PGS Lessons

1. Protocol
a. The forms of ceremony and etiquette observed by diplomats and heads of state.
b. A code of correct conduct: safety protocols; academic protocol.
2. The first copy of a treaty or other such document before its ratification.
3. A preliminary draft or record of a transaction.
4. The plan for a course of medical treatment or for a scientific experiment.
5. Computer Science A standard procedure for regulating data transmission between computers.
A standard operating procedure is a set of instructions having the force of a directive, covering those features of operations that lend themselves to a definite or standardized procedure without loss of effectiveness. Standard Operating Policies and Procedures can be effective catalysts to drive performance improvement and improving organizational results. [1] Every good quality system is based on its standard operating procedures (SOPs).
• “Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow”. (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).
• “Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal”. (Northouse, 2004)
• “Leadership is the influencing process of leaders and followers to achieve organizational objectives through changes”. (Lussier & Achua, 2004)
• “Leadership is the behavior of an individual… directing the activities of a group toward a shared goal”. (Hemphill & Coons, 1957)
• “Leadership is the influential increment over and above mechanical compliance with the routine directives of the organization” (D.Katz & Kahn, 1978)
• “Leadership is the process of incluencing the activities of an organized group toward goal achievement” (Rauch & Behling, 1984)
• “Leadership is a process of giving purpose (meaningful direction) to collective effort, and causing willing effort to be expended to achieve purpose” (Jacobs & Jacques, 1990)
• “Leadership is the ability to step outside the culture… to start evolutionary change processes that are more adaptive” (E.H. Schein, 1992)
• “Leadership is the process of making sense of waht people are doing together so that people will understand and be committed” (Drath & Palus, 1994)
• “Leadership is about articulating visions, embodying values, and creating the environment within which things can be accomplished” (Richards & Engle, 1986)
• “Leadership is the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organization…” (House et al., 1999)
• “Leadership is the ability of developing and communicating a vision to a group of people that will make that vision true” (Kenneth Valenzuela, 2007) <– This is mine.


The Basics of Team Building
A Basic Definition
To examine this in more depth, we need to start with a basic definition.
Some people define a team as being "the whole is greater than the sum of its' parts". But this isn't the right definition; it is a feature of good teams. 'Whole > sum' shows that they are working well together - but there are some teams whose collective performance falls short of what you might expect given the quality of individuals. The Apollo Syndrome is a good example of this - where highly intelligent people often performs worse than teams made of up 'less-able' members.
Some people define a team as being the people who report to the same boss. This can be misleading. In a well-designed organizational structure, people reporting to one boss do often form 'teams'. But when designing organizational hierarchies there are often compromises made because of pay structures or the need to have traditional reporting lines.
Whislt a team is a group of people, a group is not necessarily a team. Rather, a team is a group of people working together towards a common goal. .
Groups
If a team is a group of people working towards a common goal, 'team building' is the process of enabling that group of people to reach their goal. It is therefore a management issue, and the most effective form of team building is that undertaken as a form of management consultancy, rather than as pure training (though there is a role for training within an overall programme).
In its simplest terms, the stages involved in team building are:
• To clarify the collective goals
• To identify those inhibitors that prevent them from reaching their goals and remove them
• To put in place enablers that assist them
• To measure and monitor progress, to ensure the goals are achieved
Traditional techniques often address the inhibitors to collective performance: relationships, communication, etc.. However, if a group is only a group, then the benefits of such techniques may be limited. At best, there may be no need to resolve relationship problems; at worst it can be a waste of time and detract the people involved from achieving their individual goals.
Relationship problems
If there are problems between people working in a group, then this can have a negative impact on their individual performance. However, traditional techniques are not the solution.
The stress in a relationship between two people is governed by the formula:
(proximity of the two people) x (importance they succeed together)
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(compatibility of their personalities)
In a group, the 'importance' is low. However, traditional techniques implicitly try make the importance score higher than it need be. This makes the stress score worse, because you are forcing people to work well together when they don't need to.
Also, traditional techniques sometimes tries to address the incompatibilities of the personalities involved, eg: on a personality workshop. Whilst this can be done, it is hard work and needs both parties to be committed to it. In a working group, the motivation for such difficult work is unlikely to be there - though, if they are willing to do it for personal reasons, then a personality workshop can have some effect.
However, to reduce relationship stress in a group, it is better to focus on the factor that is easiest to change: proximity. If they are only a group, then putting some distance between them (physically or by managing the boundaries between their work) will achieve a satisfactory result, without having to invest a lot of time.
Summary
• A team is a group of people working towards a common goal
• Team building is a process of enabling them to achieve that goal
• If they are only a group, then traditional techniques can be a waste of time/money or even counter-productive
• There may be better ways to resolve problems in groups: eg: putting distance between people who don't get on or, if they are both willing, building some understanding of personality differences.
Work ethic is a set of values based on hard work and diligence. It is also a belief in the moral benefit of work and its ability to enhance character.
Employee feedback is very essential for an organization's success. It will tell and keep the managers updated about the organization's strengths and weaknesses. Thus they can work upon them and try to eliminate those weaknesses. It will help them in carrying SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis in an organization, thus, contributing to organization's growth. Employee feedback should be encouraged by the managers as it tells them how motivated and satisfied the employees are in an organization. It tells the managers the reactions of employees to the company's policies. The employees should be honest enough in giving their views about a particular manager. They should be assured that their suggestions would be taken into consideration. They shouldn't be hesitant in giving their feedback.
Employees are a mediator between the managers and the customers. They can keep a company informed about customer satisfaction and customer's traits. They can give suggestions on improvement of goods and services, on what type of training sessions should be conducted in an organization for the employees, on how can their working environment be improved, on the perks and benefits which should be given to keep employees motivated. The employees can tell the managers about what they feel about the tasks assigned to them. They can make managers understand that lack of appreciation by managers can lead to less productivity and thus, to slow growth of organization. If the employees feel overburdened with work assigned to them, they can honestly discuss this with their superiors so that their work can be distributed and shared if required. Employee feedback can help measure the outcome of training sessions, the requirements of customers, quality improvement in an organization, etc.
Thus, the managers should encourage employees to give feedback and take it into consideration for the growth and smooth running of their organization.
Employee feedback is very essential for success of an organization.


