One of the quickest ways to crush an employee's morale is by surprising her with feedback during the annual review that she never received during the performance year. I see this over and over and over again.

Difficult conversations are difficult because they are uncomfortable for most people. But, there are techniques that you can learn to provide feedback in a way that will help an employee improve without coming across as marginalizing.

I went ice climbing this past Sunday in Rocky Mountain National Park for the first time this season. And, as I was watching the video I made (see below), it occured to me that the key components of finding a good ice climbing partner are the same components of being on an effective team.

Hello Everyone

I wanted to wish you all a very healthy and happy Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving for me is a time of reflection and a time to come back to the present. It is a time for me to be grateful for all of the wonderful things in my life.

I just saw an advertisement for a training course. It was titled something like "Making Team Decisions by Consensus."

This is where team building gets a bad rap and experiences on the "ropes course" don't translate well into the real work environment. Making decisions by consensus is applicable to bowling outings and the summer picnic and that's probably about it.

Typically, teams never truly reach consensus anyway. Instead, they end up with an "aura of consensus" where one or two loud voices or big personalities speak for the group.

Ah the holidays. A time to enjoy family and friends, perhaps some time off from work, and even a chance to reflect on the year's past and what's to come.

The performance review process is your opportunity to reflect on your career, on your strengths, and on your plans for the future.

Here are a few ideas on how you can take ownership for your 2010 performance goals.

Understanding team members' preferences, motivations, priorities, and ideosynchracies can make a big difference on whether team members work well together or not.

In almost all of my strategic team building seminars I conduct with senior leaders and executives, I use either the DiSC profile or the MBTI as a tool to help create cohesion.

The purpose is really two-fold.

As I work with companies and organizations of all types, my biggest concern right now is the level of employee engagement. An even more important concern is the level of employee engagement among the best employees.

Generally speaking, people live up to the expectations that they have for each other. If expectations are low, performance tends to be low. If expectations are high, performance tends to be high.

Effective communication is intentional. A simple tool for speaking assertively and authentically is using the "I" statement. Here is an exerpt from John W. Jacobs.

At the heart of better communication is the self-statement. A self-statement puts the responsibility for your emotional experience squarely on your shoulders. It is one single, easy-to-learn skill that can most dramatically improve the communication.