Team Work Success Story!

Last Friday O-I held its 29th Annual volleyball tournament. The games were competitive and the evening was a fun filled night. Fellow pathway graduates were scattered amongst several teams and notably, the Holy Toledo pathways class had several members present. Chris S., Ryan S., and Jenilee were all on a team together. They went undefeated all night and the championship game was coming up. Fellow mate Steve V. who was on an opposing team and had been eliminated during the event, took it upon himself to gather up individuals who were not playing to keep our team practicing and warm for the championship game. Given that our team had gone undefeated, in order for the other team to win they would have to beat us twice. Game one of the championship came upon us and we failed to work as a team like we had been doing so well at all night. We lost the first game, now the title was on the line. Steve V. came onto the court during our break before the final game and he talked to all of us about "what was working well" and all of us started putting our heads together and back in the game. Chris S., Ryan S., and Jenilee carried home their championship trophies that night. The support and teamwork together was priceless and our fellow pathway members helped make it all happen. That's KNUCKLES all around!!

Holy Toledo Blade- Week 2 & 3

Holy Toledo Blade
Week 2 & 3 Published: July 21, 2008

Week #2: The Big R

Voyagers:

Story of the Week

Justin was having a discussion with a family member who is having hard times, who is constantly coming up with reasons why something won’t work. Justin asked “If you could do anything you wanted, with no limitations, what would you do?” That one question changed the whole tone of the conversation and started the person thinking in a more forward focus direction. We all hope that life will turning around for this person.

NLOTB:

Mary: She has just been put into a new job position and is feeling that her Big R has diminished because of that. Mary relates the Big R to having or being in a certain comfort zone. In her previous position, Mary was confident and comfortable with her work. She was able to help others build their Big R’s by giving them reassurance on jobs well done. Now she is in the process of learning a new role and working on building up her Big R. Mary is a confident and bright individual and once she hits that comfort level, her Big R will be as big as ever.

PARTI:

Chris H:
Having a Big R allows individuals to take the high road when responding to a given situation. Chris provided a recent example of interacting with a co-worker. The person Chris works with is a driven, strong willed individual. During their discussion on an issue, Chris could hardly get a word in. Therefore, what did Chris do? He allowed the other individual to voice their opinion fully before he provided comments. Both Chris and the other individual came to the same answer as the recommendation to solve the problem. However, if Chris had not had a Big R and instead took the low road in dealing with this person, they would have ended up in a downward communication spiral.



Subject 2 ∆:

Jenilee- After only being at a plant for 10 months that had a history of poor audit results, internal audit had scheduled its next full audit before her departure to a new job in Corporate. Given the severity of the internal issues that had plagued this plant for years, she tackled the obstacles and applied best practices and process improvements to the best of her ability and with the tools she had available. The outcome at the plant was a giant step forward in the right direction and the newly laid foundation was well on its way to pure performance for this facility. The audit results showed a weakness in the department, but they noted the strides taken, foundation being laid, and process in place. The Big R came to play for Jenilee, she knows she did all she could given the circumstances and at the same time, internal audit recognized the accomplishments and helped build the Big R as well. They took the positive approach and noted it in the comments.


Week #3:


Voyagers: 3 Conditions that Support Change


Opener: What are some of the biggest changes that have taken place in your life that you inspired? What elements created success? Responses provided by Justin and Lynne

Justin: Biggest change was his career change to join O-I. He is impressed that O-I is investing in its people using the Pathways To Leadership program.

Lynne: Biggest change was the decision to move in with her parents to help support and take care of them. This change allowed her parents a better quality of life and strengthened their personal relationships with each other.

Subject 2 ∆: Wellness Culture- Work-Life-Balance

Jeff – practiced better communication during mid year reviews, both in giving and receiving. He practiced better communication and indicated much of the communication would not have happened in years past.

Suzette- experienced more communication during her mid year review and was even asked by her supervisory “what can I do to make your job better”. She realized her boss has seen more than she has been aware of and this was verbalized in the communication during her mid year review (building her BIG R).


