Assessments:  So Many Choices

by Cindy Stradling

When I meet with clients and they are interested in conducting an assessment for their organizations I am very careful to find out why they want to conduct and assessment and what information they intend to  obtain.  There are so many choices, I could write blogs for the next six months and still not have explored all of them.  For the month of April I am going to share with you my experience of four of the assessments that I have personally taken. 

Week One – Lumina Spark Portrait

This particular assessment is a new offering for the alliance and I was excited to participate in the online questions.  I found it very easy to answer all of the questions and found myself  a little excited to see the results. 

I really liked how it explained in that no one quality was more important than another.  I thought this was important because we can sometimes think that there is something wrong with us if we don’t fall into a particular category.  At the heart of this assessment is a questionnaire which measures different aspects of your behaviour.  This portrait, based on years of psychological research, will give you some indicators about how you behave, acknowledge your strengths (and how you overplay them sometimes) and identify behaviours that your rarely display.  It will also make distinctions between your behaviour and your motivations.  The portrait is really an aid to guide you towards a better sense of self-awareness to allow you to recognize your strengths and possible areas for development.

When I sat down with Eva Gutsche (the alliance partner who is certified to deliver the Lumina programs) the first thing she said to me was that she could see how much self development I had done over the years.  As we went through the pages of the assessment and she explained the details about who I am, I was surprised at the accuracy.  The assessment uses a full color Mandala to show the results of the questionnaire.

The assessment is based on four archetypes.  These four archetypes are Inspiring, Commanding, Empowering, Conscientious and the results show how I use these four archetypes.  The assessment then shows how this translates into eight aspects in the form of a Mandala.  The top five aspects of my Mandala said I was Accommodating, Reliable, Imaginative, Demonstrative and Purposeful.

The assessment then goes into detail about me personally in each of the archetypes, followed by graphs that showed how I scored in relation to the general population.  I loved this part of the assessment.  I am a visual person and really liked how easily I was able to understand the information.

The assessment then looked at three perspectives on who I was based on my three personas

1)      My underlying persona (this is my most natural me, motivating)

2)      My everyday persona (how I tend to behave and how others might see me)

3)      My overextended persona (who I am while under stress, how I react to unexpected events)

The assessment also highlighted some of my possible blind spots and areas to consider for improvement.  I agreed with the results that I sometimes take on too many projects and can cause me stress, sometimes have a tendency to get distracted, I can expect others to produce/work at the same level of intensity and energy as I do, sometime can make snap decisions and need to give myself more time to examine all the facts.

I felt this assessment was very accurate and provided me with some concrete recommendations for improvement.

There is also a Lumina Leader and Lumina Team assessment available.

Next week:  My results from taking the Insights Assessment.

We had such great feedback from our summer articles from our partners that I have decided to continue to feature various articles from my partners as well as my own submissions… enjoy

OVERCOMING TEAM TENSION

By Mark Ellwood

You’re working on a big project. Deadlines are approaching. Major work needs to be done. Numerous team members are involved. The goal is clear. At the beginning of the project, things go smoothly.

But then trouble sets in. It starts out as a minor difference of opinion between team members. Then, there’s a stall in progress. Heels are dug in. Positions become more firm. Arguments ensue and no one is happy. Nothing gets done. It’s a case of team tension.

People work on teams because collaboration allows productive activity to flourish. One person doesn’t have all the skills, resources, or knowledge to get everything done. So teams form to foster synergy. The theory is that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Individuals can make progress, whereas teams can make magic.

But difficulties can arise because not everyone sees a project the same way. Team members bring different experiences, training, and points of view to their work. Sometimes, these clash. The result is team tension.

