Sync Up!

Synchronize: to cause things to agree in time or to make things happen at the same time and speed

Most work groups express the need to work more collaboratively and the significance of that aspiration is hard to argue. If you recall our Dream Team Tuesday Tip, it emphasized that very point.

The notion of synchronizing that collaborative effort struck me recently as I reflected about the dancing lessons my wife and I took over the summer.

Dance partners need to gracefully move together; to be in synch. Several things became immediately apparent as we began to really learn how to dance together. While the music set the rhythm and pace, it was important for us to know and follow a specific pattern of dance steps. Being aware, responsive and adapting to each other’s movements required intense focus and seemed to be the key ingredient to our ability to dance gracefully together. Finally, having an awareness of other couples sharing the floor helped us navigate effectively within the larger group.

In business it’s also important for individuals and teams to be in synch. Some of the essential elements mentioned above are also necessary in successfully executing the business plan.  Individual initiatives and team projects all have rhythm, pace and require a specific application of skills. Being responsive and adapting to the priorities of the business and other key members of the team requires intense organizational focus.

How does your team stay in synch?

Whether you need some quick insight on interacting effectively with another person on the team, or you need to prepare to make the most of your next meeting with an important group, imapMyTeam will help.  The content is designed to provide you and the team resources to maintain intense organizational synchronization- essential to success and to make the collaborative effort pay off.  

How Do You Show-Up?

Learning and Growth is one of my favorite categories to follow on Twitter and it recently lead me to an article titled “The 6 Ways You Need To Show-Up At Work.”  The list included these suggestions:  dress the part, play the role, avoid BS, be candid, answer difficult questions and listen.  Okay, those make sense on some level, but we at iMap think there are really only two ways to show up at work that matter.

Your Team Player report tells you what these two possibilities are.  You can show up at work either in strength or in stress.   These are the visible, external behaviors that others see in you.  It is these behaviors that will be the basis by which others determine how you are showing up on the job.

When you are being most effective, it’s likely because you are using your strengths appropriately and operating in your usual behavior.  It’s also possible that you may actually be somewhat out-side your usual style or comfort zone because you’ve learned to adapt your behavior to the needs of the moment.  Either way, others love it when this version of you is who shows up.

On the other hand, it’s another story when stress strikes. Stress behavior is a counter- productive reaction and can result in damage to important relationships. When this person shows up at work, you lose the power of choice and your behavior will likely change to something that is viewed as far from positive by others. It causes meetings to go off track, projects to slow down, conflict begins and productivity drops.

When our visible behaviors are moving back and forth from our usual to stress reactions, we can appear to others as being inconsistent and unpredictable. I’m certain that none of our Tuesday Tip readers wants to show up as unpredictable! This Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde pattern creates great confusion and causes other to be cautious in their interactions with us.

Using imapMyTeam on a regular basis will help ensure that the best version of you shows up much more often than then the reactionary version!  The positive, in-control you, rather than the out-of- control you also reinforces consistency and predictability – characteristics important to be able to build trust with others.

Dress right, avoid BS, listen and all of the things I read are ok – but none as powerful as self-awareness and self-management that comes from regular use of imapMyTeam.

The Privilege of Pressure

Pressure is a Privilege is the title of a book written by Billie Jean King. The genesis of the book is her epic ‘Battle of the Sexes’ tennis match against Bobby Riggs in 1973. Ms. King’s reference to ‘pressure being a privilege’ is borne from the fact that as you progress in your field or position more is expected of you. She views the lofty expectations others have of you in your role, and the pressure to perform, as a privilege

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Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi recognized and named the psychological concept of flow, a highly focused mental state. When the challenges are great, and the skills are a match to the challenge, the pressure enhances performance. If the challenges are great and the skills are not developed enough, the pressure becomes too much and results in poor performance.

The fact of the matter is that pressure comes in multiple forms. There is ‘good’ and appropriate level of pressure that, when applied to our strengths, actually helps people perform well. It brings focus.  That’s the type Ms. King and Dr. Csikszentmihalyi refer to in their work. Appropriate pressure enhances performance. It reminds me of the old saying that “it takes pressure to make diamonds”.

There is also pressure that is big trouble and causes people to often fall apart.

Pressure, as defined in imapMyTeam, is that type of pressure. This pressure is created when the environment does not match our motivational needs. When needs are unmet it causes a reaction that feels like pressure to us. Our behavior changes, we react, and can lose control of our behavior.

In all cases, this type of pressure is counterproductive to our long term success. It is important to be self-aware and notice how changing circumstances can quickly surface this personal pressure – and how to make sure you are well positioned to recover and get back on track.

The Succeed Under Pressure report in imapMyTeam will give you guidance on how to recover, or even avoid, the negative consequences of the wrong type of pressure. This report prescribes ways to get back on track.  The ‘bad’ pressure goes away and then you can benefit from the focus of the right kind of pressure.

When you have the skills to match the moment, welcome the right kind of pressure.  Pressure applied to your strengths and skills allows you to grow and improve.  This is the type that that promotes focus and brings out your greatness.  After all, pressure is a privilege!