Mike, Author at The Third Zone

Jun 23 2021

The Added Challenge of Building an Effective, Remotely Operating Team

There are so many goals and projects in most every business that require the combined efforts of a team. Each team member has specific parts of the puzzle to create and provide that, when put together, achieve the overriding desired outcome. The challenge goes beyond the skills needed to complete the project. The challenge is creating the team that has the needed components to bring about the success. It is increased when teams are remote.

Two categories of components contribute to the degree of accomplishment and effectiveness that a team can anticipate.

productivity sign2

The productivity components include the likes of … team leadership … accountability … alignment behind the vision and purpose … goals and strategies … decision making. These look quite the same whether working under one roof or remotely. These don’t necessarily require being under one roof to implement and maintain. They are process related.

positivity sign

The key positivity components include the likes of … communication within and among team members … respect … trust … camaraderie. These speak to relationships among team members and require an ongoing effort and plan to achieve and maintain.

Having and sustaining the ‘positivity’ is neither easy nor a given when team members are in part or completely working independently and outside of an office environment. Removing the in-person capability of teamwork adds an added challenge of finding creative ways to incorporate these critical elements into team interaction. The workforce today and going forward is bound to be comprised of both in-office and remote members. It becomes critically important that any organization devises ways to hold onto the positive aspects. Let’s examine how one might enhance these important elements in the new normal work environment of today and beyond.

TRUST
The more we know about someone the more likely we are to value and enjoy their presence on the team. Thus,
getting to know them on a more personal level enhance the understanding we have of them.
- What is their life comprised of outside of their work?
- What do they enjoy doing in their ‘away’ time?
- What are some things they have struggled with and have overcome that gives you a sense of who they are and how they have handled challenges?
- The more revealing one is to others the more they will be seen for their ‘human’ elements and build the desire sense of trust.

RESPECT
Whether remote or in office the things that develop and build a sense of respect among team members is very much the same. The method of communication is similar and perhaps only more challenging when conveying these things remotely.
- Encourage other team members to share their valuable ideas.
- Treat people how you want to be treated … with kindness, courtesy and politeness.
- Actively listen to others input from within the team.
- Use other people’s ideas often to increase productivity and efficiency.

COMMUNICATION

Effectively communicating within a business or a team has always been a challenge in various ways. Working with a remote team only increases the need to be more sensitive to the critical nature of finding effective ways create this by incorporating these …
- Showing empathy and remembering members are humans also dealing with added challenges associated with working remotely.
- Say the often-overlooked niceties … like ‘good morning’ and ‘how was your weekend?
- Let the team devise ways to make video meetings more effective … is it around frequency? Or is it related to a more well-defined agenda?
- Encourage and expand the personal connections through ‘fun’ times and activities that allow the team to have that lunch together or share fun things done over the weekend.

COMARADERIE
Developing a sense of togetherness and collaborative friendship is not an automatic given. Yet understanding the value of it and how it contributes to team success makes doing these things positive contributors.
- Create opportunities for ‘group’ chats … sessions designed to discuss ‘whatever’ comes up that is not related to the specific work being done by the group.
- Create a process for adding a new member to the team … one that introduces the person and allow them the opportunity to tell the group about themselves … professionally and personally.
- Allow every team member equal time to express their thoughts and provide opinions.
- Create a virtual breakroom … a place where all are encouraged to share things of personal interest, challenge and accomplishment.

camaraderie group

It appears to be a given that the business environment of the immanent future is going to be comprised of people working in an office full-time, those working remotely full-time and those who are doing a combination of the two. The most effective and productive teams need to have the positivity components identified above. Thus, it is imperative that organizations make a concentrated effort to devise ways to incorporate them into the ‘remote’ team effort. Doing so will make it possible for teams to retain both the positive and the productive elements that contributes to the most effective and successful team efforts.
Mike Dorman

Jun 08 2021

The Need to Rebuild and Improve Team Relationships in the Emerging ‘Normal’ … Enter Virtual Coaching

It seems like so long ago that we were all tasked and challenged to figure out how to do out jobs in the COVID-19 world into which we were all thrown. Little warning and little if any choice and there we were. Business leaders had to figure out how to effectively lead when employees were not coming into the office. Employees had to figure out how to be effective and successful when trying to work from home when ‘home’ was often anything but an environment that allowed for focus and concentration.

