Building a Team

This fall, I am embarking on research related to public libraries and am building a small (for now) research team (The iSchool Public Libraries Initiative). Often teams form quickly with no forethought in regards to team building and creating the best environment for thriving.  This team is still in its forming stages and I know it would be good to provide some foundation for it. Part of that foundation needs to be understanding what is important to each one of us and how we each normally work.  Rarely do we discuss our normal work habits or what habits we expect from others. And rarely do we share those tips or thought processes that led to our habits, or what we wish our habits were.

This blog post is my attempt to list those things that influence me, in terms of getting work done and interacting with others. Do I do all of these things perfectly?  No.  Do I do them all the time?  No.  But I aspire.  As my team comes together, I hope they will share what influences their work habits with me.  Just talking about it, I'm sure, will make us work better together.

By the way, I have slowly worked on this post for a couple of months as I have remembered, found, and pulled together resources.  I suspect that it still isn't complete.  If you were me, what would you add?  Please leave that information in a comment. Thanks!

 

Productivity

• Productivity 101: A Primer to the Getting Things Done (GTD) Philosophy (LifeHacker)
• From David Allen and Getting Things Done
• Five Simple Steps That Apply Order to Chaos
• Podcast Episode #3 – David Allen guides you through a Mind Sweep (23 minutes)
• Podcast Episode #7 – Guided GTD Weekly Review (32 minutes) 
• Podcast Episode #40: Best Practices of Email Communication (29 minutes)
• I want to emphasize the importance of stating in your email who needs to answer the specific questions.  If you assume, rather than stating it, you may receive replies for no one or from everyone, and neither of those scenarios is helpful.
• If you are asking a question, be sure to make sure that someone skimming the email sees a question mark!  In other words, don't ask a question without actually asking a question.  (Trust me, this happens all the time.)  
• The Effective Emailer (Guy Kawasaki) 
• Writing emails people will read, understand and reply to (Alexander Skogberg)
• The correct way to email (Sarah Begley) - Added 09/27/2019
• 8 Email Etiquette Tips - How to Write Better Emails at Work (Jeff Su) - Added 07/17/2021
  
• What Makes Writing Effective: Interview with Rick Horowitz (11-minute podcast)
• Use the "Four Ds for Decision-Making" model (University of Nebraska Kearney) [6/11/2021, updated URL] [Deleted 05/24/2024]
  
• 7 important steps in the decision making process [Added 505/24/2024]
  
• How to Teach Yourself to Read an Entire Book in a Single Day - For me, the lesson in this article is not about reading a book in one day, but the fact that you don't read every work the same way. Being a productive reader means understanding what you are trying to learn from the work, and then reading in a way that allows you to learn it. [06/11/2021: Link is from the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. The author has deleted it from Medium.]
  
• Should you walk out of that bad meeting, even if it’s rude? (Aytekin Tank)

 

Personal Interactions

• From Heather Plett
• What it means to “hold space” for people, plus eight tips on how to do it well
• How to hold space for yourself first
• On holding space when there is an imbalance in power or privilege
• Reflecting (SkillsYouNeed)
• 10 Steps for Winning Every Argument (Pivotal Point Training & Consulting Inc.) [Deleted 05/24/2024]
• 7 Simple Steps to Win Every Argument (Inc. magazine, added 05/24/2024)

 

 Team Building

• Curious Minds Podcast Episode #103: Daniel Coyle on How to Build Amazing Teams (39 minutes)
• Consensus decision-making (Wikipedia) - This is a long Wikipedia article and all of it may not be useful.  However, it is important to consider how a team makes a decision and that is why this has been added here (e.g., agreement versus consensus).
• Six Thinking Hats (book) by Edward DeBono 
• Edward de Bono briefly explaining the six hats (7:40 minute video)