Jenilee – Has taken steps to bridge the gap with her supervisor in her new job in corporate. She has kept a positive attitude and asked what was needed to complete her responsibilities.

The Wise Guys: Wellness Culture- Work-Life-Balance

….”What are the strongest elements of our Wellness Culture, and how do those elements impact your daily approach to work?
Collectively the “Wise Guys” agreed that having and maintaining a positive attitude goes a long way toward meeting the goal of having/maintaining a Wellness Culture, both at home and at work.

NLOTB: Wellness Culture- Work-Life-Balance

What and how were the Pathways to Leadership® tools applied? (Please be specific.)
One of the most successful tools employed by members of the team is the “Homeward Bound Framework”. By successfully using this tool to bring closure to the work day it allowed a smoother transition into the home life creating a more peaceful atmosphere for each of us.

What was the outcome and benefit to you, your colleagues, team, family, and/or the organization?
By creating this balance between work and home, this translates into a less stressful day and greater productivity. It allows us to engage our teams and family without the baggage of either stress from home or stress from work. It also allows us to cross the normal boundaries that tend to separate work and home by allowing us the freedom to engage our teams outside the work environment while still balancing the home life.

One example:

Kevin Pawlicki invited his entire team over to his house after work for dinner. He also included extended members of the project team. The outcome was tremendous, not only did the team members enjoy an evening of fun, games and food, he was also able to engage his wife in the event giving her the opportunity to build relationships with his co-workers. This will help Kevin and his wife have a better feel for the demands on his time away from the family.


With this new knowledge, what could be done more, better, or in addition, to continue Improvement?
The conclusion we drew as a team was simply, “nurturing the relationships with our co-workers” provides the greatest benefits of helping us development our work-life balance. It’s no secret that many of our peers face the same/similar challenges with work-life balance as we do, and can act as a role model for us to follow. By spending quality time with our peers we develop the good habits of spending quality time with our families.

On-A-Roll

Holy Toledo I have a question for you:

Over the holiday weekend, what was the best thing that happened to you?

The Holy Toledo Blade- Week 1

“The Voyagers” - Justin Breitigam, Greg Cornelius, Nancy Navarre, Lynne Wilson

Greg posed this question during the meeting – “What have you learned about an O-I person that you didn’t know before, or observed about that person?” Group shared their thoughts and observations.

This week’s spotlight person is Greg and the story that got him “On a Roll”.

Right after returning from Pathways, Greg was approached by his manager and this one on one chat took place. His manager, having been to Pathways, gave Greg these supportive words – “this is very important to the company, to me, and should be to you. I will offer you any support you may need and give you the time and the tools you need to make this successful for you.” This really got Greg “On a Roll”

“New Leaders On The Block” - Mary Shinavar, Ryan Smith, Andrew May, Steve Vaughan and Kevin Pawlicki

Steve: His biggest shift is looking at people in degrees of strength instead of degrees of weakness. Also understanding the impact of “doofussing” people and the absolute impact it has on them those around them.

Ryan: His biggest shift is using degrees of strength with his younger brother. His brother lives with him and is 4 yrs young. Previously he only looked at what his brother did not do well. He now realizes that the difference in age has a big impact on how his brother acts, one which he reflects on and understands that he may have acted in a similar manner 4 or 5 years ago. This has improved their relationship and has allowed him to look passed some of his brothers weaknesses which are now degrees of strength.

Mary: At home her biggest shift is with her 1 yr. old daughter Sophia. She is now aware of not using don’t(s) to focus her attention, but instead using forward focused questions to help her grow and move forward. At work she is trying to stay positive and stay on a roll even though she is working on the rollout of Concur (new T&E system) by the 15th Aug, working on 2nd quarter close and catching up from being out of the office with Pathways. She is now focused on taking the High road with the folks she works with on Concur. Overall she has a stronger awareness muscle.

Andrew: Just back from vacation plus out of the office with Pathways he is swamped but has managed to stay on a roll, facilitating a more positive approach and achieving better results. This was especially important because of an email he received from his boss about the notification of one of his programmers leaving the company. Being on a roll helped him address this issue with a more productive approach.

