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The
Harmonic Element™
Self-Test
How strong is your strategy for each Harmonic
Element™?
Use our free diagnostic tool to evaluate your
own team or organization. You'll draw your own
conclusions about how well your group deals with
Selection, Integration, Navigation, and
Coordination.
The more your team is "In-SINC" with the four
Harmonic Elements™,
the better your chance for success.
 Read
More & Get It!
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The Cost of Failure - A Calculator
It's impossible to quantify the cost of missed
opportunity, lost revenue, or failed initiatives
caused by a team's failure to effectively produce
results.
It's difficult to measure the cost of "firing" an
employee who is not performing, although business
experts estimate it between three and five times the
annual salary of the departing employee.
But we can measure the cost of attrition in the
general sense, by estimating lost productivity,
training time, and employee replacement costs.
Our calculator lets you enter the values that
apply to your company, and see what attrition is
costing YOU.
In the words of one client, "Wow! I should spend
more time and money on that."
Read
More & Get It!
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 VIDEO
HELP DESK |
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Real time support for your
problems |
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"To succeed as a team is
to hold all of the members accountable
for their expertise." |
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- Mitchell Caplan,
CEO, E*Trade Group Inc. |
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Welcome to
the Group Harmonics Help Desk
Have a problem at work? A difficult
manager? An unmanageable team? Let us
help!
Browse through the problem
statements on this page, or use the quick
links below to jump to the topic area you
need. When you find your problem, just click the link
beneath it to watch a short video lesson
that you can use!
Check back often for new postings, or
join our newsletter to stay current.
Topic Areas
Admitting You Don't Know
Admitting You're Out of the Loop
Avoiding Arguments (Reconciling
different interpretations)
Changing Someone's
Behavior
Crying Employee or Coworker, How to
Handle
Drama in the Workplace, How to Prevent
Economic Downturn,
Discussing and Answering Questions
Effective Meeting Agendas
Email vs. Phone vs. Face-to-Face
Encouragement
Group Decision Making
Group Problem Solving
Improving Output
Mapping Team Interactions
Org Charts: Limitations and Uses
Reading Behavioral Cues
Role Set Theory - Managing Those
Most Influential to You
Saying No without Saying No: Articulating your
Purpose in advance
Setting "SMART" Goals
Stubborn Coworkers
Surviving a Difficult Economy
Tuckman's Model for Team Dynamics
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ADMITTING
YOU DON'T KNOW
When you don't have all the answers
Sample Problem Statements: |
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I'm being pressed for answers I
don't have. How do I respond? |
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I feel frustrated at my own lack of
clarity with what's going on in the
workplace. How much of this should I
share with my coworkers or
employees? |
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I have been seeking clarity from my
management about what to tell my
teammates, but I haven't gotten any
yet. What should I say in the
meantime? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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ADMITTING
YOU'RE OUT OF THE LOOP
When you didn't hear it first
Sample Problem Statements: |
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I'm hearing my employees say things
my management won't tell me. Now
what? |
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I'm constantly surprised by new
information that I think I should
have known. What should I do? |
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I'm tempted to blame upper
management for not communicating
well, but I think that would
demoralize my employees.
What's a better option? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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AVOIDING
ARGUMENTS
Reconciling different
interpretations without emotion
Sample Problem Statements: |
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I'm unable to come to agreement with
someone else. What can I do? |
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Two of my coworkers are locked in a
permanent disagreement and it needs
to be resolved. Is there a
model that will help me to help
them? |
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How do I structure a conversation
about divergent interpretations to
keep it from becoming emotional,
personal, or getting off track? |
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How can I explain to someone that
their interpretation of a situation
is about their own experience as
much as about the "objective"
situation itself? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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CHANGING SOMEONE'S BEHAVIOR
Getting someone to do something
differently
Sample Problem Statements: |
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My coworker is doing something that
drives me crazy! How do I get
him/her to stop? |
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I need to give corrective feedback
to an employee, but I'm afraid
he/she will get defensive.
