What is collaboration? How would you define it? A simple definition that works for me is: Collaboration – one or more people working together to accomplish a goal. We almost always accomplish our goals by working with others. Teams working int he same location will find it relatively easy to accomplish a common goal. I would guess that… Read More »
As a child I remember cartoons which had two slightly different images and your task was to figure out the differences. Sometimes the differences were hard to spot but eventually, I was able to find them all. Of course, it might have taken me days to do so… I always like that game and it got me thinking… Read More »
Are you inadvertently locking up your knowledge? Are you hiding information from your peers? Are you limiting the spread of useful information? I’m on a campaign, of sorts, to get people to think outside the inbox. A campaign to start leveraging more collaborative capabilities for sharing information and working together. Does this scenario feel familiar, I receive an… Read More »
Short post today and here I go again preaching for the continued demise of command and control management. I currently have the pleasure of managing, and I use that word lightly, the highest performing team I’ve ever had the good fortune to work with. They rock and I’m sure I would still have a full head of hair… Read More »
Do you ever feel like you are cutting down a forest of trees by walking up, taking a swing, walking to the next tree, taking a swing, and repeating as necessary? It will take a long time before you get the satisfaction of felling that first tree. Everyone I speak to these days, including myself, seems to have… Read More »
Have you ever let the absence of something block your passion? I think back to situations when I had little in material resources but was able to accomplish so much. My passion was greater than my need for “things”. It is troubling that as we begin to have more resources and capabilities such as money, people or tools,… Read More »
It is a tired old phrase. It creates great frustration. It strikes terror in our hearts. It is the phrase “we must do more with less”. It is increasingly heard in tough economic times. Is this a phrase you have heard in the past few months? Lean times often finds that our ranks have been thinned but, the… Read More »
Are you slowly killing yourself at work? I don’t mean working an abundance of hours to the point of exhaustion. I do mean working in an environment where you are depressed, stressed about work, worried about the economy, worried about your continued employment, and a multitude of other workplace stresses that impacts your emotional well-being. These stresses are… Read More »
Part of my job involves helping teams identify potential improvements in the way they do work. A lot of focus revolves around eliminating waste, implementing more productive practices, and increasing collaboration in an effort to increase stakeholder value. This, in turn, causes changes in the way work is accomplished. Change is difficult for most organizations. Recognizing this we… Read More »
Do you find yourself in an organization that is functionally aligned? Where each “function” has a specific role? Where your ability to be the best you can be at your function is valued higher than ensuring project success? Welcome to a union shop. My definition of a union shop is one in which each employee has a well… Read More »