While the pandemic has created many
unknowns, there is one thing we know for sure: businesses and organizations will
face more disruptive changes in the next year than they have in the past 20. The
way we lead cannot stay the same as the environment around us changes.
Leadership development and training and are essential for organizations to stay competitive and thrive. With travel and group restrictions, training programs have been halted, leaving HR leaders to deal with the fallout from pay cuts, furloughs, and eliminations. As we learn how to change and recover from the pandemic crisis, organizations are rethinking their development strategies and turning towards an online platform.
Companies
waiting for the return of in-person leadership training risk falling behind
companies that continue to grow their skills using other methods. In fact, market research from the Center for Creative Leadership
report that 82% of organizations feel investing in leadership training gives
them an advantage over competitors.
While online learning is not new, this
method of developmental delivery has skyrocketed in popularity. But not everyone’s
on board. Organizations without previous experience with online training may remain
skeptical of the advantages of online learning. Others may have had a subpar
experience with online deliveries in the past and prefer face-to-face training
as a result. However, organizations cannot
afford to wait for in-person development programs to resume. Online learning is
here to stay, and these programs can create similar engagement and results as
in-person programs.
There are many advantages to online leadership development.
According to market research
from the Center for Creative Leadership, satisfaction
with virtual leadership development equals that of face-to-face training. At Aha! Leadership, we have found our online classes have similar scores as
in-person workshops as well.
We’ve also seen similar positive results for learning objectives
and achievements.
Both formats deliver an engaging experience and include the
same effective elements as our in-person training, with breakout rooms,
polling, quality videos, etc.
In addition to the high impact
of online training, virtual leadership development programs are easily scalable to be delivered to a
number of leaders.
Virtual training programs are also
convenient for organizations and leaders, allowing
them to participate from anywhere in the world without additional travel
expenses.
Online
leadership development joins the remote workplace in growing with the current
times and challenges. At Aha! Leadership, we seek
to help you navigate these times with effective and impactful training that
generates the results your organization is looking for!
Leadership provides the opportunity to influence others. It is a great joy, but also an incredible responsibility. Influence is the ability to move others from where they are now into something new. However, influence is not a one-way transaction. We are influencing others and being influenced on a daily basis. When we race through life distracted and busy, we forfeit the opportunity to intentionally influence others. Thus, we must be intentional about what we take in and how we impact those around us.
People are always tuned in and observing our actions, words, and attitudes whether we realize it or not. We can choose intentional influence, and whether our influence is positive or negative.
As leaders, we cannot settle for influence
that is good enough. Great opportunities and exceptional work are
never born from settling for good enough. So, how do we have influence that far surpasses good-enough thinking?
1. Make the choice to be a positive influence. Great leaders understand that influence is equally as important as reputation. Reputation precedes us, and it creates an expectation of what is to come from you. Influence generates reputation and is what’s left behind after others interact with you. It’s the piece of you that you leave with others and the sentence that comes to mind when others think of you. Having a positive impact and leaving others with a positive sentiment is a conscious choice.
2. Accept
responsibility for your influence. Good leaders understand their ability to influence others. Great leaders
go beyond this and also accept responsibility for what is influencing them.
They guard their intake and are vigilant about how they are being influenced.
They are intentional about their inner circles and what information they
consume. This is critical because, ultimately, we give out what we take in. We
reproduce what we are.
3. Aspire to
inspire. Great leaders are
inspiring, especially during challenging times. They are able to bring out the
best in others and instill hope that draws people in. Great leaders are equally
inspiring as they are inspired themselves. They know the purpose that drives them
and tap into their mission to motivate others.
Influence is a two-way street. How others pour into you will dictate how you pour into others. Being intentional about your influence takes you, and those around you, from good enough to great.
Sourced from Kevin Brown at leadercast.com
Leadership is influence. Nothing more. Nothing less. – John Maxwell
The easiest way to have a positive impact on your colleagues is to tell them how much you value them. While supervisors and managers may try to use their words to encourage others, they often don’t do a great job. The good news is, using our words to encourage others is easily done, whether you are working onsite or remotely.
Here are a few simple tips to make your words of encouragement most effective and some common mistakes to avoid:
Be personal and individualized. Statements of encouragement to a team are great, however, they are impersonal. Direct and specific communication to one person makes the affirmation more sincere.
The more specific the better. One of the most common phrases team members don’t want to hear is “good job!”. The phrase is so generic it could be applied to any person at any time. Be sure to tell the employee specifically what you appreciate about them and their work.
Some specific suggestions:
Leave an encouraging voicemail.
Use sticky notes to write short messages of appreciation.
Recognize them during a meeting or conference call and give them an example of something they did well.
Tell them why what they did is important to you, the organization, or your clientele. While it may seem obvious why an employee’s work is valuable or desired, they often don’t understand the true impact of their actions. Framing encouragement in light of the big picture can make it more meaningful.
Keep in mind that words are not equally important to everyone. In a study with over 100,00 employees, less than 50% want appreciation through words. That tells us that 50% of employees want appreciation in ways other than words. Seek information from your employees regarding how they best experience encouragement and how receptive they are to other avenues of affirmation.
How do you encourage others at work?
