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Are you spending your time wisely?You should be intentionally dividing up your time to reflect the things that you value most in your organisation.July 30 2017
It’s a fairly common understanding that the thing that you spend the most time on is the thing that you care about the most. You can see this if you look closely at your personal life; perhaps you spend most of your ‘free’ time focusing on your family, your friends or exercising - the things that you value the most.
The same should be true in your work life and if you’re a leader, you should be intentionally dividing up your time to reflect the things that you value most in your organisation. What should be topping the list? It’s people. Spending time with your people, giving feedback and getting alongside them regularly should be a top priority.
According to a study performed by SAP and Oxford Economics, 50% of high performers say they expect to have a monthly sit down with their leaders and get feedback and yet, 53% say that their manager isn’t delivering on this.
Some leaders like to use every excuse under the sun to make sure that they spend as little time as possible with their team. Why is this? Many leaders think that their people don’t want to be disturbed by someone who should be leading from the front; others like to think that, because they haven’t heard any complaints, everything is fine within the team. By far, the most common excuse is that leaders are simply too busy to spend time managing their people.
None of these excuses have particularly strong foundations and could be hindering your team’s growth and performance.
Why should you spend time engaging with your team?
As leaders, we should be finding time, outside of the standard formal settings, to engage with our team so we can connect better with each member of your team and stay in tune with the team dynamics. Engaging in this way leads to learning about their lives, both professionally and personally and we can better understand how they work, so that we can learn how to get the very best out of them every day.
Time spent engaging with your team also ensures that everyone is on the same page, aligned to the organisations mission and values as you work together. If there is any disconnect, it should be easily spotted by a leader who spends time engaging with their team.
According to Karie Willyerd, if your team is left to their own devices, they may start to look for other opportunities and challenges as well as growth and rewards - after all, only 38.8% of employees are satisfied or highly satisfied with their positions. You should be doing all that you can to engage and retain your team members.
What should you be doing?
There are thousands of ways you can engage with your team and it will vary from team to team, but there are simple things you, as a leader, can dedicate yourself to doing every week.
Stay informed – this goes beyond just knowing names. Know what’s going on in your team’s lives and check in regularly. This doesn’t have to involve prying inappropriately or gossiping, it just requires really listening and caring. Listen to the office chatter and be in tune for any changes that may affect their work or the team dynamic.
Celebrate wins – It’s important to acknowledge successes with your team privately and publically. It makes your team feel valued and lets them know they’re on the same page as you.
Know strengths and weaknesses – Get your team exercising their strengths daily and encourage them to step out of their comfort zone to work on their weaknesses. Showing them opportunities to grow will help your team to feel enthusiastic about developing their skills.
Listen to feedback – getting alongside your team means that you become accessible when it comes to feedback – good or bad. The most important thing is to take all the feedback on board and to do what you can, where you can. Your team has a voice and it’s your job to make sure it’s heard and valued.
At the end of the day it’s important to spend your time investing in your team so that you can be on the lookout for disengagement and you can turn it around.
When your team looks at the way you spend your time, do they see you focusing on paperwork, emails or meetings? Or do they see you spending time with your people?
To find out how you can be spending your time more wisely with your team, contact People Make The Difference. We can help you with our training workshops, one-on-one coaching and Coach on Call services. To find out more, call us on 0412 333 415 or visit peoplemakethedifference.com.au
Do you know the symptoms of a disengaged team?Engaged teams are always committed to the success of the organisation and you need this commitment to keep moving forward.July 25 2017
Engagement in a team setting is a term that is thrown around a lot, but does it really matter if your team is engaged? We believe the answer to that is a resounding yes! Engaged teams are always committed to the success of the organisation and you need this commitment to keep moving forward.
Every team comes up against challenges but some challenges can cause more damage than others and letting the symptoms of disengagement go undiagnosed could be lethal for your team.
The Symptoms?
Apathetic – Does your team seem unexcited about the tasks they have to complete? When they walk in each day, do they seem as though they really care about the mission of your organisation or do they show up looking bored and indifferent to the role they play in the wider organisation? Everyone has their bad days but are those bad days dragging on for longer than they should and permeating the attitude of every team member?
Incohesive – Are your team members interacting with each other regularly? One of the most essential elements of a team is being able to work together to reach a common goal. If they refuse to help each other out, don’t trust each other and undermine each other it can be a sign that there is a disconnect somewhere along the line.
Adequacy – This is possibly one of the most difficult symptoms to spot. Sure, your team may get the job done satisfactorily but do they ever go above and beyond? Do they ever stay back after closing time to make sure something gets done or do they leave it unfinished for someone else to deal with? Adequate performance can slip by unnoticed but a team that is really engaged will go out of their way to exceed every expectation and go the extra mile.
The Cure?
Stimulate motivation – Your team need to be motivated and inspired in order to care about the organisation’s overarching mission. This inspiration will then bleed into the everyday tasks and leave your team excited to start the day and work towards goals.
