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Added for You - How's Your Team Building Spirit?
I should probably begin with my own qualifications to discuss this topic. I was a Yellow Page consultant for nearly 25 years and, prior to that, had my own advertising agency. I also have a degree in marketing. I’ve been designing Yellow Page ads for the past three decades. So I have experience in creating ads and have advised almost 7000 companies on how to put together the most effective ones. If you have a display or in-column ad, regardless of size, color or position, I can tell you it most probably needs improvement in essentials areas like the headline, artwork, body text, placement, book, or heading. So, whether you have an ad or are thinking about placing one, please read on.If you are one of the typical small businesses that currently advertises in your local directory or have decided you are now ready, you will need a consultant. Most of the time you are assigned a representative of the publisher and he or she will guide you through the process. Yes, there is a process of choosing the directory, the type of ad, the size, colors, copy and artwork. Most average companies have little knowledge of marketing and therefore must rely on the expertise of their rep. The problem is regarding their qualifications. There are some basics facts you need to know or ask them before proceeding to trust their suggestions. Here are a few, in no particular order:How long have they been a rep?What is their background or degree, if they have one
A. No one will want to "rock the boat", the entire team will restrains their remarks;
B. Most of the team members will filter their critical remarks and restrain from speaking.
C. About half of the team will be unrestrained and the other half restrained.
D. Most of your team members are unrestrained in their analysis and critique.
E. Conflicts and differences aid to problem solving so we are openly discuss all issues.
6. Ellen, a senior member of the team, and Chen, a junior member of the te
How do you create value when you are a consultant or a salesperson?Value comes from many angles; you the consultant, your marketing pieces, your employees or subcontractors, and from your current clients. Each of these provides a basis for creating the true value of your organization. The following is a four step plan on how to determine what your true value may be.One, as a consultant, you have a perceived value in your mind. You know your own expertise, what you have to offer, and how it should benefit the client. Write down the value you think you provide to the client. Describe in detail why you think each item is of value to the client.Two, examine the marketing pieces you already have in place. What value does each piece have? Look at each piece from your own perspective and then look at them again from the customers’ perspective.Three, ask your subcontractors or employees what they think about the value you bring to the client. Ask them individually first and then ask them in a group. Record all of the comments.Fourth, ask your clients about the value you bring to them. Ask as many clients as you can possibly fit into a one or two week time frame. Write down their views, do not rely on your memory as to what they might have said. If you go by memory, you risk the chance that you will add your own view to their opinion.Once you have gathered all the information from the four areas, it is time to analyze your value to t
Instructions:
Answer the following questions of the Team Building quiz without looking at the answers. After you’ve totaled your scores, you will have a better insight to your team building Spirit.
1. Describe the level of communication between team members:
A. Everybody gives their well-thought-out views clearly, others listen, and strive to understand what is being said-we talk together
B. Only some members listen while everybody gives their views.
C. Some team members listen and speak up but others do not.
D. Quite a few members don't listen to others and withhold their thoughts.
E. We do not listen to each other and members are afraid to speak up.
2. Which of the following statements best describes the level of risk taking, imagination, initiative, the members of your team will take?
A. We shoot the messenger.
B. Risk is a necessary evil, so we try anything.
C. If it's not broke don't fix it
D. Some seem more comfortable with risk taking and change than other team members.
E. We are conservative, proceeding carefully.
3. Your team gathers each month to discuss progress and problems in reaching individual and departmental objectives. Describe the meeting:
A. We are open with each other and we realistically share our progress and problems that we have encountered.
B. A few team members seem to be so concerned about the impact of their sharing that they try to build allies to support their views.
C. We have team members who seem to be play politics, while others do not
D. One group exists within our team that continuously reports the same politically correct presentation.
E. Political maneuvering, deception, and infighting and polarizing are the name of the game in this team
4. The team leader makes impassioned plea to improve the level of the group cooperation. As the discussion develops you note:
A. Members are pulling in opposite directions, competing with others, and looking out only for themselves or departments.
