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Rethinking Daily Standups for Remote Teams

Daily Standups for Remote Teams

The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in a new remote work culture throughout the world, forcing businesses and their employees to adapt quickly and rethink standard operations. While some parts of the world have partially resumed working from offices, it’s safe to say that a hybrid work model will be around for the years to come.

While this transition has been pretty challenging for most organizations, many have seen substantial benefits from it—a surge in productivity, decreased overhead costs, higher employee retention, and so forth. However, along with these benefits, businesses have had to figure out how to reorganize their most basic day-to-day processes, like daily standup meetings.

In this article, we’ll explore a variety of suggestions that will help businesses run daily remote standup meetings that will be as effective as the in-person ones everyone used to have back in the day.

Let’s jump into it.

Do we still need daily standups?

The transition to remote work doesn’t cancel the necessity for daily standups. Arguably, they’ve become more important now than they’ve ever been. They were once an essential part of an agile team. Now they’re also a valuable tool to keep distributed teams in sync.

But there’s a catch—many businesses still treat standups just like any meeting, which have traditionally tended to be long-winded and unproductive. In contrast, the standup format intends to keep gatherings brief and straight to the point.

Plus, poorly structured standups will only rob employees of their valuable time, which they could have used for focused work. As Basecamp’s cofounder, Jason Fried, once said: “Every minute you avoid spending in a meeting is a minute you can get real work done instead.”

The issue with doing remote standups

The issue with doing remote standups

Coordinating a distributed and remote team can be really challenging for a variety of reasons—time zone differences, domestic responsibilities, parenting, and so forth.

For many, participating in daily standups may be complicated because they have pre-school children they have to take care of. Others may find these meetings inefficient simply because they’re located on continents other than the core team’s.

Time zones and burnout

If your team is located predominantly within the same geographic area, daily standups may work out. However, the moment your company hires the first person from a different part of the globe, this is where issues start to arise. Bear in mind that if you hold the meeting at around 9 AM on the US West Coast, it’s 6 PM for your colleague located in Germany or 10:30 PM for your colleague from India.

While this employee might not mind joining these calls, it’s safe to say that working at these odd hours will contribute to their burnout and poor work-to-life balance.

More importantly, there are many countries around the world and states within the US where doing so may be illegal.

Potential loss of productivity

While standups seem like a quick solution to increase productivity within a team and remove bottlenecks, it can often be very taxing a team’s focus. Let’s put it this way, even if the standup gathers people exclusively from the same time zone, it will distract them from focused work, which can seriously damage their productivity in the long run.

The same applies to remote employees, but arguably to a greater extent. They’ll stop being productive even earlier since they have to watch the clock for a few minutes before the meeting is due to begin. If you do the math, there are probably a few hours of deep work lost in the process, and depending on the size of your team, the number will only go up.

Missing Advantage

Standups often raise an important question—“Wouldn’t they be more efficient if we were to do this in writing?”. Many find that doing so would be more productive than having to participate in them every day. More importantly, starting the day with a meeting is typically considered taxing on a person’s concentration.

What does an optimal standup look like

What does an optimal standup look like?

Despite the potential shortcomings of standups, they remain a valuable tool for many teams when they’re used correctly. Let’s take a quick look at some of the essential qualities of a daily standup:

  • It should be as brief as possible. These gatherings are designed for quick status updates, typically letting participants go over a few standard topics—the tasks they had worked on yesterday, the tasks they’re stuck with, and the things they’ll be working on today.
  • They should be scheduled at recurring times. Once you’ve established a good time for these meetings based on everyone’s availability, continue holding standups at that particular time with few or no exceptions. As a result, this will allow your team members to plan their day around it and not the other way around.
  • Unproductive discussions should be avoided. We often tend to get carried away when discussing issues that aren’t necessarily related to the meeting at hand. The meeting’s moderator should be mindful of the topic discussed and stop unrelated conversations in time. Standups have a clear goal, and keeping things quick and effective is paramount.

Daily standup do’s and don’ts for remote teams

Daily standup do’s and don’ts for remote teams

Okay, so now that we’ve explored the things we should avoid in daily startups, along with the things we should strive to incorporate in them, let’s take a closer look at 10 do’s and don’ts for shorter, more dynamic, and more efficient standups.

1. Structure is still paramount

Standups are called this way for a reason—they are typically held standing, which gives the meeting a sense of urgency. The slight discomfort associated with not being seated prevents people from discussing things that are unrelated to the subject of the meeting and keeps things short.

Your remote standup meetings should feature the same topics an in-office one would:

  • What did you work on yesterday (or any other time frame)? This is the core of your meeting. The answers to this question will keep your team in sync and help them understand the codependencies between their tasks and the tasks that their teammates are working on.
  • What are you working on today? Often, a person’s workday will feature a wide array of small tasks, but since standups are meant to be short, participants should focus on discussing one or two primary tasks.
  • Are you facing any challenges or obstacles with your current tasks? This is where understanding the codependencies will help people navigate tasks quicker. If something’s stopping a person from executing their task, they should let their team know, ensuring that these hindrances can be eliminated. As a result, this will make the team more efficient and productive.

Time limits are still important

2. Time limits are still important

Standing up during these meetings is probably no longer an option. You could, of course, have your colleagues stand up, but it feels slightly over the top. One way you can translate the urgency induced by standing is by having a hard or soft time limit.

Hard time limits will generally mean that a person is cut off when their time is up, but that’s not ideal since they can fail to provide the team with vital information.

Soft limits will allow them to speak longer than the time they were allocated, but they should be encouraged to wrap things up as soon as possible.

Besides individual time limits, the whole meeting should also be capped at a certain length. Typically, they shouldn’t last longer than 15 minutes, but as usual, it depends on the size of your team or the number of people attending.

However, if you notice that your meetings constantly run over the allotted time, there are a few issues that might be at fault:

  • Your agenda is poorly structured.
  • Participants provide vague updates or don’t stick to essentials.

Whenever you spot that your standups take up too much time, consider reviewing these two issues.

3. Designate a leader

Depending on the structure of your organization, there may or may not be people responsible for managing the framework of your choice. Standups are specific to Scrum and Kanban, but this meeting style has been adopted by companies that follow a wide array of methodologies, so often, there isn’t a dedicated Scrum Master or someone in an equivalent role to moderate these meetings. Therefore, organizations often designate a meeting lead. It’s common for the meeting lead responsibility to rotate, typically on a weekly basis.

Having a leader responsible for these meetings has a variety of benefits. First off, it ensures that your standups will have structure and will not spiral out of control when there’s a person to moderate them. Secondly, the rotational aspect allows people to care about the process and be engaged with it.

4. Task boards are crucial

We, as humans, strongly rely on visual input to navigate the world around us. Typically, daily standups are complemented with task boards that outline what’s done, what’s being done, and what is to be done. Ensuring that your team uses a digital task board is extremely important, in order to enable them to have a better understanding of the codependencies, commitments, and requirements of their work.

Cameras on

5. Cameras on

There’s a chance that your meetings will be more productive if the attendees’ cameras are on. In-person meetings create a sense of presence and urgency by running these meetings standing, while remote meetings could partly replicate that by showing their faces during the standup.

Having cameras on will also help participants focus by keeping their eyes on the screen throughout the standup. Let’s be honest, most of us would probably be distracted by things other than work.

The sense of mindfulness and presence that having your camera enabled creates is a small but useful trick that will help keep your meeting participants engaged.

6. Standups are not for problem-solving

It’s essential to keep in mind that daily standups are a place of noting problems but not solving them. The main goal of this gathering is to sync the entire team up and provide it with a sense of context.

As we mentioned above, one of the critical questions that need to be answered during standups regards the bottlenecks that people are facing with their current tasks. However, meeting leads should be careful not to allow the conversation not to spiral into a discussion about how these issues should be resolved. Doing so will only rob the people present at the meeting of their time, all while they have nothing to do with the task at hand.

Make sure that these issues are noted and that the people that can help address these problems do so in a one-on-one meeting, via email, or any other medium.

Keep introverts in mind

7. Keep introverts in mind

People are different. Not everybody is as excited about participating in social activities like meetings. Some actually find them fairly taxing, especially introverts. However, that doesn’t mean that they are less efficient than the rest of the crew.

In order to make meetings more bearable for them, consider making a few adjustments like:

  • Allow them to communicate in written form. Introverted people often find reporting via messages or email more comfortable.
  • Propose one-on-ones. Introverts don’t find communication itself uncomfortable, rather when it happens in large gatherings. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to allow them to interact with the meeting leader personally.

8. Keep negative feedback at bay

The main purpose of a standup meeting is to provide context and keep the team’s spirits up. It’s meant to remind everyone that they’re working on a common goal, which should motivate them to do better. Introducing negative feedback to a meeting will only defeat the purpose of helping them perform.

Generally speaking, providing feedback is an extremely fine and complex subject because doing so without understanding how it makes people feel may corrode the team spirit and a person’s engagement and accountability.

If you need to deliver some negative feedback to a person, do so privately, not during a standup.

9. Distribute time equally

Daily standups are supposed to be a collaborative effort, and managers or leaders shouldn’t be privileged with more time to speak. These meetings should aim to help teams better understand codependencies and bottlenecks, which means that the time should be distributed among people equally among the participants in the call.

Often, managers or team seniors become the focus of meetings, and rightfully so, they’re there to provide their colleagues with strategic guidance and recommendations, but that shouldn’t be true of daily standups.

10. Decide a Frequency

Standup frequency is something that should be at the discretion of the company. Businesses are different—they have different products, processes, structures, people, and so forth. Therefore, if running standups on a daily basis isn’t critical, there’s no reason to do so. The same goes if a company finds it necessary to conduct two standups a day—if that benefits the people in the organization—feel free to do so. However, it’s also important to be mindful of the fact that the law of diminishing returns does apply to meetings as well, so make sure that a higher frequency of meetings is justified.

Room for experiments

There’s room for experiments

Above, we’ve provided a lot of parameters companies should take into account to run standup meetings that are actually useful and productive. However, in this section, we’d like to recommend organizations to experiment with this type of meeting, since the people in your company can respond differently to remote work in general. Below are a few things you could tweak in order to improve the quality of your standups in a work-from-home environment.

Switch up the agenda, and write it down

Standups typically have a pretty straightforward agenda: done, doing, and to-be-done. However, that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. As we said previously, every company is different, and its needs can differ too.

Feel free to change the agenda for your upcoming standups and consider requesting feedback from your colleagues regarding their satisfaction with the new format. If you happen to stumble upon a structure that will make your teammates more engaged and productive, consider exploring it further. Efficiency is what matters at the end of the day, so don’t shy away from switching things up a bit.

Make it optional

It’s also a good idea to explore whether you need daily standups in the conventional meaning. Work-from-home models can be taxing for a lot of people, especially if they have children or relatives that they have to take care of. The same applies to teams that are distributed around the globe. If your organization has employees throughout a wide array of time zones, these meetings could be kind of unproductive. Here are a few things that you can experiment with:

  • Switching to chat updates. If you’re a team leader and you have employees that start work a couple of hours ahead of you, consider adopting chat-based updates. This way, everyone on the team can still have access to everyone’s input without having to be on the same call.
  • Switch to recorded updates. Distributed teams can have a few standups a day for people in different time zones. These meetings can be much shorter and recorded, allowing the people that start work later in the day to receive quick updates.

