When  Team’s Performance Is Mediocre, Fit It Quick

Leadership Tip of the week, adapted from HBR

What do you do when someone’s work is OK but not great? The toughest test of a manager isn’t dealing with poor performance — it’s addressing mediocrity. Don’t let lackluster performance fester.

1. Start by showing how mediocrity negatively affects your team, the organization, and its customers. You could, for example, have middling employees listen in on calls with complaining customers so that they understand the negative effects of not doing their jobs well.
2. It’s important to share accountability. Encourage your colleagues to immediately and respectfully confront one another when problems arise. There is no way for even the strongest supervisor to see and address every performance gap.
3. Speak up when you see mediocrity in other parts of the organization. For example, if everyone knows that a corporate initiative isn’t working but no one is discussing it, your team will notice whether you have the integrity to point out the emperor’s lack of clothes.

High performance is a norm that needs to be defended regularly and vigilantly.

Adapted from “What to Do About Mediocrity on Your Team,” by Joseph Grenny

Watch for Signs of Stress on Your Team

Leadership Tip of the Week

adapted from HBR

As a manager, it’s your job to watch for signs of stress on your team so that you can intervene before someone disengages, gets sick, or needs to take a leave.

Keep an eye out for the warning signs:

• Does someone on your team seem overly tired or constantly overwhelmed?
• Have they been unable to control their emotions lately?

Of course, everyone has good and bad days, but most people can regulate their emotions in a way that’s appropriate for the workplace. Outbursts or high and low mood swings can be a sign of stress overload.

If you notice any of these signs, start a conversation with the person. You might ask a simple question, such as “Are you OK?” or “How are you doing?”

And if the person is open to talking, mention the signs you’ve observed and express your concern.

Adapted from “An Early Warning System for Your Team’s Stress Level,” by Thomas Hellwig et al.

HBR Management Tip of the Week

The best way for organizations to drive the business forward is to make sure that employees are continually learning. Building a LEARNING culture is better than building a KNOWLEDGE culture, because you create an organisation that can continually adapt to the changing world.

What can managers do to encourage learning?

When you’re hiring, look for people who have demonstrated that they’re lifelong learners. Then look for services that provide up-to-date, relevant content on a wide variety of topics.

Don’t worry if your employees want to learn something that’s not directly related to their job.

By learning something new, no matter what it is, they’re practising the skill of learning, which is invaluable. Plus, you never know how learning an unrelated skill can help down the road. But do take an active role in partnering with your employees to figure out the skills they need to develop based on business goals.

And don’t forget to encourage and reward people who demonstrate quick adaptive learning.

Adapted from “To Stay Relevant, Your Company and Employees Must Keep Learning,” by Pat Wadors 

Leadership Tip of Week

adapted from HBR

Many jobs require people to continually develop new skills.

As a manager, you should be less worried with what people know and more concerned about whether they’re able to learn. But it’s not enough to hire curious, adaptable people; you also have to reward them for learning.

When your employees have increased their knowledge and their value to the company, provide them with new and challenging opportunities.

Promote people only when they’ve acquired sufficient expertise in other jobs in the organization, not just their own. Or you could give awards for individuals who organize events or activities to promote learnability in the company (running internal conferences, bringing external speakers, or circulating information that nurtures people’s curiosity).

Reward simpler habits, too, like writing a blog, sharing articles on social media, or recommending books and movies.

Adapted from “It’s the Company’s Job to Help Employees Learn,” by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Mara Swan

Management Tip of the Week

adapted from Harvard Business Review

It’s easy to assume that everyone knows how to work on a team, but most people have individual styles and preferences.

What if one person thinks a 9:00 start time means 9:03 and someone else thinks it means 8:55?

To avoid these common frustrations, create rules of conduct for your team’s collaboration. Rules help clarify how you will collectively make decisions, keep everyone informed, and run meetings.

To start, find or create a boilerplate framework with basic rules for respect, trust, meetings, decision making, and more.

Discuss the rules with your team and agree on which ones you’ll follow.

Review the rules periodically to keep them relevant and quash undesirable behaviors that have emerged.

In addition, conduct a cultural audit of your team by asking about the unwritten rules a new team member would need to know. Then create one combined set of rules that everyone will follow.

Adapted from “Help Your Team Agree on How They’ll Collaborate,” by Mary Shapiro

Just because you have a recurring meeting on your calendar doesn’t mean you have to hold it.

