Leadership – inspirations

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Leadership Impact: Your Attention – How Well do You Lead from the Dance Floor?

Where is your attention when you are on the dance floor? Your moves, your partner, the music, those around you, the space around you?

Can you detect the full flow of the room from the dance floor? The patterns, who’s in, who’s out, the space?

To see the bigger picture, you need to get off the floor and get a better perspective. What would getting up on the balcony do for your perspective?

Are you trying to lead your organization from the dance floor? Here are a couple areas to test yourself.

Take inventory of the meetings you attended as the leader, when the purpose was to solve a problem. How much time did you spend focused on getting the problem to a solution? I am sure you can say, all the time, that was the purpose of the meeting.

I mean what percentage of the time were you fully engaged “hands on” in the problem solving? Did you observe the flow of the room, see who was in and who was out or were you dancing with members of the team? It’s hard to pull back and watch. After all, you were promoted to this role because that is what you do, solve problems.

What ongoing programs are under your cognizance? Take an inventory of your level of immersion in your most challenging program. Are your program managers bringing their challenges to you to solve? If they are, they are asking you to dance. What should they be doing?

Lastly, think about the holistic performance of your organization. Only this time in your mind get on the balcony and play a mental video. What do you see when you zoom in and observe yourself? Where are you and what are you doing?

Visualize a linear spectrum, with the dance floor on the left and the balcony to the right. I would equate the dance floor with tactical engagement and being on the balcony as strategic engagement.

Graphic explaining Engagement

 

Is a fire chief most effective, actually fighting the fire or observing and directing those fighting the fire? Where are you most effective in leading your organization? How close to the action and what level of tactical interaction makes you and your team most effective?

We have to slow ourselves down and get off the dance floor to get to the balcony. Once there, take the time to observe.

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Leadership Impact: Attention.

Pay Attention to Your Attention

You entered your second meeting of the day right on time, frustrated that you ran the last meeting right up against this one. As you scan the team of 12 around the conference table you note Julia who was the topic of your previous meeting. The relationship with her supervisor is at an all-time low and she knows you just came from a discussion with her boss. Her expression is one of foreboding.

Where is your attention?

Peak Mind by Amishi Jha,  she states “Your attention is the boss of your mind. Where you focus your attention the rest of your mind will follow.”  She is a neuroscientist and attention researcher.

Let’s look at the broad concepts Dr. Jha says affect your attention.

Big concept number one. Your attention is powerful, fragile, and trainable.

  • Powerful – where your attention goes, so does your mind
  • Fragile – our minds wander and are easily affected by events and surroundings
  • Trainable – we can train ourselves to improve our attention

Concept two: three different types of attention systems.

  • The flashlight – the orienting system, points your attention to a specific area
  • The floodlight – the alerting system, allows you to scan a large area and be alerted to focus your attention
  • The juggler – the central executive, oversees your actions to ensure you accomplish your goals

Think of walking into a large trade conference. Your floodlight is taking it all in and alerting you to areas/people of interest. You see a colleague or vendor booth you wanted to make contact with. The juggler manages shifting your attention.

What makes your attention fragile? First your mind is designed to wander; you cannot control it 100% of the time. However, you can be aware of what is going on with your mind and bring it back to where you want it. What are some of the elements that impacts attention?

  • The nature of the brain – it wanders
  • Stress
  • Threats
  • Mood

Each of the above put us into a cycle of ruminating on thoughts of past events or a potential future occurrence. It removes us from the present.

The goal of managing our attention it to be more present. A benefit of being “present” is we experience the moments which readily facilitate encoding information into long-term memory.

The Impact on Your Leadership

Let’s go back to the opening anecdote and apply all the concepts. Let’s make the assumption you are attending an important budget review meeting. Where is your attention?

It could be still back in the room processing your previous meeting. Entering the meeting your “floodlight” alerted you to Julia’s appearance.  You may shine your mental “flashlight” on her while the meeting is in progress, ruminating on the previous meeting or predicting a future contentious meeting. Regardless, you are not present.

You try to suppress the thoughts, which actually make it worse. You are continually pulled out of the present.  How do you move your attention to where it belongs?

First know yourself. What do you need to be present?