And yet, here we are in a world that is emerging from what was 15 months and emerging into one that clearly has a different look. Some of us will return to our offices. Some will do so on a limited basis and others will continue to work from home. With this being reality, it is prudent that business leaders recognize and take steps to rebuild relationships among employees as it is one area that has suffered significantly. To the extent that productivity and success is enhanced when those working together feel and have a connection, moving forward into the emerging environment will have to rebuild what has diminished.

The Impact of a Remote Workforce on all-important inter-personal relationships

William Rothwell and Cho Hyun Park co-authored a book entitled Virtual Coaching to Improve Group Relationships. In it, they addressed this emerging issue thoroughly in identifying the importance and value of bringing this into the organization given the new reality. The designated coach focuses on team interactions. He/She facilitates a process in which team members recognize group dynamic issues and improve them on their own. Here are some of the issues that lead to the advantages of an organization addressing this need to build relationships in the new, real, working world:

Revolutionizing the workplace:
There is little or no argument that COVID-19 revolutionized the workplace. Now and it is anticipated going forward, some 25% of workers now and will continue to work from home full-time. 70% of workers will continue to work from home on a part-time basis as they alternate between home and office.
Advantages accompanying remote work:
The shift to remote work also brings diverse advantages to both employers and employees. Employers that offer work from home opportunities will enjoy advantages. Benefits include attracting and retaining star talent and saving money by spending less on office space, equipment, salaries, and perks. On the employees’ side, the greatest benefit of remote work is that it allows them to concentrate on their work by managing their time effectively. So, employees become more productive in their work.
Potential disadvantages accompanying remote work

Working remotely creates new challenges for managers and workers alike. Working together in physical settings such as offices or plants is simply not the same as working apart in virtual settings. How a message is communicated changes, and influences, what the message is. And how people work together … online rather than onsite settings … changes how people achieve results, how they interact, and how they feel about their work products and work relationships.
The loss of personal interaction influences the achieved outcomes and attitudes
Working remotely people tend to lose informal connection that add context and meaning to their work lives.
They lose informal conversation that occur before, during and after meetings. They lose the informal conversations occurring at their desks, lunchroom, water cooler or copy machine. If the result is feeling left out it brings with it increased turnover and absenteeism. How employees feel about their relationship with other team members can and does influence long-term team productivity.

How Virtual Group Coaching returns what’s missing in a partially remote work world

With the emerging work world what is needed is a new emphasis on how people work together in groups and how people feel about their virtual relationships is what the authors refer to as virtual coaching. It is a helping method intended to facilitate improvements in face-to-face group interactions … that is, how people work together and how people feel about each other and their work. Some people work in a central office and others work from other venues. While managers will tend to focus on the task for the group to accomplish, the group or team’s productivity will hinge on how well people work together in virtual and/or blended settings.

virt facilitation sign

Virtual group coaching is a means to improve group interaction or social dynamics in virtual settings. How peopleinteract with each other in virtual settings is different from that in physical settings due to the difference of the medium to communicate and collaborate. As such, the coach’s role is to facilitate improvements in interactions among people who work together remotely as a team or group.

While the manager focuses on the group’s tasks(what is to be done and how it is to be done), the virtual coach focuses on the group’s relationships (how people work together and how they feel about each other and the task in virtual work settings).
The virtual group coach does not dictate ways to analyze and improve group interaction and group relationships. Rather, the coach helps members recognize their issues concerning group process and dynamics, reach agreement on what to improve, create improvement efforts on their own, improve group dynamics and learn more effective ways of working together.
An important assumption made by virtual group coaches is that no group or team is working together as effectively or efficiently as the group or team could be working together.

