Develop The Team You Want Archives - You Want Group

Why Your Team Needs To Identify Their Strengths and Weaknesses

Thai Ngo — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 03:49:10 +0000

One of the basic steps to designing a business strategy is a SWOT analysis. The reason we perform a SWOT analysis on the business is that it gives us a clear idea of what the company can do and what it needs to improve to be better. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors. Opportunities and threats are external factors. When it comes to dealing with individuals and teams, strengths and weaknesses are essential for success.

However, strengths and weaknesses are relative, and most employees often don’t know where they lie. Strengths are easier to identify because people are usually quite proud of their abilities and likes showing them to others. Weaknesses, on the other hand, are less perceptible. Some people go to great lengths to deny it. Some disguise it from others. An effective leader or manager can uncover strengths and weaknesses and use this knowledge to promote engagement and drive productivity.

This week’s article on strengths and weaknesses applies to everyone. I hope you will find the article interesting and will use the tips I share to become a better manager or leader.

Team strengths and weaknesses

Your team comprises of individuals. Everyone comes with their unique personality, educational background, experiences, knowledge, and beliefs. Strengths are the skills and abilities that are easy for the individual and allow them to shine in an activity. Weaknesses are skills and abilities that don’t come easily to someone and can slow down performance.

Benefits of strengths and weaknesses

Understanding our strengths and weaknesses is important for personal development as well as organisational success. Here are some benefits of strengths and weaknesses

Builds self-awareness and confidence

A person learns about their strengths and weaknesses through self-reflection and evaluation. This helps them build self-awareness and develop confidence. A person who knows their strengths can leverage these strengths to advance their careers or achieve their goals. It makes them better at their jobs and more successful in their lives.

Enhances motivation and commitment

Self-aware staff are more motivated to work. They know their strengths can bring value to the organisation and their weaknesses can hinder performance. If their weaknesses are acknowledged and supported by their leaders, the staff will be motivated to overcome their weaknesses by finding ways to improve or learn to work around them.

Increases engagement, teamwork, and productivity

Staff who have self-awareness are more engaged with their jobs, their colleagues, and the organisation because they believe their contribution matters. A staff who believes they are a valued member of an organisation is more likely to want the company to succeed. They are confident in themselves and their abilities and are keen to support others in their team to succeed as well.

Reduces staff turnover

Happy staff do not look elsewhere. Helping your staff understand and use their strengths and supporting them through their weaknesses shows you care about their future and wellbeing. Given a choice between a great working environment and a bigger salary, most employees would choose the former.

Focus on strengths or develop weaknesses? Which is better?

Throughout my career, people have asked me if they should focus on their team’s strengths or their weaknesses? I usually answer: ‘Both’ because there is value in both. The best approach I can advise is to focus on strengths and manage or develop weaknesses. The same applies to you – the manager, by the way.

Focus on strengths

An individual’s strength is their value add to the world. The combined strength of a team can become a powerful tool to drive productivity and produce results. Knowing your team’s strengths help you make better decisions in every aspect of managing. Let’s say you are running a media campaign. You would assign the media watch tasks to a team member who is a digital native and familiar with social media. The team member who is a natural creative may be given the assignment to design the layout and the one who is good at networking may be asked to leverage on his or her outside contacts.

Manage or develop weaknesses

While you are focusing on the strength, you also need to be aware of the weaknesses and decide whether you want to manage these or develop them.

Remember, not all weaknesses can be turned into a strength. Sometimes the best a person can achieve is average even though time and money have been spent on developing them. This is where your role as a leader is crucial. You have to know your team and understand their limitations as well as their potential. It is important that as their leader you do not begin on a premise that the weakness can be eradicated. That is not always the case, and you may have to manage the weakness in a way that still makes the individual feel like a valued member of the team. It is a balancing act that requires you to have self-awareness. If you have self-awareness, you can guide your team to also develop self-awareness and self-worth.

How to identify weaknesses in your team

Strengths are easy to identify because they shine so brightly. Weaknesses are harder because people become clever at disguising them. So, how can you identify weaknesses?

