“The more authentic you become, the more genuine in your expression, particularly regarding personal experiences and even self-doubts, the more people can relate to your expression and the safer it makes them feel to express themselves. That expression in turn feeds back on the other person’s spirit, and genuine creativeContinue Reading
Mastermind groups form with two or more peers who are committed to helping each other succeed. The group brainstorms on problems, gives advice to one another, and holds each other accountable for what they said they were going to do. I’m going to try to convince you that you needContinue Reading
Being good at taking feedback and being ok with having your ideas challenged is critical for synergy to occur. (It’s hard, though, isn’t it!) Over the last few years I’ve gotten better at taking and giving feedback, which can lead to synergistic communication. Here’s how that happened. I credit ToastmastersContinue Reading
Maybe you’ve heard the phrase “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. That’s actually what Habit 6: Synergize from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change is all about. Let’s dive into it to see what that means. The previous habits coveredContinue Reading
Read through these two explanations, and note which one appeals to you more. SPI – Take One “The schedule performance index (SPI) is a measure of schedule efficiency expressed as the ratio of earned value to planned value. It measures how efficiently the project team is using its time. ItContinue Reading
“Let’s get this project proposal meeting started,” Ivy stated. She runs a tight meeting, making sure to start on time and follow the pre-communicated agenda. It is one thing Belle always liked about her meetings. Ivy continued, “On the agenda today is Belle’s project proposal. Belle, kick us off.” Here’sContinue Reading
Listening for trigger phrases and questions and then using a scripted response can help us seek first to understand before being understood. Seeking to understand takes more intentional effort than passively understanding what’s being communicated. We can make it easier on ourselves by identifying patterns, which we excel at! TheContinue Reading
Ever try to tell someone something important, only to have them tell you that it’s no big deal because they went through the same thing (even if it’s not really the same and they don’t really understand what you’re saying)? Habit 5, Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood,Continue Reading
Gamestorming is an approach to getting to Win/Win that engages team members and provides an environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas. We looked at the basics of gamestorming in the last post, and this week we’ll look at a real-world example. The Pre-Mortem As a project manager IContinue Reading
Gamestorming is an approach to discovering the Win/Win solution. Thinking Win/Win is about finding the Third Alternative – not my way or your way but an alternate way that is best for both of us. It’s likely an alternative we couldn’t come up with on our own. Gamestorming helps teamsContinue Reading