Recognize the symptoms

You’ll experience team tension when you encounter the following symptoms:

• Team members repeat points over and over to each other, but no one seems to be adding any new information that hasn’t already been covered numerous times. Discussions become more heated. Arguments ensue.
• You suggest options that are routinely rejected.
• Individuals begin implementing one part of a decision they’ve made, without informing other team members. This is progress by stealth.
• You worry that there is an overwhelming issue no one has addressed, and that must be dealt with sooner or later. Perhaps you feel too intimidated to bring it up.
• Someone threatens to quit. This may not be an obvious threat – the hints may be subtle. For instance, you realize that people aren’t pulling their weight, and progress becomes slack. Or someone leaves a discussion, with no agreement or decision being made.
• Team members use documentation to cover themselves. They write down what they agreed to, or what you did, or what they expect. Documentation is a useful tool, but not when it masks unresolved differences.
• Someone appeals to a higher authority to resolve the dispute. Or they suggest a vote. But bosses don’t like to take sides, and voting creates winners and losers rather than consensus.

So, what are some practical ways to manage team tension? The first is to simply acknowledge that it exists. This can take some bravery. In the middle of a meeting, or in a one-on-one conversation, make a declaration: “We seem to be at an impasse here. I’m sensing some tension about our differences. I wonder if we could…” Then fill in the rest of the sentence with one of the suggestions below.

TAKE A BREAK

Allow the situation to rest for a while. Sleep on it. Go for a walk. Think it over during the weekend. Share your thoughts with colleagues outside the team. If there has been a long build-up to a disagreement, it may not get resolved quickly. Be patient.

INVOLVE A MEDIATOR

Consider asking an objective outsider to help resolve differences. When you do, be sure to present both sides thoroughly. Then, listen for what your advisor has to offer. Avoid saying, “Yeah, you’re right.” This often means you’ve heard what is being said, but you don’t really get it and you plan to do nothing. A trained mediator can also help, but only if both parties agree.

DECIDE ON WHAT REALLY COUNTS

Consider what you are really attached to. What are your motivations for pursuing a course of action? Perhaps what you think is of paramount importance is not really essential to the project. Focus on what makes a difference, and let the rest go. The consequences will probably be minimal.

LISTEN

Do you really understand the other person’s point of view? Practice active listening. This means hearing their comments in full, rather than composing your own response as they speak. Then, repeat back your understanding of what the other person said. Check with her to see if you got it right. Sometimes your empathy will encourage her to tell you more, uncovering additional clues about how to deal with her issues.

COMPROMISE

Offer to concede a point or meet in the middle. You’ll be surprised at how accommodating the other person can be when you “blink first.” Don’t think of it as backing down. Think of it as creating an opening towards a productive next step.

KEEP THE OJBECTIVE IN MIND.

In a meeting, remind everyone what the objective is. Ensure they all agree. Then help them visualize a picture of success. When people realize they are all working towards the same purpose, they become less entrenched in their own positions.

LIST WHAT YOU AGREE ON

This technique can work for two people or for a large group. List the subject at the top of a piece of paper. Then write down everything you agree on. Anyone in the discussion gets a veto – if they don’t agree on something, it doesn’t get written down. Listing a series of agreements focuses people’s attention on core values and common steps. And, when people discover items they agree on, a positive energy emerges that spurs further cooperation.

APOLOGIZE

Humility can go a long way to opening up conversations. Apologize for being bullish, getting upset, making accusations, or even for not understanding the objective properly. Then, use one of the other techniques to find a genuine path towards team commitment.

Remember that team tension is natural. If your team consists of a variety of strong individuals, disagreements will naturally occur. If they don’t, your team may have too many conformists who are unwilling to challenge the status quo. Strive to keep the differences minor, and not long-lasting. What you should hope for is a situation where team members say, “We often disagree with each other, but we can always go out for a beer afterwards.”

It isn’t easy admitting that team tension exists. By breaking the ice, you allow others to admit that there is tension. Only then can you move towards a better solution. Eventually, someone on the team will thank you for being so forthright.

And remember to keep the perspective of time in mind. Minor differences today will eventually form the histories, the stories, and the anecdotes that you will look back on as the team celebrates its successes.