Improving team effectiveness is simple but not necessarily easy. Especially now that teams are more diverse, dynamic, and dispersed, it’s even more challenging to keep the members in the same boat to function collaboratively. Even more so, working remotely placed a new burden on leaders in managing their teams. Google, a company known for its innovative projects spent years learning what makes other teams better than others. The result is more about how well they work together and less about who makes up the team. If you are a leader in an organization, you are on a mission to come up with or implement ways to boost team effectiveness and team performance, where organizational success relies heavily upon.  In this article, we will talk about the eight strategies to boost your team’s effectiveness in this time of chaos and complexity. Let’s keep this short and sweet. 1. Give ownership to your team members. The best types of leaders are those who understand the power of ownership. By giving ownership to the team members, you are letting them make their decisions, and you are giving them accountability for their work. As a result, the employees will induce a sense of responsibility in them regarding their tasks. They will make better decisions because they are aware that their decisions can impact the performance of the entire organization.  The first step to giving ownership is letting them lead a project. This will make them feel that you entrust them well enough to let them handle a specific job. You will also realize that there is nothing more powerful than building an employee’s confidence in the organization. 2. Team effectiveness thrives on team development. I know what you’re thinking — no one has the time or budget for this right now. But if you come to think of it, those organizations that prioritize development have higher levels of engagement and team effectiveness. Apart from that, they have a higher chance to deliver great services and products, satisfy customers, and produce healthier profit margins than those who do not. So the real question is: can you afford not to? 3. Set effective meetings. This might be an obvious one, but many organizations still struggle to run effective meetings. If you want to increase team effectiveness, you must ensure that your meetings have a clear objective. Additionally, meetings must involve the right people and have clear action items and deliverable items. Make sure that you also start and end on time. 4. For team effectiveness, you need to know their strengths and weaknesses. One of the roles of a leader is to discover their employees’ hidden talents and put them to good use. To put them to good use, you must give them tasks that are relevant to their talents and skills.  For instance, if an employee enjoys thinking outside the box, challenge him to pitch innovative ideas in front of a client. They are more likely to contribute at the workplace when they feel that their talents and skills are being put to good use. 5.  Creative a positive work environment. One of the most effective ways to improve team performance is to create a positive work environment and a good company culture. Did you know that the workplace environment greatly affects the employees’ mood and performance? As a result, a lot of organizations keep their employees in mind when designing their office interiors. They make use of comfortable furniture, bright lighting, and plants and flowers. Aside from that, good leaders also keep track of how they treat their employees. As much as possible, they don’t want to come off as dominating and condescending as this can bring down the overall team effectiveness and performance. 6. Make your goals, roles, and responsibilities clear. Dominating the battlefield means you need to have a shift in focus and priorities. That’s why a lot of small businesses right now are changing their operational processes at least once a week based on changes in policies. One of the best ways to improve team effectiveness is to ensure that each team member is aware of their responsibilities, roles, and how these roles align with their company’s vision. Most of all, make sure that everyone knows the “why.” 7. Give your members incentives. Everyone is motivated to world harder when they are given a reason to do so. Sure, their reason should be “because it’s my job,” but will it kill you to show a little bit of appreciation? A pat on the back is not enough to do this, you must also give incentives, especially when they deserve it. There are many ways to offer an incentive. It can be in the form of cash, paid vacation, an extra day off, and even lunch-outs. Managers, I hope you’re taking notes. 8. Giving each other feedback is important for team effectiveness. There is no hope of boosting team effectiveness if you are not aware that you are being inefficient in the first place. This goes the same for your team members. They should be aware if they’re doing a good job or not, so they can reassess their efforts and skills. Once you are done giving them the feedback, you must also ask for their feedback. Maybe they would like a little more guidance on a certain task or would prefer a little more space for creative freedom. Doing this can build a culture of open dialogue, which will help to collaborate with the team easier than before. At the end of the day, there is no single way to improve team effectiveness and performance. But there are still small and constant ways you can do it. By providing constant support to your team and following the tips above, you will notice a huge rise in the effectivity meter in no time.

