Matt Cartwright, consulting, coaching, facilitation - Professional Facilitator - Matt Cartwright

I've got some attitude and you're about to get it

10/2/2012

I've Got Some Attitude and You're About to Get It...

This week I've seen and heard it again..... How do I motivate my team, I'm not motivated, he's not onboard with us, she has a major attitude problem, you get the picture....

I ended the working week with an evening class, Friday night in my case, yes I do have a life but I am also am committed to my own professional development, after all I am a student of life.

Here are just some thoughts on attitude, I have done a lot of work in the attitude arena, and my biggest test was working with teenage mental health clients with serious behavioural and emotional problems... oh yes, my attitude sure got some working out.

5 Tips on Attitude Adjustment

Note, you can not change others attitudes, that's not your job, let go... and work on yourself first, then when you have mastered that, do it all over again

1. What you focus on is what you get
2. If you think you can't you won't
3. It's not whether you get knocked down, its whether you get back up
4. If you think you are beaten you are
5. If nothing changes, nothing changes

Journey well,
Matt Cartwright
Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results
© Copyright 2008 -12

Develop a Culture of Candor or Develop a Culture of Cancer

10/2/2012

Develop a Culture of Candor or Develop a Culture of Cancer

How often is the quality of open and honest expression lost in your workplace?

How many times have you wanted to have the hard conversation but shied away?

Or, when you did have the conversation the other person retreated into a helpless victim role and avoided responsibility. The result being deeper trenches and longer battles.

With political correctedness, codes of conduct, legislations and laws we may have developed a cotton wool culture or culture of uncertainty and powerlessness. Although we need external boundaries for order, people have gone the other way avoiding the issues in fear of reprimand, reprisal, rejection and retribution.

Lack of candor feeds corporate cancer by infecting it with cynicism, contention, competition, conflict, contention, comparison and childish tantrums. The result being a paralysis of truth and expression. Without expression we lose power, creativity and innovation. Our work places lose community to problem solve and move beyond mediocrity. The result, poor performance.

Imagine your workplace communication being open, frank, honest, truthful, free from bias, fair, impartial, accountable and upfront. It would be kind of nice, wouldn't it?.

What would change?
How would workplace relations differ?
What might improve?
What would happen to morale and job satisfaction?
How would it affect the bottom line?

What can you do? Candor starts with you. Work from the inside out.

Try these ideas, share these ideas, pass it on, use it as a 10 minute discussion topic for your next meeting. The following is taken from. A Culture of Candor, O”Toole and Bennis, Harvard Business Review 2009.

Tell the truth. We all have an impulse to tell people what they want to hear. Wise leaders tell everyone the same unvarnished story. Once you develop a reputation of straight talk people will return the favour.

Encourage people to speak truth to power. It's extraordinarily difficult to people lower in the hierarchy to tell the higher ups the unpalatable truths, but that’s what higher ups need to know, because often their employees have access to information about problems that they don’t. Create the conditions for people to be courageous.

Reward contrarians. The company won't innovate successfully if you don't learn to recognise, and then challenge your own assumptions. Find colleagues who can help you do that. Promote the best of them and thank all of them.

Practise having unpleasant conversations. The best leaders learn how to deliver bad news kindly, so people don't get unnecessarily hurt. That’s not easy, find a safe place to practise.

Diversify your sources of information. Everyone's biased. Make sure you communicate regularly with different groups of employees, customers, and competitors, so that your own understanding is nuanced and multifaceted.

Admit your mistakes, this gives everyone around you the permission to do the same. Build organisational support for transparency. Start with protection for whistleblowers, but don't stop there.

Hire people because they created a culture of candor elsewhere, not because they can out-compete their peers. Set information free. Most organisations default keeping information confidential which might be strategically private. Default to sharing information unless there is a clear reason not to.

Candor is something that we can all do better. We can help you achieve better outcomes through facilitation, coaching and team development. We offer a range of services and programs to address team communication, performance, team and individual effectiveness.

GFC Tip: We can continue to grow ourselves, our teams and our corporate culture.