Daily cafes

Daily cafes

Often, organizations tend to make meetings all about processes and information exchange, forgetting about the more complex social and interpersonal elements of teamwork. It’s safe to say that the pandemic has underlined the importance of communication and support between coworkers and maybe it’s a good idea to move away from the productivity-oriented daily standups and switch to less formal meetings at least once in a while. That is not to say that standups should be cancelled altogether, but it’s worth considering this change to improve the team spirit and bring people closer together.

A good format for such meetings would be a daily cafe, where coworkers can enjoy a beverage of their choice and discuss work along with other things, without being confined to an agenda or a timeframe.

Bottom line

It’s essential to keep in mind that daily standups are a tool and that there are many ways to use it. We’re now in the middle of a worldwide pandemic that has radically changed the lives of most people, and while it’s a good idea to continue having regular status updates, it’s also worth looking into tweaking them.

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Making Ties that Bind: The Professional Guide to Onboarding and Offboarding

Employee onboarding and offboarding checklist

We’ve all known those people who manage to maintain strong bonds with pretty much every person they’ve met since kindergarten. Every time they turn around, they’re shaking hands with an old friend, and each year they send out a stack of Christmas cards that’s over two feet high.

It isn’t hard to imagine that amassing this kind of social capital gets people places. Take Bill Clinton, for example. In his biography My Life, he attributes all of his success to his friends.

A business runs on similar principles. Producing and functioning at a high level is dependent on building strong relationships with employees.

Any team leader has felt the thrill of watching a skilled team work collaboratively towards a goal. And has also felt a sickening shudder when these same employees move on to greener pastures.

Things being as they are, it’s hard these days for any one employee to sit still for too long. As any recruiter can attest, retaining a great employee is just as hard as finding one. And receiving a letter of resignation means the devastating loss of a wealth of acumen and knowledge.

It’s easy to pine for a business that draws the best and the brightest, with scores of former employees writing glowing, five-star reviews on Glassdoor.

This needn’t simply be a fantasy. The fact is, just like friendships, any business can build a dedicated team and amass a stockpile of social capital.

It requires some strategy. A central component entails mastering the craft of onboarding and offboarding. Let’s look at how to approach these critical moments, and so garner a reservoir of talent and goodwill for your business.

Employee onboarding

Part I: Onboarding

Hiring a new employee is not nearly so simple as finding someone with the right skill set, then showing them to a desk equipped with a new computer and phone.

Onboarding is the process of integrating a new employee into a business. It entails teaching about the company culture, explaining the responsibilities of the position, providing the necessary training, and introducing the employee to the team.

A sensible approach to onboarding helps a business retain a staff of dedicated employees.

Employee Buy-in Strategies

Here is how Igor Epshteyn, CEO of Coherent Solutions, reflects on the role of employees in his business: “The people is the growth of the company.…..our services are purely based on people: their skills, education and everything else. People is the fuel, the engine that allows the company to grow.”

Epshteyn’s perspective certainly isn’t an isolated one. A recent study with property managers found that one in three cited chronic turnover, onboarding and training as serious impediments to their company’s growth.

Since a dedicated team is so critical, it’s really important for a leader to understand how to go about creating one. Much of the solution has to do with building bridges at critical moments along the employee relationship arc. Using rapport-building techniques during the first days on the job helps as well.

Seize Critical Moments

Seize Critical Moments

Wipro, a call center in Atlanta, struggled with rampant turnover for years. They tried everything in the book to keep employees from walking out the door. Yet, try as they might, staff continued to cycle through faster than race cars at the Indy 500.

Until they came upon one simple onboarding experiment.

In the experiment, one group of new hires received an hour of standard, run-of-the mill training. Within this hour, job duties were explained, a star employee was highlighted, and everyone was given a sweatshirt with the company name on it.

In the second group, the initiation hour had a much different approach. The trainees were asked questions about themselves, such as “Tell me what your best day looks like?” and “Tell me what your worst day looks like?” and “What would you bring with you on a desert island, if you could only bring one thing?”

At the end, each trainee was given a sweatshirt with their own names written on it.

After seven months, Wipro checked in with the two groups, and found that retention in the second group was 270% higher than in the first! It turns out that soft skills really make or break a company after all.

What exactly happened in the Wipro experiment?

The company seized on a critical moment in the employee relationship journey, and crafted a process to make that moment highly personal. This resulted in employees feeling bonded with the business and staying on board.

Critical moments are pivotal points in a relationship that define how it progresses. Some of these moments include introductions, first arguments, and departures.

Approaching these key moments strategically makes it possible to shape the arc of the employee relationship.

During her first weeks on the job, a new hire is still uncertain about the decision to join the company. Assuage her concerns. Let her know that you see her as an individual, believe she has something valuable to contribute, and are glad to have her on board

Meeting her in this critical moment serves to cement the bond.

Use Rapport-Building Techniques

Use Rapport-Building Techniques

When an employee first joins a company, she feels very much like a fish out of water. The culture is foreign and everyone is new.

Rapport is deliberate engagement. It means putting on a certain role in order to solicit a desired outcome in a given situation.

Here are a few methods for putting a new hire at ease, drawing her out and making her feel settled.

1. Create a Welcoming Environment

A hospitable environment makes an employee feel welcome from the get-go. This entails making sure the desk is set up when the employee arrives, complete with a computer and a suitable chair.

Additionally, it’s important that the employee is properly welcomed, offered something to eat or drink, and given a tour of the facilities.

2. Find Common Ground

Breaking the ice and starting things off with some friendly banter sets a positive tone. Finding something you have in common with the employee is a sure way to draw them out. Things like pets, hobbies, or a favorite sports team are great topics for discussion.

Allowing her to make conversation on a subject in her wheelhouse makes the new hire feel confident and at ease in the foreign environment.

Imitate Body Language

3. Imitate Body Language

Body language speaks volumes about the dynamics of a relationship.

Take seating, for example. Sitting across from someone communicates authority and command and control. Whereas, sitting alongside someone communicates companionship. Imitating gestures, including crossed arms or crossed legs, gives off signals of simpatico.

While going over paperwork and showing the new hire the ropes, making an effort to communicate friendly body language sends a warm, welcoming tone.

Employee Onboarding Checklist

Employee Onboarding Checklist

The process of acclimating a new hire to a company’s culture, people, processes, and methods of communication, as well as completing any on-the-job training, really takes some time.

It may take sixty to ninety days until a new employee is fully integrated and can independently perform in her position. And that time certainly isn’t spent sitting at a desk, twiddling her thumbs waiting for a computer to arrive.

A well thought-out onboarding system makes the process as efficient as possible. Let’s go over a checklist of what to do in the onboarding process, and when.

Before the Hire

Usually, there’s at least two weeks between when an employee is hired and when she starts. This buffer provides a window for getting hardware set up.

1. Set-Up Technology

Tools. The first step to setting up equipment for the new hire is finding a desk and the proper hardware. What computer will she use, and which software? This is the time to purchase any necessary software licenses.

Create Accounts. Next, it’s necessary to set up any accounts for internal communication, such as email.

Configure Workstation. Once the proper software has been purchased, it’s time to create a login and install it.

Test. And finally, be sure to test everything. Run a trial login to make sure there are no weird pop-ups and everything is good to go.

Although this looks like four simple steps, the process really takes several days. In order to have the computer ready and waiting for the employee’s first day, it’s necessary to begin this process at least ten days in advance.

2. Maintain Contact

Touching base with the employee during this time keeps them in the loop. Particularly if the gap between the hire and start date is longer than a few weeks, it’s good to let them know you’re enthused they’ve made the decision to come on board.

First 30 days

First 30 Days

With all the basics in place, you’re ready to bring the employee in and begin training.

For the first thirty days in a company, the new hire is getting her feet wet and learning the ropes. For this period to be fruitful, it’s important to not have any performance expectations during this time. Full immersion into orientation is best, as the learning curve is steep.

Here is what the new hire should accomplish during the first thirty days.

1. Read the Company Handbook

Whether a handbook or a series of videos, make sure the employee digests a thorough explanation of the company’s culture, history, values and processes.

2. Understand Ideal Client and Competitive Edge

Similarly, make sure the employee has a keen understanding of the client or market the company seeks to reach, as well as its position in the industry, and its competitive edge.

3. Sign Essential Documents

Tax forms need to be filled out and signed, as well as COBRA and health insurance documents.

Be sure to go over any non-disclosure agreements the company has, as well as any offboarding agreements around returning technology and equipment.

Although these forms can be complicated and lengthy, it’s critical to provide a thorough verbal explanation of these agreements, in addition to the written document.

4. Meet with a Mentor

Assigning the new-hire to a mentor provides her with a go-to person for all sorts of questions. This “work-place buddy” is a source of companionship and emotional support during this period of transition.

It’s a good idea for the mentor and new hire to meet 1:1 for the first four to six weeks, and to touch base periodically after that.

5. Learn Core Tools

Provide the employee with any necessary software training, as well as instructions on how to use internal email and messaging systems.

6. Sit-in on Meetings

Have the new-hire participate in presentations, meetings and brainstorming sessions. This provides some necessary context for everything she went over in the handbook. At this point, she’s mostly suited to observe and witness the culture in-action.

7. Understand Workflow

Be sure the new hire understands the roles of the various departments, as well as any work that’s outsourced to freelancers. A visual diagram makes this information memorable and quickly digested.

Intermediate 31-60 Days

Intermediate: 31-60 Days

Now that she’s dipped her toes in the water, it’s time to get her out of the shallow end. The interim phase of onboarding is about engaging in collaborative team processes and becoming versed in job duties.

1. Perform Rudimentary Tasks

Have the new hire perform some of the basic tasks in the position. For example, an employee who’s hired on as a long-form copywriter might write a few blog posts during this time.

2. Meet for 1:1 Lunches

In order to be integrated into the business, it’s important for the new-hire to meet with employees in different departments. This allows her to engage, connect, and have a better understanding of the office dynamics and various roles and responsibilities.

3. Communicate Frequently

It’s important that the manager meet 1:1 with the new hire frequently, to solicit and provide feedback, and make sure all concerns are addressed.

Final 61-90 Days

Although she may still feel a little out of her depth, at this point the employee can take off the life jacket and freely swim out on her own.

A thorough initiation during the initial and intermediate phases ensures she’ll make a promising splash onto the collaborative workplace scene.

1. Provide Performance Update

It’s critical for the manager to continue to supervise and communicate, and gauge how the employee is collaborating with the team.

Freelancer Onboarding Guidelines

Freelancer Onboarding Guidelines

It’s so helpful to have extra hands in the office during seasonal booms, when there’s far too much work for employees to complete themselves. Plus, freelancers take on all sorts of tasks not in the immediate skill set of regular employees.

In order to enable freelancers to provide the sort of deliverables you’re looking for, take some time orienting them to your business. Bringing them up to speed on what the company is about ensures their work aligns to your brand, mission and values.

Here are a few things to cover.