Only convene the group if everyone (especially you, as the meeting leader) is clear on what the objectives are. Agreed-upon goals will keep the agenda focused and ensure you make the most of the time. Here are a few sample objectives to consider:

•  Share updates and review progress to date, including major milestones or upcoming activities. Ask and answer: “What did I do? What will I do?”
• Identify questions and concerns related to progress. Ask and answer: “What are the potential roadblocks?”
• Prioritize and resolve issues and address additional questions.
• Agree on next steps (for example, what to do if a situation escalates, and what each individual’s role is).

Adapted from HBR Guide to Making Every Meeting Matter

Leadership Tip of Week

adapted from HBR

Successful entrepreneurs rarely dismiss bad ideas outright: They rework them in the hope that there’s a gem yet to be discovered.

After all, the best opportunities aren’t always self-evident. Instead of killing ideas and initiatives when they seem problematic, challenge yourself or your team to push further, reframe the problem and solution, or explore adjacencies.

By bringing new thinking to seemingly bad ideas, you may end up with a breakthrough. Listen to all stakeholders regularly, and don’t stop, even once you’ve decided on a course of action. Pay special attention to new information and edge cases as you go — they often hold clues to move you toward better versions of your idea.

Adapted from “Embracing Bad Ideas to Get to Good Ideas,” by John Geraci

Leadership Tip the week #1

adapted from HBR.

It can be difficult for leaders (especially senior ones new to their roles) to pause before acting. But when was the last time you stopped to ask, “Why are we doing it that way?”

Leaders must constantly explore new ideas and seek out new thinking from those around them. You need to regularly ask uncomfortable questions and think about whether to change or abandon an existing strategy.

The best leaders step back and look at the big picture every so often. They surround themselves with diverse teams and capitalize on opportunities to hear and experiment with new ideas. They give themselves time to surface divergent opinions that ultimately lead to smarter business decisions.

Adapted from “When was the last time you asked, “Why are we doing It This Way?” ”

http://www.hbr.org/2016/04/when-was-the-last-time-you-asked-why-are-we-doing-it-this-way

Leadership Tip of Week

adapted from HBR

 

If you believe that only senior executives need to think strategically, think again.

No matter what level you’re at, strategic thinking is a critical skill — one that can always be improved. To hone your capacity to see the big picture, start by making sure you have a solid understanding of the industry context and business drivers.

• Make it a routine to explore the internal trends in your day-to-day work.
• Pay attention to the issues that get raised repeatedly, and synthesize the common obstacles your colleagues face.
• Be proactive about connecting with peers in your organization and in your industry to understand their observations of the marketplace, and share this information across your network.
• Take the time to understand the unique information and perspective that your job function contributes to the company.

Thinking at this higher level will position you to be more strategic in your role.

Adapted from “4 Ways to Improve Your Strategic Thinking Skills,” by Nina Bowman

Leadership Tip of week

adapted from HBR

Let’s face it, giving and receiving feedback can be uncomfortable.

To make it easier, you don’t necessarily have to get better at saying the exact right thing; you just need practice.

If you see someone doing something they can improve, offer your observations right away. Don’t wait until your next meeting to provide your input; give it in the moment. You want as little time as possible between identifying and discussing the problem.

After you address the problem, offer a “patch up” to help them know that you respect them. The biggest predictor of whether someone will become defensive after presented with feedback is the motive behind it. If they know that you’re trying to help them and hold them accountable, they are less likely to push back.

Adapted from “How to Make Feedback Feel Normal,” by Joseph Grenny  

 

Leadership Tip of the week

adapted from HBR

There’s no doubt that people want to feel appreciated and listened to at work. As a leader, it’s your job to create an empathetic environment where everyone feels valued. Here are a few simple things you can do to show empathy for your team:

• Observe, listen, and ask questions. Stop assuming that you know what people are thinking and feeling — you probably don’t. There’s always more to learn if you’re quiet and curious.
• Stop multitasking. If you’re writing an email to one person while talking with another, neither one is getting the best of you. Put your phone down and give your full attention to the person in front of you.
• Don’t give in to distractions. There’s always a deadline looming, a crisis to deal with, or an annoyance to put to rest. It’s important to slow down and take a step back from all of this stress. Practice mindfulness, and encourage your employees to do the same. Let them know it’s OK to take some time for themselves.

