Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Monday, May 29, 2017
Mental Health: Workplace Strategies for Leaders to Pay Attention
It stands to reason that the healthier we are, both physically and mentally, the better prepared we are to face the challenges and opportunities of the day – and the more productive we can be. I recently had an amazing conversation with a client about ways that we could improve the health, and specifically, mental health in the workplace. We came up with five strategies that I’d love to share with you.
- Set boundaries. As a leader, can you initiate some boundaries within your team dynamics that makes it OK for people NOT to answer their phone at night or weekends when they may be spending quality time with the people they love? Can you make it a policy to limit the off-hours engagement required via email/text and messenger? Can you encourage your staff to make business time a priority during business time – and family/personal time a priority when they are away from the office or workspace? While it may seem counterintuitive to go against the all-work-all-the-time trend we’ve seen in recent years, science and experience tells us that more balance leads to higher productivity, less burn out, more team cohesion and a happier, healthier workplace.
- Work from home. Can you create some flex-time for your team that allows them to work from home occasionally or on set days so they can use that them to hyper-focus on specific tasks away from office distractions? While maybe not for everyone, for many, this shift in atmosphere can be a big boost to managing often weighty to-do lists.
- Get outside. Not long ago I worked with a client who had just moved their workspace to a new facility. With the new location, they had an opportunity to create an amazing outdoor space for their team members complete with Wi-Fi, comfortable sitting areas, couches, and shade spots. AND they made it totally acceptable for team members to take their work outside and get a little nature in their day. The results were about what you’d expect them to be. Happier team members, increased productivity and less absenteeism. Sounds like a win-win-win – don’t you think?
- Create wellness groups. With so many of us turning an eye to fitness, it’s fun, and engaging to create wellness groups within your organization. The Fit-Bit folks commune with daily and weekly challenges, some host weight loss contests or bring in nutritionists. Can you do the same for your organization? Perhaps bring in a few professionals that can teach your team physical and mental health and wellness strategies that can kick off new initiatives and company focus?
- Community service. You know that feeling you get when you do something good for others? Why not encourage that within your organization. I love my client Trinity Health. When they do leadership events, they always include a service project within their community. It’s a great way to encourage service within their team, and help the communities that surround them. Can you think of ways you can put policies in place that encourage and reward your team members to volunteer and act in service as well?
Need more ideas for how you can improve the overall wellness, stress level and morale of your team? Watch this to learn:
– How to permit employees to set boundaries for after hour work requirements
– How to create a workplace that promotes health and wellbeing
– How to alleviate the stress from disruptions in the workplace.
Here’s to your mental health and well-being and that of your team! If you’d like to learn more about making the most of your team, increasing productivity, attention and profitability – then call me. I’ve got the answers you’ve been looking for!
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Thursday, May 25, 2017
Creating Contextual Models – Help Your Audience to Pay Attention
I recently had the privilege be interviewed by Michael Port on his podcast, Steal the Show, where we discussed creating contextual models and the ah-mazing impact it has to drive home your message to your audience and listeners. Please, be my guest and read along as I share the power of contextual modeling and how it can benefit you, your message and your listeners.
The Strategy of Creating Contextual Models
So what is contextual modeling, and why is it important not just for speakers, but for executives, or sales people, or anybody else that’s trying to get other people to understand what they have to offer, consume what they have to offer, and then say yes to it?
Contextual models are illustrations that sell your intellectual property, whether you’re internal thought leader or an external. You might be an internal thought leader, the go-to person in your company, as the expert. That’s really important to understand. If you’re known as expert in your field of leadership, as a speaker, author, trainer, consultant, and want the world to see and understand what information you have to share, contextual models will set you apart.
As a professional speaker myself, I believe every speaker needs a unique contextual model. It’s a snapshot of your intellectual property in a way that only you can explain. Now, think about big accounting firms. They all have their own versions of contextual models, and in really good ones, they’re the only people who can actually explain it to you, but what’s powerful about contextual models is it can be the basis of a book. It can be a slide in your keynote. It can be … You can have several contextual models that spin off one, but here’s the deal.
