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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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:

1. Do you receive feedback from others? How often do you do that?
2. Can you listen to feedback without being defensive or retaliatory?
3. Are you giving the feedback to help the individual improve? Or are you venting?
4. Have you been avoiding giving negative feedback to a staff or a colleague?
5. Have you been insincere about your intentions? Is the feedback designed to manipulate a situation or change a perception?
6. Do you listen to the recipient?  Do you allow them a chance to say what they are thinking or feeling?
7. Have you taken into consideration how a staff member may react?
8. 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

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

The post The Importance Of Providing Feedback appeared first on You Want Group.

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

The post 3 Actionable Employee Engagement Tips that Work Like a Charm appeared first on You Want Group.

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

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

The post Business as ‘unusual’. How to manage staff productivity in a pandemic appeared first on You Want Group.