Leadership - Team Verve https://teamverveco.com Team Coaching and DISC Workshops Mon, 20 Apr 2026 16:33:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://teamverveco.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cropped-square-icon-1-32x32.png Leadership - Team Verve https://teamverveco.com 32 32 From the Himalayas to NYC: Team, Trust, and Vulnerability https://teamverveco.com/from-the-himalayas-to-nyc-team-trust-and-vulnerability/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=from-the-himalayas-to-nyc-team-trust-and-vulnerability https://teamverveco.com/from-the-himalayas-to-nyc-team-trust-and-vulnerability/#respond Fri, 20 Mar 2026 20:23:40 +0000 https://teamverveco.com/?p=8254 My love for teams was born high in the Himalayan mountains. I was young, naïve, and full of energy—running hard and stretching boundaries.

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My love for teams was born high in the Himalayan mountains. I was young, naïve, and full of energy—running hard and stretching boundaries. 

Alongside learning to hike jungles and peaks, I began to overcome my own insecurities. I learned to risk trust and practice vulnerability while blazing trails and surviving on rations. In these intense physical conditions, my own glaring weaknesses quickly became obvious, and I realized that no matter how determined I was, I wouldn’t succeed alone. I needed a team.

Later, as I moved into a leadership role, I discovered the challenges of teams went far beyond the mountain trails. Communication could quickly break down. People’s motivations and expectations could be worlds apart. Trust and vulnerability—the very things that make teams thrive— took hard and personal work to build.

Life Has a Lot of Teams!

Over the next few years, life gave me a wide variety of teams: a family business, a pioneer-spirited NGO, a get-it-done startup, an established service company, an educational program, multiple church and nonprofit teams, and my own growing marriage-and-family team! Phew!

As I navigated these teams, I increasingly saw the need for skills – team skills. I observed that whether in business, marriage, or family, teams have the power to accomplish incredible things—or quickly fall into dysfunction. Simultaneously, teams are as different as the people in them, and navigating those differences can be both profoundly rewarding and incredibly challenging.

 
DISC and Working Genius Training in NYC

When Teams Start to Fray

Quite a few years ago, my own team was stressed, distrustful, and inching dangerously close to burnout. Our organizational health was declining—even though we were still accomplishing a lot. I found myself turning cynical and discouraged. It began to feel heavy just showing up.

Thankfully, our team—and our brave leader (can we give a shout-out to courageous leaders?)—recognized the need for change. We invited a coach. We committed to doing the hard work. And I’m still amazed at the growth that followed. 

What changed?

  • We learned how to communicate honestly and intentionally.
  • We rebuilt trust.
  • We addressed conflict instead of avoiding it.
  • We developed skills we didn’t even realize were missing.

As clarity increased, so did trust. As trust improved, so did momentum. And as momentum grew, our organizational health—and our results—improved together.

Somewhere along the way, I discovered something unexpected: I love serving as a facilitator who creates space for honest conversations, breakthrough moments, and shared wins. I love designing interactive learning experiences where teams don’t just sit and listen—but actively engage, practice, reflect, and grow together.

I’m Not Here to Reinvent the Wheel

Let me say something clearly: I’m not an author unveiling a brand-new framework. I’m not trying to coin the next big leadership theory. I’m not here to impress you with complicated models or write a new book. What I love to do is help your team accomplish your goals using the tools already available.
 
Most organizations don’t need another binder on the shelf. They don’t need more buzzwords, frameworks, or another flashy leadership summit. They need a strong team.
 
There are already excellent tools, strategies, and leadership principles available today. My role as a facilitator is to help you apply them to your people, your culture, your challenges, and your goals.
 
I’ll say it upfront: I’ve never been someone who thrives in long sessions or heavy theory. I learn best by doing—by jumping in, collaborating with a team, and applying ideas in real time. This interactive learning approach feels especially effective when it comes to team sessions. After all, teamwork isn’t something you grasp from a distance; it’s something you build together.
 

The Problems Aren’t Unique 

For the last dozen years, I’ve lived in one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the world (Queens, NYC) and worked with more than 100 business and non-profit teams across multiple continents and cultures. I’m now about as far removed geographically from those remote Himalayan mountains as one could be. But I’ve realized something important: the stressors I experienced then are not unique.
 
Across industries and teams, I hear the same struggles:
• “We avoid difficult conversations.”
• “I want to be a more effective leader.”
• “Trust is broken on our team.”
• “We struggle to rally the team.”
• “I don’t understand my leader.”
• “Our team feels stuck.”
• “Our differences are just too big.”
• “I want to equip my team to succeed.”
• “I need leaders.” 
 
Different contexts. Same core challenges.
 
Workplace development isn’t about fixing broken people. It’s about strengthening communication, skills, and relationships so teams can operate at their best. It’s about improving organizational health so strategy and execution can thrive. 
 
I don’t claim to know everything about teams. But I have seen, again and again, the rewards of doing the hard work. I’ve witnessed the thrill of being part of an empowered, energized, life-giving team.
 
Workplace Development in NYC

And So, Team Verve Was Born

Out of these experiences came Team Verve. What is “verve,” you might ask? Verve is life. It’s energy, motivation, and passion. It’s the strength to endure when things get tough. It’s the magic that occurs when individuals truly work together. 

We believe verve is the mark of any winning team culture.

A team with verve doesn’t avoid hard conversations—it engages them with respect. A team with verve doesn’t crumble under differences—it learns from them. A team with verve doesn’t pretend and assume —it builds rhythms that sustain both performance and people. 

At every Team Verve event, the power of the team is put to work. Through engaging, interactive learning experiences designed to strengthen both performance and organizational health, your team will:

And yes, we will have a lot of fun doing it. Because team doesn’t have to feel heavy.

Don’t Climb Alone

Standing in the middle of New York City today, I’m a long way from those Himalayan trails where my love for team first began. But the lesson remains the same: none of us were meant to climb alone. We need healthy and strong teams to succeed. 

That’s the work I care about, and it’s the work Team Verve exists to support. 

Are you ready?

Chat with Matt.

Let's start the conversation--your team deserves it!
The post From the Himalayas to NYC: Team, Trust, and Vulnerability appeared first on Team Verve.]]> https://teamverveco.com/from-the-himalayas-to-nyc-team-trust-and-vulnerability/feed/ 0 Meaningful Winter Team-Building Events in NYC https://teamverveco.com/meaningful-winter-team-building-events-in-nyc/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=meaningful-winter-team-building-events-in-nyc https://teamverveco.com/meaningful-winter-team-building-events-in-nyc/#respond Tue, 11 Nov 2025 21:23:46 +0000 https://teamverveco.com/?p=7701 Planning a team event in NYC this winter? Discover meaningful team-building activities and workshops tailored for small businesses that value trust, unity, and purpose.

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As the holidays approach, many small businesses and teams in New York City are searching for ways to close the year with gratitude and connection. From shared meals in Queens to creative team workshops for small businesses in Brooklyn, holding meaningful winter team-building events in NYC offers a chance to reflect on what’s been accomplished, honor the people behind the work, and prepare for the year ahead. If you’re wondering how to plan a meaningful team event in NYC that builds unity, sparks joy, and strengthens your shared mission, this guide offers six practical ideas to help you lead well and finish strong.

And if you’re not in NYC, read along! Plenty of good ideas here no matter which region you represent.

Why Team Holiday Events Matter: Building Unity, Gratitude, and Momentum

Done well, team events are a rewarding and enjoyable way to celebrate your team and let them know you care about them as individuals, and not just as worker bees.