The Importance of Workplace Environment
An employee’s workplace environment is a key determinant of their level of productivity. How well the workplace engages an employee impacts their level of motivation to perform. This then influences that employee’s:
• error rate
• level of innovation
• collaboration with other employees
• absenteeism
and, ultimately, how long they stay in the job.
The most important of these workplace environment factors that either lead to engagement or disengagement are shown in the following diagram. A close consideration of each of these factors is also very useful in ensuring that employees apply the skills they learn during training programs once they return to their workplace. Tending to the structural and interpersonal aspects of each of these factors enables employees to apply the required skills in a consistent and habitual way.
Figure 1 – Workplace factors affecting employee performance


Workplace Performance Factors
What does each of these factors mean? The following is a brief introduction.
Goal-setting
Employees are involved in setting meaningful goals and performance measures for their work. This can be done informally between the employee and their immediate supervisor or as part of an organization’s formal performance management process. The key here is that each employee is actively engaged in the goal-setting process and takes ownership of the final agreed goals and measures.
Performance feedback
Information on how the employee is performing is fed back regularly to employees. This consists of both positive feedback on what the employee is doing right as well as feedback on what requires improvement. The feedback is objective and delivered with the appropriate interpersonal and conflict resolution skills and can be a mix of both informal feedback and feedback delivered as part of a formal performance management cycle.
Role congruity
The role that the employee is required to perform is consistent with their expectations on joining the organization and any subsequent training. The organization’s role expectations are typically reflected in formal documents, such as Job Descriptions and Role Specifications. These expectations are consistent with tasks allocated by the employee’s immediate supervisor.

Defined processes
The organization constrains the variability of how work is actually performed through documenting processes and communicating such expectations to employees. The organization verifies on a regular or random basis that the work is actually performed in the way required.
Workplace incentives
The organization has determined what motivates its employees and has set up formal and informal structures for rewarding employees that behave in the way required. Rewards may consist of a mix of internal rewards, such as challenging assignments, and external rewards, such as higher compensation and peer recognition.
Supervisor support
Immediate supervisors act as advocates for employees, gathering and distributing the resources needed by employees in order for them to be able to do a good job and providing positive encouragement for a job well done. Supervisors display the interpersonal skills required to engage employees and enhance their self-confidence.
Mentoring/coaching
Skilled and respected people are available to employees to help them perform better in their current role and to assist them develop further into a future role. Mentors and coaches may be internal to an organization or external. Either way, they possess the necessary facilitation skills to assist employees develop and apply new sills.
Opportunity to apply
Time and material resources are available to employees, enabling them to perform to the best of their ability. Individual workloads and organizational systems and processes do not hinder employees from applying established skills or from practicing newly learned skills.
Job aids
The work environment is set up so that templates, guides, models, checklists and other such workplace aids are readily available to help minimize error rates and customer dissatisfaction.

