Do you WOBA?

Maybe you do and don't even know it. As business professionals we all develop a personal approach that enables us to see new opportunities or handle current challenges. For some of us it may not be as clear and for others it may be crystal clear.

Here is a personal approach I call WOBA - Wins, Opportunities, Barriers, and Actions, that will certainly enable you to take control of any direction you choose to follow. Let me explain.

In life and business there are many things that we accomplish that are taken for granted by those around us, as well as by ourselves. Taking the time to mentally acknowledge an accomplishment can be uplifting and motivating. It is about celebrating the moment. Therefore keeping sight of your daily Wins will enable you to self promote and re-energize.

Equally true is that there are many Opportunities where each of us can make a difference in our daily business lives. The first step is seeing the opportunities and then making a plan to achieve them.

Along the journey we will all face Barriers or obstacles that can be daunting and overwhelming. It is during these moments that we need to rally the strengths of our wins to power the Actions needed to resolve the barriers.

The Actions are based on a thoughtful plan to understand and resolve the known Barriers to a given Opportunity that you have determined is important to Win. OK that was WOBA backwards. So, let's WOBA! Music is optional.

Contributed by: Pete Pazmany

Performance Improvement

Developing Dynamic Teams

In a constantly changing business environment, it is important to have strong and capable teams that can grow your company’s revenue and profits. Working to bring your employees together into collaborative relationships extends the abilities of your company as well as engaging your employees to perform at a higher level.

Bruce Tuckman developed a four stage process that helps move through group development. This four stage process consists of the stages; Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. Each stage leads to the following stage and each one must be fulfilled to move forward. This being said, the time period for a group in each of the stages will change based on the group’s composition and a number of environmental factors.

Forming focuses on when a group comes together. Generally, the group doesn’t know one another, has limited experience with group of people itself, and will cover up any deficiencies of the group by not acknowledging the associated importance. This stage is all about the introduction of members to one another. From here, the group begins to looks for its identity, which arises from conflict in the next stage.

Storming consists of conflict. This is where the group members know one another and have some experience with the group. At this point, people begin to entertain conflict because the group is trying to establish its identity. The conflicts can be about the group’s purpose, who will be leading it, or tension between members. This stage is both normal and necessary for the group to begin to understand one another. From the conflict comes a new resolution that allows the group to become familiar enough with everyone to progress to the next stage.

Norming is where the group begins to accept one another for who they are. The conflict subsides as the group starts to get comfortable. People get used to one another and begin to form deeper relationship with others in the group. This gives everyone the ability to learn about one another, specifically in relevance to strengths and areas for growth. The group moves to the next stage once everyone has reached a point of comfort with one another.

Performing kicks the norming stage up a notch. This stage takes each person’s individuality and uses the strengths to accentuate the group in order to reach the intended goal. Performing comes from everyone in the group operating at a high level of effectiveness and that being multiplied by the collaborative efforts of the group. Groups in this stage would be considered highly functioning teams because they are able to do more collectively than any one individual.

Helping your employees’ progress through these stages has many benefits. You can take a group of unrelated people and develop them to be an effective team just by helping them move through the natural process of group development. If your company needs help in dynamic team development, then contact ASIL to discuss a consultation.

Contributed by Joe Pazmany

Click on the links below to view ASIL, Inc.'s MAX Partnering® self-paced software demonstrations:

Strategies and Execution - This demo depicts the tools that organizations can utilize to embrace change effectively and implement it successfully.

Partner Selection and Management - This brief demo displays the tools available to define, select, and implement outsourcing and partner selection.

Scorecards and Corrective Action - This vignette provides visibility to measure and manage the performance of your organization, partners and company.

Self Assessment Sample Questionnaire - This demo will enable you to respond to a small sample of self assessment questions focused on change management and create a Heat Map of your responses to see areas that may need attention. The Driving Complex Change® methodology addresses the six areas of Direction, Ability, Incentive, Resources, Structure, and Action that can impact your effectiveness of change management.

Back to Links

This Newsletter is delivered in electronic format to reduce our carbon footprint. If you must print it, please share and recycle.

Editor: Michael B. Singleton (msingleton@asil-inc.com)