We’ve all been to holiday events that were either tremendously meaningful or less than inspiring.

Planning holiday events may feel like just another task for busy leaders to check off the list. However, visionary team leaders understand this is a key opportunity to create camaraderie and enthusiasm. Think of it as your chance to genuinely thank your team and rally them for the next year.

Six Steps to Planning Meaningful Team-Building Events in NYC

1. Clarify your objectives before you begin. 

What do you hope to accomplish? Invite several teammates to help with the planning and spend a few minutes determining your goals and desired outcome. 

    • Is it to recognize employees for their hard work?
    • Help colleagues get to know each other better?
    • Boost morale by building cohesion and vision for the team?
    • Just have fun? 

List your three top objectives—defining them from the start will help you plan an event to achieve your goals. 

2. Include something fun:  Ideas that spark joy and connection.

When you are creating a team event at the holidays—or anytime—fun should be one of the primary factors! Whether a casual lunch or an hour of skill training, team events should feel like a break, not another day at work. 

Playfulness and breaking up the schedule develops team spirit. It fills the team with creative energy that allows for greater productivity when they return to work. 
Start with the question, “How will my team enjoy being together?”  This varies greatly from team to team.

Here is a list of ideas to jumpstart your planning—

    • Match your company culture. Is your company artistic, techie, foodie, outdoorsy, traditional, adventurous, community focused? Look for a venue, event, or gifts that build on your existing brand as a company.
    • Consider your local area. Visit a new show, attraction, or escape room. Attend a concert. Go on a food tour (don’t miss Chai Bhai in our neighborhood of Jackson Heights). Tour a holiday light show (Dyker Heights Christmas Lights!) or outdoor market (Bryant Park’s Winter Village or Queens Night Market).  Volunteer together at a local mission or relief organization.
    • Choose a common hobby. Do your employees share any common hobbies? Hike or ice skate. Play laser tag or a game of golf. Visit an inspiring shop or museum. Paint pottery or landscapes.
    • As the leader, agree to laugh at yourself. Your team will love it if you lead with warmth, openness, and a great sense of humor. Lighten up, wear your craziest socks and have some fun!
    • Create friendly competition. Hold a cubicle decorating contest or a cookie bake-off. Team up employees for a scavenger hunt around the city. Get to know each other better!
    • Give out prizes. Door prizes, gift cards, and raffles are always a winner. Give thoughtful, fun gifts your team will actually enjoy. (Not those dusty, branded coasters no one claimed the first time around!)
    • Include a surprise or something unexpected. Schedule a food truck or local coffee cart to show up at lunch. Send the team home early with a small gift to add joy to their family celebrations. Donate to a cause your team supports in their honor!

3. Celebrate your team’s wins before the year ends!

Here at Team Verve, we’re big fans of celebrations. So often teams rush from project to project, not taking time to recognize what has been accomplished together. This can lead to team burnout.

However, team enthusiasm builds from reflecting on how they have won in the past year.  As a leader, you see the big-picture wins, so make sure your whole team hears about them and celebrates!

    • Reflect on your wins as a team. The leader’s attitude communicates exponentially here! Go for more than the bottom dollar or that your organization survived another year. Instead, create a list that covers the big picture and explains exactly how the team won in each area.
    • Ask your team. Break out the whiteboard, smartboard, or those giant sticky notes. Ask your team to help fill out the wins and losses columns. Leaders, prepare to share first!
    • Get out of the office. Break up with your conference room for a day and take your team somewhere inspiring to reflect on their success. Make the atmosphere celebratory and relaxing.

 

4. Learn something new:  Workshops that equip and inspire.

Setting time aside for team learning shows your commitment to the team’s success.  Invest wisely in a measurably beneficial—and still enjoyable—activity, workshop, or class that is fully useful to their work.

Learn about new technology, products, or design trends in your industry. Improve key skills like communication, empathy, customer service, or leadership. Empower your team to go further in a skill area, and everyone wins.

5. Build team vision and strategy for the year ahead.

When your team is gathered together and having fun, this is an excellent chance to create clarity around the big-picture goals, vision, and principles of the organization. Leaders must clearly communicate the WHY of what the team is doing with HOW they are getting there. 

Questions every NYC team leader should ask: 

    • Does your team own the organization’s vision, mission, and direction for next year?
    • Can your team clearly articulate the “why” behind their work—and how it connects to impact?
    • Do employees know the part they play in helping the team win? Are they proud to be part of it?
    • Are your core values known, lived out, and shaping daily decisions?
    • What challenges or improvements should we tackle next year—and how can we proactively address them?

As you answer the questions above, it may become clearer where more communication is needed for your team.  Reach out to discuss how to choose and facilitate activities that unleash the potential of your team!

6. Eat food, of course!

Does this one go without saying? Nearly all team events should include eating together. Serving food signals care! It lets the team relax and creates cross-team mingling that can be hard to achieve otherwise. Plan intentionally, order plenty to go around, account for dietary restrictions, and enjoy! Bonus points for sourcing your menu from a locally owned restaurant or caterer. 

Ready to lead well and finish strong? Get started on your next meaningful team-building event in NYC!

Planning a meaningful team event doesn’t have to be overwhelming. No matter what type of team you lead, the goal is the same:  Honor your people, reflect on the year, and prepare for what’s ahead with clarity and purpose. Start by identifying a few core objectives, then invite your team into the process. Enjoy the celebration!

NYC Team Event Support from Team Verve Co.

At Team Verve, we partner with leaders across NYC and beyond to design and facilitate team gatherings that build trust, spark creativity, and strengthen shared mission. We start by working with the leader to identify the needs of the team and create objectives for events. Then we plan and facilitate activities that will energize the team for the new year. Whether you’re looking for a simple workshop, a values-aligned retreat, or a seasonal celebration with purpose, we’re here to help you lead well and finish strong. Chat with Matt.

Let's start the conversation--your team deserves it!
The post Meaningful Winter Team-Building Events in NYC appeared first on Team Verve.]]> https://teamverveco.com/meaningful-winter-team-building-events-in-nyc/feed/ 0 Three Steps to Build a High-Performance Team https://teamverveco.com/three-steps-to-build-a-high-performance-team/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=three-steps-to-build-a-high-performance-team https://teamverveco.com/three-steps-to-build-a-high-performance-team/#respond Sat, 10 Aug 2024 21:56:48 +0000 https://teamverveco.com/?p=5980 What would it take to build a high-performance team at your organization? Does your hiring program look for humble, hungry, and smart team players…and then help them get to the right seat on the bus? Explore three steps needed for developing effective teamwork and healthy work culture.

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How deep is your bench? What would it take to build a high-performance team at your organization? Does your hiring program intentionally look for team players? And help them get to the right seat on the bus? Let’s explore three steps needed for building a high-performance team!

Step 1: Hire Ideal Team Players!

In life, we work in teams. Why is this important?

This acronym came across my desk recently, and it resonated with my life and experience:

                    T – Together
                    E – Everyone
                    A – Achieves
                    M – More

Think about the teams you’ve been part of—family, church, community organizations, workgroups, leadership teams, and so on.

Which teams worked best together? The ones where one or more players appear to be in a free for all…or the ones brimming with team players?  

Simon Sinek quote about attitude. Build a high-performance team.

In his book The Ideal Team Player, Patrick Lencioni identifies three building blocks of the best kind of teammates— 

  • Humble:  They share credit and celebrate the teams’ collective win. They are also comfortable being honest about their own skills and strengths.
  • Hungry:  They are motivated and diligent. They go above and beyond to contribute to the team.
  • Smart:   They are emotionally intelligent and exercise great judgment. They have “people skills.”

