Focus means not just saying “yes,” but saying “no” too. Say “yes” to these 3 things and “no” to these 3 things when managing a growing team. Coupling the words “managing a growing team” and “focus” may seem oxymoronic to you. When your team has doubled its headcount in the past year, when your organization… Read the full article ...

As a new leader, get your bearings with these critical questions to ask when taking over a new team. A new leader recently asked me, “What are the important questions to ask when taking over a new team?” His voice revealed simultaneous excitement and nervousness: His direct supervisor had handed him the reigns to a… Read the full article ...

Meaningful feedback can come when we focus on these five questions to ask in a performance review. With performance review season upon us, a frequent question I receive is: “What questions to ask in a performance review?” I won’t lie. I’m not a fan of performance reviews (you can read why here). But sometimes, as… Read the full article ...

Our take on how to give better employee performance reviews – and what to consider instead. “How to give better employee performance reviews?” This is a question I’ve consistently received over the years, and becomes more pronounced as we enter performance review season. It’s a particularly salient question given that, from our August 2020 survey… Read the full article ...

Rather than succumb to a fragmented culture, here are 4 key practices to set the foundation for a positive, cohesive hybrid working environment. Welcome to a new world: The hybrid working environment is the new norm for many of us. And, its challenges are new to us, as well. You’re concerned. Now that your team… Read the full article ...

Yes, it’s possible. Here are 9 practices for how to increase team accountability without squashing your team morale. If you’re a leader who wants the best outcomes, the natural question to ask is:  “How to hold employees accountable without micromanaging them?”  However, this question can feel complicated. As much as you want your team to… Read the full article ...

Here are 7 practices focused on creating the right environment for motivating employees to go above and beyond. Imagine the best team you’ve ever been a part of: One where a leader is motivating employees to go above and beyond to achieve a shared purpose. Everyone is contributing their best work and elevates the outcome… Read the full article ...

Focus on these 3 areas for how to coach an employee who is performing well. When we think about coaching employees, we often focus on how to coach an underperforming employee – not how to coach an employee who is performing well. It’s natural. The employee whose negative attitude needs addressing or the employee who habitually… Read the full article ...

Improve employee retention by having these three one-on-one meetings with your staff once a month. We all want to improve employee retention. The question is how? Our knee-jerk answers to this question can feel opaque. Pay, perks, and promotion opportunities could matter but to what degree? Employee recognition programs or more social activities could be… Read the full article ...

No, not salary, perks, or promotions. The answer to how to retain employees lies in the work itself. Everyone is quitting. Or at least, that’s what the headlines are announcing, clamoring for how to retain employees during this “Great Resignation.” According to a recent survey published by Prudential, 1 in 4 workers plans to look… Read the full article ...

The more years as I spend as a leader, the more I realize that the most important leadership principle is one I ignore all too often. The most important leadership principle I wish I’d known earlier is this: Slow down. To give myself permission to pause and see things from a different point of view.… Read the full article ...

You’re not alone in feeling leadership anxiety. Here’s what to keep in mind when you feel it, and how to move forward. A wave of leadership anxiety hit me last week. My unending to-do list, the pressure of not wanting to let my team down, and my own voice of “You need to be doing… Read the full article ...

As daunting as it can seem, here’s how to manage former peers that can perpetuate a healthy team dynamic. With your new promotion, congratulations are in order. But so is trepidation: You are now faced with the precarious challenge of figuring out how to manage former peers. I can feel the heat rising from your… Read the full article ...

There’s been much talk about the degree to which political conversation in the workplace should happen. As a manager, here are a few things to consider. There’s been much talk about the degree to which political conversation in the workplace should happen. Most recently, opinions have been spurred by Basecamp’s announcement of their new company policies –… Read the full article ...

In the wake of the murders of Asian women, we as leaders have agency and leverage to stop hate. “How are you doing lately, Claire?” I’ve been asked this over calls and in meetings over the past 13 days. Quite honestly, I have not been doing well.  In the wake of the murders of Asian… Read the full article ...

