Conflict of varying degrees is a natural part of the workplace and is impossible to avoid completely. While managing and resolving conflict is a critical skill for leaders, it’s one that is rarely addressed with formal training for new managers. This is an unfortunate and expensive error, as many front-line leaders see conflict as an exclusively negative experience and therefore seek to avoid or eliminate it through unproductive methods.
Building Team Spirit in a Virtual Team
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.
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:
Being the Bearer of Bad News
At one point or another, all leaders will have to deliver bad news. From benefits changes to layoffs and project cancellations, disappointing news is occasionally necessary. Planning effectively for delivering the information in a strategic yet empathetic way is essential for maintaining strong relationships and engagement with employees throughout the change process.
Seven Universal Soft Skills Everyone Should Master–Flashback Friday
A 256% net return on investment—it’s the holy grail of training outcomes and easier to achieve than you might think. A study conducted by Boston College, Harvard University, and the University of Michigan found that soft skills training does NOT create soft results. The study showed that even minimal time investments in each skill (5-12 hours) boosts productivity and retention 12 percent and those results last up to 9 months.
Getting Unstuck
As one’s career ebbs and flows, it’s common to experience times of peak productivity and effectiveness as well as times of frustration and stagnation. When everything is working as it should, the highs are incredible and create natural energy to drive you forward. But when the tough days turn into rough weeks, months, or even a year, that job can start to feel a bit like quicksand. When the lows hit, the worst thing you can do is keep pushing ahead without making any changes. You can’t run out the clock using the same ineffective behaviors and choices you used … Read More