You can say a lot of things about being a manager, but one thing is for sure though — it is not an easy job. As a manager, you are aware of all the tasks you have to juggle. From strategy to less tangible issues, part of your job is to surpass these management problems as soon as they occur. Because at the end of the day, these management problems are the main culprit as to why most businesses shut down. If one tries to run down the list of all the organizational problems they could think of, he will probably see the fingerprints of the managers all over it. In retrospect, it’s the actions and the lack thereof of the managers that cause all of the major and critical issues of an organization. For you to prevent such issues with management and organization, you have to identify these management problems first. That’s why we will take a closer look at them in this article. 1. Employee turnover This is probably one of the biggest and most painful management problems that can ruin your organization.  Most of the time, managers tend to misdiagnose the root cause of employee turnover. They just shrug off the issue by blaming it on the quality of the job offer or claiming that the employee doesn’t fit the job description anyway. But here’s the truth: according to research, most employees who recently left their job leave because of their manager. The reason might be a direct problem with their manager or other secondary reasons that are also caused by managers. There are a lot of good and easy ways you can do to retain your employees. By failing to address this issue as soon as possible,  it will become a never-ending problem that will eventually lead to your organization’s failure. 2. Management problems related to miscommunication with remote workers Almost all companies are switching to a work-from-home setup due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But despite technological advances, communicating with someone remotely is still not quite as good as communicating with someone in the same room. From language barriers to cultural misunderstanding, this management issue can lead to bigger problems and frustration for everyone involved.  3. Not giving enough chances for your employees on career development. Career development is such a critical part of management for a lot of reasons you can ever think of. Unfortunately, most organizations fail to prioritize this issue. Tons of studies show that neglecting career development can lead to employee disengagement and retention problems.  From your standpoint as a manager, showing genuine interest in your employee’s career development sends a positive and powerful message. And there is only very little downside to providing such career support to your employees. If anything, the only reason why managers don’t invest in this function is that they “just don’t have time for it.” Plus, they only see it as a soft activity with short-term operational payback.  By simply prioritizing career growth and giving time for your employees to do it, you and your employees will be surprised by the results. 4. Management problems related to process management As a manager, you are responsible for determining the processes for your team. How you handle your decision-making process determines what and how employees will get tasks done. Sadly, bad managers play favorites when delegating tasks. They choose which tasks to give depending on their favorites rather than their skills and strengths. As a result, it slows down their decision-making, product releases, and other processes that their team tackles daily. Additionally, bad managers who use politics and play favorites frustrate their team members, which leads to their company’s damaged reputation. 5.  Relationships with their clients Managers lead by example. They set the tone for how their team deals with their customers. If they show diligence in handling their customers, their team will do the same as well. And if they are abrupt and brief, sadly, their employees will do the same as well.  Managers must take care of their customers well because if they don’t, neither will their teams. Failure to satisfy your clients can cause huge problems for senior leaders, especially when it costs you to lose your major clients.  6. Management problems related to productivity If there’s anyone with the biggest impact on team effectiveness, it’s none other than the manager of the team. According to research, managers cause 70% of the variance in employee engagement. That percentage is significantly huge if you consider the relationship between employee engagement and its benefits.  Despite this, most employees state that their managers don’t help them perform at a high level. In fact, only about 21% of employees feel that they are managed in a motivating way. As a result,  it can harm the long-term performance and goals of the entire company. After all, it’s hard to remain productive in an office where the manager doesn’t help you stay engaged at work. 7. Employees don’t feel heard. One thing is true about all employees: they will leave any time they feel exploited and oppressed. No matter how much you emphasize that you value their opinions, some of them are still afraid to speak out against policies they disagree with. The most obvious reason is that they believe their views will be ignored as soon as they tell them to the management. 8.  Management problems related to innovation  Even though companies claim to be innovative, most of them fail to get beyond buzzwords. The biggest reason for this is the failure to get ideas from their front-line staff, which is the greatest source of new ideas. As a manager, you must be open to hearing out your employee’s ideas.  On the other hand, some managers like to take credit for their team’s ideas. This leads to employees feeling discouraged to come to them with new ideas. According to BambooHR’s research, this is the biggest complaint of employees about their managers. These are just some of the most common