Here are 5 simple ways to identify weaknesses:

Have real conversations
Don’t wait until the performance review to broach the subject. Start your conversations daily. Open and honest communication is important if you want people to tell you the truth about themselves. The more real dialogues you have with the team, the more you can help them reflect and understand their abilities. You can break the ice by offering to describe your strengths and weaknesses and inviting the rest of the team to participate.
Listen and observe
Listening to what others say and observing how they work are good ways to pick up what they can or cannot do. I am not suggesting you spy on your employees but rather be more observant and aware of the going on around you. For example, if you have an employee who is naturally friendly and happy, this person can become a good source to diffuse a tense situation. An employee who is too quiet may be disengaged, uninterested or unassertive. Or he/she is naturally shy and reserved. Be careful when making assumptions. Don’t be too quick to jump to conclusions. A good manager considers every observation objectively and only make distinctions when they have seen their staff acting differently in a different environment.
Check enterprise social activity
User profiles and posts are effective when trying to understand your employees. Many enterprise organisations have social networks or social intranets that are used for communication. Employees build profiles within these systems. Some of them post to these mediums.

User profiles and posts can provide a wealth of information about an employee’s likes and dislikes, fear, interests, experiences and so forth. Managers can use this information to better understand their employees. For example, a staff who is a foodie may be a good team member to assign a project in the food & beverage industry. A staff who likes travel can become a valued contributor when bidding on a contract with a travel company.
Run competitions
Friendly competition amongst team members is an effective way to foster teamwork and to identify talent. For example, if you are trying to find a team leader, you may want to design a fun contest to find the natural leader amongst the team. A word of caution: Any activity that pitches one against the other can attract unhealthy behaviours like rivalry, resentment, and loss of confidence. Be sure to address any issues immediately.

What to do with staff weaknesses?

You know what to do with a staff’s strengths but what do you do with a weakness? Identifying the weakness is only the start. As a manager, you have to decide whether you want to ignore it, develop it, or work around it. The only way to know is for you to understand this individual as a human being, not an employee.

Professional strength

Finally, I would like to take a small detour to discuss professional strength. Many of our personal strengths can be translated into a professional context. The next time you are applying for a job and cannot decide which strength to highlight, try asking yourself these four questions:

Is it relevant? Is the strength you want to showcase relevant to the role you are applying for.

Is it a real strength? Do you actually possess this strength or is it wishful thinking?

Is it demonstrable? How can you showcase this strength?

Is it current and relevant? If the strength is outdated, is it still useful in current times? Can it be adapted?

The questions posed above can help managers start a meaningful dialogue about an employee’s strength during a performance review. I hope this article has inspired you to help your team discover their strengths and weaknesses.

Thai Ngo

As a business, HR and career strategist, Thai Ngo has worked with some of the biggest businesses in Australia to help people fulfil their professional potential. Thai firmly believes that the biggest barrier to success is often ourselves, but with the right guidance and the right perspective, that barrier can be overcome. Now he works with businesses, leaders and individuals to tap into their existing talent to create the professional and personal life they desire.

youwantgroup.com

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The Importance Of Providing Feedback

Thai Ngo — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 06:03:33 +0000

Effective leaders and managers are not afraid to provide feedback – whether positive or negative – because they know it’s essential for team engagement and productivity. As a career coach, I give feedback to my clients all the time. While positive feedback is a pleasure to dispense because the recipient is always happy to hear good things about themselves, negative ones can be a challenge to deliver. Most people do not like to be criticised no matter how constructive the criticism may be. The best way to approach it is to deliver it in a way that minimises fight-and-defend reactions. More on that later.

Today’s blog is about feedback. I would like to start by discussing why feedback is important. To be able to deliver feedback effectively, a person needs some conversational agility. A healthy conversation is a two-way dialogue between the speaker and the listener. The conversation is based on trust, mutual respect and understanding. An unhealthy conversation, on the other hand, is based on distrust, accusations, and anger. It can quickly alienate and cause friction between both parties. To hire and retain the best talent, leaders need the ability to communicate and feedback effectively.