Here are the 7 topics and 5 formats your remote leadership training should include for your new managers. “What should I consider for remote leadership training in my company?” Recently, I was asked this question by a CEO. It’s a question many CEOs, VPs of People and Culture, and CHROs have been asking themselves lately.… Read the full article ...

Here are the most imperative – and most overlooked – communication best practices for remote teams. An endless barrage of Zoom meetings. Non-stop Slack pings. This is your new normal, and it feels bleak. You think to yourself: “Communication best practices for remote teams must exist…right?” You’re having a hard time imagining the way you’re communicating… Read the full article ...

12 practices for how to build team morale remotely in the long-term, not as a short-term enthusiasm blip. Now, more than ever, the question, “How to build team morale remotely?” is one you may be asking yourself. From your team’s body language on Zoom calls, you can just tell. Folks look work thin. Energy levels… Read the full article ...

Here are 5 practices for giving feedback remotely that help encourage behavior change even at a distance. “Lost in translation” only begins to describe the perils of giving feedback remotely. How do you tell someone that their tone needs to improve, without your own tone offending them and hindering the likelihood that they’ll want to… Read the full article ...

Want to get the remote onboarding process right? Be sure to incorporate these 13 questions. I won’t bury the lede: The one thing you’re likely missing from your remote onboarding process is what I call a “work preferences survey.“ The concept is by no means novel. You want to better understand the working style of… Read the full article ...

Yes, we know employee recognition is important. But how to recognize remote employees in a way that feels authentic? Here are 6 recommendations. While we’re all chatting through screens, typing on our keyboard, and shooting off emojis, you may be wondering how to recognize remote employees in a way that doesn’t feel as sterile or… Read the full article ...

To elevate your new managers, here are the exact 4 areas to include in your new manager training. “How exactly do I get new manager training right?” I hear this question often because, well, new manager training is a hard thing to nail. First of all, anytime someone is new at anything, it’s hard to… Read the full article ...

You may be asking yourself this as a manager, right now. I am too. My heart is breaking. Yours might be too. Last week was a reminder of how unfathomably messed up our world is.  In the wake of the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery – and too many others – I’m… Read the full article ...

When an employee is underperforming while remote, it’s tough to know exactly what to say and do. Here’s a path you can pursue to manage a remote employee who is slipping. An experienced manager will tell you that it’s always easy to manage a remote employee when they’re performing well. But what about when they’re… Read the full article ...

Here’s an exact agenda template to use and 5 key best practices to make sure you get the most out of your remote 1-on-1 meeting. If I told you, of all the things you were transitioning from being in-person to online, that your remote one on one meeting would be most critical… Would you believe… Read the full article ...

You want your team to feel connected remotely but how do you do it without cheesy games and activities? Here are 8 ways to get virtual team building right. Virtual team building is top of mind for you. Now that your team isn’t working in the same office anymore, the things you used to say… Read the full article ...

Care about remote team morale? These critical questions to ask remote employees can help support your team as a manager. During these uncertain times, many of us as leaders might feel beholden have answers – not questions – for our team. Questions to ask remote employees are likely not top-of-mind. We’re expected to have answers to… Read the full article ...

You want to help as a manager – but how? Here are 8 ways to help ease stress, improve morale, and make working remotely easier for your team. You want to support remote employees in your now all-remote team. But how, exactly? These past few weeks, I’ve gotten countless of questions around how to support… Read the full article ...

With remote leadership, it’s easy to succumb to management practices that hurt our team. Here’s how to avoid doing so. I’m deeply troubled: Remote leadership can bring out the worst in us as leaders if we’re not mindful. Let me explain. Amidst COVID-19 with more teams are becoming remote than ever before, leaders who are… Read the full article ...

In these troubling times, a lack of motivation at work might not only affect your employees – it can affect you as a leader, too. Consider these 5 tips. You don’t want to be feeling it, but there it is: A lack of motivation at work. That. You’ve noticed it bubbling up inside of you… Read the full article ...