More opinion
Five remote team new year's resolutions
Wayne Turmel
The new year is a great time to ask some fundamental questions about how your remote team works together and what needs to change.
The biggest source of conflict on diverse teams
David Livermore
Clashing expectations are the main source of conflict in almost any relationship. And nowhere is that more true than with the intercultural challenges of diverse teams.
The invisible killer of remote teams
Wayne Turmel
There is one factor that can be lethal for remote teams that usually isn't a problem when everyone is in the same place. That invisible killer is exclusion.
There's nothing soft about the heart
Wayne Turmel
Every animal depends on its heart for its existence. Organizations do too, except that rather than a multi-chambered muscle, they rely on leadership, managers and flows of information.
Turning around a dysfunctional team
Matt Jenkins
Bringing together a group of smart, creative and driven people doesn't mean they'll instantly work in sync. In fact, most cross-functional teams are dysfunctional in one way or another. Here are some ways to address that.
Accountability is more important than accounting
Wayne Turmel
What's more important: that people are working on exactly what you want them working on at that exact moment, or that important tasks and outputs are done on time and team goals are met?
End of furlough anxiety? Belongingness is the answer
Anne-Marie Finch
As the UK's furlough scheme comes to an end after 18 months, how can organisations help people facing the anxiety of returning to the office after an extended time away from the working environment?
Returning to work through the eyes of Maslow
Kon Apostolopoulos
As we design the "next" workplace, we need to shift our focus from where, when, and how employees perform their work, to why they want to perform it.
The culturally intelligent team
David Livermore
It's harder to get things done on a diverse team. But with moderate to high levels of cultural intelligence, diverse teams can outperform homogeneous teams in a number of important ways.
Could Covid make us better managers?
Steven Buck
At a time when the role of the manager has arguably never been more challenging, we are starting to re-evaluate what 'management' really means.
Make your people part of the solution, even virtually
Matthew Handley
This year has presented companies with a series of seemingly insurmountable problems. But those that find ways to engage their employees in the design of solutions are likely to rise above the adversity.
The mortar in a project's wall
Wayne Turmel
What holds a wall together is the mortar between the bricks. And what holds a project together is the effective, clear and proactive communication between individuals.
The myth of change management
Rod Collins
The world is changing much faster than their organizations. And that’s a big problem, because traditional businesses are not designed for adapting to change or aligning with shifting markets.
New year questions for team leaders
Wayne Turmel
What better time than the New Year to stop, reflect on what’s happened in 2020 and gird our loins for what looms ahead. In that spirit of reflection, here are five questions all team leaders should be asking themselves.
Why ‘how are you?’ is such an important question
Steven Buck
After this unprecedented year, finding ways for a team to connect and address the needs of the whole person rather than focusing solely on work priorities is more important than ever.
How to take expert advice
Wayne Turmel
You could drive yourself crazy trying to follow every piece of advice you get - and often the experts disagree. So how is a rational person supposed to take all this advice without their heads imploding?
Ideas are fragile (handle with care)
Max McKeown
If someone in your organisation has an idea, is it welcomed? Or does hierarchy, history and organisational politics make innovation impossible?
The group excluded from diversity programs
David Livermore
The US is a divided nation, in part because many working class individuals believe progressives and diversity advocates have compassion for everyone - except them. Might they be right?
Coping with COVID restrictions this winter
Lynda Shaw
In the midst of another lockdown and with the colder months are setting in, many of us are wondering how we are going to deal with this winter. Here are some tips on how to cope.
In praise of inconspicuous leadership
Duane Dike
Many so-called leaders have an unhealthy interest in the outward trappings of their position. But real leadership is inconspicuous - and it’s about far more than status or measurable achievements.
Staying on track isn't easy
Wayne Turmel
It's surprising how often teams lose sight of their goals. There are plenty of reasons, and maybe understanding some of the most common will help you and your team reassess where you are headed.
Don't celebrate the failure, celebrate the learning
Kon Apostolopoulos
Failure is not the opposite of success. It is a feedback mechanism that shows us what's not working. We can learn from it and improve, but it should never be a goal in itself.
Harnessing natural intelligence
Rosie Tomkins
All change brings new opportunities. The tree that looks almost dead in the winter bursts with blossom in spring. The frozen wasteland delivers a bountiful harvest in the autumn. As business leaders, we can learn a lot from nature.
Building trust remotely
Wayne Turmel
Trusting the people you work with (and for) has never been easy. But when you work remotely it's even tougher.
Managing time in meetings
Wayne Turmel
One of the main concerns when running a webinar or virtual meeting is managing time effectively so we don't lose sight of what the meeting is actually supposed to accomplish.
Getting back to work in the post-pandemic world
James M. Kerr
As organizations prepare to get back to work in a post-pandemic world, leaders must focus on just how they intend to get on with work for years to come.
