by Corinne on May 21, 2013
Last week we spoke about measuring productivity in your business in addition to the more traditional financial measurements.
This week we want to introduce you to another hugely important measure of the strength of your business – positivity.
Healthy measures of positivity lead to productivity and profitability improvements. Additionally, by increasing the the measures of positivity within your business you can reap all these rewards:
- Increased employee retention
- Increased receptivity to communication
- An inspired and motivated team
- Easier conflict resolution
- Greater risk taking by individuals, teams, and your overall business
- Increased stakeholder buy-in and goodwill
- Process improvements and product innovation through nurtured creativity
- Increased organizational vitality
At Edge of Change, we use a team diagnostic assessment to measure positivity in a business. We have identified seven different markers of positivity in business and score the health of a company based on these strengths.
How would your team stack up? And even take this out of the workplace and ask how your family measures up, your community, and even on the personal level – where do you stand with these productivity strengths?
- Optimism: The team has an inspiring shared vision. They are enthusiastic, forward-looking, and appreciative of each other. There are low levels of cynicism, pessimism, helplessness, hopelessness, or dwelling in the past.
- Trust: It is safe on this team to speak your mind, openly without fear of reprisal. We can count on each other; we are reliable. We tell the truth even if it is uncomfortable or unpopular.
- Respect: There is an atmosphere of mutual respect and genuine positive regard. Contempt and hostility are not tolerated. We empower other members of the team to contribute their best.
- Communication: Clear and efficient communication is valued over less direct approaches such as politicizing, gossiping, or stonewalling.
- Constructive Interaction: Conflict is seen as providing an opportunity for discovery, growth, and creativity. The team avoids criticizing, defensiveness, and finger-pointing. Giving and receiving of feedback on this team is specific and timely.
- Camaraderie: There is a strong sense of belonging to the team. The team celebrates and acknowledges accomplishments. Empathy, playfulness and humor are present.
- Values Diversity: The team is open-minded and values differences in ideas, backgrounds, perspectives, personalities, approaches, and lifestyles. Diversity is considered vital.
Tagged as:
coaching,
Corinne McElroy,
edge of change,
keeping score,
Leadership,
Team Building
by Corinne on May 14, 2013
Measurement of your success in your business or personal life can rarely be accurate using the bottom line numbers alone. An individual may be deeply in debt after fighting a battle with cancer, yet feel a deep sense of appreciation for life and a re-commitment to their dreams. Their bottom line wouldn’t offer the full picture for this person.
Nor does the bottom line alone offer much insight into the health and vitality of an organization. A business can be in the black after making significant cut backs to stay afloat, yet be further from achieving their dream than at any point in their history.
In order to know where you really stand, it’s important to keep score in multiple areas. At Edge of Change, we measure the strength of companies using financials as well as business culture strengths.
One of the most important things we can measure is the level of productivity at a business. A lean, mean workforce will not benefit a company in the long run if the productivity of the remaining staff suffers. A large workforce that has low productivity unnecessarily burdens a business with extra costs and generally more red tape.
At Edge of Change, we use a team diagnostic assessment to measure productivity in a business. We have identified seven different markers of productivity in business and score the health of a company based on these strengths. How would your team stack up? And even take this out of the workplace and ask how your family measures up, your community, and even on the personal level – where do you stand with these productivity strengths?
- Goals and Strategies: The team has clear, challenging objectives; there is alignment on strategies and priorities. Objectives are linked to recognition, rewards, or compensation. The team is highly resilient and not easily defeated in their goals.
- Alignment: There is a sense of common mission and purpose. The team values cooperation, cohesion, and interdependence. The team collectively owns their results.
- Accountability: There is clarity of roles and responsibilities with higher follow through. When problems arise the team responds. Team members actively hold each other accountable for team agreements.
- Resources: The team clearly requests, obtains, and manages adequate resources and training to meet its objectives. There is sufficient expertise to accomplish the team’s objectives. This is an atmosphere of “win-win” rather than “when one person wins, it means someone else loses.”
- Decision Making: The team has clear and efficient decision making processes, which have proven effective over time.
- Proactive: Change is embraced and seen as vital to this team and to the larger organization. The team is nimble and flexible in addressing opportunities for change, responding positively and creatively.
- Team Leadership: There is a strong sense of team leadership; team members take initiative to provide leadership as the need for initiative arises. The team leader or sponsor’s role is clear and supportive of the team as a whole.
Tagged as:
coaching,
Corinne McElroy,
edge of change,
Goals,
keeping score,
productivity,
Success
