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Optimizing Remote Team Dynamics Through Effective Performance Recognition and Feedback
Feedback and recognition are critical to enhancing the collaboration and ultimate success of remote work teams. Today’s guest post is by Shiela Mie Legaspi, President — Cyberbacker The rise of remote work has made it increasingly more appealing to workforces around the world, but the benefits are not without their own set of challenges. A lack of physical proximity can inhibit communication, tasks can need tweaking, and team dynamics can require fine-tuning. Luckily, every challenge brings an opportunity for growth. In the case of optimizing virtual team collaboration and enhancing remote team success, the opportunity lies in a smarter use of performance recognition and feedback. The new paradigm of recognition in remote teams A recent study on employee recognition reveals that 92% of workers are more likely to repeat a specific action after receiving recognition for it, and over 40% of working Americans feel they would put more energy into their work if recognized more often. Recognition is an essential part of the engagement equation that should be part of your performance management process. It is especially important in the case of remote teams because these employees otherwise tend to work in isolation, meaning they need to feel that their contributions are seen and appreciated in order to remain fully engaged and productive. When managers provide positive feedback, team members feel valued by the organization and connected to the team’s efforts. Whether recognition is formal or informal, make sure that it reinforces behavior that supports your company’s goals and values. You can do this by tying it into goals or performance metrics so that the recipient understands how their work contributed toward meeting them. Feedback as a catalyst for engagement in remote teams Feedback is a key part of building a successful team, but it’s important to recognize that […]
How robust are your organization’s crisis response contingency plans?
Our reader poll today asks: How robust are your organization’s crisis response contingency plans? Extremely: we’re ready for anything and can get operations back online quickly 13.16% Very: we’re prepared for most crises and have adequate contingency plans 47.37% Somewhat: we’re ready for common crises but would struggle with others 28.95% Not very: if we face a crisis, we’ll be challenged to get through it 7.89% Not at all: if a crisis hits, we’re doomed 2.63% Be prepared. Only 60% of you responded that you’re well-prepared for a crisis or emergency. For the 40% who aren’t, it’s easy to put off that preparation with the notion that a crisis will be a rare occurrence. Unfortunately crises happen every day but we perceive them to be infrequent. Wars, pandemics, natural disasters, civil unrest, bankruptcies, financial crises… the list goes on and on. It’s well worth the investment of creating contingency plans and having the infrastructure in place to be able to continue business operations quickly in the face of a crisis. Having that plan in place can be the difference between tremendous success and abject failure. – Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!
Providing Feedback to Your Team Members
By following this feedback model, you can remove emotions from your feedback conversations and help your people focus on improving their performance instead of getting defensive. If we want people to improve, we have to give them feedback. Now, feedback can be really difficult because we feel like, “Maybe I might hurt their feelings, or I have to share an uncomfortable conversation, or I’m telling somebody who I really like and respect that they’re falling short in some regard.” So we avoid feedback, but that’s a huge mistake—especially as the leader of a high performing team. I’d like to offer an example of a feedback model that can remove the emotion from it and help people focus on improving performance versus getting defensive. The model goes like this: First, you’ll ask for permission to give somebody feedback and ensure, at that moment, that they’re open to receiving it. Their head may not be in it. They may have come out of a tough meeting or they’re in a rush to go to their next meeting, so making sure they’re ready to receive feedback is critical. Next, they should let you know that they’re open to receiving that feedback. The next step really matters a lot in terms of removing the emotion from it. You’re going to offer a fact-based observation of something you saw them do, and then confirm that they know it happened so that you’re operating from a common base of fact. They should then confirm to you that they recall the event. Then you need to let them know, “This is how that made me feel. This is how we that event impacted me. Or, this is how that event impacted somebody else on the team.” Then ask, “Can you see why your behavior impacted me that […]
Setting High Goals & Crafting Visions that Resonate for Entrepreneurs
Explore setting high goals, crafting visions, and leadership for entrepreneurial empowerment through collaboration and networking to leave a lasting legacy. Today’s guest post is by Craig Goodliffe, Founder & CEO — Cyberbacker The path to success demands more than mere goal setting — it beckons the creation of visionary aspirations that ignite the flames of passion and purpose. Entrepreneurs are the architects of their destinies, charting courses that not only lead to success but also leave indelible marks on industries and communities. In this transformative journey, the ability to set high goals and craft visions that resonate becomes the compass that guides the way. The importance of continuously setting high goals Within the dynamic world of entrepreneurship, the quest for greatness is an ever-evolving journey, anchored in the fundamental and consistent pursuit of high goals. These aren’t ordinary objectives; they are audacious aspirations that stretch the limits of what’s considered achievable. Elevating your aspirations is the cornerstone of setting high goals. It compels entrepreneurs to reach beyond their comfort zones, challenging the status quo and daring to dream beyond the horizon. High goals create an environment where mediocrity is simply not an option, pushing individuals and organizations to strive for greatness. Furthermore, these ambitious objectives fuel the fires of passion and purpose. Setting high goals infuses every action with meaning, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. It’s this fervor that propels entrepreneurs forward, driving them to overcome obstacles and achieve remarkable outcomes. Moreover, embracing a growth mindset is a hallmark of those who continuously pursue high goals, one rooted in the unwavering belief in one’s capacity for learning and development. Entrepreneurs who adopt it view challenges as opportunities and setbacks as stepping stones toward their vision. They understand that in aiming higher, they also ascend in wisdom and capability. Crafting […]
What’s your favorite part of your job as a leader?