Foster relationships and trust – Cohesiveness is encouraged through friendships and trustworthy relationships. When your team trusts you, as their leader, as well as their teammates, they know that they won’t be undermined and can work with confidence towards a common goal.
Encourage courageousness – Adequate work will get you and your team through but at the end of the day, you need your team to be going the extra mile. Encouraging your team members to take calculated risks and be courageous in their work and supporting them when they do go that extra mile can help your team to go to the next level and keep moving forward.
When all's said and done, an engaged team is a productive team that will help to move your organisation towards success. Don’t let the symptoms disengagement go unnoticed and start taking steps today to cure it.
If you’re ready to foster a team environment where relationships, inspiration and courageousness are the norm, People Make The Difference can help you with training workshops, one-on-one coaching and Coach On Call services. To find out more, call us on 0412 333 415 or visit peoplemakethedifference.com.au.
What I’ve learnt: friendships in the workplace.Finding the right balance between professional and personal can be difficult and managers need to be aware of the boundaries.July 07 2017
A huge amount of our time every week is spent at work, so forming relationships is not only convenient, it’s inevitable. Unfortunately, finding the right balance between professional and personal can be difficult and managers, in particular, need to be aware of the boundaries when it comes to these relationships.
The positives?
- Friendships and a high level of cohesiveness within your team are fantastic things and certainly shouldn’t be discouraged. They can help to create a work hard/play hard environment where your team are motivated and inspired every day.
- A close-knit team is more likely to want to socialise outside of work hours, so celebrating your success as a team becomes easier – and fun!
- When all your team members enjoy being around each other they often invest more time in getting to know each other, understanding each other and supporting each other as they work together. This means that they can get the best out of each other and drive the team to success.
- Fostering positive relationships between team members and managers can also lend itself to high levels of loyalty within a team.
The negatives?
- Managers who choose to become good friends with team members often struggle when it comes to having difficult conversations. These confrontations tend to be avoided – never a good sign.
- Other team members are quick to pick up on favouritism, whether it’s from the manager or from their fellow team members. Favouritism damages cohesion within a team and can cause employee loyalty to drop.
- Unfortunately, even the best managers aren’t good at separating personal and professional relationships and it can quickly turn into a tangled web as you try to avoid hurting feelings whilst getting the job done.
- Friendships often lend themselves to sharing more than you should – unfortunately the things you say, comment upon or joke about can easily be taken out of context and misconstrued, leaving team members feeling hurt and negative about being a part of your team.
How can we strike a balance?
It’s extremely important to foster positive relationships within your team and there should always be a close working relationship with a good understanding of each other and mutual respect. Managers, however, should avoid becoming too close.
Socialising and team building should always be encouraged but knowing when to leave is important; never stay too long or drink too much! Always be aware that the things you say are making an impact and can be passed onto other team members.
An easy way to start thinking about the relationships you have with your team is to ask yourself this question:
Are the relationships within the team helping the team to realise their full potential or is the team being compromised because of personal relationships?
The most important thing to do as you try to strike the balance between your personal and professional life is to be in touch with your emotional intelligence. Being part of a team requires you to work closely with others and understand them so that you can get the best out of them but knowing where to draw the line in different situations requires a lot of emotional intelligence.
If you’re struggling to find the right balance between personal and professional, People Make The Difference can help you with training workshops, one-on-one coaching and Coach On Call services. To find out more, call us on 0412 333 415 or visit peoplemakethedifference.com.au.
Are you listening close enough?many of us don’t realise that we’re not listening properly until it’s too late, but it’s an essential skill for anyone in a team environment, leader or not.June 26 2017
It won’t come as a surprise that hearing and listening are two very different things. No doubt, you’ve been frustrated by someone in the past who hasn’t listened effectively to what you’ve said. Unfortunately, many of us don’t realise that we’re not listening properly until it’s too late, but it’s an essential skill for anyone in a team environment, leader or not.
In a standard day, we spend 80% of our time communicating with others. Of course, this is made up by emails, meetings, texts, reading documents and speaking. The majority of our communication however, is listening. Having a strong and bold voice is important – necessary even – but knowing when to be quiet and listen to understand others is just as important.
What happens when you don’t listen?
People who don’t listen properly usually – consciously or subconsciously – think they have all the answers. Being disinterested in listening means that you don’t really understand anyone else’s point of view and you’re not open to discovering new solutions to issues within your team.
For leaders, listening is crucial. If you don’t listen, you miss out on hearing the concerns, joys and thoughts of your team. Without that insight, it becomes difficult to motivate the team and inspire them towards your collective goal.
How can we listen effectively?
Being conscious of your listening abilities is always the first step. Be aware of what you need to do to concentrate and give the other person your full attention. There are some simple things you can start to implement:
Stop interrupting – not only are you telling the other person that you think what you have to say is more important, you’re not really listening to understand them, you’re listening to respond. Take the time to consider what they’ve said and respond thoughtfully, instead of interrupting.
