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.
maid service near Bannockburn ...You are new to Internet Marketing, you join one Affiliate... Read More
Team Building Question:Our office has recently learned that about 20... Read More
Teams, teams, teams. They're all the rage these days. Whether... Read More
Team Building Question:I'm a manager of a team of 20... Read More
Managing a small business continues to become more challenging. However,... Read More
Having experienced more than my fair share of conflict over... Read More
Today, most of us have been involved in a team... Read More
Irrespective of any given situation, "Team Work Works!" It is... Read More
Ever lost for ideas while working in a group? One... Read More
More and more I hear people misunderstanding what someone else... Read More
In a recent group coaching session, a client mentioned that... Read More
Did you know your work environment can actually make you... Read More
In most organisations the administration/support team, although they can be... Read More
Any x by y matrix plan has one big risk...... Read More
"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common... Read More
Effective and sustainable teambuilding is necessary in today's marketplace where... Read More
Perhaps you're a small business owner wondering how you and... Read More
Ever watched a really brilliant idea meet with resistance and... Read More
Remember playing in your childhood sandbox? If you enjoyed being... Read More
CREATE A MOTIVATIONAL CLIMATE: Create a climate where others find... Read More
Picture yourself entering a corporate meeting, team meeting, or business... Read More
Over the years there has been much ado about team... Read More
Too often teams aren't assembled. They just happen. A project... Read More
Teams don't have to be aligned with the goals of... Read More
Teams are often useful in situations where the task cannot... Read More
move in cleaning service Lake Forest ...Teams, teams, teams. They're all the rage these days. Whether... Read More
Franchisors should also be heavy on the award side of... Read More
Multiculturalism is a reality in North America and for those... Read More
Proactive High Performance Teamwork is made up of nine proactive... Read More
Companies often have incentives for reps, but sometimes that isn't... Read More
Most managers simply herd some people in a room with... Read More
In days past, loyalty was a given. The worker in... Read More
A Successful Team is built around mateship, around respect for... Read More
Giving gifts to your co-workers or your employees can be... Read More
Who keeps the wheels turning in your organisation? Who holds... Read More
There are few industries or service type businesses, which are... Read More
"Tak kenak! Tak kenak!" "Adak Orang sanak!????"The quiet jungle has... Read More
Winning teams aren't created by accident. Rather, the team or... 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
Internal business structures have been radically transformed over the past... Read More
CREATE A MOTIVATIONAL CLIMATE: Create a climate where others find... Read More
"Conflict becomes politics, commitment becomes 'Only if it's in my... Read More
Sometimes the greatest challenges lay not within the actions of... Read More
It's frustrating when your co-workers, audience members, teenager or even... Read More
Many believe a leaner government promotes better freedoms with respect... Read More
Remember playing in your childhood sandbox? If you enjoyed being... Read More
Managing a small business continues to become more challenging. However,... Read More
I declared a Communications Major two years into school, after... Read More
Consensus is the appropriate decision strategy for the most important... Read More
Team Building |