Stop Talking About It: 4 Clear Ways to Actually Create a Motivating Workplace Culture
Marie was in her first professional job. One of her first projects was to create a new program offering from the ground up that she was to oversee and maintain. Excited about the project, she jumped right into the research and planning. She expected to be reporting back to her boss with results and progress […]
Our Tried and True Schedule for a Quarterly Strategy Retreat
Handing out pennies in Union Square, seeing a show on Broadway, riding an aquatic themed carousel, playing board games, eating bugs, and visiting a cat cafe. At some point in time, Team Swift Kick has done all of these strange things during a quarterly strategy retreat. But strategy retreats are more than just surprise activities; […]
The Danger of Keeping Negative Nellies on Your Team
Devin ran a real-estate management firm and his team was very close. They celebrated everything from birthdays to anniversaries together. From the outside, you’d assume they were the perfect team, but danger was just under the surface. Devin was actually running a team that was about to rot from the inside out, all because of […]
The Importance of Creating Your Secondary Family
When I was 11, Mom got the call that Gram was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. In that moment, Mom promised that she would never put Gram in a nursing home. Two weeks later, Gram moved in. For the next seven years until she died, we spent our days dressing her, feeding her and chasing after her […]
Throw Away Your To-Do List: Using Core Values to Navigate the Unexpected
Melissa’s TEDx talk was on Saturday. It was Thursday. We were discussing back and forth over whether the word “love” was the appropriate word for her closing line. We were on the verge of a nervous giggle fit, as the English language got less and less concrete in our minds. I was supposed to be […]
Using Spring Fever to Make Your Team More, Not Less Engaged
A few years ago, I saw a funny post on Facebook that said if you leave the office in the middle of the day to go outside, and someone asks where you are, you can say you are “Out-Standing.” Ha ha – get it? OUT? STANDING? So maybe this isn’t hilarious to you, but to […]
Better than a Raise: Connections are the Key to Employee Happiness
“From now on, we’ll use this white board to track every interaction you have had with a client. If you don’t meet your quota, not only will everyone see, but there will be repercussions.” “The funeral is in the morning, so you’ll be back in office in the afternoon, right?” “I heard you did poorly […]
Using State Management on a Team of Zombies
To say we were all exhausted would be an understatement. After nine almost 16-hour days, managing 150 high school students, even the Energizer Bunny would probably tap out. My 20-person staff had one more day of the 10-day program. I needed the team to show up with the same amount of energy they had on […]
Johnny Appleseed – The Ultimate “Party Keeps Going”
Unless you’re in second grade, you probably don’t know this, but today, March 11, is Johnny Appleseed Day! Yes, I was seven the last time I talked about him. But I did some research for this post, and I realized that he is a great example of the following Dance Floor Theory tip: The (Apple) […]
Coming Out of Your Shell During Team Debates
For the past few weeks, we have been working in one room as a team, instead of in a shared space with other companies. The reason for this change is so that Sabina, Tom and Melissa can work more efficiently on writing the Dance Floor Theory book. I’ve been listening in to their weekly meetings, […]