One of the best ways to ensure that your planning is successful is to create your own R&D (research and development) group. All truly successful businesses have departments or teams specifically dedicated to finding and developing new and better ways to do whatever it is the company does, so why not you?
At it's most basic, and R&D group can be a small group of friends that you bribe into helping you with problems by offerings of pizza and beer. At it's most complex, it can be a worldwide network of e-quaintences who have signed on to receive email newsletters from you outlining the projects you are working on, and who in return offer feedback or creative help from hundreds of different perspectives.
Wherever your group falls along this continuum, to be effective they must have a clear idea of where you're going and what help you need. Be clear and clean in your discussions, and accept all feedback openly and without defensive posturing. Of course, if someone is taking advantage of your goodwill by scarfing up your pizza, but offering only bland or even hurtful critiques in return with no real effort at being helpful or creating solutions, don't invite them back - just be sure it's them, and not you, who are the problem!
Don't forget to keep your R&D team up to date on the progress of the projects they helped on. After all, it's their baby too, and no one likes to help out and then be left behind - if you pull a "thanks for all your help, b'bye now" routine on them, they will get frustrated and won't want to play any more, leaving you to do all that work by yourself. Reciprocate in kind by joining in their R&D teams if they ask (or offer first, to be really nice).
Creating and using R&D teams can save you much wasted time, pointless effort and avoidable pain. No one of us knows as much as all of us put together, and the group dynamic is a good example of a behavior known as "emergent phenomenon" - it often generates results that are greater than the sum of its parts. By sending your ideas and problems through your R&D team, rather than attempting to handle it all yourself, you'll end up with a far greater number and higher quality of ideas to work with (even if you do end going with your original plan) than you could ever hope to come up with on your own.
(Fun note: Even mad scientists and evil overlords, the two most basic "one-man operations" there are, take advantage of this stress-relieving concept. Remember - you, too, have minions. Use them!)
(c) Soni Pitts
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Soni Pitts is the Chief Visionary Butt-Kicker of sonipitts.com. She specializes in helping others reclaim "soul proprietorship" in their lives and to begin living the life their Creator always intended for them.
She is the author of the free e-book "50 Ways To Reach Your Goals" and over 100 self-help and inspirational articles, as well as other products and resources designed to facilitate this process of personal growth and spiritual development.
Airbnb cleaning service Arlington Heights ..Someone once said - "Feedback is the breakfast of champions."... Read More
The rise of the internet has given businesses a new... Read More
Truth on mlmDid you know that the truth on mlm... Read More
There's nothing that matches the power of teamwork to accomplish... Read More
"Asking questions can be a means of establishing authority, fulfilling... Read More
Multiculturalism is a reality in North America and for those... Read More
Franchisees of a particular franchise must get along in order... Read More
Today, most of us have been involved in a team... Read More
A tight knit team is a group of competent individuals... Read More
It's the summer of 1973, and a young film director... Read More
Having experienced more than my fair share of conflict over... Read More
Benefit 1 - You get to understand them betterAlmost everyone... Read More
The first in a series of articles giving a slightly... Read More
For companies to be competitive, decisions have to be made... Read More
When was the last time you spent excessive time and... Read More
We live in very progressive times, one only has to... Read More
Teams run most businesses and teams work best if each... Read More
1. Humor reduces stress levels and stress is the number... Read More
One of the greatest challenges a coaching manager has is... Read More
A college football team has it. A corporation has it.... Read More
The company picnic is a beloved tradition at many firms.It's... Read More
It's all about focusing on where the best value in... Read More
"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common... Read More
Any x by y matrix plan has one big risk...... Read More
The people in your team may feel a bit uncomfortable... Read More
reliable maid service Winnetka ..The Sales Director had organised a great conference; the venue... Read More
Teams are often useful in situations where the task cannot... Read More
TEAM LEADERS WORKSHOPAlice asked Cheshire cat "which road should I... Read More
The rise of the internet has given businesses a new... Read More
Do you let your people express their thoughts about the... Read More
Have you noticed that some people seem to stop listening... Read More
The people in your team may feel a bit uncomfortable... Read More
I declared a Communications Major two years into school, after... Read More
Introduction:Working with teams, whether as leader of a single team... Read More
Just today my partner Russ and I sat down to... Read More
Last month's edition of Footprints and Monuments illustrated a parallel... Read More
Young minds are quite easy to shape. International Terrorist recruiters... Read More
Abstract: Based on significant research, Entelechy has defined characteristics of... Read More
As a manager, your employees will come to you with... Read More
Most managers simply herd some people in a room with... Read More
We all know someone who just drives us batty. Perhaps... Read More
Perhaps you're a small business owner wondering how you and... Read More
Giving gifts to your co-workers or your employees can be... Read More
Let's look at the detail of giving feedback. Whether you... Read More
To be a success is not always to be a... Read More
Ever watched a really brilliant idea meet with resistance and... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
Maybe you find yourself in a new team environment and... Read More
People who lead the best teams realise early on that... Read More
The Dance of ConflictWhen faced with the prospect of meeting... Read More
Team Building |