  • Provide videos that tell about the company’s brand and its core values. A lot of this content overlaps with the company handbook, but it needn’t be nearly so comprehensive. When pertinent, also pass on things like the company’s font, colors, logo, and target customers.
  • Explain the processes and tools that the company uses to communicate. Set them up with messaging and email accounts when necessary.
  • In order to clearly communicate job expectations, have a face-to-face conversation about what you’re looking for. Be sure to clear up all questions and concerns. Afterwards, write up all the parameters of the project in an email, including how long it’s expected to take, the compensation and any other arrangements. This ensures that the project is communicated thoroughly, ambiguity is eliminated, and everyone is on the same page.

Remote Employee Onboarding Guidelines

Remote Employee Onboarding Guidelines

Needless to say, remote onboarding has become commonplace. In many ways, it’s much simpler than in-person onboarding.

For remote employees, a box with equipment and a welcome packet simply shows up at their door. All they have to do is open it, set things up, and they’re good to go. And for the employer, remote working dramatically reduces office space expenses.

However, much of the knowledge integral to onboarding is gained through in-person interaction. This includes things like imparting the company culture and developing a collaborative camaraderie with the team. Filling these gaps in a remote context presents a real challenge.

Here are a few things to consider when onboarding a remote employee, and getting them fully integrated into the company.

Welcome Packet Extras

As discussed earlier, the first impression is a key moment that defines the professional relationship going forward. It’s a good idea to seize this window of opportunity.

No doubt the new hire feels some excitement as she opens her “big box” full of technology equipment, a letter from the CEO, forms to sign, and the employee handbook.

Carefully consider how you want to meet these emotions. Curating the welcome packet with extras such as branded merchandise, including water bottles, a mug, a flash drive, or product samples, gives the employee a sense of belonging.

Dynamic Speakers

Much of the orientation information, quite frankly, is pretty dry.

In the same way that a lot of people pick up a magazine when the airplane stewardess gives the spiel about wearing a mask and safety exits, it’s easy to just to tune it all out.

Finding a dynamic speaker, or fun videos that present the information with a twist, helps to spark interest and keep the new hire engaged.

1:1 Meet and Greet

It’s great to make some in-person connection with a remote employee, if possible. This can be as simple as taking the newbie out for a friendly lunch and getting to know them.

Showing this kind of hospitality at the get-go increases the likelihood of employee buy-in.

Communication Norms and Tools

Remote culture utilizes a variety of tools in lieu of face-to-face communication. Each company has developed its own particular processes and tendencies. Let the new-hire know your modes of communication, be they a video messaging platform, video messaging apps, a messaging service, or email.

Establishing this clarity allows the new hire to fluidly communicate with everyone starting on day one.

Introduce Staff

Remote workers miss out on opportunities to meet colleagues through happenstance. Without a break room and in-person meetings, there’s not a lot of rubbing shoulders that goes on in remote culture.

In order to make them feel part of the team, it’s important to deliberately introduce remote workers to people in various departments.

Keep Them Engaged

In the first days of working remotely, it’s easy for the new hire to feel quite detached from the rest of the company. It’s important to keep her enthused about her new position. Two ways to do this are with stretch assignments, and providing her with opportunities to lead.

In sum, it’s important to allow for some extra hiccups with remote onboarding. Without the in-person environment, bridging communication gaps takes some time.

However, with good onboarding tools and practices, it’s possible to overcome these challenges and make a new hire a part of the company.

Employee offboarding

Part II: Offboarding

On the final day of a typical job, the departing employee turns in his key or key card, and heads to the door. He’s sent out a friendly email to everyone in the office, with warm sentiments about all of the wonderful memories and good times.

He’s exchanged personal emails and phone numbers with colleagues, and made promises to see them again soon.

However, it so often turns out that the last day on the job is more of a “we’ll always have Paris” moment. The exiting employee disappears off into a fog, never to see any of his former colleagues, or make contact with the company ever again.

Offboarding, a company’s process of ending formal ties with an employee, doesn’t receive nearly the attention or tender loving care it deserves. Companies spend so much energy finding and retaining talent, but very little into the parting of ways.

In part, a company sees a departure as a rebuff. Payroll deletes these people’s accounts, then turns its focus onto recruitment.

However, this perspective is outdated and not engaged with the modern-day working landscape, where people regularly change jobs for a variety of reasons. Handing in a resignation is not entirely a snub.

It’s more realistic for a company to view a departure as an opportunity. The benefits of maintaining a passable bridge between itself and a former employee, with exchanges at regular intervals, are many.

How to offboard with grace? Both for clients and employees, a good process requires some strategy.

The Social Capital Advantage

The Social Capital Advantage

Oftentimes, a manager conducts the exit interview in a fog of fear. He appreciates the value of the departing employee, and knows there are no guarantees that a quality replacement will walk through the door.

The fact of the matter is, companies generally want to keep departing employees in their milieu, if only to pick their brain from time to time.

The good news is, offboarding doesn’t have to mean sailing off into the sunset. Forward-thinking companies are coming up to speed here, and putting policies in place that maintain a bond with former employees. The NFL offers former employees access to healthcare, as well as the use of its training facilities. Linkedin’s former employees receive premium membership for life.

By approaching a resignation from the perspective of maintaining a bond, the company only stands to gain.

Here are some ways a company benefits when it implements bridge-building policies between itself and former employees.

1. Referrals

Former employees aren’t hiding away in an empty room. Nope, they’re very much out in the world making connections. When you’ve parted on good terms, they’re likely to refer these friends and professional acquaintances to you.

2. Reputation

Word gets around. Whether to friends or in verbose reviews on Glassdoor, former employees gush freely about their experiences working for you. Offboarding with grace increases the likelihood that these reflections are positive.

And then, before you know it, you’re talked about as the organization with a genius for relationship building.

3. Information Reservoir

Former employees, naturally, retain a wealth of knowledge about your business. If you’re ever needing to hit them up for advice or an explanation, they’re ready at hand to offer it.

4. Boomerang Employee

All professional careers take unexpected twists and turns. When you’ve parted on happy terms, employees know the door is always open. After developing a new set of skills elsewhere, the winds may shift and they may find themselves swinging back your way.

5. Recruitment

Having a solid professional reputation makes it easier to recruit the best and the brightest to come work for you.

Bridge Building Tools

All these benefits beg the question: what tools does building this bridge require?

Well, the good news is, you don’t have to offer your company gym to previous employees in order to keep them on friendly terms!

There are a lot of options. And some are neither expensive nor complicated, as it turns out. Simple things like an alumni Facebook group, an email list, or a newsletter serve to maintain the connection.

It’s not uncommon for companies (particularly consulting companies) to host alumni events and luncheons, and even offer training. When conducting layoffs, Airbnb provided services in career transition and job placement.

The solution is personalized. It entails looking closely at your company’s goals and culture, then aligning an offboarding practice that works with it. When the process or group is established, employees anticipate being a part of it when they leave.

Employee Offboarding Checklist

Employee Offboarding Checklist

In the offboarding process, an employee, either voluntarily or involuntarily, severs ties with an organization.

During their tenure, these employees gain a wealth of knowledge and acumen in the business. They become a huge asset.

When the offboarding process is haphazard, this information isn’t collected. Regaining it and re-allocating jobs and tasks then becomes an expensive headache.

A professional and systematic offboarding process seeks to collect all necessary information in a timely manner. It also acknowledges the value of the professional relationship with the departing employee, and aims to keep this relationship intact after employment ceases.

A thorough offboarding checklist ensures every step is taken for a smooth departure. In the checklist, it’s helpful to include details about who is responsible for which task, whether human resources, IT, the manager, or someone else.

Here are some steps to include:

1. Knowledge Handover

If time allows, have the employee wrap-up any projects he’s working on. It’s also important to collect documentation on processes and tasks performed in the position. Also, schedule some time for the employee to transfer job responsibilities, and train others.

2. Technology Turn-in

Gather all technology, including the computer and the company phone. Deactivate any internal communication email or messaging accounts, as well as the phone.

3. Administrative Tasks

After the final paycheck, human resources deletes the account.

4. Wrap-up Letter

Provide the employee with a wrap-up letter, which includes details about the final payment, as well as information about COBRA eligibility.

5. Exit Interview

Conduct a thorough exit interview, asking pertinent questions about the employee’s impressions of working for the company.

The exit interview aims to gather information regarding the employee’s position, experience, and tenure, to use toward improving this experience for future employees.

Since it’s simply a one-time meeting, however, the exit interview can only go so far.

For a more thorough understanding of the employee’s time with the company, it’s helpful for human resources and management to review all the 1:1 meetings the employee had with their manager.

Identifying areas where the employee was taxed and strained clarifies ways to adjust the expectations of the position, and re-allocate job duties.

Client Offboarding Guidelines

Client Offboarding Guidelines

Have you ever discontinued your subscription or services with a company, and the relationship just came to an abrupt end? You never received any thank you or acknowledgement–just crickets.

After making a substantial investment in a company, receiving this kind of a cold-shoulder response is out of line. It would leave anyone with a pretty bad taste for the company.

If you provide a client-based service, it’s critical to have protocol in place to ensure clients never leave with a similar feeling about you.

A client chooses to discontinue services for a variety of reasons, and so it shouldn’t be seen as a personal affront. Rather, it’s a window of opportunity to build a bridge and maintain a professional connection.

Maintaining an open-door relationship with a departing client entails acknowledging the services you provided and wishing them the best. It can be a simple process that you repeat whenever a client offboards.

When executed well, it’s quite possible the person will come back, or refer your services elsewhere.

Here are a few things a client offboarding system might include.

Provide a Heads-Up

Provide a Heads-Up

A few weeks before the service is due to end, let the client know. Break down everything you’ve provided during your time working for them. Thank them for their patronage and mention that you’re open to talk about the relationship, going forward.

Provide How-tos

Send documents or videos with instructions on all the tasks you completed for the client. For example, if you managed their Instagram account, you might include instructions on writing captions or creating stories.

With these tutorials, it’s much easier for clients to reiterate the processes themselves.

Send a Goodbye Email

Send a friendly goodbye message. Be sure to include all the details about various accounts you administered, so the client is able to change passwords.

Solicit Reviews

In a final email, ask the client to provide reviews of your services. After you’ve done this a few times, it’s easy to develop a template that works for you, with a series of questions such as: “What did you like best about my services?” and “What was it like to work for me?”

Once you’ve received these reviews, be sure to put them in prominent places on your website.

Send Follow-Up Emails

Touch base with the client a few times over the following three months, letting them know about any new services and specials you’re offering.

In sum, following procedures like these ensures that your client still has a positive feeling for you and your business, even after they’ve moved on.

With many service based businesses, most of the income comes from returning clients. When you take steps to offboard professionally, it means you won’t have to hit the pavement finding brand new customers.

A Beautiful Friendship

A Beautiful Friendship

What are some of the best and worst onboarding experiences you’ve had?

It’s helpful to consider onboarding and offboarding through the lens of your own experience and to gauge how certain behaviors affected your impressions of a company.

Onboarding and offboarding are critical windows of opportunity to build strong professional relationships.

Thoughtful and deliberate onboarding and offboarding processes helps to both retain employees, and maintain a solid connection with employees and clients who have moved on.

When these processes become systematic, it allows a company to increase its social capital and reputation. And the system becomes a part of the company culture.

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How to Manage Project Deadlines & Never Miss a Due Date Again

Project Deadline Management

The corporate world will tell you that it’s a real hassle to manage project deadlines.

Ah, the ever-persistent struggle of trying to meet a professional due date, we’ve all been there.

