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Why you need a mix of extraverts and introverts working in your team …

This is a much discussed topic of debate; what is the right mix or balance of introversion and extroversion to make a truly effective team?

As a society, many often think of extroverts as doers, go-getters, superior team-players. Though the tide towards valuing individual strengths regardless of extroversion or introversion may be changing, extroverts are still often perceived as being more competent team members as they seem to get along with others more easily.

But as it turns out, studies have shown that extroverts sometimes do worse than they’re expected, and so lose status as they disappoint others, while introverts gain status as they exceed expectations for their group participation. In other words, extroverts can create great expectations because of the way they communicate, while introverts tend to undersell the expectations of their work. Neither is better or worse than the other, but a mix of different personality types on a team can help to balance out the effect.By mixing up introverts and extroverts, you are preventing setbacks caused by dips in your team’s morale as the contribution of each team member emerges.

Call us at Lantern Training on 0706596162 to understand how to use psychometrics to balance your team well.

 


 

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Using Psychometrics to Build and Strengthen Your Team

We know we need a strong, cohesive, motivated team, but what does that really look like? How about this for starters?

– Colleagues that work effectively with each other, ensuring that service levels are excellent, communication is transparent and that everyone is motivated and committed to “do their best”.
– Client facing staff that can build positive, trusting rapport with customers who, in turn, feel confident in the service provided.
– Staff that have healthy respect for the talents and diversity of their team members and can work well together under pressure and in stressful situations.
– Staff that have a healthy attitude towards self development and are clear about how they need to improve and their own personal developmental goals moving forward.

There are a number of ways that we can look to achieve this, but today let’s take a look at Lumina Learning …

The Lumina Learning suite of psychometrics is the next generation of personal and professional development tools supporting individuals and teams to work more effectively, to drive performance and improve the bottom line.

Lumina Spark is the first step on this journey and provides an accurate, personalised Portrait focusing on increased self-awareness and practical development points to assess and improve communication, teamwork and leadership.

By taking a humanistic approach and viewing people as “human beings” rather than “human doings” Lumina Spark sets out to help organisations transform their performance by transforming their people.

Lantern Training is the only certified practitioner of Lumina Learning in East Africa and we are passionate about improving personal effectiveness at all levels within organisations.
Team development programmes are visual, dynamic and can be life-changing. By introducing Lumina into your organisation, we can guarantee that your teams will never look back!

It’s personal: All of our scientifically validated psychometrics, systems and resources are highly individualised so everybody touched by our programmes receives a meaningful, personal experience!

It’s customisable: Whilst we always recommend starting with the Lumina Spark assessment, every single programme we run is highly tailored to each organisation’s and each individual’s need. In the future you may like to build on the programme through Lumina Leadership, Lumina Sales and Lumina Emotion.

It sticks: We use colourful and practical imagery that people remember easily and apply in every aspect of their lives even years after a Lumina Learning experience.

It works: Our approach is flexible, measurable and results-orientated. We ensure everybody is held accountable, making sure that you receive the best possible benefits to ensure that your goals are met.

Call us on 0702 369224  and invest in a strong, motivated team!

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The Six Thinking Hats

The Six Thinking Hats is a method meant to improve the results of thinking and discussion. It may be used either by oneself or in a group. We should “wear” each hat in turn, and analyze the issue at hand from six different aspects separately. In a group setting, the entire group is encouraged to use just one hat at a time, thus contributing to an organized and comprehensive discussion, rather than a confused and mixed-up argument. Each hat is marked with a different colour and represents the following type of thinking:

White hat – facts and information; this hat includes information collected or identified as missing.

Red hat – feelings and emotions; this hat includes feelings, including gut reactions to ideas or items identified in other areas.

Black hat -– critical judgement; this hat includes details about obstacles to solving the problem or other negative connotations about an item or idea. Since people are naturally critical, it is important to limit black hat thinking to its critical role.

Yellow hat – positive judgement; this hat is the opposite of the black hat. It includes details about the benefits of an idea or issue, or thoughts about favouring an idea. It is still critical thinking and judgement as opposed to blind optimism.

Green hat – alternatives and learning; this hat concerns ideas about new possibilities and thinking about implications, rather than judgements. Green hat thinking covers the full spectrum of creativity.

Blue hat – the big picture; this hat serves as the facilitator of the group thinking process. This hat can be used to set objectives both for the problem solving process and the thinking session itself.

 

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Myers Briggs

MBTI is a personality preference tool that helps you understand you. It involves taking a questionnaire which asks you a series of questions about the things you do and the way you like to think about things.

MBTI was developed by a mother and daughter: Katharine Briggs and Isabel Myers back in the 1940s and stems from the work of Swiss psychologist Carl Yung. Since then it has captured the world and is used across many diverse sectors and cultures and has been translated in over 20 different languages.

As a result of completing the MBTI profile you receive four letters. It’s these four letters that capture the essence of who you are. For example, are you someone who is highly organised or goes with the flow? Do you like to make decisions based upon logic? Are you an intuitive or do you need lots of information?

As certified trainers of MBTI in Kenya, we offer individual and full team building programmes and can make a real difference to your business.

#MBTI#  #Personal Development and Psychometrics#

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Why there is so much more to “team building” than ropes, blindfolds and buckets of water!

 

Let’s all face it, we’ve all taken part in a team work challenge to cross a pretend river without touching the floor, to manage a tricky manoevre with a colleague whilst blindfolded, or to create a tower using your early morning newspaper. And it’s fun! At the end of the day, we say goodbye to our team still smiling but slightly concerned that our manager may view us a little differently tomorrow!