Journey well,
Matt Cartwright
Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results
© Copyright 2008 -12

Workplace Culture

3/2/2012

Workplace Culture

Constantly I see teams losing direction about their meaning and purpose. Let's face it, that's why I get hired. It is expressed in negativity, burnout, stress, the silo mentality, conflict and poor communication. I also hear the pain of people being unhappy, dissatisfied and looking for something else in search of a better place. Many of them forget that the better place starts within.

I observe people becoming the victims, some actually become persecutory and then there are others that try to save what is worth saving. This fruitless game is a no win situation for the workplace and life in general.

What is clear in this changing workplace is a loss of sight on what matters, a lack of inclusion and connectedness between the people and its culture. Is this true?

The challenge, (because there is one....or it's an opportunity)

Ask yourself this and then ask the people around you could they confidently stand up in front of a group at a moments notice and answer the following?

What is the workplace culture like?

What is the vision?
What are the core values?
What is the strategy to achieve the vision?
What are the collective goals?
When will these goals be achieved?
What roles does everyone have?
How are people valued in their role?
What is the social responsibility policy?

Be honest, discuss this with your teams these questions, check in and check out what people really think and feel.

A listening, learning and coaching culture may provide the best change of riding out the unsettling waves of change that businesses are facing.

We provide affordable and responsive business facilitation, coaching and teambuilding. We move organisations closer to what matters most. Feel free to contact us for more information on how we can help.

Journey well,
Matt Cartwright
Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results
© Copyright 2008 -12

Tips to manage conflict, energise or else

3/2/2012

Constructive Conflict vs Destructive Conflict

Well it's one of my all time favourite topics, well not really... sure I don't necessarily love it when it happens, but my advantage is I do know how to mange it well. It doesn't mean I don't get into conflict, I do, because it's a normal part of business, innovation, growth and change.

I'm just more likely to stick to the process that works. Given that, I have also found this to be challenging for the other side, because they know I am sticking to the process, being accountable, again its not personal, sometimes its just good manners and good business and common sense.

I have yet to coach a client who has not addressed conflict as a growth area. So,

What’s the conflict score in your workplace?
Who’s in competition?
Who’s winning, who’s losing?

Okay, here it is, have you ever dreaded coming to work because conflict exists with a colleague or in a team? Remember those feelings of being uptight, nervous, sick, worried or angry? How often can you recall experiencing animosity, bitching, backbiting, comparing, complaining, criticising and sabotage? Okay so it’s all coming back so let’s stop there. Conflict does have a positive side, and when it’s dealt with appropriately both parties can achieve resolution and synergy.

Conflict occurs every day in the workplace and exists in all organisations, with varying degrees of success. More often, conflict is avoided or ignored. As such, unresolved conflict becomes a major contributor to unproductive stress in the workplace. This impacts the business goals, morale, communication, culture, customer service and the bottom line.

Cited studies find that more than two-thirds of managers spend more than 10% of their time handling workplace conflict and 44% of managers spend more than 20% of their time in conflict-related issues. Working Dynamics (2006).

Over 65% of performance problems result from strained relationships between employees, not from deficits in individual employee's skill or motivation." (Dana, Daniel 2001)

I have observed that most conflict in teams is attributed to three key areas:

roles and relationships
work processes
tasks

Imagine having the confidence, skills and support to apply preventative and proactive strategies to constructively manage conflict. Resolved effectively, conflict can lead to personal and professional growth. Picture yourself applying these simple but yet powerful ideas of STOP and START.

STOP before you try to resolve conflict.

S Step back from action, emotion and thinking
T Think about what’s most important here
O Organise your thoughts to create coherence
P Proceed, when purpose and next steps are clear
(Timothy Gallwey, 2000))

START with these action processes.

S Set out the “facts” to be addressed and sort out the person from the problem
T Together explore available options, take personal attacks as non-personal
A Assertively express your views, avoid being aggressive, attend to the interests being
presented
R Relationships are the key, make good relationships the first priority
T Talk second, listen first
(Matt Cartwright, 2008)

Dealing with conflict is something that we can all do better. Inspiring Results can help you achieve better outcomes through facilitation, coaching and team development.

Conflict Coaching
Conflict coaching is a proven and preventative process to reduce working relationship breakdowns, avoiding grievances and need for mediation.