The Role of the virtual coach and who can fill that role

The role of a coach is to facilitate introspection and observation of members of the group. Helping participants to identify what’s working well and what could be working better is a good starting point. It is made better and more meaningful because the team members have been able to make a self-analytical assessment of their interactions. They have been able to determine what they need to do to bring about the desired changes. With this awareness, it is the team who can and will devise the steps they can and need to take that will bring about improved working relationships.

The person fulfilling the role of the Virtual Coach can be someone either internal or external to the company. It might be someone from the HR department. It could be a person from within a department of the company. It could besomeone brought in from the outside. What is important is that they have the proven capacity to listen and hear and the willingness to be the needed facilitator of change rather than the designer of it. A coach prepares an agenda for open discussion based on what each member talked about and facilitates a discussion to describe how the team can have more effective daily standup meetings, challenging team members to commit to ways to improve their interaction and work together effectively. This open discussion will lead them to their own solutions to resolve the issues that they perceived and improve team interaction and dynamics.

Organizations who are realizing and implementing the concept of virtual coaching are at the forefront of whatisexpected to become a key contributor of assuring success in many organizations. As Rothwell and Park conclude, just like in pre-COVID times, effective interaction and collaboration based on trust among members will be a critical factor for team success and the need for virtual coaching will only increase. Getting out in front of this seems like a wise approach to adapting to the emerging new normal.
Mike Dorman

May 27 2021

Masks off! Beware! Faces Revealed. What Else is Uncovered?

ANNOUNCEMENT!
MASKS NO LONGER REQUIRED!

… around other vaccinated people … when gathering outside … when alone outside … when … when … when. HALLELUJEH! Although we are not completely there yet … we are definitely on the way. Finally, we find ourselves being able to reenter a world and way of living that has some resemblance to what we all considered to be ‘normal’. Sixteen months later of living in ways that we never could have imagined and over which we had little control.

As welcome as the need to ‘mask’ is on the wane, I get curious as I contemplate what the mask may have also provided in addition to our protection from COVID? What are the various feelings, thoughts and emotions that we have gotten used to hiding that are now ‘there’ for others to see? And … now being on display, will they help or hinder what we want to achieve?

masked remote workers

Although the question applies to all aspects of our lives, I want to explore it in work/business relationships. For many, using the likes of ‘zoom’ allowed us to ‘meet’ without a mask so that seemed quite normal. Still, once the call was complete, we felt the freedom to have reactions without being seen by others around. We could complain … to ourselves. We could berate another on the team or within the company and they would never know. However, going forward and the potential of returning to the office at least part-time we lose the privacy of our reactions and feelings.

It seems prudent that we be very aware of this to avoid unintended consequences. Here are just some of the ‘protections’ that go away along with the masks:

The ability to hide our unbridled frustration
With another person, a direction or with the work that isn’t getting finished in a timely manner.

The ability to mask anger or displeasure with any aspect of the work being done or requests made of us
Without our masks we must relearn how to effectively convey our displeasure in a way that gets desired results without damaging the needed relationship.
The ability to hide our true identify as a person
Perhaps we want to be seen as a team player when we don’t’ really care for the work of the team. Perhaps a
person wants to play the role she/he believe is expected of them rather than allow their true selves to show. This was just easier when wearing an actual COVID related mask.

The ability to be in control of our emotions we want to display
Obviously we have reactions to many things we hear and witness in our day to day lives. This certainly is the case in the workplace. The actual masks we have been wearing for the past 16 months have enabled us to relax without concern that others might easily be able to read our emotional reactions.

Being able to hide our weaknesses
This mask allows us to better display the strengths we feel we have and distract from others seeing what we perceived as our weaknesses. Our confidence is better conveyed as we want it to be seen.