Paying close attention to the above workplace environment factors will heighten employee motivation to apply their skills and hence improve your workplace productivity.
The above factors are also important for getting the most out of your organizational change programs. For help in translating change initiatives into real organizational performance gains, check out our eBook Managing Change in the Workplace. << Click here to find out more.
Twelve Tips for Team Building: How to Build Successful Work Teams
• Competence: Does the team feel that it has the appropriate people participating? (As an example, in a process improvement, is each step of the process represented on the team?) Does the team feel that its members have the knowledge, skill and capability to address the issues for which the team was formed? If not, does the team have access to the help it needs? Does the team feel it has the resources, strategies and support needed to accomplish its mission?
• Charter: Has the team taken its assigned area of responsibility and designed its own mission, vision and strategies to accomplish the mission. Has the team defined and communicated its goals; its anticipated outcomes and contributions; its timelines; and how it will measure both the outcomes of its work and the process the team followed to accomplish their task? Does the leadership team or other coordinating group support what the team has designed?
• Control: Does the team have enough freedom and empowerment to feel the ownership necessary to accomplish its charter? At the same time, do team members clearly understand their boundaries? How far may members go in pursuit of solutions? Are limitations (i.e. monetary and time resources) defined at the beginning of the project before the team experiences barriers and rework?

Is the team’s reporting relationship and accountability understood by all members of the organization? Has the organization defined the team’s authority? To make recommendations? To implement its plan? Is there a defined review process so both the team and the organization are consistently aligned in direction and purpose? Do team members hold each other accountable for project timelines, commitments and results? Does the organization have a plan to increase opportunities for self-management among organization members?
• Collaboration: Does the team understand team and group process? Do members understand the stages of group development? Are team members working together effectively interpersonally? Do all team members understand the roles and responsibilities of team members? team leaders? team recorders? Can the team approach problem solving, process improvement, goal setting and measurement jointly? Do team members cooperate to accomplish the team charter? Has the team established group norms or rules of conduct in areas such as conflict resolution, consensus decision making and meeting management? Is the team using an appropriate strategy to accomplish its action plan?
• Communication: Are team members clear about the priority of their tasks? Is there an established method for the teams to give feedback and receive honest performance feedback? Does the organization provide important business information regularly? Do the teams understand the complete context for their existence? Do team members communicate clearly and honestly with each other? Do team members bring diverse opinions to the table? Are necessary conflicts raised and addressed?

• Creative Innovation: Is the organization really interested in change? Does it value creative thinking, unique solutions, and new ideas? Does it reward people who take reasonable risks to make improvements? Or does it reward the people who fit in and maintain the status quo? Does it provide the training, education, Consequences: Do team members feel responsible and accountable for team achievements? Are rewards and recognition supplied when teams are successful? Is reasonable risk respected and encouraged in the organization? Do team members fear reprisal? Do team members spend their time finger pointing rather than resolving problems? Is the organization designing reward systems that recognize both team and individual performance? Is the organization planning to share gains and increased profitability with team and individual contributors? Can contributors see their impact on increased organization success?

• Coordination: Are teams coordinated by a central leadership team that assists the groups to obtain what they need for success? Have priorities and resource allocation been planned across departments? Do teams understand the concept of the internal customer—the next process, anyone to whom they provide a product or a service? Are cross-functional and multi-department teams common and working together effectively? Is the organization developing a customer-focused process-focused orientation and moving away from traditional departmental thinking?

• Cultural Change: Does the organization recognize that the team-based, collaborative, empowering, enabling organizational culture of the future is different than the traditional, hierarchical organization it may currently be? Is the organization planning to or in the process of changing how it rewards, recognizes, appraises, hires, develops, plans with, motivates and manages the people it employs?