Accountability in the workplace is perhaps one of the keys where a team’s success hinges upon. As a leader, you are not only responsible for holding yourself accountable; you are also responsible for building a culture of accountability on your team. At the end of the day, the best leaders are those who inject responsibility into the DNA of their team. Sadly, the meaning of accountability is often charged with negative connotations. As a result, it damages the true meaning of the word, leading to even more stress and fear. Perhaps the reason behind this is that we often think of being accountable as accepting consequences or “disciplinary measures.” So if you want to foster accountability in the workplace, you have to know and understand what it truly means — negative connotations aside. The True Meaning of Accountability To learn the true meaning of accountability, you must first establish what it is not: accountability is not fear. It is not a slap on the wrist. Most of all, accountability is not just something that happens once the project is over. In Peter Bregman’s article on accountability, he perfectly summed up what accountability truly means. He said, “Accountability is not simply taking the blame when something goes wrong. It’s not a confession. Accountability is about delivering on a commitment. It’s the responsibility to an outcome, not just a set of tasks. It’s taking initiative with thoughtful, strategic follow-through.” Accountability is all about ownership and initiative. It means that when you take responsibility for a task, you need to follow through and accomplish it. You recognize that the other members are reliant on your work, so they can do their work as well.  By consistently demonstrating accountability in the workplace, the trust will grow stronger and success will come sooner. You trust your team members to do the right thing and they trust you to lead them in the right direction. This healthy amount of trust will pave the way for your team’s success. 7 Ways to Foster Accountability in the Workplace I’m pretty sure you’ve been part of a team that was routinely troubled by late team members, broken promises, and missed deadlines. One of the biggest culprits for that is the failure of the team to prioritize accountability in its strategy. Furthermore, workplace accountability begins with trust and support. Having these two means that your team is motivated to do the right thing and that they take responsibility when they do not. Rather than stressing over the outcomes you failed to achieve, you can foster accountability in the workplace by following these seven steps. 1. Promoting accountability in the workplace starts with yourself.  According to Henry Evans, the author of Winning with Accountability, accountability begins with working on ourselves first. Before you have “the talk” with your team, make sure that you are setting a good example for them.  To do that, he recommends that you take note of the two important commitments to our success: one for your work and the other for your personal life. When leading accountability in the workplace, you must first recognize the fact that you must encourage others to hold you accountable. After all, building a culture of accountability is more effective when you are willing to be held accountable by others. This concept is known as the “internal locus of control” in psychology. It is the belief that things that happen to you are influenced by your own actions, abilities, and even mistakes. Here are other things you can do to lead by example: Complete the tasks that have been assigned to you on time. Show responsibility for your team’s success and make sure that you recognize their effort. Respect everyone’s time by coming on time and prepared for meetings. Read: Follow These 6 Steps When Laying Off an Employee 2. Establish clear expectations from the get-go. Lack of accountability arises from the failure to define what you meant by success to your team members. Every time you hold someone accountable for their actions, you need to be sure that you have been clear about your desired outcomes, your success metrics, and your team’s strategy from the very start. Bear in mind that clarity is at the core of accountability.  Discuss these expectations through meetings and mutual agreement between you and your employee. Of course, let them talk about their expectations as well. Don’t make the “accountability talk” exclusively defined by you and you alone. When you are working on a project, be sure that you go over in detail the expectations you have and how it plays a huge role in your organization’s goals. Part of this process is providing an outcome that is both measurable and attainable. This is to make sure that you fill in the gaps that are caused by a lack of specificity and unclear expectations.  To be as specific as possible, you can try the following: Define specific timeframes. Define each member’s responsibilities. Describe how you want the outcome to look like. Provide examples. Read: 26 Characteristics of a Great Leader That Will Define Your Victory 3. If you want to establish accountability in the workplace, you need to foster connection too. There are different types of connections that can make employees feel connected to the work they are doing. Establishing these will help them become more accountable for their actions and performance.  Connect their tasks to their personal and career goals.  Connect them to the problem and let them come up with their own solutions. This will help them feel more responsible for their outcome. Connect their task to the organizational goals. Connect them with their colleagues by promoting collaboration and teamwork. 4. Have the “difficult talk.” Holding people accountable may sound so confrontational, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Remember not to take it personally; focus on the performance and not the person himself. Always see the good in other people. If it helps, you can assume that they only want to