Using and developing all three of these building blocks forms us into ideal team players! Indeed, these three disciplines taken together can build a high-performance team!


“Great team players lack excessive ego or concerns about status.
They are quick to point out the contributions of others
and slow to seek attention for their own.

They share credit, emphasize team over self,
and define success collectively rather than individually.

It is no great surprise, then, that humility
is the single greatest and most indispensable attribute
of being a team player.”

– Patrick Lencioni

Get to the Heart of Being Humble, Hungry, and Smart

Taking it a step further for leaders, these three keys help identify others who could be ideal team players.

But, how do you get these ideal team players onto your bus (organization) and into the right seat (role) for them?

First, leaders must set an example of the Hungry-Humble-Smart model and develop a healthy work culture around these concepts. This may mean acknowledging improvements needed and seeking out coaching to develop the weaker skill(s).

Then, when hiring, look very closely at the candidates’ behavioral skills and attitudes, not just their technical know-how. Learn to hold better interviews by targeting the questions that get to the heart of being hungry, humble, and smart. Ask probing questions of your candidates and solicit honest feedback from others on their attitude tendencies.

Step 2: Put Your Players in the Right Seat on the Bus!

So now you’ve hired your ideal team player, who lives out the Hungry-Humble-Smart model in their daily work. The right person is definitely on the right bus.

But how do you know if they are in the right seat on the bus?  And if they’re not, how do they move to the correct seat quickly for their good and that of the entire team?

This is where Working Genius comes into play! Teams find better fulfillment in their work and optimized performance on their teams when they learn to utilize the innate skills and gifts—or geniuses—of each teammate.

Each of us has Working Geniuses that are considered our sweet spot in work.
Using these gifts gives us joy, energy, and passion.

We also have Working Competencies that neither feed nor drain us.
We tend to engage in activities that require these skills fairly well with limits.

Conversely, our Working Frustrations are areas where we aren’t naturally skilled.
These tend to rob us of joy and energy.

Together the six working geniuses outline the full circumference of any project group—from the starting point of creating ideas and vision (Wonder and Invention) into the deeper dive of truly understanding the work and developing the project team (Discernment and Galvanizing) through seeing the project and the project team to the optimal end result (Enablement and Tenacity).

Teams must work together in a smooth process to achieve results! The tenets of Working Genius help overcome teamwork challenges while giving your team a better way to think about projects, meetings, and hiring.

Working Genius WIDGET. Build a High-Performance Team.

Maximize Working Genius, Minimize Working Frustration!

How do you determine which ideal skills and gifts are needed in each role at your organization? And, how do you confirm all your employees are in the right seat on the bus?

In an ideal world you would have discerned the geniuses needed for your organization’s open seats prior to opening each hiring window, and every new hire’s areas of genius would fit into their role seamlessly.

If that step was left out somehow, don’t despair! Your team’s gifts and skills can be assessed at any time. An agile organization can shift their bus’s seating chart to optimize their team’s genius.

As you’ve likely guessed, there are tools available to take the mystery out of your team members’ geniuses! This makes it easy for people who work together to identify their talents and the tasks that help them thrive.

Step 3: Build Trust!

So, now we understand how to find ideal team players and how to plug them into the right roles.

But, how do we build and encourage a healthy work culture for the entire team?

One word:  TRUST!

Many well-meaning, talented teams lack trust. They are likely afraid of conflict and would rather preserve artificial harmony than risk the healthy vulnerability that leads to trust.

Counter to conventional wisdom, the root causes of team dysfunction are both identifiable and curable.

A healthy, functioning team requires a foundation of trust, based on a vulnerability that comes from honest communication. This means creating healthy dialogue around both the things that make us nervous, like conflicting opinions or admitting mistakes, and the things we’re passionate about, like our years of experience or visionary gifts.

Healthy conflict response strategies for teams. 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

Being able to discuss teamwork honestly and come to clear conclusions about how to move forward keeps the entire team accountable to their mission.

This commitment to shared accountability leads to better, measurable results overall.

So, what can we do now to build a high-performance team? Making a team functional and cohesive requires intentional levels of courage and discipline!

Bonus Step 4: Support Your Powerhouse Team!

Ready to build a high-performance team? Putting humble, hungry, and smart team players on the right seat on the bus boosts teamwork and work culture every time!

Did you know that Team Verve Co. offers exciting team-building workshops designed to build on each other? These high-energy, engaging sessions are filled with world-class content and interactive learning for immediate and ongoing application!

Our Ideal Team Player, Working Genius, and Five Dysfunctions of a Team workshops work together to pack a power punch for teams hungry to grow! Your teams can target their most-needed workshop or take all three to maximize their team genius!

Check out these powerhouses today!

if you have questions about any of these tools, we are glad to point you in the right direction. 
Chat with Matt!

Team Verve, NYC

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The post Three Steps to Build a High-Performance Team appeared first on Team Verve.]]> https://teamverveco.com/three-steps-to-build-a-high-performance-team/feed/ 0 Your Toolbox: DISC for Hiring and Onboarding https://teamverveco.com/your-toolbox-disc-for-hiring-and-onboarding/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=your-toolbox-disc-for-hiring-and-onboarding https://teamverveco.com/your-toolbox-disc-for-hiring-and-onboarding/#respond Fri, 21 Jun 2024 23:03:56 +0000 https://teamverveco.com/?p=5747 Hiring new employees—while maintaining a healthy team culture—is an immense and challenging responsibility for even the most seasoned leaders. Adding key equipment to your recruiting toolbox, like using DISC for hiring and onboarding, can yield great results! Hiring and Onboarding with Intention Finding, hiring, and onboarding ideal candidates successfully requires thoughtful pre-work before any hiring […]

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Hiring new employees—while maintaining a healthy team culture—is an immense and challenging responsibility for even the most seasoned leaders. Adding key equipment to your recruiting toolbox, like using DISC for hiring and onboarding, can yield great results!

Hiring and Onboarding with Intention

Finding, hiring, and onboarding ideal candidates successfully requires thoughtful pre-work before any hiring campaign gets underway. 

Hiring managers need…

  • A well-defined understanding of the role being filled and its value to the company
  • A thorough-yet-concise job description for the role 
  • A clarity about the extent to which each new hire might affect company culture

Are your leaders crystal-clear on the types of employees you wish to attract and the expectations your culture is building? If not, head back to the drawing board on the above list!

Additionally, what shared language does your organization use to express these values and expectations? How can new employees learn that language quickly and accurately so they understand how they fit in the team?

Useful Hiring Assessment Tools

We often hear of job candidates being administered assessments—like DISC—as part of the recruitment process. These assessments can be helpful tools in discerning key aspects of a candidate’s work or communication styles.

As your recruiters look for potential hires who fit well with the job’s description and requirements, the DISC Hiring Bundle can help describe an ideal candidate for the position.

At interview time, that simple DISC assessment can assist the hiring team with crafting strong interview questions based on each applicant’s predictable strengths and weaknesses. Sample questions to add to your interview guide might be,

  • “Do you see this as one of your strengths? How could this play out on the job?”
  • “Do you think this is actually one of your weaknesses? How can our team help you in this area?”

DISC can also help you understand a candidate’s work style a bit better and discern if the typical requirements of the role fall within their comfort zone. Be cautious about pigeonholing or typecasting job seekers, however. You may be surprised by hidden skills and talents best uncovered through unbiased, thoughtful conversations.

