how to apply our tools.

This week we launched the NetSpeed Leadership Webinar Subscription Series. I'm excited because I think this program is going to meet the needs of many organizations that have new managers and supervisors who just don't have the time to attend training delivered in off-site, all day sessions. We've combined 11, 90-minute webinars with 2 coaching sessions, our web-based reinforcement tools, and a personal needs assessment. Please contact me if you are interested in learning more about this dynamic approach to training your supervisors and managers.

Posted by Cynthia Clay at 01:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I wrote an article recently called Motivational Tools to Engage Everyone on Your Team and published it at EzineArticles.com. I immediately heard from someone who quoted my article:

Get Recognized and Rewarded

In many ways, he's the easiest kind of person to recognize. Do it publicly and do it often. He probably values certificates, plaques, and “employee of the month” awards (as long as the''re seen as legitimate accomplishments). If his job includes regular reports on deliverables, make sure those reports are reviewed at team meetings. If you send out an email praising him, make sure that your boss is copied on the email. Feature him and his results in the company newsletter.

She then wrote:
“I have an employee like that. However, his need is insatiable. He will denigrate others to make himself feel recognized and rewarded. I am unwilling to recognize him at the level he craves because it makes others in the group feel less valuable. While their primary motivator may not be the same as his, we all have some need to be recognized and rewarded. Therefore, when the opportunity arises I recognize each employee as appropriate. With this guy constant recognition creates a monster. Thoughts?”

What my friend is describing sounds like an energy drain for everyone in her work environment. Our workplaces often reward competitive behavior. And it was likely learned through playing on sports teams, competing in tournaments, and receiving accolades for proving your individual worth. (Remember high school?) There are many jobs where keeping score, competing, and besting your peers is actually encouraged. And, frankly, there are many organizations where that is the only way to advance.

The problem here is that your workplace would be easier to manage, and more conducive to good team work, if others received equal opportunities for recognition. You're right on target in paying attention to the contributions of everyone on the team. You don't want a bright light to shine less brightly, however, for others to feel good about their work. What concerns me about your situation is that your employee "denigrates others" to feel good about himself. That one-upping behavior can drag a whole team down in time.

Because you supervise the team, you have an opportunity to recognize and reward the behaviors that are most constructive for the team and overall productivity. You have some ability to influence this employee. It sounds like you are already doing that by choosing when and how to recognize him and others.

Ask yourself, what behaviors you want to see individuals on the team exhibit? If you want more collaboration, then praise the employees who are working together to accomplish a task. If you want more participation in team meetings, then praise the folks who come well-prepared and ready to contribute. If you want better follow-through on commitments, then praise the people who are meeting deadlines.

If you want to encourage great teamwork, then notice how often you unintentionally recognize and reward individual accomplishment at the expense of teamwork. It might be time to make some adjustments.

Finally, I would record denigrating comments and put downs made by any individual. It might be appropriate to have a counseling session in which you repeat back some of the phrases that he has used and explain the impact on the team and your ability to motivate them. Request a change in behavior and explain the impact on his overall performance, if such comments continue. The tone you want is one of support and concern for his career, rather than punishment for his misdeeds.

My thoughts...I hope they help you think through your options. And thanks for writing me!

Posted by Cynthia Clay at 07:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you've ever worked on a team where one or more of the team members are in conflict, then you know just how stressful this situation can be. Left unresolved, conflicts between individuals can fester, spill over into the team's relationships, and seriously hinder productivity. What's a team leader to do?

Let's begin with what not to do.

Ignore It

You may have tried the avoidance technique thinking that the issue will just die down. And perhaps it did...temporarily. But the next time someone on the team experiences similar frustrations, that simmering pot will boil right over.

Quash It

This is my personal favorite: just demand that the folks in conflict grow up and get over it. Try this tactic and you'll drive the conflict underground. That results in lots of game playing. I recall a team that I worked on early in my career that had one very unhappy team member and one manager who insisted that she “get over it”. The rest of the team were treated to strange, stealth attacks in which nasty magazine articles mysteriously appeared on our desks, offering advice about cheap nose jobs, eliminating bad breath, and improving personal hygiene.

Tell Them to Work It Out

One the surface this looks like a pretty good course of action: hold them accountable and don't get involved. Sweet. The problem is that if your team members could have worked it out without your help, they would have done that already. What they need is your guidance to help talk it through and arrive at resolution.

Take Sides

It may seem like the quickest route to resolution is to intervene and crown the winner. There is more than one problem with this approach. First, you remind them of Mom or Dad, so guess who they'll come to when it's time to find a judge for the next disagreement? Second, conflict usually isn't this clear cut. We bring the complexity of our life experiences to the table any time we find we are in conflict.

Since these four approaches won't work in the long term, let's look at some underlying principles:

• Any time someone is in conflict, there's a story to tell about the past.


• An individual's underlying needs may result in unreasonable demands.


• People in conflict can't always put their finger on the underlying cause or articulate their needs.


• Unwarranted assumptions are often made and expressed as fact.


• Listening to someone else's point of view may feel like capitulation.


• As the manager or team leader, the best role you can play is that of a neutral mediator.

Try this approach the next time you have two people on your team in conflict:

1. Invite both parties to the table.


2. Clarify your role as a neutral facilitator.


3. Gain agreement to listen openly to each other.


4. Ask each person to tell his or her story about the past, while the other listens without responding.


5. Have each person record new information they hear or realizations they have while listening.


6. Have each person talk directly to the other person about what they learned that helps them understand the other's point of view.


7. Encourage brainstorming to find possible solutions that meet both people's needs.


8. Develop an action plan with small steps to success.


9. Celebrate collaborative action.

Eventually this process can be used by all team members when conflict arises. You won't be tempted to ignore it, quash it, tell them to work it out, or take sides. The team will experience the long-term gains of developing stronger, deeper relationships with your guidance.

At NetSpeed Leadership, one of our 23 modules focuses on resolving team conflict. This module, Transforming Team Conflict, is one of 11 we are including in our new Leadership Webinar Subscription Series.

keywords: resolving conflict, conflict resolution, mediating conflict, conflict management training, conflict management strategy

Posted by Cynthia Clay at 07:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)