On Team Work - Problems Can Become Opportunities

“Problems can become opportunities when the right people come together.”
Robert Redford

I experienced this in action recently. I attended my first planning retreat for a business networking group that I joined last year. As with most networking groups there are lots of strong personalities, after all we are mostly entrepreneurs who have worked hard to build our businesses. I looked at the agenda and the people in attendance and thought “this should be interesting…”

It was – but in a much more positive and productive way tha
I would have expected from the diverse group of participants. The club has its challenges. And when there are challenges everyone has a solution ï I was surprised and impressed by how the fellow who chaired the meeting drew out all the ideas and suggestions from everyone present - and then moderated the discussion and brought us to consensus. As in the quote above, the ‘right people’ (people who cared enough about the group to give up a Saturday to attend the retreat) came together and got a LOT done. Where there is a will – there is a way. I saw it in action at this meeting and it confirmed for me that I had joined the ‘right’ group.

What exactly did the facilitator do? Hard to pinpoint. Some of my observations:
1.He gave everyone the opportunity to speak, with no preference to the senior club members and officers vs the newbies.
2.He found the positive in every comment.
3.He was able to “hear” some underlying conce
s that were inferred rather than spoken – and draw that person out so that the conce
could be aired in a positive way.
4.He reiterated what each of us said to be sure he heard us correctly.
5.He asked pointed and thoughtful questions.
6.He let us all talk at once occasionally – when there was a burst of comments. He then regained order and gave us each a chance to share our “brainstorm”.

Bottom line – he was thoughtful and honored each of us. Great role model for business and life!