Additionally, DISC can help bring aboard styles to balance out an existing team or advance a particular project. It is a useful tool to help you build your bench for success!   

Employee and DISC workbook, using Disc for hiring and onboarding

Intentional Onboarding Practices

According to recent Gallup studies, only 12% of new hires felt their onboarding experience was adequate. Today, more than ever, a clear, enjoyable, and intentional onboarding process is crucial to retaining employees and protecting healthy work culture.

Companies who are already using DISC with their teams can tailor certain aspects of onboarding (and even pre-boarding, that phase between job acceptance and the employee’s first day) to suit a new hire’s learning style and communication needs. A New Team Member Bundle provides key tools for this!

DISC for hiring and onboarding: DISC Assessment, Job Match Tool, Online Training Session offered

DISC provides common ground and shared language as teams get to know the newest team member. As that new teammate acclimates to a new daily routine, conversations about company and shared team culture can happen organically in the context of discussing how the team’s goals are influenced by their DISC styles.

Likewise, managers who disclose their own DISC results with new hires—and who welcome discussion about preferred communication and work styles—can build trust and loyalty with these new team members more quickly and effectively. 

The Right Bus, the Right Seat

Once you’ve discovered your team’s newest star, hired and onboarded them with intentionality and care, then what?

Now comes the work of making sure your new great-fit employee is in the right seat on the right bus, to help them achieve their best and to maintain your company’s healthy team culture.

Patrick Lencioni, in a nod to Jim Collins’ book Good to Great, refers to this bus metaphor to help leaders understand that they must thoughtfully take care of the “Who” in order to effectively manage the “Where” (the organization’s trajectory) and the “What” (the solutions to be discovered along the way).

Taking an organization’s mission and legacy to new heights involves leaders being intentional about hiring, firing, onboarding, and role structuring for success. 

Consider your “A Level” personnel—those employees who would walk through fire or flood for your organization, your clients/shareholders, and your team.

  • Are they achieving success in their roles?
  • Could they push your organization’s mission to greater heights if they moved to a different bus seat?
  • What if another A Player joined them in the adjacent bus seat—what could they achieve together for the greater good? 

Do you need to find more of these great-fit employees for your bus? Remember that a DISC assessment is just the start to finding your next shining star!

Using DISC for Hiring and Onboarding

DISC is just one tool to keep in your recruitment toolbox for intentional hiring and onboarding. It is also useful for placing your team members in their right-seat roles. Use DISC as a tool to build your team. We are cheering you on!

Additionally, DISC can be put to work in other contexts—to give more specific feedback and ask better questions, to understand the preferences and concerns of your customers, to build on the strengths of your employees and work through differences, to talk about hard things, and to build a culture of trust in your team.

If you have questions about any of these DISC tools, we are glad to point you in the right direction. Chat with Matt or check out DISC training workshops.

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The post Your Toolbox: DISC for Hiring and Onboarding appeared first on Team Verve.]]> https://teamverveco.com/your-toolbox-disc-for-hiring-and-onboarding/feed/ 0 Master the Art of Productive Meetings https://teamverveco.com/more-productive-meetings/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=more-productive-meetings https://teamverveco.com/more-productive-meetings/#respond Tue, 12 Dec 2023 21:04:08 +0000 https://teamverveco.com/?p=4654 Many of us spend a lot of time in meetings. In fact, meetings may be the most important part of the work we do.  It is where we have important conversations, share ideas, plan our work, make decisions, build team relationships, and decide how to get work done.   Or not?   Some of us […]

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Many of us spend a lot of time in meetings. In fact, meetings may be the most important part of the work we do. 

It is where we have important conversations, share ideas, plan our work, make decisions, build team relationships, and decide how to get work done.

 

Or not?

 

Some of us have also experienced meetings that severely lacked productivity and effectiveness, where no decisions are made, team members walk away frustrated, and everyone wonders if the meeting was just a waste of precious time.

 

As a leader, it is tempting to throw every sort of issue that needs to be talked about into one long, unproductive meeting – like a bad stew with too many ingredients. Put simply, is the lazy way of leading meetings and sets the team up for frustration and low productivity. 

 

For people who dread meetings, one of my favorite tools to recommend is “The Six Types of Working Genius” because of its effectiveness at transforming meetings. In short, The Working Genius is a framework to improve productivity at work and get more done, especially in meetings. Here are three tips to master the art of meetings with Working Genius:

Determine the type of meeting needed.

Working Genius identifies four types of meetings with different objectives appropriate for each stage of work. As leaders, we must learn to recognize, value, and initiate different types of meetings to lead our team in productivity.

 

The following descriptions are partially excerpted from The Table Group: 

  • Brainstorming or Offsite Meeting – This type of meeting is to step back and look at your market or environment. It is where we ask big picture questions like, “Are we solving the right problems?”, “Are we missing something”, “Could we serve our customers better?” These meetings are more conceptual at the highest elevation of work. It plays out a bit like ping-pong between wondering about important questions and inventing new ways of doing things.
  • Solutions-Oriented or Strategic Meeting – This meeting is where we identify specific problems and spend time tackling them with a strategic focus. The purpose is to address an issue, design a solution, and take time to tweak it. Here we ask questions like, “What is our focus?”, “How can we tweak our strategy?”, “How can we refine our solution?” This meeting requires invention with plenty of time to push back with concerns and discern the best path forward.
  • Rally & Tactical or Weekly Staff Meeting – This meeting is really about inspiring and equipping people to execute. We know our primary objective and we need to get the ball moving. Here we ask questions like, “What do we need to get it done?”, “Who needs to do what?”, “How do we move the ball forward?” This meeting rallies the team around the goals and assesses the resources needed.
  • Task Oriented or Daily Tactical Meeting – This is a brief meeting where we get updates on what everyone is working on. We ask questions like “What is everyone working on today?” “What will we get done today?” “What can we check off the list?” This meeting is about prioritizing and allocating resources to get the project to the finish line. 
Meetings

As we can see, different types of meetings have vastly different goals. Mashing all of these into one unorganized or unclarified meeting can result in a lot of frustrating conversation circles. Productivity is improved when the type of meeting is clearly defined.

Learn to regulate your working genius. 

As leaders, we tend to make every meeting about our own preferred stage of the project. This is well-intentioned but disorientating. The process of all work has three necessary phases and always defaulting or leading to your area of strength can greatly frustrate the team and initiate confusion.  It is important to understand where the team is in the process of work, be aware of your tendencies, and regulate when needed.

 

For example, some of us are idea machines. We love new inventions and ways of doing things. However, there are times when we have meetings to move a project to the finish line. This meeting is simply not the time to bring a new idea or solution. On the flip side, some of us enjoy moving things to the finish line more than high-level ideating. In these cases, we need to regulate in higher-level meetings, recognizing the value of big-picture questions without immediately pushing for
a decision, action plan, or details.

 

It can be highly frustrating if a team leader doesn’t regulate in different types of meetings or only values and leads one or two types of meetings. Productivity is improved when leaders recognize their tendencies and regulate for the good of the team.  

Let your team know.

After you as a leader have determined the type of meeting and how you can regulate, it is important to get your team on board. The Working Genius assessment and training equips your team to use their own working geniuses, learn to regulate, and be more productive.  

 

After your team knows the meeting framework, you can communicate quickly. This can be as simple as “Today, we plan to brainstorm ideas for Project X, no decision needs to be made we just need to get some possible solutions on the table.” Or during a meeting you may insert, “I appreciate that idea, but this project is in the final stages, so we need to stay focused on our current solution and getting to the finished line. You are welcome to bring your idea to me outside of the meeting
to consider for our next project.” You may be surprised at how your productivity in meetings drastically improves by clarifying and communicating expectations.

