The Highest Performing Teams Have These 4 Mindsets

Teams are everywhere. Our organizations are made up of teams in all forms—project teams, work groups, executive, and leadership teams. Teams are not just a nice-to-have perk; they’re a major strategy for getting work done. Fast-paced, agile work environments require teams to operate virtually around the globe. The demand is for collaboration and teamwork in…

Thinking about Tattling on a Colleague? Ask Madeleine

Dear Madeleine, I work in a very matrixed organization. My actual boss works remotely and I seldom interact with him one-on-one, but we have a team lead on every project. In my work group, we all work on different projects as they come in. One of my peers in another group is causing real problems…

Managing a Team That’s in Constant Turmoil? Ask Madeleine

Dear Madeleine, I was recently hired into a manufacturing company in the engineering department. I am leading two different teams. One of the teams is running smoothly, and the other one is a disaster. Disaster team is in constant turmoil— to the degree that some members of team are not even speaking to each other.…

Business coach with work team

3 Ways Coaching Can Help Teams and Work Groups

Most coaches work one on one with clients, but at times coaches are also hired to facilitate team performance when people come together to accomplish shared goals, make decisions, or learn new skills. Having a coach who is pulling for the good of not only the team but also each team member can help keep…

3 Ways to Put Life Into Deadly Virtual Team Meetings

Ever had this experience as a virtual member of a face-to-face team meeting? You dial into a conference phone. You can’t hear what people are saying. You can’t see the documents, slides, or whiteboards people are referencing, and there is no easy way for you to get the group’s attention to ask a question or…

None of us is as smart as all of us—take this quiz and see for yourself

Here’s an exercise from a team building class I attended that I wanted to share with you. It uses questions from a Mensa quiz to illustrate the point that a team’s collective wisdom is always greater than any individual team member’s. To get started, see how many of these questions you can answer individually. According…

Who’s Got Your Back? 5 ways to find out

One of the hardest things for brilliant, technically proficient folks to realize is that as they assume more and more leadership responsibility they must depend on the help of others.  And each of these “others” is an individual who needs to be seen, heard and understood. One of the strategies you can use to map…