Being able to play the expected role in any given situation regardless of our true feelings
Do you want to sound enthusiastic or excited about the ‘plan’? Do you want to make a positive impression to get the sale? Do you want to come across as someone’s new friend to get them to support what you want them to do? The COVID mask has made that easier for your voice alone can convey the way you want to be ‘seen’.

The wearing of masks has been around through the ages. To all people, they serve a function and there is a time and place for each of them. We wear them from time to time to protect and project ourselves when/as necessary and appropriate.

We use them to present ourselves as we think we should or need to.
We use masks to hide true feelings or to play a role that we believe is expected of us.
We use masks to hopefully be seen by others as we want to be seen.
We use masks to protect ourselves from ill-intentioned people and a way to keep them at arm’s length until we allow them into our area a bit at a time.

With COVID and the imposed need/requirement to wear masks, we were given a way to mask any situation behind the cloth of which these were made. Being intentional about donning our masks just made the various ways we used the imagined masks easier. We didn’t have to give as much thought to how and to whom we wanted to project ourselves or which mask to wear because they provided real protection for many different situations.

With masks gone and along with the new sense of regained freedoms, we should recognize that it now prudent for us all to be consciously aware of how we do and how we want to project ourselves to those around us. We should be very aware of how much easier wearing an actual mask made it for us to have our thoughts and feelings without being easily ‘read’ by others. And now, the eyes are back upon us. With faces visible, the thoughts and emotions we have are still real and present. How we choose to convey them … or not … is bound to have an impact on our individual and collective success in whatever we do.
Mike Dorman

May 11 2021

Think ‘We’re There!’ The New Normal. Maybe It’s Time to Embrace it from All Sides

For well over a year, we’ve been waiting and wondering. When will ‘normal’ return when in fact, what we thought of as normal isn’t and won’t be back. So welcome to this new world and it’s one to which ALL of humanity has been moved whether or not they wanted to be. At times it seems like we are all aliens existing in an alien land.

hazy road ahead

No where is this more apparent than looking into the working world. And still today, nothing is set or settled as we all navigate a hazy and somewhat ill-defined road. Yet it is the road we are on with no turning back so we best grab on and work to accept it as we learn to weather and even enjoy the ride one filled with bumper cars, roller coasters and scary ‘fun’ houses.

There are a couple of areas that have taken on new definition … given they likely represent the emerging world. Thus,

jump on board

it seems prudent that we jump on board like we really believe and accept what going forward in our jobs successfully will be like. There are two areas of realistic concern: One is focused on employees being able to receive recognition when all or a portion of their contribution is remote. The other is the challenge seen from the organization’s side as related to developing and maintaining employee loyalty. They are closely related.

THE EMPLOYEE CONCERN: The challenge of receiving recognition when all of some of the contribution is remote

The concern around being recognized is quite understandable. In that ‘old’ world we got up every day of the week and went to work. We did what the job required and contributed that was visible to all others doing oft related things around established goals in the company. Interaction and exchange of information was simple and straight-forward. Others were easily and visibly accessible. Others saw and experienced the fruits of our efforts. Planning and strategizing were often in person when that was prudent to the goal and related decisions.

Yet not in our emerging world is this the case. In fact, there are estimates that within the next 3 to 4 years up to 70% of the workforce will be remote at least 25% of the time. That is huge compared to what was in the ‘old’ times. So yes, how can someone in this situation still earn and receive the recognition that offers them advancement and recognition? Here are some considerations identified by CEO Johnny C. Taylor Jr. of HRM … Human Resource Management that are worthy of consideration and attention:

The saying “out of sight, out of mind” holds some truth. Organizational leaders tend to promote the people they see in person and chat within the elevator. These workplace relationships are often built face to face and can affect promotional decisions.
That said, the pandemic has changed many office dynamics. However, at least this has stayed the same: Whether you’re remote or in the office, your performance speaks volumes.
There are a few steps you can take to ensure your hard work is not overlooked.
- First, talk about your concerns with your manager and discuss your company’s plans for recognizing stellar performance in a remote world. If you’ve got your eye on a promotion, gain a clear understanding if that’s a realistic option. In that there are many factors that go into a promotion—things like budget, effort, the ability to backfill your role and getting on the radar of the decision-maker. It might not be up to your manager alone.
- Focus on building relationships. Try to participate in as many virtual get-togethers and optional meetings as you can so your peers and management can see your abilities and leadership skills firsthand. And even though you’re not physically in the office, you should act as if you were—always keep your camera on and be professionally dressed.
- Contributing ideas, supporting teammates even when you have a full plate. Taking a proactive approach when challenges arise will go a long way in showing—not telling—why you deserve to be recognized.
- Consider tracking your wins to demonstrate how you add value to your team and organization. It’s OK to brag a little when your performance review rolls around. And if the time is right, someday it could lead you to your dream promotion.

Remember: Many companies are still trying to figure out this new normal of remote work. This means balancing business needs while not losing traction on the things that matter, including employee engagement and recognition.

THE COMPANY LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE: Increasing and furthering team member loyalty in a remote setting

From the organization’s vantage point there are several challenges with which it must contend in our new world. Natural interactions and camaraderie either don’t occur or certainly doesn’t occur to the extent it can and does in the office environment. Finding a way to still have this similarity to emulating the atmosphere ‘in the office’ is key. Here are some practices that will lessen the concern of this leadership challenge as summarized in an article by Jolene Risch in Business and Finance publication:

Inclusivity:During meetings, make sure everyone has a chance to share their voice and ideas. Give everyone space to update the team on their progress and ask for support where they need it. The more you engage in team-building behavior with every employee, the more inclusive collective meetings will be.
Employee Evolution: This is one of the best times to help your employees learn new skills and grow professionally. Most people currently have more time and space without the commutes, and it can help your employees level up their contribution to the company.
Emotional Intelligence: Work-life balance has a whole new perspective especially if you haven’t had a predominantly remote team before. Boundaries are difficult when you work from home. So, implementing
systems and structures that support your people will make all the difference, especially in protecting them against burnout. Encouraging your employees to take time away from their devices and to spend some time on personal interests will remind them that you support boundaries. These boundaries in turn will help to keep your team’s ideas fresh and heighten their creativity. By supporting a true work-life balance, you’ll help your employees increase their productivity and efficiency.
Increased Quality Communication: The attention your employees receive needs to be unique to them and the value they’re bringing to the table. When working remotely as an employee, it can be difficult to feel like what you’re doing matters to the company. Letting the team know they ARE making a difference and contributing is fuel for progress.
Intentional Quality Time: This really has nothing to do with the work being done. It has much to do about creating opportunities and breaks to engage in conversations having everything to do with various interests of the individuals. It is to talk about their weekend concert or perhaps their child’s birthday party or … or … or. It’s a form of creating the water-cooler or lunchroom talk … unrelated to business and particularly important to the team member.

adapting focus

What we know is that we are in a period of evolution in many aspects of our lives. Certainly, it is so very apparent in the working world. And regardless of whether we have individually accepted or resisted how our lives have been impacted it has been a force that continues to surge ahead. At this point … some 14 or 15 months later it seems like maybe it time that we put our focus on adapting and making the most of what is emerging.

julie andrews

Perhaps, a few years ago, you saw the television presentation of ‘The Sound of Music’ or even the original movie (way before my time). There was one song that today we need to be singing as we march into our current and different world of our future. It’s entitled “I Have Confidence” and ending words “I have confidence, in confidence alone … Besides which you see I have confidence in me”. We’re on the way. Change? It’s happening. Our ability seems unable to stop it. Rather, we all have the ability to embrace and adapt. I’m confident! And you?
Mike Dorman

Apr 20 2021

The Orchestra Conductor and Business Leader … a Meaningful and Valuable Comparison for Today

In the early days of The Third Zone blogs I addressed the similarities that exist between the role of an orchestra conductor and the business leader. By the latter I was referring to any person who had the responsibility of leading the organization, department or team. An entertaining and informative ‘Ted Talk’ video (circa 2013) featured the renowned orchestra leader Itay Talgam, who pointed to several 20^th century conductor ‘greats’ and the lessons their leadership held for business leaders of that day.