The importance of feedback

1. Feedback is improvement

Even if you are at the pinnacle of your career, you can still appreciate honest feedback from time to time. Feedback tells you if you are doing things right or if you need to improve. One of the key responsibilities of a leader is to build and sustain high-performing teams that deliver results. The leader’s guidance and feedback are critical to ensuring every member of the team are aligned on a common organisational goal. Feedback keeps the team on track and assures them they are doing things right.

When giving feedback consider the following:

Positive feedback is critical for learning. People are quick to point out the faults of others but less quick to give praise where praise is due. It is equally important to point out what someone is doing right as a pathway to continuous improvement.
Telling someone how to fix something seldom works. No one likes to be told. You will get better results if you ask questions that stimulate self-reflection and coach your team into experimentation and learning.
Harsh feedback alienates people. Criticisms are more effective if they are delivered with respect and care. Frequent or exclusive negative comments targeted at a specific individual will only spark defensive reactions, cloud perceptions, and kill motivation.

2. Feedback avoids mistake

If the team knows they are on the right track, they are less likely to make mistakes as an individual or a collective whole. Organisational mistakes are expensive both in terms of time and money. Clear and honest communication saves you time having to correct someone’s work and reduces the errors caused by miscommunication.

3. Feedback strengthens relationships

How many of us have heard our parents say: ‘I am only telling you this because I care about you…’? Growing up, I used to get annoyed with my father repeating this phrase again and again. As an adult, I can appreciate that he was really concerned about me and genuinely wanted me to be better.

Feedback done constructively demonstrates that the leader cares about the individual’s wellbeing. If you genuinely want a person to improve, you find a way to tell them without hurting their feelings or alienating them. If they understand the motivations behind your feedback, they are less likely to feel upset or defensive.

4. Feedback is a great motivator

When people feel valued and appreciated, they work harder and faster. Positive feedback is a wonderful reinforcement of a manager’s appreciation of their staff. Negative feedback delivered well is a great inducement to staff to strife harder.

5. Feedback promotes personal and professional growth

Feedback is about listening actively, asking questions, self-reflection, and analysis and problem-solving. The more you practise giving constructive feedback the more you and your staff will improve in these areas.

6. Feedback creates a conducive team environment

A work environment that promotes open communication promotes trust and mutual respect. Leaders who give feedback must be open to receiving feedback themselves. If your team knows that they can trust you to consider their feedback objectively and without bias, they will be more willing to share information and ideas with you.

Important questions to ask yourself about feedback

When giving feedback, try reflecting on what you – the leader – can do to help your teams do their jobs better. Here are some questions to reflect:

Do you receive feedback from others? How often do you do that?
Can you listen to feedback without being defensive or retaliatory?
Are you giving the feedback to help the individual improve? Or are you venting?
Have you been avoiding giving negative feedback to a staff or a colleague?
Have you been insincere about your intentions? Is the feedback designed to manipulate a situation or change a perception?
Do you listen to the recipient? Do you allow them a chance to say what they are thinking or feeling?
Have you taken into consideration how a staff member may react?
Are you bias?

How to give negative feedback

Do you struggle with giving negative feedback? Here are some tips that can help:

1. Throw out the feedback sandwich

A feedback sandwich is the type of feedback that relies on compliment/critique/compliment. The problem with this style of feedback is that it can easily confuse an employee. If you disguise the problem between two compliments, it is hard for the employee to see where they have gone wrong. Typically, people focus on the last thing they hear so if the last thing they hear from you is a compliment, they are going to think everything is gold.

2. Be constructive, not critical

Constructive criticism helps employees understand and see where they need to improve and why these improvements are crucial for the team or department’s success. Explain clearly what the problem is and the implications that result from these then work together on a plan of action to help the employee.

3. Be honest

Be honest. If you approach it from the frame of mind of wanting to help them, you are more likely to get their cooperation and buy-in. Frame the discussion as if you want to help them not chastise them. Show them the value of the improvement.

4. Listen

Have time to listen to what they have to say. Don’t get into an argument with the employee. If they feel strongly about wanting to argue their case, give them some time to do so before continuing calmly and rationally.