A contextual model is really just a square, a circle, or a triangle. Sometimes you smoosh them together, and stick some arrows on them, but that’s it, honey! It’s really …I think we over-complicate it, but you know yourself, that when you look through history … Think of the late Stephen Covey. First Things First, you know? He had the urgent versus important quadrant model. In the food industry, we have the food pyramid, whether you believe it or not is irrelevant. What people have smartly done is they’ve taken the complex, they’ve made it simple, and then put it in a contextual model. So that’s what contextual models are.
Why Creating Contextual Models are Necessary
If you want to make more money, contextual models will rock your practice. It just will, because it stands you out. There’s a bazillion speakers on leadership, time management, it doesn’t matter, pick a topic. But if you are the speaker that has the contextual model, you show that you have depth of intellectual property. It shows you’ve researched it, so that’s one of the reasons why.
Often times, there isn’t a huge difference between the people that are perceived as novices, and the people that are perceived as experts. The difference is typically only the ability to create contextual models. Those people are perceived as experts in part because they’re so good at organizing their information. Perhaps all of your intellectual property is in your head, and you know what others desire to learn, but haven’t figured out how to put it down either on paper and translate it to an audience in person.
Since people learn in a variety of ways, it’s important to provide context that helps visual learner embrace the information more easily, and your audible learners connect an image to what they’re hearing. Models are also great for summarizing a great deal of information into a few bite-size images allowing the reader and listener to dive deeper into the content they feel is most relevant to them.
Begin Visualizing Words in Contextual Models
Let me let you in on a secret. I think in models. I know that’s really like freaky, and I know I sound like I’m five, but I seriously, I think in models. So when you start talking to me, I’m already visualizing what that would look like. When you think about a contextual model, I referenced before that they’re really just squares, circles or triangles. Let me just throw some words out, and you tell me what shape comes to mind.
For instance, if I talk about people, what shape comes to mind for you? Most likely you think of the shape of a circle – like a hug, or a cuddle. So that makes sense, right?
If I’m talking about a process, like there’s a hierarchy to something, what kind of shape comes to mind? Most likely steps!
When you think about models, there are certain things that are going to lend themselves towards certain shapes. So whether it’s process, or people, there are certain things that are going to come to mind.
When to Use Contextual Models
I’m all about attention, and if you want to get peoples’ attention quickly, you need a model. People don’t have time anymore. They don’t have time to read through your blog, so give them a model. They’re like, “Oh, I’ve got it.” Now if they love your model, they’ll read further. So when I use models in my keynotes, sometimes it’s a slide, but often I’ll draw the model with my body. You can get really good at this.
You can know your intellectual property so well, that I have a Venn diagram that is the basis of my book called, Folding Time, it’s one of my keynotes. So on the stage, I draw the model with my hands and my body, and the audience is like, “Oh my god!” And I’m saying, “Guess what? It’s on page 27.” So people love that, but people who are visual can see me do it, and people who want to see it in a book can then do it.
Keep Models Visually Leading
Now, here’s another mojo trick. If you want your model to have mojo, you also want to give it movement. Movement is basically arrows. That’s the fancy way to do it. So if when you think about a process, and the process leads to the top, the arrows would point up. If you have a circular … One of my Folding Time models in my book, it’s a Venn diagram in the middle, but there’s arrows on the outside which indicate bigger things, and they keep moving so anyone who’s looking at it goes, “Oh, this is not complete, they keep moving.”
So you’ve got to think about with your models, if you want to give it some mojo, make it even sexier, another layer to it is give it movement. Does it go up? Does it go sideways? Does it go down?
For instance, when I created the sales process for Virgin, we created a sales cycle but it never actually closed the loop. Because we’re always selling, right? Just because a customer comes into the store, and maybe they want a cellphone from Virgin, but they also might need a safety plan because they’re going to drop their cellphone. When you think about sales, it doesn’t stop because we’ve reached the transaction at the end, where the customer or the client has bought the product. When I create sales models for clients, if I do that level of consulting, it’s then about keeping it as an open loop, because you don’t actually ever close the sale, you just open the relationship.
So think about the power of arrows, and where the arrowhead even goes, that elevates your IP again. I mean, there’s so many layers to models, I get super excited about models.
change, it’s often a slight two millimeter difference, and he brought that up because I gave him an example of doing a voiceover without a smile, and doing a voiceover with a smile, because we were talking about the different voices you use for a negotiation.