Get rid of distractions – it might be your phone, a window with people walking by or even the task you’re currently working on. Whatever it is that distracts you, remove it from the situation. It’s very obvious when you’re not paying attention and the speaker can pick up on your distractedness and they may feel less valued.
Listen with your eyes – eye contact is definitely important, but you also need your eyes to be paying attention to body language. Words are not the only way to communicate, sometimes people say things with their mouths but their body language doesn’t line up. It’s your job, as the listener, to pick up on this.
Ask questions – some people think that asking questions makes it seem as though you’re not listening. Not true! Asking thoughtful questions can show the speaker that you were listening, you care and you’re interested to find out more. Ask open-ended questions when you can, so that you are expressing interest in keeping the conversation going.
Speaking well goes hand-in-hand with listening well. When everyone speaks clearly and listens intently, we all end up on the same page with very little confusion along the way. They are both key to creating transparent and effective team relationships.
If you’re ready to enhance your listening skills to be a better leader, People Make The Difference can help you with training workshops, one-on-one coaching and Coach On Call services. To find out more, call us on 0412 333 415 or visit peoplemakethedifference.com.au.
What I’ve learnt: making hard decisions.I’ve come up against plenty of difficult decisions in my time, from customer service to internal issues where the team is unclear on task.Jun 15 2017
Organisations and teams, no matter how big or small, will always come up against difficult decisions that need to made. Sometimes the most difficult decisions are the ones that, when your team can’t come to a natural decision on their own and are split 40% to 60% in opinion. So, what can leaders do when they have the final call?
I’ve come up against plenty of difficult decisions in my time, from customer service issues where the team has been divided on the best solution, to internal issues where the team is unclear on task responsibilities or debating the direction of the business. It can be difficult to keep everyone satisfied, but I approach all the difficult decisions in the same way to avoid treading on toes as much as possible.
Keep your ear to the ground
Since you spend so much time with your team and have got to know them well, it’s natural that you’ll have a general idea of how your team will respond to certain decisions. It can be worth your while to call an initial meeting to canvas the general feeling amongst your team and get them thinking about the decision. Sometimes, the choice will be clear at the end of the initial meeting and the decision will be made while other times it will be a little more difficult and further thought and discussion will be required.
Continue moving forward
Don’t let the decision hang in the balance for too long. A stalled decision doesn’t resolve the situation or keep your team moving forward. Make the decision within the meeting - your role as a leader is to get the team to a decision, even it requires you making it. Leaving the decision open for too long can lead to second-guessing which is not helpful for the team. When there is a majority decision, even if it is as close as 40% to 60%, go with the majority.
Of course, not every decision you make will be the right one and sometimes, only time will tell.
How can you get the minority on board with the majority decision?
Always take time to speak 1:1 with your team members, specifically those who did not support the majority decision. This discussion can help to quell their fears that this it was the wrong choice. A trial of the decision for a certain period, with a report back of the outcomes can also help to get team members on board if they’re not completely on board with the final decision and feel strongly about it.
Communicating with confidence
After the decision has been made, ensure that everyone involved in the final decision is on-board and ready to communicate the decision to others with 100% confidence. Your leadership team must present a united front, so getting agreement from everyone in the team within the meeting is important. When the leadership team is united in the decision, it reduces the chance of second-guessing, gossiping and chaos amongst the wider team - all things that destroy teams, rather than building them up.
Making difficult decisions can be daunting but People Make The Difference can help you with training workshops, one-on-one coaching and Coach On Call services. To find out more, call us on 0412 333 415 or visit peoplemakethedifference.com.au
Why bother with heartfelt goals?Why should we be using the HARD method and why should we be making sure that our goals are heartfelt?May 30 2017
After looking at the differences between SMART and HARD goals, it’s clear that HARD goals offer a whole new way of approaching goal setting that focuses more on the way that we emotionally deal with our goals. Of course, it can be easy to dismiss HARD goals for this reason – emotions can seem a bit wishy-washy and unreliable, why should we be using the HARD method and why should we be making sure that our goals are heartfelt?
What are heartfelt goals?
There are times when inspiration strikes and we become suddenly motivated towards a specific goal. The goal sits in our head for days and we can’t shake it, knowing that we will have to do something about it so that it doesn’t weigh on us. These are heartfelt goals – the goals that you can’t ignore, the ones that weasel their way into our hearts and really inspire us to make a change.
Why does your team need a heartfelt goal?
By very nature, heartfelt goals are important to us. Unfortunately, there are very few goals that we can achieve on our own. At the very least, we need moral support. At the most, we need a team to pull together and make change happen.
As humans, we are emotional beings and we respond to things emotionally (even when we try not to). If our team is looking to achieve a goal, the emotion and inspiration behind it are extremely important – it’s the very thing that will drive your team towards success.
More than that, your team needs a leader who wholeheartedly believes in the goal that you are collectively trying to achieve. After all, if you aren’t committed to the goal or you don’t care about what you’re trying to achieve – why should your team spend their time trying to reach it? If you don’t care, why should anyone else?