5. Follow up

Once you have delivered the feedback, you have to follow up. Just telling someone to improve and not helping them with a plan will not work. If you want the employee to be better, guide and support them through the process.

My four-step approach to giving negative feedback

Here’s a simple four-step approach that can make dispensing negative feedback easier:

Step One: Provide critique. Critique is not criticism. Be honest, objective, and unbiased.

Step Two: Explain the implications. Show them the implications of not improving or complying. People are more cooperative if they buy in.

Step Three: Explain how to improve. Help them with an improvement plan. Don’t just say they need to improve and throw them to the wolves.

Step Four: Check for understanding and solicit an answer. Make sure the employee understands the feedback and give them the opportunity to ask questions if they have any.

The ability to give feedback is an integral part of successful leadership. The next time you have to give feedback consider the following: Telling is transactional. Asking is inquiry. Listening is discovery.

Thai Ngo

youwantgroup.com

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3 Actionable Employee Engagement Tips that Work Like a Charm

Iris Du — Tue, 11 May 2021 04:24:04 +0000

Covid19 indeed shaken up our whole world right now.

Many organisations are finding their way to pivot and trying to find magic pills can solve their headaches now.

Here are what many managers are currently facing and why employee engagement works…

1. Team productivity seems to be on the decline and cannot accurately be measured.

2. Employees aren’t engaged properly due to stress.

3. Management doesn’t have a proper strategy or way to manage uncharted tasks.

Last but not least the manager’s job is on the line and uncertain what their career will look like…among all the uncertainty. The number one question I have been getting during this crisis is:

How do you keep your team and employee engagement?

I mean, it is all well and good to have a process in place. But it is more than just a process manual they will need.

In order to increase productively, you must ensure employee engagement; and in order to keep them engaged you must…keep your employees HAPPY!!!.

What do I mean by that?

Good leadership is about understanding the needs of the employees as much as the clients. It’s a basic human need.

We all seek happiness, from our work, from our life, and from our relationships.

And when an employee does not feel happy coming into work, how do you think that is going to reflect on productivity and engagement?

“The true measure of productivity and performance are momentum and trust”

In uncertain times like these, when we are all working from home, we get that it can be quite overwhelming and stressful. Especially when you still have to home-school your children, doing your day job as well as looking after household duties as well.

Let’s not mention you sometimes get confused if you are at work or at home since your home becomes your COVID-19 emergency office!!!

So really, the whole momentum and building trust with teams are probably the last thing on your list.

However, being a leader, especially during a time of crisis, sometimes it is important to go back to the basics.

Which is connecting with your employees and inspiring by leading change.

We get that dealing with the COVID-19 Crisis is a very unique situation and that you have to be accountable for the greater good of the company.

But here is the silver lining, this could be your opportunity to shine as a great leader.

So, in a time like this, working from home, the need for active communication and an accurate measurement for productivity is higher than ever before.

Here are three golden rules that work like a charm in Employee Engagement.

1. Allocate a check-in time

Whether it is different times of the day or week, run a quick meeting in the morning, after lunch or at the end of the day.

This not only keeps your employees accountable but it also allows you to keep track of their performance. This allows you to know who you need to support more if they are facing a bottleneck. Especially during this time. This helps you measure the work done and put a time frame on it.

Communication is key here, so keep in touch with the team. As a leader, it is important to give support when they need it and make them feel that they are being heard.

2. Simple Acknowledgement and Recognition

Build a relationship with your employees especially during this time.

Spend that extra 5-10 minutes a day to acknowledge the effort that your team puts in their work and congratulate them on the little victories. Individual recognition is so understated.

When your team feels recognised, they will go that extra mile and meet that target for you. If they know that their efforts are going to be appreciated and recognised.

Create a valued relationship with your employees by expressing gratitude and appreciation towards them. A simple ‘thank you’ goes a long way. Let them know that you are the leader and that you care for them. Especially in times like this, they need to know that their work is being recognised.

3. Work Hard and Play Hard Balance

You might think team building exercise might be a waste of time during this pandemic. When everyone is just so busy running around and getting everyone to just work!

