related_results_labels({"version":"1.0","encoding":"UTF-8","feed":{"xmlns":"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom","xmlns$openSearch":"http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/","xmlns$georss":"http://www.georss.org/georss","id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8815505"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-12-21T16:37:29.123+08:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Anything HR by Ed"},"subtitle":{"type":"html","$t":"Ed Shares his Opinions on Human Resource Management, Recruitment, Headhunting, Training, Organization Development, Team building, performance management, Leadership, Philippine Labor Code, Labor Practices and employment practices in the Philippines"},"link":[{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/-/Team+Building?alt\u003djson-in-script\u0026max-results\u003d10"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/search/label/Team%20Building"},{"rel":"hub","href":"http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"},{"rel":"next","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/-/Team+Building/-/Team+Building?alt\u003djson-in-script\u0026start-index\u003d11\u0026max-results\u003d10"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Ed Ebreo"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/16821972694832736436"},"email":{"$t":"edebreo@gmail.com"}}],"generator":{"version":"7.00","uri":"http://www.blogger.com","$t":"Blogger"},"openSearch$totalResults":{"$t":"37"},"openSearch$startIndex":{"$t":"1"},"openSearch$itemsPerPage":{"$t":"10"},"entry":[{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8815505.post-472404686423815815"},"published":{"$t":"2009-12-17T13:23:00.013+08:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-12-17T16:58:53.205+08:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Team Building"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Leadership"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Toastmasters"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Butter N Toast Lessons on Leadership and Teamwork"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003ca onblur\u003d\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href\u003d\"http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SynDP00kGjI/AAAAAAAAAkM/bje1wxsp8mY/s1600-h/DSC-0014.JPG\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;\" src\u003d\"http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SynDP00kGjI/AAAAAAAAAkM/bje1wxsp8mY/s400/DSC-0014.JPG\" alt\u003d\"\" id\u003d\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416074703534299698\" border\u003d\"0\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href\u003d\"http://butterntoast.blogspot.com/\" target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eButter N Toast\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e  is a Toastmasters Club running on it's fifth year. In the last four  years, it received one Select Distinguished Club award and 3  President's Distinguished Club award, distinctions given to clubs that are able to hit their goals. The jury is still out on this term, but as a member I am completely confident that we are destined for another banner year.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eA typical Toastmaster's club in the Philippines will have around 15 to 20 people in a meeting or less. On a good night, Butter N Toast can have as much as 40. The conversion of guests to members is also high. We attribute it to the quality of our meetings and the warmth and welcoming nature of the club members. At a time when some Toastmasters club struggle to keep members attending, what keeps Butter N Toast's meetings well attended and vibrant? The reasons, I believe are just about the same ones that keep employees engaged at work and performing well.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eA Shared Goal\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eWhen we found the club, Michelle Lim, our Charter President kept harping on achieving club goals ,which as a new member, I cared very little about. I mean, who cares about a club goal when all I was interested in was my own goals. Michelle's ability to communicate the importance of the goal to the club and to its members helped me appreciate it more. When it was my time to lead, I didn't have any difficulty rallying the club towards it and succeeding to achieve it because by then, I was completely bought into the goals.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eLesson:\u003c/span\u003e the leader's ability to communicate and get members' buy-in on goals enhance their commitment to it.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eHolding the other leaders and members to the same high standards you hold your self to\u003c/span\u003e.\u003cbr /\u003eOn the se\u003ca onblur\u003d\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href\u003d\"http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SynDibjAMlI/AAAAAAAAAkU/alYwQmn0AUM/s1600-h/DSC_0011.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;\" src\u003d\"http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SynDibjAMlI/AAAAAAAAAkU/alYwQmn0AUM/s400/DSC_0011.jpg\" alt\u003d\"\" id\u003d\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416075023167271506\" border\u003d\"0\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003econd year of Butter N Toast, Sheila Dela Cruz took the helm as President. I was Vice President for Membership and future President Gege Sugue was VP for Education. It was the same year when we had our first taste of the President's Distinguished Club award. I remember it to be a tough year for Sheila because she was still adjusting in her new job. She, however was able to keep her presence felt not only on meetings but online. She made sure that the other leaders were doing their parts and members were on their way to achieving their individual goals. When members were being remiss, sheila would call, text or email to make sure that members know that they were being missed. the communication was open and members were made clearly aware of what was expected of them. Those who were unwilling to commit to the club's goals and culture left or was let go, those who like what was going on stayed up to this day.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eLesson:\u003c/span\u003e keeping communication clear and lines open enhances accountability. It also keeps the right people in and the wrong people out.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eMake it happen\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eWhen it was my turn to be President, I had the fortune of inheriting a solid club brought about by two successful leaders before me.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eMy job was to enhance the already strong club culture. I did it by strengthening teamwork among leaders and continuing to strengthen the personal relationship among members through activities outside club meetings. When my term was done and we received our award, I can only attribute it to strong friendship and leadership teamwork.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eLesson\u003c/span\u003e: high performing leadership teamwork reflects on the whole organization. Friendship among team members create a desirable working environment.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eMake the most of your organization\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\"Make the Most of Butter N Toast\" was the mantra of the fourth president, Gege Sugue. She made clear to us that the club's success can only come through the members' individual success. She motivated the members to take their goals seriously and the officers to do whatever they can to help the members succeed. During Gege's term the club enhanced it's coaching and mentoring practices and increased it's membership two-folds due to positive meeting experience by guests who turned into members. New members were taken care of and given mentors to help them through their basic projects.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eLesson:\u003c/span\u003e create an environment that is conducive to success. If people know that they are in a desirable environment, they are most likely to pursue success.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eWhat is common among the four past Presidents is their ability to be present.  Half-way through her term, Michelle had to go to the US. She left management of the club to the officers. Mind you, I said she left the management of the club, but she didn't leave leadership. She continued to be present virtually to give directions, make decisions and step in whenever needed. This club continue to benefit from the presence of the past Presidents. Whenever we have elections, we don't really change leadership, we just add more.\u003ca onblur\u003d\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href\u003d\"http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SynEjs-SIeI/AAAAAAAAAkk/WSnbopkTmnA/s1600-h/BnT+Meet1-Jan2008+028.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;\" src\u003d\"http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SynEjs-SIeI/AAAAAAAAAkk/WSnbopkTmnA/s400/BnT+Meet1-Jan2008+028.jpg\" alt\u003d\"\" id\u003d\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416076144536592866\" border\u003d\"0\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eStay on top and keep it coming\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThis is the battle cry for this term with Pat Pascua at the Helm. To most of us this simply means keep the success flowing. Today's Butter N Toast Leaders are doing the best they can to make it happen. As a student of leadership, I can't wait to learn what lessons this year is going to teach us as an organization. I'll be sure to blog about it.