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Be the Seed
Improve output, reduce stress, and reinvent your workplace culture, no
matter who you are.
The Original
Create the job you want, right where you are, by learning to
read the cues around you.
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The Group Harmonics Help Desk
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Useful Answers Fast
Do you have a problem at work? A difficult manager? An
unmanageable team? A group going in circles? Give us about four minutes, and
we can help!
Use the links below to jump to the topic you need, or browse
through the problem statements on the page. 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.
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ADMITTING YOU DON'T KNOW
When you don't have all the answers |
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I'm being pressed for answers I
don't have. How do I respond? |
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? |
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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ADMITTING YOU'RE OUT OF THE LOOP
When you didn't hear it first |
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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? |
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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AGGRESSIVE
EMPLOYEES AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM
Avoid escalation or acquiescence |
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I feel slightly threatened by an
employee's approach, what can I do? |
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I don't want to escalate with my
angry coworker, but I don't want to
acquiesce either. Now what? |
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Is it best to handle a show of force
by meeting it with more force? |
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AVOIDING ARGUMENTS
Reconciling different
interpretations without emotion |
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I'm unable to come to agreement with
someone else. What can I do? |
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? |
How do I structure a conversation
about divergent interpretations to
keep it
from becoming emotional, personal,
or getting off track? |
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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CHANGING SOMEONE'S BEHAVIOR
Getting someone to do something
differently |
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My coworker is doing something that
drives me crazy! How do I get
him/her to stop? |
I need to give corrective feedback
to an employee, but I'm afraid
he/she
will get defensive. What
should I do? |
I'm having a hard time getting my
manager to change how he/she manages
me.
How can I ask for something
different? |
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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A
CRYING EMPLOYEE OR COWORKER
What to do when you face tears in
the workplace |
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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? |
How can I offer support to someone
who is crying or upset without
causing
them to get even more emotional? |
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DRAMA
IN THE WORKPLACE - HOW TO PREVENT IT
Returning the focus to productive
output |
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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. |
The people in my workplace are
distracted by personal issues and
don't
seem to be getting much work done. |
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ECONOMIC DOWNTURN - HOW TO DISCUSS
IT
How to communicate in difficult
times |
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Things are difficult in our industry
right now. What should I tell
my employees? |
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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EFFECTIVE MEETING AGENDAS
Guidelines for thorough meeting
planning |
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I'm in charge of a meeting and want
to publish an agenda in advance.
What information should I include? |
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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E-MAIL
VERSUS PHONE VERSUS FACE-TO-FACE
Limitations on the flow of
information |
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I'm on the tenth reply of an e-mail
conversation and we're going in
circles. Help! |
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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ENCOURAGEMENT
Getting someone to do more of
something |
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? |
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. |
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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ENGAGEMENT
LEVELS OF LEADERS
Using "The Bathtub Model" to
explain appropriate variation |
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I am leading a project team.
How do I define my role? |
I've been told by teammates that as
the leader, I seem disengaged.
I'm just trying not to micromanage.
How can I explain this? |
When I get more involved with my
team, they say I'm meddling, but
when I get less involved, they say I
don't care. Help! |
When should I get more or less
involved with a team I'm leading
or managing? |
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GROUP
DECISION MAKING
Pre-planning decision processes for
maximum benefit |
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I'm on a team that can't seem to
make any useful decisions.
What can I do? |
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? |
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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GROUP
PROBLEM SOLVING
A model for information sharing and
decision making |
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? |
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? |
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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IMPROVING OUTPUT
The key factors people need to be
productive |
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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? |
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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INNOVATION
AND PRACTICALITY
How to balance novel ideas with
practical realism |
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I'm supposed to be creative but I'm
stumped. How do I start? |
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Too often good ideas around here get
shot down too soon. Is there a
better way? |
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We have a lot of dreamers but not
enough reality. How can we get more
balance? |
I'd like to walk my group through a
process that will help them to come
up
with new and creative ideas to our
frequent problems. What are the
steps? |
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MAPPING
LEVELS OF TEAM INTERACTION
The "Hill of Influence" model
and team activities |
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I'm looking for an activity that I
can do with my team to help us work
better together. |
Some of the people on my team talk
way too much,
others never say anything. How
can I fix this? |
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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MEETING
TYPES
Information vs. Solution |
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Our board or oversight committee
meetings never get anywhere. Why? |
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Our meetings seem to go around in
circles. Are all meetings like
this? |
I'm trying to get a decision in a
meeting but it seems like there are
too many people there to ever
decide. What should I do? |
What is the difference between an
informational meeting and a meeting
intended to come to a solution? |
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MOTIVATION
Understanding hidden drivers |
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I don't trust someone, but I don't
understand why. What can I do? |
My manager seems unpredictable and
it is causing me stress. How
can I
figure out what he or she will ask
me for before it happens? |
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What sorts of factors drive people
to make a decision, such as whether
to buy our products? |
I have a coworker who really bothers
me. I don't want to work with
that person, but
I don't have a good reason for how I
feel. What is going on? |
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ORG
CHARTS: LIMITATIONS AND USES
Why sometimes it's better to
"burn your org chart" |
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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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READING
BEHAVIORAL CUES
Choose your response to maximize
communication |
When an employee or coworker comes
to me in excited or upset state,
how can I best keep our conversation
on track? |
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? |
I know that different people prefer
different kinds of communication,
but I'd like to get more specific
than that. |
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RESOURCES
The importance of definition,
availability, and control |
I have an employee who doesn't seem
to know what he or she needs to get
the job done. How can I help? |
I don't want my employees dependent
upon me for their output. How
can
I make them more autonomous? |
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What are the requirements for
resources in a given situation? |
I'm seeking a simple way to increase
output by putting it in the hands of
the
people doing the work. How can
I get more output through more
autonomy? |
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ROLE
SET THEORY
Manage the People Managing You |
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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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SAYING
NO WITHOUT SAYING NO
Articulating your workplace
purpose in advance |
I'm constantly distracted by
requests at work that take me away
from my core purpose. How can
I reduce these? |
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! |
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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SETTING
"SMART" GOALS
Making requests clear and meaningful |
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. |
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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STUBBORN COWORKERS
How to handle someone who won't do
what you want |
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I'm working with someone who just
won't do what I ask. What do I
do? |
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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TASK TYPE FOR
MANAGERS AND INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS
Understanding task types and their
key elements |
I am trying to get an employee to do
something but he or she seems to be
stuck.
How can I help my employee get going
again? |
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I've got a project on my plate that
constantly seems behind. What can I
do? |
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How can I characterize my work (or
the work of my employees) in a
useful way? |
I have a feeling my employee doesn't
understand the difference between
routine work and project management,
but I'm having trouble articulating
it. |
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TUCKMAN'S MODEL FOR TEAM DYNAMICS
Understanding the phases of team
development |
I'm on a team that seems to only be
able to
fight and argue; we never get
anything done! |
I'm starting a new team and would
like to know what to expect,
and how to get us productive as
quickly as possible. |
Why do some teams seem to produce
great results while others
seem never to get past the
introductions and formalities? |
Why does everything seem to fall
apart on my team
every time we add a new member? |
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