But it is these human connections we are creating that will keep more employee engagement and be reminded of what your values and vision that your organisation uphold during working from home period.

We all seek happiness from our life, be it our work, our home or our relationships. Team building creates better trust and enhances relationships among the teams.

It opens the doors to better and transparent communication that not only helps your team grow but build a better virtual culture for your organisation too.

Encouraging discussions and considering opinions is the mark of a great leader. and there is no better way of doing this while having a bit of fun.

“You don’t build a business- you build people- and then people build the business.” – Zig Ziglar

Every now and then, it is also your job as a leader to keep a track of the team especially when working from home.

Your Leadership during this time will decide your future in your company.

Instead of thinking about managing this situation, ask yourself if there are some measures that you can implement to become a better leader during this time of need.

Remember your team will only be as productive as you are.

So setting a standard for maintaining expectations will let the team know what is expected of them.

Engagement is not something that is implemented in one day.

Keep away from micromanaging and start building trust.

After all, engagement in simpler terms is about building better and stronger relationships.

Focus on your people and you will 10X your team performance offline and online. As Simon Sinek says, ‘Leaders Eat Last’.

Iris Du

Iris Du is a leadership strategist and human behaviour expert who thrives on helping individuals, leaders and businesses achieve the success they deserve. Drawing on leadership, attraction and manifestation strategies, Iris works with organisations to help them leverage their natural talent to create highly engaged and high-performing leaders and teams.

youwantgroup.com

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Women workers are the most affected by COVID- 19

Thai Ngo — Tue, 11 May 2021 02:19:59 +0000

COVID-19 does not discriminate but history has shown that health crises can highlight existing gender inequalities.

Women workers in Australia are the most financially affected by COVID-19 shutdown by nature of their jobs and the roles they play in these jobs. Women workers are also facing higher stress levels from taking on additional responsibilities at work and at home.

Women workers are more likely to experience financial hardships than men in COVID-19 pandemic.

Gender segregation in certain sectors and over-representation of women in some vulnerable sectors mean women are more likely to lose their jobs in the pandemic crisis.

Data shows women in Australia experienced a greater reduction in work hours than men in April this year. The labour force participation rate of women decreased by 2.9 percent compared to men’s labour force at 1.9 percent. The reason for this disparity is because many of the sectors most affected by the virus (for example, hospitality, entertainment, travel, retail and personal care) employ more women than men. Women are more vulnerable to financial hardship because many of them work as casuals without the security of paid leave.

Women already earn less than their male counterparts in Australia. The national pay gap stands at 13.9%. The national pay gap is the difference between women’s and men’s average weekly full-time earnings expressed as a percentage of men’s earning. Women workers in Australia are further confounded by higher poverty rate, single-parent responsibilities and fewer savings.

There is further evidence to suggest that small to medium women-led enterprises may never be able to recover from hibernation. These companies generally operate on small capitals and are self-funding.

Women are taking on a ‘triple load’ during COVID-19

Women are taking on a ‘triple load’ since the coronavirus shutdown including paid work, care work and mental stress of worrying.

Women make up 47.4% of the total labour force in Australia. Of this, 25.8% are full-time workers and 21.6% are part-timers (ABS: 2020, Labour Force).

More women than men working in the healthcare sector. Up to 70% of health care and social workers in the world are female. In Australia, 75.4% of our healthcare professionals are women. Women also make up a large proportion of healthcare support services for example cleaning, catering and laundry services.

It follows that a health emergency will impact more women workers than men workers. More women in the frontline during COVID-19 crisis meant an increase in the risk of infection to women and their families. According to a report by the UN, infection rates in women healthcare workers were significantly higher than that of male healthcare workers. For example, Spain recorded 71.8% of women healthcare workers were infected compared to only 28.2% of men. In Italy, 66% of women healthcare workers were infected compared to 34% men.

Additionally, coronavirus shutdown has increased women’s care responsibilities at home. In Australia, women were spending up to 64.4% of their average working hours each week on unpaid work. Most of this work involves caring for children and household chores. Women also took on the responsibilities of educators when schools were forced to close. This was true even in dual-earning income households. Men – to their credit – have also taken on household responsibilities in the pandemic but they are not spending as much time as women on these duties.

