War stories always abound at networking events, like the upcoming GMIS International Conference in Newport, Rhode Island, on August 23-27. Just a heartless plug of our event, I know, I know. Oh – and a graphic too, do I have any mercy? Absolutely not. There will be no better event available to a technology person like yourself this year – and certainly not at this price. Biased opinion, but truth nonetheless. 

So when war stories of our experiences are presided upon, much of the time over a beverage depending upon the story, we always move right back to the root cause of the "war" in the story. Communication is where the real proverbial magic happens. I’m talking about the open doors we all claim to have. "My door is always open!" is a common claim but is not always truthful, leaving many with no clue how to communicate effectively or how to effectuate points efficiently.

Does that mean I personally know how to communicate effectively? Nope. But it does mean my personal door is open to learning how to communicate, all the time. And it also means I will attend a communication class ever couple years so I remind myself how many generations I need to communicate with daily. Ask your GMIS Executive Board how I communicate when you see them at the aforementioned conference. I don’t care about the answer, but just ask. Let’s just say for our mid-year, in-person Board Meeting this past March I used a Fart Blaster (from the movie "Despicable Me" – no pun intended) as a timer to shut people up, myself mostly, when they started to talk too much. It worked – and it was the first time in my memory the mid-year Board meeting ended AT THE END, and a little ahead of schedule.

Don’t go get a Fart Blaster right away though. People may judge you; my opinion is who cares. But when the judges watch you lead, make sure they know exactly who you are: transparent, motivated, respectful, stable, focused, accessible. And enough with worrying about having friends on your team – it’s counterproductive. At the end of the day whoever is on your team, friend or not, is a teammate. Keeping it simple is key – if you’re on my team, I got you covered and you will know it. Be a good teammate and you will motivate others to be a good teammate in return.

So, before you pull the trigger on your new Fart Blaster, check out The Public Sector Consortium. I’ve gone through two years of classes and they have been very good. It’s one of the best investments your boss can make in you, besides the GMIS Annual Conference. Make your next war story a fun one by keeping team members on task by injecting humor into your next team meeting. Build a good team by being not only an approachable leader, but a solid teammate. Do it!