What should I do? |
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I'm having a hard time getting my
manager to change how he/she manages
me. How can I ask for
something different? |
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I need to critique someone's work
and want to be prepared. What
should I think about and what should
I plan? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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A CRYING
EMPLOYEE OR COWORKER
What to do when you face tears in
the workplace
Sample Problem Statements: |
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An Employee is in tears in my
office. What do I do? |
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How do I handle someone who is
obviously emotional and upset in the
workplace? |
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How can I offer support to someone
who is crying or upset without
causing them to get even more
emotional? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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DRAMA IN THE
WORKPLACE - HOW TO PREVENT IT
Returning the focus to productive
output
Sample Problem Statements: |
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There are lots of dramatic arguments
at work, how can I prevent this? |
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People in my workplace are always
forming alliances against others.
What can I do? |
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I'm feeling powerless and want
someone to fix things for me. |
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The people in my workplace are
distracted by personal issues and
don't seem to be getting much work
done. |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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ECONOMIC DOWNTURN
- HOW TO DISCUSS IT
How to communicate in difficult
times
Sample Problem Statements: |
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Things are difficult in our industry
right now. What should I tell my
employees? |
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I feel like I should communicate
with my team about difficult
economic conditions, but I don't
know where to start or what to say. |
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What makes a good employee meeting
when the message is difficult or
scary? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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EFFECTIVE MEETING AGENDAS
Guidelines for thorough meeting
planning
Sample Problem Statements: |
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I'm in charge of a meeting and want
to publish an agenda in advance.
What information should I include? |
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When my team plans to meet, we
always just say that we will "talk
about solutions," but then we go in
circles. How can I get us to
be more productive? |
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What does it take to plan a meeting
so that everyone is on the same
page? |
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How do you get a group of people to
actually work on the same thing at
the same time? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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E-MAIL VERSUS PHONE VERSUS
FACE-TO-FACE
Limitations on the flow of
information
Sample Problem Statements: |
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I'm on the tenth reply of an e-mail
conversation and we're going in
circles. Help! |
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I tried to send out a message to get
people talking about something, but
it backfired and now my inbox is
full of what amounts to an argument.
What should I do? |
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Why is it so much harder to talk on
the phone or by e-mail than in
person? |
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I am mad about an e-mail I received.
What should I say in my reply? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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ENCOURAGEMENT
Getting someone to do more of
something
Sample Problem Statements: |
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My employee used to do something
specific that I liked all the time,
but now he or she doesn't do it very
often anymore. |
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I like it when my manager gives me
good feedback, how do I get him/her
to do that more often? |
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A member of my team is very talented
at a certain task and I'd like to
encourage him/her to develop more
capability in that area. |
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How do I get someone to realize the
importance of something he/she is
doing, so that he/she does it more
often? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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GROUP
DECISION MAKING
Pre-planning decision processes for
maximum benefit
Sample Problem Statements: |
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I'm on a team that can't seem to
make any useful decisions.
What can I do? |
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I'm chairing a meeting that is
supposed to come to a conclusion but
I know there will be disagreement.
How can I prepare? |
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What options are there for group
decision making? |
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On my team people tend to act like
they agree with the group decision
but then they don't support it.
Is this normal? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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GROUP PROBLEM SOLVING
A model for information sharing and
decision making
Sample Problem Statements: |
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I'm on a team that has solved the
same problem, again and again, and
we keep going in circles! How can we
deal with it once and for all? |
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I'm chairing a meeting that is
supposed to come up with some
answers, but I know all we will do
is argue. What can I do? |
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How should I structure the agenda
for my problem solving meeting? |
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My team is nothing but a bunch of
people arguing for their opinions.
How do I get us focused on coming up
with real solutions? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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IMPROVING OUTPUT
The key factors people need to be
productive
Sample Problem Statements: |
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I have a person who I manage who
just won't seem to do what I want. |
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I'm feeling like it is hard to
succeed because I'm poorly managed,
but I don't know what to ask for. |
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I've heard it said that money isn't
enough. What else do people
need? |
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I need to communicate some new
expectations to my staff, and want
to be as thorough as possible.
