I recently watched a TED Talk video on team building. The presenter, Peter Skillman, talked about a Marshmallow tower challenge. Basically, teams of how ever many were given spaghetti noodles, tape & string and were tasked with building the tallest structure with the marshmallow on top. He has had multiple work groups or sessions with various backgrounds, positions and ages. What he found was the teamwork, or synergy within the teams varied on the age and backgrounds of the individuals that made up the team. Surprisingly, one of the groups that performed the best were kindergarteners.

I found that to be comical and then I asked myself well why is that. Peter Skill talked about how there was no pre-defined CEO or leader that most of us, when we grow older, feel like we need to have in place to be successful. He stated that each of the members of the kindergartener team were equals and that they were supportive of each others ideas. When they tried something and it didn’t work that they didn’t point fingers or make blame but rather they encouraged, supported and enhanced the idea with another idea.

This really got me thinking about how some of my own teams behave. Moran, Abramson, and Moran (2014) talk about how as leaders we need to have a vision, a strategy and then structure within our teams to really create synergy. As leaders, we need to have a global mindset. This means that we need to inspire and empower our teams to perform to the highest of their capabilities individually, as well as a team. After all, synergy is defined as the sum is greater than the sum of the parts. So, this means that each member of the team needs to be operating at its highest potential and then when you add it all up the outcome is far better than each member on their own.

This ties directly into the way we strategize as leaders. What tools or tactics are out there that can be used to help motivate our people? Peter Skillman talked about how one time, during the marshmallow challenge, he tried to incentivize the teams with a monetary reward. The results were surprising. None of the teams were able to produce a structure. This made me think in that we need to understand our people to understand what will motivate them. Sometimes incentives demotivate teams because it applies to much pressure. Or sometimes is brings out the worse in people. This can be disruptive to the synergy within the team.

Finally, as leaders we need to maintain structure. There needs to be consistency from the leader. This is in all aspects, from behaviors to promises to values. There will be external factors that will impact the team but as the leader the team needs to understand you stance and know that you will consistently maintain a certain structure.

References:

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences. New York, NY: Routledge.

Wujec, T. (n.d.). Build a tower, build a team. Retrieved February 15, 2018, from https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower/transcript

As leaders one of the hardest parts of our job will be implementing change. No one likes change. In fact, most people will resist change for the mere fact that its change. Theres little rhyme or reason and if asked why they don’t like change you’ll hear “Why fix it if it aint broke?” or maybe “this way has worked for years, why would we change it now?” So as leaders we need to find innovative ways to encourage, motivate, and influence our followers to accept and adapt to change. Because lets be honest, change is bound to happen, its just a matter of when you will get on board with it.

About 4 months ago, our department manager was promoted to another position & department all together. There was a period of time when we had an acting manager and then about a month ago, a new manager was hired. Im in the project management department, and as such we are taught to adapt, to create work arounds, and to manage through tough situations.  After all that’s what is constantly going on within our projects. The ball is ever moving on the court. You need to be able to predict and react to the change, right? Well, what I have found is that when it comes to projects, our group handles change very well. Its almost if we plan for the unknown changes. But I can honestly say, the personnel changes that have taken place, within our department, over the past 4 months have been anything but easy. And I’d say we have a long way to go.

Our new department manager has a completely different personality that what the group has been used to. For example, our previous manager was very hands off and as long as we performed our jobs well he stayed out of our business. He remained engaged and would ask for updates but he rarely made you change you plan because he didn’t agree with your methods or approach. He was very final results driven. What our department is now finding, is that our new manager is very into the details and wants to know every little thing we are doing. His approach is much more invasive than what we have become accustom to. As you can imagine, the reaction from the group is on both ends of the spectrum. Some individuals are receptive and appreciate the extra support or help. Others within the group are very resistant and don’t like the “in the weeds” approach. Personally, im in the middle of the spectrum. While I appreciate his help and interest in my work, I feel like his management style can be overwhelming and his focus is on some of the lower hanging fruit items.

I think overtime the department is going to be fine. We just need time to adjust to the new management methods and styles. While we may not agree with some of his styles, he has proven to be successful in previous departments. I think what we need to focus on is he is here to help us and he is not trying to work against us or nit-pick our work.