Excerpt from Paul White from appreciationatwork.com
Although
communication is vital, it often interrupts work flow. Valuing the time and attention of others when communicating is
crucial. While keeping others in the
loop is important, sharing everything is a distraction. That’s why it’s
important to have effective methods for efficient communication.
Utilize Chat Tools. A single centralized chat tool (Such as Slack or Teams) keeps everything together and is a central source for the entire company. Email is an important external tool but doesn’t always need to be used internally. Zoom and Skype are good tools and in-person meetings should be used more sparingly.
“What did you work on today?” Automatically ask yourself and your team members “What did you work on today?”. Share the responses with the company. This creates loose accountability and strong reflection. Writing up what you accomplished every day is a great way to reflect on how you spent your time.
“What will you be working on this week?” A good way to start the week is to create an automatic ask, “What will you be working on this week?” This is a chance for everyone to talk about and see the big picture. It sets your mind, and the mind of your team, up for the work ahead and allows everyone to see what’s happening.
“Social questions”. Every few weeks, ask your team “What books are you reading?” Or “Try anything new lately?” Or “Anything inspire you lately?” Keep these questions optional and use them sparingly. These help to create dialogue about things people love and want to share with others. This is especially beneficial for remote teams.
Reflect every 6 weeks. Every ~6 weeks, summarize the big picture accomplishments and detail the importance of your work. Highlight any challenges or difficulties. This can be a good reminder that, yes, sometimes things do go wrong. Reflect on the job well done and the progress made for the entire team or group.
Project every 6 weeks. Rather than reflect, projections state what the team will accomplish in the coming weeks. The detail specific work for a specific group but can be useful for the entire company. These should be broad and don’t include too many details.
Announcements. Occasionally, announcements need to be made. Whether it’s about a change in policy or reiterating an old one, these can be very beneficial. Sending out a written form of an announcement means everyone sees and hears the same information.
Day to day communication requires context. Saying the right thing, in the wrong place and omitting important details, doubles the work and number of messages. Separate communication places should be set for each project, so nothing gets missed. Everything communicated relating to that project is in the same location. Communications should be attached to what they are referring to.
What has been working well with your team? We would love to hear! Email us at aha@ahaleadership.com
September offers a clean slate, a new start, and represents a new beginning. Although this September is unlike others before, it is still a change in season with different challenges and opportunities. Due to the disruption of the pandemic, more than ever we have resolutions and habits we want to start. While January is the start of a new year, September/Fall often feels like a good time to make some much-needed changes.
Gretchen Rubin, author of Better Than
Before, shares strategies of how to make and break habits. One helpful
strategy is the “Strategy of the Clean Slate”. The pandemic has afforded us
more time to evaluate our habits and behaviors and determine which ones are
working for us and which ones may be holding us back. During times of big
transition, old habits may be wiped away and we may be able to form new habits
more easily. A change in personal relationships, surroundings such as moving to
a new city, a life change like a new job or even minor changes like working in
a new room can all offer a “clean slate” to develop new effective habits.
A previous research study has shown that 36%
of people who were successful in making significant life changes in their
career, education, or health behaviors, associated this success with a move to
a new location. We want to take advantage of the start of a new season and
take actionable steps toward change.
Take some time to consider:What new habits do I want to adopt this season?What old habits or behaviors could be holding me back from reaching my goals?
What
one small, actionable step can I take this week to change or adopt a new habit?
Now is the time to make the changes we need
the most.
For
every hundred men hacking away at the branches of a diseased tree, only one
will stop to inspect the roots -Chinese Proverb
Are individual members of your team
performing less well than you’d hoped for? How do you get them to improve their
performance?
First,understand that performance is a function of both ability and motivation. It takes both to do a job well. So, before you address poor performance, you have to diagnose if it’s a lack of ability or low motivation.
Tips
for addressing ability
Resupply. Does your team member have
what they need to get the job done? Ask them about additional resources. Listen
for points causing frustration. Give the individual space to take
responsibility and share their perspective.
Retrain. Provide additional training to
individuals lacking specific skills. It’s important to keep employees’ skills
current to cure poor performance.
Refit. If the first two steps aren’t
curing the problem, consider refitting the job to the person. Are there
components of the job that could be reassigned and new tasks for them to take
on?
Reassign. Consider reassigning the poor
performer to another role. Is there another job within the company that would
suit them better? Remember, this is not a punishment tactic, but a shift in
skills and tasks.
Release. As a final option, you may need
to let the employee go. Sometimes there are not opportunities for refitting and
reassignment within the organization. In these cases, the best decision may be
for the individual to find other work.
Tips
for improving motivation
Set performance goals. Goal setting is an important aspect of performance improvement. Employees need to understand what’s expected of them and agree on the actions they must take to improve.
Performance assistance. Once you’ve set performance goals, support your team member by reassessing their progress, providing necessary training, or additional resources. Encourage cooperation and assistance from other team members.
Performance feedback. It’s important for the individual to understand where they stand in their performance and long-term expectations. Consider providing timely feedback, being open and honest, and encourage individuals with a reward system.
It’s
important that you and the team member discuss and agree on the plan for improvement.
Set specific goals with timelines and dates by which goals should be achieved.
Monitor progress according to the tips above for improving ability and
motivation. Goal setting, feedback and a supportive environment are necessary
for improving poor performance.
