One of the big challenges we hear about hybrid and remote work is that “collaboration is difficult.” One CEO I spoke to said, “My people just come up with better answers when they can work together physically.” That led to an interesting discussion: What does it mean to come up with the best, or right, answer? What makes it "right"? Before you can make a great decision … [Read more...]
The Invisible Killer of Remote Teams
When we think about remote and hybrid teams, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. First of all, everything that negatively impacts a traditional team can cause havoc. Things like a lack of alignment, or micromanagement, or unclear objectives create problems no matter where people work. But there’s one factor that's lethal for remote teams that usually isn’t a problem … [Read more...]
Disconnect to Stay Engaged
How do you know when an employee is engaged? The usual answers include obvious signs like participation in meetings and projects, high quality work product, and responsiveness to requests from the manager and teammates. All of that is true, and there’s a paradox at work. It involves the ability to stay more engaged by disconnecting from work more often. Wait. What? When … [Read more...]
Why Leaders Need Empathy Now More than Ever
How have the events of the past couple of years affected you? For some they've been among the most difficult ever. For others, they've been inconvenient at worst. No matter which end of this spectrum you're on personally, realize that those you lead need you to have empathy as a leader. https://youtu.be/SYDNz7k3ImQ Make sure you and your team are registered for our free … [Read more...]
How Do You Define Your Team?
by Kevin Eikenberry It seems like a pretty simple question – how do you define your team? Most leaders would immediately describe or list their direct reports. Most teammates would list their immediate co-workers. Then ask people to think about their working relationships and they will think about that same list of people – the people on “their team." That is … [Read more...]