Is team-building just a form of avoidance?

Team-building and workplace communications training is all the rage. Because part of my work is training, and I’m known for creating robust dialogue in workplace groups, it’s not unusual for me to receive such inquiries. And it turns out that sometimes, team-building is just a form of conflict avoidance.

My first question when I get these calls is, “Why do you want your workplace team to have communications training (or team-building)?” This question often meets with a little laugh, as though the answer should be obvious. [Read more]

Conflict, resolution and literature

Delaney Kirk has tagged me in a book meme. The obvious choice was to share conflict resolution books. But I took a different path.

I decided to bring together two strands of my life: my love of literature (I was a lit major in college, with a specialty in the 20th century novel, and remain an avid fiction reader) and my interest in the human condition as it relates to conflict. Here’s my contribution to the meme: [Read more]

The secret good mediators know about listening

Copyright © 2007 by Tammy Lenski. All rights reserved.

How a good night’s sleep makes you a better negotiator

Here’s yet another reason to get a good night’s sleep before the big salary negotiation, or before you sit down for a difficult conversation with a colleague: Lack of sleep makes the emotional centers of your brain over-reactive.

And not just a little over-reactive. A lot.

Even the group of researchers from University of California at Berkeley were surprised [Read more]

Shift your thinking about conflict

Phil Gerbyshak extended me a kind and generous offer: To guest blog over at his place, Make It Great!

I invite you to check out my post Shift Your Thinking About Conflict. Here’s a taste: [Read more]

A scoring guide for whining

Are you as turned off by whining as I am? Whining is very external locus of control and I’m an internal locus of control kind of gal.

If you whine to me, I cringe inwardly. If you share a complaint and ideas for improvement, I’m all ears.

Joseph Braun, Professor Emeritus at Illinois State University, apparently has some issues with whining, too. But he’s gone well beyond inward cringing and has elevated whining to an art form.

In his Scoring Guide for Whining, Braun proposes that whines can be scored on a 6-point scale, with consideration for purpose, audience, and quality. His scoring rubric includes such gems as: [Read more]