For example, the goal “I want our organisation to sign up 10 new subscribers to our programs within the next month” is more of a SMART goal and leaves a lot to be desired. It’s hard to care personally about the goal even though it’s not an intrinsically bad goal.
Instead, flipping this into a HARD goal for an individual will see more results: “I want to learn a new skill in marketing this month, in order to help our organisation spread their message further.” This goal invests in the individual’s development, the organisation’s growth and ultimately, the original goal of 10 new subscribers will be in sight.
Goal setting is always fraught with the danger of failure and, unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to eradicate that danger. Having heartfelt goals, however, can soften the blow of failure. Failing at a heartfelt goal doesn’t have to mean defeat – if you and your team really care about the change the goal will bring, any step towards it will be a plus, no matter how small.
If you’re ready to start motivating your team by leveraging heartfelt goals, contact People Make The Difference. We can help you with our training workshops, one-on-one coaching and Coach On Call services. To find out more, call us on 0412 333 415 or visit peoplemakethedifference.com.au
Are your goals SMART or HARD?There is nothing wrong with SMART goals, but in recent years, a new goal setting method has taken hold – HARD goals.May 15 2017
Goal setting is an extremely important part of our professional, personal and team development – it’s important to write down our goals so that we can then track our progress and make adjustments as we trundle towards those goals. There is one method of goal setting that gets promoted endlessly – SMART goals. There is nothing wrong with SMART goals, but in recent years, a new goal setting method has taken hold – HARD goals.
What are SMART goals?
The early 1980’s saw the invention of SMART goals, an acronym to help individuals define and manage their goals and in the time since, it’s become a hugely popular method for leaders and teams to use when it comes to achieving goals.
Specific: managing to specify a goal is half the battle – what is it that you want to achieve? Why do you want to achieve it? How are you going to achieve it?
Measurable: when you achieve the goal, how will you know? How will you measure your success?
Achievable: is your goal achievable for you? Your goals might be possible for someone, but if they’re not possible for you, you will struggle enormously.
Relevant: to find out whether your goal is really relevant to you, ask yourself why you want to achieve it and whether achieving it will really solve your problem.
Time: how long will it take? When do you need to have achieved this goal?
What are HARD goals?
Coined by Mark Murphy, HARD goals provide a very similar tool for goal setting and managing, but they have a slightly different focus:
Heartfelt: you need to care about why you’re trying to achieve this goal – if you don’t care, then why bother?
Animated: can you visualise what it will be like when you achieve your goal? Picturing it, having it alive in your mind, makes it all the easier to achieve.
Required: your goals must be necessary. Once you’ve achieved your goal, will you have made a positive impact in some way? If your goal affects nothing and no one, it’s not necessary.
Difficult: this is the hardest part about HARD goals. There is no need for your goals to be so difficult that you can’t ever achieve them but they must be challenging – if they’re easy, then you would have achieved them before you had the chance to write all this down. Facing challenges is how you grow, whether you succeed or not.
HARD goals are a little less analytical in nature than SMART goals – instead of focusing on deadlines, measurability and relevance, they focus more on the emotional connection we have to our goals. The analytical side of goal setting is not such a bad thing, it’s great for tracking and adjusting, but at the end of the day, our emotional attachment to our goals is what drives us forward and keeps us willing to persevere, even when we fail.
Both methods are incredibly valuable in different circumstances and for different people; perhaps using the two acronyms together will help you achieve your best when it comes to your team’s goals.
If you’re ready to start leading your team to success when it comes to goals, contact People Make the Difference for training workshops, one-on-one coaching and Coach On Call services. To find out more, call us on 0412 333 415 or visit peoplemakethedifference.com.au.
Teams: true talent, true grit or both?It’s this discrepancy in results that shows who has talent alone and who pairs their talent with true grit.May 03 2017
You likely have a talented team – their talents vary, of course, but they’re all great at what they do and that’s why you hired them. You’ve probably discovered that each individual in your team works differently too, and produces different end results – some better than others.
It’s this discrepancy in results that shows who has talent alone and who pairs their talent with true grit.
You can call it what you like, courage, guts, stamina, tenacity or just plain grit, but Angela Duckworth – a leading academic in the psychological studies of achievement and performance – says that if teams want to succeed, grit is just as important as talent, if not more so.
Why is talent important?
Talent will always be important – we need people who are naturally good at doing a specific task because we know they’ll always get the job done. However, hiring on talent alone can cause you a lot of problems down the road, especially when their talent isn’t accompanied by a drive to work hard.
Unfortunately, there are too many talented people in the world who have never needed grit before because they’ve always managed to do a good enough job by just relying on their talent.
The question you, as a leader, need to ask yourself is whether you’re happy with your team members performing their tasks ‘good enough’ or whether you’re looking for people who will go above and beyond to achieve excellence.
How can I spot grit?