And yet, with no deadline in sight, there would be no feeling of pressure, focus, or desire to put things into motion.

It is in fact, thanks to due dates existing that we can boost professional efficiency, work harder, smarter, and better—and stare down that dreadful deadline with confidence.

Yes, projects can be delayed, and deadlines, fully ignored.

At the same time, the perils of not meeting a deadline or a given project due date may cost you double the time, money, and effort down the line.

The good news is, missing a due date can be a thing of the past.

Below, we dissect why deadlines are important and what you can do to ensure you never miss a due date again.

Why Are Deadlines Important

Why Are Deadlines Important?

So, why are deadlines important? Out of the many credible reasons, we emphasize the following:

  • To make certain that we finish our task! It’s really simple to put off or overlook a project that has no set deadline. This will most probably be avoided with the use of deadlines.
  • To promote a seamless working process. A project due date allows us to work together respecting a common objective and timeline, keeping complicated tasks right on schedule.
  • To establish expectations. Due dates specify what we must deliver and when. This then tells us what we need to take charge of, seamlessly and confusion-free.

We don’t want to be too dramatic, but the inability to meet a deadline might potentially have catastrophic effects—think hospitals and professionals in these industries. At the other end of the spectrum on a day-to-day basis, it can impair your image and job chances no matter the industry you’re in—particularly if missing deadlines becomes a regular habit. From a team perspective, it can also be harmful to the association’s reputation.

Now that we’ve covered why (dreaded) deadlines are important, let’s now turn to why—and we are not playing the blame game here—project deadlines are missed in the first place.

Why Do We Miss Project Deadlines

Why Do We Miss Project Deadlines?

Right off the bat, postponing a single assignment may cause delays on other projects.

Consequently, this causes a chain reaction down the timeline management plan. Plus, constant delays hurt the whole team and its core performance and raise questions concerning the task manager’s abilities. In the worst-case scenario, delays can also make it trickier for these individuals to acquire future jobs.

As a rule of thumb, there are 5 chief reasons why we miss project deadlines, and they’re as follows:

  • Inadequate preparation
  • Inaccurate estimates
  • Non-engaging companies or tasks
  • Incompetence in the role assigned
  • Continually shifting demands

You may want to focus on the tactics of managing deadlines and avoidable setbacks by inspecting these elements more closely.

Luckily, we’re here to let you in on what makes these aspects crucial in reigniting your workflow power.

How Should We Manage Deadlines

So. How Should We Manage Deadlines?

Most of us are likely to embrace the given project due date. Still, it is critical to think about the project deadline thoroughly—and prior to committing to it.

Because employees and project managers routinely misjudge how long a task will actually take to finish, the timeframe you’ve been given may not correspond to what you can realistically achieve. If possible, project deadlines ought to be established unreasonably early, as to avoid complications surging from delayed delivery!

So, the most important question to ask before you even start a project due date is—how do you manage deadlines?

Wonder not!

Here are 6 tactics to get you from missing due dates to smashing them days early.

Tactic #1 – Determine What’s Considered Necessary

To begin, you must comprehend the nature of the given assignment. If you have a tight due date for a complex job or task, analyze the business requirements of the project, way before you even start working on it. Simply, just follow the structure, head to toe, and if you’re still missing something or can’t comply with the given project deadline, ask your manager or team leader for further assistance or relevant information.

Whoever gave you the project should, in theory at least, have put into consideration the base project’s intricacy. Here, there’s a slight chance of mismanaging the project.

To mend the issue, after you’ve determined what the actual project requires of you, estimate how much time you need to finish the task to meet the agreed-upon deadline.

Tactic #2 – Obtain The Required Information And Tools

Following the initial tactic, you should also double-check that you have every resource, piece of relevant information, and necessary tool possible. This way, you can fulfill your project deadline management more efficiently.

Have you been provided with everything you need to complete the task to the desired standards? Do you have access to the personnel, gear, instructions, or resources you will use to complete the task on time? These are not rhetorical questions.

If you don’t have everything that you need at your disposal to meet project deadlines, you may need to propose a longer timeline or quality reduction, or the scope of work you’ll be able to produce in the given time frame. There’s nothing shameful about being honest, respectfully approach your manager and inform them that you may not be able to finish the project by the due date without resources.

Tactic #3 – Be Prepared For Issues

Because situations don’t always go according to your original plan, it’s fundamental that you factor in potential issues arising in your project plan.

Next thing—Don’t panic!

Stressing out will only cause you to lose more valuable time in meeting the project deadline, and have you lose efficiency as well. You should always consider how you falling sick, equipment dying on you, or another top-priority assignment popping up may disrupt your workflow and have a major impact on the project deadline.

Determine the alternatives you might be able to create so you can lessen the blow. Also, make sure to inform your colleagues or team leaders of any issues as soon as they arise – maybe they’ll cover for you until you can regain your cool. Apart from this, communication is vital within any team-based task.

Tactic #4 – Develop A Detailed Scheme

The next thing you should consider is developing a thorough timetable and scheme so you can get your project deadline management up and running. Breaking things into bits and pieces, and setting a project due date for each and every single piece is a useful strategy to adopt.

In turn, you may discover that you’ll require more energy and time than what the total project deadline permits. Make sure to bring this up at once rather than crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. When you can monitor how you’re doing with the project management deadline you’ll get it done faster.

Tactic #5 – Keep Diversions To A Reasonable Level

Diversions frequently cause a project’s due date to be exceeded. These diversions can stem from any source. Either way, it’s critical to understand and prevent the things distracting you from doing so, and as fast as possible. Operate in silence, if listening to music has your thoughts all mixed up. Or, if you like some acid jazz to go with your data analysis, put on some headphones and get in the flow. If needed, remove yourself from bad working environments and find a place where your thoughts are clearer so you can get things done.

Tactic #6 – Don’t Leave It To The Last Minute

Waiting till the last possible second to complete your task will sway your project deadline management off track. It’s the worst possible thing you can do and rarely does anyone perform well under this sort of pressure. To try and catch up, workers tend to drive themself too hard and initiate key errors, leading to burnout and bad quality work.

To stay on track, begin your task immediately so you beat your deadline to the chase, not the other way around.

Ok. We’re Not Perfect. What Can We Do When We Miss A Project’s Due Date?

Yes, we’re all guilty of missing a project deadline or two.

There’s no point in sulking when you’ve missed a project due date. So, here’s what to do if you’ve fluffed your lines and missed a due date.

Tactic #1 – Work On Your Principles

That’s right, first, you should work on yourself before you get into another project deadline. Make a strong statement if necessary, learn to say “no,” or at the very least, allow yourself time to consider the project due date prior to agreeing. Make a mental shift rather than hating your project deadlines and have a constructive attitude about them.

Do not confuse “planned” with “performing.” It really doesn’t matter how great your idea is, at the end of the day, it’s still just an idea. Put it into practice once you’ve got it. Utilize your time frame wisely. You won’t get anywhere if you multitask—even the inefficient ones know that.

Tactic #2 – Refuel Your Body With Occasional Meals

Refueling your body and mind with occasional meals accomplishes dual goals. You’ll keep your energy at high levels while also staying updated with the project management deadline. Most individuals work too hard to reach a project due date and forget to take breaks and keep their tummy from being upset.

As a consequence, they’re likely to become lethargic, irrational, and unmotivated. All of this may be prevented by something as simple as a quick lunch and coffee break!

Tactic #3 – Limit The Consequences Of A Late Deadline

Regardless of your diligence and careful planning, you may still miss a project due date. Don’t worry and keep it cool, make every attempt to reduce the discomfort you’re feeling. Keep your clients updated on your development throughout the whole project, noting any challenges that might have caused the delay. This way, you can get by with your project deadline management.

You should also demonstrate that you’re implementing every resource. At the end of the day, if you don’t meet a certain project deadline, it won’t be 100% your fault. Moreover, if you don’t deliver the project in a timely manner, your coworkers and project managers will be aware of the problem—and more willing to lend a helping hand, too.

It’s vital that you cope with the problem at hand as swiftly as possible, and negotiate about reaching a newly established project deadline.

Good Project Management Makes the Dream Work

Whatever you do, try not to fall behind the team. Otherwise, you may find yourself driving down all of your coworkers to a professional rut—or worse, the whole company. Instead, take a breather, notice your progress and plan your way forward before tackling those project management deadlines like the pro you are!

Remember—not all delays will always be your fault since certain tasks can’t realistically be completed in the given project due date time without sacrificing quality!

Don’t burden yourself with these tasks head-on, and quickly ensure you have a few extra days or spare time to get ahead with your schedule. This is best done by addressing the team manager as soon as possible.

Lastly, you need to pay full attention to all intricacies the project comes with and recheck one last time before delivering.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to keep hydrated (water or coffee works) and don’t work on an empty stomach!

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Act… Like a Leader

Leadership is action not position

You have probably heard the quote “leadership is an action, not a position”.

This quote is widely used in leadership development programs and is credited to broadcasting executive Donald McGannon. It’s one thing to know and understand that leadership is an action, but it is another thing to put that action into practice in your everyday life.

Why Practicing Leadership Is Important for Everyone

Why Practicing Leadership Is Important for Everyone

You don’t have to have to be in management to practice leadership in your work, leadership is for everyone. The best leaders are those who lead with integrity which the good old Oxford dictionary defines as “​​the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles”. Essentially, integrity is practising what you preach and being consistent in a variety of situations and circumstances.

Leading from a place of integrity also requires you to lead in a way that you would want to be led. I think most people have been in a situation where their leader leads from a desk as opposed to the floor and is detached from the realities of your job. This detachment leads to inconsistencies and unrealistic expectations of how to perform any number of tasks. Not only is this frustrating but it also leads to distrust and poor performance.

When you or someone in your team leads by example, you can trust that they have a realistic understanding of the complexities of the job and will act in a manner that fosters a positive environment for everyone.

Whether you are in an entry level position or top of the ladder, effective leadership is essential for creating an environment where people can be effective and feel confident that they are valued and appreciated.

Assuming that you have reached the point where you recognize that leadership is something you do and not something you are, here are five ways that you can integrate leadership practices into your everyday life, even if you are not in an official leadership position.

Walk the Walk

You saw this coming – great leaders walk the walk. Walking the walk is another way of saying that someone is leading by example, actually demonstrating how they want things to be done instead of just telling people how to do something. When it comes to learning styles, everyone benefits when they can see how tasks can be done. Not only does observation help people envision themselves completing the task, it also affirms that the task is indeed possible to complete.

Nearly everyone has experience with someone in leadership who has unrealistic expectations of how to do a job. This can be because this person has either never done it or the situations have changed since they last attempted the task in question. Things change over time and people can easily become disconnected from the new work realities.

When a leader is able to lead by example, this builds trust between them and their teams. You can trust the expertise of the leader and also that they have a realistic understanding of the resources needed to complete a task which translates to more reasonable expectations overall.

Own Up and Be Accountable

Own Up and Be Accountable

If you are human, you make mistakes. Period.

Taking responsibility when things do not go as planned not only demonstrates integrity but it also gives other people permission to do the same. Even if you are not a team lead, chances are that someone is looking up to you and you can give them permission to be human too.

How you give and receive criticism is also an act of accountability. When you need to give criticism, practice giving constructive criticism. In the same breath, it is also important to practice being on the receiving end. Remember, you are not perfect and if people feel comfortable that they can hold you accountable, not only will you grow but you will also foster an environment of openness and trust.

