Tag: team work

Figure it out

FabrizioLeave a comment

The current situation is unprecedented. The pandemic is putting a strain on everybody. A huge amount of people have suffered serious consequences.

And if after two years your company is still using Covid as a tentative reason to excuse poor customer service, delayed deliveries, price increases, product shortages, it’s time for you to stop.

Rethink your business, instead, and figure out a way to provide the experience people expect.

That’s your responsibility.

Note: the image of this post is from Tom Fishburne @Marketoonist.

Goals

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Give people goals that:

  • matter for the achievement of a more generic business goal;
  • they can impact with their own actions;
  • they can easily track and report on;
  • are clearly communicated and consistent across time.

It does not end here, but this is a fantastic place to start from when managing a team.

Ask instead

FabrizioLeave a comment

Approach every conversation with intention and clarity.

You might be in it because you need something: advice, listening, a hug?

You might be in it because something is needed of you.

One way or the other, making the need explicit increases the chances of actually having a successful conversation.

The alternative is to assume that something has happened when in fact it never did. We had a fantastic chat and we are perfectly aligned now. Except you are not.

Most often, you do not have the time to figure it out. So, ask instead.

Drama

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Organizations are perfect sets for dramas.

The problem is that drama is a great way to keep people busy and a poor way to keep people engaged, motivated, creative, purposeful.

While everyone is waiting for the next big reveal, no one will commit to a new idea.

While everyone is betting on which of the two executives will win the next argument, no one is listening to what customers are saying or grasping the emerging trend in the market.

While everyone is invested in wowing their managers, no one will buy into the vision and values that would make employees, shareholders, customers, and community better off.

That feeling of overwhelm, of tiredness, of pointlessness is not due to the job. It’s due to drama.

When you get rid of the spaces where drama flourishes – the hidden information, the decisions behind closed doors, the selected circles, the executive approvals, the vertical silos -, you can repurpose the resources to allow your people and your business to grow.

Mentoring and coaching

FabrizioLeave a comment

Mentoring is when you have a what, and someone who has been there sits with you to help you figure out the how.

Coaching is when someone sits with you to help you figure out the what, the why, the how, and the when.

One way or the other, mentoring and coaching are activities in which it is worth to invest time.

Both as a giver and as a receiver.