One powerful way of moving your team from “why it can’t be done” thinking to “it can be done” thinking is to hold a brain storming session. Brain storming sessions get all obstacles to task completion out on the table, so that practical solutions can be found to eliminate them.
People tend to attach emotions to obstacles. Instead of viewing them as problems to be surmounted, they become fire-breathing dragons with talons digging into their productivity! A brain storming session can take the fire away from the beast, tame it, and make it manageable.
Use a white board or chalk board during your brain storming/problem solving session, and have everyone participate by going around the room until all obstacles are clearly listed. Classify each as requiring a near term or long term solution or fix. Circle the issues that are identified as the biggest causative factors, using the 80/20 rule (80 percent of the problem is usually caused by 20 percent of the factors).
Next, go around the room and have everyone participate by suggesting potential solutions or fixes for the most important issues identified and named. Rank each one as to its ability to change the minuses into pluses. Don’t leave the room without creating a concrete plan for action that includes what is to be done, when, and by whom. And don’t try to solve every issue – work on the ones you have isolated as having the biggest negative impact.
Save a few minutes at the end of the meeting for “cheerleading” – making sure that your team sees the power of what just happened, and feels the impact of the changes that are about to occur. Seeing obstacles fade into the distance is a powerful motivator for positive change.
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