So first, consider a shape that comes to mind first. What’s the shape that comes to mind around your intellectual property? Is it a process model? Is it a value model? Then, consider what kind of keywords or phrases do you use? Is there movement you can have for mojo? And then all of a sudden you start creating your model.
Models give leaders tools to be able to communicate more powerfully, and that’s another thing. If you’re a speaker listening to this, or a consultant, your model makes it easier for your clients to buy you. It makes it easier for them to justify the investment they’re making in you. Just as a heads up, every time that I add a model to a proposal, generally speaking, I close about 98% of those deals, because no one else puts their models in their proposals, but what a client can see is there’s depth.
Get Started Creating Contextual Models
Are you ready to create a contextual model to help support your information and create an impactful learning tool for your listeners?
Start, first, by looking for models that inspire you. Start seeing what resonates with you. Start to look for models and see what resonates with you, and then start thinking through first. What shape comes to mind? When you think about your contextual messages, the biggest messages of your presentation, or your book, or your keynote, or your consulting agreement, what’s the biggest message you wish your audience to hear? And what shape comes to mind?
Go to my website, there’s actually a cheat sheet. So there’s models already created from the thought leadership community that you can just download.
I believe people’s’ attention is the greatest gift, and when people give you their attention, whether they’re reading your blog, or watching a video, or they’re sitting in audience watching a keynote, that’s the greatest thing they can ever give, is their attention. We all have such a limited amount of time, and a limited amount of attention. As a result, it is our responsibility when we have a message to share with the world, is to present it in a contextual model where you get to the point quickly, you really show people you are saving them time by giving them the best, most meaty part of the information they need to know immediately and up front. Do your model early, do it quickly, and your listeners and audience will remember your information better, more effectively and with greater ease and understanding.
Want to learn more how about how to creating contextual models can assist you in delivering your message? Listen to the Michael Port podcast, Steal the Show, in its entirety. Join us here and listen in! For more Michael Port interviews with Neen James, check out: Steal the Show.
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Monday, May 22, 2017
Pay Attention to Build Trust and Transparency Among Leaders
Incredible leaders understand developing and keeping work relationships requires one to build trust and transparency for an increase in productivity, productivity and accountability. That’s why I wanted to look at five essential strategies that can nurture that trust, and develop a stronger connection amongst team members which is a win for everyone.
- Explain your decisions. What I’ve found is that people are much more willing and eager to do the WHAT when they understand the WHY. Let your team members know the thought processes behind projects, how the outcome effects the organization and what they can expect by way of time and resources and you’ll find people more apt to jump in with both feet and get the work accomplished in less time with more enthusiasm.
- Share the goals. There’s an old saying, “A team working together towards a common goal will always accomplish more than an individual.” Can you give your team members the top three goals for where you are headed as a company that they can then use as a filtering system for all their decisions? If they are really clear on the goals, you’ll find that they productivity will rise and their ability to focus on what’s most important increase as well.
- Say no. While that may sound counterintuitive, we often have to say NO to some things in order to say YES to the things that really matter. You also need to give your team members the autonomy to say no as well, within reason. If their plates are too full or they are not the right fit for a project for example, they should have the security that they can communicate that with leadership without repercussion.
- Host a town hall. When I was in the oil industry in Australia, I had a boss who did this on a regular basis. He’d gather top leadership and host an open question session with all of the team members. It was such a valuable experience for us all to be able to speak directly and openly with the executives in our organization. It made everyone feel like they were part of the process and an integral part of the team.
- Communicate often and early. As leaders, we are often in the know well of things that are coming down the pipeline. Client issues. Revenue numbers that need to be focused on. New projects in the wings. Changes in company structure or policies. Smart leaders don’t keep all of those things to themselves, or wait until the last minute to spring it on their teams. They communicate often and early about all things that effect how and when team members need to respond to their tasks. That way, everyone can get on the same page and get what needs to be done accomplished in the best and most timely way possible.
Need more ideas for how you can build a cohesive, super team of productive employees? Check out this video to learn:
– How to create open communication and dialogue within leaders and their teams;
– Create employee trust for the leaders within your business
– Create transparency among leaders so employees understand the why behind decisions
All of these strategies are aligned to build trust within your team and company and helping everyone work cohesively and efficiently. It’s also what helps people jump in when they know there is a crisis or a goal without hesitancy or complaint. See if they are strategies you’d like to adopt in your own company for great results. If you need help developing the team that can take your business to ah-mazing new heights, give me a call. I’d love to share with you how I can be of service.