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eClick \u003ca href\u003d\"http://butterntoast.blogspot.com/\" target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003ehere\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e to find out more about Butter N Toast, Toastmasters Club.\u003cbr /\u003eClick \u003ca href\u003d\"http://exeqserve.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/teamculturebldg_ExeQserve.pdf\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003ehere\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e to find out how we can help you strengthen leadership and teamwork for your organization.\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003eVisit Anything HR so that we can share views on matters concerning HR, Leadership, Management, Training and Teams. I'd love to hear from you so please leave me a feedback.\u003cimg width\u003d'1' height\u003d'1' src\u003d'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8815505-472404686423815815?l\u003danythinghr.blogspot.com' alt\u003d'' /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/feeds/472404686423815815/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID\u003d8815505\u0026postID\u003d472404686423815815\u0026isPopup\u003dtrue","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/472404686423815815"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/472404686423815815"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/2009/12/butter-n-toast-lessons-on-leadership.html","title":"Butter N Toast Lessons on Leadership and Teamwork"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Ed Ebreo"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/16821972694832736436"},"email":{"$t":"edebreo@gmail.com"},"gd$extendedProperty":{"xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","name":"OpenSocialUserId","value":"09665855214378586454"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SynDP00kGjI/AAAAAAAAAkM/bje1wxsp8mY/s72-c/DSC-0014.JPG","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8815505.post-363087119579708036"},"published":{"$t":"2009-11-13T10:21:00.007+08:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-11-13T11:43:54.918+08:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Team Building"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Training"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"A Leader's Check List for Building High Performance Teams"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003ca onblur\u003d\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href\u003d\"http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SvzRq2Cq-FI/AAAAAAAAAhw/st98eBr1248/s1600-h/teamhuddle.JPG\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 231px;\" src\u003d\"http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SvzRq2Cq-FI/AAAAAAAAAhw/st98eBr1248/s400/teamhuddle.JPG\" alt\u003d\"\" id\u003d\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403424186929182802\" border\u003d\"0\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003eI have been conducting training for 14 years and facilitating team building workshops for more than 10 years. I have done all sorts of team building approaches. I facilitated indoor and outdoor activities, ropes course, paintball, amazing race types and a mix of everything. I followed most of the teams I worked with to see  if they succeeded in building teamwork or not. And just like not all those who buy self-help books really get to help themselves, not all of those who go to team building workshops help themselves to become effective teams.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eWhat differentiates those who succeed from those who fail to fully harness their team strength?\u003cbr /\u003eTwo things; leadership and execution (although the latter also boils down to the former)\u003cbr /\u003eLeaders area able to follow through, relentlessly on whatever is needed to build the team.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eI've always said that going through a team building workshop and then not following through is worse than not going at all. Why? Because it erodes trust to a much lower level than before you did your team building activity. That's definitely not a good thing.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eIf you are an HR Manager or  a Team Leader and you want to build a high performing team, I have five suggestions you might want to add to your to do list:\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eFirst\u003c/span\u003e, understand the role you play as a leader  in building your team. Some managers send their teams to team building workshops expecting that it would turn them into droids who will follow every command without complaining. Some think team building workshops are attitude adjustment events suitable only to their staffs and not to them. They go to the workshop, give an opening remarks then leave or stay in the sidelines. All these come from lack of understanding of the nature of teamwork. As far as I am concerned, it is the leaders who need to make the biggest attitude adjustment if they want better teamwork. If you need help in equipping your managers and supervisors for building high performance teams, click \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.exeqserve.com/training.php?post\u003d597\u0026amp;cat\u003dTeam%20Culture%20Building\" target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003ehere\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e. I'll be more than happy to help.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca onblur\u003d\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href\u003d\"http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SvzSXvo9GNI/AAAAAAAAAiA/DaOFTQW8TNc/s1600-h/drum1.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;\" src\u003d\"http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SvzSXvo9GNI/AAAAAAAAAiA/DaOFTQW8TNc/s400/drum1.jpg\" alt\u003d\"\" id\u003d\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403424958304819410\" border\u003d\"0\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eSecond\u003c/span\u003e, pick a team building intervention that is not only fun but one that allows your team to agree on a set of norms to build trust, manage conflicts, demonstrate commitment, be accountable for their actions, and focus on results (Patrick Lencioni, 5 Dysfunctions of a Team). A good team building workshop will not only help participants learn about team working principles, it should help them take specific actions after the workshop to work more effectively as a team. Check out \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.exeqserve.com/training.php?cat\u003dTeam%20Development\" target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eExeQserve's team building workshop design\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e based on this framework.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eThird\u003c/span\u003e, follow through on whatever action items were committed during the team building workshop. Managers should meet their team at least a week after the workshop and talk about implementation of norms. Setup a number of review meetings to assess execution of commitments. I believe that team work is not achieved overnight. It takes some painstaking nurturing and shaping from the leader to make it happen. As John Maxwell said. Everything rises and falls on leadership, hence, the leader must actively pursue this.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eFourth\u003c/span\u003e: In my experience, particularly with Filipino teams, having norms for open communication is not always enough. Our culture have a very different definition of respect for authority.( See my post on creating a \u003ca href\u003d\"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/2009/05/note-not-all-filipinos-are-passive-or.html\" target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eculture of candor and assertiveness in the Filipino Workplace\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e)  To be assertive in a Filipino workplace is to risk being branded as disrespectful, griper  or too radical for one's own good. To increase the amount of productive collaboration in the team, it helps for every team member ( yes, including the leader) to learn assertive communication skills. If you see your team as having the need to communicate more effectively, please check out this \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.exeqserve.com/training.php?post\u003d36\u0026amp;cat\u003dTeam%20Culture%20Building\" target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003elink\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eLast\u003c/span\u003e but not the least, it helps to have systems and processes that harness the power of teamwork. Programs like Kaizen, Quality Circles and the likes help teams put more structure and regularity to team collaboration. It also helps teams focus their energy towards improvements. If you like this idea, please see our program for implementing the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.exeqserve.com/training.php?post\u003d42\u0026amp;cat\u003dTeam%20Culture%20Building\" target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003e8D approach\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e to team problem solving and decision making.