The problem with true grit is that it’s hard to identify until it’s actually being put into practice. This makes hiring new team members difficult, but the good news is that there are some things you can start to look for in the early days of hiring a new employee that indicate whether or not they have the grit you’re looking for:
- Do they need instant gratification? When they complete a task, are they looking for immediate praise – either for their great work or just for getting the job done? Sometimes things don’t immediately fall into place and they’ll need to work longer and harder to get things to work – there might not ever be gratification! If they’re not okay with that, they don’t have grit.
- Are they consistent? Team members who have inconsistent results are usually just looking for the easy way out – whatever gets the job done! If they’re not going the extra mile to make sure their work is constantly hitting a high standard, they don’t have grit.
- Are they resilient? Do they give up whenever they hit a roadblock? There will be plenty of roadblocks along the way, especially when you’re working in a team, but if that person isn’t willing to take a step back, reflect and try again, they might not have that grit.
- Do they have endurance? Looking at how they approach the day can show you how they’re likely to approach their career in general. Do they sprint it out at the beginning of the day only to fall flat at about 2pm? Or do they jog slowly through the day, getting tasks done efficiently and done well? If they’re looking to go hard at the beginning and aren’t willing to sustain their excellence, they might not have grit.
As Duckworth says – “our potential is one thing, what we do with it is quite another”.
If you’re ready to start helping your team reach their potential and cultivate their grit, People Make The Difference can help you with training workshops, one-on-one coaching and Coach On Call services. To find out more, call us on 0412 333 415 or visit peoplemakethedifference.com.au.
Avoid performance partiality: are you over-utilising your
top performers?Leadership is also about giving stretch to those in your team who may need more motivation.Apr 24 2017
It’s natural to want to get a job done well the first time - but this can be dangerous if you end up always focusing on those in your team whom you know will always deliver. Acting on this sort of performance partiality may help you look good as a leader - after all, you can bask in their reflected achievements! - but leadership is also about giving stretch to those in your team who may need more motivation.
What is performance partiality?
Jane is an excellent employee – she does what she’s asked and she does it well every single time. Joe, on the other hand, doesn’t feel challenged at work, so he only half-heartedly completes the tasks he’s given.
As a result, Jane’s manager keeps asking Jane to take on more responsibility and spends time with her, discussing development and opportunities. Gradually, her manager gives Jane most of Joe’s tasks and stops spending time supporting Joe in his career, leaving him to spend his time on Facebook. After a month or two, Jane is now doing the tasks meant for Joe, as well as her own and she barely has time to take bathroom breaks or lunch breaks. She’s so exhausted that she becomes burnt out and needs to take some time off.
With Jane gone, Joe gets his old tasks back, but the manager now needs him to take responsibility for Jane’s tasks. Joe is overwhelmed with his sudden increase in workload and he doesn’t have the proper training to complete the tasks to the manager’s standards. Joe quits and leaves their manager with looming deadlines and two holes to fill in the organisation – a hole they might just fill with another star employee.
How do we stop the cycle?
This example may be extreme, but it’s not an unknown concept to many organisations. So how do we combat performance partiality and the productivity vacuum it can leave in its wake? Focus on strengths, rather than weaknesses!
Research from the Gallup Organisation study found that when employees were made aware of their strengths, they became 7.8% more productive – not only that, but the likelihood of the individual being more engaged at work also increased.
Hopefully, your organisation is full of people who are different from one another. If that’s the case, then you have the perfect environment for creating a culture in which people feel motivated to do their very best, because their talents are varied. Spend some time considering each of your employees, their strengths and weaknesses and start finding ways to challenge them and help them grow.
Take the time to develop and utilise all your team members – as always, it’s a balancing act and it’s difficult to get right, but it can be done.
If you’re keen get the most out of your team, People Make The Difference can help you with training workshops, one-on-one coaching and Coach On Call services. To find out more, call us on 0412 333 415 or visit peoplemakethedifference.com.au.
What I've learnt : hiring friends and familyI’ve seen organisations and leaders flourish and fall because of their decisions regarding this issue. Here are a few things I’ve learnt along the way.Apr 04 2017
Hiring friends and family is a contentious issue, and everyone seems to have an opinion. After years of experience, I’ve seen organisations and leaders flourish and fall because of their decisions regarding this issue. A few things I’ve learnt along the way:
Why do leaders hire their friends and family?
There are a multitude of reasons why leaders decide to hire their friends and family, but there are three fairly common ones:
- Leaders need someone to temporarily or permanently fill a position that has been deserted by someone else
- They need financial help or a step forward in their career, so leaders agree to help them out
- You have worked together before in another organisation and you know they have the best skills or experience for the job
None of these reasons are wrong and all of them could have great results for both the individual and the organisation.
What are the positives?
The great thing about hiring family and friends is that you have known them for a decent amount of time and you choose to spend time in their company – which usually means you trust them. They are also less likely to cut ties at the drop of a hat, meaning that loyalty comes part and parcel with hiring friends and family.
What are the dangers for your team?
