My recent Glorious Disaster I walked into a leadership team workout for a Fortune 100 company this week and was absolutely shocked with the mindset of the people in the room. I knew that these were very smart people in a successful company with each of them responsible for departments with budgets into the tens […]
Archive | Difficult People
What if…. the debrief gets out of hand?
What you will see: A gripe session Arguing or fighting Discussion moving off the topic Side bar discussions Likely Causes: Poor questioning from the facilitator Unresolved team issues How to Prevent it: Be careful of using activities when therapy is a more useful and honest solution. Do not use activities when you are seeking to […]
What if…. someone dominates the debrief?
What you will See: One person answering most of the questions One person talking excessively. Most participants remaining silent. Likely Causes: The person wanted to show that he or she has the correct answers. Other participants are afraid to differ with the dominant person. The person may dominate the work environment and this is […]
What if…. participants don’t join the debrief?
What you will see: Lack of eye contact with you, especially after you ask a question. Minimal one-word responses to your questions Shoulders shrugging Silence Likely Causes: They did not understand your question You haven’t given them enough time to formulate an answer. They fear embarrassment of a ‘wrong’ answer in front of you […]
What if…. someone gets overly competitive?
What you will See: Taking the activity too seriously. Bending the rules or cheating. Extreme efforts to win or do better than others. Overly discussing the activity afterward with a focus on strategies and missed opportunities rather than on learning opportunities. Likely Causes: A naturally competitive environment in the workplace like a sales force. […]
What if… someone does not want to participate?
What you will see: Rolling eyes: Lack of eye contact with you, or used negative body language Negative comments about the activity or the experience Direct comments they do not want to participate Likely causes: Past experiences that were unproductive or unpleasant Not understanding the purpose or value of what you are doing How […]
Maintenance Techniques to Get People Back on Track
Facilitative behaviors used during a discussion to help people get back on track: Throw-Back: Team Member: “It is not possible get through this obstacle!” Facilitator: “If it was possible, what would need to happen?” Share Observations: Facilitator: “It is very quiet. What does the silence mean?” Review Group Agreements: Facilitator: “Remember the ground rules […]
Join or Judge
This a powerful technique to check in with people and help them make better decisions. Join or Judge is similar to Help or Hinder, but is *just* different enough to merit providing this for you and this is better used by pulling a person aside for a moment. Many people would rather sit back and […]
Help or Hinder?
Helping or Hindering what? The answer to this question is something that you need to answer in every area of your life. Once you have determined what it is you would like to create, you can then begin to see how what you are doing is contributing to or taking away from that dream. This […]