With the added responsibilities of working from home, caring for the family and taking on the role of educator, women workers have expressed feeling increased personal and professional stress as a result of COVID-19.

Why we should care?

COVID-19 impact on women workers is an important issue. Women contribute to a significant number of Australia’s workforce. They are the largest group of employees in key services like healthcare, education and childcare. If women do not work, essential services will be affected.

Women are also the principal carer in the home. Women in the workforce tend to invest their earnings into their households. A decline in income and financial security can have outgoing effects for the family. If mothers are stressed and worried, they cannot provide proper care to their families. Children can be affected as a result.

If women workers stay home, the financial burden on some families could have negative consequences, for example, an increase in domestic violence.

Gender pay inequality drivers

KPMG 2019 ‘She’s Price(d)less’ Report identified several key drivers to bridge the gender pay gap including:

Gender discrimination

Gender discrimination is the single biggest driver of the gender pay gap in Australia.

Addressing the gender issue should be a policy matter – particularly for the private sector. Fixing a gender bias culture is equally important.

Care, family responsibilities and workplace participation

Absence from work: Women’s role as carers at home meant they are losing out in the employment stake. There are many reasons for career interruption, but many women take time off to look after a child. Reducing gender pay inequality in the workplace would require addressing parental leave and care.

Part-time roles: Women make up the largest part-time workforce in the country. Addressing employer bias against promoting part-time hires may help narrow the gap.

Unpaid work: Women traditionally contribute longer unpaid hours of work at home than their spouses. Changing mindsets about household responsibilities and childcare can help reduce the gender pay gap.

Occupational segregation

Women workers are unevenly distributed in certain sectors. Women are working in lower-paid jobs and smaller roles than men in Australia. Staff hire policies that do not disadvantage women applicants from certain roles can help minimise the gender pay gap.

Supporting women in the workforce post coronavirus

To bridge the gender inequality gap in our country we will need to change gender and workplace norms. Here are some strategies, employers can adopt post-pandemic:

1. Extend flexible working from home arrangements

COVID-19 restrictions have shown employers that flexible working from home arrangements could work. This accelerated swift to flexible mode could benefit female workers who were disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Women have demonstrated that they are very capable at multitasking. They can juggle work with home life and still produce results. Post-COVID, employers can improve work-life balance by extending flexible work from home arrangements to more women workers.

2. Create new positions to cater for women workers

One of the silver linings from the coronavirus was the discovery that business activities do not need to be carried out between 9 am to 5 pm daily. With the right systems in place, staff can be equally productive outside normal business hours.

In the future, organisations can consider creating more casual positions for professional women who prefer to work on a part-time or casual basis from the home.

3. Consider staggered hours that include family commitments

Staggered hours are coming. Employers are already suggesting that staff come to the office at different times of the day. Companies can attract more women into their workforce by creating schedules that can incorporate family commitments.

It is evident people need time away from home as well, this applies to women as well. To decrease their personal and professional stress, allow them to come into work following a schedule as we know they are capable of sticking to it.

4. Address gender discrimination in the workplace

Gender discrimination in the workplace is unhealthy. The most effective way to address this problem is through hiring, promotion and training. If your industry sector does not traditionally hire women, be different by deliberately having an organisational policy to include women workers in the team.

Pay inequality cannot be reduced unless employers are transparent about their pay structures. Organisations that are serious about women’s equality in the workplace should have pay audits of all staff. That way, any discrepancies in pay can be addressed.

Organisations will also need more women in leadership roles to narrow the pay gap.

Set out a strategy to promote more women by having set targets, quotas and diversity policy.

5. Remove gender bias culture

Stem out systemic discrimination in the workplace through education and training. Focus groups, networks and advocacy can promote good organisational culture.

6. Promote family-friendly policies

An organisation that supports its women workers must demonstrate that they are serious about gender inequality in the workplace. The single most important thing for many women in the workforce is the family. Parental leave, childcare and special permission to look after a child can make it easier for women to work.

