Communication is Key

When it comes to predicting the success of a great team, the most important element is how well the team communicates during informal meetings. MIT’s Human Dynamics Laboratory.

Harvard Business Review

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The New Science of
Building Great Teams.

Healthy Workplaces

Almost all employees, 93%, who reported feeling valued said that they are motivated to do their best at work and 88% reported feeling engaged.

American Psychological Association

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Stress in the Workplace Study

Measuring the Power of Charisma

MIT’s sociometric badges collect data about social cues, or “honest signal” — to measure charisma and success. The more energetic, positive people you put on a team, the better the team’s performance.

Harvard Business Review

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Defend Your Research: We Can Measure the Power of Charisma

Does Team Building Work?

The secret in making team building work is to keep things normal, and to avoid situations that feel invasive, awkward, or forced.

University of Florida

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Small Group Study

Tips for New Team Leaders

Being new is rarely easy, but if you’ve taken the time to be a learner and to get to know your team, chances are they will follow you when you step up and lead.

Jeanne DeWitt
Harvard Business Review

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Five Tips for New Team Leaders

APA Survey Finds Feeling Valued at Work Linked to Well-Being and Performance

People who feel valued in their workplace:

  • Motivated to do their best work 93% 93%
  • Feel engage 88% 88%
  • Report adequate monetary compensation 82% 82%
  • Unlikely to look for new job within a year 79% 79%
  • Opportunities for involvement in decision making 76% 76%

People who do not feel valued in their workplace:

  • Motivated to do their best work 33% 33%
  • Feel engage 38% 38%
  • Report adequate monetary compensation 31% 31%
  • Unlikely to look for new job within a year 50% 50%
  • Opportunities for involvement in decision making 16% 16%

Cultivate the Passions of your Team

As managers and leaders, you want engaged, inspired committed team members. Although these are intangibles, there is no question we all know the value of employees being happy. They are more productive, collaborative, thorough, reliable and dedicated. They know their purpose at work and live it.

We teach what we need to learn. And what we need to teach and learn comes from our deep-seated purpose. I believe we all have unique reasons for being here. We all have a unique contributions to make. And we all want to be fully engaged.
—Heather Kaye


Ready to energize your team?

Ready to energize your team to ensure they are emotionally engaged and thriving? You wouldn’t be reading this if the answer wasn’t “yes!” We all want committed, conscientious and contented team members who are contributing their best. The way to achieve this high performance is to be sure each member is contributing their gifts and what brings them fulfillment. If they are not ‘soaring with their strengths’ they will fall in the pit hole. They must buy into the overall organizational strategy and a have full appreciation of their place in moving it forward. Coaching can help uncover the individual talents and motivators, help members value each other and guide the group in coalescing behind overarching objectives. The key is for each individual to see how their aspirations are tied to the organizations goals.

On your team, remember these basics.

Complaining breeds helplessness. Ruminating about problems only gives them more power. Instead, ask questions. Where are you spinning your wheels? Are you attempting to direct what is beyond your control? What are you planning to create? What is the commitment you are willing to make without exception to secure the satisfaction awaiting you?

Does your team experience these tensions?

The work is never done. Resources are scarce. Expectations are unclear. Competitiveness undermines trust. Relationship conflict derails the team. Commitment to goals is waning.

What motivates people?

We know it is not always money, incentive programs or pressure from above. People do their best work when they feel valued and respected, connected to the purpose of the organization, a part of a group or team of like-minded people and they are safe to experiment and take risks.

What does it take to produce such conditions?

Listen attentively. Create enough. Build trust. Engage everyone. Build community.

What does it mean to listen attentively?

Learn to listen before jumping in with suggestions or remedies. Put aside your own analysis and judgment. Differentiate between the assumptions that often lead to faulty conclusions, and the facts that are actually being communicated.

Create a feeling of satisfaction with realistic expectations.

Accept gracefully, and even thrive in the paradox that in situations where nothing seems to be enough, the work that gets done is enough. Engage everyone to prioritize and work creatively with the resources available. Empower people to do what they believe they can; eliminate the impossible.

Build trust by being trustworthy.

Trust is an essential pre-requisite to performance; without it human relationships cannot be built or maintained and success is extremely illusive. It is very important to manage team and personal expectations so that everyone knows what’s expected of them and by when. Trust is built through three basic elements: sincerity, competence and reliability.

Engage, excite and encourage everyone.

Know what motivates and excites each individual; find a place for that spark to be realized and utilized in the organization. Everyone wants to shine. By supporting an individuals’ strengths and showing them how they can complement and support each other, you will create a culture where ideas are readily shared, people “spark” off of each other, and high creativity and superior performance are the outcome. When people are encouraged to do and be their best, they take responsibility for making things happen.

Foster a bonded community of caring members.

Develop a strong culture of caring on your team, where members look out for each other and develop appropriate and specific ways of supporting each other, so that people actually relax and become more productive. Create the mood that supports the team’s mission. Communicate the mission to all concerned, and learn how to have the conversations that will allow people to align with the overarching goals.

What to expect from team coaching.

I facilitate action learning – a real-time problem solving tool for leaders, teams and organizations.

As managers and leaders, I know you want engaged, inspired committed team members. Although these are intangibles, there is no question we all know the value of employees being happy. They are more productive, collaborative, thorough, reliable and dedicated. They know their purpose at work and live it.

My team is struggling, how can coaching help now?

If your team is struggling and you know changes are necessary, success depends on team members wanting help and being willing to play. Team leaders have to give the group a compelling reason to want positive results to do this work. The first and most vital step is to engage them by listening to their concerns and making expectations clear. Teams are living, dynamic systems with lots of written and unwritten rules, goals, blind spots, expectations and moods. They influence the individuals and play a considerable role in how the team works together and what the team produces.

Effective team coaching focuses on the whole system, and the interrelationships among members. Interventions would be designed with the team. Our efforts will focus on getting team members invested, highlighting and communicating their value and contributions so that they feel appreciated, heard and ultimately engaged and energized towards unified objectives. We will help the leader analyze her/her own behavior and make changes to have the desired impact on others. The outcome is to have the team and the leader coordinating action towards their aims which in turn advances the organizational mission. We are committed to everyone’s success.

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