International Association of Teamwork Facilitators

Virtual Teams expert Jessica Lipnack: Secrets to Unlocking Virtual Team Intelligence

Link to recording below.

Jessica Lipnack is the co-founder of NetAge.com and is a brilliant strategist when it comes to building high performing virtual teams.

Jessica was a guest speaker at the IATF Virtual Team Leader VIRTUAL CONFERENCE held December 8 - 11, 2009.  This event was designed for all who are new to leading Virtual Teams.

During this live an interactive call, Jessica shared valuable lessons for all who lead Virtual Teams. 

• We are ALL working on Virtual Teams -- what the research tells us about distance
• A Virtual Team will often follow the following path of development:  Storm - Form - Norm - Perform (co-located teams follow:  Form - Storm - Norm - Perform)
• Handling conflict
• The need for inspirational leaders on Virtual Teams
• Death to status reports
• Key attributes of Virtual Teams
• Can absence make a team grow stronger?
• Do you really need screen sharing?

Call Details

TITLE

90% people, 10% technology = Virtual Team Intelligence

DATE of this CALL

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

RECORDING

CLICK  HERE to download the recording of this IATF TeleSeminar.  

COST

Free for all subscribers of the IATF free e-newsletter.

REGISTER HERE

CLICK HERE to register.  Registration closed.

TELEPHONE CONFERENCING TECHNOLOGY

During this TeleSeminar we'll be using the newest telephone conferencing technology that provides a remarkably engaging experience.  CLICK HERE to learn more about this technology.

Virtual Team Leader VIRTUAL CONFERENCE December 8 - 11, 2009

IATF  Virtual Team Leader VIRTUAL CONFERENCE

4 Days to get you up to speed with leading virtual teams!

• Day 1:  Tuesday December 8, 2009
• Day 2:  Wednesday December 9, 2009
• Day 3:  Thursday December 10, 2009
• Day 4:  Friday December 11, 2009

Live TeleSeminars each day!

Live Guest Speakers!

Free Group Coaching! 

Special Bonuses!

Everything is recorded and posted on a password protected website and you get the key!

The Virtual Team Leader VIRTUAL CONFERENCE is designed for managers and supervisors who need real world solutions for leading remote teams.

• Delivered LIVE via telephone conference calls.  Fully participate from anywhere in the world; no travel required.

• Leverages the power of a dedicated and focused learning community; learn in the company of like-minded professionals.

• Application oriented.  You'll learn strategies, tactics and tools for leading virtual teams and then return to your group to apply what you've learned.  Then you'll return to class to share your success (or challenges) and receive support and coaching from the instructor and community.

• Professional instruction with personal attention.

• This program is designed for leaders who are new to the Virtual Team environment.

FREE for IATF members.

Register now!

CLICK HERE for more details

TeleSeminar for Teamwork Facilitators who are making the shift from employee to business owner/builder

CLICK HERE to register for this call.

Are you a Teamwork Facilitator who is an employee?

Do you dream of working for yourself?  Of owning your own Teamwork Facilitation business?

If you answered yes to these questions then this laser-like, 27-minute TeleSeminar is for you!

There is ONE key shift you must get when making the shift from working as an employee to owning your own team facilitation business.

This key shift requires you to re-tool your psychology.  You have to completely change the way you look at the world. 

If you don't make this key shift you will struggle.  It's that simple.

This TeleSeminar is intended to help someone who is considering making the shift from employee to business owner.

If you're a business owner already and you're struggling, this TeleSeminar will help you.

If you're working on your personal brand (i.e. "Brand You") then this TeleSeminar will help you.

Call Details

TITLE

The One Key Shift for Teamwork Facilitators -- employee to business owner

DATE

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

TIME

Starts at 1 pm Eastern (NY City time zone)
runs for 27 minutes

PRESENTERS

Tom Heck, President & Founder of the IATF

WHAT TO EXPECT

Come to the call ready to participate in small group discussions, share ideas and resources, ask questions, answer quick polls, and be fully engaged as we put the newest distance learning telephone conferencing technology to use!

RECORDING

The recording of this call is archived in the IATF members only area.

COST

Free for all subscribers of the IATF free e-newsletter.

REGISTER HERE

CLICK HERE to register.  After you register you'll be supplied with the telephone conference call number and your special "PIN".  It's free to register and participate in this call.

TELEPHONE CONFERENCING TECHNOLOGY

During this TeleSeminar we'll be using the newest telephone conferencing technology that provides a remarkably engaging experience.  CLICK HERE to learn more about this technology.

Group Coaching for IATF members on Friday, November 20, 2009

WHAT:  IATF Members Only Monthly Group Coaching Call

WHEN:  Friday November 20, 2009 with a start time of 1 pm ET (NY City time zone), runs for 60 minutes

LEADER:  Tom Heck, IATF President & Founder

PHONE NUMBER:  provided after you register for the call

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Come to this call to receive coaching in a group setting.  Be ready to offer support to other IATF members.  Depending on the number of people who show up we may or may not have time to address your particular issue.  Stay for the entire 60 minute call or if your schedule requires, leave early.

Learn more about the benefits of IATF membership HERE.

Free IATF TeleSeminar: Building Trust at Work with special guest Charles Feltman

Trust is a precondition for teamwork.

Teamwork without trust is like water without oxygen. You don’t look at water and think oxygen, but if you tried to make the stuff without it you’d end up high and dry.

Trust makes all of the other things we want in teams possible:

• engagement
• commitment
• collaboration
• productive conflict
• innovation
• positive results

Which ultimately leads us to success and well being.

But trust doesn’t just happen.

Building and maintaining trust requires paying attention to what we say and do.

Today’s workplaces are minefields of limited time, competing commitments, opposing demands, and mis-communication that can easily lead to unintended breaches of trust. Even one small breach can sow seeds of distrust. Once distrust takes hold it becomes toxic to everyone involved.

This teleseminar will give you a framework and practice for building, maintaining and, when necessary, restoring strong trust in teams.

You’ll learn:

1. Key practices to build and maintain trusting relationships at work.
2. The most common enemies of trust in the workplace and what you can do to avoid them.
3. How the cognitive, emotional, and physiological context of trust differs from that of distrust, and how each affects a team’s ability to perform.
4. How to talk about issues of trust and distrust with peers, subordinates, and supervisors.
5. How to repair damaged or broken trust.

Our guest presenter is Charles Feltman, founder and principal of Insight Coaching, a firm specializing in leadership coaching, facilitation and training. He works primarily with Fortune 500 company leaders and leadership teams. 

Charles is the author the of The Thin Book of Trust: An Essential Primer for Building  Trust in the Workplace based on his work with individuals and teams around trust, commitment, conflict, and collaboration. 

Get the book at Amazon and at ThinBook.com where you can receive quantity discounts.

Call Details

TITLE

Building Trust at Work with special guest Charles Feltman

DATE

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

TIME

Starts at 1 pm Eastern (NY City time zone)
runs for 70 minutes

PRESENTERS

Charles Feltman, author of "The Thin Book of Trust"
Tom Heck, President & Founder of the IATF

WHAT TO EXPECT

Come to the call ready to participate in small group discussions, share ideas and resources, ask questions, answer quick polls, and be fully engaged as we put the newest distance learning telephone conferencing technology to use!

RECORDING

The recording of this call is now archived in the IATF members only area.

COST

Free for all subscribers of the IATF free e-newsletter.

REGISTER HERE

Registration is closed.

TELEPHONE CONFERENCING TECHNOLOGY

During this TeleSeminar we'll be using the newest telephone conferencing technology that provides a remarkably engaging experience.  CLICK HERE to learn more about this technology.

How does a teambuilding game relate to a job?

I recently received the following email:

I reviewed the Bandanna--Cup--Marble game and thought it was ok, however I was at a loss to understand this part of the task

'What metaphorically is the bandanna, cup, marble, and table relative to your job in this organization?  I gave the groups 15 minutes to create a presentation, which they would be giving to the other groups.  The group loved the activity and loved the discussion as well as the presentations from the other small groups"

What was achieved here and what were the answers, I am struggling to understand how inanimate objects can be related to a job??

Is it related to learning, experience, training

Please could you elaborate

Here's my response...

Dear (name withheld),

You wrote:

"I am struggling to understand how inanimate objects can be related to a job??"

People learn through the experience of the game.

The debrief session (processing the game with the group) helps people assign meaning to the game in a way that moves the team forward.

An example:

John Wooden is one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time.  Coach Wooden talks at great length about how the game of basketball is a training ground for the "game" of life.  Wooden was famous for using the game of basketball to teach life lessons.

There is a GREAT documentary called "The Heart of the Game" which tells the story of a college professor who coaches a girls high school basketball team as a side job.  The coach uses the game to teach life lessons to the girls. 

Similarly, a team can use the bandana-cup-marble game to learn life lessons (team skills, leadership skills, etc.).

What does the game of basketball have to do with real life?  Nothing.  Unless the facilitator (coach) draws the connection.

What does the bandana-cup-marble game have to do with real life?  Nothing.  Unless the facilitator (trainer, supervisor, manager, etc.) draws the connection.

When people are fully engaged in the learning process they are more likely to learn at a deeper level.  Teambuilding exercises (games) help people more fully engage (intellectually, emotionally, physically) in the learning process.  The game becomes a story and our job as Teamwork Facilitators is to help the team assign an empowering meaning to that story.

Lessons from the Amygdala Hijack

We have all had the experience of doing something in the heat of the moment that we regretted later. Our reaction flew out of the gate before we could catch it. It’s like our rational mind stopped and what came out not only surprised us but everyone else around.

You end up saying “How could I do that, what could I have possibly been thinking?”

Well in reality you weren’t thinking you were overwhelmed with an emotional reaction.

You were hijacked.

IATF Visiting Faculty Member and Emotional Intelligence Expert Dr. Relly Nadler provides street smart strategies on what you should do during one of these hijacks.  Dr. Nadler offers IATF members this free article What Was I Thinking?  Handling the Hijack.