Relationships can be challenging. I’m not talking husband, girlfriend specific relationships, although those are difficult in their own sense. I’m talking about all the other relationships we have in our lives, like friends, co-workers, colleagues, etc. One of my New Year Resolutions was “It’s a two-way street” I had found that I was putting in a lot more effort into some of my relationships than the other party and I wanted it to be a little more reciprocal. Moran, Abramson, & Moran (2014) state that “all humans are capable of approaching interaction with others using either self-interest or altruist strategies. All humans have a tendency to prefer either the one of the other depending on their personal experience in achieving the desired outcome of effective relationships”. (p. 62) So what does that mean and how does it apply to my relationships or more importantly my New Years Resolution?

Have you ever had the friend who only calls you when they need or want something from you? Or that colleague who only swings by your desk when they need a favor from you? Moran et al. (2014) describe this type of relationship as self-interested. Its using their power or influence, in the relationship, to get the other to do what they want but its at the expense of the other party someway shape or form. (p. 63) Over the years I have adapted the “never say no” to work approach. Overtime, certain colleagues learned this and would approach me with requests or favors, knowing I would hardly, if ever, say no. Overtime, I became very clear to me that these colleagues would rarely ever return the favor if I needed something from them. They were often too busy or it wasn’t their job.  This eventually wore on me and over the holiday season I had an epiphany; it dawned on me that my relationship with these individuals was very self-interested on their part. So, I decided to make a change my approach in relationships and try to only be involve in reciprocal or altruism type relationships.

“Altruism is a strategy for helping a weaker other by proving what he/she needs in order to build a cooperative relationship where the other will help in return if or when needed”. (Moran et al., 2014 p. 63) What person wants to always be in a one-sided relationship? If you are the one doing all the work or always making the sacrifice well its really not a relationship, is it? Going back to my work example, I do have a number of co-workers who because I have helped them out would drop what they are doing and help me out if I asked. Overtime, we have proven to each other that we are dependable, trustworthy and can rely on each other in times of need.

Being out for your-self is a hard way to live. The relationships one will have will only be superficial and surface level deep. If your only intention is to get what you want out of it, you are going to find yourself burning through a lot of good potential relationships, that if you would have only taken the time to invest in more than just yourself could potentially get you to where you need and want to go. One of the toughest parts of a relationship is the beginning. People do not always know if you are being sincere or not. Relationships take time and effort, trust needs to be developed. But once you have trust the you will have unlimited support.

Moran, Robert, Abramson, Neil, & Moran, Sarah. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences. Oxford: Routledge.

In this weeks discussion, I talked about how large my company is. One of the major benefits of working for such a large company is the number of people you can work with and learn from.  One of the benefits of being a project manager is that for each project I work on I typically have a different representative from each of our locations department, so I’m constantly dealing with different individuals with all types of diverse backgrounds, experience, and knowledge.

When a project team first forms there is typically a period of time that the group is unproductive and inefficient. A psychologist by the name of Bruce Tuckman states that team development has 5 stages of life, forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. He believed that when a group of individuals form a team theres a period of time that it takes for the team to function as one.

When you introduce such a wide range of cultural backgrounds and up bringings into a new group of people you are bound to have points of contention or frustration. This stage of the team development is referred to as forming/ storming. The more surface-level diversity traits, like age and sex are more likely to be prevalent during these stages. Overtime, individuals of the team begin to start learning the characteristics of the other teammates, how they operate, and what motivates them. The team begins to gel and function as one, transitioning into the norming stage.  “As the length of time increases when diverse group members work together, the negative effects of surface-level diversity decrease. In other words, as you get to know your teammates, you relate to them more as they are, and less as they might appear to be as stereotypes”. (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 177)

While all stages are important, the norming stage is what really brings us back to capitalizing on human diversity. By now, the team has learned what makes the other team members tick and they are able to capitalize of the skills, experience and background of each other. Have a wide range of cultural backgrounds only allows for a greater probability of innovative and ground-breaking idea or method of doing things. Moran et al. (2014) state “The benefits of diversity in terms of greater collective access to relevant information, more creative solutions, and reduced conflict, can only be achieved when problem-solving and decision-making groups are tightly integrated”. (p.183)