Check out this blog on Promoting Accountability and Trust in the Workplace for ways to practice accountability.

Embrace Developmental Opportunities

There are endless programs, courses, and other learning opportunities to improve your leadership skills. Not only should you indulge in them, share them with the people on your team and encourage them to participate too. When you prioritize development and learning, you are leading by example and giving your team permission to do the same. Everyone wins!

Practice Gratitude

The benefits of gratitude are far reaching and can certainly help in your leadership practice. It isn’t much of a stretch to recognize that happy leaders are better leaders but there are even more benefits that extend to your team. Never underestimate the impact of a thank you note or positive feedback on team morale but also your own credibility as a leader. Recognize the great work that your team is doing and watch them thrive.

Check out this blog for 10 Simple Ways to Start Practicing Gratitude today.

Find a Mentor

In order to be a good leader, you really need to observe one in action.

While it’s ideal to find a mentor that you can meet and interact with regularly, following leaders on social media is a great place to start. Take note of what they are doing and how they do it and start implementing their practices in your everyday life, they are giving you permission to try!

Humility is important – if the “leader” you are following is constantly bragging and talking down to people, they are not actually a leader. Many people will claim to be leaders in their respective field and may even have an impressive following but take a minute to look at what they do and not just what they say.

Act like a leader

Act… Like a Leader

At its core, leadership is the willingness to act considerately.

Great leaders are observant, responsive to the people around them, and flexible. Your wall can be covered in certificates and trophies of recognition but if you are not acting like a leader, people will notice and your team will suffer.

Like anything worthwhile, effective leadership will take practice so start with some of the suggestions here and be open and flexible to feedback from your team, you will be glad you did!

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Embracing a Team First Mentality Where Everyone Wins

Team First Mentality

When it comes to advancing in your career, it’s helpful to stand out from the crowd. You want to be memorable, you want to impress, and you want to demonstrate your unique abilities and talents that would make you the best fit for the job. There is a perceived risk that if you fit in with a team, you will disappear into the group and be passed over for promotions and other advancements in your organization.

Here is the deal – working in a team actually demonstrates a number of desirable traits and skills that make you better suited for a variety of roles! Unhealthy and unnecessary competition among team members never benefits the organization and certainly won’t benefit you. If you make things all about you, not only does the team suffer, but the final outcome can reflect negatively on you as well.

When it comes to teamwork, organized sports do it best. By looking at prominent sports personalities, we can find a mountain of great content and proof that teams are more effective. While there are still star players, their success would have been impossible without the support of their teams and the recognition that everyone has a role to play. Phil Jackson, a well known basketball coach once said, “good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the Me for the We.”

Magic happens when you put aside the agenda of the individual for the good of the team. Here are five ways that you can start building a team first mentality in your organization.

Embrace the Greater Good

1. Embrace the Greater Good

Understand your role… and rock it!

Going back to our sports example, co-captain Abby Wambach is arguably one of the most successful female soccer players in the world. She is decorated with medals and has an impressive collection of goals to her name. Why is it then that she spent most of the World Cup on the bench?

Abby understood her role and she led from the bench.

She didn’t need to be on the field to have an impact on the final outcome. She encouraged her teammates and helped them be successful. In the end, the whole team wins or the whole team loses. The common goal was a win and she understood that her place was to bring others up with her and not simply to stand out. This is the perfect example of embracing the common good in a way that everyone wins!

Share Credit

2. Share Credit

It is very rare that a great project is the doing of a single person, it takes a team to get things done. Depending on your organizational hierarchy, you may have a team of people submit a project to a manager who then takes it higher for approval. If once accepted, the praise and credit stops at the manager, resentment and distrust among the team will quickly follow.

This lack of credit sharing actually has a name: self-serving bias. Self-serving bias is common in toxic work environments and you have likely witnessed it first hand. Think of someone on your team who likes to take the credit for anything positive but is quick to shift the blame when there is a negative outcome. Sound familiar?

No one benefits when there is someone on your team with a self-serving bias so don’t be that person. Even if the higher up refuses to share, be that team member who takes a moment to recognize the hard work and contribution of others. Never underestimate the power of a thank you no matter what title you hold.

Contribute and Leave Space for Contribution

3. Contribute and Leave Space for Contribution

It isn’t enough to simply contribute your thoughts or energy to a project but you must also make space for and encourage contribution from your team. Make it a habit at every meeting to directly ask at least one person for feedback or ideas, especially those that may be more quiet or hesitant to share.

Who knows, they may be hoarding the best ideas and just need someone to value them enough to ask.

It isn’t enough to just ask though, you need to be sure that you practice appropriate responses to outside ideas. If you are good at asking for but never actually incorporate other people’s ideas, you might as well shoot yourself in the foot. Not all ideas will be appropriate but many will have value. The act of even considering someone else’s idea will help build trust and encourage that person to speak up again knowing they won’t be instantly shut down.

Set Clear and Reasonable Expectations

4. Set Clear and Reasonable Expectations

People perform better when they know exactly what you expect of them. Whether you are in a direct leadership position or not, being clear about the expectations you have for the people around will make everyone’s life easier.

Once you set expectations, it is important that you back off and avoid the urge to micromanage. If you have been clear, your team will fill in the blanks. Looming over their shoulders will only serve to send a message that you don’t trust them, even after you were clear on what you expected of them.

The key to setting reasonable expectations is your experience with doing the job or task that you are requesting of others. It is likely that you have been on the receiving end of a manager who has an unrealistic deadline about a project or task that they are unfamiliar with from the comfort of their corner office. If this is the case and you are in a position to set deadlines, reach out to the team and ask them what they think would be reasonable. Not only will this result in a more realistic timeline but it builds trust and sends the message that you have a team first mentality.

Feel Good Team Building

5. Feel Good Team Building

Don’t dis it until you try it.

One of the best ways to promote a team first mentality is to encourage camaraderie among members. Let them get to know each other outside of work related activities in a fun way!

While the mere words “team building” can elicit eye rolls, the studies are in and they show that they are a great way to build trust and encourage collaboration. It is important not to force team building, it must be organic to be truly effective. Get creative and consult with your team about activities that they may be interested in trying. If you are looking for inspiration, check out this blog on 10 Virtual Team Building Activities Your Employees Will Actually Want To Do for some great activities that you can try with virtual teams.

If you are able to meet in person, a quick Google search will give you more activities than you can shake a stick at. One activity that you will likely see included in just about every list of team building exercises is community service. Offering paid work time to have the team serve at a soup kitchen or even walk dogs from the local shelter is a great way to help people connect while also giving back.

Team First is a Worthy Investment

Fostering an environment where the team first mentality is the default will take time, energy, and patience. It is important to recognize that your efforts will have to be ongoing in order to be effective. Like any good relationship, it will require both inputs and outputs and all parties need to be contributing.

It is human nature to want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Create an environment where people can check their ego at the door and enter a room knowing that their team is there for support.

The result? A team where people trust each other, feel confident asking for assistance, and know that they are valued and that their contributions are meaningful and welcome.

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There’s Always Room For Improvement – So Here’s How To Revamp Your Business Processes.

Process improvement opportunities

If your business is stagnant, doing the same thing day in and day out, it’s pretty unlikely that you’re going to see growth and success. Every business needs to evolve to remain competitive in the market. So the question isn’t ‘do we need to change things up?’, it’s actually ‘how should we evolve?’

Business process improvement (BPI) is an approach that identifies areas where the business could improve, redesigning the existing business processes to increase effectiveness and optimize performance. For the modern organization, undergoing a business process improvement is an ongoing necessity.

Every business has hundreds of processes, whether they have to do with community management, procurement, onboarding, or sales. They usually fall into one of these categories – operational, management, supporting. Operational activities are those that repeat every day, such as administrative, advertising, and sales activities. Management activities concentrate on human resources, financials, monitoring, and delegation. Supporting activities are the remaining undertakings such as recruitment, accounting, and IT support.

All tasks and activities require regular evaluation to determine if there are inefficiencies or room for improvement. When opportunities for improvement are identified, that’s where BPI comes in.

Luckily, you don’t have to go into BPI blind. Several BPI methodologies can help you achieve your goal, as they give you a framework that you can apply to your strategy.

Here are a few of the most popular ones:

Six Sigma

Six Sigma was first developed in the 1980s at Motorola to measure defects and improve overall quality. It was then popularized by General Electic, who wanted to reduce waste, improve the quality of the product, and save money. Today, companies all over the world use Six Sigma. Six Sigma contains two methodologies – DMAIC, which is used to improve an existing process, and DMADV, which is used when you want to create a new process.

For BPI, you would use DMAIC, which stands for:

Six Sigma

Define – Define the problem
Measure – Quantify the problem
Analyze – Identify the cause of the problem
Improve – Solve the issue and verify improvement
Control – Maintain the returns

One interesting branch of the Six Sigma methodology is the Lean Thinking approach. The Lean Thinking approach considers everything in terms of the value to the customer – if they don’t bring value, they must be eliminated. It’s a great way of thinking when looking for process improvement opportunities. The customer is usually at the core of our business, so putting forefront the notion that value-added processes should be valuable to them, ultimately increasing the customer’s satisfaction.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

Under TQM, every organization section must draw customers, and their activities and processes should have customer values in mind. It aligns the entire organization to the same goal productively, and that’s what makes it unique.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

One example of TQM’s success is AlantiCare, a healthcare provider located in New Jersey. Alanticare ensured that every individual in their organization gave essential feedback about the healthcare products they manufactured. Observing products from every perspective, including customer service, HR, marketing, etc., led to a total improvement of their products. Implementing TQM ended up boosting the company’s revenue, from $280m to $650m.

Implementing TQM in your organization can help everyone look for process improvement opportunities, as all employees will understand that customer values are at the center of the organization.

Theory of Constraints (TOC)

The Theory of Constraints framework uses a focusing process to identify constraints that affect the organization’s ability to achieve a goal and ultimately find a way to eliminate or work around it. This approach allows the company to increase productivity, streamline product flow, and optimize workflow.

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, a multinational pharmaceutical company, is a great example of how TOC can benefit an organization. Before implementing TOC, they faced high backorders and low supplier ratings. After implementing TOC, they tightened the supply chain to focus on better inventory management, finances, and project management. They started to track operating expenses, simplifying management accounting and reporting. Their success saw them win the best supplier of the year award.

When you think about the constraints hindering success and achievement in your organization, you will begin to see the opportunities for process improvement.

While these approaches provide us with a great framework to improve processes in our businesses, there are steps that we can follow to help commence the process improvement.

Theory of Constraints (TOC)

Step 1: Identify what needs to change.

The first step is to look at your business processes, across the categories of operational, management, and support, at a high level. Think about what needs to change and why. Here is where you will find the process improvement opportunities. Get people from different departments and ranks involved to help you gain diverse perspectives and understand the company’s pain points. Think about how changing resource requirement levels of different processes would benefit the organization, what saved resources could be put towards.

You can also start with a goal and think about what opportunities there are for process improvement that would lead to achieving that objective. Let’s take Howard Bank as an example; they wanted to spend more time connecting with their new customers during the account opening process. They chose to improve the process efficiencies to achieve this. With a more streamlined process, the bank could engage in more meaningful conversations with customers, learn more about their financial needs, and give them a better experience.