The human resources department handles the most unpleasant tasks of an organization, and laying off an employee might be on the top of the list. Laying off an employee can induce a lot of emotions from sympathy to sadness. And since you are not letting them go for performance-related reasons, you may feel guilty and bad about delivering the bad news. As an HR employee, how do you deliver the bad news the right way? How do you hit the balance of being direct and empathetic? Most of all, how will you make your feelings sincere? Firing vs. Laying Off an Employee While both of them result in employment, there is a striking difference in terms of the reason why. There are a lot of reasons why an employee is fired. Perhaps, one of the most common reasons is because of their unsatisfactory performance on the job. An employee might also be fired for misconduct and unethical behavior, including harassment, theft, and insubordination. When an employee is fired, they have no chance of being rehired by the same organization in the future. But when an employee is laid off, it normally has nothing to do with their performance. Rather, employee layoff occurs when an organization undergoes downsizing or when it goes out of business. Sometimes, an employee’s layoff may be temporary, and they have a chance to be rehired when the economy ameliorates. How to Lay an Employee Off Compassionately  How do you make the tough transition as easy and less-guilty as it can be for you and your employees? These are some tips worth considering: 1. Prepare the layoff plan. As part of the HR department, you are responsible for the preparation of the layoff plan. Here are the things you should prepare for: Talking point – Plan what to say to the laid-off employee carefully. Be sure to include the reason for the layoff. Additionally, we do not recommend that you memorize the whole script, as it will sound insincere and unconvincing. Instead, read and say your points out loud and sincerely. Legal Document– Review all the documents to make sure that you comply with all employment laws.  Timing and Details – Be prepared for the employee’s official last day by providing the facts in writing. The paperwork should include a notification of termination as well as an FAQ that answers all possible questions they might have. 2. Laying off an employee should be handled with care. Mutual respect is the foundation of an employee’s life cycle up until their last day in your company. You become respectful toward each other from hiring to counseling. I hope that that respect remains the same when you are letting them go. Laying off an employee is one of the most difficult conversations you will have as an HR employee. That is why you have to be prepared and make sure that you express clearly that it is not their fault. By letting them know this, it will take some of the hurt out of the conversation. 3. Identify those who need a transitional period. Whatever the outcome of your layoff conversation, it is important to know that it will not be the same for everybody. Especially for some key employees with important institutional knowledge, you have to keep them around for a transitional period. Not only this benefits you, but it also provides some relief to those departing employees considering how they receive a notice before their termination. Through this process, you might even come to the realization that some employees are too valuable to be let go. If this situation arises, you can always change your original plan. Plus, it could save your organization from costly and critical mistakes. 4. Give incentives to your transitional employees. For the record, your transitional employees are in a position that mostly benefits your company. That’s why you need to let them understand their importance to the process. Consider thinking about the incentives you can give the employees during their stay in the transitional period. It is conventional, after all, to offer perks to encourage your employees to stay and do a good job. For instance, for those who want to leave right away, you can offer them a severance package of, let’s say, six weeks. But for those who would stay for a month, you could offer them a severance package of 12 weeks. Furthermore, you can offer them a retention bonus. This retention bonus can come in the form of a lump sum at the end of the process. Or, you can divide it month by month. At the end of the day, their decision will depend on their personal perspective. So be sure to be prepared for some to turn down the proposal. 5.  Give your transitional employees a flexible schedule. For those who agreed with your offer, be sure to let the situation be favorable to them by giving them plenty of flexibility on the job. Flexibility means giving them time to go on job interviews. Don’t hold them to 48-hours per week schedule, especially when they need to be out for an interview. You can also offer them reduced hours, a flexible schedule, and a lenient atmosphere. When you give your transitional employee a favorable schedule, you are allowing them to separate from your company on good terms. They will be happy to work and get a paycheck, and you will receive a job well done. 6. When laying off an employee, you must provide them outplacement assistance and support. Showing your appreciation for your laid-off employee goes a long way in building professional goodwill. If possible, you may offer them outplacement assistance to get assistance with things like resume or career-transition. This shows that you truly care about their future and career. Additionally, you can provide them letters of recommendation for their next employment. Assisting them in finding their next role can make the transition a positive one. Plus, it opens room for future opportunities.  Laying