Maybe you need time to reset between events. How important is it to free your working memory by capturing data from each meeting? Freeing working memory allows you to devote mental capacity towards what is in front of you. The reality, it may be impossible to always have that time. Now you are in a meeting, with your attention on an ongoing dialogue in your head. Such as:

  • Some points to remember from the last meeting (stress)
  • What is Julia thinking? (threat)
  • What will be the repercussions of last meeting? (threat)
  • What is needed resolve the issue? (stress, mood)

What can you do to regain your attention? Research has found, mindfulness training has the ability to help you acknowledge distractions, label them, let them go, and move your attention to the present. Magic? Certainly not. Effective? Yes, as documented within numerous studies.

Mindfulness is defined as: the idea of learning how to be fully present and engaged in the moment, aware of your thoughts and feelings without distraction or judgment.

What would be the impact on you and your organization if you were more present at every event?

It is paying attention to your attention.

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Leadership Impact: Team Norms – How Does Hierarchy Affect Communication on Your Team? Case Study

Culturally we defer to individuals higher in the hierarchy. How is your team hierarchy affecting communication on your team?

The weekly staff meeting includes several levels of individuals in the organization. The meeting led by the CEO, includes VP’s and Directors to share updates, set the direction for the week, and make decisions. When decisions are on the table the CEO asks a lot of questions and solicits input. The responses are tepid, particularly on the more contentious issues as the CEO has shown she is not really open to discussion.

She has quickly jumped folks for challenging her or providing input that is contrary to her position. Several senior folks were publicly admonished in front of the team after showing disagreement and challenging her.

Over time the VP’s have begun having pre-meetings to prepare a strategy to deal with the CEO’s opposition to input. The meeting centers on how they can support each other to ensure important information is discussed, as she is not open to opposing views.

In this case, the hierarchy of the team is limiting input and discussion. Interestingly the CEO has stated numerous times she wants open discussion. However, her actions send a different message.

Leading the discussion, making her opinion and view known at the outset of a discussion, and being verbally aggressive, pushing her points are what the team sees. This is also typical behavior outside of meetings.

The hierarchy of this team is having a negative effect on team communication. Deference is the expectation and openness discouraged.

Deference: humble submission and respect.

Openness: lack of restriction; accessibility.

My opinion: leaders act on a spectrum ranging from deference on the left to openness on the right. Leaders who lead expecting deference are limiting their effectiveness.

Deference —————————————————————————————- Openness

Deference: I am in charge, do not challenge me openly. If you do, I will assert myself and show everyone I am in charge.

Openness: I am comfortable holding my opinion or view until I have heard from everyone else. Challenge me on my thinking and I will listen.

The Impact on Team Norms
In this case, the impact on the norms of team communication has been to restrict the flow of honest and important information. To preserve themselves the team is wasting time on strategizing how to communicate with the boss rather than actually communicating.

Frustration, posturing, and possibly withholding information have become parts of the norms.

Personalize this with your own story. Think of two teams, you are associated with; one led by someone else and one you lead.

Reflect on the hierarchy of the team you are part of. Where does the leader fit on the spectrum? What do the leader’s actions tell you? Do they expect deference or openness?

What has been the impact? Based on your answer take a minute and articulate to yourself the team norms around communication for that team. Here are some typical results.

Deference                                                                               Openness

Team members hold information                                      Sharing

Unwilling to articulate challenges                                     Challenges freely expressed

Team members on edge                                                       Team unity

Choose words wisely                                                             Speaks freely

Now, reflect and assess how your team has been communicating with you. Where do you fall on the spectrum?

Some questions that may shed some light on where you are.
– Have you been surprised by events you should have been aware of?
– Do you make the team aware of where you stand on an issue prior to others speaking?
– Does your team regularly bring challenges to meetings with you?
– Does the teamwork on solving issues before bringing them to you?

Based on the above, give a succinct statement about the team norms on communication for your team?

How is the hierarchy affecting the team norms around communication for your team?

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Leadership Impact: Offboarding

Remember how excited you were when you landed that position you coveted?