 

 

My experience with the Working Genius is that I have become better equipped to participate and lead meetings. I can confidently offer my strengths and then regulate when the meetings dip into areas that are not my favorite. At the same time, understanding the process of work has given me a language to keep meetings on track while encouraging teammates to collaborate in their areas of working genius.

 

Let’s bring clarity and organization to our team meetings!

 

Think the Working Genius would boost productivity on your team? Take a Working Genius assessment or Get Started with Team Training. 

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The post Master the Art of Productive Meetings appeared first on Team Verve.]]> https://teamverveco.com/more-productive-meetings/feed/ 0 How to Encourage Team Reflection (and why it matters) https://teamverveco.com/how-to-encourage-team-reflection/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-encourage-team-reflection https://teamverveco.com/how-to-encourage-team-reflection/#respond Tue, 28 Nov 2023 19:59:56 +0000 https://teamverveco.com/?p=4591 Your team’s thoughts and insights can be incredibly useful in figuring out how to improve your workplace. However, for employee reflection to have a meaningful impact, the business must put things in place that encourage honest and thoughtful insights. Here are a few ways to encourage your team to reflect:  Keep communication lines open. It’s […]

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Your team’s thoughts and insights can be incredibly useful in figuring out how to improve your workplace.

However, for employee reflection to have a meaningful impact, the business must put things in place that encourage honest and thoughtful insights.

Here are a few ways to encourage your team to reflect: 

Keep communication lines open.

It’s important to encourage employees to communicate openly and make it a norm to give and receive feedback. Make sure to incorporate reflection questions into your regular reviews or KRA’s. Listen closely, ask for details, and then do your best to implement necessary changes and follow up with them. As you welcome and respond well to feedback, you build trust with your team and have a better chance of gaining honest and valuable insights. 

Model reflection by going first.

Show your employees how. Openly reflect on your own performance and the company/team performance from your perspective. Show them how you do it in a genuine and honest way and explain how important this process is. 

Value professional growth as much as performance.

As you reflect on the year, don’t exclusively reflect on the business bottom line and operations. Take the time to also reflect on employee skills/development and ask meaningful questions about team culture. Often this happens most effectively in 1-1 key results area or review meetings. 

Leverage strengths-based tools. 

When a leader focuses on where individuals thrive, employees feel seen, valued, and motivated. This creates more trust and safety to reflect on areas where improvement is needed. Two of our favorite strength-based tools are DISC and Working Genius.

Try a simple SWOT analysis.

Utilizing a SWOT analysis — strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats — is a good way to get interesting feedback. SWOT analysis works so well because employees do not immediately start by complaining about what is wrong with the company, instead, it challenges them to look at the company from all sides.

Keep it simple.

Sometimes the best reflection is simple and repeatable.  Ask your team to help you list wins and losses from the past year. Be prepared to share a few meaningful highs and a few honest challenges. Get your team’s perspective and ask clarifying questions.

As Albert Einstein said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”  The first step to change is reflecting on what went well, what was difficult, and where improvement is needed – at the team level! This can provide the foundational insights needed for collective improvement and growth. 

At Team Verve, we know you are busy, and we are here to help you gather feedback and build your team. Whether a workshop or SWOT analysis with the entire team or individual 1-1 Employee meetings, Contact Matt and let’s give your team the advantage.L

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The post How to Encourage Team Reflection (and why it matters) appeared first on Team Verve.]]> https://teamverveco.com/how-to-encourage-team-reflection/feed/ 0 Build an Intentional Team Culture https://teamverveco.com/build-an-intentional-team-culture/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=build-an-intentional-team-culture https://teamverveco.com/build-an-intentional-team-culture/#comments Wed, 05 Apr 2023 17:40:42 +0000 https://teamverveco.com/?p=3286 Culture is either tolerated or created. Leaders play an active role in forming and maintaining a team culture.  So, what is team culture? It is a living collection of values, beliefs, and objectives that define and communicate your team’s identity. More simply, culture is often observed in the rhythms, habits, and regular communication of a […]

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Culture is either tolerated or created. Leaders play an active role in forming and maintaining a team culture. 

So, what is team culture? It is a living collection of values, beliefs, and objectives that define and communicate your team’s identity. More simply, culture is often observed in the rhythms, habits, and regular communication of a team. As leaders, it is our job to intentionally form our team culture. This is vital to building a high-morale and high-trust team.  

 

Often team culture is formally communicated through a team playbook. In this post, we are assuming your team has already done the hard work of creating and defining your playbook. Your team has clarified ‘Why You Exist’ as a team. You have identified ‘What Is Important Right Now’. Maybe you have given specific roles to each person and agreed on core values or behaviors. Your team has put in hard work to create an intentional culture. Celebrate – you have done the first, and perhaps most difficult, step!  (If your team hasn’t created a team playbook, check out the The Team Advantage Workshop).

 

So your team has created a playbook, now what? A team’s culture needs to go further than printed words to actively live in a team’s values, beliefs, and objectives. People lose focus easily, team members move on, and the last thing you want is for your playbook to be forgotten or lost in cyberspace somewhere. How can you build on the hard work you have done and make your playbook a living part of your culture? In this blog post, we share eight practical ways to use your playbook to form an intentional team culture. 

 

 

Put it on the wall.

One of the best ways to remember is to write it on the wall. Frame it, write it, stencil it, decal it, be creative, but get it on the wall! Blank walls are the perfect canvas to keep what matters front and center. Some good examples include:

  • ‘Why We Exist’ and ‘What We Do’ statements should be displayed in prominent places where both the public and your team can read them often. A showroom, front desk, or classroom are all great places for these short statements.
  • Display your values or ‘How We Behave’ where the members of your team can view them daily such as in the team meeting room, workshop, dining area, or seating area.
  • Consider adding team bios to a wall. Bio’s can include a simple photo with the team member’s main role and responsibilities to communicate ‘Who Does What’. To make it fun add something personal such as a favorite quote or a little about their personality. Team bios are often more suitable for a hallway or through way where people can be introduced to your team quickly. Bios are especially important for teams that have a lot of foot traffic or first-time visitors.
  • The Team Playbook should be able to fit on a one-page sheet of paper. This one page can be displayed on employees’ desks or beside the office door or on the bulletin board. Your one-page may be changed annually so keep it easily replaceable and printable.

Incorporate into meeting rhythms. 

In each meeting incorporate one question or activity that works to communicate your team culture. This doesn’t need to take more than a couple of minutes and can be connected to the main topic of the meeting. Some examples include:

 

  • Ask your team often, “Why Do We Exist?” Get someone to tell the story of why the team was started in just 1 minute. Make this so normal that any member of the team can answer this question quickly. When a team member needs help, expand the question to the entire team.
  • Ask each person to share how their role helps accomplish ‘Why We Exist’? Ask the rest of the team to help them connect the dots if needed.
  • Ask your team which part of ‘What We Do’ is working or most successful on the team right now. What part could use some improvement?
  • Do a brief study or dive into the different ‘How We Behave’ values. Have you noticed a team member living out the value well? Ask that person to share in two minutes what the value means to them.
  • Share an example or story from history that illustrates a ‘How Do We Behave’ value lived out well.
  • Before making big decisions, briefly review any ‘How We Succeed’ strategies and ‘How We Behave’ that could influence the decision-making process.
  • Ask your team what progress has been made on ‘What Is Important Right Now’ Then ask what action steps the team needs to take or is taking to accomplish it.