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eLet me reemphasize that everything rises and falls on leadership. The success in building a high performing team depends on the leader's ability to lead. Kouzes and Posner ably encapsulated leadership as inspiring a shared vision, modeling the way, enabling others to act, challenging the process and encouraging the heart. These are all learned skills. Have your leaders learn them.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eYou may download ExeQserve's complete Team Culture Building Program \u003ca href\u003d\"http://exeqserve.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/teamculturebldg_ExeQserve.pdf\" target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003ehere.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003eVisit Anything HR so that we can share views on matters concerning HR, Leadership, Management, Training and Teams. I'd love to hear from you so please leave me a feedback.\u003cimg width\u003d'1' height\u003d'1' src\u003d'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8815505-363087119579708036?l\u003danythinghr.blogspot.com' alt\u003d'' /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/feeds/363087119579708036/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID\u003d8815505\u0026postID\u003d363087119579708036\u0026isPopup\u003dtrue","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/363087119579708036"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/363087119579708036"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/2009/11/leaders-check-list-for-building-high.html","title":"A Leader's Check List for Building High Performance Teams"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Ed Ebreo"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/16821972694832736436"},"email":{"$t":"edebreo@gmail.com"},"gd$extendedProperty":{"xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","name":"OpenSocialUserId","value":"09665855214378586454"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SvzRq2Cq-FI/AAAAAAAAAhw/st98eBr1248/s72-c/teamhuddle.JPG","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8815505.post-8020014063774152958"},"published":{"$t":"2009-07-07T15:10:00.002+08:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-11-22T09:24:57.243+08:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"teambuilding"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Team Building"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Leadership"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"You Can't Have Teamwork If You Can't Manage the Change"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003ca onblur\u003d\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href\u003d\"http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SlBmSBhg6yI/AAAAAAAAAdg/lg_K-QHszPA/s1600-h/edtalking.JPG\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 346px; height: 260px;\" src\u003d\"http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SlBmSBhg6yI/AAAAAAAAAdg/lg_K-QHszPA/s400/edtalking.JPG\" alt\u003d\"\" id\u003d\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354892416776203042\" border\u003d\"0\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003eIn my opinion, the reason why many efforts to build teamwork go to waste is because managers fail to manage the change. I often get inquiry about team building and when I inquire back about how far they want to go with it, I get silence.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eMany managers are convinced that they need to improve teamwork but are unwilling to do the necessary work to have it. They think (or wish) that a one or two-day off site will create some magic that will suddenly turn the backbiting off. That it will suddenly make people more committed to the goals and do their fair share in improving organizational performance. Sadly, this rarely happens or if it does, the improvement is short lived.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eNo wonder some people are skeptical about it and have lost hope that a team building intervention will help a team work better. I know at least one person who declare that team building is for suckers. I can't blame all those who think the kind of solutions that proliferate out there are not real solutions. I'm of the opinion that a lot of the things people learn from a decent team building workshop are valid. The problem lies in how the whole thing is set up and how follow-through is given.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eBuilding Teamwork is pretty much about managing change. Let's listen to what Change Management Guru John Kotter has to say:\u003cspan class\u003d\"fullpost\"\u003eHe said first \u003cb\u003e\"Create urgency\".\u003c/b\u003e This to me means make a case for the change. Do you need it? Or do you need an excuse to go on a company outing? Be sure that you need it and are willing to go towards great lengths to achieve it.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eKotter then said, \u003cb\u003e\"Form a powerful coalition\".\u003c/b\u003e This means that the journey from no-teamwork to with-great-teamwork is bought into by the leadership of the organization and are committed to championing the change. Since we are talking about building teamwork here, they should also be committed to modeling the way by showing teamwork among themselves.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThe third step is \u003cb\u003e\"create a vision for change\".\u003c/b\u003e This is important. We don't have a common understanding of what it is like to have teamwork. For some it's unbridled collaboration and empowerment, for others it's allowing the boss to herd the rest of the team like cows. So what do you really want to see into the future when the team succeeds and becomes a high performing team? This has to be expressed in vivid terms.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eNext, \u003cb\u003e\"communicate the vision\u003c/b\u003e. This can be part of the preparation for an off site activity or can be done in the early part of the event. I prefer the former. I think everybody should be clear about why they are camping out. I tell you I've had more than enough of participants mistaking the offsite activity for  company outing and the team building activities mere parlor games! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! ( Sorry, got carried away there)\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThe fifth action is to \u003cb\u003e\"remove obstacles\".\u003c/b\u003e This is why people go out for a two-day off site team building. This is so they can identify what get's in the way of teamwork and decide how to overcome them. Patrick Lencioni identified five dysfunctions that get in the way of teamwork and prescribed some ways to overcome them. I use his prescription in my workshops.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eYou can't go home from a team building event without doing Kotter's 6th step and that is \u003cb\u003e\"create short-term wins\"\u003c/b\u003e. You need to identify the things you can do right after the workshop that will pave the way for building a stronger, more cohesive team. These quick-win activities should be clear, specific, actionable and observable.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThis will be the subject of step seven, \u003cb\u003e\"Build on the Change\"\u003c/b\u003e Which is following through on the norms set in the workshop and see to it that they all happen. Managers should not let up until all the agreed changes in behavior become habits and that quick wins are pursued and achieved.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThe last stage is \u003cb\u003e\"anchor the change in the corporate culture\".\u003c/b\u003e Let it grow roots. Build your policies around strengthening and rewarding teamwork and discouraging, even prohibiting the absence of it.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eSee? You build your team building effort around John Kotter's 8-step model and I tell you, there's hardly any reason for it to fail.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eHere's one more thing. I'll be more than happy to help you use this model to facilitate an organizational culture change for your company if you let me. Forget the one-day or half-day sessions that lead practically to nowhere.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eIf you want teamwork, manage the change.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eRelated download: \u003ca href\u003d\"http://exeqserve.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/teamculturebldg_ExeQserve.pdf\"\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eExeQserve Team Culture Building Program\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003eVisit Anything HR so that we can share views on matters concerning HR, Leadership, Management, Training and Teams. I'd love to hear from you so please leave me a feedback.