How was your onboarding process? It may have gone something like this. You checked in with HR, maybe they assigned a peer to assist you, maybe a mentor, and possibly introduced, recognized, or welcomed you with a small social event.

What has been your experience offboarding, personally or just watching from a distance. For those leaving on negative terms it could have been an escorted trip out the door. For most it is an HR department task of closing out pay, benefits, turning in ID cards, and being removed from the email system. What about the social side? Was there any kind of event, formal or informal with the team? A social event such as a team meeting, lunch, or a simple team gathering?

 

Here are two impactful offboarding events related to me by clients.

A senior member of a virtual team of 30, notified his leadership he was looking at the possibility of transitioning in about 90 days. He had been part of this team for 4+ years and was an impact player. He ultimately took a new position and gave his leadership and team 30 days’ notice.

On his final day, a couple of folks reached and chatted wishing him luck and he received several cards wishing him well. Nothing from the organization or his team officially. No group social event such as a virtual send off.

Impact: He left that organization very disappointed and unappreciated.

 

This next scenario was related to me by a coworker of the person offboarding. The individual departing was a line worker in an organization of approximately 100 people, all working in one building. He was a 6-year veteran leaving on very positive terms for an educational opportunity. Hence, the date of departure was on the calendar well in advance. On his final day a small recognition and get-together was planned by the leadership at lunch. As luck would have it, 8 inches of snow fell that day and they worked virtually for a couple of days.

The leadership never reached out to reschedule. Hence, no social recognition of his departure other than coworkers who reached out individually. He had since created his own Happy Hour event to say his goodbyes to a select crowd.

Impact: Assume this happened to you. What would be the impact on you?

 

Our work is social by nature and we all want to be recognized as a contributor to the mission. Organizations do not owe us anything more than our contract stipulates, right?

A portion of my coaching practice is in career transitions. In transitions “Information Meetings” have become the accepted method for networking while job searching. Those are short one-on-one meetings to learn about an organization. Discussions revolve around all aspects of work; the position, opportunities, and culture. What does the offboarding process say about your organization?

In teaching information meetings to my clients, I always recommend “…seek out alumni of organizations you are interested in.” Why, because alumni are unencumbered with what they can say. Most will freely share their experiences and opinions.

Offboarding is the final touchpoint an individual may have with you, your team, or your organization. What do you want that to look like? How does it contribute to the recognized culture of the team?

Culture is the entire experience from starting to leaving a team, small business, or large corporation. Cultures will form, be deliberate about forming the culture you want. Be deliberate with offboarding.

 

Here are some practices I have seen you may want to consider. A monthly social gathering to recognize those joining or leaving the team. A standard gift to recognize folks moving on to new challenges. The creation of alumni groups, on Facebook or LinkedIn, to keep former employees connected. The groups have proven to positively impact recruiting and goodwill.

These practices made offboarding a key component of companies deliberately managing their culture. Everyone wants to be celebrated and recognized.

What does offboarding look like for your team or organization? Do you know its current impact? Should it be more deliberate?

Ask your alumni and get their opinion.

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Leadership Impact: Humble Leadership

What does it mean when you say someone is a “Humble Leader”?

 

Sometimes it is easier to define when you give a description of what it is not. Here is a short story from a client in the medical field.

 

She is a county employee working for a government agency of approximately 200 people, 50 in the headquarters building, and the rest working as disbursed teams of 2-5 professionals. The teams provide health services on-site to their clientele. When COVID restrictions went into a place she continued to work at her site on the front lines.

 

This is her assessment of the leadership she worked under.

 

With a very short timeline, limited guidance, and equipment the disbursed teams were tasked to establish protocols at their sites. Requests to the leadership for additional guidance and clarification seemed to go into a black hole. The teams were told, “we are working on the policies.”

 

All-hands meetings scheduled to provide clarification were few and far between. When the virtual meetings were held, the focus was top-down direction and flow of information such as: “Do this by this time.” The exchange of ideas, sharing, and fielding questions from the professionals in the field rarely took place. Most supervisors attended the virtual meetings from home while the teams were in the field at their site. Top leaders did not always make the meetings. Every meeting was started with effusive praise and expressions of appreciation for all the hard work being done in the field. The actions did not match the rhetoric.