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Friday, May 19, 2017
The Perfect Introduction in 6 Words or Less: Give Attention to Get Attention
I am constantly looking for people or brands that are truly paying attention to what matters, whether it is the brand they’ve built, the community that they serve, or maybe it’s a product they’ve created. Meet one of the smartest guys I know, Clay Hebert.
Clay has trained senior leaders from Fortune 500 companies, organizations. His speaking clients include Accenture, Pfizer, Zappos, and some top universities around the world. He advises corporations, start-ups on strategy, marketing, innovation, and culture. He’s got the ability to quickly name and frame things, which is one of the things that attracted me to his phenomenal brain. He does it like no one I’ve ever seen. He also created The Perfect Intro, a targeted way to truly get attention in six words or less – the formula for a perfect introduction.
You see, Clay believes attention is about being in the moment. If you’re paying attention, it’s a short-term thing, it’s a right now thing. If it’s a speaker on stage, or a conversation you’re having with somebody at a coffee shop, attention is right here, right now and a look-you-in-the-eyes connection. Every one of us has been in a situation where we are asked the dreaded question: “What do you do?” I bet every one of us has been guilty of finding ourselves on a 5 minute long running diatribe listing off our resume as a response.
That’s why Clay was inspired to create The Perfect Intro. He believes if you are truly paying attention to those in the moment, you should meet, greet and connect with those sharing that moment with you. Even if you don’t know those people, they could play an important part in your day, week, career and more. Take the time to introduce yourself, ask questions and be deliberate in your conversation. Make a real connection with those around you in as meaningful of a way as possible, using the least amount of time and words as possible. Clay instructs listeners on how to make their interaction as succinct and to-the-point, allowing them to give attention and get attention in a quick way that benefits all. Clay’s presentation breaks down the art, purpose and myths of the introduction.
The Perfect Intro is a great asset to those that find themselves new to a company meeting coworkers for the first time, attending networking events or in a customer-facing job that requires you to share a little about yourself. It inspires you to define yourself in a sincere, meaningful way while understanding the purpose of the conversation is to benefit the other person. He recognizes other people in our immediate circle don’t need to know everything about us, just enough to be interested and intrigued to know more.
In his keynote presentation, Clay provides you with a base formula for the perfect intro. He helps you cut out the clutter in your conversation so you can get straight to the point in your introductions. No matter the conversational situation, Clay’s introduction strategy will help you give attention to your audience in a way that’s beneficial to them and to your relationship.
If you want to get the point in your introductions, maximize your time networking and master your “What do you do?” response, call Clay today.
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Thursday, May 18, 2017
Monday, May 15, 2017
Paying Attention to LEADERSHIP Versus MANAGEMENT – 5 Strategies for Success
Ever stop to pay attention to the difference between LEADERSHIP versus MANAGEMENT? One isn’t better than the other necessarily – but they do definitely take you down different paths. Management is all about the right here, right now. Managing processes and people and staying in the status quo. Leadership, however, is about looking into the future and mapping out new ways to thrive for yourself and your team.
Let’s take a look at five ways you can drive a leadership versus management mentality:
- Collaborate versus delegate. Delegate is when you are just telling people what to do. Collaboration, on the other hand, is bridging gaps between people. Reaching out for insights and ideas and new perspectives from other people Can you reach out to other people in your organization, across departments or even outside your own company to find new, mutually beneficial ways to problem-solve, build momentum and grow? It’s a powerful connection when you can.
- Be strategic versus tactical. It’s easy, I know, to get caught up in the tactical part of tackling your daily to-do lists. Leadership-thinkers take it to the next step. They look to the future goals and ask bigger questions so they can help craft new and better paths to success.
- Design over process. Start today to question the design of how things have “always been done”. Look for the opportunities where you can design new growth. Where you can re-think old processes. Improve skills. Fuel innovation. And encourage positive change.
- Listen over talk. Communication is a powerful tool for both managers and leaders. The difference? Leaders give as much attention as they get (and sometimes more). They listen to both what is said, and what is unsaid. I find sometimes the biggest answers lie in that in-between! They listen, learn and then use that insight to challenge processes and improve systems.