But then what happens?  … The next day is even busier catching up on what we haven’t yet done, the stories about what we did, shared over coffee, make way for something else, and life goes on, without anything really changing.

So there has to be another way of doing things…. And there is!

Great teams don’t just happen. There is an old saying that there is no ‘I’ in team which is meant to emphasise that there are no individuals in a team. But the truth is that a team is full of individuals. Each individual has their own goals, values and beliefs. They also have unique knowledge, talents and skills.

And they also have their own unique personality.

Understanding why each individual thinks, acts and ticks differently from anyone else in the team, and how to use this diversity, is the key to building a great, high performing and cohesive team.

Personality testing or psychometrics takes team building to an entirely new level. Your team starts to feel like human “beings” rather than human “doings”, understanding themselves and others so that as a team they improve communication, teamwork, motivation and leadership.

Not only is it insightful and sometimes quite life-changing for individuals, it is really fun and as far from training as you can get. There are a number of options you can choose, to suit your budget and your business, but whichever programme you opt for, we can guarantee that you will see results immediately and your teams will never look back.

To learn more, call us at Lantern Training on +254 706596162.

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Reaction vs. Response

Suddenly, a cockroach flew from somewhere and sat on her. I wondered if this was the cockroach’s response to all the glory that had been spoken about it! She started screaming out of fear. With panic stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach. Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group got cranky to what was happening. The lady finally managed to push the cockroach to another lady in the group. Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama. The waiter rushed forward to their rescue. In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter. The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behaviour of the cockroach on his shirt. When he was confident enough,he grabbed and threw it out with his fingers.

Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behaviour? If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed? He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos. It is not the cockroach, but the inability of the ladies to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disturbed the ladies.

I realized even in my case then, it is not the shouting of my boss or manager that disturbs me, but its my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me.

It’s not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me.

More than the problem, it’s my reaction to the problem that hurts me.

Lessons learnt from the story:

I understood, I should not react in life. I should always respond.

The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded.

Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are always intellectual…

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Setting Clear Goals

A goal is the driving purpose of life. It is something we live for and in the absence of which our life is meaningless. A goal can be as simple as getting the dream job, or the promotion, or winning a competition and as difficult, as it sounds, to lose weight or to start up a company.

In order to set a goal in the first place, you need to know where you stand. You need to start with setting the benchmarks and slowly move towards the highest goals you have set in your life. One should not worry about the feasibility of a goal but at the same time be practical about it. By setting sharp, clearly defined goals, you can measure and take pride in the achievement of those goals, and you’ll see forward progress in what might previously have seemed a long pointless grind. You will also raise yourself-confidence , as you recognize your own ability and competence in achieving the goals that you’ve set.. If you think, you achieve.

“A farmer had a dog that used to sit by the roadside waiting for vehicles to come around. As soon as one came he would run down the road, barking and trying to overtake it. One day a neighbor asked the farmer “Do you think your dog is ever going to catch a car?” The farmer replied, “That is not what bothers me. What bothers me is what he would do if he ever caught one.” Many people in life behave like that dog who is pursuing meaningless goals.”

Life is hard by the yard,  but by the inch,  it’s a cinch.

Visit Chasing meaningless goals for more efficiency insights.

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Conflict Resolution

“Every conflict we face in life is rich with positive and negative potential. It can be a source of inspiration, enlightenment, learning, transformation, and growth-or rage, fear, shame, entrapment, and resistance. The choice is not up to our opponents, but to us, and our willingness to face and work through them.” Kenneth Cloke and Joan Goldsmith

Differences are inevitable among-st any group of people with different experiences, attitudes and expectations.

However, some degree of conflict can be necessary to support organisational goals and too little conflict may lead to apathy, lack of creativity, indecision and missed-out deadlines.

But managing conflict in a productive and positive way can be challenging. How do we make the transition from opponents to problem solving teammates?

Learn more on conflict in the office.

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Importance of Team Building

Team building in an office helps to foster better and open communication between the employees themselves, as well as between the employees and management. It goes a long way in improving professional relations, understanding and co-operation, and this is very much reflected in the quality of work being done.

Team building in the workplace significantly contributes towards employee motivation and building trust among the employees, thereby ensuring better productivity.

Team leadership and team building go hand in hand. Successful team building in the workplace often translates into success for everyone. It is not difficult and does not require you to go out of your way or do anything extraordinary as a common man. As the popular saying goes, “Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

Climb High For more information on our team building services and training sessions. 

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Ways to Listen Better Today

Hearing is easy! For most of us, our body does the work by interpreting the sounds that we hear into words. Listening, however, is far more difficult. Listening is the process of looking at the words and the other factors around the words (such as our non-verbal communication), and then interpreting the entire message.

Below are six examples that you could practise to become a better listener;

  1. When you are listening, listen. Don’t talk on the phone, text message, clean your desk or do anything else.
  2. Avoid interruptions. If you think of something that needs to be done, make a mental or written note of it and forget about it until the conversation is over.
  3. Aim to spend at least 90% of your time listening and less than 10% of your time talking.
  4. When you do talk, make sure it is related to what the other person is saying. Ask questions to clarify, expand and probe for more information.
  5. Do not offer advice unless the other person asks you for it. If you are not sure what they want, ask.
  6. Make sure the physical environment is conducive to listening. Try to reduce noise and distractions. If possible, be seated comfortably. Be close enough to the person so that you can hear them, but not too close to make them uncomfortable.

Active Listening is a good way of improving your communication skills.