Study after study reinforces that remote workers enjoy greater job satisfaction, work/life balance, and are more productive. As more organizations embrace the benefits of a remote workforce, they also recognize that leading a virtual team comes with unique challenges. New leaders may struggle with using traditional management techniques for building team spirit in a virtual environment. Additionally, they often report feeling unsure about how to create a sense of connectedness and rapport amongst their virtual team.
Don’t Make This Development Budget Mistake
Budgeting season is always a tough time for leaders as they juggle maintaining business-as-usual while simultaneously trying to predict the future. The process can be exhausting with several rounds of revisions and the need to advocate for necessary resources. So, it’s understandable why, out of pure exhaustion, the column for employee development costs is often just copied and pasted from the previous year’s budget. Many leaders probably see that as a win because that means they’re able to retain employee development resources. However, carrying over a budget line item arbitrarily means we’ve skipped an important step in the process—the employee … Read More
Resilience: The 21st Century Workplace Skill
Many of us grew up learning the 3 R’s throughout our education (reading, writing, and arithmetic). However, as technology changed and the needs of the workforce became more complex, educators realized the true skills necessary for success had changed as well. For the past decade, educators have been focused on teaching the four C’s that have been deemed 21st Century Workforce Skills. The 4 C’s necessary for workforce readiness are critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. Many organizations report that, despite higher education’s focus on the 4C’s, new graduates still lack basic proficiency in these areas.
Striking a Balance: When Positive Feedback Backfires
A conversation with a former colleague this week reminded me that the old saying is true—it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Over coffee, my friend shared some reflections and lessons learned she had identified after her first year as a manager. Like many new front-line managers, she was a high performer who was at high risk of leaving her organization until they offered her a promotion. Eager for a new challenge, she jumped at the opportunity to step into her first leadership role. Aside from leveraging the help and advice of other leaders internally, she … Read More
Finding the Perfect Fit
Hiring a new employee to join your team is an exciting, and often stressful, process. Finding an individual with the right combination of skills, knowledge, and experience is only one piece of the puzzle. The individual also needs to have a personality that aligns well to the nature of the role. For example, if the role involves a fast-paced environment where the employee must adapt to rapidly changing priorities, then an individual with a slow work tempo who has a high need to finish tasks may struggle and become overwhelmed. For many organizations, it’s also important that the individual’s values … Read More
Six Reasons to Hold Frequent 1:1 Meetings
Holding frequent 1:1 meetings with your team members is an effective way to build deep relationships, increase engagement, and solve problems all at once. However, when calendars begin to fill up and managers feel overwhelmed, one of the most common activities that is cancelled to free up more time is 1:1 meetings. It may seem like an insignificant decision with limited consequences, but cancelling 1:1 meetings can deprive managers of many strategic meeting benefits: