Relationship Tip #1:

Has an important topic ever raised emotions in a team meeting?  Perhaps you need to a ground rule to help team members really hear each other. Have you ever noticed that listening is greatly diminished in conflict?  Without listening, the team will not reach understanding and the conflict may escalate.

Have team members repeat what the last person has said before they are allowed to add their own comments. Before they begin with their own thoughts, ask the last speaker if the team member has understood and relayed his/her thoughts accurately.  If not, be sure to clear up any mis-communication before the second speaker can add his/her own ideas. It can take time to do this, but not nearly as much time as the conflict that comes from layers of mis-communication that get piled on top of each other.

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For over 20 years we have been supporting teams, team leaders, and team facilitators with products and services designed to enhance relationships. Some choose to call the competencies we develop "soft skills". We know from years of personal experience that these "soft skills" are some of the hardest to learn and effectively use in our day-to-day interactions. Be it supervision, management, sales, customer service or just plain teamwork, relationships have been, and always will be, the key to success. Our name and our tag line say it all: The TEAM Approach - Connect & Succeed!

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Tools For Success

There is a good bit that goes into creating an environment that sustains loyalty from both employees and customers. There is no magic program that will create and maintain such a culture. To produce the kinds of behavior needed, a process of development that tunes into the changes within the team and adjusts quickly and accordingly is called for. On this site you will find hundreds of tools and ideas to develop a team approach in your organization. Our Team of CHOICE process is a template for many organizations, and through our extensive tool box, we can customize this process to meet the needs of your team.  If leadership is the issue, be sure to check out the Team Leader Cafe'.