- Ownership verses routine. It’s easy to fall into routines. They are fast tracks, however, to mediocrity. Instead encourage your team members to take ownership of their projects. Of the processes. Of their time. Their decisions. Their careers. Their choices. When you take ownership, you sharpen your focus on the things that the most important, and when that happens in an organization, everyone gets better.
Need more ideas? Watch for more tips and ideas for how you can get your managers thinking more like leaders:
This week, can you begin to shift your mindset from manager to leader, embrace these strategies and take action to bring them to fruition? Ah-mazing things can happen when you do.
If you need help fast-tracking leadership skills, strategies and mindsets within your team, give me a call today. That’s one of the things I love to do best!
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Wednesday, May 10, 2017
World Class Realtors Pay Attention to Their Clients – With Six Figure Real Estate Coach Roberta Ross
Love meeting new people that share my same enthusiasm for paying attention to what really matters. I had a chance to catch up with Six Figure Real Estate Coach Roberta Ross recently and loved what she had to share about teaching real estate agents the value of attention.
Q: What does attention mean to you?
A: I’m a big believer in the power of attention — but the RIGHT kind of attention. I mean you can stand in the road with a sign saying I’m an REALTOR®! That will get you attention, but is it the kind you really want? For me, I think it’s wiser to ask if what we are sharing serves us or if it is aligned with who you are and what you want to accomplish? If not, then narrow that focus to the things that are most important to you. I also believe it’s imperative to pay attention to what we’re passionate about. I know when I coach real estate agents to focus on the things that they’re passionate about, they can be their best for those around them. I practice that same focus!
Q: Can you share a time that re-focusing on something specific changed your perspective or result?
A: Recently, I found myself maxed out on time slots for real estate coaching and wondered about my next move. I had an idea to host a two-day event, but was dragging my feet. I just didn’t feel passionate about it. So, I refocused on what I WAS passionate about — helping people grow their businesses, but with more joy and more ease. And that was it. Suddenly, that shift in focus sparked an avalanche of ideas. I was waking up at 3a.m. to write notes. I put it out there and within two days it was sold out. Once it aligned with my passion, it was easy. That’s the sweet spot! From that revelation to the fruition of the event was just about a month. That’s what ideal attention can do!
Q: What is the most important thing on which you need to pay attention?
A: I believe what’s most important is to constantly evolve as a person and business person. When I do, everyone around me benefits. My clients, audiences, real estate coaching members – everyone. Constantly growing as a person is so important.
Q: Can you think of an example of a company that does a great job of paying attention to their customers or clients?
A: Years ago, I had an opportunity to meet Tony Hsieh, three days after he sold Zappos to Amazon for $800 million. His philosophy was that they were not a shoe store, but a customer service company. I loved that. A year later, I toured Zappos and their attention to detail was amazing. There was absolutely no time limit for taking care of a customer. Whatever it took to provide an excellent experience. Customer Service staff were empowered to do their best to answer any questions that came their way – even if it had nothing to do with Zappos. He gave a great example: One late night, they got a call from some folks who wanted pizza and, as a joke, someone said, “Let’s call Zappos, they’re open 24 hours!” Sure enough, they called and the customer support team did the research and gave them numbers for three pizzerias that were open past midnight! Now THAT’S re-markable (as Seth Godin would say) service!
Q: Have you focused attention as a team on a specific problem-solving task or client need?
A: As a business coach, that’s a regular practice! As a result, I have a high retention rate. My new mission is to help other real estate agents make more money, experience more joy, and succeed with ease. I help them focus their attention so that they can accomplish that. I used to think it was enough to help people make more money, but now, I teach them to align themselves with their passion – and the people that fuel that passion. It allows them to attract the right customers and the right opportunities so that they have less conflict and stress. In turn they do make more money, but they are much happier as well.
Want to learn more about Roberta? Visit http://ift.tt/1RBwycz.
Want to learn more about teaching YOUR team to pay ATTENTION to what’s REALLY important? Give me a call. I’d love to share some strategies with you.
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Monday, May 08, 2017
How to Create an Agile and Flexible Work Environment
Meeting the challenges of today’s workforce and competitive markets means strong leadership has to pay attention to detail and lead with a whole new kind of flexibility. When they do, creativity, productivity and profitability go up – and attrition, team disputes and burnout go down.