Step 2: Think about how you’ll realistically improve this.

Now that you know what needs to be improved, you’ll need to come up with a plan to execute. Analyze the process in detail, examining where roadblocks are being created, what is taking up the most time unnecessarily, where costs are being wasted, and the impact on quality and delivery. You’ll want to make sure you talk to the people involved here; gaining their perspective on where improvements can be made will help you deeply understand the process.

Step 3: Get the right sign-offs and resource allocation.

In every business, a change to a process will require certain approvals and authorization. Once you have a solid idea of what needs to be improved and how you’ll do it, you can bring this to the necessary people. Here is where you should have an understanding of the resources required as well. Let senior management know what you need from them to execute.

Step 4: Make it happen.

Now that you’ve got an understanding of the process you’re going to improve, how you’ll do it, the approvals, and the resources allocated, it’s time to get going. Organize this as a project because it is one. Plan it out, allocate resources, assign a team and dedicate a deadline.

Conclusion

“A business that doesn’t change is a business that is going to die” – Frank Perdue.

Your business needs to change, adapt, and evolve. But without a proper approach to Business Process Improvement, you could be left worse off than you began. Want to stay ahead of the game? Follow these simple tips to help discover process improvement opportunities and implement the changes required.

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Why Time Management Is Considered a Soft Skill That Can Change Your Career Trajectory For The Better

Time Management

Practicing good time management is one the most important soft skills that you can have in the workplace. It ensures increased productivity, high-quality work, improved confidence in one’s ability to do the job efficiently, and on-time delivery of time-sensitive assignments.

Ultimately, you can meet your professional (and personal) goals and achieve worthwhile success when you take the time to strengthen your time management skills. But what does it mean when we refer to time management as a “soft skill?” What exactly are soft skills? And how do these specific types of skills allow you to thrive in the workplace?

What Is A Soft Skill

What Is A Soft Skill?

Soft skills are the abilities that determine how you work and interact with your colleagues. Whereas hard skills are technical and job-specific, soft skills are about how your professionalism, timeliness, and other essential, intangible traits complement your practical skills that are required for the job itself, making you an attractive candidate for recruiters and prospective employers.

Here are the most common soft skills:

  • Time management – Allocate your time so that tasks are completed efficiently and productively.
  • Problem-solving – The act of identifying the problem, then prescribing and implementing a resolution.
  • Collaboration – A working practice for individuals on a team to come together through a common purpose to achieve an intended outcome.
  • Communication – The way in which we speak and share information with our colleagues about work matters and pending issues so that everyone understands and is on the same page.
  • Adaptability – The ability to change and adjust to different situations in an evolving workplace.
  • Emotional Intelligence – This includes empathy, self-regulation, motivation, social skills, and awareness of your own emotions.
  • Creativity – Using outside-the-box thinking to create innovative solutions.
  • Critical-thinking – The ability to analyze, conceptualize, infer, and problem-solve.
  • Organization – Being able to keep all work-related materials arranged in an orderly manner.
  • Team player – The way in which you work with others on your team on a variety of different tasks to ensure that processes go smoothly.
  • Leadership – Qualities that help you stand out as a leader of a group, such as emotional intelligence.

Alternatively, to give you a better idea of how soft skills are different from hard skills, let’s take a look at the list of the most common hard skills in the workplace:

  • Programming
  • Multilingual
  • Writing/Editing
  • Accounting
  • Data Analysis
  • Computer technology
  • Marketing
  • Design
  • Web Development

Hard skills are the results of your training from a school or on-the-job education, demonstrating your understanding or expertise on a particular matter. Conversely, soft skills are the personal behaviors and traits that you exhibit that shape how you work and collaborate with others.

Why Are Soft Skills Valuable

Why Are Soft Skills Valuable?

Soft skills are valuable because they’re transferable skills you can take into any job, regardless of industry. They can also reveal your ability to grow within the company. Having good soft skills can help your application stand out in a crowded and competitive market, ace the interview, and be the reason why you succeed in your position when you land the job. According to Monster’s The Future Of Work: 2021 Global Outlook, employers named the top skills they found most valuable in prospective employees including dependability, teamwork, flexibility, and problem-solving. Another report created by LinkedIn revealed over 89% of recruiters observed that when a hire didn’t work out with a company, it was due to poor soft skills.

Soft skills can also have a profound effect on the rates of turnover. A study at the University of Michigan, Boston College, and Harvard University discovered that soft skills boost productivity and retention by 12% and produce approximately a 256% return on investment.

The truth of the matter is this: employers understand the value soft skills bring to their organization and are beginning to prioritize candidates with a variety of soft skills over those with more technical experience. In some companies, while hiring managers search for candidates who meet the minimum qualifications for the role, they also keep the dynamic of their current team in mind while sourcing through the potential new hires.

For example, a team that prioritizes a positive workplace culture will either ask their recruiter (or a designated member of their team who is conducting the interviews) to incorporate a question into the interview process that would uncover a candidate’s flexibility and how they would demonstrate collaboration and teamwork to solve a particular scenario. The hiring manager can then determine whether the candidate should move to the next step in the process based on the answer. In another scenario involving a marketing team, the hiring manager may need to identify your skills in persuasion in order to sell a great product or platform. A candidate would likely need to display, either written or verbally, how they would apply this soft skill during the interview.

While soft skills can be difficult to learn at first and can take a fair amount of practice to master, these particular skills are important in your overall productivity, your employee experience, and your relationships with your colleagues.

What Are The Most Important Soft Skills

What Are The Most Important Soft Skills?

Soft skills are an essential component in building a strong, motivated workforce. But what soft skills are considered the most important? According to LinkedIn, employers are particularly seeking out these top soft skills:

  • Adaptability
  • Collaboration
  • Creativity
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Persuasion

Given the permanent changes to the workplace due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it makes sense that adaptability and collaboration would be at the top of the list. With more employers making the switch to either a hybrid or fully remote workforce, teams within the company have had to learn how to adapt to different time zones and new ways of working and communicating with each other. Creativity has always been a highly sought-after soft skill as this allows for more innovative decision-making and outcomes.

Interestingly, more small businesses have steadily launched in 2021, with about 4.3 million new businesses starting up across the United States according to the US Chamber. With more priority given to building a robust online presence and strategic marketing, it’s understandable why persuasion is considered one of the more valuable skills this year. Emotional intelligence is on the rise with self-awareness, conflict resolution, and empathy as essential skills in the workplace and a sign of emerging leadership qualities.

But here’s another soft skill often considered timeless as it will serve you for the rest of your career: time management.

Why is Time Management Considered A Soft Skill

Why is Time Management Considered A Soft Skill?

Time management is considered a soft skill for these three essential reasons:

  • It’s teachable – Similar to hard skills, soft skills can be taught. And it’s important for employers to recognize that these skills must be nurtured in the same way you would encourage continued growth and education with technical experience. In an in-depth SHRM article about the importance of soft skills, Liza Cannata, vice president of HR for CareerBuilder, says, “Companies have a lot to gain by treating soft skills as they would any technical skill.” This means that employers should create and foster a work environment that enables employees to gain the experience needed to enhance their soft skills. For example, employees need to be given the chance to be creative, time to problem-solve, and opportunities to step up in their leadership potential. Training, coaching, workshops, and external mentoring can be excellent advantages for employees seeking to gain the necessary experience.
  • It’s transferable. No matter what career path you follow, soft skills can follow you everywhere. They can be used for a variety of different positions and a variety of professional settings. Time management can serve you no matter what level you are in your career and is considered most of the most in-demand skills. Let’s look at an example of this in action. Say you have experience as an administrative assistant, and you find an open position for a Client Manager. The transferable skill sets you’d want to include on your resume are time management, organization, teamwork, and flexibility as these are all soft skills you’ve demonstrated as an admin.
  • It’s a life skill. Time management is not just a skill for the workplace. You can carry this into your personal life as well. It’s woven into everything that we do, from basic household chores, making time to go to the gym, or evening making space to spend more time with family and friends, time management is integral in our enjoyment of life. If you intentionally manage your time wisely, it leads to better decisions and you can have a healthy and satisfactory work-life balance for years to come.

Why is Time Management An Important Soft Skill

Why is Time Management An Important Soft Skill?

Now that we understand the basics of soft skills, let’s discuss why time management is so important in the workplace.

  • Enhances your work experience. When you’re operating at your best and managing your time effectively, you’re getting more high-quality work done by (or before) the deadline. This reflects positively on your work ethic and boosts your confidence in your abilities. Overall, you’ll feel much more accomplished at work with how much you were able to get done and the overall quality given how much extra time you gave yourself to complete the project or assigned task. You’ll remain motivated and driven to keep contributing to the company’s objectives.
  • Provides more opportunities. With the ability to get the fundamentals of your job accomplished, more opportunities in the workplace will be available to you such as training, career development, promotions, and mentoring. Learning how to manage your time in a productive way can create chances for you to increase your competitiveness as a high performer and gain additional skills that can last your entire career.
  • Make better decisions. When you plan your day strategically, giving priority to the most essential tasks needing to be completed first, you’ve taken the most important step in making good, practical decisions with time management. This eventually becomes a regular habit, which not only increases your productivity in the long run but helps you think creatively and critically about your tasks and how to come to an effective resolution.
  • Less stress. Time management is all about allocating specific time windows to be your designated opportunity to be at your most productive. When you capitalize on these time frames and get your work done efficiently, you’ll feel less stressed overall. Rather than waiting until the last minute — with the tasks always looming in the back of your mind — or allowing fear and insecurities to paralyze your progress, having methods to improve your time management, help you get started, and minimize interruptions and distractions will produce fewer moments of work-related stress.
  • More personal time. Employees crave a work-life balance that feels fulfilling. But when we have an intimidating and insurmountable to-do list, both at home and at work, it can be tough to strike that balance. Practicing good time management can help restore our freedoms and personal time when we’re off the clock. We won’t be working long or odd hours to get the projects done, nor will we be working at home just to meet the deadline. Time management gives us back the time to reset, refresh, and relax.

In Conclusion

The work landscape is changing. Soft skills are in high demand. An increasing number of employers have found that soft skills are not only beneficial to the company, but for their entire team’s morale and motivation. The good news is that soft skills can be learned in the right setting and with appropriate opportunities.

Using your time wisely has a variety of benefits that can only improve your work experience, which is why time management is considered a soft skill that enables you to have a successful and fulfilling career.

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The Beginners Guide to Agile Project Management and PMP Certification

Agile project management

Being in charge of a project can be as exciting as it is challenging. If you’re brand new to taking ownership of a project you may be wondering how to even start. Or maybe you’re looking to expand your skillset and get certified in project management so you’ll be first in line for a promotion.

There are a couple of different schools of thought on how projects should be run. In this article, we’re going to go through PMP (Project Management Professional) certification and Scrum Master certification based on Agile methodology.

Both of these certifications are in high demand and they’ll make you incredibly attractive when applying for new jobs. Let’s take a look at what separates these two certificates and which one you should go for.

What Is Agile Project Management?

The Agile methodology is used by startups and smaller companies who need to remain agile in their work. Agile project management is about breaking project life cycles into smaller iterations or sprints. It’s most commonly used during software development but many other types of businesses have taken to using this model for their projects too.