Adapted from “If You Can’t Empathize with Your Employees, You’d Better Learn To,” by Annie McKee

 

Management Tip of the week

adapted from Harvard Business Review

Create a Culture Where People Are Open to Feedback

 

The benefits of an open culture — where frank, candid discussions about problems are possible — are immense, but building an open culture is difficult. However, once you establish the practice of open feedback across the company, you’ll likely find that it builds momentum quickly. Leaders can set their organization on the path to having an open culture by modeling three behaviors:

• Showing appreciation. Overcome the negative connotation of “feedback” by recognizing your employees’ good work too. Research suggests you should share positive feedback three times as often as negative feedback.
• Opening up. We all tend to respond to feedback by protecting ourselves, but building an open culture requires leaders to really listen to what people say to them. Demonstrate how to receive feedback without taking it personally.
• Getting the whole company involved. Silos create an “us vs. them” mindset. Get other departments involved in decision making early and often.

Adapted from “Create a Culture Where Difficult Conversations Aren’t So Hard,” by Jim Whitehurst

Leadership Tip of the Week from HBR

People have long used ceremonies — bar mitzvahs, baptisms, weddings, inaugurations, quinceañeras — to mark changes and turning points.

Companies have ceremonies too, but they often focus on celebrating the positive: birthdays, work anniversaries, promotions, and project victories.

These types of recognition are important and shouldn’t stop, but companies should consider using celebrations to help people through hard times. This can be a powerful way to mark difficulties, acknowledge dark passages, honor those who have made sacrifices or experienced hardship, and help people move on.

You may not pop a bottle of champagne after a difficult reorg, but you might gather as a group and read your mission statement aloud or hold a mock funeral for the past (as Steve Jobs did at the 2002 Worldwide Developers Conference, to mark the end of the Mac’s OS 9).

Communal experiences like these can help strengthen your group’s bonds, values, and vision.

Leadership Tip of the week,

adapted from HBR

What do you think?  best question asked to set up listening

Listening Is an Overlooked Leadership Tool

Listening can be a challenging skill to master and  three levels of listening have been identified:

Leadership Tip of the Week

adapted from HBR

In a world of instantaneous global connection, one of the most authentic modes of communication still is just listening to someone.

But listening can be a challenging skill to master. How can you build your ability?

Start by creating space in your day. Block off time in your calendar to reflect on a recent conversation and to prepare for the next one. When a colleague or employee asks for advice, make sure you understand the situation. Before answering, ask a question. Clarify what they really need. And give people your full attention. Look them in the eye. Put down your phone and close your laptop.

Leaders who make time for uninterrupted face-to-face conversation find that it’s one of their best management tools.

Adapted from “Listening Is an Overlooked Leadership Tool,” by Melissa Daimler

Leadership Tip of the week

adapted from HBR

Most of us think of entrepreneurs as passionate professionals who have a “fire in their belly.”

But it’s hard to maintain that level of dedication no matter how passionate you are, and research has shown that entrepreneurs’ enthusiasm for their projects can fade over time.

One way to prevent this is to avoid sticking to a plan. Strictly adhering to your business plan is a recipe for disengagement.

You need to be flexible and agile as you learn more about your product, your customers, and the market. This isn’t just good for your business; it keeps you excited about your project as you continue to evolve it. By changing and refining your ideas, you can make significant progress and build your confidence.

Rather than feeling misunderstood by the outside world, you will gain a sense of control over events as they unfold, which will counter any decrease in passion over time.

Adapted from “How Entrepreneurs Can Keep Their Passion from Fading,” by Veroniek Collewaert and Frederik Anseel

Leadership Tip of the week

adapted from HBR

Success requires continual growth and learning. But how do you know which development efforts will yield the best return? Here’s three tips:

1. Look for the overlap between what your organization needs and what will give you the most satisfaction. If you’re in operations, you might identify several business-critical areas for improvement — say, learning to better manage large custom client projects in order to significantly reduce cycle and delivery times.
2. Think about whether you can excel at the capabilities you want to develop. If you’re already very organized, that bodes well for being able to learn complex project management.
3. Honestly assess how interested you are in the capabilities. The key is to focus on skills that will propel your organization forward, play to your strengths, and keep you passionate about learning.

Adapted from “How to Decide What Skill to Work On Next,” by Erika Andersen

Leadership Tip of the week

adapted from HBR

Continuing to grow and innovate means taking risks, which naturally involves making mistakes.