 

Visits to the sites were a rarity. In a one-year period, one supervisor visited twice. Both times to fulfill a required assessment visit.

 

In her words, “I never felt so abandoned in my professional life. It seemed as if the leadership did not have the answers and were afraid to admit it. They refused to ask us in the field for input, advice, or what we needed. It looked like they were hiding. In spite of the lack of leadership, we figured it out and got the job done.”

 

This feels like typical top-down, command and control leadership, where the leaders have all the answers and provide the direction to execute the mission.

 

How should humble leadership look and feel?

 

Humble leadership should have a feeling of respect for all, regardless of where they are in the organization. The leaders build relationships, admit what they do not know, accept feedback, and seek input from others, to accomplish the mission.

 

Jim Collins author Good to Great coined the concept of a Level 5 Leader. “An individual who blends extreme personal humility with the intense professional will.” This is a trait that his research revealed existed at every one of the companies that went from “Good to Great”.  Here is one other point of emphasis; “… they (level 5 leaders) are incredibly ambitious- but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves.”

 

The Impact of Humble Leadership

Let’s take the vignette above, make some assumptions about how humble leadership might have impacted this situation.

 

Relationships and the good of the entire organization would have been at the forefront of every decision. The leaders would have accepted their limitations, and opened lines of communication. Articulated they were in uncharted territory with the pandemic, which required flexibility, patience, input from all sectors.

 

Possible results:

  • Increased respect between the professionals in the field and the headquarters.
  • A steep learning curve for the entire organization
  • Continuous development of policies and processes
  • Understanding of the challenges each level was experiencing
  • A feeling of belonging to the team and being part of the solution

 

What does your personal leadership style and the leadership of your organization feel like?

 

Here are some self-evaluation questions to consider:

  • Are the ambitions of the leaders focused on the organization or themselves?
  • What does respect for individuals look like throughout the organization?
  • Do leaders look for feedback?
  • Do leaders develop relationships?
  • Do leaders admit their shortcomings?

 

Humble leadership has the ability to build cohesive and synergistic teams. The leaders show the vulnerability of needing all the members to be involved in building solutions.

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Leadership Impact: Confidence and Competence

“I have been a witness to numerous meetings where Jody speaks up, takes the lead in discussions, and readily shares his opinion. However, he is not the lead nor the most capable person to talk about the topic or project. Yet the result; the leadership thinks Jody is a super performer and leader because of the confidence he exudes. All of us, his coworkers, know he is not nearly as capable as other members of the team, yet he was promoted ahead of more capable peers.”

Is Jody’s display of confidence a misinterpretation of competence?

In a Harvard Business Review article titled “Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders”  Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, makes the argument confidence is often interpreted as competence.

Ever had feelings of disdain for an individual who was arrogant? What was the source of that distain?

Some thoughts to help us consider the answer to that question:

What is competence?

What is confidence?

Competence: How good you are at a task, skill, or talent you possess.

Confidence: How good you think you are at a task, skill, or talent you possess

How does an individual’s level of confidence actually correlate to their level of performance or skill?

The conclusion of many; high confidence equals high skill.

This conclusion is rarely confirmed by science. We have all heard of the statistic 80% of drivers believe they are better than average. What is the basis of that decision? It is not data. It likely comes from impressions, emotions, and feelings.

How did Jody get promoted if he is not producing? What was the measurement of his leadership?

What is your experience? On a scale of 1-10, score how true you think the following statements are with 10 being absolute truth and 1 being not true at all.

Highly incompetent individuals inaccurately assess their skills, abilities, and talents.

Highly competent individuals are typically self-critical of their skills, abilities, and talent.

The more capable an individual, the more critical they are of themselves, and aware of their limitations.

The less an individual knows, the less self-aware they are and can portend overconfidence.

My take, the disdain you felt for that arrogant colleague was a result of the overconfidence they exhibit based on their actual ability.

What makes overconfidence so prevalent?

Two reasons. First, many individuals do not have a realistic view of their capabilities, i.e., they think they are above-average drivers. Low self-awareness.

Second, the appearance of confidence gets rewarded. If a display of confidence, whether it is validated by competence, gets recognized, you will see “displays of confidence”.

