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.
Culver prom limo ..One of the most memorable quotes that I heard from... Read More
The very effective tool of keeping a journal can be... Read More
Giving gifts to your co-workers or your employees can be... Read More
The Sales Director had organised a great conference; the venue... Read More
There's nothing that matches the power of teamwork to accomplish... Read More
"Tak kenak! Tak kenak!" "Adak Orang sanak!????"The quiet jungle has... Read More
At a time when many companies are scaling down their... Read More
Why do some teams perform well while others struggle? How... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
According to the Oxford Dictionary of Current English, to speak... Read More
1. Humor reduces stress levels and stress is the number... Read More
Internal business structures have been radically transformed over the past... Read More
The grand purpose of coaching is to help your managers,... Read More
On the trail in Northern Canada "Marche" was the word... Read More
Feedback is such an important communication tool. Openness, honesty, candor,... Read More
In a recent group coaching session, a client mentioned that... Read More
Why do we human beings complicate things? Is it that... Read More
Eight Principles for Purposeful AlignmentEffective teamwork requires individual members of... Read More
"Conflict becomes politics, commitment becomes 'Only if it's in my... Read More
Managing a small business continues to become more challenging. However,... Read More
It's not true in every organization, but it is true... Read More
The feedback I'm talking about here isn't some sort of... Read More
As a freelance writer myself, I know how important it... Read More
Recently my fourteen-year old son Matt dressed up as Santa... Read More
Abstract: Based on significant research, Entelechy has defined characteristics of... Read More
Wood Dale limo ..Eight Principles for Purposeful AlignmentEffective teamwork requires individual members of... Read More
"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common... Read More
At a time when many companies are scaling down their... Read More
It's frustrating when your co-workers, audience members, teenager or even... Read More
This sports cliche is a memorable phrase that reminds people... Read More
Maybe you find yourself in a new team environment and... Read More
In the new corporate environments where everyone wears more than... Read More
Do you let your people express their thoughts about the... Read More
One of the greatest challenges a coaching manager has is... Read More
One of the most memorable quotes that I heard from... Read More
A Successful Team is built around mateship, around respect for... Read More
As a manager, your employees will come to you with... Read More
Winning teams aren't created by accident. Rather, the team or... Read More
The company picnic is a beloved tradition at many firms.It's... Read More
Presenteeism is alive and 'not well' in many businesses today.... Read More
The Dance of ConflictWhen faced with the prospect of meeting... Read More
In most organisations the administration/support team, although they can be... Read More
Teams run most businesses and teams work best if each... Read More
It's a great sunny day so it's time to get... Read More
Do you remember how you felt after your last interaction... Read More
Team building takes work but the results are worth it.... Read More
Proactive High Performance Teamwork is made up of nine proactive... Read More
For a brief time, I tried to sell life insurance.... Read More
Several years ago I took an assignment as a Manager... Read More
Why do some teams perform well while others struggle? How... Read More
Team Building |