Insights
Building Empathy in Teams With Personal Stories
Steve from accounting becomes Steve the guy who played baseball in the Little League World Series. Your team has a ton of stories like this and when shared, they will add depth and dimension to the relationships in your team. When we can hear, see, and understand the depth and dimension behind our teammates histories, we gain appreciation for them as a person. We understand they are more than the role they fill.
Navigating Territorial Expertise in Teams
Imagine a department is represented by physical territory. When someone represents a department, they are a representing the whole territory. Basic expectations, norms, communication modalities and even how the mission, vision, and values show up can be vastly different in each territory. As organizations get larger, so can the variance between these territories.
Play Can Connect and Promote Team Performance
Yet the best teams, the most engaged, prosocial, and connected, use play.
Play connects us, play opens up our neural pathways, play diminishes group norms, play brings our true self to the table.
Team Engagement, Retention, and Experience, OH MY!
Engagement, Retention, and Experience, OH MY! This was the the theme of last nights joyful networking event. Some of the questions: 🤔 Build a model that shows what environments or conditions you have found to be most conducive to fostering employee engagement🤔💡 Build a model that that shows what strategies you have used to measure and improve retention rates🤔💡🤖 Build a model that shows how technology has transformed engagement, retention, and/or employee experience in your organization. This goes to show the power of LEGO Serious Play and how it can connect and engage both teams and people who don’t work together.
Does Your Team Have an Air Sandwich Communication Challenge?
One of the biggest challenges that compounds the air sandwich effect is the level of domain expertise from a hierarchy lens. As leaders look at the forest, and operational staff looks at the trees. Someone has to figure out the transition between the two. The best fix? Finding common ground through empathy and understanding. True understanding from all levels allows for everyone to seek win-win scenarios because success is defined clearly for all.
Joyful Team Building: The Inward Smile
When people receive, unwrap and start handling their own LEGO story building kit, there is this smile that appears on people's faces. Sometimes its big, sometimes small. But it's personal, for them. Like they've been brought back in time. They are sitting on the edge of play and there is this excitement and joy - not to a level of exuberance, but a more patient and expectant smile.
The Top 5 Commonalities That Arise From Our Team Building Events
Here are the five most popular commonalities that arise in our team buidling sessions:1. Pets - People LOVE their pets, and honestly like sharing info about them.2. Kids - Same as above3. Hobbies - Sports? Cooking? Interior Decoration? Yes! 4. Musical Instruments - I separated from hobbies as this group has a certain respect for one another 5. Vacations and Travel - Who doesn't love a good vacation?
The Tradeoffs of Virtual Vs In-Person Work
In essence, the choice between virtual and in-person work isn't about deciding which is superior. It's about recognizing and balancing the tradeoffs: the convenience and flexibility of virtual work against the potentially richer, more nuanced communication that comes with face-to-face interactions.
Unlocking the Secrets of Exceptional Team Building
Effective team building is about much more than just bringing people together; it's about carefully crafting experiences that encourage communication, collaboration, and connection. IN8 Create specializes in team building events that are enjoyable, impactful, and memorable.
Four Ways to Boost Employee Morale
Finding ways to boost employee morale is not a one-time effort but a continuous endeavor. By listening to understand, focusing on accountability, increasing autonomy, and finding ways to foster connection, companies can create a positive, energetic, and loyal workforce. The benefits of high employee morale are limitless and can be the difference between a company that merely survives and one that thrives.
Using Fridays as a Leverage Point: Celebrate, Punctuate, and Connect
Fridays are not just the bridge to the weekend. They can be the cornerstone of a productive, positive, and connected organizational culture. By making small shifts in how we perceive and use this day, businesses can create ripple effects that impact the entire working week. So, next Friday, remember to celebrate, punctuate, and connect. The weekend will feel even sweeter after!
Celebration: The Key Ingredient to Build and Sustain High Performing Teams
In essence, celebrations, whether they're team outings, appreciation emails, or award ceremonies, serve as fuel for motivation. They keep teams energized, appreciated, and committed to their roles. If the vision is to build high performing teams, then celebrating every step of the journey is non-negotiable.