Cultural intelligence and competing with robots
David Livermore
The dystopian view of a future overrun by robots forgets that the human brain gives us some things technology cannot compete with, namely our ability to adapt and create.
Experimenting with scenario planning
James Berry
Scenario planning isn’t just about developing proactive strategies to deal with a possible crisis. It can also be a useful way to highlight potential weaknesses in your organisation or operations. Here’s how to go about it.
Presenting online is still presenting
Wayne Turmel
Presenting online is more like a traditional presentation than most people think. But too often, those delivering material online do so in just about the least effective manner possible.
Remember those resolutions you made?
Jurgen Wolff
The chances are that the resolutions you made on Jan 1 are already distant memories. But if you want to avoid making the same resolutions again next year, here’s a simple, four-step process to get you back on track.
Learning is everywhere
Wayne Turmel
What you know now is good for now, but might be completely outdated by tomorrow. This means there's a constant need to learn new things, both formally and informally.
Recent Podcasts
And some more
A far more serious public health crisis
Rod Collins
As we struggle against the the Covid-19 pandemic, it's clear there is a far more serious public health crisis that has long been hidden in plain sight: a digitally primitive healthcare system.
How problem-solving styles affect team togetherness
Curt Friedel
As a manager, how do team members respond to your approach to solving problems? How does team dynamics gel with your personality and affect chemistry and productivity?
The supremacy of the mediocre
Rainer Zitelmann
Why are people with ambition who want to achieve something extraordinary and are unwilling to settle for an average existence so often met with hostile suspicion?
Covid-19 and the hazards of experts
Rod Collins
Rather than simply a public health crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic is a social system crisis that demands solutions based on the evidence of data, rather than simplistic responses based on the opinions of experts.
Three ways to plan for an uncertain future
James Berry
In today's troubled times, even the most successful business can find itself in difficulty. So how can businesses plan for an uncertain future?
Old habits die hard, new habits die easy
Max McKeown
Habits are efficient. Without them, we would need to find a response to every situation no matter how many times we had experienced it before. But how do you change an old habit or create a new one?
Don’t confuse task completion with productivity
Wayne Turmel
People who work remotely often claim to be ‘more productive’. But productivity is a long-term measurement that means more than just getting more tasks finished in a given time period.
Managing the new era of flexible working
Fred Krieger
In the post-Covid era of flexible work, physical and remote workspaces will coexist. But the question is: how can this fragmented set-up be effectively managed?
Make your people part of the solution, even virtually
Matthew Handley
This year has presented companies with a series of seemingly insurmountable problems. But those that find ways to engage their employees in the design of solutions are likely to rise above the adversity.
And still more...
The difference between a mob and a crowd
Rod Collins
How is it that sometimes when we come together in groups, we are extraordinarily brilliant, but at other times we are incredibly dumb? The answer is the difference between collective intelligence and groupthink.
The four obstacles to corporate innovation
Michael Ellenby
There are four main obstacles to corporate innovation that can stifle the potential of organisations of all sizes. Understanding how to overcome them is key to a healthy future for every business.
We're in a crisis! Why can't we all just get along?
David Livermore
Even faced by a global pandemic, we don't seem able to bridge our tribal divides and leverage our differences to find solutions, rather than using them to further destroy us.
Get out of the way!
Duane Dike
Barriers to productivity are many and varied, but the vast majority of them are by-products of the destructive attitudes and behaviors of leaders.
A formula for trust
John Blakey
Academics have been arguing for years about what makes a leader trustworthy, but it can really be boiled down to three clear attributes: ability, integrity and benevolence.
Data, information and webmeetings
Wayne Turmel
Turning raw data into meaningful information is a key part of a manager's job. And smart managers know that webinars or videoconferencing tools can help translate one into the other.
Breakthrough innovation and corporate antibodies
Rod Collins
If companies want to be on the leading edge of breakthrough innovation, they have to neutralize the corporate antibodies that try to kill any new ideas that threaten the status quo.
Boost morale with a virtual event
Craig Bulow
Even if summer away-days and team-building events are off the agenda for the moment, there are still ways you can boost your team’s wellbeing and morale with in-person events that you can do remotely.
Snip those email threads!
Wayne Turmel
if there’s one complaint everyone has about communicating with their teammates it's long email threads - you know, the ones that start as a simple request for information and grow like a virus.
That furloughed feeling
Rhys Moon
Understanding how furloughed employees feel about the situation they're in gives an insight into what employers and managers can do to help individuals and the organisation as a whole.
Beyond the disruption of COVID-19
Tim Hood
For businesses that are reliant on manual processes that require people and paper to be physically together in one space, the COVID-19 pandemic is posing some fundamental challenges.
Reacting vs responding
Wayne Turmel
Do you interrupt what you're doing to read incoming emails? Do you hit “reply all” when you probably shouldn’t? Too often, we react rather than respond. And that can lead to trouble, especially for managers.
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