Don’t leave your playbook to a once-a-year review. Instead, as you incorporate bit-sized discussions into meetings, team members will start to internalize the team’s common values and beliefs.

Connect cheers and celebrations.

What gets celebrated gets repeated. Include your team’s playbook in cheers and encouragement. Ask often, “How have you seen your team display a ‘How We Behave’ value recently?” “What steps did you see your teammates take this week to get us closer to ‘What Is Important Right Now’? “Has anyone seen a teammate do a good job of using a ‘How We Succeed’ strategy?”

Did your team accomplish ‘What is Important Right Now?’ Make sure to celebrate it! Do you see your team doing an outstanding job at a ‘How We Behave’ value, spontaneously bring doughnuts and tell them! When you connect your celebrations to something meaningful, it builds momentum.

Work it into your communications.

All aspects of your communication should reflect your team’s culture. Whether you are a business or non-profit team, work your playbook into all the corners of your marketing and communications. Certainly, the entire playbook is not always appropriate for public consumption, and rarely will you throw up the entire playbook onto some marketing space. Instead look for ways to communicate parts of your playbook, especially ‘Why We Exist’ and ‘What We Do’, across your existing website, videos, presentations, printed items, and social media.  

You may not think that you have much marketing per se, but every team has methods of communication. It may be as simple as all team members having an email signature with the ‘Why We Exist’ statement. Start by taking a look at your existing communication methods and aim for consistency. 

Include in accountability.

How does your team give feedback? Whether you use a KRA or 1-1 mentoring meeting or something else entirely, include aspects of your team playbook in your feedback. Give encouragement and constructive criticism into how a team member is displaying your ‘How We Behave’ value, contributing to ‘What Is Important Right Now’, and using your ‘How We Succeed’ strategy. As you give focused feedback you communicate what is important!

Add it to onboarding.

As your team culture is reflected across all aspects of your team, new members will be able to learn your team culture quickly and naturally. However, don’t miss out on the perfect opportunity that is onboarding. Add items into your existing interview and onboarding process that explain ‘Why You Exist’, ‘What You Do’, and ‘How You Behave’. Some ideas include:

  • Share your team playbook and tell stories behind the different statements. Include the story of how your team began and how it connects to ‘Why We Exist.’
  • Ask other team members to explain how their role connects to  ‘Why We Exist’. Ask the new team member to write a short essay about how their role fits into the ‘Why We Exist.’
  • Assign further learning materials that offer insight into ‘How We Behave’ and ‘How We Succeed’. Help your new team member get excited about your team’s strategies and values.
  • Give an in-person tour of the programs and activities included in ‘What We Do’.
  • Make intentional introductions to the rest of the team members, including their roles and responsibilities, so that it is understood ‘Who Does What’.
  • Explain ‘What Is Important Right Now’ and the reasons behind it. Give the new team member practical ideas of how they can help the team work towards what is important as they join the team.

Make a plan for updates.

If a team is growing it will be changing. To continue with clarity, you need habits for reviewing and updating your playbook. Carve out time in advance to work on your team playbook. Annual off-sites, company retreats, or quarterly meetings can be great times to determine ‘How We Succeed’ and ‘What Is Important Right Now.’ These strategies and priorities should be time bound and reviewed regularly.

Any time someone transitions roles, leaves the team, or joins the team, there should be a simple, yet understood process to update ‘Who Does What.’ Updating documents is important, but also discussion should happen at the team level to clarify the change.

Communicate. Repeat.

As a team leader, it is your job to connect the dots often. Communicate to the team that we have taken this action step to get ‘What Is Important Right Now’ done. We are using this ‘How Will We Succeed’ strategy because it helps us accomplish ‘What We Do.’ This program, discussion, and task are important because it is closely connected to ‘Why We Exist.’ As a leader, you go first in this intentional communication and eventually your team will adopt it as well.

My children and I regularly have this exchange:
     “Do you know what, kids?” I ask them.
     “What, Dad?” they reply.
     “Did you know your mom is awesome?!” I exclaim with enthusiasm.
     The other day my son rolled his eyes and replied, “Dad of course we know that. You say it all the time!”

As a father, I knew I had communicated. When your team members roll their eyes because they already know the answers to your team playbook, then you know you are successfully communicating.

Team culture is formed in the everyday communication and rhythms of team life. Your team’s playbook is the springboard of communication for team meetings, rhythms of accountability, encouragement, onboarding, review, and vision.  As you consistently focus and communicate, the strong fabric of your team culture is formed.

How does your team build an intentional culture? Let us know in the comments! Have questions or want help getting started? Chat with Matt.

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The post Build an Intentional Team Culture appeared first on Team Verve.]]> https://teamverveco.com/build-an-intentional-team-culture/feed/ 1 Habits of an Encouraged Team https://teamverveco.com/habits-of-an-encouraged-team/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=habits-of-an-encouraged-team https://teamverveco.com/habits-of-an-encouraged-team/#respond Fri, 03 Dec 2021 06:27:00 +0000 https://teamverveco.com/?p=1724 Chances are your life is full of teams and the people on them. Whether in ministry, business, church, or family, our teams either accomplish more together or quickly fall into discouragement. As leaders, we need to intentionally build the habits of an encouraged team.  Words that describe an encouraged team are energized, collaborating, committed, life-giving, […]

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Chances are your life is full of teams and the people on them. Whether in ministry, business, church, or family, our teams either accomplish more together or quickly fall into discouragement. As leaders, we need to intentionally build the habits of an encouraged team. 

Words that describe an encouraged team are energized, collaborating, committed, life-giving, motivated, and passionate. This type of team has the momentum and strength to endure when things get tough. 

Here is the reality – when we start to evaluate our teams, it is easy to identify areas that should be changed. I often hear people say things like:

 “We avoid difficult conversations with each other.”

“I want to be a more effective leader.”

“Trust is broken on our team.”

“We need to improve our communication.”

“Our team feels stuck and lacks momentum.”

“Our differences are just too big.” 

Build the Habits of an Encouraged Team

A few years ago, I joined a team that was stressed, distrusting, and inching close to burnout. I turned cynical and dove into discouragement.  Thankfully, our team and leader (can we give a shout out to all brave leaders!) recognized the need for change and worked hard to build the habits of an encouraged team.

It is difficult to pinpoint one thing that produces a healthy and encouraged team. Simple answers and quick fixes do not exist for the complex challenges and situations teams face. Yet as I interact with a variety of teams, I have noticed a few simple habits that often get overlooked.  Habits, that when intentionally cultivated, create avenues to build up and encourage our teams.

Spend Time Together

You might be thinking – well of course! But often teams get so busy checking off to-do lists that regular time together gets the brunt end of the schedule. Over and over, I have observed teams that simply cannot find time to meet. I am not talking about that once-every-quarter meeting with a logistical agenda the size of Mt. Everest. Nobody likes those. Instead, teams need brief daily or weekly huddles that include short rhythms of prayer, learning, discussion, vision casting, and, of course, a bite of the logistics.

At one point our team recognized that when things get busy, we need to meet more often, not less.  This was a ‘light bulb’ moment. Predictably, we could not find a regular time to meet other than the wee hours of Monday morning. But we dragged our sleepy morning selves out of the house, coffee-in-hand, because spending intentional time together is vital for team health.  