Kevin: One of my most profound shifts since this journey in Pathways is how much I have been re-energized by this team and how it has reinforced some of the tools that I have not practiced well. Degrees of strength and Homeward bound are two areas that I am now focusing on more as I feel that I have not done the best job and have room for improvement. I want to push much farther that the 10-25% improvement and focus on 60-80% or more.


“Wise Guys” – Chris Poling, Vladislav Chernolutskiy, Kevin Bentley, Mike Stutzman

Team discussed why being on a roll 10% more is a good target. Team thought that since it was achievable, we all believed it could be done

Team talked about the benefits of the POIS meetings. Common goal was to help re-enforce the tools and to build stronger relationships. We also agreed that the more effort we put into our meetings, the more we would get out of them.

After listening to the audio tape, we discussed some important differences for being on a roll. We agreed that people on-a-roll are more productive, more positive, and it’s usually infectious.

We then talked about how being on-a-roll relates to productivity. Although people can be productive when they are not on-a-roll, people can be even more productive when they are on-a-roll. Furthermore, when people are on-a-roll, they are more pleasant to work with, thus allowing others around them to be more productive as well.

We also thought about a weekly target of where we would like to operate more on-a-roll, and also some of the tools we plan to use to achieve this goal.

In the end we took a look back at the meeting to determine if it was productive, if anything needed to be differently or better. We decided that each member will lead the sessions differently and we will learn to improve over time.

“PA/RTI Team” – Lisa Stiles, Chris Horen, Chris Schilling, Debbie Zarevich
Our team had several discussions around being on a roll and all agree that positive attitude taking control of our relationship with ourselves, and making team members feel good about themselves creates a sound foundation and greater productivity.


Chris S. and Lisa talked about their morning motivations on the way to work…. Chris listens and sings to music while Lisa listens to Pathway CD’s to help energize her when she feels off the path.

Debbie was able to use the tool 3 conditions that support change with 2 of her team members during their mid year performance review. The team members made the suggestion of learning each other jobs. This support system creates greater communication skills and is easier for Debbie when one is absent. After the Pathways session, Debbie flew to Tracy, CA. to retrain 21 employees on Paymaster. She told us that the tools she learned at Pathways made the training easier.

Lisa has learned to use the 3 mind factors by staying focused on the task at hand and completing it which eliminates wasted time and frustration. She is supporting the Big R with her daughter to keep up her confidence with her golf game.

Chris S. talked about his success with the win of selling his home and being able to finally move his family to Toledo.

Chris H. is proud of his team being able to complete a project while he was away at Pathways even though 2 tough situations came up that week. He has seen improvement and celebrates their wins with positive reinforcement.


“Subject 2 ∆ (Change) - Suzette Brown, Mark Whitford, Jeff Mangold, SusanNiswander, Jenilee Rasch

Meeting Opener – What are a couple of strengths that will enhance our team?

Response: Everyone contribute, attendance at POIS meetings, vast background on our team, excitement to build the tools into habits

Audio was listened to prior to meeting

Question: Where have you seen a difference in your ability to live on-a-roll?

Response: Increase productivity, ability to overcome issues.

Discussion: On-a-roll is sometimes an emotional state and the being on-a-roll shouldn’t always be measured by how much is completed.

Question: What tools have you used the most since leaving Pathways?

Jeff – Focused on staying on the positive side of the energy map.

Suzette- Intensely focused on listen during conversation, before jumping in with an answer.

Susan –Frequently used forward focused questions and strived to stay on the positive side of the energy map.

Jenilee – Focused on staying on the positive side of the energy map.

Mark – Create a positive team identity.

Next Weeks Target:

Jeff – Staying on a roll early in the week, looking forward to a long weekend

Suzette- Stay on-a-roll to clear through backlogged workload.

Susan – Complete and finish the Rexam closure.

Jenilee – Getting settled into new home and new job surroundings.

Mark – Get through the jet lag of returning to Australian life.