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July 2005
Dr. Clue Teambuilding Newsletter, Volume 3, Issue 4
The Dr. Clue Newsletter is sent only to subscribers. We do not share names with anyone else. To receive your free subscription or to unsubscribe, email to drclue@drclue.com Dr. Clue: Solving the Puzzles of Teamwork
Welcome again to the Dr. Clue Teambuilding Newsletter In this issue, we've got a "jelly" good icebreaker for you; a motivating team article; and a puzzle that's sure to "break you up". Enjoy!
Dave Blum
Set Up: Participants are divided into teams of five. Each person (on each team) receives an envelope with five jelly beans of different colors. The colors do not matter; the important thing is for half of the teams to have at least nine beans, collectively, of a particular color, while the other half do not. For example, if there were four groups, team A‹when all their jelly beans are put together‹ could assemble nine red beans, total. Team B could assemble nine yellow beans, collectively. Team C, on the other hand, is unable to meet their goal, their highest total in any one color being seven green beans. Similarly, Team D is also missing their goal, amassing at best only six blue beans as their greatest color total. Process: Explain that each group will need to assemble, as a team, nine jelly beans of the same color. (They can do anything they like with the beans they don't need.) But here's the rub: people are not allowed to talk while doing this activity. Give people three minutes to complete the game. Discussion Questions: What made this game fun or interesting? How did it feel to be stripped of your ability to communicate verbally? What alternate forms of communication did you develop? How did leadership emerge? Were you willing to work together with other teams? The Point: Like most games employing an imposed silence rule, this one allows participants to experiment with different forms of non-verbal communication. For any of us who have traveled or worked abroad, we know how difficult and frustrating it is to be stripped of our native tongue. This activity, then, is great for helping people develop cross-cultural sensitivity. Equally important, however, in this game are the lessons we can harvest about scarcity and cross-team competition. Inevitably the "have-not" teams will attempt to elicit aid from the "have" teams, asking to swap un-needed jelly beans for the ones they require. More often than not, the teams which have met their jelly bean quota will assume this is a competition and refuse to assist the "have-not" teams. And isn't this how cliques and silos work? The "have" teams think, "We have what we need, why should we help you" – even when assisting others would not in any way hinder their own goal attainment. Teamwork within departments is vital, certainly. But when it comes at the cost of a "we vs. them" mentality that denies the possibilities of cross-departmental collaboration, the organization as a whole suffers, to no one's benefit. (Thanks for this one to Dr. Clue trainer Stacey Flanagan)
Dr. Clue is the premier designer of corporate teambuilding treasure hunts, nationwide. We begin with the cool museum or historical neighborhood of your choice, convenient to your office or conference locale. We then bring the area alive by scouting out its hidden treasures; its statues, plaques, murals, and monuments. To reach each secret location, you and your team will need to solve our challenging, da Vinci Code-like set of codes, puzzles and ciphers. Along the trail, we'll coach you on the steps successful business teams take on their road to high performance levels.
Motivation. We hear the term often. Generally we associate the word with human behavior, meaning a state of mind that moves us to action. And even though few of us have had formal training in it, it's one of those characteristics of life that seems to fit the old adage, "I know it when I see it." For most of my years working in the field of workplace collaboration, this word has held a place of stature and importance, because it has been, perhaps, the most significant outcome of worker involvement. As the collaboration trend, and more specifically, the use of employee teams continues to grow, one question that is taking on greater importance is how to keep the team motivated over the long haul. What Makes Us Do Anything?Probably the first question to be answered in a discussion of motivation is "What makes us do anything?" Why am I writing this article? Why are you reading it? Why did you get out of bed today and go to work? Why did you join that volunteer organization last month? Why did you drop out of the other one? Each day brings with it an endless list of decisions to be made. The process of making those decisions is driven, in large part, by the hope of a benefit or the fear of a consequence. For example, I truly enjoy coffee and donuts from Dunkin' Donuts. I pay them money for the benefit of enjoying the taste and filling a void in my stomach. However, I limit my intake of these donuts for fear of the consequences of too much sugar and fat in my diet. Literally every decision we make is filtered through this process. The industrial psychologists have taken this further by defining these consequences as needs. Our needs for sustenance, safety, security, belonging, recognition, and a sense of growth and achievement become strong drivers (motivators) of behavior. The subject of motivation is, at once, simple and complex. Simple, in that it explains much of what we see happening in human behavior, yet complex when it poses contradictions. For example, the need to nourish ourselves is strong, and hunger will drive us to extreme actions, particularly in the case of extreme hunger. However, how does one explain a hunger strike? How can you explain the actions of someone who has died because they chose not to eat? The psychologists will say that a higher- level need took over....perhaps the need to make a point about an issue that, to the person, was larger than life itself. So as we attempt to understand motivation, we need to appreciate the subtleties that exist in human behavior, and focus our attention on general principles of motivation that have wider application. At least if we can understand some of these principles, we might be better prepared to lead or facilitate a long-term, highly motivating team experience. Why Be Part Of A Team?You've been asked to participate on a team to accomplish some task. Immediately your decision-making process begins.
