Today, a dream of ours comes true: We’re launching our online leadership training product for first-time managers. A dream realized Today, we’re launching a product we’ve been envisioning for the past decade: A single place online where you can learn how to become a better leader. Introducing our Manager Learning Path – an all-in-one online… Read the full article ...

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 ...

Ready for an even more convenient + user-friendly experience? We thought so. 😃 We’re excited to announce that we’ve launched a brand-spanking-new design of Know Your Team, tailored to make it even easier for you to find what you need, catch up with your team’s updates, and use on any device. Here’s a peek into… Read the full article ...

Dear customer support specialist who cares about doing meaningful work, If your dream is to help people have a positive experience with a solution that truly makes a difference and to do it with a small team that values freedom, sustainability, and ownership, I’ve got good news for you… we’re hiring a Customer Support Specialist… Read the full article ...

If you’ve never been a fan of performance reviews, our tool + guide are for you.  Reviews are for books, movies, and restaurants.  Reviews are not for people.  The concept of “performance reviews” has always felt odd to you, as a result. As a leader, you want your team to continually level-up and improve –… 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 ...

If you’ve always wanted to deepen your leadership skills, apply to the Fall 2021 cohort of our Global Manager Learning Path. “I’ve never participated in any sort of leadership training program How am I supposed to lead well?” If you’ve found yourself asking this, you’re not alone. Most of us, as leaders, are promoted into… 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 ...

Know Your Team is now available for organizations with 1,000+ people. Support hundreds of managers in your organization with our tools and resources for manager development. What’s the best way to support managers in an organization with 1,000+ people? You have several options: You could invest in creating homegrown learning development programs for your managers… 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 ...

Understand your team’s working styles with our Work Preferences Survey in our Icebreakers, so you can all work better together. Do you know your team’s work preferences? How do they prefer to receive feedback? What is their orientation around conflict? What pet peeves they have around others’ working styles? The answers to these questions aren’t… 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 ...

Positive recognition in the workplace doesn’t have to be sterile nor contrived. We’ve made it easy to do well (especially while remote). According to a 2015 Interact/Harris Poll with 1,000 employees, 63% of employees do not think their managers give positive recognition in the workplace. Ouch. Might you accidentally be one of those managers? It’s… 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 ...