Intentional linguistics

Effective communication begins in the actual words people choose to express themselves and motivate each other toward goals & objectives. There are 7 categories of possible linguistic expression and you can measurably improve both group and individual communication by becoming aware of the seven categories and coding them into your behavior. The methodology I use teaches team members:

• how to become aware of the words you use
• how to understand your communication goals for different situations
• how to actively choose & be intentional about the words you use for different communicate goals
• how to avoid miscommunication with others through proactive communication
• how to avoid miscommunication with yourself by enhancing self-awareness

Measurable Improvement: the Team Cohesion Metric

The Team Cohesion Metric is a measurement of team development and potential for effective group action, quantified as follows:

• Clarity of Objectives – are objectives documented & clear for everyone involved, across functions?
• Team Integration – are all functions required for successful achievement of the objectives meaningfully engaged on the team?
• Roles & Responsibilities – how effectively have R&R been defined and communicated to everyone involved?
• Risk Assessment – how effectively has the team assessed potential risk events for both projects and work processes?
• Work Process – is there an established work process and how variable are team member perceptions of the requirements and workflow?
• Connectedness Profile – what is the level of trust that exists between each team member and at the group level?
• Communication Competencies – what is the level of competency at the group level and at the individual levels for intentional linguistics?

Each component is rated on a three point scale and the results are weighted into an index that can be used to benchmark current levels of cohesion and measure progress going forward.

Examples of Team Development Workshop Agenda Items

• SWOT analysis
• Lessons learned exercise (with visual & interactive components)
• Intentional linguistics presentation
• Email linguistic analysis
• R&R guessing game
• Objectives alignment (facilitated discussion)
• Focused communication analysis
• Trust-building exercises (outdoor, indoor, physical or non-physical)
• Improvisational communication exercises
• Exercises that facilitate social connection

Culture as a Service

Human beings are inherently cultural, tribal creatures. This evolutionary quality can be both an advantage and disadvantage: tribal territorialism often causes communication breakdowns in the workplace, but strong tribal cohesion often produces incredible, innovative results.

When we think about organizational transformation from the basic approach that subculture workflows are a service to the goals greater organization, we can begin to divorce territorialism from productivity in practice.

This type of transformation requires a fundamental paradigm shift towards a more dynamic model of governance and functional reporting.

Information Flow Analysis

When a product or project that requires collaboration among a group of people is underperforming, it’s because there is a problem in the way information is flowing between leadership, the people doing the work, and the work process steps they use. Manifesting improvement calls for a scientific investigation of the information flow: a research study that collects data and performs statistical analysis to correlate drivers with outcomes.