\u003cimg width\u003d'1' height\u003d'1' src\u003d'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8815505-8020014063774152958?l\u003danythinghr.blogspot.com' alt\u003d'' /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/feeds/8020014063774152958/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID\u003d8815505\u0026postID\u003d8020014063774152958\u0026isPopup\u003dtrue","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/8020014063774152958"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/8020014063774152958"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/2009/07/you-cant-have-teamwork-if-you-cant.html","title":"You Can't Have Teamwork If You Can't Manage the Change"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Ed Ebreo"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/16821972694832736436"},"email":{"$t":"edebreo@gmail.com"},"gd$extendedProperty":{"xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","name":"OpenSocialUserId","value":"09665855214378586454"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SlBmSBhg6yI/AAAAAAAAAdg/lg_K-QHszPA/s72-c/edtalking.JPG","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8815505.post-3675386550317880787"},"published":{"$t":"2009-05-31T21:59:00.007+08:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-06-01T18:17:11.908+08:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"teambuilding"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Team Building"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"A Culture of Candor and Assertiveness in the Filipino Workplace"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003ca onblur\u003d\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href\u003d\"http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SiKQm8T4rqI/AAAAAAAAAdI/zujClQup1Ak/s1600-h/collaborate2.JPG\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 436px; height: 291px;\" src\u003d\"http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SiKQm8T4rqI/AAAAAAAAAdI/zujClQup1Ak/s400/collaborate2.JPG\" alt\u003d\"\" id\u003d\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341991106713792162\" border\u003d\"0\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c/b\u003e Not all Filipinos are passive or have the tendency to avoid conflicts or confrontations but most are. In this blog, I'm talking about most Filipinos, not all.\u003c/i\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThere's not enough of it in most Filipino work places. We Filipinos are not big on saying it as it is.We are non confrontational. We are specially timid around bosses. Geert Hofstede's research on power distance index puts us at top 4. That means that we are among those who have the most tendency to avoid contradicting or challenging a boss' opinion. This go both ways. I've seen managers go ballistic at small hints of challenge. We don't expect to be corrected by subordinates. We see it as an upfront, an uncomfortable, ego busting upfront.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThe world is changing. The amount of education and information being absorbed by team members and their talents and intelligence would easily go to waste if they are not given the chance to speak up and speak their minds as freely and whenever possible.\u003cspan class\u003d\"fullpost\"\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eI propose, that we change the way communicate in the workplace. Let us encourage candor and assertiveness. There are so much benefit for doing so. It will help managers make more informed decisions. It can save us from making expensive mistakes. Most importantly, it can increase engagement and teamwork.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eHere's the difficult question, how do we go about it? How do we turn around ages of programming? How do we make unassertive people, assertive? How do we change a workplace that subscribe to hierarchical relationship?\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThis is what I tell my employees.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\"I can't possibly be right all the time, hence I appreciate being corrected. Whenever you feel that I am making a bad decision, try to stop me. But don't expect me to just change my mind just because you tried. I'll put up a fight and I expect you to do the same. If I see you taking the coward's way out, I will call your attention until you realize that it pays to have a healthy exchange of ideas with me.\"\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eLet me tell you however, that saying those things is not enough. You cannot have that litany and then expect things to change right away. Leaders need to put their money where their mouth is by putting people to task about being open with their ideas, feelings and opinions.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThat too however is not enough. Two interventions are necessary to establish a culture of candor and assertiveness. One requires establishing team cohesiveness by building trust, open communication, commitment, accountability and focus on result. The other one requires building the team's including the managers' assertiveness. They should be able to shift from passive or agressive to assertive style of communication.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThere are dozens of available interventions out there on team building and assertiveness training. They will help you build a  highly interactive and high performing team. If you need my assistance, call me at (63918)939-9294.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003eVisit Anything HR so that we can share views on matters concerning HR, Leadership, Management, Training and Teams. I'd love to hear from you so please leave me a feedback.\u003cimg width\u003d'1' height\u003d'1' src\u003d'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8815505-3675386550317880787?l\u003danythinghr.blogspot.com' alt\u003d'' /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/feeds/3675386550317880787/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID\u003d8815505\u0026postID\u003d3675386550317880787\u0026isPopup\u003dtrue","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/3675386550317880787"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/3675386550317880787"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/2009/05/note-not-all-filipinos-are-passive-or.html","title":"A Culture of Candor and Assertiveness in the Filipino Workplace"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Ed Ebreo"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/16821972694832736436"},"email":{"$t":"edebreo@gmail.com"},"gd$extendedProperty":{"xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","name":"OpenSocialUserId","value":"09665855214378586454"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/SiKQm8T4rqI/AAAAAAAAAdI/zujClQup1Ak/s72-c/collaborate2.JPG","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8815505.post-5261244361443715211"},"published":{"$t":"2009-05-26T13:00:00.001+08:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-06-17T16:40:52.837+08:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"teambuilding"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Team Building"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Leadership"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"My Recommendations for Building a Strong Filipino Team"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003ca onblur\u003d\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href\u003d\"http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/ShkOhOhca_I/AAAAAAAAAdA/smcHqSBe_xw/s1600-h/exeqservefunny.JPG\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;\" src\u003d\"http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/ShkOhOhca_I/AAAAAAAAAdA/smcHqSBe_xw/s400/exeqservefunny.JPG\" alt\u003d\"\" id\u003d\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339314797221276658\" border\u003d\"0\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eAside from the fact that I am a Filipino working in a Filipino setting, I observed that Filipinos are different in many ways from people in the west and even from neighboring countries. This is of course not to say that we are totally different. It is the concoction of similiraties and differences that we need to take good look at and build on as we establish a completely engaged team. Here are my recommendations:\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cb\u003eEquip Managers to Lead Teams\u003c/b\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eMany Filipino Managers are young, lacking in proper leadership training and inexperienced in leadership. Many of the new managers I've encountered are mostly task managers concerned mostly with getting things done. They have a very vague concept of teamwork, much less the dynamics that go with it. Many companies go to team building workshops without addressing a key ingredient to making teams work-- Leadership.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eA Team Leadership workshop should address important team leadership issues as understanding the difference between management and leadership, the role they play in team development, what can get in the way of teamwork and what they can do about it. It should also offer coaching tools in large servings. \u003cspan class\u003d\"fullpost\"\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrain Your Employees To be Assertive\u003c/b\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eFilipinos are some of the least assertive people in the world. A research made on \u003cspan style\u003d\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003ePower Distance Index\u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.clearlycultural.com/geert-hofstede-cultural-dimensions/power-distance-index/\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e place us one of the countries with the highest tendency to defer to authority. What does this mean? It means that most Filipinos are unlikely to challenge a wrong decision coming from a boss. Let me go further by saying that we are mostly non confrontational. We will hesitate to call the attention of a fellow worker whose doing a poor job for fear of ruining the personal relationship. we can do this to the point of damaging the performance of the whole operation. When this happen, we tend to be less engaged because we don't like the fact that the boss is not seeing or not addressing the performance issues.