Have you ever been a part of a group where the leader takes charge of the situation by painting a clear vision of the group’s goals and shows their ability to make the group motivated and energized? There is a name for this type of leadership — and it is called a transformational leadership style. Transformational leadership style is easily one of the best leadership styles for a lot of reasons. One, it inspires positive changes to the rest of the group. A transformational leader has the drive to find ways that can keep the entire staff on the same page with their common vision. As a result, it can make positive changes toward each other’s relationship as well as achieving their vision easier. In this article, we will explore everything you need to know about transformational leadership style, including its meaning and a step-by-step guide on how you can become one. What is a transformational leadership style? Transformational leadership style is a leadership style in which a leader is generally energetic, passionate, and fervent. Transformational leaders encourage and motivate their team to create changes and think creatively, so they can grow and contribute to the future success of the company. They do this by setting a good example through a strong sense of employee ownership, company culture, and freedom in the workplace.  Furthermore, transformational leaders do not micromanage. Rather, they inspire their team by putting their trust in them and letting them take authority over decisions in their assigned tasks. It is one of the best management styles because it gives the team their space to be creative and find solutions to existing problems. Quick Background on Transformational Leadership Model The concept of transformational leadership was initially introduced by James V. Downton in 1973.  It was later on expanded by James Burns in 1978. According to Burns, transformational leadership is visible when “leaders and followers make each other to advance to a higher level of morale and motivation.” In 1985, researcher Bernard M. Bass further expanded the concept by including a way to measure the success of transformational leadership, which is now referred to as Bass’s Transformational Leadership Theory. According to Bass, the transformational leadership style can be defined based on the impact it has on followers. Furthermore, Bass suggested that transformational leaders must accumulate respect, trust, and admiration from their followers. Components of Transformational Leadership Style Bass also introduced the four different components of transformational leadership. 1. Individualized Consideration Transformational leaders care about their individual followers, which is why they offer support and encouragement for them. To foster good relationships with their individual followers, they always keep their lines of communication open. In this way, followers are free to share their ideas while the leader can recognize the unique contributions of each follower. 2. Inspirational Motivation This type of leadership focus on a clear vision which they articulate to their followers. Transformational leadership means they help their followers achieve the same passion and commitment to achieve their common goals. 3. Intellectual Stimulation For transformational leaders, it is not enough to just challenge the status quo. Rather, they work hard to also encourage creativity among their followers. They encourage them to find creative ways to solve problems and explore new opportunities to learn. 4. Idealized Influence This type of leadership style aims to be a role model for their followers. With the trust and respect followers have for their leader, a leader can emulate their ideas to an individual. Characteristics of Transformational Leadership Style Bass was able to set apart transformational leaders from other leadership styles by identifying their hallmarks. According to Bass, a transformational leader is someone who: Promotes an ethical work environment where values, high standards, and priorities thrive. Fosters the inspiration and positive development of followers Encourages moral standards within the organization Establish a company culture by encouraging employees to switch from an attitude of self-interest to a common good perspective Emphasize the importance of open communication, cooperation, and authenticity Gives a chance for followers to grow by giving them an option to be coached and mentored Someone who is a model of integrity and fairness Reasons Why Transformational Leadership Style is One of the Best Leadership Styles 1. Many organizations suffer without transformational leadership. There is a strong relationship between transformational leadership and job characteristics, so expect a negative result in organizations that do not employ it.  Remember that transformational tasks encourage positive perception among followers. Therefore, it can lead to the success of the organization. 2. It makes work meaningful. A transformational leadership style makes work meaningful by providing autonomy. As a result, it makes the followers feel that their work is valued and self-congruent. 