7. Childcare is the key

The pandemic has highlighted how women workers in Australia have been disproportionately disadvantaged. Some of the reforms may require government investment.

For example, wages in female-dominated industries like childcare and healthcare can benefit from a stimulus package.

The free childcare package offered to parents because of COVID-19 is likely to end soon but continuing this is an obvious way to improving gender pay inequality in the country. Currently, the high costs associated with putting a child in day care makes it economically unviable for many women to return to work.

Australia is at its highest pay gap for over two decades now. It’s time to change.

Note from the author:
The facts and figures used in this report were taken from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA). WGEA (2020). ‘Gendered impact of COVID-19’. Retrieved from: https://www.wgea.gov.au/topics/gendered-impact-of-covid-19

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Thai Ngo

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Business as ‘unusual’. How to manage staff productivity in a pandemic

Thai Ngo — Tue, 11 May 2021 01:53:55 +0000

Shifting the norm and managing staff productivity is never easy. Imagine this scenario: Mary is a thirty-year-old accountant. She has spent the last 9 years of her life commuting to work five days a week. At work, she has an office. She has structure and interaction. All of a sudden, she is told she cannot go to work. Mary shares a two-bedroom apartment with a flatmate. Her flatmate is also working from home. The dining table they have is hardly large enough to accommodate one person, let alone two persons, working together at any one time. Mary does not have a desk in her bedroom. How is Mary going to cope with working from home reality?

As employers, we make the mistake of assuming that every one of our staff can easily transition to remote working. We have not visited their homes. We do not understand the challenges they may be facing. Yet, we expect them to be able to continue to deliver the same quality work as previously.

Whether we want to admit it or not, working from home is a challenge. It is as challenging for the employer as it is for their staff. It is in our nature to worry about monitoring. After all, who wants to pay a full salary for their staff to binge on Netflix, right? Of course, there is numerous software available that we can use to monitor our staff. We could even try constant video sharing as a form of surveillance. But how many of us want to go down the road of intrusion?

Fortunately, there are measures employers can take to promote staff productivity who work from home. Geographical distance is not an issue for productivity if employers understand what is at stake, know their strengths, reassure their employees and allow them some flexibility.

How to manage staff productivity in a pandemic

1. Identify stakeholder impact

Examining what is at stake for your stakeholders is the first step towards developing a plan to manage remote working. Your stakeholders include customers, employees, suppliers, community, partners and of course, yourself. Every group will have their urgent needs that you should fully understand and prioritise. Some of these needs are new things and may require creative problem-solving. Expect some tension to arise from the different groups as trade-offs become inevitable.

What are some of the possible employee trade-offs? Your staff having no office to work from is a trade-off. You, having less control over what your staff is doing during a normal 8-hour workday is also a trade-off.

Identifying all the trade-offs make it easier for you to assess the situation and to plan a course of action that can keep the business going.

2. Identify your strengths

What organisational processes do you have that can make the biggest difference to your stakeholders? For example, a strong balance sheet that can keep workers employed during the crisis. Or a good IT infrastructure that could transition into an online platform immediately. Or even an existing customer database that you can immediately transform into an online marketing campaign.

Address the issues posed by the crisis by looking at how you can leverage your company’s existing strengths to solve the problem. The more organisational problems you can resolve the easier it is for your staff to continue working effectively.

3. Conduct a work from home assessment

Understanding exactly how your organisation is going to transition to a remote work model is important to make it easier for your staff to function at home. The questions you need to be asking yourself are:

How do we get every member of our team to understand their roles and responsibilities?
What medium of communication are we going to use to communicate with one another?
What are the tools we can use to collaborate work from a distance?
What schedules do we want everyone at home to follow?
How do we keep track of staff tasks?
What technology do we have currently to support WFH?
What technology do we need to acquire to make WFH effective?
How do we manage stress related to work from home?
How do we keep our staff engaged with their work at a distance?

Getting your entire team on board will help keep everyone accountable and therefore ensuring productivity is not compromised. The Australian Government’s Flexibility Readiness guide is a great tool to get started.