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eAn assertiveness training will help team members assert themselves when they need to speak up to the boss or to their team mates. This will allow the team to have more available information, quality decision making, and more engaged team members. Training them however is one thing, encouraging them is another. I have always find it a challenge to get team members to speak up to me about issues and I'm trying. What more those who discourage it?\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cb\u003eBuild Norms around trust, communication, goals, behaviors and results.\u003c/b\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThis one is universal.I think all teams in all over the world need this. I'm coming from a book written by Patrick Lencioni on the Five Dysfunctions of a Team. If you've been reading me from sometime, you'd know how I feel about this thing. My teambuilding workshops uses a lot of Patrick Lencioni's proposal on how to build cohesive teams. Let me know if you want to hear more from me about this.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cb\u003eEstablish Opportunities for Teamwork\u003c/b\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eGive your employees a venue to practice teamwork. Equip them with tools. Things that come to mind are quality circles, six sigma teams, business process improvement exercises, etc. You can give them training on problem solving and decision making and other process improvement based tools that go with the programs I mentioned. Institutionalize process improvement. I've seen a lot of process improvement training that went for naught because of lack of a program to sustain it.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eYou probably know that I am very passionate about this I have created a complete team culture building solution that focuses on the things I've mentioned here. If you are serious with building a team culture for your company and I do think you should, please call me at (639)18-939-9294 or email me at ecebreo@exeQserve.com\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cb\u003eAddendum\u003c/b\u003e I recently put together a new holistic team building program inspired by the  proposal I wrote here. If you want to see it, just click this \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.exeqserve.com/teamculturebldg_ExeQserve.pdf\"\u003e\u003cb\u003elink\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/a\u003e: \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003eVisit Anything HR so that we can share views on matters concerning HR, Leadership, Management, Training and Teams. I'd love to hear from you so please leave me a feedback.\u003cimg width\u003d'1' height\u003d'1' src\u003d'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8815505-5261244361443715211?l\u003danythinghr.blogspot.com' alt\u003d'' /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/feeds/5261244361443715211/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID\u003d8815505\u0026postID\u003d5261244361443715211\u0026isPopup\u003dtrue","title":"2 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/5261244361443715211"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/5261244361443715211"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-recommendations-for-building-strong.html","title":"My Recommendations for Building a Strong Filipino Team"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Ed Ebreo"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/16821972694832736436"},"email":{"$t":"edebreo@gmail.com"},"gd$extendedProperty":{"xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","name":"OpenSocialUserId","value":"09665855214378586454"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/ShkOhOhca_I/AAAAAAAAAdA/smcHqSBe_xw/s72-c/exeqservefunny.JPG","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","$t":"2"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8815505.post-5407727074229049723"},"published":{"$t":"2009-05-15T15:24:00.005+08:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-05-15T15:35:28.228+08:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"teambuilding"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Team Building"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Leadership"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Team Building Lessons That Blew Me Away"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003ca onblur\u003d\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href\u003d\"http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/Sg0aHyZSKvI/AAAAAAAAAcw/SL-zXjvBCXs/s1600-h/DSC01234.JPG\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 477px; height: 357px;\" src\u003d\"http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/Sg0aHyZSKvI/AAAAAAAAAcw/SL-zXjvBCXs/s400/DSC01234.JPG\" alt\u003d\"\" id\u003d\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335949854593133298\" border\u003d\"0\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003eAs a team building facilitator, I am blessed with so much life learning each time I go out there and facilitate. There are a number of precious moments when participants would share  important realizations or insights that would blow me away. There are also moments when I learn more than I expect to and I am sharing those moments with you today.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cb\u003eArgue and then Commit.\u003c/b\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eA couple of years ago, I was facilitating this learning game called spiderweb where participants would be asked to go through a web without any parts of their body touching the web. It's quite a physical game that cannot be completed on time without collaboration and commitment among team members. At that time, I have already facilitated this game a number of times and I already have a canned idea of what should be learned in this activity. This one was going to be more powerful than the previous experiences. The size of the group was too big so I decided to split them into two. Accidentally, all the formal leaders went to one group. I worried about the group with no leader because I was concerned that they won't be able to finish on time but I was wrong. The group without formal leaders finished very early while the group with leaders failed to complete the task after several attempts. What happened? In the group with all the leaders, the most senior called all the shots. Assigned tasks to everyone and took command of the group from step one. \u003cspan class\u003d\"fullpost\"\u003eUnfortunately, his strategy was wrong and I supposed a lot of the members know this. They however kept mum and just followed the instructions. Each time somebody makes a mistake, the leader would scold that member and come up with a new instruction. They ran out of time before they could finish. The scene was totally different with the other group. They started by arguing about the best way to solve a problem. Somebody played the role of a leader but only to facilitate the implementation of the idea. When someone in the team thinks that one strategy is going wrong, she would speak out loud and the rest would listen and maybe argue. Each time they would execute however, even the ones who initially do not agree with the strategy would do her best to pitch in.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eWhen we sat down to share the experience, the two groups recognized the stark difference between their approaches and then revised their ideas of how to assimilate a leadership role. They realized that leadership is not about taking control, planning and giving instructions. It's realizing the team's full potential by optimizing team talents. The group without formal leaders finished the game first because they had real leadership that allowed members to passionately share their ideas, argue and then commit. The leader of the team swore to me after the session.\u003cbr /\u003eabout changing his style.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cb\u003eLet's Learn from Our Mistakes\u003c/b\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eIn another spider web activity where the CEO of the company participated, the team was getting stuck with analysis paralysis. They were spending too much time planning every step to the point of wasting it. The CEO who intimated to me that he planned to lay back and allow the other members of the team to take charge ran out of patience and stepped in. He said, we need to stop overanalyzing things and start testing our ideas and if we are to make a mistake, let's learn from them and move on, and this they did. The CEO started asking the members which idea they think they should start testing. The group picked one and then they tested it. The first idea bombed. They talked about it a bit and came up with a better strategy and this one worked. They completed the task in no time. During the debrief, the participants realized two important things. One, it helps to have a leader that allows people to try out their ideas and then learn from mistakes when they make them. Second, that fear of mistake can paralyze a team. If the first one does not exist, the team can only have the second one.