3. Transformational leadership style helps employees feel connected to their organization. Since transformational leaders focus on increasing the self-efficacy of their followers, they feel more determined in their work. Additionally, when they facilitate social identification within the group, it makes them feel like they truly belong to the organization they are in. 4. It contributes to individual growth and development. A transformational leadership style has a huge impact on individuals’ self-growth. Transformational leaders help turn members into individuals who can accomplish tasks beyond other’s expectations. Apart from this, leaders nurture their followers’ moral development, so they can internalize the same values and principles that they have. Effects of Transformational Leadership Style Authors Bass and Riggio explained in their classic text that:  “Transformational leaders…are those who stimulate and inspire followers to both achieve extraordinary outcomes and, in the process, develop their own leadership capacity. Transformational leaders help followers grow and develop into leaders by responding to individual followers’ needs by empowering them and by aligning the objectives and goals of the individual followers, the leader, the group, and the larger organization.” A transformational leadership style can have a positive effect on the group. That’s because transformational leaders have higher levels of performance and satisfaction compared to other types of leaders. Additionally, they trust their followers to do their best,

The world we live in today was never the same as thousands of years ago or even, dare I say, five years ago. I believe that part of the reason for this is the leaders who lead the changes and maintain the standard in our society, be it good or bad. For better or for worse, these leaders are the ones who shape our nations, communities, and organizations. There are leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. who succeeded in changing our culture for the better. Meanwhile, there are leaders like Adolf Hitler whom we would rather erase in the book of history.  If you are a leader — or even an aspiring one — I wish that you become a leader who strives to be righteous and fair at all times like Martin Luther King, Jr. Remember that you are placed in that position because the people trust you. and breaking that trust can only result in heartaches — both for you and the people who trusted you.  But do you know what makes a good leader? What characteristics of a great leader should you have so you can successfully do your part in shaping this world for the better? 26 Characteristics of a Great Leader Our society is quicker to identify a bad leader rather than a great one. And I believe that’s because no one has the perfect list of good leadership skills. On the other hand, it’s easier to spot a bad leader because we are, sad to say, surrounded by a lot of them. And while it’s true that there really is no perfect list of these best leadership qualities, the next best thing we come can come up with is somehow close to perfect.  In this article, we will take an in-depth look at the top 26 characteristics of a great leader that can help you as you move towards your leadership goals. 1. Lead with integrity When the 34th President of the United States, Dwight.D.Eisenhower said, “The supreme quality of leadership is unquestionably integrity,” he is speaking on behalf of everyone who dreams to lead. Whether it’s giving proper credit for accomplishments or even acknowledging mistakes, one of the good traits of a leader is to lead with integrity. A great leader always strives to do what is right even if it may not be the best decision to achieve your end goal. 2. One of the top characteristics of a great leader is being courageous. Disclaimer: having courage does not mean that you never feel afraid. A human without any fear is like a pig who can fly. Rather, being courageous means acting in the face of fear. As a leader, you are likely to face a fear or two every day. You may encounter fear of conflict, vulnerability, or even failure. The reason why having courage is in the list of leadership qualities is that it will protect you from all sorts of challenges you will face daily. It’s the foundation of many other leadership attributes. 3. Passion to inspire others One of the most challenging jobs for leaders is to convince others to follow their lead. But while it may not be an easy path to tread, it can help you take one step closer by setting an excellent example for others. It’s our nature to follow the leader and see how they react to the situation when things get tough. If you handle it well, you will gain more trust from your followers. In return, they will be inspired to follow in your footsteps in leading others for the better. By setting an example for your subordinates, you can overcome all the challenges you will be facing straightforwardly. 4. An ethical leadership is a good leadership. Ethical leadership is not just avoiding corporate crimes. More than that, it also means treating people fairly and encouraging others to do the right thing. However, ethics may vary between individuals, so it is your job to establish organizational values for your subordinates to follow. For example, you can create a code of ethics that shows the importance of values like respect and inclusivity. 5. An excellent communicator As a leader, your mission is to motivate, instruct, and discipline your people. But it is impossible to accomplish these missions if you don’t know how to communicate well.  Remember that poor communication can only lead to poor outcomes. Words hold the power to make the people do even the unthinkable.  