B. The majority of your fellow team members are in favor of Teamwork.
C. The members are split. Half see no value in working together, the other half is in favor of team building.
D. All the members really seem concerned with helping each other, and working as a team.
5. Your team will be meeting to begin your organization’s annual planning, budgeting, and strategy for the next quarter. During the critique period:
A. No one will want to "rock the boat", the entire team will restrains their remarks;
B. Most of the team members will filter their critical remarks and restrain from speaking.
C. About half of the team will be unrestrained and the other half restrained.
D. Most of your team members are unrestrained in their analysis and critique.
E. Conflicts and differences aid to problem solving so we are openly discuss all issues.
6. Ellen, a senior member of the team, and Chen, a junior member of the tea
As a manager I never seem to have enough time to do everything I need to do in my day. After a great deal of soul searching and more than a little worry I talked to a few people and realised that the problem was not the amount of time I had available but how I managed to use the time I had.
A colleague suggested that I look at everything I did from the time I left for work in the morning to the time that I arrived home. To do this I had to make a record of every detail of every activity that I did during the day. After a couple of weeks I began to realise where things were going wrong and who the time thieves were.So to manage your time you have to take the time to look at exactly what your doing during the day, this is not an easy task and can add to your day initially, but in a very short space of time you will realise that there is a pattern emerging. Start by making a record of every task you are involved in from the time you leave for work, taking into account any phone calls you make or receive on your way to work, and what happens from the time you arrive at work who you take the time to exchange pleasantries with and anybody else you talk to. Take into account time used in looking at your post and especially time taken up by people who disturb you whilst you are working on a project or just going about your daily routine. You need to take any activity that takes five minutes or more. Do this task daily until you have a weeks worth built up, but do no
B. Only some members listen while everybody gives their views.
C. Some team members listen and speak up but others do not.
D. Quite a few members don't listen to others and withhold their thoughts.
E. We do not listen to each other and members are afraid to speak up.
2. Which of the following statements best describes the level of risk taking, imagination, initiative, the members of your team will take?
A. We shoot the messenger.
B. Risk is a necessary evil, so we try anything.
C. If it's not broke don't fix it
D. Some seem more comfortable with risk taking and change than other team members.
E. We are conservative, proceeding carefully.
3. Your team gathers each month to discuss progress and problems in reaching individual and departmental objectives. Describe the meeting:
A. We are open with each other and we realistically share our progress and problems that we have encountered.
B. A few team members seem to be so concerned about the impact of their sharing that they try to build allies to support their views.
C. We have team members who seem to be play politics, while others do not
D. One group exists within our team that continuously reports the same politically correct presentation.
E. Political maneuvering, deception, and infighting and polarizing are the name of the game in this team
4. The team leader makes impassioned plea to improve the level of the group cooperation. As the discussion develops you note:
A. Members are pulling in opposite directions, competing with others, and looking out only for themselves or departments.
B. The majority of your fellow team members are in favor of Teamwork.
C. The members are split. Half see no value in working together, the other half is in favor of team building.
D. All the members really seem concerned with helping each other, and working as a team.
5. Your team will be meeting to begin your organization’s annual planning, budgeting, and strategy for the next quarter. During the critique period:
A. No one will want to "rock the boat", the entire team will restrains their remarks;
B. Most of the team members will filter their critical remarks and restrain from speaking.
C. About half of the team will be unrestrained and the other half restrained.
D. Most of your team members are unrestrained in their analysis and critique.
E. Conflicts and differences aid to problem solving so we are openly discuss all issues.
6. Ellen, a senior member of the team, and Chen, a junior member of the te
1. Why Lean Six Sigma?I guess before we talk of the “why” of Lean Six Sigma, we should briefly address the “what”.Lean operations consist as much as possible of only value added activities: “Lean” aims to eliminate all waste in the work place. The outcome is that your operations become high-speed and low-cost.“Six-sigma” focuses on achieving consistent product and service quality by eliminating sources of variation.“Lean Six-sigma” is the fusion of these approaches to achieve high speed, low cost and defect free operations, with products and services that delight the customer and guarantee profitability for the business. It is necessary because each by itself is deficient. For instance Lean does not recognise the impact of variation nor does it explicitly seek customer input. Six-sigma incorporates customer viewpoints via the Voice of the Customer tools but fails to specifically identify waste.2. Lean Concepts: Pull, WIP and Value-AddedThe basis of the lean approach is that we produce only what is required just when it is needed (leading to the term “Just-In-Time”).Lean accelerates the velocity of a process by reducing all forms of waste.Pull:The idea is that the work done in a process should be driven entirely by customer demand. Each step in the process commences only when there is a signal from downstream indicating that an item has exited the process. Implementing a pull system eliminat
E. We are conservative, proceeding carefully.
3. Your team gathers each month to discuss progress and problems in reaching individual and departmental objectives. Describe the meeting:
A. We are open with each other and we realistically share our progress and problems that we have encountered.
B. A few team members seem to be so concerned about the impact of their sharing that they try to build allies to support their views.
C. We have team members who seem to be play politics, while others do not
D. One group exists within our team that continuously reports the same politically correct presentation.
E. Political maneuvering, deception, and infighting and polarizing are the name of the game in this team
4. The team leader makes impassioned plea to improve the level of the group cooperation. As the discussion develops you note:
A. Members are pulling in opposite directions, competing with others, and looking out only for themselves or departments.
B. The majority of your fellow team members are in favor of Teamwork.
C. The members are split. Half see no value in working together, the other half is in favor of team building.
D. All the members really seem concerned with helping each other, and working as a team.
5. Your team will be meeting to begin your organization’s annual planning, budgeting, and strategy for the next quarter. During the critique period:
A. No one will want to "rock the boat", the entire team will restrains their remarks;
B. Most of the team members will filter their critical remarks and restrain from speaking.
C. About half of the team will be unrestrained and the other half restrained.
D. Most of your team members are unrestrained in their analysis and critique.
E. Conflicts and differences aid to problem solving so we are openly discuss all issues.
6. Ellen, a senior member of the team, and Chen, a junior member of the te
Once you’ve decided to add a promotional campaign to your sales plans, the next thing to do is to decide which program is best suited for your business. Below is a list of the six most popular promotions used:1. Give-a-ways – A gift with a designated purchase designed to promote your “focus” products or services, giving your customers the opportunity to try something new.2. Discounts - A reduced price point on a special purchase (ie. some businesses may advertise a buy one item and get the second item at 50% off).3. Early Bird Specials – Designated items or services offered during a limited time frame. Many businesses open their doors a few hours prior to their normal hours of operation for these promotions. Make sure you have a substantial amount of inventory if you are promoting certain products or services.4. Displays – A very good visual presentation is an excellent suggestive selling promotion in the absence of a sales associate. Good displays will grab your customer’s attention and spark inquiry about purchasing those featured items.5. Contests or Sweepstakes - Tie this type of promotion around special holidays, local or national events. This can be fun, as well as educational for your customers.6. Demonstrations – Many vendors do this to promote specialty products they carry in stores (ie. The Housewares department in some stores invite a cook or nutritionist to prepare quick meals using certain pots, pans or utensil
E. Political maneuvering, deception, and infighting and polarizing are the name of the game in this team
4. The team leader makes impassioned plea to improve the level of the group cooperation. As the discussion develops you note:
A. Members are pulling in opposite directions, competing with others, and looking out only for themselves or departments.
