Engaging People in Proactive Thought One of the age-old ways of determining how a person views a situation is asking them if the glass is half full or half empty. Many pessimists will reply that the glass is half empty while opportunists will see the glass as half full. Even one person that leads with ego in the group can hinder everyone else’s proactive attitude, so it is important to engage every employee in proactive thinking. When everyone focuses on what’s going right it not only creates a pleasant work environment for everyone, but employees – Encourage group discussions – Invite others to share their ideas and opinions – Make them focus on what’s going right rather an overemphasis or only emphasis on areas of correction |
Shifting from “What’s Wrong?” to “What’s Right?” One of the first things that lower a team member’s engagement |
Keys to shifting your thoughts: – Avoid the “all or nothing” thinking – deciding a situation only has two sides. – Realize the difference between being right and being happy. – Avoid over-generalizing a situation – focus on details. |
Framing Positive Questions When we |
Impactful inquiry questions: “What do you think is working well right now?” “What do you consider to be the best part of your job?” “If you could change “If you had to do that situation over again, what would you change about how you approached it?” “What do you think you could start doing to be more effective in this situation?” |
Rules to follow when engaging with team members: |
- Keep in mind your desired outcome.
- Provide an agenda, prior to each group meeting.
- Honor start and stop meeting times.
- Remove all distractions and sounds like cell phones from all view.
- Use timed rounding at beginning and end of meeting to be sure all are heard.
- Stick to “I” statements
- Appreciate others strengths and ability to contribute
- Say it now, not later