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Performance Improvement in Challenging Times, Part Two

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effective communications

Many organizations have effectively adapted or “pivoted” in recent months, but CEOs and other leaders tell me, “We are working harder for every dollar than we ever have.” For many executives, there is a question in the back of their minds: “Can we sustain this?” In times like these, high performance and organizational improvement are more important than ever.

A recent client was improving processes in light of their recent “pivot” due to COVID. Earlier in the year, the firm had changed some processes to adapt to the new market and the “new normal.” Because of the pivot, the company was working harder for each dollar earned than in 2019, and it was not sustainable. To survive 2020 and plan for 2021, [Read more…]

Is it Really Time to Fire That Person? Part One

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managing remote workers

Since COVID hit, our organizations have been struggling to keep performance and throughput up, while also managing the needs of health and safety of our employees. Before the pandemic, with most employees working in the office, managers thought they could tell when employees were busy doing their jobs and working hard (well, perhaps like that famous Seinfeld episode).

After COVID hit, employees in many organizations were largely working from home (WFH), and managers became VERY unsure about how to handle the situation. The longer the organization went without setting clear expectations and measurements related to performance, the more nervous managers became. [Read more…]

Why Accountability Matters Now More Than Ever

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managing remote employees

During COVID, we have received a great deal of advice related to pivoting our businesses (or staying the course), adapting our processes, managing remote employees, or navigating the combination of some remote workers and some in-office workers. Many organizations are currently in that interesting state of balance with some working from home and others not. Several challenges arise: some employees working from home may perceive those still working from home as “favorites” who are not required to do as much work. Those who have returned to the workplace may be stressed over a higher risk of contracting COVID. Those working from home are juggling children at home and multigenerational households, all the while wondering what they are missing out on, including potential advancement opportunities. How can you reinforce stability and calm?

With continuing uncertainty, one of the best tools in the leader’s toolbox is accountability. Why does accountability matter more now than ever?

[Read more…]

Managing Performance in Uncertain Times

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Managing Performance in Uncertain Times

Managing Performance in Uncertain Times

This is a strange time for American workers. Some employees are still working from home, which had long been perceived as an employment perk. Yet, when Work from Home (WFH) comes as a result of a continuing pandemic, employees may wonder if they are out of the loop or if they will be left out of promotion opportunities, especially if some employees have returned to the office. At the same time, employees who have returned are wondering if they are jeopardizing their health. In this time of extended uncertainty and complexity, how do you improve your management of performance?

There are two key facets: clarity and consistency.

[Read more…]

As COVID-19 Surges What’s Next in Your Plan?

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As COVID-19 Surges What’s Next in Your Plan?

We are well on our way to the 6-month mark of our COVID response. It has been encouraging to see how countless organizations have pivoted their products, and services while totally re-imagining how their employees work in this Work from Home (WFH) environment. Leadership and HR did an amazing job in planning and creating strategies.

Back in March, organizations that were not shut down realigned themselves and juggled resources to support the new environment. I daresay a good percentage of organizations did not foresee that these changes would be long-lasting and far-reaching, but here we are just days from September with hot spots emerging in both rural and metropolitan areas. Across the country parents are finding that the remote learning of the children will continue into the fall or later, keeping many parents at home. Where do we go now with our organizational planning since it looks like COVID-19 does not seem to be going away any time soon? [Read more…]

What’s Really Causing Your Team to Underperform?

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remote working

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Chip Cutter discusses the downsides of remote work, and he states: “Projects take longer. Training is tougher. Hiring and integrating new employees, more complicated.” He makes a compelling argument about the negative consequences of remote work, and I especially buy into the idea that developing youngest or newest employees is a huge challenge right now. However, when it comes to teams and team performance, I can’t help asking, “Are the team struggles we’re seeing during COVID inherent to working remotely?” Honestly, I don’t believe so. [Read more…]

How You Might Be Undermining Your Team’s Performance

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virtual meeting

There are many underpinnings that should be part of team performance–from team contracting and team structure to the performance challenge you give to the team as its purpose. However, another vital component to high performance in teams is related to the types of meetings they have. To have high performing teams, they need to be engaged. In a recent FastCompany webinar, Keith Ferrazzi reported that 71% of teams say they do not collaborate, and 74% of team members say that they are incapable of speaking their minds in their team meeting. These data points show that teams are not performing as they should and they may not be teams at all. [Read more…]

Why Teams Fail and What You Can Do About it

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Business teams

 

Many organizations have found that this time during the Coronavirus response is a good time to rethink their organizations and “reboot” their teams – taking them to a higher level of performance. Whether your organization’s teams continue to work remotely or have returned to the workplace, there are several things you can do to take your teams to a higher level.

[Read more…]

A Commonsense Secret for Team Performance

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Team Performance

In recent months, many organizations have been forced to evaluate their businesses. Many pivoted to deliver new services; many took the time to look inside the organization to “reboot” their teams and improve team performance.

As part of the foundation for building team performance, there are five key disciplines, highlighted in this article. Of the five, perhaps the most fundamental thing you want to evaluate is the team’s purpose or performance challenge. The team’s purpose should be challenging in a way that will require a new set of behaviors to achieve the goal. If the performance challenge is too simple or easily accomplished, teaming will not be required to make it happen. In other words, if the purpose can be accomplished by people in a work group acting as individuals, the purpose will not contribute to teaming. It has to be a shared, challenging purpose.

[Read more…]

Reopening? Have You Defined the Objective?

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In recent weeks, many business leaders have talked with me about remote work and their plans for reopening their workplaces, and many are evaluating reopening their offices and bringing employees back from remote work arrangements—many organizations have already done so. 

In good times or bad, any strategic decision starts out by defining objectives, and the decision about reopening is no different. Once the objective is defined, a plan can be created to accomplish that objective, guide communication, drive operations, and measure results. As your business makes its plans, what overarching objective has it defined? [Read more…]

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