Like a bandaid

The stress, frustration - and sometimes sleepless nights - that come with dealing with poor performance over and over again won’t go away until they are dealt with.

If you have bad news or negative feedback, deal with it quickly and soon.

Take your sleep back. Instead of avoiding or tiptoeing around, nip problems in the bud and be as specific and direct as possible. For example, instead of “I’ve noticed you’ve been late a few times”, try this:

• Define the problem.

  • Last Tuesday and Thursday, I noticed you didn’t clock in until after 8:15 am.

• Tell them why it’s an issue.

  • Your shift starts at 8 am. When you’re late, your co-workers are left to pick up the extra workload, which isn’t fair to them.

• Ask them how they’ll solve the problem.

  • I need you to check in at 8 am, what will you do to be on time tomorrow?

The ripping-the-bandage-off approach might sting a little, but it will ensure you’re crystal clear with your crew.

Need help communicating with your team? There’s someone in our network to help with any skill.
Contact us to learn more.

Squad Goals

Every company has a corporate culture that should reflect its values and mission - which are probably hanging in your breakroom right now. But have you ever stopped to think about your team’s culture? Especially right now, every team is different. Take the time to define what makes yours great.

• How do you want your employees to feel? For example, if you want your team to feel valued and heard, be a role model and stop to really listen to their feedback and concerns.

• What makes your team different? For example, you value trust and playing as hard as you work. Afternoon dance breaks and monthly virtual happy hours help your team get to know each other as friends, not just co-workers, and have a little fun together.

• What unites you? At your next team meeting, ask your team for their ideas and establish team norms, expectations, and goals. Everyone can take ownership of the shared vision for the team’s future.

Fill us in. What’s the favorite part of your team’s culture? What is something new you’d like to introduce?

News from our Network: We’ve got a new webinar to share with you! Resilience in a New Reality

By definition, psychological resilience is the ability to cope with crisis and return to pre-crisis quickly. It is the capacity to be robust under conditions of enormous stress and change.

This webinar workshop will provide the opportunity to develop this muscle and skill. You’ll learn about

• The growth mindset 

• The collaborative communication technique  

• And have a renewed inspiration about the future 

If you’d like to learn more about our network partner Kery or this workshop, shoot me an email.

Be Specific

Pleasantries like “no rush!” and “we have plenty of time” sound accommodating but can cause procrastinating, overthinking, and endless perfecting- especially when we’re working remotely. Or worse, sometimes “later” becomes “never”. Look at your to-do list. Start scheduling tasks on your calendar with short - but reasonable - timeframes. You’ll get more done, prioritize better, and hold yourself accountable.

Are you the one giving open-ended assignments? Give your team clear, timestamped deadlines to avoid delays and get the show on the road.

How do you manage a stacked workload?

Where's my Easy Button?

“Continue watching?”

“Add guac’?”

Some choices are easy.

As a leader, some choices are harder, like “who’s getting this promotion?”. It’s natural to feel guilty, second-guess your decision, or spiral into overthinking. While you can’t make everyone happy, the way you communicate and live with your choices is how managers become leaders.

• Take responsibility. “This was a tough decision. After much thought and consideration, I’ve decided to give our additional budget to operations rather than marketing.”

• Be honest. “The circumstances were difficult, but I decided to take this route. I hope the outcome is positive, but we may need to revisit it later.”

• Admit a misstep. “I had to make a choice; sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re not. Let’s learn from this and move forward together.”

One of the easiest decisions you’ll ever make? Sharpening your leadership skills with Ward Certified. Contact us to learn more about one of our classes.

How It's Made: Meeting Edition

Team meetings can be useful for making important decisions, but only if everyone knows the process for them. When there’s confusion around how the final call will be made, or by whom, the situation can get tense or awkward. That’s why it’s important to start a meeting by laying down the ground rules.

For example: Tell the group there will be 30 minutes of discussion and then a vote, and if there is no resolution, the issue will be brought to an executive.

Or, if an executive is in the room already, they might make the decision right then and there. It’s especially useful to explain the finer points:

• Does anyone have veto power?

• Does the group vote determine the final decision, but a two-thirds majority is needed?

• Will minority viewpoints be documented for stakeholders to review?

Whatever the process, explain it clearly so that everyone is aware.

Adapted from “A Good Meeting Needs a Clear Decision-Making Process,” by Bob Frisch and Cary Greene

Give Employees Flexible Options for Flexible Work

It’s about time for a refresh. If you’re making changes around the office, consider this: Flexible work hours.

Flexibility at work means different things to different people. One person might need to leave early to pick up their kids, while someone else may want to work remotely on Fridays. That’s why managers looking to create a flexible work culture should avoid a one-size-fits-all approach; dictating exactly how these policies may be used can make them less effective. Talk with your team about your expectations, so there are no surprises later on.

For example: If you set a policy that employees may arrive late or leave early when they need to, do you want them to give you advance notice? Get their work done early? Make sure everyone knows what’s required of them — and then let them use the policy as they see fit.

Of course, trust is going to be a big factor. But if you trusted your employees enough to hire them, you should also trust them to get the work done when and where they prefer. Be flexible, and see what happens.

Emotional Courage

Part of being a leader is doing things that make you feel uncomfortable. Maybe you need to raise a tough issue with a direct report, maybe you have to handle negative pushback on a project, or maybe you have to address issues out of your control altogether.

To improve the way you deal with uncomfortable situations, build your emotional courage. Start by thinking of a leadership skill you want to get better at: giving feedback, listening, being direct — whatever you want to grow in. Then practice that skill in a low-risk situation.

For example: Let’s say you want to get better at being direct. The next time there’s a mistake on your phone bill, call customer service and practice being succinct and clear. Notice how you react — Get angry? Backpedal? — and focus on resisting those impulses. These are the same feelings you’ll encounter in higher-risk situations at work, so learn to push through them.

Continue to practice until you feel comfortable and courageous.

Adapted from “To Develop Leadership Skills, Practice in a Low-Risk Environment,” by Peter Bregman