Our reader poll today asks: What’s your favorite part of your job as a leader? Driving the financial and operational impact of my company 10.05% Setting the strategy and direction for the team 25.84% Developing and promoting my people 47.85% Having a “seat at the table” for important decisions 13.39% Something else 2.87% A leader’s job is building more leaders. Admiral Grace Murray Hopper said “you manage things and you lead people.” A leader’s job is building that next generation of leaders and 48% of you find that the most rewarding part of your job. Your second favorite choice was setting strategy and direction (26%). It’s hard to lead people unless they know where you’re taking them! If these two main activities aren’t enjoyable for you, consider finding ways to challenge yourself into getting more comfortable with them. As you advance as a leader, leading through others becomes more critical and you’ll find yourself stepping away from driving operational and financial performance (that’s your team’s job) and spending more time on development and direction setting. The more comfortable you are with developing others and setting direction, the faster you’ll build that next generation of leaders and take your organization to the next level. – Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!
The Power of Mastering Your Mindset
The more effectively you can master your mindset and how you approach the world around you, the more successful you can be and the better your outlook on life can become. Today’s post is by Kavita Sahai, CEO and Founder of Have BIGplans, LLC. “The thought manifests as the word; the word manifests as the deed; the deed develops into habit; and habit hardens into character.” – Ancient Proverb Are you struggling to master your mindset? Success boils down to the way you think, as the proverb suggests. More and more research is supporting the power of positivity. We create the reality around us, and by taking steps to be more positive, we can master our own domain. Mastering Your Thoughts A recent study conducted by the Journal of Research in Personality examined a group of 90 students split into two groups. One group wrote about a positive experience each day for three days, while the other group wrote about a control topic. Three months later, the students who wrote about positive experiences enjoyed better moods, fewer visits to the school health center and fewer illnesses. Start Keeping a Gratitude Journal So how do you harness the power of positivity? By expressing gratitude. Record five things to be grateful for each day. As you keep a journal, being grateful for the abundance of good in your life will come more naturally. This “glass half full” mentality has been proven to foster happiness and success. Get Enough Exercise 150 minutes of exercise a week is one of the most effective ways to boost your mental health. Getting regular exercise improves memory, relieves stress, boosts overall mood and helps you sleep better. See https://health.gov/paguidelines/guidelines/summary.aspx for more details on the benefits of exercise. Schedule Genuine Personal Time into Your Life
Resolving Your Team’s Conflicts
Your job as a leader is not to mediate conflicts and be a referee. Instead, you need to teach the members of your team how to resolve conflicts with one another. More often than not, high performing teams operate in high pressure environments. And many times on a high performing team, you have some strong personalities at play. When you combine pressure plus strong personalities there are plenty of opportunities for conflict between the members of your team. Your job as a leader is not to mediate those conflicts and be a referee. Instead, you need to teach the members of your team how to resolve those conflicts with one another. It’s going to help them build relationships, ultimately it will build their interpersonal skills, and it keeps you from having to dedicate a significant amount of time and energy every time somebody has a conflict with another member of the team. Your job, when there’s conflict, is first to recognize it. Identify when you have team members who are butting heads and figure out what the root issue is. Then you should suggest that they go figure it out and come back to you when they’ve developed a solution on their own. Hopefully if they’re really high performers they can go in a room, hash it out, come up with a solution that will be acceptable to both of them. However, there will be certain opportunities that you’re going to have to take advantage of to get involved in it and teach them how to resolve conflict better. When you do so, first sit them down and acknowledge the conflict. Hey look, I know you have a problem with this perspective that the other individual has. Get to the root of the issue and focus on the facts. […]
How to Hone Your Writing Voice as a Thought Leader
Mastering your unique voice in writing is key to making a lasting impact, and honing your voice is your path to influence and innovation in your niche. Today’s guest post is by Amanda Reseburg, Writer — Otter PR If there’s one thing that’s expected of thought leaders, it’s writing. Thought leaders use writing in order to get their unique message across to target audiences, prompting engagement and influencing thoughts and behaviors. If you’re looking to establish yourself as a thought leader, but the very idea of writing induces bad memories of middle school English class, all hope is not lost — one of the biggest hurdles to being an effective writer in the thought leadership space is honing one’s own unique voice. Being a great thought leader doesn’t mean you have to be the most grammatically sound writer. In fact, those thought leaders who inject a bit of their own personality and tone into their writing are more likely to make a bigger impact. So, how does one hone their unique writing voice? The short answer is that it takes practice, awareness, and a little skill. However, once your voice is solid and comes naturally to you, the benefits are sure to follow in the form of better engagement and overall success. Write the same way you speak: naturally When writing as a thought leader, it can be tempting to try and sound as formal and authoritative as possible, but a tone that is too formal or too far removed from how you and your target audience speak conversationally could turn people off and lead them away from your message. Depending on the outlet you’re contributing to as a thought leader, you can get away with being more relaxed with their content. You can even try your hand at adding […]