These are some of the questions we ask ourselves when faced with an invitation to participate in some kind of team. Are they typical questions? Of course. Do they relate to our motivation to participate? Certainly. Sometimes, however, we are not given the opportunity to refuse participation on a team: for example, a work group or an organization that has restructured itself into self-directed work teams. In these cases, by default, we are part of the group or team. Nevertheless, in either case, motivation can rise or fall depending on a myriad of factors. Let's look at some of them. Factors That Influence Team Motivation I. PurposeI have asked people for years to describe the characteristics of their most successful and rewarding team experiences. At the top of almost everyone's list is a clear purpose, focus, or mission. But further, for long-term motivation, it must be a purpose or mission that they find aligns with their personal wants and needs. A person can be asked to participate on a temporary task force. If the mission is clear, he might be able to sustain motivation for the duration if he feels it is important. However, if it is a topic that is not in line with his wants and needs, his motivation to continue may diminish. Many years ago on a construction project, I had assembled a group of electricians to streamline the process of making cable terminations. Since they were all electricians, I thought there would be great interest in working on a process that was frustrating people the way it was designed. About a month into the group's work, they were having great difficulty maintaining momentum and focus. When I asked them why, they said that some of the electricians were conduit specialists and some were cable tray specialists, and that those not working directly with the cable terminations simply couldn't get interested in the subject. What a lesson for me! Motivation in this case was lacking because the team's purpose was not in line with some of the members' wants and needs. So one strategy with a lethargic team might be to stop the process, re-visit the team's purpose or mission, and see if there's alignment on it. Even with a team that seems well-motivated, it still is a good strategy to recheck once in a while. II. ChallengeAnother term that I hear frequently when I ask about team motivation is challenge. The human species, as with most animals, has been given a survival mechanism called fight or flight syndrome. When presented with a challenge, our defenses are alerted to move us to action....to run away from danger or address it directly. Many people will say that their most rewarding team experiences resulted from some sort of challenge. I've heard the stories often of mediocre groups that responded to a challenge with heroic success. The challenge itself was the motivator. In the workplace, these challenges occur infrequently. Teams are not presented with stimulating challenges every day. So the question becomes how to provide challenges to the team at more frequent intervals. An additional criteria for a challenge is the level of difficulty. If a challenge is too difficult, perhaps perceived as impossible, then team members may give up before they start. However, the same result may occur if the members perceive the challenge as too easy. Little energy is required to accomplish something so easily obtained. So for ongoing teams, periodic stimulation in the form of a worthy challenge is another method of maintaining motivation. In 1983, I was managing a work group for a large construction organization. It was a long-term project (10 years), and senior management had discussed conducting an open house for the workforce. Management, however, had always nixed the idea--fearing the difficulty of coordinating an event that would encompass seven thousand workers and their families. My work group heard about the idea, however, and asked to take on this assignment. There was enormous interest in conducting this event within the workforce, so with much support, my group planned and successfully coordinated an open house that ultimately attracted over 10,000 people. The challenge for my group was enormous....but achievable. The challenge created high levels of motivation while planning the event; and the sense of accomplishment after the event sustained motivation even longer. I don't suggest, by this example, that every work group take on such a formidable task; I do suggest they simply think about the implications of taking on a new challenge periodically. III. CamaraderieSeldom, if ever, in our MBA programs (which purport to be leadership development programs) have we seen courses of study in team development and motivation. That is changing now and will continue to change in the future. If one studies highly effective groups, one finds that the most successful groups over the long haul tend to address both the technical needs and human needs. These groups are at the same time competent in the work they perform and highly functional in their interpersonal relationships. The group is well balanced in both technical and human skills. Another factor that emerges from my queries about successful teams is camaraderie, meaning comradeship, fellowship, and loyalty. The people on these teams genuinely like each other and work hard to develop and maintain their relationships. Although they are probably not aware that research supports this behavior, they just seem to understand that it's a lot easier to support your teammate when you have a good relationship. The consquence from this kind of relationship-building is open and direct communication, frequent praising of each others' contributions, and mutual support. So, you will say, that is all well and good for teams whose members like each other, but what if they don't like each other? Much of the time when we like or dislike someone, it relates specifically to how well we understand them. And since our formal training has not addressed this, most of us enter adulthood