Check out these fun, functional teams:

The following are sample questions from the DrawSuccess Game, the cornerstone of the DrawSuccess Program and Beliefs. 

As you read these cards, ask yourself:

• What do all these fictional teams have in common?
• In what ways did they experience challenges (Storming), yet still achieve Performing?
• How did their "diversity of thought" help them accomplish seemingly insurmountable goals?
• Let us know your thoughts! 

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Integrating the Needs of CEOs with Training Initiatives

This blog will feature a series of discussions about each of the eight needs of CEOs:

• Excellence in Execution
  
• Increased Productivity
  
• Customer Acquisition & Loyalty
  
• Flexibility & Adaptability to Change
  
• Innovation, Creativity & Problem-Solving
  
• Employee/Team Integration
  
• Employee Engagement
  
• Open, Positive Communication
  

An activity is included to help trainers engage in this dialogue with executives:

http://drawsuccess.com/resources/free-management-goals-activity/

Please provide your ideas, comments and suggestions!

Open, Positive Communication

All CEOs know that dissention and conflict can be extremely destructive for a corporate culture. However, many may not realize that the lack of recognizable disputes does not necessarily indicate that they have optimal communication. Instead, it could be a sign of “active disengagement” where people have given up, or there could be a culture of too much formality which limits the sharing of new ideas. The solution is to offer programs to open up dialog and encourage the sharing of divergent points of view.

Employee Engagement

Engagement is one of today’s employee development buzzwords. But what does it mean, and how do you get it? Engagement is created by two factors: ownership and performance, both of which can be delivered by training programs. Ownership comes from people feeling like they’re part of the solution, that their suggestions are valued and that they are empowered to take action on their ideas. Performance is indicated by the ability to understand the sources of dissention and embracing diversity of thought through honest, respectful communication. Training can help with both by integrating brainstorming, team development and a bottom-up “Social Learning” approach into the company’s initiatives.

Employee/Team Integration

Change initiatives require training-related solutions for team integration. When each new employee starts his or her job there needs to be a comprehensive orientation that goes beyond learning where the bathrooms are and signing forms. New employees are hired because of their experience and skills. Therefore, Training should provide ways for new employees to communicate their ideas, build relationships within their immediate and cross-functional teams, and share their learning from previous positions.

Innovation, Creativity & Problem-Solving

Innovation is more important now than ever before. Without it, companies risk losing sales and market share to competition. 3M, a historical leader in innovation, draws 25% of their sales from products released in the past five years, which begs the question: What % of your company's sales in five years will come from products you're not selling today? The next question, of course, is: Where are the ideas for new products, services and programs going to come from? And how can Training help?

Many companies are embracing a strategy of Innovation at All Levels. To accomplish this goal, Training can offer programs that help employees generate ideas for new products and services, classes to stimulate creative problem-solving, solutions to improve decision-making, and, perhaps most importantly, programs to maximize employee engagement to ensure successful implementation of new product initiatives.

Flexibility & Adaptability to Change

Change can come in any number of forms. Companies can be going through large-scale changes like reorganization, mergers, or acquisitions, they can be launching new policies, products or processes, or there can be the introduction of new employees/management.

Sweeping changes require a full-scale integration solution. New teams need to go through the stages of team development to reach high performance as quickly as possible. Training programs that identify and solve the barriers to success and create and take action on these plans is extremely helpful.

When new managers are hired, they are challenged to “hit the ground running” to achieve results right away. Companies can no longer afford a six month or longer assimilation process. Therefore, training can help with programs that quickly build trust, build plans and unify the new team toward reaching their goals.

New policies or processes require a lot of training, not only in the traditional way of teaching the application, but also in making sure the new process is accepted by the workers in advance. In addition, new product launches can also create challenges – and opportunities – for training.

Customer Acquisition & Loyalty

No company can stay in business without customers (or, in the case of nonprofits, benefactors). Which explains why sales training will always be a viable investment, especially when segmented into these two categories: skills for acquiring new customers and solutions for offering exemplary service in order to build long-term customer loyalty.

However, the most successful companies go a step further and embrace the mantra, “Everybody sells.” They engage every employee, from the mail room to the board room, from finance to supply chain, to recognize their role in the company’s sales process. In addition, everyone can (and should) be trained to improve their sales skills within the organization. Some of the most ingenious new product ideas in history have come from people in obscure positions in a company, but they wouldn’t have seen the light of day if these people hadn’t had the ability to “sell” others to take a chance on their ideas.

Increased Productivity

Excellence in Execution