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cb\u003eGreat Results follow Great Relationship\u003c/b\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eAfter a two-day management teambuilding, one of the senior managers of a multinational company spoke as a reaction to the workshop. He said \"Every year we focus on setting our financial goals straight. We've talked about KRAs and KPIs but we never really covered relationship. It has always been too soft a topic for us. We fail to realize that the only way we can achieve all those goals, those key result areas and key performance indicators is if we work effectively together. And we can only work well together if we have a good working relationship strengthened by trust and open communication.\" They realize that good working relationship is followed by result. In that workshop they resolved to work on building a more cohesive relationship. They asked me to see to it that they followed through and we did follow through. They hit their targets that year and improved overall employee satisfaction.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eEach of these experiences build on my appreciation of teamwork and guided me in leading my own team and improving my program. The amount of learning I receive from participants humbles me and make me look forward to learning more. I know they make me a better leader and a better team building facilitator.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003eVisit Anything HR so that we can share views on matters concerning HR, Leadership, Management, Training and Teams. I'd love to hear from you so please leave me a feedback.\u003cimg width\u003d'1' height\u003d'1' src\u003d'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8815505-5407727074229049723?l\u003danythinghr.blogspot.com' alt\u003d'' /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/feeds/5407727074229049723/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID\u003d8815505\u0026postID\u003d5407727074229049723\u0026isPopup\u003dtrue","title":"3 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/5407727074229049723"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/5407727074229049723"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/2009/05/team-building-lessons-that-blew-me-away.html","title":"Team Building Lessons That Blew Me Away"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Ed Ebreo"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/16821972694832736436"},"email":{"$t":"edebreo@gmail.com"},"gd$extendedProperty":{"xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","name":"OpenSocialUserId","value":"09665855214378586454"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Xrl8sY60k3w/Sg0aHyZSKvI/AAAAAAAAAcw/SL-zXjvBCXs/s72-c/DSC01234.JPG","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","$t":"3"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8815505.post-869800881757419226"},"published":{"$t":"2009-04-06T23:03:00.001+08:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-04-07T14:00:35.092+08:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"teambuilding"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Team Building"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Leadership"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Teamwork and Bosswork Both Work But..."},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"I agree with Patrick Lencioni's thesis that Teamwork is characterized by trust, conflict management, commitment, accountability and focus on results. Trust is manifested through open communication. Open communication is manifested through healthy discussion and resolution of issues or problems which pave the way for achieving clarity on what needs to be done that helps in getting buy-in and commitment to goals and team norms. Commitment on the other hand is manifested by team members' willingness to make each other accountable for their performance or behavior by challenging each others' ideas and calling team members attention on behaviors that do not support team work. This accountability paves the way for focusing on results that allow teams to achieve their objectives. \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eto think however that teamwork is the only way to go is naive. Considering the lack of teamwork going on in organizations today, we can say that there is a more dominant way of getting things done and that is through \"bosswork\".(an obvious play of word to describe the opposite of teamwork). \u003cspan class\u003d\"fullpost\"\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eYes, there is a much easier way to getting things done. In bosswork, trust, conflict management, commitment, accountability and focus on results are not necessary. The boss can get things done through others through two things; rewards and punishments. A good boss (skilled in bossing people around) knows his tools. He makes good contracts that detail the requirements of the job and the implications of failure. He knows how to get the respect (read fear) of his subordinates and use it to get them to do what needs to be done. \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eLet's look at advantages and disadvantages and leadership requirements of these two approaches:\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cb\u003eAdvantages of teamwork:\u003c/b\u003e It encourages team members to generate and contribute ideas, Q.A. each other's ideas, buy in to strategies and give their best whether the leader is there to see what they are doing or not. Because relationship is better, team members are happier and are more likely to stay and work hard for the team.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cb\u003eDisadvantage:\u003c/b\u003e Teamwork takes more effort to build. Building trust, establishing rules of engagement, and getting the team to work together takes more work than invoking the leader's formal authority to sack an employee if she fails to make the number. \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cb\u003eLeadership Requirement:\u003c/b\u003e Teamwork requires a mature leader. By this I mean a leader who is confident enough of her own capabilities to not feel intimidated or insecure by smarter team members. A Leader is interested in building relationship without compromising the need to deliver results. She studies human behavior and is interested in learning how to adjust  her style in dealing with different behaviors. She also has the humility to say sorry or permit her team members to challenge her ideas or call her attention on behaviors that do not support teamwork.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cb\u003eAdvantages of Bosswork:\u003c/b\u003e tasks get done. Saves you some teambuilding money. Some of the most successful people possess strong bossly qualities which means it is possible to succeed using this style. The exercise of authority and power can get you an enormous amount of ego boost.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cb\u003eDisadvantage:\u003c/b\u003e I believe that the bossly approach to getting things done is getting really old. The advancing technologies and increasing knowledge of the workforce and the preference of the young professionals for empowerment will make bosses fail to benefit from the growing capabilities of people in their organizations. They will spend more money on recruitment for replacing people who don't like to work for the type of environment they create.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cb\u003eRequirements of the Job:\u003c/B\u003e In order to fit the bill of a boss, the person should have an inherent distrust in people so they can micromanage everyone. They must know how to hire people for their arms and their legs because they don't have much use for their brains. There should be a test that they can use to determine the submissiveness of a potential employee and avoid hiring those who have minds of their own.\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eIn case you are asking what my preference is, I prefer teamwork anytime. It may take more effort to build but a good team environment is not only good for the business its good for everyone in the team. The only way for teamwork to happen is for leaders to allow it by shifting mindset from BOSS to LEADER. If you need help making the shift, send me an email.\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003eVisit Anything HR so that we can share views on matters concerning HR, Leadership, Management, Training and Teams. I'd love to hear from you so please leave me a feedback.\u003cimg width\u003d'1' height\u003d'1' src\u003d'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8815505-869800881757419226?l\u003danythinghr.blogspot.com' alt\u003d'' /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/feeds/869800881757419226/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID\u003d8815505\u0026postID\u003d869800881757419226\u0026isPopup\u003dtrue","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/869800881757419226"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/869800881757419226"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/2009/04/teamwork-and-bosswork-both-work.html","title":"Teamwork and Bosswork Both Work But..."