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Hi Guys,

Nice cast, and I think it may have saved me from making a mistake ;-) ... we have a two day offsite and I was placed in charge of 'games', along with a presentation on retention... General comment was that at times it did seem a bit "soap box" (ish) however it does prove that you're obviously passionate about sharing the practice of what you preach - something that I think we all appreciate, and why we all stay loyal listeners.

I've lobbied to reduce the number of 'games', however in the interest of not patronising the attendees, have had to concede to a few... I have also been able to stop the need for people to have 15 minute trivia sessions, and Soduko competitions that only seem to serve the main protagonists interests... It stuns me that the whole event is costing over AUD$50k (without opportunity costs as we are not managing our teams) and the return is so limited... why why [b]why [/b]:roll: (I'd have prefferred to come to yours, and bring others :D )

Needless to say, the views of my colleagues on methods of increasing retention are not the same as yours (your podcast on the subject contributed greatly to my team having a turnover of 50% last year - prior to me - improving to 25% so far this year - results speak :wink: ). I agree with your need to provide [i]effective[/i] feedback, coaching, and direction, also that there needs to be a suite of achievable goals. These goals need to be outlined in the performance agreement.

My current employer has an all or nothing approach to bonuses, and commonly rewards based on items not even hinted at in the Performance agreement... with no tie to Group, team, and individual success... I'd be interested in any comments you have on structuring of bonus systems...

I'll write back with how it goes :?

akinsgre's picture

I personally loved the soapbox. This is an area I feel is really important and there isn't a lot of clear guidance. Some of the concepts (like communication) seem straight-forward. However, I also wrestle with setting good goals.

This was one of the best 'casts to date. I felt that it made explicit some of the implicit concepts from earlier 'casts. Namely, that all the advice provided in the "fundamentals" work together to help managers build high performing teams.

I really look forward to Teambuilding 201 ;-)

As I continue trying to get my team to coalesce around goals and objectives it seems like there is a lot of conflict and that "conflict / competition between goals" effectively blocks other efforts to create teams.

I have listened to the "Jumpstarting.." podcasts and feel that is a great start for setting goals. However, to some extent it contributes to the conflicts between goals (at my organization at least).

Some more guidance on understanding and setting goals / objectives would be great.

Thanks again M & M for a great lesson.

cwatine's picture
Training Badge

I liked this cast too. It reminded me about an example.

In the past, I had a new manager who tried to build our team by organizing parties and special days, and so on. Because "good team leaders do this kind of things".

It was half a failure ... Because this kind of things was not in the company culture and also because he was putting the cart before the horses.

This kind of events don't build good teams. It only works when the team really exists... The success or failure of this kind of events will only be an indicator of your team spirit.

The decreasing number of people attending those events clearly indicated us we had a management problem. People were literally sending him a message by not coming.

That's when we began using Manager tools (O3 mainly).

In one year or so maybe will we test again our team spirit ! Good management takes time.

gnattey's picture

Firstly, to correct a possible misunderstanding. My soapbox comment was not meant to be critical - more a statement of the passion that we feel you guys have for the subjects you present - you can really feel your belief in it all. I have never seen a soapbox presenter that didn't feel passionate and inspired by their message - it's part of what makes it real for many people.

Secondly, as promised. I returned today from what people were saying was the best 2 day offsite that the team had experienced. The teams presented in innovative ways and retained engagement from the majority of participants with only one over-worked power point deck :shock:

We did a few 'games', however didn't do the fully structured debrief. We allowed people to experience the game themselves, and then tried to draw out of them what they did, or did not enjoy/learn about their colleagues. Mostly people were able to see how others solve the same problem with varing degrees of success (got a great way to win a paper airplane contest :lol: )

Time didn't permit a full introduction piece, so I improvised with a pre-prepared survey, and did a brief 10/15 minute presentation. Borrowed it from a book (can provide details if required). I asked people to respond in two days with their favourite:[list][*]Cuisine
[*]Car - current and future
[*]Chocolate
[*]Country[/list:u]It really broke up the mood at the end of a long day, provided both some insight into our team and got a few laughs as well... needless to say, the vast majority of people responded on the final day :o :roll:

We also presented on recruitment and retention, and guess what everyone walked away with as the #1 item to do when the got into the office next day???
[quote]Know your Staff[/quote]
... so I think there will be a few new members coming your way from Aus. using the 1-1 and feedback models :D

Mark's picture
Admin Role Badge

Glad it went so well, and there were ideas we gave you that helped!

Regarding the soapbox issue, I addressed this in a recent blogpost, I think on this same cast. Don't expect it to go away, whether anyone likes it or not. Sorry, but you do this for 20 years, and watch managers with GOOD intentions make horrible mistakes based on bad guidance, and managers with BAD intentions ruin people's lives and families, you get ...angry.

Yep, we're passionate about management. If you're not, resign as a manager.

Mark