Ceasfire
Ceasefire is our quick experiential team program that helps you manage conflict effectively by learning new strategies that achieve results.

Journey well,
Matt Cartwright
Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results
© Copyright 2008 -12

Managing Mojo in the Workplace

3/2/2012

Managing your mojo (work performance)

Like going to the gym, some weeks you're feeling awesome, fit and toned and other weeks you’re sagging in the wrong places and it shows. Don't you hate that?

What I've found most common with managers and executives is they lose their mojo for vision, focus, energy, meaning and purpose.

Their personal values are not aligned to their work values, and they lose touch with themselves, their teams and many of them their loved ones. Sad, but true….How many hours do you spend on work versus family, be honest now.

Managing work mojo is on a continuum, there are a lot of cause and effects, peaks and troughs and pressures.

Managing work mojo is managing you, your emotions, your expectations, its emotional intelligence, and its social intelligence and for the brave ones it’s physical and spiritual. I hope I didn’t lose you on that one. Yes, I meditate I have for 20 years, I am still learning to do it better. It does work. Massive research evidence on this topic, so why do so many people not follow it? Go figure.....???

Here’s a tip for you, If you think are losing your work mojo, here’s the secret, you didn’t lose it, it was dormant inside you.

Are you up for this week’s challenge? Well your work life is about to improve, let’s go……

Go look for your mojo, it’s inside you, that’s a hint to get you started.
Get visual, recall times when you were at your best at work, and duplicate it.

Answer these questions now….. 4 minutes don't think too hard

1.      What makes you tick at work?
2.      What do you do well?
3.      What have you stopped doing?
4.      What could you start doing?

Now, make a plan, start doing it in 24 hrs. Goal, Action, Time, KPI, Rewards etc.

Tell someone you are making changes, like a friend, loved one or a colleague. This confirms you are serious.

Commit to doing something different at work every day for the next 10 working days.

Then set another medium term goal/s for 2 to 4 weeks, 1-2 to achieve those changes, write it down, keep it in your work diary or bag, review it daily, then-

Set some medium- longer term goals 1-3-months. Same deal, write it down, review it weekly.

I say 3 months because most businesses operate in quarterly cycles. Also, the world and business changes rapidly, be ready, be prepared.

Last 8 Tips

Avoid alcohol, drugs, poor eating and whinging, it doesn’t work. We are adults, take responsibility, be accountable, own it and move on.

If this fails, start considering getting professional help from a coach at Professional Facilitators Australia
Journey well,
Matt Cartwright
Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results
© Copyright 2008 -12

Relapse to Remission, Reflections on Workplace Cancer

3/2/2012

Relapse to Remission, Reflections on Workplace Cancer

Have you noticed the signs and symptoms in a workplace or team and/or experienced any of the following?

Criticising
Complaining
Contending
Competition
Comparing

Well I have, and these have resulted in team ineffectiveness, loss of productivity, low customer quality, staff turnover, organisational co-dependency and poor morale.

Imagine this for a moment.... an environment free of these behaviours and committed to more productive, positive and proactive behaviours that engage, energise and empower people. A bit nirvana like really, isn't it, and yes it's possible.

How do you do this in reality? Reality is now and not sometime in the future.

The answer is, responsibility lies within you to be the catalyst for change. If you want to prevent these cancerous behaviours, consider asking these questions about yourself. Or pass this on to your team.

As manager or leader:

How am I contributing to the problem?
How am I contributing to the solution?
What am I doing that is working?
What am I doing that isn’t working?
What will I keep doing?
What will I stop doing?
What are the changes I need to make?
When will I do that?
How will I know that I have been successful?

Challenge
Discuss with your team what actions you can take to prevent these behaviours.

Check Up
We can help you and your teams achieve healthier outcomes. We offer services that bring about sustainable change. Visit us for your team check up and protect your best assets.

Journey well,
Matt Cartwright
Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results
© Copyright 2008 -12

Stakeholder Engagement, Winning and Maintaining Support for Projects

2/2/2012

Stakeholder Engagement, Winning and Maintaining Support for Projects

Imagine being engaged for your advice, but then the penny drops. You know the person is there to engage you has their own agenda. Its a dress up...