But mistakes don’t mean a leader should discourage experimentation. Rather, leaders should encourage people to take time to understand why mistakes happened in order to minimise them in the future.

• Trace previous mistakes back to their roots to identify the causes and what can be done differently next time.
• Use role-playing exercises, debates, or even formal business war games to think through how a new strategy might play out differently.
• Try to look at things from a competitor’s point of view to factor in a new perspective.

Mistakes are inevitable and can be costly, so don’t waste them — learn from them.

Adapted from “Don’t Let Your Mistakes Go to Waste,” by Mark Chussil

Yes, You Can Provide Feedback in a “Nice” Organization

Building candour and feedback into any culture is challenging, but it can be particularly difficult in “nice” organisations, where behaviour is expected to be poised, respectful, and professional at all times.

In general these are positive qualities, but learning a new skill (like giving feedback) is inherently messy.

We learn by trying, getting it wrong, understanding our errors, and then trying again.

Start with yourself: Show your team that you are making a serious effort to improve, and actively request feedback from your peers. Really listen to what you hear. And make sure to identify when feedback would not be helpful.

Remember the acronym HALT—don’t give feedback if you are Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired. Since candour and feedback involve other people, you’ll likely encounter misunderstandings, hurt feelings, or other conflict. Don’t expect feedback to always feel natural or easy.

A little discomfort and a few mistakes means you’re on the right path.

Adapted from “How to Give Negative Feedback When Your Organization Is ‘Nice,’” by Jennifer Porter

Leadership Tip of the Week

adapted from HBR

In most organizations authority for the most important strategic decisions is left to the highest-paid person’s opinion (HiPPO).

But relying on the judgement of one person or a few individuals is bound to lead to trouble. HiPPOs often are wrong, due to inherent biases, misinformation, and other types of noise that can cloud one person’s opinion.

To cancel out much of that noise, companies should integrate crowd voting into their decision-making strategies. Crowd voting integrates the expertise, knowledge, and perspectives of many people. These opinions can help shape a more well-rounded frame of reference, and can vastly improve the chances that a strategic decision will lead to success.

Crowd voting doesn’t render HiPPOs obsolete; rather, it encourages HiPPOs to work with the crowd in order to develop more-successful strategies.

Adapted from “The Antidote to HiPPOs: Crowd Voting,” by Karim R. Lakhani

 

It’s here. Well, it might not be here meteorogically, but it’s here according to the calendar. Summer. That elusive season that promises so much and insists every family has a Plan A, B and C for all activities and events over the coming months.

July and August affect every business in some way whether it’s reduced or increased footfall, staffing issues or supply of services and products. Are you ready? But other than the obvious preparation that you will have included in your strategy planning, how will this summer affect you personally?

Whether you’re a business owner, a manager or a key person in a business, how do you survive summer? Will your own summer holiday be an endless juggle of family commitments and emails; full of those knife edge decisions of knowing just when to peel your eyes away from your phone and answer the 56th cry of ‘look at my dive Daddy’ with genuine interest?

Are you able to switch off completely or is your mind constantly buzzing with ‘what if’, ‘I’d better check’, ‘has that proposal gone’, ‘the project deadline is today’?

Long ago, I read about the value of working ‘on’ your business and not just ‘in’ your business.

A successful business will manage competently without you for a period of time. If you have a team of reliable and professional colleagues around you they will not let you down. If your team are rewarded fairly and empowered to make decisions, they will appreciate the trust and responsibility you give them and rise to the occasion. If your business cannot survive without you, you should be concerned. Delegation is a skill. And if your business only comprises of you, the same principle applies. You must take time out and can do so by outsourcing your communications and properly managing your schedule. Delegate, communicate and recuperate!

So, assuming you’ll be taking a break this summer, what are the major benefits of being able to walk away?

• Firstly, and most importantly, YOU.

You need time out. There is nothing like a change of scenery or routine to enable you to look at things from a different angle. Perspective is everything. Step away, take time out, reflect and review. These are some of the most valuable activities in your whole business year.

• Your FAMILY needs you.

Whether it’s children, partners or parents, being able to truly dedicate time to your family is critical. In our world of digital overload, instant access to people and information saturates our every waking moment. Leave your phone at home and allow your communication with your family to be genuine and uninterrupted.

• Your Health.