Leadership Impact

In your leadership role, what are you recognizing as competence?

Some objective questions to ask yourself:

  • What measurable criteria am I using to promote and hire for leadership positions?
  • How does a display of confidence influence my view of competence?
  • What am I using to measure competence?
  • How do I view individuals in my organization that is quiet?

We all have biases. For years we have been influenced by stereotypes of confident leaders and see the confidence on lists of the traits of an effective leader. We have popular mantras we listen to such as “fake it until you make it” and glamorize the confident decisive leader.

Interview performance is often a dominant deciding factor when hiring or promoting leadership positions. That’s great if the interview actually determines competence. 

Want to have a significant impact on your organization? Develop, hire, and promote competent leaders. Uncover the link between confidence and competence in your leaders. Some possible actions:

  • Make self-awareness a key part of the leadership development of your potential leaders
  • Make evaluations and 360 assessments part of your leadership development program
  • Define measurable metrics for promotion into leadership positions
  • Reduce the weight interviews have on the criteria for leadership selection
  • Make interviews more objective evaluations of knowledge, skills, and abilities
  • Seek out competence in your organization and put it on display

Everyone wants confident, competent leaders. What are you doing in your organization to define it, develop it, and reward it?

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What’s Your Plan?

I was having a lunch meeting with my boss and three peers, arranged to share year-end information. As the business part of the meeting, she asked each of us to assess our individual development over the year.

 

She handed everyone a card with five bullet points she wanted us to address.

 

Discuss your professional development over this past year:

  • What was your plan?
  • How closely were you able to follow your plan?
  • How did you grow as a professional?
  • How are you going to move forward this year?
  • What is your grade measured against the criteria of the plan?

 

As I stared at the card I had this overwhelming feeling – I did not really have a plan. I was going with the flow that others set for me.

 

My thoughts were, when it came my time to talk, it was going to be like an evening at The Improv.

 

Two of my colleagues had well-thought-out plans and breezed through the conversation. I muddled my way through what felt pretty awkward. After our meeting l followed up with my peers. In that conversation, I learned the two higher performers had created their own “Individual Development Plan” for the year, which they used to guide and track their progress.

 

It was introduced to them by a previous leader who used the plan as a dynamic framework for the year. He kept it simple, concise and adapted for each individual as needed to suit them. It changed the way they looked at their development.

 

Consider working with your direct reports to complete Individual Professional Development Plans. It can be a game-changer as it sets the path forward and measures progress.

Development plans are a common tool used in coaching engagements. Below are several examples I have used with clients. Take what you see and modify it to make it work for you and the members you lead.

 

Consider initiating the process by having each individual create a draft plan to share with you. Your role should be more of a coach to help them shape it. Think big goals are broken down into smaller tasks, events, or behaviors.

 

Prioritize and minimize. Do not try to cover everything at once. Set reasonable goals, milestones, and metrics. Allow the team member to take ownership of their progress. You may be surprised by the positive impact on engagement and performance.

 

Example 1

 

Example 2 

 

Example 3

 

Leadership Development Plan

Goals and Actions

Development Goal:

State your top developmental goal and actions steps to achieve it using a SMART analysis. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timeframe

 

Example:

  • Improve my ability to delegate so that within the next six months I trust my direct reports to complete projects of moderate difficulty.

 

Actions – Start/Increase:

  • Within the next month, delegate at least one short-term (two-week) project to each direct report.
  • Establish weekly status meetings on projects

 

  • ________________________________________________________

 

Actions – Stop/Decrease:

  • Continually asking about the status of the projects

 

  • ________________________________________________________

 

Development Goal:

State the second priority developmental goal and actions steps to achieve it.

 

  • ________________________________________________________

 

Actions – Start/Increase:

 

  • ________________________________________________________

 

  • ________________________________________________________

 

Actions – Stop/Decrease:

           

  • ________________________________________________________

 

  • ________________________________________________________
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Remote Leadership: Culture

“What a toxic culture! I hope I never have to work in a place like that again!”

“That place had the most welcoming and collaborative culture I have ever experienced, it was a joy to work there.”

What was the best culture you ever worked in? What made it the best?