The biggest dangers for your team or organisation are the results of a family or friend not performing to the team’s standards. Not only do your team’s productivity and performance levels suffer, confrontations and difficult conversations become tricky to have when you’re dealing with the people from your personal life. These conversations either never happen at all (leaving your other team members feeling inferior) or, if they do, the family member or friend ends up being offended and doubts the strength of your relationship. All round, people can be left feeling cheated, neglected or offended – not a great state for your team to be in.
What are the dangers for your leadership?
As soon as you choose to hire family or friends on your team, your existing employees will be watching closely to see how you manage them. Your reputation as a reliable and consistent leader could suffer if your team sees you favouring your family and friends for tasks or never properly managing their performance.
Adding family or friends into your team also makes it more difficult to keep personal and professional lives separate – this might not be an issue for everyone but some leaders may find that the blurred lines have a significantly negative impact on the way they lead.
So, the questions stands: how can you include your family and friends in your team, without compromising your existing team members or your leadership? Perhaps, for you and your team, it might be best to create a blanket rule to avoid hiring and family or friends at all. Some might prefer to stick to hiring loved ones only in special circumstances, like filling in for employees when they’re on maternity or sick leave, so there’s a definitive end to their stint in your team. For others, it would be beneficial to write up a contract or a short term assignment when you hire your loved ones to see how they perform – if it doesn’t work out, the contract gives you a way out, without compromising your relationship.
If you need some guidance when it comes to managing your family and friends in your leadership role, contact People Make the Difference for training workshops, one-on-one coaching and Coach On Call services. To find out more, call us on 0412 333 415 or visit peoplemakethedifference.com.au.
Do you have a trustworthy team environment?The most common result of an untrustworthy environment is for team members to simply stop communicating.Mar 21 2017
Walter Mischel’s marshmallow test showed us how self-control can be an indicator of productivity levels, but it also revealed how trustworthy environments can affect the behaviour of individuals.
Within the test, there was a small percentage of children who ate their treat immediately after their instructor left the room, simply because they didn’t trust their instructor to come back with the second treat. There might be fewer lollies involved in our teams and organisations, but the results can be devastating for teams and leaders alike.
What happens when employees don’t trust their environment or their leaders?
The most common result of an untrustworthy environment is for team members to simply stop communicating. A lack of trust usually makes people feel unsafe and when people feel unsafe, they tend not to want to speak up when something goes wrong, for fear of backlash. Not only are they scared of retaliation; they don’t feel like their opinion will be valued either, so they close up and stop contributing altogether.
As we saw with the kids and the marshmallows, when employees don’t trust their leaders, they start doing their own thing – like diving in and eating the marshmallow straight away – even when it’s not in their own, or their team’s, best interests to do so. Cohesive teams rely on all the team member’s being on the same page; when there’s a lack of trust and they start to go off in different directions, it only harms the team’s unity.
What does a trustworthy team look like?
- Everybody trusts each other’s ability to work together despite differences. They also know that in a diverse team, there will be different opinions but these opinions deserve to be heard without judgement.
- Everybody recognises their fellow team members’ talents and abilities – nobody questions why anyone else is there and everyone knows that the team is strongest when they work together to achieve a goal.
- Everybody will keep lines of communication open. All team members are encouraged to ask for help, raise issues and contribute ideas. Keeping communication at the forefront of the team’s mind means that everyone is always informed so they can perform their job to the best of their ability.
Trustworthy team environments don’t just happen on their own, they are the effort of everyone in the team and are lead by reliable leaders.
What does a reliable leader look like?
- They are consistent – this doesn’t mean that they’re always likeable! They don’t just do what you want them to do, they do what is needed and they do what is right. Making decisions using consistent ethics means that you can always count on them, regardless of the situation.
- They don’t rush into things. They think things out thoroughly and completely, but without procrastinating, so that they don’t send their team hurtling into the unknown. They know what is going on and they make sure they communicate all necessary information to their team.
- They have routines, processes and procedures. Every team member knows exactly where they stand and how things work in day-to-day team operations. When there’s a problem, they know the steps they need to take and who to report to. This makes sure that things run smoothly and team members never feel left behind.
Perhaps you read through those traits of teams and leaders and you can tick off every one. Unfortunately, more often than not, both teams and leaders aren’t up to scratch on every single one of those traits. If you’re ready to create a trustworthy team environment and become a strong, reliable leader, People Make The Difference can help you with training workshops, one-on-one coaching and Coach On Call services. To find out more, call us on 0412 333 415 or visit peoplemakethedifference.com.au.
Would you pass the marshmallow test?Everyone’s weaknesses are different, but a lack of self-control can result in a lack of productivity – no team needs to be brought down by poor productivity levels.Mar 07 2017
Whether you’re in a leadership position or not, self-control is a great ability that ought to be practiced often. Everyone’s weaknesses are different, but a lack of self-control can result in a lack of productivity – no team needs to be brought down by poor productivity levels.
In the late 1960’s, Walter Mischel conducted the now very well-known ‘marshmallow test’, where a child aged between four and six was put in a room with nothing but a chair, table and a treat of their choice (the marshmallow). They were then told if they could wait to eat the treat until their instructor came back in 15 minutes, they would not only get the treat in front of them but another treat as a reward for waiting.