The core principles of Agile project management are rooted in collaborative working. Project members engage in 2-week sprints and develop their processes as they go along. Sprints are led by a Scrum Master who is there to answer any questions and make sure Agile principles are being adhered to.

The Scrum Master is not the project lead, nor are they solely responsible for the outcome. Instead, the product owner will be the leader but they may not need to attend all of the meetings such as the daily standup. A Scrum Master can oversee these meetings and help teams to progress.

Agile project management incorporates regular feedback, testing, and response to changes. The short sprints mean that project members can debrief and learn from one another. It helps teams to stay agile and easily adapt as they embark on the next sprint.

What is PMP

What Is PMP?

PMP stands for project management professional and it’s based on the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) model. The PMBOK guide is primarily written for those who want to follow a framework such as Waterfall which is pre-planned. However, it can be utilized with different styles and can work in tandem with Agile methods.

PMBOK takes project management and simplifies it into 5 process groups, sometimes known as phases. These are the following:

  • Initiating: Define a new project or phase and seek authorization for the project to begin.
  • Planning: Establish the deliverables of the project and plan the action needed to reach project objectives.
  • Executing: The processes involved with completing the work to project specifications.
  • Monitoring and controlling: Track, review, and regulate the progress of the projects. Identify areas of necessary change and implement them.
  • Closing: Finalize the activities for all process groups and formally close the project.

PMP is one of the most standardized models for project management. Those who hold certification are held in high regard. Although, whether you choose this or Scrum will depend on the industry you’re in. If your industry emphasizes PMBOK principles, then PMP certification is what you should do.

How Do Scrum and PMP Differ

How Do Scrum and PMP Differ?

Agile and Scrum are very popular among small teams and with startups. This is because it allows teams to be dynamic, adaptable, and adjust their processes as they go on. The Agile methodology was created for software development which benefits from this kind of routine. The principles can be applied to a wide range of industries and are no longer confined to just software.

PMP follows the strict 5 defined processes of PMBOK and doesn’t have much room for alteration. PMP experts will have all 5 phases occur once during the entire project, one after another. Agile, on the other hand, will have you break down the project into smaller sprints that last around 2 weeks.

If your project is following the PMBOK method, stakeholders will be involved only during the early stages of planning. In Agile, they will be responsible for continuing collaboration throughout the project.

The strict structure of PMBOK means that change is viewed as undesirable. There is an emphasis on control. However, change is a key part of Agile and it’s encouraged that teams review roadblocks and implement changes to their processes.

For ongoing projects, you might be better off using PMP methods. It can be particularly useful for projects that aren’t likely to change. PMP gives you a clear roadmap to refer to.

Scrum is going to be more useful if the project is brand new or is unfamiliar. This is because you can change and adapt with each sprint to perfect your team’s workflow.

Certifications

Should You Get Certified In Both?

There’s no obvious right answer for this but it won’t harm your career to get certified in both. If you do, you’ll have more flexibility when job seeking and could find opportunities in new industries. Consider what your career aspirations are and if getting both certificates will be a benefit for you.

Do your research to find out what is the standard choice for your industry before you undertake an exam. Some industries are better suited to PMP and likewise, others will be better suited to Scrum.

If the project suits a traditional waterfall-style workflow, PMP will be the best certificate to get. Many companies will prefer this style of project management, particularly older companies that might be wary of change.

Scrum Master certification is better suited to projects in new verticals or teams that haven’t worked together before but are working on the same deliverables.

If you choose one certificate now, you can always retrain and obtain the other later in your career. There is a benefit to having both certifications because they can work in tandem with each other. Instead of using the 5 phases of PMBOK for the overall project, they can be applied to each sprint.

Scrum Master and PMP Certifications

Choosing which certification you should undertake is down to a few different factors. You’ll want to consider things like salary implications, cost of certification, and what the industry standards are. The good news is, companies are willing to pay more for recruits with these certifications so it’s a great way to improve your job prospects.

Cost of Certifications

PMP certification is administered through the Project Management Institute (PMI) who developed the certification. It’s internationally recognized and over 1 million people have undertaken the course. The cost of certification differs depending on your membership with the PMI. This is how much it costs:

  • Members: $405
  • Non-members: $555

Scrum Master certification is available through many providers including the PMI who offer the PMP certification. The Scrum certificates are also internationally recognized and are a great way to demonstrate your understanding of Scrum and Agile methodology. Scrum Master certification is not the same as being certified in Agile. Although there are some similarities, it is not a replacement for Agile certification.

Here is a selection of certificates worth looking into if you’re looking to get Scrum certified.

  • Professional Scrum Master (PSM I) by Scrum.org: $150
  • Certified ScrumMaster by Scrumalliance.org: $1295
  • Scrum Master Accredited Certification Program by Scrum-Institute.org: $69
  • Disciplined Agile Scrum Master Certification (DASM) by PMI: $399/$499

Salary Expectations

Salary Expectations

Both of the certifications lead to higher salaries compared to project managers without them. The first thing to consider is the average salary for project managers in America which according to Indeed.com is $73,922.

Project managers with PMP certification on average earn +15.36% more than the base earnings. Although PMI claims that their certificate holders can negotiate salaries up to 25% higher.

Those who get certified in Scrum can expect a similar pay increase which averages to be +16.64% more than project managers without the certificate.

It’s clear that either certification increases your earning potential. You could use the certificates as an opportunity to negotiate a pay increase or look for positions at a different company.

Since the overall costs for certification and salary expectations are similar, it’s difficult to suggest one of the other. The most important thing to consider is what the standard is for the industry you work in and your career goals.

Project Management Opportunities

How to Find Project Management Opportunities

Project management is a highly sought-after career both for prospective employees and employers. The job features a lot of important responsibilities with great salaries attached to them. People who work as project managers report high levels of job satisfaction and they get to work with others from a wide range of disciplines.

The key responsibility for project managers is overseeing the development and completion of a project. How big the scope is varies between projects. Typically you will have a team of people working for you and you’ll be responsible for delegating tasks.

You don’t necessarily need to have previous experience in project management to be considered for a position. The skills needed to do the job can be developed while working in other roles. What hiring managers are looking for include:

  • Communication skills
  • Leadership skills
  • Organization skills
  • Critical and creative thinking
  • Collaboration skills
  • Problem-solving

Some jobs may require a degree as a minimum requirement. Degrees in topics such as business, communications, finance, psychology, and sociology can help you land a project management job.

If you are planning out your career then the entry-level positions you could look at are in operations, marketing, customer service, and software development. The key is to apply for positions that share duties with project managers such as overseeing other people and their tasks.

Once you have the necessary skills you can look at the certificates to increase your chances of getting the job as well as your remuneration. Project management positions are sometimes hired internally but a lot of them look for external hires too. Many positions are offered on a per-project basis rather than as a full-time position.

Conclusion

Getting certified in PMP or Agile Project Management is a great choice for any project manager. There are a wealth of opportunities in project management and holding these certificates will demonstrate you as an expert. Once you have obtained them you will be able to secure higher-paying jobs.

If you’re brand new to project management but you’re keen to make this your career, training in one (or both) of these methods will increase your chances of getting a job. There are plenty of free resources online to teach you more about PMBOK and Agile. Check them out before sitting any exams to ensure you pass the first time.

 

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Exposed! Eight Secrets to Creating a Culture of Collaboration

Collaborative Team Culture

Have you heard the saying that a fish doesn’t know water until he’s out of the fishbowl? The same idea is true of company culture. Each company has so many unspoken rules about how everyone behaves and works together, and they’re not even aware of what they all are!

This can easily leave a leader floundering, helpless as to why the team is unified in one moment, yet standoffish in the next.

Businesses face so many complex problems nowadays, it’s impossible to solve them alone. Every leader knows that collaboration is fundamental to saving time, money, and resources. But it can be such a struggle to get teams to trust and work together.

Heck, sometimes it’s hard just getting employees to stick around!

Fortunately, there is a key (or two) to pick the lock. A call center, Wipro, after trying every trick in the book to improve turnover rates, finally landed on a method that increased retention by 270%!

Although it may take stepping outside of familiar waters, the tools to create a collaborative culture are inside every leader’s tackle box.

Let’s look at some ways to catch and reel in a unified team

Company Culture

Defining Company Culture

First off, let’s get into what company culture is, and why collaboration matters.
Company culture refers to many facets of a company, collectively: its systems, processes, employees, leaders, and an ethos that connects them all.

Something like singing and eating cake on employees’ birthdays is a practice that shapes company culture. Policies around personal leave and vacation time do as well.

These patterns develop and grow organically, like a tree. Many stem from the early days of the business. The practices and systems that brought about the company’s early success become a fundamental part of their way of doing things.

A prescient CEO focuses on culture in order to shape a company’s future. Former IBM CEO Louis Gerstner, in his book Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance, went so far to say that culture is the only factor that shapes a business.

In its drive toward success, a company may unwittingly create a destructive culture.

For example, until several years ago, Volkswagen had a culture that prohibited failure at all costs. This perfectionism led to its 2015 fiasco, where it was caught systematically cheating emission tests.

A period where a business struggles and either lays people off, or discontinues a product, also shapes the culture.

When unhealthy practices manifest themselves, a leader needs to strategically graft a healthier culture into the business.

Integrating practices of collaboration is central to creating a culture with strong roots.

Every transparent leader knows that employees are a business’ greatest asset. In order to make good decisions, feedback and input is needed from every team.

The brainpower of a fertile, collaborative team increases exponentially. Although it may sound like a cliche, in the world of collaboration, two brains put together really does equal three!

Now let’s look at specific practices that drive a collaborative culture in an organization.

Get Everyone on the Same Page

1. Get Everyone on the Same Page

Imagine a party where the decoration team knows nothing about the plans of the catering or entertainment teams. This lack of communication could well lead to a fiasco.

When Carly Fiorina joined on as the CEO of Hewlett Packard, the business had four other CEOs who reported to her. She referred to it as a business with many fiefdoms, where the feudal lords rarely communicated.

In order to get everyone to a place where they understood one other, the company held interdepartmental meetings, where they collectively assessed every asset in the company.

This provided each fiefdom with a common frame of reference: they understood the processes, challenges, and goals of the other departments.

Similar to planning a party, every decision within a business is interconnected. Having a practice of in-person meetings between departments is central to creating a collaborative organizational culture.

Use Critical Moments to Cue Belonging

2. Use Critical Moments to Cue Belonging

It’s so common to hear couples share the story of where and how they met. All the circumstances, including eye contact, who said what to whom, and each persons’ emotion are divulged.

These aren’t simply cute or heartwarming stories. Critical moments, including first impressions and first disagreements, actually establish the norms for any relationship, both personal and professional.

Back to the call center company mentioned earlier. In an effort to resolve their chronic turnover problems, Wipro experimented with two methods of onboarding.

In the first, new hires received an hour of standard, run-of-the mill training in job duties. Afterwards, each person received a sweatshirt with Wipro’s name on it.

The second group was treated quite differently. Rather than being instructed about the job, the trainees were asked questions like “Tell me what happens on your best day?” and “Tell me what happens on your worst day?” and “What would you bring with you on a desert island?” At the end of the hour, these trainees received a sweatshirt with their own names written on it.

After seven months, the company followed up with each group, and found the retention rate in the second group was 2.7 times higher than the first!

