Spring officially arrives on Saturday, March 20^th, but the combination of changing weather and a thought-provoking blog have put me in a wondering mood.

One of my favorite blogs is Seth Godin's, and a recent post of his, Wondering Around, particularly struck a nerve.  The premise begins with a typo that changed the word "wandering" to "wondering" and Seth goes on to extol the virtues of wondering. 

And that's what I've been doing all week as spring begins to blossom all around me.  It's the season of growth, renewal, and yes, wonder.  I think the universe is trying to tell me something this week:  to really look at things, not just at how things are but to wonder how things might be.

As we move into spring, and the second quarter of business, it's a good time to evaluate how your 2010 action plans and objectives are progressing. I'm finding out it's specifically a good time to ask: "I wonder..."

As I "wonder around," I'm freeing up my mind.  I wonder if we're doing this or that in the best way possible.  I wonder when this or that idea would work best.  I wonder whether this employee would work well with that client.  I wonder if my employees are as engaged as I think they are.  I wonder if they wonder.

Merriam-Webster's defines the noun "wonder" as a "cause of astonishment or rapt attention or astonishment at something awesomely mysterious... or new to one's experience" and the verb "wonder" as "to be in a state of wonder, to feel surprise... to feel curiosity or doubt."  My business is not exactly awesomely mysterious to me anymore.  However, the combination of the intricacies of human interaction, changing client needs, and economic developments is a source of constant surprise, curiosity, and sometimes even doubt. 

Wondering around is not an exercise in futility; it's an exercise in endless possibilities.  As a "possibilities person," I find the concept of wondering around to be, well, wondrous.

Michelle Kelly, President/CEO

Contrary to the old adage that there is no "i" in "team," it's rather the opposite.  In fact, DiSC®, an excellent assessment tool EPI uses for team development, contains not only "i" but also "D," "S," and "C" - letters that for us have begun to spell T-E-A-M.

A team is a group working together to achieve a mission. With this mission, teams are brought together to accomplish organizational goals, projects, and tasks. As a leader it is important that you develop, strengthen, and maintain a successful team. In doing so, you'll realize the following benefits:

• Increased team motivation
• Improved overall performance
• Higher confidence levels of the team and individuals
• Ability to capitalize on the unique qualities, expertise, and knowledge of each team member
• Enhanced problem solving, innovation, and creativity
• Stronger team commitment to goals, projects, and tasks

EPI continues to grow and we've added three new team members to accomplish our mission. Michelle Kelly, our CEO, strategically planned the development of our team. She identified the unique talents necessary to accomplish EPI's goals and strengthen our team. After that, it's essential to maintain the team. 

One of the ways we develop, strengthen, and maintain our team is through DiSC®. EPI is a certified DiSC® distributor and at team meetings we regularly share our individual DiSC® profiles, strengths, and areas for opportunity.  Sharing our DiSC® profiles has helped us build and strengthen our team relationship, providing insight into how each of us works. We have learned how to capitalize on the unique qualities, expertise, knowledge, and working style of each team member.

DiSC® stands for Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. As I facilitated the most recent team session, I was excited to see our team representing all four quadrants of the DiSC® model. The diversity of work styles  on our team allows us to capitalize on one another's strengths to improve innovation, creativity, and problem-solving to meet our clients' needs.

Taking this further, we also discussed how we can "flex" our styles to better work with one another. For instance, on the intersection of the cross, the D and S tend to have more challenges working together, as do the i and the C. Learning how to flex our own work styles improves our working relationships.

DiSC® is one of numerous models EPI uses to help build successful teams. If you are interested in learning more about how DiSC® or other team models can develop, strengthen, and maintain your team, please contact us.