Some business owners or managers are very successful in dividing their time up so they can include ‘space’ for themselves in every day. Many successful entrepreneurs are also successful athletes or impassioned by fitness goals. This is no coincidence. Being able to drive yourself towards physical goals is paralleled in driving business goals. Those of us who take time out to exercise are forcing change physically; creating a physical release of stress and tension and focussing the mind on an immediate and tangible result. The body reacts by becoming more alert and capable of withstanding physical demands. The mind has a break enabling you to re-examine your other roles with clarity and a fresh perspective. Your stress levels, your attitudes and your overall health will be hugely improved after a holiday.

• Your Business.

You may be pleasantly surprised to discover your business thrives without you! Or you may discover ‘holes’ or issues that need addressing, thereby improving business efficiency overall. With the right team with you, the business should cruise through any absence of the manager or owner with little or no disruption. This makes for a strong and robust business.

What’s one of the most important factors in the future success of your organisation. You. Not necessarily your presence, but you. Take time out, walk away and recover. Then set about making the last half of 2016 even better than the first.

 

 Leadership Tip of Week

adapted from HBR

When meeting participants veer off topic, critical agenda items suffer. But even when leaders or peers intervene, it’s often too late, and the typical approach (“This is really interesting, but can I suggest we get back to the topic at hand?”) leaves everyone feeling awkward.

Thankfully, there is a simple solution to this predicament: the word “jellyfish.” Jellyfish are, of course, those funny-looking creatures that have drifted along on ocean currents for millions of years.

Use the word to prevent drifting in meetings by introducing the jellyfish rule: If any attendee feels the conversation is heading off course or delving into an inappropriate level of detail, they simply say “jellyfish” or “I think we’re having a jellyfish moment.”

It’s a safe, effective, accessible catchall for “Why don’t you take this offline — the rest of us would like our meeting back.”

Adapted from “The Right Way to Cut People Off in Meetings,” by Bob Frisch and Cary Greene

Leadership Tip of week #7

adapted from HBR

Having goals is a good thing. But the current trend of self-monitoring, whether through time trackers such as Toggl or fitness trackers such as Fitbit, means we’re constantly evaluating ourselves — the sales we make, the hours we work, or the miles we run.

Overmonitoring can get tiring and cause us to lose sight of what really matters. Avoid this trap by taking a more humane approach:

1. Assess yourself. If you’re constantly measuring what you’re doing and feeling uneasy about things you actually want to do, it’s time to loosen up.
2. Reevaluate the why. Think about whether you’re monitoring habits because they work for you or because it’s what you think you should do.
3. Disappoint people. Don’t get overwhelmed by all the things people expect you to do and be. Let some of them go.
4. Be brave. Stop looking at your self-worth as a scorecard.

Adapted from “The Perils of Overmonitoring Your Behavior and Goals,” by Elizabeth Grace Saunders

Leadership Tip of the week

adapted from HBR

Whether you’re a founder of a startup, a young CEO, or a veteran leader, if you have big plans, you have one job: Put together the strongest team possible. Here are three concrete ways to attract new top talent:

• Master the art of storytelling. Tell people what inspired you to start your business in the first place. Others will only follow you if you really leave them with the impression that you yourself are completely captivated by the opportunity you’re presenting.
• Don’t be a one-trick pony. Every potential employee is different, so the way you can best get your message across will vary. Considering the candidate’s background and personality will give you insight into how you should deliver your message.
• Never compromise. If in doubt, don’t hire. Your first hires are benchmarks for future hires; new candidates need to set the bar even higher.

Adapted from “6 Ways to Recruit Superstar Talent to Your New Company,” by Bastian Bergmann

Management Tip of Week

Adapted from Harvard Business Review

To help your team respond to emerging threats and opportunities while avoiding the dangers of “groupthink” — teams or organizations operating on autopilot — hold frequent, structured debates.

Randomly assign different team members to argue opposing points of view. Then, at a regular team meeting or an offsite, set up a debate with scenarios such as: “Our organization’s mobile app will be obsolete within two years. Here’s what will replace it, and here’s what we need to do now to survive and thrive.”

Ask half the team to argue why the current mobile app is sufficient, and the other half to argue how and why the mobile app needs to be changed.

Debates like this can help overcome people’s reluctance to ask and answer tough questions about how the world has changed or is changing, and how the organization needs to evolve accordingly.

Adapted from “How Structured Debate Helps Your Team Grow,” by Ben Dattner