Cheers

Most of us have good intentions of speaking words of encouragement. Yet inevitably if it is not built into the habits and fabric of team life, we quickly begin to starve our team of affirmation.  

Cheers are verbal recognition and encouragement with the whole team present.  This may be a simple “Jane I appreciate the way you stayed calm and kept your head when dealing with multiple emergencies last week. I want to learn from you in that way.” Trust and appreciation are built between team members when the whole team participates.

Many times, the simple habit of opening meetings with a time of cheers is all the opportunity a team needs to get started. Other times the words get a little constipated and awkward. As a leader, you may need to intentionally build more awareness around strengths and weaknesses before your team is truly able to celebrate each other.  

Clarify the Why

Does each member know why they are part of your team? Do they realize the value they contribute? For example, someone can simply be the janitor who cleans up after everyone else.  Or that janitor can be the Director of Hospitality who creates an environment where customers feel at home.  Create clarity around how each person can be a hero on the team.

Go ahead and ask your team a few intentional questions at your next huddle. If you get vague rambling answers like, “I’m in a support role” or “I just do what I’m told” or “these are the list of tasks I do,” then you have work to do! While flexibility, support, and task lists are part of nearly every role, a team member who owns their greater purpose will be more motivated to do their job well.

Give Proactive Feedback

As leaders, we often wait to give feedback until there is a problem. Then because it is uncomfortable to pull people into the office, we wait to address problems until they are too bad to ignore. Too often our teams are left wondering what their leader thinks of them and the job they are doing. It is high time to make meetings in the office normal again!

There are many ways to give feedback, but my favorite is to create Key Results Areas (KRAs). This refers to a short list of expectations and goals.  Both the team member and their manager rate performance in each area. As the two sit down for a conversation, the goal is to express where the team member is excelling and areas they could improve. Feedback that is given well and consistently provides clarity, reduces conflict, and encourages trust.  

Learn Together

Does your team life feel a bit stagnant? Part of leadership is creating the space to brainstorm and problem-solve as a team. A culture that continually asks, “how can we do it better?” opens a channel for improvement and collaboration.

Learning as a team can take many forms such as workshops, podcast discussions, book studies, communication development, skills training, etc. My favorite part of a workshop is seeing a team go from bored and uninterested to brainstorming, problem-solving, and having fun together. Regardless of what you choose to learn, remember to leave plenty of time for your team to ask questions and discuss practical application.

Celebrate!

I’m a big fan of celebrations.  All too often our teams rush from one thing to the next, forgetting to take time to recognize what has been accomplished.

Celebrations may conjure up visions of elaborate events with grand menus, lists of logistics, and lots of expense and time involved. While these kinds of events certainly have their place, I am talking more about simple and regular celebrations that become traditions for your team. Maybe it’s Cokes for all when a goal is reached? Or pausing for a session of worship and thanksgiving prayer when a particularly busy season has ended? It may be grabbing a giant sticky note and listing the wins for the quarter? As a leader, make sure your whole team hears and celebrates the big picture wins!  

Jesus is the ultimate team builder. In some of His last words to His team, the disciples, he gave these famous instructions, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” (John 13:34b-35 NIV) One way we are identified as followers of Jesus is when our teams love and work together well. This truth spurs us on to do the hard work of building habits that encourage the teams in our care. Wherever you find your team, remember the words of Jesus, and go unleash the potential on your team! 

Read more:

As originally published in DOP magazine. 
The post Habits of an Encouraged Team appeared first on Team Verve.]]> https://teamverveco.com/habits-of-an-encouraged-team/feed/ 0 6 Ideas for Your Next Team Event… https://teamverveco.com/6-ideas-for-your-next-team-event/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=6-ideas-for-your-next-team-event https://teamverveco.com/6-ideas-for-your-next-team-event/#comments Fri, 16 Oct 2020 15:05:49 +0000 https://teamverveco.com/?p=1021 As we head into the winter season many of us are starting to think about how to wrap up this year well and show appreciation for our teams. Whether this is a Christmas dinner, casual outing, or team week, many companies will be adding team events to the calendar over the fall and winter months. Here […]

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As we head into the winter season many of us are starting to think about how to wrap up this year well and show appreciation for our teams. Whether this is a Christmas dinner, casual outing, or team week, many companies will be adding team events to the calendar over the fall and winter months. Here we discuss six ideas for your next team event. 

Team events are a great way to celebrate your team and let them know you care about them as individuals, not only the work getting done. I don’t know about you but I have been to events that are tremendously fun and others that have been awkward and less than inspiring.

I get it, often we as leaders are busy and these events can seem to come around quicker than expected. It may feel like just another task to check off the list. However, successful team leaders understand that this is a key opportunity to create comradery and enthusiasm. Think of it as your chance to rally the team for the next year.

Here 6 ideas for your next team event:

1. Clarify your objectives. 

What do you hope to accomplish? As a leader, spend a few minutes determining your goals and desired outcome.  Is it to recognize employees for their hard work? Help people get to know their colleagues better? Boost morale? Build cohesion and vision for the team? Just have fun?  Don’t overthink this but do make a quick list of three top objectives. There are no wrong answers but understanding your key objectives will help you plan an event to achieve them. 

2. Include something fun.

When you are planning a team event, fun should be one of the main things on the agenda.  Whether a casual lunch or a planned hour of skill training, team events should feel like a break, not another day at work.  Playfulness and breaking up the schedule leads to creativity and builds team spirit. When your staff is enjoying themselves, they are filled with energy which allows them to be more productive when they return to work. 

Your next team event in NYC

Start with the question, “How will my team enjoy being together?”  This varies greatly from team to team. Here is a list of fun ideas to consider as you get started. Hopefully one or two of them will jumpstart your planning.

  • Match your company culture. Is your company artistic, techie, foodie, outdoorsy, traditional, adventurous? Keep a lookout for a venue, event, or gifts that build on your existing brand as a company.  
  • Consider your local area. Visit a new show or attraction. Visit an escape room. Reserve a corn maze. Attend a concert. Go on a food crawl. Many times, we don’t take the time to visit the attractions closest to us.
  • Choose a common hobby. Do your employees share any common hobbies? Shoot clay pigeons. Play laser tag or a game of golf. Visit an inspiring shop or museum. Paint pottery.
  • As the leader, agree to laugh at yourself. Why is it so much fun to see a leader look silly? Your team will love it if you end up being the joke of a silly game or wearing funny socks. Lead the way, lighten up, and have some fun.
  • Create friendly competition. Have a cubicle decorating contest. Everyone bakes and brings their best cookies. Split employees into teams and have a scavenger hunt.
  • Give out prizes. Door prizes, cash prizes, gift cards, raffles. These are always a winner. Instead of just going for the highest dollar, consider something that shows thoughtfulness or fun.
  • Include a surprise or something unexpected. Can you schedule a food truck or coffee van to show up? Maybe everyone gets to go home early with flowers for their wife? Spring a surprise on your team, just make sure it’s one your team will enjoy.
 

3. Celebrate!

If you know me, you know that I’m a big fan of celebrations.  So often teams rush from one thing to the next, not taking time to recognize what has been accomplished together. This can quickly lead to team exhaustion and burnout.  However, I have often seen the enthusiasm that can build from a team reflecting on how they have won in the past year.  As a leader, you may have the big picture wins, but you need to make sure your whole team hears them and celebrates!