The connection to business leadership was especially fascinating realizing that no verbal exchanges take place when conducting the orchestra and still, the group, or team if you will, have the potential of making the most beautiful music … and that requires cooperation, willingness to be part of a team and a sense of responsibility to the individual musician’s role, that of the full orchestra and of the leader.

Today, as we emerge into a new normal following COVID-19, it is seen that there are new business realities that will be in existence that need to be considered and addressed. These realities will and are impacting our approaches to business such as: How we effectively build a committed and engaged team that is often distanced. How we make remote people feel valued and important to the goals. How we best lead the overall effort in a way that allows each part to feel and recognize their importance to the outcome. Just imagine if each of these additional realities would be equivalent to adding other sections to the orchestra. The challenge to the conductor would be to incorporate them into the group in ways that still produce the same beautiful music while respecting and honoring their new voices.

EMULATING THE CONDUCTOR TO MAKE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC IN BUSINESS

Michael Hyatt is an author and blogger and he has written about the elements of leading and conducting that are closely aligned and make for interesting and worthwhile focus.

Great conductors always start with a musical score and a clear musical “vision” of how it should sound. Similarly, in a business, a clear vision of your end goal and the plan to achieve it are key to success.

Practice makes perfect even in business. The best concerts are well rehearsed no matter how great the conductor is. Practicing your leadership rather than assume that you will automatically produce great leadership “music” is a prudent approach.
Great conductors get the best out of their people at the right time. They ensure their musicians feel significant, accepted and secure. A conductor needs his musicians. Likewise, a leader needs his followers and needs to take time to develop his followership.

Great conductors lead with their heart and are passionate about their work. Likewise, a leader in business must feel passionate about the vision and mission of your organization, department or team. The leaders’ passion is infectious and generally seeps through the organization.
Great conductors share the spotlight. When the concert is over, and the audience is clapping, the conductor turns to the audience and takes a bow. Great conductors immediately turn to their orchestra, inviting them to take the limelight. Without his orchestra, the conductor is nothing. Similarly, leadership glory is shared with your team by giving credit back to the team.

Great conductors are not super-humans. In fact, they delegate everything to others who are better and more skilled. The conductor only appears on stage when it is time for him to lead. Great leaders know when to lead and when to let others lead. They delegate accordingly and know when to take the lead.
The conductor usually stands on a platform and is visible to every single member of his orchestra. This is to ensure the orchestra stays in alignment. In the same way a leader is visible to the employees and teams that works to keep them well aligned.
Great conductors lead. Most musicians in the orchestra are much more talented than the conductor. They are experts in their musical instruments. They look to their conductor not for technical advice but for leadership. The same happens in organizations. Most leaders are NOT functional or technical experts. Most employees look up to them for leadership. They need to inspire, create excitement, have a clear vision and lead.

THE CARRY-FORWARD LEARNING TO BENEFIT BUSINESS

The emerging business environment of today bears some challenges with which we have only limited experience and it is experience that continues to be forthcoming. As the conductor is tasked with creating perfect harmony and beautiful music within and among all the variable parts of the orchestra, the leaders in an organization need to continually focus on creating perfect harmony to ensure that beautiful products and profits are the result.

As a leader, you might have a strategy as well-written as a Mozart symphony, but if your orchestra is not well conducted, then noise will prevail over music. I seriously wonder if it might make good sense for a company’s leadership to attend a concert as inspiration to make the same beautiful music in the organization. A nice and worthwhile way to spend an afternoon?
Mike Dorman

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