What is it that makes up the culture of a workplace or team? It is defined by workplace behaviors. The attitudes, how individuals and groups are treated, what is rewarded, reprimanded, recognized, and ignored all are elements of a culture. It is not just the people and the mix of their personalities. It is influenced by how they are led.

A little test. Write a couple of sentences about what you believe defines the culture of your team. Then have every team member anonymously do the same. Now you will have the definition of your culture. Better yet, you will have a direction on what you need to do about your culture; maintain it, tweak it, or overhaul it.

Do remote teams have a culture? Absolutely, just as an in-person environment does. Here are the elements I have seen leaders use that set a culture; 1) deliberately set the culture. If you do not one will develop and you might not be happy with it, 2) the culture of your team is defined by interpersonal interactions or the lack of them, 3) relationships need time and space to develop, and 4) reduce the distance between team members.

 

Deliberate

If you want a particular culture, state what you want and deliberately set out to establish it. Setting the standard through personal examples sets the tone. A culture of empathy, caring, and collaboration requires significant effort by the leader to establish. Will your team hold you up as the model of the culture? The example of the most empathetic, caring, and collaborative team member.

 

Ever experience a leader who lives by “…do what I say, not what I do?” I have and it created a team of cynics.

 

Interactions

The type, frequency, and tone of personal interactions is the key element. In your remote team are the interactions all based on an agenda or is there social time? How can you build into the remote connections interpersonal time? This can be a challenge and will take creativity.

 

Time & Space

What are you doing to create the time and space for the desired interactions?  Adding time to the beginning and end of agendas may work well for your team. Other teams may need to replace typical in-person events such as hallway time or lunch breaks with a virtual open hour, lunchroom, or coffee for team members to check in with each other.

 

Reduce the Distance

In reality, this is the goal. Physical proximity does not automatically reduce the distance between team members.  I have had a client actually say she feels more connected in the remote environment. Why? Because as an introvert she was able to hide in the in-person environment. The change to remote forced her supervisors to pay closer attention to who is interacting and how often. New attention is focused on inputs from all team members. When in the office she was actually more remote.

 

What is the culture you are cultivating with your team? Is it deliberate or are you just letting it happen? Are you creating the time and space for interpersonal interaction, and have you been able to decrease the distance between team members so they are integral members of the team?

 

Remote work is here to stay and the research shows those that who implement it well are increasing productivity. What could the impact be on your organization if you were able to fully leverage all the positives?

 

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Remote Leadership: Productivity

A few thoughts to get us started:
– How much does direct in-person supervision impact your team’s productivity?
– What metrics are you using to measure your team’s productivity?

Now a second perspective:
– How much does direct in-person supervision impact your productivity?
– What metrics are you using to measure your productivity?

Any insights based on your answers to the above?

Many leaders/managers/supervisors believe in-person supervision is required of others but not themselves. The in-person work philosophy folks believe they have the ability to personally impact output. How many missed tasked or deadlines have you experienced working in the in-person environment? Typically, the personal impact is overstated. Do supervisors really look over the shoulders of individuals all day long?

Numerous studies have documented increased productivity from remote workers in a wide range of business sectors in different countries. Interestingly the positive trends were prominent prior to the COVID lockdown of 2020.

The upsides of working remotely:
– Individual autonomy to make schedules
– Less commute time saving 400+ hours a years
– More exercise
– Less unproductive conversations/activity

The downsides
– Less unproductive conversations/activity resulting in less cohesion
– Many workers do not have the tools to support remote work (capable internet and other technology tools)
– Isolation of individual workers

What makes an effective team whether it is a remote or in-person team?

In J. Richard Hackman’s Six Conditions Model, team success is defined by the following:
· Task Performance – the team delivers what is expected by the customer/client on time, with quality.
· Quality of the Group Process – the team becomes increasingly effective over time.
· Member Satisfaction – the team contributes to the learning, growth and satisfaction of each member

I simplify this to; the team delivers what was expected on time and the team and individual team members improve over time.

How to ensure your team is successful?

Consider focusing considerable effort on two elements of the Six Conditions Model:
1) Solid Structure
2) Supportive Context.

