One of the best ways to ensure that your planning is successful is to create your own R&D (research and development) group. All truly successful businesses have departments or teams specifically dedicated to finding and developing new and better ways to do whatever it is the company does, so why not you?
At it's most basic, and R&D group can be a small group of friends that you bribe into helping you with problems by offerings of pizza and beer. At it's most complex, it can be a worldwide network of e-quaintences who have signed on to receive email newsletters from you outlining the projects you are working on, and who in return offer feedback or creative help from hundreds of different perspectives.
Wherever your group falls along this continuum, to be effective they must have a clear idea of where you're going and what help you need. Be clear and clean in your discussions, and accept all feedback openly and without defensive posturing. Of course, if someone is taking advantage of your goodwill by scarfing up your pizza, but offering only bland or even hurtful critiques in return with no real effort at being helpful or creating solutions, don't invite them back - just be sure it's them, and not you, who are the problem!
Don't forget to keep your R&D team up to date on the progress of the projects they helped on. After all, it's their baby too, and no one likes to help out and then be left behind - if you pull a "thanks for all your help, b'bye now" routine on them, they will get frustrated and won't want to play any more, leaving you to do all that work by yourself. Reciprocate in kind by joining in their R&D teams if they ask (or offer first, to be really nice).
Creating and using R&D teams can save you much wasted time, pointless effort and avoidable pain. No one of us knows as much as all of us put together, and the group dynamic is a good example of a behavior known as "emergent phenomenon" - it often generates results that are greater than the sum of its parts. By sending your ideas and problems through your R&D team, rather than attempting to handle it all yourself, you'll end up with a far greater number and higher quality of ideas to work with (even if you do end going with your original plan) than you could ever hope to come up with on your own.
(Fun note: Even mad scientists and evil overlords, the two most basic "one-man operations" there are, take advantage of this stress-relieving concept. Remember - you, too, have minions. Use them!)
(c) Soni Pitts
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Soni Pitts is the Chief Visionary Butt-Kicker of sonipitts.com. She specializes in helping others reclaim "soul proprietorship" in their lives and to begin living the life their Creator always intended for them.
She is the author of the free e-book "50 Ways To Reach Your Goals" and over 100 self-help and inspirational articles, as well as other products and resources designed to facilitate this process of personal growth and spiritual development.
no-contract cleaning service Mundelein ..We exist in such a rapidly-changing environment. Technology is moving... Read More
Teams don't have to be aligned with the goals of... Read More
More and more I hear people misunderstanding what someone else... Read More
Recently my fourteen-year old son Matt dressed up as Santa... Read More
So much has been written on this subject; Team Work,... Read More
Team building takes work but the results are worth it.... Read More
A tight knit team is a group of competent individuals... Read More
Team Building Question:Our office has recently learned that about 20... Read More
Presenteeism is alive and 'not well' in many businesses today.... Read More
Managing a small business continues to become more challenging. However,... Read More
It's all about focusing on where the best value in... Read More
Why do we human beings complicate things? Is it that... Read More
In a recent group coaching session, a client mentioned that... Read More
The key to life is to be around the people... Read More
Last month's edition of Footprints and Monuments illustrated a parallel... Read More
For a brief time, I tried to sell life insurance.... Read More
Young minds are quite easy to shape. International Terrorist recruiters... Read More
The effects of conflict in the workplace are widespread and... Read More
Companies often have incentives for reps, but sometimes that isn't... Read More
It's not true in every organization, but it is true... Read More
When leaders, consultants and managers require ideas, they automatically tend... Read More
You are new to Internet Marketing, you join one Affiliate... Read More
It's the summer of 1973, and a young film director... Read More
Teams run most businesses and teams work best if each... Read More
Feedback is such an important communication tool. Openness, honesty, candor,... Read More
maid service near Glenview ..One of the most memorable quotes that I heard from... Read More
We exist in such a rapidly-changing environment. Technology is moving... Read More
Over the years there has been much ado about team... Read More
Benefit 1 - You get to understand them betterAlmost everyone... Read More
Do you remember how you felt after your last interaction... Read More
Why do some teams perform well while others struggle? How... Read More
Too many techies get a bad rap for lacking teamwork... Read More
The other day I got a call from a friend... Read More
Have you noticed that some people seem to stop listening... Read More
Too often teams aren't assembled. They just happen. A project... Read More
The ability to build effective teams is a must for... Read More
A tight knit team is a group of competent individuals... Read More
1. Involve them. Many employees want to be involved in... Read More
Consensus is the appropriate decision strategy for the most important... Read More
Companies often have incentives for reps, but sometimes that isn't... Read More
We all know someone who just drives us batty. Perhaps... Read More
In the new corporate environments where everyone wears more than... Read More
The grand purpose of coaching is to help your managers,... Read More
If you own a franchise you would be wise to... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
Franchisors should also be heavy on the award side of... Read More
Teams don't have to be aligned with the goals of... Read More
Let's look at the detail of giving feedback. Whether you... Read More
With over 25 years of research and experience, we have... Read More
Trainers, please picture this... You are presenting in a new... Read More
Team Building |