May 31, 2009
Excuses Begone by Wayne Dyer
I just caught the last 10 minutes of the PBS presentation of ‘Excuses Begone’ by Dr. Wayne Dyer.
Good stuff! As in VERY good stuff.
He covered the 18 excuses and the affirmations that work on them and I scurried to his website to download them.
You can get them too – just go to http://www.drwaynedyer.com/enews and fill out the brief form to be able to download the pdf that includes 18 beautiful affirmation cards. The cards include both the excuse and the affirmation for it and I know that for me they’ll work beautifully to remind me that I always get to choose whether or not I’m affirming that “I don’t have the energy” or that “I feel passionate about my life and my passion fills me with excitement and energy”.
Awesome stuff! Looking forward to getting my copy of the book as well.
Be well – until next time…
Filed under Self Improvement by Tracy Phaup
It it finally when you let go of what people expect you to be and people’s perceptions of you that you’re able to be the version of yourself that you’re supposed to be – like in God’s eyes. It doesn’t matter if you’re half crazy, or eccentric, or whatever it is – that you have to be true to who you were born to be.
Gwyneth Paltrow Quotes
Filed under Power Thoughts by Tracy Phaup
Objectives:
Group/Team
This is a quick warm-up activity designed to stimulate thought about what makes a team/group effective.
Goal Setting
Defining Success
Time: 20 Minutes
Materials: phone books
Exercise:
Place a phone book (cement blocks work best, they are usually hard to find at work) on the ground.
Explain that this is an exercise that will allow the team to examine how effectively they work together as a team.
Announce: “Your job is to get as many people off the ground as you choose, for as long as you choose.”
The Rules: “Off the ground means that no one may touch the ground. You may only use yourself and the telephone books. You cannot use anything else in the room to assist you.
“You have 10 Minutes to complete the job.” and repeat “Your job is to get as many people off the ground as you choose, for as long as you choose.”
If it is appropriate tell them you have been talking to the competition – name your biggest competitor and tell them they told you they could do it in seven minutes.
Ask for questions, clarify anything then start the clock.
Process:
Have group/team rate their effectiveness on a 1-10 scale, 1 being the worst, 10 being the best. Comment on their ratings
Variations:
Depending on the number of participants you could have two groups or more working at the same time and could be used, depending on the existing dynamic of the group, to explore co-opetition, competition, cooperation and team.
For example, if you’re dividing the team in half and are careful with the instructions, by putting the phonebooks fairly far apart from each other the implication could be that they’re in competition with each other but the rules do not state that they cannot work cooperatively together.
Discussion:
“What would you have had to do to rate your teamwork a 10″? Ask high raters what made them rate the team so high (or low depending on response.)
Lessons to look for: what were the goals they set for themselves and how did it relate to what they accomplished? What did the goal they set have to say about how they feel about risk? How can they relate to the lessons they learned to having other people set goals for them? Bosses? Teachers? Parents? How they did relate to not meeting the goal? Meeting the goal? Exceeding the goal?
Credits: Unknown
Filed under Training by Tracy Phaup
May 30, 2009
Power Thought for the Day – 5-30-2009
Teamwork is so important that it is virtually impossible for you to reach the heights of your capabilities or make the money that you want without becoming very good at it.
Brian Tracy Quotes
Filed under Power Thoughts by Tracy Phaup
Teamwork Checklist
You will find the following techniques helpful in maximizing the success and satisfaction of working in teams. You may want to use this as a checklist when working as a team.
Tips for working in groups:
1. Participate fully, whatever your role.
2. Pick a leader, being sure they possess team leader skills.
3. Leader asks members what they are each most interested in and able to contribute, and members respond honestly.
4. Collectively establish written guidelines for team’s performance, including rewards
and sanctions.
5. Collectively establish a written work plan, including “pad,” “plan B,” and checkpoints.
6. Be sure the labor is divided wisely, fairly, and equally.
7. Identify problems early on and solve them mutually.
8. Implement the plan, making adjustments if needed.
Using the “TEAM” approach (source – Communication Briefings Video):
1. Teach teammates what you do, and learn about what they do: identify strengths,
skills, and roles.
2. Empathize with teammate’s feelings and attitudes: show that you understand and
care about their feelings, opinions, and worries.
3. Ask questions to spark creativity: build greater understanding, increase
communication and participation, and encourage creative thinking.
Use open-ended questions to solicit input, build consensus, or invite creativity.
Use closed-ended questions to gather specific information and decide on action.
Use clarifying questions to understand, be understood, and invite feedback.
Use what if question to open team thinking to the big picture and maximize creativity.
4. Motivate each individual to work toward the common goal.
Express your own enthusiasm.
Demonstrate your own commitment.
Recognize your teammates’ achievements.
Discussion:
Follow Up:
Credits:
Author Unknown
Filed under Team Building, Training by Tracy Phaup