Alternatively, if they decided to eat the treat in the time that they were waiting for their instructor to return, they wouldn’t get the second treat as a reward.
We all know this test now as a great way to watch different people as they make different choices when it comes to exercising self-control and not giving in to instant gratification. Even when they followed-up the kids years after the first marshmallow test, they found that the kids who were able to wait out the 15 minutes were far less likely to have issues with drug addiction, behaviour or obesity. They even had better scores in their high school exams. Their ability to exercise self-control was reflected in their lifestyle and productivity levels.
Why is self-control important for leaders?
There is the old saying ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’ – one sure thing is much better than two things you don’t have yet. This is usually the logic of the kids who eat their treat straight away. Unfortunately, this is not always a great logic for leaders to have. Sometimes it might be tempting to tuck into the sure deal you’ve got in front of you, but if you wait just a little bit and put in the effort, the reward for your team or organisation could be twice as nice.
Self-control is also a great sign of emotional maturity, particularly when it comes to knowing your limits. Everyone has different abilities and limits, and knowing when to say no is an important skill, so that you don’t become overloaded, burnt-out and inefficient. The self-controlled individual knows when they need to focus and when they can let their mind wander a little; they know when to push themselves and when to take a moment to unwind.
Teams follow the example of their leaders and a leader who exercises self-control is a huge influence when it comes to the whole team’s productivity levels. If they see their leader crippling under a huge workload, they’ll emulate that, creating an overworked team. If the team sees their leader delegating and only taking on what they can handle, they’ll follow suit and become a productive team who knows their limits.
For some of the kids in the original study, the temptation of the marshmallow was too much to handle and they gave in quickly. For many of us today, the marshmallow looks a little different; phones, tablets, games, emails and the news are just some of the temptations we face when we’re trying to get a job done. Like those kids, we know that we’re sabotaging ourselves, reducing our chances of getting rewarded through our efforts, and yet we still think that momentary satisfaction is worth it.
Are you and your team self-sabotaging? Do you give in too easily to the temptations of the distractions of today? If you would like to find out how to start exercising self-control and instil a respect for delayed gratification within your team so that your organisation sees a boost in productivity, People Make The Difference can help you with training workshops, one-on-one coaching and Coach On Call services. To find out more, call us on 0412 333 415 or visit peoplemakethedifference.com.au.
Are you Active in your Team's Development?Accepting a leadership role comes with a myriad of new responsibilities and when things get busy, it can be difficult to know if you’re doing everything you should be.Feb 20 2017
One thing that should never be shifted to the back seat is the development of each member of your team — but, worryingly, around 50% of leaders do not take an active role in their employee’s development.
If you think you might be in the wrong half of that statistic, it could be time to reconsider your approach to development.
What is it about team development that scares so many leaders off?
For some, the stress of leadership becomes overwhelming and the constant need to meet targets and focus on the numbers seems to overtake the need to care for their team. More often than not, leaders complain of never having the time, but this might be the most concerning excuse of all — leaders, with no time to really lead? That’s a worrying trend.
Whole organisations can suffer when team development isn’t at the top of the priority list; if leaders aren’t spending the time developing their teams, it’s likely that the team isn’t engaged and if they’re not engaged, they’re less likely to be enjoying and caring about their work, ultimately making the organisation a lot less productive.
Not only that, but a lack of development shows a lack of interest in learning and moving forward — leaving your organisation stagnant.
How many times have you hired someone who was a completely perfect fit for your organisation, or even a perfect fit for the role?
Taking a wild guess I’d say very rarely, if at all. No hire is perfect, they’ll need help to start working towards being a better fit for your organisation and the role you’ve put them in – that’s why it’s called development!
Development is so much more than just teaching someone how to use the printer and then leaving them to their own devices — your team needs ongoing training, guidance and education. The good news is you don’t always need expensive courses or complicated strategies to get started on team development: just a mindset that is focused on the future and their empowerment.
How does development impact your organisation?
- Productivity is boosted. Development leads to engagement, which leads to your team being passionate about the work they’re doing.
- Loyalty is fostered. A team member who feels they’ve been properly cared for and developed in an organisation is more likely to stick around for longer.
- Future leaders are born. If you’re spending time developing your team for advancement, you’ll have individuals who are ready to lead in no time.
What can your team gain from development?
- A sense of purpose. It might sound cliché, but an employee who is involved with regular development is more likely to see how their work is important and their expertise is valued. It leads to productivity and that all important sense of purpose.
- Skills for a lifetime. Some of our youngest team members are only just beginning in their careers and could go on to have 12 – 15 jobs in their lifetime. It’s disappointing to have a team member move on, but you can rest easy knowing that they’re leaving with new skills and new knowledge that they gained under your leadership.
Spending more time on developing your team throughout the year can only lead to better things for the individuals in your team and your organisation as a whole.
