Team Sterka

People don’t always talk with words.

With remote workshops, you can capture instant feedback from everyone very quickly.

Get the group doing hand movements to a series of yes, no, or maybe questions (thumbs up, thumbs down, sideways thumbs, jazz hands etc.).

Don’ t be shy to vary the interaction and keep things interesting.

You’re in a heated discussion, and you’re struggling to get your point across. What do you do?

Work towards a win-win. Seek resolution by moving your conflict towards a place of collaboration.

This is where both of your needs can be fully and equally met.

Is your team full of blue-sky thinkers? That actually comes with a ceiling.

Teams filled with big thinkers will struggle to deliver. Achieving a diversity of background, outlook, skills, thinking and personality is key.

Understanding your team profile will help you target the right people to recruit and fill the gaps. It will help you identify if your team skews heavily towards a particular profile.

Try not to waffle or ramble.

Keep talking to a minimum in your remote training sessions.

Set a target of 10 minutes max for keeping everyone together in the main room.

Use breakout rooms a lot - this allows groups of attendees to generate new ideas amongst themselves and learn from each other.

Let the assertive version of yourself come out when it matters most.

A simple technique to challenge others is to use “I” statements (“I think…”, “I feel…”, “I don’t agree…”) to make your point.

Using “I” statements instantly prevents the other person directly disagreeing with you. You’re simply stating your opinion.

How many work problems have ‘poor communications’ as a root cause?

Understanding each other as people means your team will (a) communicate better; (b) understand the needs of others; and (c) develop a true awareness of yourself.

Understanding how we like to communicate is a key part of creating psychological safety.

No one likes convoluted, text-heavy slides.

Slides don’t work well for remote training sessions, but there’s a nifty alternative.

Embed key points within a virtual background. Create a plain image and put the text on the left side.

Then, set this image as your virtual background and stand to the right. You’ll then have a summary of what you’re saying right next to you!

Asserting yourself isn’t all about dominance and aggression.

Sometimes, it involves staying quiet and listening.

Asserting your opinion will always be easier when you understand the other person’s viewpoint.

Always start your discussion by allowing the other person to deliver their points of view, so you have a full understanding of their position.

Then, use this as a foundation for your assertive response.

No one likes a remote workshop that draaaaaaaags on.

Keep your workshops short and break them down into small chunks with regular breaks.

Shorter learning sessions result in a 22% improvement in retention of information and make the transfer of learning 17% more efficient.

Are you being taken seriously by your colleagues?

If not, you might be being too accommodating.

Reward is often granted to more assertive people, who aren’t afraid to ask for what they want.

To become better at asserting yourself, try this:

Talk to yourself in the mirror to rehearse any planned conversations in which you want to assert your opinions.

It may seem odd, but it can work really well with practice.

How do you improve team performance?

Here’s a tip - allocate tasks to the most suitable people, not just through skill sets, but through communication style and attitude.

This will deliver results and keep your team motivated, and will ultimately result in gaining a deeper understanding of your team profile.

Start your remote workshops with a high-energy first impression.

Get everyone to write down on paper (in large letters) one reason why they’re excited to attend, and one reason why they don’t want to be here.

Then, get everyone to hold up their answers and discuss what they’ve written, especially the reason why they don’t want to be there.

Finally, on a new sheet of paper, get them to write down what they’re going to do about why they don’t want to be there, starting with, “I commit to…”