Innovation Skills Teams Need to Succeed

Came across this very interesting video where authors talk about innovation skills needed for teams to succeed.

 

They differentiate between 3 kind of professionals at workplace - innovators, executors, and developers (who can do both innovation and execution).

 

They then goes on to list 5 skills that innovators have (questioning, observing, networking, experimenting, and association), and 4 that executors have (analyzing, planning, self discipline, and detail oriented).

 

Leaves you with interesting thoughts. Give it a see!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy4oQh_Qyto

 

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Sourav

Need for a Pause during Change

You are in midst of an adrenalin pumping, emotionally involving, and intellectually stimulating change period.

How should you respond to brief sub-periods of inactivity or pause during such times? Rather, should you be actively keeping aside such ‘pause times’ during change periods?

I contend you should keep aside such ‘pause times’.

It helps you re-calibrate, re-prioritize, re-focus, and re-energize yourself.

Now let me take this a step further. Should this only be at individual level or should you be extending this to teams/groups too?

I think teams/groups also need to find a space for ‘pausing’ and re-energizing themselves. Just having a bit of fun might provide a good outlet for anxiety involved in process.

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Sourav

HR Business Partnership

We talk a lot about HR being a strategic partner to the business. But what are bedrocks that enable you to become a valuable partner?

Here are my experiences:

1)      Trust –business leaders and leadership team and you need to have a ‘trusting partnership’. You can start partnership with a default ‘trust’ status and then build on it through interactions and through early successes/joint work.

2)      Business understanding – if you have a understanding of business strategies, goals, challenges – and you are plugged into business rhythms – then you are perceived as ‘in boat’ with them. I am not asking you to become a ‘native’ – you are a partner and should have sufficient space to disagree or bring in your neutral perspective when required. But as old saying goes ‘To change the system, you gotta be in the system’.

3)      Networks – you should have a working relationship with important stakeholders in and outside business. This overlaps with trust angle but has its own space too. This is more to do with your ability to influence eco-system to get the work done.

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Sourav

Who am I?

-          is a very pertinent question!

We strive to define our ‘identity’.  Our experiences, our aspirations, those around us, ecosystem we live in – all contribute to our definition of ‘our identity’.

Identity is a ‘who’ question. Downstream it impacts ‘why’ question (our values), and behavior implications (how, what, and when).

Defining our identity can be empowering, but in certain conditions limiting.  I experience and sometimes observe a tendency to delve into our past and look at our present to define ‘our identity’. While that brings about understanding, it also runs risk of bringing about rationalization and a resistance to change.

For us to create a future which we desire, we need to give up somethings of our past.

So ensure that you are factoring in enough of your aspirations into your identity.

That will make for a more complete and possibly satisfying answer to question ‘Who am I?’

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Sourav

Communities at Work

What is place at work for communities? 

 

With our workplaces becoming more ‘virtual’ and ‘spread out’, there’s a fair chance that those with similar skills/specialties may not have opportunity to be co-located and or meet frequently.

 

Communities can be an effective way to ensure that these common interest/skill/specialty groups work towards a common goal.

 

There are a few principles that might help in ensuring an effective community:

·       Community needs to shape, drive, and own its agenda.  Hence it is important that most of the planning and execution is done by team/sub-team members.

·       Community will have need for resources, organization champions, and/or alignment with work in organization. It helps if community has sponsorship of a senior leader.

·       Way community functions is more in realm of group functioning than of subject matter knowledge. Having a HR partner who can provide a SME perspective on group functioning can help.

·       The scope of work needs to be relevant for individual team members. Outcomes of work should be something which team members can implement in some form or the other when they go back to their day jobs.

What’s been your experience with effective communities?

 

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Sourav

 

A Good Read – Mc Gregor!

Well! When you come across a good read, you can’t let go off the book.

Douglas Mc Gregor is known for his work on Theory X and Y. I have been reading his seminal work ‘The Human Side of Enterprise’.

For the first half, the book trudges along. Like me, if you have read about and have some kind of a grasp of motivation theories then this part may not provide you any new insight.

In second half, the book really lights up. Mc Gregor delves into application of Theory Y in different contexts – staff-line relationships, development of managers, leadership style, HR processes (incentive plans, performance systems), and effective/non-effective teams.

I can safely say it is one of the best HR works I have read in recent times. Given I am in midst of partnering new leaders- I took away really valuable inputs on ‘staff-line’ relationships.

Certainly recommend this book. Do give it a read!

 

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Sourav

Organizational Change

There are times when change is more top down driven and the perceived need for it may not be immediately obvious within organization, e.g. – when change is necessitated primarily by changes in environment and there’s a quick need for response.

How do you ensure that organizational change efforts stay on track during such times?

A few things can help:

·       A shared understanding of what are change outcomes being targeted. These need to be something that’s easily understood.

·       A deeper level understanding of what’s needed to change at individual level. If you feel powerless in entire change, then you just flow along.

·       Frequent communication on progress against change, and frequent re-iteration of change objectives.

·       Some celebration. Organization change can be hard. Celebrations when key milestones are reached can be a motivation booster.

 

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Sourav