June 14, 2005 - Musselman Kidwell Concepts recently paired up with the management teams of two BlueGreen Corporation resorts in Orlando, FL to run a workshop designed to improve individual and team effectiveness. 

David DeShaw, Regional General Manager, BlueGreen Corporation states, �We are facing a year of 78% growth at the Fountains Resort.  Over the next seven months, we are adding 168 units.  Our key managers and their employees have to be functioning at their best in order to work in this fast-paced environment.  It is critical to our success that my manager�s resolve issues at the point of contact; make sound decisions; take ownership of their decisions; and work with their teams to execute and ensure follow-through.  Training is the key to exceeding our owner�s expectations which translates into increased referrals and upgrades and ultimately more profitable operations. I called upon Susan Musselman of Musselman Kidwell Concepts to design a program to teach and reinforce these skills with my management teams.� 
 

�We worked with David to create a workshop tailor-made to the unique needs and circumstances he is facing in his dynamic environment,� says Susan Musselman, Principal, Musselman Kidwell Concepts.  �Through individual leadership assessments the resort managers learned how their leadership styles influenced the results they were achieving; it became self-evident that they only way to get better results was to change aspects of their behavior.  We also introduced DMAIC (pronounced duh-MAY-ic), a systematic

Susan Musselman

Musselman Kidwell Concepts used the following five-step process as well as their In-DEPTH^sm Assessment to Maximize Team Performance to train these managers who are now better prepared to meet the demands of their high-growth and fast-paced environment and to achieve better results.

How to get better results through teams?

1.  Improve individual effectiveness.  Assess individual leadership styles and the effect of the style on the team.  What is your management philosophy (i.e., getting results through people or getting results despite people?)?  How effective are you at goal setting and planning?  Execution?  Evaluation?

2.  Get a lesson on team effectiveness.  Create a competitive yet interdependent environment where the teams push each other to learn the information and look to each other for support.  This model is just like real life.  Who do you call when you have a question at work�your boss or your peer?  The reality is we all pick up the phone and call a peer first.  (This even supersedes looking up the answer on the Intranet or other company published resource.)

3.  Practice the skills.  Create team-based exercises where participants have a chance to practice the new skills to solve real problems.

4.  Measure the results.  Make these problem solving exercises measurable, with definitive outcomes. Measure the improvements of the teams throughout multiple rounds of practice and decision making.

5.  Provide feedback.  Build a safe and supportive environment and provide coaching so that the participants give each other candid critique and feedback on observed behavior and the effect of those behaviors on the results of the team. 

For more information please visit www.mkconcepts.com.
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Susan Musselman, Principal
Musselman Kidwell Concepts
The Pinnacle
3455 Peachtree Road, Suite 500
Atlanta, GA  30326
678.528.2357 (office)
www.mkconcepts.com