Its through the norming phase that the teams are able to truly begin performing. During the performing stage, team members feel empowered and are motivated. They rely, depend and lean on each other’s assets and strengths.  This in turn give each member a sense of need and power. When we are able to set aside our differences and truly be inclusive theres no telling what we can accomplish as a team. “The value of diversity and how to achieve its maximum benefit for organizational decision-making”. (Moran, et al., 2014 p. 193) is what makes an ordinary team a great team. I’m lucky enough to be a part of a number of great teams at my workplace and I truly believe its because of all the different cultural backgrounds that each member brings to the table.

References:

5 Stages of Team Development. (n.d.). Retrieved January 23, 2018, from https://toggl.com/stages-of-team-development

Moran, Robert, Abramson, Neil, & Moran, Sarah. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences. Oxford: Routledge.

 

 

I work at a Nuclear Power Plant and because of past events, like Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, we as a society or culture have steer towards the thought that Nuclear Power is dangerous and hazardous to the public. This perception is not only false but has led to a lot of misconceptions and beliefs. In order to change this idea, that Nuclear Power is bad, our Plant hold a series of tours and informational sessions about what we do, in hoping that by educating the general public we will be able to change the culture of their beliefs.

Moran, Abramson, and Moran (2014) state that “Uncertainty avoidance indicates the extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain or ambiguous situations”. (p. 19) When a tragic event happens people tend to think the worse. They tend to form opinions and thoughts that may be influenced by the press or media, without knowing all of the facts or information to make an educated opinion of the situation. Our plant understands that Hofstede’s dimension of culture of Uncertainty Avoidance is a focus area for us. As I mentioned before, our Plant holds a series of tours and information sessions so that we can educate the public on what we do and how we do it. These tours and sessions have involved members of our government to our local schools. Our main objective is to introduce fact and certainty, or rather remove any ambiguity, about how we operate and function.

I think another area our Plant tries to focus on is the long-term short-term orientation. I believe that Nuclear Power tends to sit in the middle of this spectrum. Because of events like TMI, we cannot ignore or forget how quickly things can go wrong. Learning from our past, having a focus on continuous improvement, and constant prevention is what makes our culture, here at the Plant, future oriented. We need to stay in the moment to ensure that what we are doing is deliberate and thoughtful but we need to be able to remove ourselves from the moment just enough to be able to see the big picture.

In general, I believe that we could do a lot better job at educating the public on what Nuclear Power can provide. The rules, regulations and processes that are put in place are un-comparable to other industrial industries I have worked in, and rightfully so. What we do and how we do it is unique. If we society would take the time to listen and fully educate ourselves, to remove any of the uncertainties or ambiguity we would be in a much better place.

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences (Ninth ed.). New York: Routledge.

Hi, My name is Bobbie Schulte and I am a Project Manager for Exelon. I’ve been in this position for almost 3 years now, and I absolutely love my job. I can honestly say that i learn something new everyday. My job is challenging, yet extremely rewarding. Within the next year, I would like to be a supervisor and in the next 5 i’m hoping to become a manager. There are a number of growth and development opportunities at my company and i intend to take full advantage of them. First step is finishing my degree. I have about 1.5 years left.

Ive lived in Maryland my entire adult life. And about a year ago, my husband and I bought our “forever” home. I couldnt imagine living anywhere else.

One of my favorite leadership quotes is by FDR. “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.” The quote is special to me because so many of us live in constant fear. Fear does nothing but hold you back. People use fear as an excuse in order to “avoid” failing, but what people don’t realize if you dont at least give it a try your giving in and youve already failed before you even began. .

One of my newest hobbies is collecting National Monument and Park stamps. Ive always loved to hike and explore the outdoors, and whats cooler than doing something i love outside all while collecting stamps to ease my OCD mind. My NMP Passport book is a little over the top with how neat and orderly it is… but what can i say?!

This is a picture of me and my little (not so little) brother.