}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Ed Ebreo"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/16821972694832736436"},"email":{"$t":"edebreo@gmail.com"},"gd$extendedProperty":{"xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","name":"OpenSocialUserId","value":"09665855214378586454"}}],"thr$total":{"xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8815505.post-8702700960553422483"},"published":{"$t":"2009-03-19T13:00:00.001+08:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-03-19T13:00:20.162+08:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Team Building"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Organizational Culture"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"The Tyranny of the Blind Carbon Copy"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"I read from somewhere that Albert Einstein regretted his participation in a project that lead to the invention and eventual use of the Atomic bomb. He must have realized the terror of the weapon of mass destruction after its effect became real.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eI don't know if the person who invented the BCC email feature realized how people are using this to terrorize other employees in many organizations and to promote some of the most destructive of office politics.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eNo, the atomic bomb and the BCC are not comparable. I'm exaggerating, but I'm not exaggerating when  I talk about how destructively office people are using this email feature. \u003cspan class\u003d\"fullpost\"\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eMy first encounter with an office terrorist was when I was HR Manager in a software development company. Our head of marketing who declared himself to be the eyes and ears of the owners would send stinging emails to target individuals (I was not exempted) and BCC the big boss. We learned of his dastardly deeds because the secretary who hates him just as much as everybody did (except the boss) would leak his covert activities to us. In another company, it has become the default action to secretly involve the boss in the mud slinging activities by sending her BCCs of the exchanges. Because the emails were sent in confidence, the boss would keep her silence, thereby allowing the ninja-like character assassination to proliferate. In another office, someone would BCC an office friend just to show how she told another office mate off or to show how she responded to a nasty email from another employee. Outside of the virtual world these people are nice to each other. There is no trace of the covert attacks going on and carried out via email.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eBecause blind copies are not untraceable, people eventually find out and when they do, they form an opinion that their office mates and sometimes even their bosses cannot be trusted. There is no telling how much (mis)information has been shared and how bad the boss has been influenced that they become more \"careful\" and scheming of how they can redeem themselves at the expense of others hence, bad office politics.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eI'm not techno-savvy enough to know if this thing can be turned off but if there is a way to do so, I will turn it off. The better measure however is to talk to the team as a leader and agree on some emailing norms. I'd recommend the following:\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e1. Using BCC for internal communication is sneaky and serves absolutely no good purpose. Don't use it.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e2. Emails are devoid of vocal tones. Your email message can be misinterpreted. Read your email before sending. If you feel that the limitation of the email will affect clarity, lift the phone or better yet, go to the person and talk\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e3. If you've gone back and forth with your email responses to clarify an issue or to make sure that you get to say the last word, you are wasting time and disk space. Go to the other person and argue in person. I assure you, it will improve your relationship. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003eVisit Anything HR so that we can share views on matters concerning HR, Leadership, Management, Training and Teams. I'd love to hear from you so please leave me a feedback.\u003cimg width\u003d'1' height\u003d'1' src\u003d'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8815505-8702700960553422483?l\u003danythinghr.blogspot.com' alt\u003d'' /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/feeds/8702700960553422483/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID\u003d8815505\u0026postID\u003d8702700960553422483\u0026isPopup\u003dtrue","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/8702700960553422483"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/8702700960553422483"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/2009/03/tyranny-of-blind-carbon-copy.html","title":"The Tyranny of the Blind Carbon Copy"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Ed Ebreo"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/16821972694832736436"},"email":{"$t":"edebreo@gmail.com"},"gd$extendedProperty":{"xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","name":"OpenSocialUserId","value":"09665855214378586454"}}],"thr$total":{"xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8815505.post-4894569453386838113"},"published":{"$t":"2009-02-14T14:14:00.002+08:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-02-14T14:35:47.825+08:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Team Building"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Leadership"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Should I Fire an Employee to Improve Teamwork?"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"I've asked that same question myself several times in the past and hopefully not again in the future. \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eVery recently a client asked me a question that seems to lead there. He said, what do I do with an employee who is fairly good at what he does technically but is a poor team player? Apparently, this guy missed several promotion opportunities and have been overtaken by more junior managers and is now bitter and distrustful of most people in the team. His bitterness and distrust reflects on how he respond (or not respond) to needed changes. While he has years of experience and performance behind him, he is weighing his team mates down with his politics right now. My client doubts that any amount of teambuilding workshops can change this person. Oh yes, about my answer, I said fire him. The client said, I wish it's that simple. \u003cspan class\u003d\"fullpost\"\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eBut it's really that simple. If you have a team member who for whatever reason is weighing the team down, you need to let that team member go. The longer you keep him, the more demage will be made to the team. The sooner you let that team member go, the better for your team and the better that person.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eWait! Before you take that advice, heed this other advice. Fire that employee as a final resort. First, firing employees in the Philippines for no clear and justifiable reason (not being a team player apparently is not a serious offence as far as the labor code is concerned). If you are a manager or a leader and can identify one team member or two who fit the description, here are a few steps that I can recommend.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e1. Build your team by setting and leveling expectations. Talk about your expectations and ask about theirs. Agree on a set of rules of engagement in the team so that everyone is clear about how to work with each other and how to deal with issues. Agree on a set of sanctions for violating the agreements. Make sure that all these are contributed by the team. Have your inputs last.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e2. Have the conviction to follow through and I mean really follow through on these norms. If you let others slide for ignoring it, your norm will end up in the trash heap. Put everything in writing, remind everyone about it, warn people when they are digressing. Encourage people to call your attention if and when you slide. Recognize your own slip-ups and apologize to them. Let them know how serious you are about this.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e3. When a team member is not playing by the norm, go into a coaching session with that person to genuinely and sincerely know what is wrong and work with that person towards getting him back into the fold. Commitment to follow through is important here.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e4. When you go into a coaching session be specific about the behavior that's hurting the team. Be clear about the impact work on an action plan with that person. If the person works willingly with you towards resolving the problem, you may forget about my first advice. If the person is unwilling, you may not need to because there's a good chance, the person may resign. When you do all this, make sure that you have everything documented and acknowledged in case you have to resort to #5.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e5. Fire the person. Politely but firmly tell the person about the failure to meet expectations. When I had this experience, I talked about how my team may not the best team for him and that the right team for him maybe out there. It's not easy but I make it a point that the friendship remains after the formal relationship is broken. When push comes to shove however you'll need the documents you made earlier as proof that you tried to make things work but the person won't cooperate.