ill-equipped to deal with the myriad of personalities, temperaments, cultures, values, beliefs, ideologies, religions, and idiosyncratic behaviors of those we meet. One way to break down these barriers is to expand one's understanding of one's own species. Training is available to address most of the topics above, and exercises can be beneficial if they move us to another level of understanding. But don't overlook the simple solutions. Designing an off-site activity for the team, sometimes just to play together, is a powerful way of building camaraderie. IV. ResponsibilityIn general, people and teams are stimulated by being given responsibility. Having ownership of an identifiable block of work is a long-held tenet of motivation in groups. Responsibility can be tricky, however. Implied in this concept is the understanding that the responsibility comes along with authority to make the necessary changes. Teams that have both the responsibility and authority tend to maintain motivation over longer periods of time. Responsibility can be de-motivating if the consequences of error or failure are too great. If the organization, for example, has a history of punishing mistakes, then the giving of responsibility is viewed more as a negative than a positive. The short-term performance may be good (remember fear is a motivator), but long-term motivation will suffer. It is difficult to sustain high performance when energy is being sapped by fear. V. GrowthFinally, personal and team growth can provide another basis for sustained motivation. When people feel they are moving forward, learning new concepts, adding to their skill base, and stretching their minds, motivation tends to remain high. Personal growth adds value to the individual, enhancing self-esteem and self-worth. Accordingly, team members and team leaders should look for opportunities that help add knowledge and skills. A good technique is simply to ask members what they would like to get from their association with the team, and then listen for areas of possible growth. VI. LeadershipA good leader can be a catalyst for motivation in the short term, but the best leaders create the conditions for the team to motivate itself. We have all seen examples of how leaders inspired teams to accomplish some phenomenal task. History books and Hollywood are full of these stories, and we come to honor these leaders. But the charismatic leader who can be so effective in the short term, cannot necessarily sustain motivation indefinitely. Motivation is inherently intrinsic, residing within oneself. Therefore, if one depends continually on another for one's source of motivation, eventually that motivation diminishes. Great leaders have a knack for helping others see the best in themselves, providing the stimulus for self-actualizing behaviors. But great leaders also understand the importance of team purpose, challenge, camaraderie, responsibility, and growth, and focus much of their time on creating the conditions for these to exist. Great leaders understand that their team members have needs, and that for motivation to grow and continue, the activities of the team must help in some way to meet these needs. SummaryA team whose members are aligned with its purpose, feel a challenge in their task, have a strong sense of camaraderie, feel responsibility for the outcome, and experience growth as a team and in their personal lives, will tend to sustain motivation over the long haul. This is not to say that they will not have difficulties at times, or that members' wants and needs won't change over time. In these cases, sometimes changes will have to be made. A member who no longer feels the team is meeting his or her needs may have to leave the team to continue on his or her own path. But, inasmuch as it is possible to sustain motivation indefinitely, the factors above will tend to create the best possible environment for it. (Peter Grazier has been a leader in the field of teambuilding for over 25 years. Check him out on the web at www.teambuildinginc.com)
What does a teambuilding treasure hunt look, feel and sound like?
Answer to Last Issue's Puzzle In our last issue, you were given a series of clock faces, some shaded and some not. The clocks corresponded to letters of the alphabet. The first half of the alphabet were the un-shaded clocks; the second half of the alphabet ere the shaded clocks. "Q" and "Z" were dropped out, giving you exactly 24 letters and 24 clock times. Hence an un-shaded 12:00 was "A", an un-shaded 1:00 was "B" a shaded 12:00 was "M", a shaded 1:00 was "N", and so on. Decoding in this manner, you would have discovered the following quote from Homer: "Light is the task where many share the toil." DR. CLUE HONOR ROLL Remarkably, there were NO puzzle solvers this month. I guess we got ya! Let's see if you're up to the challenge this month.
Today's Puzzle Challenge Solve the following clues and transfer three letters from each answer into the grid as indicated by the numbers. For example, Answer 1's second, fourth and sixth letters belong in the top row of squares, in that order. When the grid is filled, read down to reveal a quotation from Helen Keller.
As always, we'll list our Top Five fastest puzzle solvers in our Dr. Clue Honor Roll next issue Wondering how a typical Treasure Hunt CLUE works? Click here. to follow along with one.
Our clients, from Oracle to Yahoo, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Apple, and Wells Fargo all agree that Dr. Clue is cutting-edge teambuilding.
We'd love to hear your comments about the newsletter. Love it? Hate it? Things you'd like to see? We welcome your feedbackŠand your contributions! And remember: If you liked this newsletter, please forward it to a friend or a colleague. Information is meant to be shared! Watch for the next edition of the Dr. Clue Teambuilding Newsletter in September.
~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~
Dr. Clue Treasure Hunts
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