6. One of the best characteristics of a great leader is being accountable. It’s easy to spot good leadership even from the distance when you can see him accepting responsibility for his words and actions. Sure, not every action you make will be a smashing success. But when you make a bad call, you should know how to respond by accepting defeat. Keep in mind that the best leadership is taking responsibility for the actions of your team. It is not always your fault — I’ll give you that — but it is your duty to find a solution. 7. Effective delegation  You cannot do everything yourself. That’s why you need to focus on key responsibilities while delegating the other tasks to your team. Micromanaging your subordinate can only do harm to your team’s trust as well as your focus on important matters. Rather than micromanaging them, learn how to empower and delegate the tasks to them. Make sure that you provide them with all the resources and support they need to accomplish the task. 8. Being creative and innovative If you ask the world what separates a leader from a follower, Steve Jobs already has the answer (the best one yet) for you. “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower,” the greatest visionary of our time will tell you. Leadership means being creative and innovative, so you can survive this fast-paced world and beat your competitors. These two characteristics of a great leader are what will make your team stand out from

There’s nothing soft about empathy in leadership despite it being a soft skill. Even the Army Field Manual on Leader Development persistently insists that empathy is one of the secret keys to competent leadership. Why? Because empathy makes you the type of leader who makes sure that the people he’s trying to reach are actually reached. Empathy makes you think of the consequences that every decision will bring once you put it into action.  Without it, it’s impossible to build a team or even mother a new generation of leaders. Those are just a few reasons why I believe that empathetic leaders are the best leaders. Meanwhile, I know that some of you think that empathy for leaders is nothing but a touchy-feely skill. But the truth is, it has a major impact on leadership, which can be difficult to master and demanding to maintain. Empathy in leadership is such an indispensable characteristic that I can even write a 20000-word article about it. But for the sake of our sanity, I’m going to narrow it down to a shorter article. So why does leadership empathy matter? Here are a few reasons why. 1. Leadership empathy creates bonds. Showing care for your subordinates helps you better connect to their interests and perspective. It’s easy to create a strong bond when you care about one another, which can result in a bigger prize down the road. Imagine how much power a strong bond can give to your teams, business, and leadership.  2. Empathy guides better understanding We are not superheroes who can easily feel what others feel and think what others think. Some people can be compulsive with their reactions in ways that may leave you clueless and surprised. But if you are an empathetic leader, you don’t have to worry about how to respond to their reactions. At the end of the day, your goal is not to reply but to understand — not to respond but to listen. When you have empathy in your pocket, you can easily understand others without passing judgment or making assumptions. 3. Empathy in leadership helps you sharpen other’s skills. Being empathetic can sometimes be hard, especially when your effort doesn’t come from the heart. But with the right amount of effort to show awareness and understanding, it can help you succeed in your biggest goal as a leader: employee development.   As an empathetic leader, you take interest in people to show you care. You also express your curiosity by asking questions and challenging them to become better than their current state. Doing this can result in successful employee development. 4. It cultivates better communication. Empathy makes you the type of person whom other people want to speak to because it makes you feel safe to talk to. To effectively communicate means understanding how our choices can make a difference in the way we perceive the world which we can use to guide others.  5. Empathy in leadership helps you become an emotion-seeking detective. Asking your team questions like, “what’s bothering you?” may sound so touchy-feely. But for your employees, your words will seem like an indicator of your interest. According to a Salesforce’s Report, employees can produce up to 4.6 times stellar work when leaders pay attention to their employees’ needs. What makes an empathetic leader? One of the most critical traits among empathetic individuals is their desire to listen to what others are saying. Truly, empathetic people know how to listen attentively to what you are telling them. They put their complete focus on the person talking, and they do not let themselves get distracted. They also spend time listening rather than talking because they want to let others feel that they are heard and recognized. What can you do to be more empathetic? Empathy is a natural part of the human condition. The only thing that’s preventing you to show empathy in leadership is how you demonstrate it to those around you. As mentioned earlier, one critical trait of leadership empathy is the ability to listen to those around you. Additionally, you must pay attention to all verbal and non-verbal cues that are a part of daily communication. Doing these small efforts can help you switch your focus to the people around you. Visit SprintHR to learn more about leadership.