What went right with the second group? At a critical moment–the first encounter–Wipro established a strong connection with the new hire. This connection created a solid foundation of acceptance and trust.

In order to establish norms of collaboration within a team, then, it’s important to seize these critical moments. By connecting personally with employees during first encounters, and during the first disagreement, a system of trust is set up.

Send Vulnerable Signals Again and Again

3. Send Vulnerable Signals Again and Again

Have you ever tried talking to someone, and the more you pried, the more they clammed up?

A leader knows that he or she doesn’t have all the answers. In order to solve problems, everyone on the team needs to share information and discuss. So even if people seem as stubborn as an oyster, it’s important to tease and twist to get them to open up.

How to do this? Well it’s not always easy. Here’s a suggestion.

Imagine you were at an elegant party, and the host dropped their dinner plate with a crash onto the floor. How might the atmosphere at the party change Chances are, any tension in the air would clear up, and guests would start letting their hair down and unbuttoning their sleeves.

Similarly, when a leader demonstrates vulnerability, it opens the team up to a space of sharing and trust. This doesn’t (necessarily) entail staging a blooper or fall.

Rather, it’s about consistently acknowledging that you need to know more. Laszlo Boch, formerly of Google, used to regularly send his employees this two-line email: “Tell me one thing you want me to keep doing, and one thing you want me to stop doing?”

With this simple message, he communicated several things: there is more I can learn, you can teach me, and it’s safe to open up here.

When a leader regularly sends signals of vulnerability, the climate becomes one in which team members feel safe sharing the precious pearls of their unique insight and wisdom.

4. Foster Collaborative Meetings

Do you ever have a friend that you never get to see, and when you finally do, you gush and gush to catch up, knowing that if you don’t make the most of the conversation, you may not have the opportunity again?

A meeting, similarly, is a valuable window in which to solve problems and arrive at a consensus around an issue. It’s critical to make this time collaborative. Here are three pointers.

First of all, it’s important that everyone understands and agrees on the problem and the purpose of the meeting. Although this may be outlined in the agenda, the leader needs to establish clarity on this at the beginning, and to make sure everyone is in agreement.

Secondly, before hashing things out, everyone needs to connect on a human level. This could mean having everyone share why they think the problem is important, tell something about themselves, or offer what they bring to the table.

Lastly, it’s important everyone set aside position and title, and relate to one another as peers. Within a level playing field, people contribute equally and so more insight is gathered.

5. Align Processes and Systems

Align Processes and Systems

When you set out on a long journey, you of course need to know your destination. But that’s definitely not the only thing to consider. It’s also necessary to acquire all of the equipment needed to get you there.

In a similar way, a collaborative culture needs to be aligned in several areas.
Principally, everyone must understand the goals of the business, or the problems to be solved. Then, roles need to be assigned.

Oftentimes, a goal has eluded a company for some time. This usually means the existing system isn’t working. Achieving the goal, then, entails re-shaping the status quo.

It’s also necessary to establish metrics around goals: to know when they’re meant to be accomplished, and then to reflect periodically on the progress.

And finally, leaders need to be explicit about the behavior that is expected. Is he or she looking for innovation? Risk taking? Collaboration? Stating the expectation outright, then providing training, makes sure everyone is on the same page.

6. Promote Collaborative People

Have you ever read through company reviews on Glassdoor? One criticism that regularly comes up is who was and wasn’t promoted.

A promotion sends a shock of lightning through a business. Everyone notices, and the message is unmistakable.

Not surprisingly, a company where people shift around constantly, projects are abandoned, and people are promoted due to personal friendships with the boss, doesn’t receive a five-star review. This practice sends a crystal clear message of cronyism and dysfucntion.

A culture is built gradually over time, with repeated patterns of behavior. And things like promotion and rewards are central to shaping it.

When a company promotes and rewards employees for demonstrating strong collaborative skills, it signals to everyone else that cooperation is a core value. This behavior then becomes aspired to and emulated.

Connect and Engage Consistently

7. Connect and Engage Consistently

In addition to seizing on critical moments, a collaborative culture is also built with practices of consistent engagement.

When a leader connects on a regular basis, everyone knows they’re cared for, listened to, and part of the team.

This can be as simple as making a morning round to everyone’s desk and catching up on their lives, families, vacations and other out-of-work activities. Being present in the conversation and following up later lets everyone feel valued and heard.

Another way to keep everyone in the loop is with a weekly email full of the latest happenings in the company. When the email includes a personal story from your life, people tend to engage and relate.

This kind of cohesion creates trust and sharing, which are essential to collaborative culture.

Challenge “Leave Well Enough Alone” Mentality

8. Challenge “Leave Well Enough Alone” Mentality

How often do you look at Yelp to decide whether or not to go to a restaurant?

Although online feedback tools are great, one drawback is that they discourage innovation: businesses are concerned about taking risks, for fear it will generate poor feedback and the business will suffer.

In a similar way, a culture where criticism is regularly dished out, is also one where an employee may well simply decide to let a problem fester.

Or, like Volkswagen, a culture with zero tolerance for failure, is ripe territory for unethical practices to emerge.

This sort of fear doesn’t exist within a collaborative culture. Criticism is measured, and dispensed constructively through appropriate channels.

Additionally, a collaborative environment is one in which innovation is celebrated. Even if an idea fails, putting it out there and giving it a go is a success. As Edison taught us with his invention of the light-bulb, sometimes it takes 1,000 times to fail at a great idea before getting it right.

Conclusion

It’s tempting to harbour an image of a collaborative business as a place where people lock arms, sway, and sing Kumbaya.

But this isn’t really the case. In a collaborative culture, people in fact work through a lot of tension. Difficult problems are aired, argued through, and resolved. Friction is actually a healthy sign, as it means that problems are faced and not allowed to fester.

The telling characteristic for collaborative workspaces is that tension is aired in an environment of acceptance and mutual respect.

What methods do you use to collaborate with your team?

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Exploring the Advantages of Project Scheduling

Advantages of project scheduling

Well-thought-out project scheduling allows businesses to establish when a team should begin and finish working on a deliverable, with resources and objectives in mind. Typically, a complete schedule will outline a variety of parameters like durations, dependencies, resource availability, and deadlines. As a result, this will allow the team and stakeholders to have a better understanding of the amount of work that has to be done, in what sequence, and at what time.

In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at the benefits of project scheduling and why your team should consider reaping the benefits of this practice.

Let’s jump into it.

So, what is project scheduling?

Basically, a project schedule is an essential project management tool that helps teams navigate a project by defining the scope of work that has to be performed and the timeframes associated with it. Similarly, it outlines the necessary skills and the resources required for every task, the order in which they occur, project milestones and interdependencies, as well as the overall project timeline.

Along with that, an important part of project scheduling is analyzing resource availability—this enables project managers to understand the spectrum of resources that are available to their team, when they’re available, and under what conditions. Failing to take these aspects into account may often result in delays and discrepancies in the deliverables.

It’s also important to mention that project schedules come with a fair share of flexibility, allowing you to adapt to the people and organizations that use them. Here are a few common formats:

  • Master project schedule — a surface-level roadmap that outlines the essential tasks and the time allocated to each of them. These schedules are typically used to provide a high-level overview for senior management or external stakeholders that don’t really need an in-depth breakdown of a project.
  • Milestone schedule — these documents outline the major milestones of a project but don’t necessarily feature every task or deliverable. It’s a helpful reference point when reporting status and helping teams provide context for the progress made so far.
  • Detailed project schedule — this document typically offers an in-depth understanding of the milestones and their subtasks and activities. It’s especially useful for the team and managers and allows them to keep track of every detail of the project.

What are the benefits of project scheduling?

Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail,” is probably one of the most concise and insightful answers to this question—but it would be a shame if we didn’t explore this topic in more depth. So here goes:

Enables detailed analysis and planning

This is probably one of the most important benefits scheduling has to offer. By brainstorming and analyzing a project’s needs, deadlines, and deliverables, you’ll be able to foresee a wide array of potential issues and bottlenecks, as well as plan milestones in a more thoughtful manner.

It’s actually easier to outline the benefits of scheduling by thinking about how a project would proceed without this process in place.

Obviously, there would be a lot of guesswork in place that would result in a significant lack of sync between team members. As a result, this leads to missed deadlines and extra expenses for business owners, along with a variety of other issues that project managers would prefer to avoid.

Allows for better management and communication

Fundamentally, a project schedule is more than just an action plan; it’s a roadmap designed to make a project efficient and streamlined by aligning dependencies, resources, personnel, activities, deliverables, and a host of other crucial elements.

Aside from streamlining the project itself, a detailed schedule allows project leaders or project managers to communicate a team’s progress, performance, and success to stakeholders based on KPIs.

Helps keep close track of progress

Fundamentally, scheduling provides teams with a detailed framework that allows them to track the progress of a project. This ensures that the people on a team receive regular and valuable feedback about the quality of work and overall performance.

With schedules, project leaders can keep track of slipping tasks and potential delays, ensuring that these problems can be addressed and communicated as soon as they arise.

Enables efficient resource management

Scheduling is critical when it comes to planning, managing, and keeping track of the efficiency of the resources involved in a project that range from people to software and finances. Appropriately resourced plans help optimize the sequence and duration of activities and make sure that they alternate smoothly.

Stimulates accountability

We’ve published quite a few articles on accountability on the Teamly blog—we believe that it’s one of the most important components of a successful and efficient workplace. Schedules are absolutely critical when it comes to stimulating accountability because they provide people with a crystal-clear understanding of their responsibilities and the deadlines associated with them.

Furthermore, this provides people with a fair amount of context in regards to what their colleagues are working on and how a person’s work is codependent on the work of others on the team. Unfortunately, this is an often overlooked benefit of scheduling. This broader understanding of how your work ties into the work of others helps eliminate a whole array of issues and misunderstandings during a project, ensuring better focus and coordination.

Ensures better financial performance

Scheduling will have a massive impact on the financial side of a project. This is especially relevant when a project is under serious time constraints.

Developing products is a fairly costly affair and keeping things within schedule is extremely important for business owners and investors.

Furthermore, a disorganized development process also invariably leads to a wide array of bugs that will have to be addressed at a certain point, and, unfortunately, the further a project is into the process, the more costly it is to address these issues.

Adequate estimating and scheduling will help teams keep their costs low as well as prevent unexpected expenses.

Enables better quality control

Schedules are critical when it comes to ensuring and maintaining quality due to the fact that they enable teams to outline the project needs and stakeholder or client expectations. As a result, teams can strategize projects to allow for extensive product testing, avoiding last-minute changes and delays that will end up increasing the bottom line. So by ensuring that a project’s timeline and resources are well-thought-out ahead of time, there are plenty of opportunities to accelerate work and mitigate unwanted expenses.

The bottom line

There is a wide array of factors that make project schedules an extremely valuable part of any project and project management in general.

By taking the time to strategize over a project’s schedule, a team will be able to:

  • Thoroughly analyze a project’s requirements and available resources and, as a result, establish critical codependencies, which will significantly boost delivery time and eliminate a wide array of bugs and issues.
  • Communicate progress across the entire company structure.
  • Stimulate accountability and provide the whole team with essential context to help eliminate a vast amount of bottlenecks and misunderstandings.
  • Ensure higher product quality and less wasted resources.