BlueApricot

The debate about effective teamwork takes on a new angle this Labor day weekend: Harold Meyerson’s powerful article in the Washington Post about American workers facing higher chances of being laid off, increasing healthcare cost premiums and preclusion from union membership than their European counterparts has already sparked a firestorm (see the online commentary). This [...]

Some conflict is inevitable when two or more people work together: misunderstandings can emerge from different personalities or styles; different opinions; ego or turf battles; and miscommunication. Some people can be moody, bitchy or outright mean: we have our good and our bad days! Few teams bother with establishing internal rules for how conflict can [...]

I was at a meeting yesterday when someone said, “I help businesses with their strategic planning”. Naturally, as a strategic planner myself, I was curious about the method/model she uses. She mentioned she typically undertakes a SWOT analysis (identifying, preferably with key stakeholders including the staff, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) and providing the client [...]

In my previous blog, I wrote about team coaching and why I think such coaching should be more pervasive in the business world. Though many companies are starting to use team coaching, according to one study (Henley University of Reading, UK), while 51% of organizations surveyed reported using individual coaching, only 4% use team coaching. [...]

Though the concept of team coaching is not new (think sports), most businesses stick with individual one-to-one coaching, primarily to support up and coming talent or deal with perceived skills shortages of individual employees. This is a pity and makes little sense when you think about the sheer number of teams across most businesses, and [...]

In a recent study of over 1500 CEOs, IBM discovered that most leaders believe the No. 1 requirement in today’s’ economy is creativity. Moreover, this creativity is understood to be less likely to be attained through traditional organizational structures, even when suggestion boxes and reward systems exist. The aversion to risk taking and internal obstacles [...]

There are literally tombs written about effective leadership, leading teams or change (often the same thing), the needed characteristics or traits of a good leader, admirable CEOs who have accomplished great things etc Look up Amazon or Wikipedia and you’ll get millions of hits. My own bookshelves and filing cabinets are full of insightful (and [...]

On July 12 the Office of Personnel Management issued the findings of the largest-ever survey of the federal government workforce -http://www.fedview.opm.gov/2010/Reports/ The results can be construed as “encouraging”:  three quarters of the 500,ooo workers who responded say they feel a sense of accomplishment and are satisified with their pay but even the director of the OPM acknowledges [...]

These are interesting, if not unsettling, times, regardless whether you are a business (or other kind of) leader, or you happen to be working with one.  Juggling day-to-day tasks with planning the future is onerous for individuals, teams and organizations.  Planning for what? How far out? With whom?  To what end? These questions are legitimate [...]