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eI said it's simple, I didn't say it's easy. Shaping a high performance team is not an easy task but you have every reason to pursue it. Along the way, you may have to do the most uneasy task of letting go of a team member for the sake of the entire team. Hopefully by doing what I suggested here, you may not have to but if it's still happens, you know that you owe it to them and the person concerned to take the necessary action.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eIf you need help in strengthening your team and you're really serious about it, give me a ring. (63-918-939-9294)\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003eVisit Anything HR so that we can share views on matters concerning HR, Leadership, Management, Training and Teams. I'd love to hear from you so please leave me a feedback.\u003cimg width\u003d'1' height\u003d'1' src\u003d'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8815505-4894569453386838113?l\u003danythinghr.blogspot.com' alt\u003d'' /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/feeds/4894569453386838113/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID\u003d8815505\u0026postID\u003d4894569453386838113\u0026isPopup\u003dtrue","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/4894569453386838113"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/4894569453386838113"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/2009/02/should-i-fire-employee-to-improve.html","title":"Should I Fire an Employee to Improve Teamwork?"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Ed Ebreo"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/16821972694832736436"},"email":{"$t":"edebreo@gmail.com"},"gd$extendedProperty":{"xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","name":"OpenSocialUserId","value":"09665855214378586454"}}],"thr$total":{"xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8815505.post-4113216524899840594"},"published":{"$t":"2009-01-04T00:00:00.000+08:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-01-04T16:16:57.229+08:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Team Building"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Leadership"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Service Culture Building"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Good Customer Service is a Product of Teamwork"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"It's one of those high end resorts in Southern Tagalog Region where I facilitated a teambuilding workshop for a group project managers. Normally I would prefer real team building venues where the resort staffs are trained, skilled and experienced in handling numerous team building workshops like \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.asiatravel.com/philippines/lacorpag/index.html\"target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003eHotel La Corona in Pagsanjan\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.caliraya.net/\"target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003eLake Caliraya Resort\u003c/a\u003e,\u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.theforestclub.com/\"target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003eForest Club\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.mmldc.org/home.php\"target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003eMMLDC\u003c/a\u003e or Eugenio Lopez Center(I don't understand why I can't find their website). This time however, I had to go with my client's choice. The size of the place is enormous. I mean the whole property but they did not allocate an ideal place for team building so I had to make do with whatever is available. I don't really complain about these things. I always make it a point to adjust to the situation. \u003cspan class\u003d\"fullpost\"\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThe front line people are friendly. I told them about my requirements for the activities and the person handling the account promised that those requirements will be delivered. What I needed was an open space for my outdoor activities. The front line person I was talking to showed me the place where I can hold it. My schedule was divided into two. Indoor activities on the first day and outdoor stuffs on the second day. Since the outdoor location is far from the indoor function room, and as I said, the venue is huge, the account person suggested that we have our breakfast in a nearby pavilion and then asked me what time I needed to be picked up from the lodge which is a good distance from the outdoor venue. The small inconveniences of the venue was made bearable by the friendly front line person who seemed to be on top of everything. We agreed that I will be picked up from the lodge at 6:30 a.m. have the participants picked up at 7:00 am for breakfast so we can start the event at 8:00 a.m.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eI woke up at 5:30 to make sure that I'm ready when the resort van arrives. I don't want to waste time because I didn't have an assistant at the time. 6:30 came, no resort service arrived. I called the front desk to remind them I'm supposed to be picked up at 6:30. The person I talked to at the other end of the line was clueless. She said she will check if my request was logged and then found that it was so she said, the service will be there in 10 to 15 minutes. The service arrived at almost 6:45. 15 minutes delay, I told myself, not a big deal, no reason to be worked up. The Driver brought me to the new venue and found it closed.t was not prepped for our activity. The guard asked me what my business was. I told him I'm facilitating a team building event there. He was surprised. He said there was no advice of a team building activity being held there on that day. Another staff came in at around 7:30 to open the pavillion. She was also surprised by the news. I asked her to call whoever is in charge and ask about my concern. She found out that we are supposed to have breakfast there at 7:00 a.m. and at 7:45 they were still preparing the food and we had our breakfast at about 8:30ish. To make the long story short. I started late and ended the session late.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eIt happens a lot these days. When I need service, a front liner will face me with all the friendliness and genuine concern for my needs that she can muster but end up falling short of expectations come delivery time. Is it because the front liner resorted to \"fakery?\" I don't think so. I think a company fails to satisfy because the front liner is not getting the necessary support to deliver on the promise. They fail to satisfy because the internal communication line is too messed up to get the client's message across functions responsible for delivery and back. I also think that a company fails to deliver because the leaders don't know how to build a customer centric system or make an already existing one work. \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eI offer two courses in customer service. One is \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.exeqserve.com/programs/service_leadership.pdf\"target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003eService Leadership\u003c/a\u003e and the other one is \u003ca href\u003d\"http://exeqserve.blogspot.com/2008/01/service-excellence.html\"target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003eService excellence for Front liners.\u003c/a\u003e On several occasions, organizational leaders beg off from service leadership training because they are either too busy for it or believe that it's not the main focus of their managers and supervisors, hence it is not the right investment for them. I beg to differ. I believe that the leaders are responsible for building teamwork that will make their customer service system work. Without investing in developing the right mindset and sense of responsibility for customer service among leaders of the organization, there can't be teamwork that will facilitate the needed quality of service delivery. \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eTeamwork is needed in customer service and leaders should facilitate it.\u003c/span\u003e\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003eVisit Anything HR so that we can share views on matters concerning HR, Leadership, Management, Training and Teams. I'd love to hear from you so please leave me a feedback.\u003cimg width\u003d'1' height\u003d'1' src\u003d'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8815505-4113216524899840594?l\u003danythinghr.blogspot.com' alt\u003d'' /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/feeds/4113216524899840594/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID\u003d8815505\u0026postID\u003d4113216524899840594\u0026isPopup\u003dtrue","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/4113216524899840594"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8815505/posts/default/4113216524899840594"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://anythinghr.blogspot.com/2008/01/good-customer-service-is-product-of.html","title":"Good Customer Service is a Product of Teamwork"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Ed Ebreo"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/16821972694832736436"},"email":{"$t":"edebreo@gmail.com"},"gd$extendedProperty":{"xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","name":"OpenSocialUserId","value":"09665855214378586454"}}],"thr$total":{"xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","$t":"1"}}]}});