Virtual meetings present multiple challenges. This is especially true for new team members who are being introduced (virtually) to an existing team with a history of working together. Virtual introductions can be made easier by offering time in the first meeting for individuals to really get to know each other before business begins. An interactive discussion is helpful. Ask the team for suggestions as to how best to interact as a new team.

There is always someone on a team or in the audience that makes the situation or subject about them, good or bad. Either way, it steers the objective away from the core issue. The best way to bring the conversation back to the point is to not spare them, but to say, “let’s circle back, or we were talking about this.”

Often, we must work with a person who takes up all the air in the room. With a larger than life personality this person can also be very fun to be with. If this individual is a group leader, sometimes, details and tasks never get addressed or completed.

Allow this person their moment and when there is a break in conversation, rejoin the discussion with the task in mind. Avoid trying to control this person but instead manage them. This happened at Thanksgiving with my larger than life youngest sister. Instead of trying to rein her in, I asked her to make the gravy and everything went back on track!

The cooking competition show is about more than just the food. It provides a visual of ways contestants and judges work under pressure to deliver successful products and give constructive feedback. The show that continues to give feedback gems is the Kid’s Championship Baking Show.

Duff and Valerie are the judges and it is the way they use the three to one rule that clicks. They look for the three positives and one not-so-positive area to help the contestants achieve success as a baker. The judges balance the fine line on these impressionable young minds. We understand they were chosen for their baking skills, personality, and how they receive feedback.
All us of revert to the child in ourselves when under review and feeling pressured. (Even when we try to toughen up!)

It is easy to talk about problems. However, if we approach them in a solution driven manner, the problems turn into endless opportunities. Asking how questions needing open ended answers as opposed to questions requiring yes and no answers, create possibilities for solutions. Keeping an optimistic outlook and seeking different opinions will help create a solution driven mind.

Giving someone a second chance is critical for long term survival and success. Mistakes and not so smart decisions happen to everyone. What matters is how we recover by giving others and ourselves a second chance. The folks who continue to dwell on their mistakes and wrongs done by others will never reach their full potential. It is good to learn from our mistakes and then let them go by allowing and embracing a second chance.

The challenge when beginning a new leadership role, is to build a new and not destroy the current structure. Yes, destroying seems to be the method these days because the old can appear stagnant. There is a better method of understanding the organization and its players that includes a deep study to determine the next step that will help the organization or team be effective. Creating havoc causes confusion and creates an uncomfortable view which in turns creates a backlash. The cure can be worse than the problem. If you are going to be a destroyer, be sure to have plan B in case the remains cannot be used to move forward.

Project management means coordinating the time, people and materials needed to accomplish the end goal in the required timeframe. Often, problems arise. It is important to ask the question, what solution can be completed with the least amount of time and effort?

Recently, in a remodeling project, the new Hunter Douglas cordless solar shade was too wide to accommodate the panels for a cabinet. The shade could not be returned. The issue was a misjudgment by all parties involved. I took a step back and a deep breath without calling anyone names or assigning blame. New shades had to be ordered with a 20% discount. The key was to get the project that everyone could be proud of completed.

Understanding cultural differences and similarities helps bridge communications. For example, I am a first-generation Chinese born and raised in Chicago and sometimes work with natural born Chinese (born in China) even though the individual may be in the US for an extended time.

We may look and even sound similar, but we think and communicate very differently. I am  direct, a distinctly US quality. Individuals from another culture may agree even though they disagree to save face. The main similarity is that we both want to succeed but get there in different manners. To connect and avoid a saving face situation, present a solution in a way that will achieve the main goal.

Many work and personal relationships are built on attracting the opposite person like an extrovert with an introvert, a thinker with a doer or people driven by feelings with those that apply logic. These relationships combine to balance each other and complete a circle.

What about successful relationships consisting of similar types of people such as a thinker with a thinker or an introvert with an introvert? These tend to bring safety, comfort and dependability to both parties in the relationship.

Relationships that grow and can experience more wins are usually the ones composed of opposites in thinking and actions. Are they the easiest? Usually not, but they can be the most productive.