What must I address? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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MAPPING
LEVELS OF TEAM INTERACTION
The "Hill of Influence" model
and team activities
Sample Problem Statements: |
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I'm looking for an activity that I
can do with my team to help us work
better together. |
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Some of the people on my team talk
way too much, others never say
anything. How can I fix this? |
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I know that it's bad when some
people dominate the team
conversations, but I don't know how
to explain why it is a problem, or
get them to change their behavior. |
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How do I get the people on my team
to take responsibility for their own
level of engagement? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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ORG CHARTS:
LIMITATIONS AND USES
Why sometimes it's better to
"burn your org chart"
Sample Problem Statements: |
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Why did our last reorganization
cause such chaos? |
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We are restructuring our group and
are unsure about what information to
consider. |
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How has the onset of the information
age changed the utility of the org
chart as a business tool? |
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What constitutes an appropriate or
inappropriate use of an org chart? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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READING
BEHAVIORAL CUES
Choose your response to maximize
communication
Sample Problem Statements: |
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When an employee or coworker comes
to me in excited or upset state, how
can I best keep our conversation on
track? |
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I know I need to "try something
different" in my communication with
a specific person, but I'm not sure
what to do. How can I choose
an approach? |
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How do I read someone's nonverbal
cues so that I choose an appropriate
response? |
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I know that different people prefer
different kinds of communication,
but I'd like to get more specific
than that. |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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ROLE SET
THEORY
Manage the People Managing You
Sample Problem Statements: |
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It seems like everyone at work wants
a piece of my time. What do I
do? |
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I feel as though I have multiple
bosses and I would need to be
multiple people to get all my work
done. Help! |
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Who are the "critical few" in
driving my day-to-day work, and how
can I best manage them? |
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I wish I was all alone at work with
nobody telling me what to do. |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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SAYING NO WITHOUT
SAYING NO
Articulating your workplace
purpose in advance
Sample Problem Statements: |
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I'm constantly distracted by
requests at work that take me away
from my core purpose. How can
I reduce these? |
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I'm worried that if I don't do
everything I'm asked, I'll be
labeled as "not being a team
player." But I can't do it
all! Help! |
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How can I summarize my workplace
goals or objectives so that I can
share them with my manager and
coworkers without drowning them in
details? |
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How can I clarify my goals at work
for myself? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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SETTING
"SMART" GOALS
Making requests clear and meaningful
Sample Problem Statements: |
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I am trying to get an employee to do
something but he or she doesn't seem
to understand what I want. How
can I make myself understood? |
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I am going to ask a coworker for a
favor and want to be respectful of
his or her time. |
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I'm trying to clarify my own goals
with my boss. I 'm unclear on what
to do but not sure how to explain
what I need. |
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I want to make sure I set clear
expectations when I ask for
something. |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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STUBBORN
COWORKERS
How to handle someone who won't do
what you want
Sample Problem Statements: |
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I'm working with someone who just
won't do what I ask. What do I
do? |
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When people won't listen to me, I
get frustrated and become either
assertive or withdrawn. What
should I do instead? |
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What causes stubborn behavior? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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SURVIVING A DIFFICULT ECONOMY
How to stay productive during a
downturn
Sample Problem Statements: |
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I'm a manager trying to keep my
group motivated despite changes in
the economy and the company.
What can I do? |
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The company where I work is talking
about layoffs. How should I respond? |
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Why does everyone seem so stressed
out when there aren't even any
layoffs going on where I work? |
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My management is doing a terrible
job of telling me what's going on.
What should I do? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
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TUCKMAN'S MODEL FOR TEAM DYNAMICS
Understanding the phases of team
development
Sample Problem Statements: |
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I'm on a team that seems to only be
able to fight and argue; we never
get anything done! |
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I'm starting a new team and would
like to know what to expect, and how
to get us productive as quickly as
possible. |
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Why do some teams seem to produce
great results while others seem
never to get past the introductions
and formalities? |
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Why does everything seem to fall
apart on my team every time we add a
new member? |
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Watch the Video Lesson |
We are grateful to
CBS Interactive/BNET for the direction and
production of these video lessons.
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