Solid Structure
What has been taken away in the remote environment? The familiar structure has been removed and teams are in unfamiliar territory. Two elements are consistent routines and limited personal interactions. I consider team norms of behavior the most important part of a solid structure.

Norms of behavior are typically consistent when in-person. In the remote environment, expect to put forth significant effort to develop stability. Consistency tends to reduce the need for supervision.

The in-person environment also supports regular interpersonal interactions that build strong relationships. That is missing when working remotely. Therefore, being deliberate about building those opportunities into the remote workday may be a key to building an effective team.

Is it possible to integrate “hallway time” into your daily remote routines? I think it is. However, it has to make sense and fit the personality and rhythm of your organization. How can you create the time and space for those interactions to take place spontaneously as well as planned?

Supportive Structure
Frustration and stress result when missing the correct tools to do your job. Computer connections, software, hardware, cameras, VPN connections, training, education, and readily accessible support are required of everyone in the remote environment.

The time and space required to build a high performing team will never be available if you leave this item to chance. Outfit your team for success.

Think Observation Rather than Supervision
Create the conditions for you to observe your team rather supervise them. Research has validated the conditions required to create a high performing team. The two we talked about are two of those conditions.

What would be the impact on the productivity of your operation, if you could observe your team functioning at a high level rather than supervising to ensure compliance?

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Vacations Changing Landscape

Totally Disconnected, Partially Disconnected, or Working Vacations

Want to improve your well-being? Take a vacation.

Gallup found that those who take regular vacations with family and friends have a higher well-being score. There are physical, mental, medical, and relationship benefits. Earth-shattering? Not at all.

Can workers with high levels of responsibility really take a completely disconnected vacation?

Here is a personal experience. Gone and totally disconnected, in a fishing lodge without access to the internet, what a gift. Solitude and peaceful disconnection from my hurried world. I could have made arrangements to be connected but chose not to.

Well, that came to an abrupt end. As predicted when the floatplane flying us back towards civilization was within range of a cell tower, my phone started buzzing and dinging with notifications. I don’t remember the number of emails and messages other than to say it was a lot.

Now came the task of digging out. We have all been there.

In digging out I became frustrated when I came across several items that needed decisions and folks put them on hold until I could respond.

Would I have been better off staying somewhat connected?

That begs the question: What type of vacation will benefit you the most? Totally disconnected, partially, or a working vacation?

Gallup says 66% of employees remain connected and do some work while on vacation and that is how they want it. Most of these workers feel an affinity to their workplace and a responsibility to stay connected. They want to keep their projects on track and not have to “dig out” when they return.

Engaged workers want to remain engaged. The new remote work wave with a myriad of flexible options has us all defining work differently than being at the office.

I see three types of respite from the office, totally disconnected, partially disconnected, and remote work at a vacation site. Think about what each option means for you and your team members, well-being, effectiveness, and engagement.

As you think about each option, I believe the essential question that needs an answer is: What are the limits I can tolerate on being disconnected or having that team member disconnected?

Totally Disconnected
We all need some of this type of time. No requirements to engage in work-related activities. Executives, business owners, and individuals in dynamic workplaces where they are the primary decision maker have limits on this type of vacation. In fact, this can add to the stress level.

Partially Disconnected
What does partially disconnected mean to you? If you allow this option for yourself or your team members and require attendance at every virtual meeting, is that what you are really after? What is the purpose of allowing someone to take time away from the office but still remain plugged in? Who defines what partially disconnected is may be the key to this option.

There are a lot of benefits to this option. Key decisions are made, progress continues, and it meets the terms of the person out of the office. The individuals who volunteer for this type of option feel good about it.

Working Vacations
I call this remote work from a vacation destination. There is no calling the person back into the office for an emergency meeting. Individuals are fully plugged into their responsibilities during the agreed-upon workday. They attend meetings virtually, meet all their deadlines and milestones, only it is done remotely at a vacation destination. Outside of work hours they are swimming, surfing, golfing, or doing other vacation activities.

Consider what works best for you and your team members based on what you want to accomplish. If increasing engagement and well-being is a top priority, vacations have been shown to make a positive impact. Flexibility in the type of time off arrangements may add to that engagement.

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