Does the organization plan to use failures for learning and support reasonable risk? Does the organization recognize that the more it can change its climate to support teams, the more it will receive in pay back from the work of the teams?
Spend time and attention on each of these twelve tips to ensure your work teams contribute most effectively to your business success. Your team members will love you, your business will soar, and empowered people will "own" and be responsible for their work processes. Can your work life get any better than this?
• access to books and films, and field trips necessary to stimulate new thinking?



The Awesome Power of Goal Setting: Ten Tips for Triumph
The Goal Is Yours – You Own the Goal
Whether the goal is a promotion at work, a streamlined work process, a new customer, a published article, an exercise program or weight loss, the goal must be your goal. You are unlikely to achieve your manager’s goal, your spouse’s goal or the goal you think you “ought” to work on this year. Your goals must generate excitement when you ponder their accomplishment. You must believe there is something in it for you to accomplish them.
Sometimes, especially at work, if you perceive the end reward is worth the work, you will take on challenges in support of the organization’s goals. These goals might not be as close to your heart as your personal goals, but you work to achieve them for the good of the organization and your success there.
Here are three more tips that will help you experience awesome success in accomplishing your goals and living your resolutions.
Base Your Goals Firmly in Your Values
Hyrum Smith, the founder of Franklin Quest, later Franklin-Covey, Inc., developed a model for goal setting. Smith's "Success Triangle" puts governing values at the base of the goal setting process. Smith recommends that every goal is linked specifically to a governing value. For example, if diversity in the workforce is a value espoused by your organization, then at least one goal must further diversity. Every goal should be linked to a governing value.
Short-term, mid-term and long-term goals are then established based upon the solid foundation of your values. If the goal you set is congruent with and allows you to live your most important values, you are more likely to accomplish the goal.
According to Gene Donohue, of TopAchievement.com, set goals in all aspects of your life, to maintain your life balance. The balance also helps you accomplish goals as each aspect of your life is represented in your goals. You are less likely to experience warring priorities if every aspect of your life has a value-based goal. He suggests goals in these arenas.
• Family and Home
• Financial and Career
• Spiritual and Ethical
• Physical and Health
• Social and Cultural
• Mental and Educational
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From my Favorite Quotation Series:
"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in ones favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets: 'Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it! Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it.'"(Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe)
--W.H. Murray, of the Scottish Himalayan Expedition
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Believe You Can Accomplish the Goal
Each of us has a little voice in our head. It is the voice of our sub-conscious, judging self. On a daily basis, we engage in self-talk; we comment on each situation we encounter. We discuss events and plans in our minds. Our commentary is both positive and negative. Positive thoughts and planning support the accomplishment of our goals. Negative thoughts and comments undermine our self-esteem and self-confidence, and negatively impact our ability to accomplish our goals.
Listen to your voice. You can change its tone by believing in yourself and in your ability to accomplish your goals and resolutions. Use this unconscious critic to positively support your goal setting success.
If you are a manager, one of your more important tasks is to support the development of positive self-esteem by your staff members. Your positive outlook and belief in their ability to accomplish great goals fosters their increased self-esteem and self-confidence. This, in turn, magnifies their ability to accomplish more and contribute more to your business.
Paint a Vivid Outcome
Traditionally, goals were established around measurable outcomes. This works well when the outcomes are measurable. Don’t tie yourself to setting only measurable goals, however; you may find yourself concentrating on the trivial, because it is measurable, rather than on your most important outcomes. Sometimes the most important goals, the non-urgent, critical goals, are hard to measure.
“Explore alternatives for a business in the World Wide Web,” is tough to measure, whereas the steps, once you make a decision, are easy to measure. “Learn about new options and thinking around performance management,” is tough to measure in any significant way. The next step, “design a new appraisal system,” is easier to define and measure.
As you move up the management ranks, you may find more of your goals are harder to measure. The key measurable aspects of your job will likely be the results produced by your reporting staff.
With goals that are hard to measure, start with a picture in your mind, that you commit to paper, that describes the outcome you are seeking. Make the picture as vivid as you can. I have a published book in my mind, while I am still thinking about and exploring potential topics.
Here are six more tips that will help you experience awesome success in accomplishing your goals and living your resolutions.
Write Your Goals
Writing out your goal is your commitment to achieving the goal. Writing a goal is a powerful statement in comparison with half-formulated thoughts in the back of your mind. It is the conscious promise to yourself to pay attention to the accomplishment of the goal. Writing out potential action plans and due dates makes the goal even more powerful.
Share Your Goals With People Who Are Important to You
If you are certain your significant others will support the accomplishment of your goals, share them. Your manager is likely to support your goal accomplishment as your success is her success. Honestly assess the ability of family members, peers and friends to provide support. In close relationships, many different feelings, experiences and historical events are at play. If you don’t believe you will have whole-hearted support, keep the goals to yourself.
Check Goal Setting and Achievement Progress Regularly
One of the weaknesses of any annual appraisal system is the lack of frequency with which progress and success are measured and tracked. You are most likely to accomplish the goals you set if you review them daily as part of your normal planning process. (You do have a normal planning process, don’t you?)
Whether you use a paper planner or a hand held computer, you can enter your goals, and schedule daily and weekly actions that support their accomplishment. The discipline of the daily review is a powerful goal accomplishment tool.
Take Action to Identify and Eliminate Obstacles to Goal Setting Success
Simply tracking your goals daily is not enough. If you’re unhappy with your progress, you need to assess what is keeping you from accomplishing the goals. Ask yourself questions such as, “Is this goal really important?” (If not, why did you pledge to accomplish it; maybe it’s not important, or less important than other goals.)
”Are there specific obstacles you are experiencing which are interfering with your ability to accomplish the goal?” (In this case, make action plans to remove the obstacles or seek help from a co-worker, friend or family member.)
If you are not making progress on a particular goal, attempt to do a root cause analysis to determine why. Only by honestly analyzing your lack of progress can you determine steps to take to change this picture. In this era of the hand-held computer and PDA cell phones, picture your goals automatically forwarding for 365 days. Talk about a daily reminder about failure!
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From my Favorite Quotation Series:
Seven Habits Revisited
“Begin With the End In Mind is the endowment of imagination and conscience. If you are the programmer, write the program. Decide what you're going to do with the time, talent, and tools you have to work with: "Within my small circle of influence, I'm going to decide."
--Stephen R. Covey
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Reward Yourself and Celebrate Goal Accomplishment
Even the accomplishment of a minor goal is cause for celebration. Don’t depress yourself with thoughts about all you still have to do. Celebrate what you have done. Then move on to the next milestone.
Goals and New Year Resolutions Change
Periodically look at the goals you have set for this year. Are the goals still the right goals? Give yourself permission to change your goals and resolutions based on changing circumstances.
Don’t spend an entire year failing to achieve a particular goal. Your time is better spent on achievement than on beating yourself up for lack of progress. Maybe you made the goal too big; maybe you set too many goals. Do an honest assessment; change what needs to change periodically, and move on.
Paying attention to these ten guidelines can make all the difference in your year. Will this year be a year of triumph for you, a year of awesome success? Whatever your goals and resolutions, these tips can help power your success.