I’m often called upon by clients to help them determine what a shift in flexibility would mean to their work environment and team members—and help to create a process to make it happen.
I find these five strategies are a really good start
Tip your hat to technology. How far we’ve come! Technology makes agility and flexibility easier now than in any time in history! People can now work from home, email from airplanes, telecommute and patch into meetings on the other side of the world with ease. That’s powerful. Leverage that ability.
Remove the burden of guilt. Do you have a team member that would be served best working from home? Someone who needs to shift their hours to make childcare work? The goal is to get the work done, and done well – right? Not really about where it takes place or at what time of day. Remove the guilt, increase the flexibility – and watch the workflow accelerate.
Foster unity. Teams who are united, who get each other, who support each other will always accomplish more with less stress. That sense of unity kicks in when someone is on vacation, sick, caring for an ill child or has a family emergency and eliminates the panic. The rest of the team picks up the slack, honors the responsibilities and keeps the work world spinning gladly, because they understand that if there comes a time when they need a helping hand, someone will do the same for them. That kind of unity starts at the top with leadership. Foster it, model it and support it throughout your whole team.
Reevaluate your environment. One of the first things I do when consulting with an organization that wants to increase flexibility and productivity is look at their work spaces. Is it time to do away with cubicles? Can you consider a more open work space? Who needs a quiet space to work? Who works better with collaboration? Is there an area to brainstorm? Is the temperature conducive to productivity? Is there enough light? When you reconsider all the components of your work environment and directly match them up to what your team needs to be at their best you’ll create a space for people to work at their highest and best capacity.
Create a distraction-free zone. Can you create an area of your work space or a time frame each day that is declared DISTRACTION-FREE? That means there are no meetings and no interruptions from peers or management during that time and everyone has the freedom to complete work, create, and stay on task. For some organizations, implementing just this one idea changes the whole dynamic of their work days by decreasing stress and increasing productivity. Try it.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on what you’ve done to add more agility to your organization. If you’d like more strategies on getting the most from your team by paying attention to what really matters – for you and your team, I’m happy to consult.
In the meantime, take a look at this video and learn more about creating workspaces ideal for your teams that will motivate productivity and focus, boost morale and drive employee engagement.
Powerful things happen when you shift your attention to difference-makers for people. I can help you discover those and set your organization on a whole new path to accomplish ah-mazing things! Call me today to learn more!
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Friday, May 05, 2017
Pay Attention to Employees – Drive Engagement, Improve Morale, Increase Productivity
How do you create a more cohesive, cooperative and creative team of employees? Start by paying ATTENTION to what matters to them and their success. Attention is a powerful tool to increase morale, productivity and accountability within your employee base. It starts, of course, with leadership. Here are five tips for truly paying more ATTENTION to your employees that will have everyone reaping the benefits of that attention.
Tip one: Survey your employees. “What Neen? Actually, ask them what they think?” Yes. Many of my media clients do this very successfully. They create an anonymous survey where employees are free to share ideas on things like focus and improvement without fear of repercussion or embarrassment. It’s a great tool to assess what’s going on with your team and learn ways that you can help them succeed, and your organization thrive.
Tip two: Eliminate unnecessary meetings. One of the fastest ways to increase productivity is to decrease meeting time and the number of meetings your employees are requested to attend. Take a good hard look at your “regularly scheduled programming” of business meetings and strike those that are just meetings for meetings sake. For all other meetings, figure out how you can accomplish more in less time by being succinct in topic, talking points and desired outcome. You are literally giving your staff gifts of time by cutting the extraneous meeting minutes. They’ll appreciate it, and in turn, have the time to focus on their tasks at hand.
Tip three: Stop communication after hours. Some of you are going to struggle with this one, I’m sure. We live in a 24/7 world, right? Smart phones in hand that can accomplish extraordinary feats of business brilliance. That’s wonderful. However, a life out of balance for too long creates stress, burnout and decreases productivity in employees. Off hours, with the exception of rare emergencies, should be considered OFF hours. For most employees? When the BOSS emails in the evening, they feel compelled to reply. Whether they are at dinner with their family, at a social event or just re-charging, it feels like they are still on the job. Instead, create agreements with your team regarding off-hour time and encourage everyone to respect those agreements. One trick many of my clients use is to write their emails and notes when they are thinking of them, but they simply save them and set time aside each morning to deliver those messages so that their employees receive them during ON hours, rather than off.