4. Give staff a psychological safety net

The crisis is not normal. This is not business as usual. The disruption caused to professional and personal lives can have a psychological toll on your workers. Staff can feel stressed and confused about their situation. Any form of stress will affect work performance.

According to studies done by Google – one of the world’s best employer –psychological safety at work means allowing employees to speak their mind, to try new ideas, and to express how they feel without being punished for doing so. Employees who feel safe with their employers and with other workmates are more likely to admit mistakes, to collaborate and to accept new responsibilities.

In a pandemic, employers can create a psychologically safe work environment by being transparent with their staff. Do not be afraid to share how the pandemic is affecting your business, what you think may happen in the future, and how you are going to help your staff.

Give your employees the platform to say what they think or how they feel. If they believe they can do so without censure, they will feel less frightened by the events and more motivated to work.

5. Be a leader

Now is the time for authentic leadership. Communicate early and frequently – even if you do not have all the information on hand. Remember that your staff are looking for a leader who can show empathy.

Be honest and truthful with your staff. Don’t deny, blame or sugar-coat the situation. Stay nimble and be proactive with changes. If you keep your cool and stay strong, you will help your staff balance their perspectives. Once they have confidence in the company’s ability to handle the crisis, they will become less stress with their situation and more focus on their jobs.

6. Be flexible

An employee working at home with young children is not going to be able to give your business the 100% attention that you have become accustomed to. Instead, be flexible with working hours. Think about the tasks that have to be carried out then give your employee as much flexibility as possible for them to schedule their day so they can complete these tasks.

If you want your staff to be more productive when they work from home, don’t stick to a strict 9 to 5 regime. Managers will be more effective if they are flexible. If it means your employer has to work from 7 am to 3 pm then let it be. If they have to go offline at noon and only log on again after 3 pm, so be it. The important thing is to focus on the outcomes not on the actual hours worked.

7. Implement huddles

Workplace meetings are a key organisational function. We use meetings to distribute information, explain policies, brainstorm solutions, promote leadership, provide feedback, train staff, encourage creativity, and to build relationships. With extended working at home hours, meetings have become one of the few ways we can connect with our employees.

However, this new working scenario could mean the end of traditional boardroom meetings. Staff working from home may not be able to give leaders their 100% presence in a meeting. Long extended periods in a boardroom cannot work when there are constant family disruptions.

One of the ways around this dilemma is to have more regular but shorter huddle meetings. Huddles are 15-minute quick catchups between managers and their teams. They are focused, precise and timely. Depending on your team and the nature of the work your organisation is involved in, you can either have huddle meetings with the group, an individual or a combination of both.

Here are some simple rules of engagement:

Use meetings to outline expectations
Stick to the agenda
Avoid unnecessary updates
Allocate time for things you want to talk about and things your staff may want to share
Ask about employee wellbeing
Answer their questions
Listen to what employees are saying. Show empathy and share frustrations

Use meetings as a way to define accountability. You let your staff know where they stand, and they let you know what is in their way. You then work out a solution together. It’s a win-win for both.

8. Get staff involved

Build a sense of common purpose by getting your staff involved in the strategies that will help the business survive the crisis.

The more ownership you give the staff, the more of their trust and respect you will earn. Sharing a common goal in a time of crisis can help people bond. It creates a set of values that will survive long after the pandemic is over.

9. Create opportunities for connection

Staff wellbeing directly affects the way they work and how they work. The best way to help them stay engaged in their job is to create opportunities that allow them to connect with the organisation beyond that of tasks and duties.

Engineer events that are not just work-related. Make it fun so they feel like they are part of a larger organisation. A virtual pizza lunch once in a while is not a bad idea to get the team feeling supercharged. Incorporating games into tasks is also a good idea. Competition done correctly promotes teamwork, collaboration and a sense of achievement for teams.

This is a pivotal time for employers to step up to the mark and take on the challenges of creating a work environment that can thrive even in the most difficult of circumstances. If you do this right, your staff will not only stay productive, they will become loyal advocates of the organisation.

Thai Ngo

youwantgroup.com

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