Patti Lind - Communication at Work


September 2008

Make Time to Remember

Teams rarely look back and celebrate all that they have accomplished in a year's time. There are so many changes that occur in any given year in a work environment: new members to the team, changes in technology, the ending of a project, the beginnings of future work.

Take a moment to write down all that the team has accomplished since last September, recognize each team mate for something they contributed during that time and then pour some bubbly apple cider and celebrate.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
by Doris Kearns Goodwin, 2005

Okay, I admit it: This is one massive book. But if you are a history buff like me, this one is well worth the extra time it will take to read it.

There are some tremendous stories about leadership in this book, especially about Lincoln's phenomenal ability to not take things personally, and to focus continually on building relationships and accomplishing his primary task. These are important lessons for all of us.

Redirect a Situation for Positive Interaction

In a newsletter earlier this year, I discussed the training of killer whales at SeaWorld. I mentioned how the trainers reward a whale’s smallest movement towards the behavior that they are commanding to encourage the whale through positive reinforcement.

But what about when the whale is doing something the trainers clearly don’t want it to do? Whales are massive, highly intelligent creatures that aren’t particularly impressed with discipline or consequences.

To avoid an attitude problem in the pool, trainers use something called “redirection”. The trainer will redirect the whale towards a behavior they do want, and then reward it for the shift. I love the concept of redirection and it is my preferred way of facilitating meetings. None of us like to be corrected for something we are doing (particularly in public), but we don’t mind being directed onto a more successful path.

Here are some examples of how you might utilize redirection:

Two people are having extended side conversations in a meeting. Instead of drawing attention to the bad behavior with the statement: “No side conversations”, try redirecting the talkers by saying: “Bob and John, I want to make sure you have a chance to listen to this.”
Someone sends an email to you criticizing your behavior and copies in several other people. Redirect by replying: “I’d like to talk with you about this, please give me a call and let’s set up a time to meet.”
Someone stops you in the hallway and starts to complain loudly about something that is bothering them. You can redirect by saying: “This is important, let’s move into a private area and give it our full attention. Do you think 5 minutes will be enough, or do we need to set up some dedicated time?”
Your daughter is being sassy to you in front of her friends. Instead of retaliating, redirect her with the statement: “This ride will be smoother if you add some sugar to that request. How about it?”

The function of redirecting is to point out an alternate course of behavior for a person to take in order to be successful with you, and remember to thank them afterwards for making that shift.

Do you have a question for Patti? Send an email to patti@pattilind.com and it may be answered in next month's newsletter.

September 2008