Tip four: Create focus groups. I love this one. Can you create smaller groups within your larger organization that can brainstorm specific challenges, client needs or processes across departments? That can spark powerful innovation within your company as it gives people new voices to help create solutions and synergies. When they do, they feel better seen and heard, and that’s what EVERYONE needs to feel successful and valued.
Tip five: Create community groups. This is similar to tip four but where a focus group might be a short-term employee engagement opportunity, a community group, also called employee resource groups or affinity groups bring together people not just from across the organization, but thought leaders from the community as well. These groups meet regularly, often bringing in a speaker, to share ideas, solutions, network, problem solve, and have some fun with like-minded people.
There you go. Five ways to start paying ATTENTION to the things that can help you accelerate employee engagement which will lead to higher productivity, profitability and accountability. Need more ideas? Watch this video and gain inspiration to:
- Address engagement issues and drive better behavior within employees;
- Understand what excites your employees and how you motivate them;
- Focus on morale and ensure employee happiness and well being.
If you want to learn more about how to move your team to a higher, more engaged level with predictable, accelerated results, give me a call today to find out how I can help. G’day!
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Monday, May 01, 2017
Paying ATTENTION to Employee Engagement
How do you drive employee engagement and create a more cohesive, cooperative and creative team? Start by paying ATTENTION to what matters to them and their success. Attention is a powerful tool to increase morale, productivity and accountability. It starts, of course, with leadership. Here are five tips for truly paying more ATTENTION to your employees that will have everyone reaping the benefits of that attention.
Tip one: Survey your employees. “What Neen? Actually, ask them what they think?” Yes. Many of my media clients do this very successfully. They create an anonymous survey where employees are free to share ideas on things like focus and improvement without fear of repercussion or embarrassment. It’s a great tool to assess what’s going on with your team and learn ways that you can help them succeed, and your organization thrive.
Tip two: Eliminate unnecessary meetings. One of the fastest ways to increase productivity is to decrease meeting time. Take a good hard look at your “regularly scheduled programming” of business meetings and strike those that are just meetings for meetings sake. For all other meetings, figure out how you can accomplish more in less time by being succinct in topic, talking points and desired outcome. You are literally giving your staff gifts of time by cutting the extraneous meeting minutes. They’ll appreciate it, and in turn, have the time to focus on their tasks at hand.
Tip three: Stop communication after hours. Some of you are going to struggle with this one, I’m sure. We live in a 24/7 world, right? Smart phones in hand that can accomplish extraordinary feats of business brilliance. That’s wonderful. However, a life out of balance for too long creates stress, burnout and decreases productivity. Off hours, with the exception of rare emergencies, should be considered OFF hours. For most employees? When the BOSS emails in the evening, they feel compelled to reply. Whether they are at dinner with their family, at a social event or just re-charging, it feels like they are still on the job. Instead, create agreements with your team regarding off-hour time and encourage everyone to respect those agreements. One trick many of my clients use is to write their emails and notes when they are thinking of them, but they simply save them and set time aside each morning to deliver those messages so that their team members receive them during ON hours, rather than off.
Tip four: Create focus groups. I love this one. Can you create smaller groups within your larger organization that can brainstorm specific challenges, client needs or processes across departments? That can spark powerful innovation within your company as it gives people new voices to help create solutions and synergies. When they do, they feel better seen and heard, and that’s what EVERYONE needs to feel successful and valued.
Tip five: Create community groups. This is similar to tip four but where a focus group might be a short-term employee engagement opportunity, a community group, also called employee resource groups or affinity groups bring together people not just from across the organization, but thought leaders from the community as well. These groups meet regularly, often bringing in a speaker, to share ideas, solutions, network, problem solve, and have some fun with like-minded people.
Need more ideas? Watch this video below to learn how to:
- Create more engagement between your valued employees
- Learn how to create community within your team
- Create retention among your trusted employees
There you go. Five ways to start paying ATTENTION to the things that can help you accelerate employee engagement which will lead to higher productivity, profitability and accountability. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
If you want to learn more about how to move your team to a higher, more engaged level with predictable, accelerated results, give me a call today to find out how I can help. G’day!
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