Facilitate Proceedings » Management practices

Kick off the New Year by creating a facilitator culture

Nancy Settle-Murphy — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:20:35 +0000

Up until a few years ago, those of us who are professional facilitators were considered to be a breed apart. People turned to us for special ways of extracting the best ideas from a group, weaving together a stimulating conversation (even when people had wildly different perspectives), or helping people reach consensus on difficult decisions. Fortunately for us, our clients still value our ability to plan and guide productive conversations when the outcomes matter most.
And yet—I see more and more employees and managers recognizing the need to act as facilitators themselves, especially among geographically dispersed groups. Why?

Discerning the Essential Skills for Leading Virtual Teams

Nancy Settle-Murphy — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:22:31 +0000

My friend and colleague Julia Young and I are collaborating closely –from 3,000 miles away–to create a blended (virtual, asynchronous and face to face) training program, Leading Virtual Teams, for a new client. As we interviewed a representative set of senior managers to better understand their challenges, we asked each one: Which is more critical for people to learn, how to plan and run more productive virtual meetings or how to lead successful virtual teams?

Why BP and Virtual Teams Need Clear Operating Principles

Nancy Settle-Murphy — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 01:46:09 +0000

We may never know what sequence of events set off the greatest environmental catastrophe of our time. What we do know is that there seemed to be a difference of opinion among decision-makers when it came to making a crucial trade-off between safety and profit. Add to that, it seemed unclear as to who, precisely, had the authority to make the decision to stop the drilling when a concerned staffer alerted management of the impending danger.

Having agreed-upon operating principles up front might have helped the drilling team avert this unnecessary disaster, just as they can help any kind of team make well-informed decisions quickly.

Tips To Jumpstart Your New Virtual Team

Nancy Settle-Murphy — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:58:03 +0000

One of my clients was just anointed as the project lead for a new virtual team of a very visible project. She confessed that she has very little experience as a manager of virtual teams, though she does know what it’s like being part of a poorly run team, and she does not want to replicate this experience for her new team members.

Here are a few tips I shared with her to help her get her new team off to a fast start:

1. Choose the right people.

When you can choose your team members, look for people with diverse perspectives with a blending of skills, knowledge and experience. Important competencies include tolerance for ambiguity; sensitivity to cultural differences; willingness to work independently; ability and openness to communicate using a variety of methods; and keen listening skills.

Are We Losing The Art Of Decoding Expression?

Nancy Settle-Murphy — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:21:19 +0000

With increasing reliance on text as a primary form of communication, younger generations may be losing the ability to read vital nonverbal cues. And for those of us who multitask all too often, we may be losing the ability faster than we think.
So what’s the real harm here? Absent constant opportunities to decode expressive forms of communications, we simply will not learn how to react or respond to others’ nonverbal cues. The ability to impart meaning from one’s facial expression, tone of voice, choice of words, or cadence is a nuanced affair that takes years of experience to get right even most of the time.

8 Attributes of Successful Virtual Workers

Nancy Settle-Murphy — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 23:01:20 +0000

Many of my clients, like so many other organizations, are looking for ways to help them establish and cultivate a productive remote workforce. In some cases, they realize that greater workplace flexibility will allow them to attract and retain certain kinds of employees. In other cases, companies simply to have to slash costs, forcing employees out of company offices.

When starting up telecommuting programs, some of my clients start with a pilot program where a group of new telecommuters will pave the way for others to come. The first step: Making sure the people who are selected are likely to succeed in a virtual workplace. My clients ask me: Is there some sort of test or tool that we can put people through to make sure they’re the right candidates?

Can you select a CEO by telephone?

Julia Young — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:23:41 +0000

I recently had the pleasure of working with a selection task group from the Girl Scouts of the Central Coast of California as they conducted a series of interviews of CEO candidates. Sheila Dundon, HR/OD consultant and founder of the Priority Leadership Group lead the selection team and we collaborated on how we might support nine committee members from up and down the coast of California in coming to consensus and documenting their decision making.

By necessity the first round of interviews was done by phone. Candidates had already gone through several screening steps so this was to be a high powered interview. The aim was select four of seven candidates who will go on to face-to-face interviews and then two who will spend a half day on-site.
Sheila and I looked for ways in which online collaboration software (in this case FacilitatePro) could transform a rather awkward phone conversation with a candidate and nine interviewers to an engaging and efficient interaction.

Six Management Practices That Don’t Cut It in a Virtual World

Nancy Settle-Murphy — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 07:19:52 +0000

Do you think that just because you’re a successful manager of traditional teams that you’ll automatically be a hotshot manager in the virtual world? Maybe not. In fact, it’s often those managers who assume their leadership skills are eminently transportable to a virtual team are those who struggle the most. Why? They haven’t taken the time to understand how vastly different virtual team dynamics can be for both leaders and team members, and thus, are less likely to find ways to accommodate those differences.

In this issue, I explore some of the “traditional” management tenets that are most likely to backfire in a virtual world, and offer some alternatives that will yield better results when leading teams who work remotely.