  • Reflect on your wins as a team.  Go for more than the bottom dollar or that you survived the year.  Make the list big picture and yet with specific examples. Be ready to explain why you think the team won in that area. Your attitude and the way you communicate is huge for this one!
  • Ask your team. Break out a sticky note. Make a column for wins and one for losses. Ask your team to help you fill out the columns. As the leader, be prepared to share first!
  • Consider getting out of the office. Break it up and reflect somewhere other than your meeting room. Make the atmosphere celebratory and relaxing.
Interaction at your next team event

4. Learn something new.

Investing in learning shows that you are willing to put time and money into making employees successful. Demonstrate your commitment to them by considering an activity, workshop, or class that is useful for the work they do. This may be learning about new technology, product, or design trend in your industry.  Or it could be helping your team improve in a key life skill like communication, people skills, customer service, or leadership. When you empower your team to go further in a skill area, everyone wins.

5. Build team vision and strategy.

Your team all together and having fun is an excellent chance to zoom out and bring your team together around the big picture goals, vision, and principles of the company. As leaders, we need to continue to connect the why of what we are doing with how we are getting there. This looks very different depending on the stage and needs of your team.  Questions you as a leader can ask yourself:  

  • Does the team own where you are headed next year?
  • Can your team articulate the why of what they are doing?
  • How do the employees help the team win? Do they know the part they play?
  • Are the employees proud to be a part of your team? Why? Or Why not? 
  • Does your team own the vision and mission of the company?
  • Do you have core values? Are they known? Do they matter? How are you living them out?
  • What would your employees like to see improved next year? How can we do better?
  • What are the challenges we face? How can we proactively address them? 

I once heard that if a leader says something and the employees laugh because they already know, then the leader knows he has been communicating. This requires the leader to communicate relentlessly. As George Bernard Shaw said, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

As you answer the questions above, it may become more clear where more communication should happen on your team.  Reach out and I would love to discuss how to choose and facilitate activities that unleash the potential of your team.

6. Eat food, of course.

Doesn’t this one go without saying? But really, almost all team events should include eating. This isn’t the time to go cheapskate but to instead plan carefully and intentionally. Make sure you order plenty, take dietary restrictions into account, choose a venue, and enjoy!

Ready to get started on your next team event?

Most leaders shouldn’t pull off an entire event by themselves but they do need to initiate the plan. Determine a few objectives and then ask your team for help. This will likely mean asking someone else on the team to take the lead on logistics. Finally, bring in professionals. Don’t try to do this on your own but instead learn and grow alongside your team.

At Team Verve, we can come on-site to your event to facilitate as your team reflects, brainstorms, and learns together. We start by working with the leader to identify the needs of the team and create objectives for events. Then we plan and facilitate activities that will energize the team for the new year.  Whether you are looking for an all-inclusive option with venue and food or a 60-90 min workshop, start the conversation and we will discuss options for your team

Send me a quick message to get started..
The post 6 Ideas for Your Next Team Event… appeared first on Team Verve.]]> https://teamverveco.com/6-ideas-for-your-next-team-event/feed/ 19 4 Recommended Reads for a Team Leader https://teamverveco.com/4-recommended-reads-for-a-team-leader/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=4-recommended-reads-for-a-team-leader https://teamverveco.com/4-recommended-reads-for-a-team-leader/#comments Fri, 01 May 2020 20:11:19 +0000 https://teamverveco.com/?p=805 Leading a team is a life skill. Anybody can be called a team leader but becoming a skilled and effective leader requires time, intention, and the diligence to keep growing. Putting some effort into honing this life skill is worth the effort! Today I’m sharing my favorite recommended reads for a team leader. Reading is […]

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Leading a team is a life skill. Anybody can be called a team leader but becoming a skilled and effective leader requires time, intention, and the diligence to keep growing. Putting some effort into honing this life skill is worth the effort! Today I’m sharing my favorite recommended reads for a team leader.

Reading is one simple and flexible way that I keep learning. I don’t know about you, but as all the plans have been canceled these past weeks, I’ve had the chance to dig into a few good books. (Ok, most of those books have been interrupted by UNO games with my two kiddos, but I love how books allow for flexible learning! )

As I think about leadership and team, here are a few that I often find myself returning to and referencing:

1. Encouragement, by Larry Crab

Encouragement

Encouragement is more than a compliment or pat on the back.  Learn about the power of our words and how they affect our customers, coworkers, and even ourselves. This book includes practical tips on how to utilize the power of encouragement, cultivate active listening skills, and ways to move beyond superficial smiles and shallow greetings. Most people want to be part of a life-giving and motivated team.  It is up to leaders to promote and lead into this kind of team culture.

This book is a resource for team leaders who want to be intentional about the words that are spoken and the culture they are creating. This book is also an excellent team discussion starter on how to use encouragement to empower the people we interact with.

“Everything is wrong with insincere and predictably shallow words.” – Larry Crab, 

2. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni

Dysfunctions - Recommended reads for a team leader

In story form, Patrick Lencioni illustrates 5 common dysfunctions on a business team.  I have often seen how the Absence of Trust and the Fear of Conflict causes teams to get stuck in unhealthy cycles.  Learn how to identify and address the common dysfunctions that many teams face.  

This book is a great read for team leaders who want to become more proficient at recognizing and addressing challenges on the team. Get ideas on how to intentionally create a culture of trust, have healthy conflict around ideas, and create a highly functional team.  This is also a great book to read and discuss as a team. 

“Great teams do not hold back with one another. They are unafraid to air their dirty laundry. They admit their mistakes, their weaknesses, and their concerns without fear of reprisal.” Patrick Lencioni

3. The Ideal Team Player, by Patrick Lencioni

Ideal Team Player

Employee turnover costs companies a significant amount every year.  In this book, Patrick Lencioni highlights three things that help you identify, hire, and develop the people you should have on your team.

This book is helpful in defining clear expectations for employees so that they know how to be a champion at work. It gives practical insights into how to develop humility, hunger, and smarts with the people on your team.  This is a great book to read and have honest conversation as a team. 

“Great team players lack excessive ego or concerns about status. They are quick to point out the contributions of others and slow to seek attention for their own. They share credit, emphasize team over self, and define success collectively rather than individually. It is no great surprise, then, that humility is the single greatest and most indispensable attribute of being a team player.” – Patrick Lencioni

4. Sticky Teams, by Larry Osborne

Sticky Teams - Recommended Reads for a Team Leader

In the book Sticky Teams, Larry Osborne writes specifically to pastors, but the majority of his book can be applied to any team that you are a part of.  Larry illustrates how there are 4 different types of teams. 

  • The track star is a solo leader, often an entrepreneur, who can be compared to a high jumper or sprinter.  He may work with others, but often prefers to work alone. 
  • Golfing buddies describe the dynamics of a small team leaders who enjoy a highly relational personable environment.
  • A basket ball team is thought of as a team sport not a friendship sport.  It requires working together, and trusting each other, but not everyone is expected to be your best friend. There are too many members for that.
  • On a football team there are highly specialized roles, the offence and defense ride on separate buses, and some team members hardly know each other.

As a team grows and changes, intentional methods of communication, function, and structure also need to change to continue being successful.  This book is helpful for team leaders to identify their type of team and the growth transitions they face.

“Never forget, growth changes everything.” – Larry Osbourne 

 

One last thing, as you read these books don’t forget to bring the rest of your team in on the journey of learning. Healthy teams embrace the process of learning and growth together. Initiate reading chapter by chapter with someone else on the team, start a team book discussion group, or highlight a few intentional questions/thoughts that you want to bring up for discussion at your next meeting.  

Are you interested in taking your team leadership skills even further? Schedule your free 1-1 Leader Coaching Session here. 

Cheers to learning! 

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