Coach’s Challenge for March 07, 2005

Good Day Team,

The coach’s challenge for the week is to inspire and energize your team members. Each of us has a certain amount of energy that we bring to our jobs each day. That energy is affected by the people we work with and the events that take place. Since we know that we affect each other, how can we be a positive influence that encourages others to enjoy their work and inspires them to be more successful?

Here are some practical suggestions from the book “1001 Ways to Energize Employees” by Bob Nelson:

Give your team members the time and place to be creative.

Spend some team meetings brainstorming solutions to a key organizational problem.

Select one team member to come up with an idea, and then pass it onto the next team member to add his or her ideas. Continue until all team members have made their contribution.

Encourage and defend minority opinions, even if it means explaining and developing two different parallel ideas at once.

Quickly accept and implement team recommendations whenever feasible.

Spend energy on solutions, not emotions.

Take personal responsibility for fixing things. Don’t blame others.

Try easier, not harder.

Allow the freedom to fail and try again.

Have fun!

Try implementing some of these solutions with your team members this week.

Have a great week!

Kathleen

“Everybody has noted the astonishing sources of energy that seem available to those who enjoy what they are doing or find meaning in what they are doing.” Charles Garfield, President, Performance Sciences Corp.