I’ve been involved in some fairly superficial engagements as a participant. One comes to mind of recent. The firm was well known for their experience so I was looking forward to it. But…..they did bring in what seemed to be a rookie with 2 rookie helpers.

The young man running it did try hard, we were a tough and experienced audience. The problem was the firm were using smoke and mirrors on a very intelligent and politically astute group. This was shocker of a 3 hour meeting.

So. in snapshot here’s what I think about stakeholder engagement in general. It has great reference to change, organisational, project management and any sort of consultation with staff or the community.

In the past,(some organisations are still stuck there)…. organisations often adopted a passive approach to informing stakeholders of developments, relying upon traditional communication methods such as newsletters, printed publications and annual meetings. This is a one-way communication strategy. I hope that doesn’t occur where you work.

Guess what folks...the future is here, and it is increasingly important now if to be successful, organisations will need to actively involve stakeholders in the decision-making process particularly with regard to new project or business developments.

If you are going to survive the aim will be to encourage and ensure wider and more positive engagement.

As a Program or Project Manager the actions you take and the projects you run will affect more and more people. The more people you affect, the more likely it is that your actions will impact people who have power and influence over your projects. These people could be strong supporters of the project or they could block it. Just think of political campaigning or activists groups and how much damage they can do to the opposition.

My experience is that Stakeholder Engagement is an important process that is used to win support from others. It helps ensure that projects succeed where others fail. I was a Statewide Stakeholder Engagement Manager in my government career.

Here are my 10 tips for the week

1.      Ensure stakeholder engagements is a strategic corporate objective, if not ask, why not?
2.      Train people in how to engage stakeholders, it is not an innate skill, its rarely taught, people
fear engaging, they might lose something… trust me.
3.      Engage in matters that matter, never make assumptions.
4.      Inform, consult, collaborate, involve, empower along the project.
5.      It’s seen as a soft skill, with proven methods and processes and research base behind it,
call me if you need help.
6.      Governance is critical, get it right.
7.      Communicate using all mediums including social media.
8. Make friends with enemies, you need them. Don’t avoid them; what you avoid is what you
get.
9. Communicate timely, transparently and truthfully.
10. Assess, plan and evaluate your engagement strategies, one size does not fit all and people
talk. It’s called WOM, word of mouth, it can bring you down, or hold you up, be careful.

I'll post more on stakeholder engagement best practice in the future. Until then.....

Journey well,
Matt Cartwright
Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results
© Copyright 2008 -12

Inspiring Trust in Workplace Teams

2/2/2012

Inspiring Trust in Workplace Teams

I'll be honest.... I've fired a few bosses and colleagues in my time and it felt good. With that said, I'll tell you more. Trust me...

I fired these people from my work-life  because it was the right thing to do, they simply were not trustworthy, consistent and honest, they did not act with integrity, Trust is the cornerstone of work place culture and productive business.

The people I trusted, I still have a connections with long after working with them, that tells you something doesn't it. Trust leads to growth.

“Trust takes time to build but takes only seconds to loose”. How true this.

Building trust in a team will be one of your greatest challenges and your greatest achievements. I find that most organisations are constantly challenged by establishing, rebuilding, maintaining and in many cases dealing with the results of low trust.

Many factors contribute to this and with changing market forces, workforce demographics, employment opportunities, and lifestyle options it may impact on us more greatly in the future.

Trust impacts on us 24/7, 365 days a year and underpins and affects the quality of every relationship, every communication, every work project, every business venture and every effort we are engaged in.

Building trust in teams and business makes good economic and social sense not to say common sense. Without it you’re out of business. If we are really honest about developing organisational or team trust, have a go at answering these questions candidly.

Here is your challenge:

How would you describe a low trust organisation or team?
How would you describe a high trust organisation or team?
Which description best suits your organisation or team?
What are the results of these behaviours?
What behaviours need to stop?
What behaviours need to continue?
If change is needed, what is it, how will it be done , who will do it, when will it be done it and when will it be reviewed?

I trust you will work on it.

Trust is something that we can do something about and we can get better at it.

We can help you by providing solutions that are responsive through organisational facilitation, coaching and team development.

Journey well,
Matt Cartwright
Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results
© Copyright 2008 -12