Definition: Team Development
Team Development creates a winning atmosphere by:

• Developing Trust among team members
• Opportunity to Practice Openness
• Enhances Cooperation Through Realization of Objectives
• Promotes Interdependence (Collaboration, Teamwork, Camaraderie, etc.)

Team Development’s purpose is to help a team engage in the process of self-examination to gain awareness of those conditions which are the sources of its strength and those conditions that keep it from functioning effectively. Through the team development process, the group learns how to make decisions and take those actions that will lead to better efficiency, productivity, product quality and quality of work life.

Whether it's on the sports field or in the workplace, teams take time to come together. There is a natural development process every team progresses through. It is useful to examine this maturation so that as a team member, leader or facilitator you can be prepared to work effectively with the team.

• Recognize that teams mature over time and develop along commonly defined paths and milestones.

• Teams develop through four stages: Initial stage, Processing, Coming Together— Normalizing and Performing. Good leader facilitation skills will help teams progress through the stages.

• Teams develop in unique ways, and they can move back and forth between one development stage and another based on team membership, outside influences or redirection of the team's purpose.

As a result of Team Development, team members set higher goals, people are more motivated to achieve their goals, everyone receives more assistance, support, and coaching, and the group produces more and better ideas.

Surveys with Team Development participants reveal that problems do not go away; they only get worse. By spending time working on solutions day-to-day in a Team mode, groups save time and money in the long run by not allowing problems to get worse.

The results are: Time saved, problems solved, more team cooperation, better communication, higher morale, more energy, synergy, enthusiasm, creativity, commitment, participation and hig