If you’re ready to have a productive, future-focused team but you don’t know where to start when it comes to development, People Make The Difference can help you with training workshops, one-on-one coaching and Coach On Call services. To find out more, call us on 0412 333 415 or visit peoplemakethedifference.com.au.
Do you practice the habits of a successful networker?If you’re looking to create these lifelong relationships, it’s time to do as successful networkers do with these 5 easy tips.Feb 07 2017
What is it that you want from your business connections? Is it simply the instant gratification of seeing your LinkedIn network grow? Or would you like to create strong, lasting connections that result in lifelong relationships and benefits for your organisation? If you’re looking to create these lifelong relationships, it’s time to do as successful networkers do with these 5 easy tips.
Remember names
People might not take particular notice if you remember their name correctly, but they will almost certainly notice if you get their name wrong. Not only will they notice, they’ll remember you for it – not something you want to be remembered for. In his book, How To Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie reflects, “a person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Finding a way to remember names will have you beginning lifelong connections on the right foot.
Meet for coffee
In the age of online networking, it’s tempting to keep your LinkedIn growing and let your face-to-face meetings fall by the wayside. Going the extra mile and setting up a time to have coffee or go for drinks together means that you stand out in the crowded world that is business networking and, in the process, you learn more about each other and the skills and knowledge you each bring to the connection.
Celebrate together
Throughout the lifespan of relationships, there are multiple reasons to celebrate and commiserate. The best part about business connections is that you have a support network through the exciting times business brings, as well as the times that require a little bit more hard work. Not only do you have this support, you are part of that support network for others, too.
Ask for help
In the past, it may have been seen as a sign of weakness to ask for help, but in times of trial, nothing shows trust more than asking for help with something as important as your business. If you trust someone enough to help you make a big decision, it’s likely they’ll trust you in return – an indication of a strong business relationship.
Play matchmaker
Just like people love taking the credit for their romantic matchmaking, business matchmaking can have a similar result. Not only does it show you’ve made two great connections and you know them well, you can take the credit for introducing them when they go on to succeed in their businesses together! On top of all these perks, you might help someone get into the world of networking: according to a survey conducted by The Guardian, 24% of professionals don’t currently network at all – your introduction could be the start of their networking career.
Stay in touch
Staying in touch is more than just a quick status update on social media. Use those statuses as reminders to pick up the phone or set up a coffee date and always be talking to people individually, not constantly through a public forum.
If you’re ready to start successful networking to build great, lasting relationships, People Make The Difference can help you with training workshops, one-on-one coaching and Coach On Call services. To find out more, call us on 0412 333 415 or visit peoplemakethedifference.com.au.
Five ways to identify and fix poor performanceIt’s natural to want to reward our employees who are doing really well, working hard and going above and beyond our expectations regularly.Jan 24 2017
It’s natural to want to reward our employees who are doing really well, working hard and going above and beyond our expectations regularly. When it comes to those team members who aren’t always performing well, or regularly disappoint us when it comes to their performance, we can be reluctant to reward them in any way. On the one hand, you want reward them when it’s appropriate so that you are motivating them to work harder. On the other hand, you want them to earn their reward, like everyone else – not getting rewards for sub-par work.
Performance is the combination of ability and motivation so, when performance is poor, it is usually because there is a problem somewhere along the line with an employee’s ability or motivation.
Identifying the problem
Avoiding gossip or other people’s perspectives and speaking directly with the individual in question should always be prioritised. The following questions can be useful in narrowing down what’s really going on:
- Are the tasks too difficult or overwhelming?
- Does the individual put in a lot of effort and still produce poor results?
- Is there a lack of knowledge, skill or aptitude hindering performance?
- Has the problem tried to be fixed previously, but with a lack of improvement since?
Is it a problem with ability?
Over time, job descriptions can naturally shift around, either causing employees to thrive or leaving them a little stranded, without the skills or knowledge to make it work. Using the following five steps can help you to enhance their ability and get them back on track.
- Resupply : stay resource focused and ask them, what do you need to make it work?
- Retrain : skills and knowledge focused, what do they need to learn to move forward in their role?
- Refit : are there parts of the job that someone else might be able to do better? Redistributing tasks might take the load off so they can focus on what they’re good at.
- Reassign : maybe this isn’t the role for them but you can see them working in a different department and thriving – help them make that move.
- Release : when all else fails and no solution can be found, it might be time to let them go, so they can discover what they’re good at elsewhere.
Is it a problem with motivation?
Individuals can have all the skills in the world, but if they can’t see the point in their work, their performance will lack a certain amount of zeal. Using the following three steps can help them to care about their work more.
- Setting goals – employees will find it difficult to be motivated unless they have something to work towards. Working together to create goals, which combine both your standards and their aspirations, can make all the difference.
- Providing help – it’s no good setting goals and then leaving individuals to their own devices. From goal setting, to goal completing, providing them with resources, training and support throughout the process is essential.
- Giving feedback – provide feedback often, quickly and honestly, rewarding and recognising successes when they come.