B. The majority of your fellow team members are in favor of Teamwork.
C. The members are split. Half see no value in working together, the other half is in favor of team building.
D. All the members really seem concerned with helping each other, and working as a team.
5. Your team will be meeting to begin your organization’s annual planning, budgeting, and strategy for the next quarter. During the critique period:
A. No one will want to "rock the boat", the entire team will restrains their remarks;
B. Most of the team members will filter their critical remarks and restrain from speaking.
C. About half of the team will be unrestrained and the other half restrained.
D. Most of your team members are unrestrained in their analysis and critique.
E. Conflicts and differences aid to problem solving so we are openly discuss all issues.
6. Ellen, a senior member of the team, and Chen, a junior member of the te
The SearchLogix Group’s Research Department utilizes job boards. Job boards, such as Monster, can be very useful. The “perfect” candidate is never found on a job board; however, we almost always find someone who could potentially “lead” us to a candidate who might be. The SearchLogix Group uses job boards as another tool for building relationships to connect to new people.Our Internet Research Team spends hours digging through thousands of candidates who have chosen to post their resumes on job boards. Here are a few things our team looks for initially before a call is placed to qualify candidates found on a job board:o Date resume posted or updatedo Spelling errorso Qualificationso Dates, salary information, relocation, commute distanceIt is important for candidates who want to be found to stay in control of their resume while it’s on the internet. It is also important that they take it off if they are no longer open to new opportunities.Candidates should be honest when speaking with recruiters. Let them know upfront if, when and who they are interviewing with. A good recruiter will ask! If you are already interviewing with the company that the recruiter called about, that’s fine. They won’t submit you again to the same company but they will keep you in mind for other opportunities. Recruiters are all about building relationships. If candidates are not honest with the recruiter, you can bet they won’t be c
A. No one will want to "rock the boat", the entire team will restrains their remarks;
B. Most of the team members will filter their critical remarks and restrain from speaking.
C. About half of the team will be unrestrained and the other half restrained.
D. Most of your team members are unrestrained in their analysis and critique.
E. Conflicts and differences aid to problem solving so we are openly discuss all issues.
6. Ellen, a senior member of the team, and Chen, a junior member of the team, are on opposite sides of an important issue. Both of positions have merit. You notice that as Ellen and Chen present their arguments:
A. Team members seem to be harsher in their criticisms of Chen's arguments.
B. Members value differences and are objectively listening to both arguments.
C. Most of the team favors Ellen’s ideas slightly over Chen’s.
D. The team doesn’t pay attention to either view because they are too far apart.
E. We only listen to Ellen's views and discount or ignore Chen's viewpoints.
7. The leader of your team has asked each individual to express his/her views on a very controversial and emotionally charged issue the team must decide how to handle. Your first thought is:
A. We value each other’s opinions; I can express my true feelings without fear of reprisal.
B. A person would be a fool to be himself in this team-don't be vulnerable
C. How open you can be depends on the people around you and/or the issue at the time.
D. It is best not to let others know your true feelings or let your self show
E. It is safe to express your true feelings in most cases.
8. All the supervisors in your department meet annually to discuss those who have promotional potential and to rank employees for salary treatment. You describe the discussion as:
A. A supportive atmosphere where team members openly express their viewpoints and are listened to
B. The atmosphere and discussion is more supportive than not
C. Team members are about average in the level of supportiveness they exhibit toward one another,
D. The team could improve their listening skills. The willingness to express opinions, venture new or different ideas is inhibited.
E. Full of criticism, placing blame, belittling and withholding information.
9. A team member has asked to have time on your meeting’s agenda to seek the help from other team members in completing his/her assignment. During the ensuing discussion you feel that:
A. Every member is hiding his/her real motives and feelings.
B. Most members of the team hide their own goals, expectations, and needs.
C. Some team members are posturing to advance their hidden agendas
D. The majority of the team members are honest about their needs and expectations
E. All team members are open about their feeling and real motives; we feel free to communicate honestly.
10. Your manager has asked every member of your team to do an independently study and submit a detailed plan for implementing a total Employee Involvement/Quality program in their area of responsibility. Subsequent conversations with other team members, the fe
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