The employee life cycle is an amazing way to attract the right candidates and enhance the experience of their employees. By following the six stages of the employee life cycle, employers are able to design and encourage employee experience, which leads to success, retention, and excellent employee management. What makes it different from looking at engagement efforts as a one-time action, is that it is a designed experience instilled into the course of everyone in your organization. In this article, we will zoom in on the employment lifecycle as well as how they all fit together. This way, you can maximize the chance of success in terms of building productive teams and retaining those within them. What is the employee life cycle? The employee life cycle tackles the relationship between employees and the organization they belong in as a whole. It helps employers visualize an employee’s engagement with the company that they are a part of. From the attraction phase to the separation phase, it encompasses every stage of an employee’s experience within an organization.  In this way, the organization will be able to come up with different engagement strategies for their employees depending on the stage they are in. For example, a company can focus on the retention stage if it has a high recruitment strategy but poor turnover rates. The 6 Stages of the Employee Life Cycle This is the part where things get interesting. By understanding the life cycle of an employee, you will be able to drive employee engagement to the highest level.  What’s more, you will be able to attract the right candidates and improve your employee experience. So let’s examine each stage in greater detail. 1. Attraction No matter how good your product or service is, your company won’t thrive if you can’t attract and retain great employees. That’s why this first stage of the employee life cycle is crucial to an organization’s growth strategy. This phase greatly relies on your employee brand. The way you communicate about your organization is a big contribution to how candidates perceive you. Keep in mind that when you’re communicating about your organization, try not to oversell. Rather, keep it real and simple. Don’t sell your company that offers flexible work schedules if that isn’t truly the case. In other words, employee branding means you have to walk the talk. Another way to attract the right candidates is by ensuring that your former employees were happy working for you. Remember that their reviews about your company can help spread the word. 2. Recruitment The recruitment phase is simply the active phase of attracting great talent to join your company. It could either be a result of an existing role vacancy or a new position. There are some rules you need to know during the application process. For one, make sure that you keep it as short as possible. Don’t make applicants fill lengthy forms.  You can also think of alternative ways to receive applications depending on your target candidate group. If your target if on Generation Z, you can ask them to turn in a short video resume rather than the traditional paper resume. After the application process stage, you must give them feedback and let them know if they’ll go to the next round. Be transparent. After all, nobody likes to be left in the dark about where they stand.  Review this basic guide to help you in your recruitment process. 3. Onboarding Metaphorically, if the attraction and recruitment phase is like the dating phase, then the onboarding phase is like the workplace honeymoon period.  Onboarding is a very critical stage of getting the newly employed adjusted to their new job within your company quickly. It is the process through which the new hires will learn about the company culture, the knowledge, behaviors, and skills required to work effectively within the organization. There are some methods you can do to ensure that the process goes smoothly as expected.  For one, you need to make sure that your job description contains all the most essential duties, experience, and skills that you are looking for in an applicant. Then, in the first few days, you must not forget to discuss your company values and vision and what they all mean as well as your expectations from them. But of course, don’t just complete your first weeks and leave it. Make sure that you follow up regularly and that you schedule a face-to-face with the new employee to find out their experience during the first few weeks in the company. 4. Retention This might be getting a tad bit repetitive, but retention is such an important stage of the employee lifecycle that you can write a whole book about it. Positive company culture has a lot of good influence in this phase. While a bad company culture can result in high employee turnover. In return, it can lead to huge costs of having to replace your employees. The good news is that employee retention doesn’t need to be hard to achieve — as long as you have common sense and a great amount of effort. Some of the things you can do are to build great relationships with your team and seek their feedback and measure morale regularly. Make sure to check this article to learn more strategies for employee retention. 5. Development The development phase is somehow linked to the retention phase. Because plenty of employees will likely leave the company if they feel like they are stuck in a role with no chances for growth. Aside from that, the development phase is an excellent way to increase your business capabilities. But for now, let’s focus on the employee side of development. In order to structure your development, you have to focus on the results of these three analyses: organizational analysis, and personal analysis. When these three are combined, you’ll be able to input your employee’s training and development needs. Check this blog for the complete guide about

If you were to ask every married couple the secret to a happy relationship, you might hear the same answer: good communication. And I believe this goes the same for every relationship you will ever have in this life, be it a romantic relationship or a workplace relationship.  When it comes to workplace relationships, specifically team relationships, proper communication goes a long way towards the organization’s overall success. According to a 2016 LinkedIn survey, communication is the most sought-after soft skill among employers.  Employers who establish good communication among their subordinates succeed in boosting their employees’ motivation and productivity. At the same time, employees who invest time and energy into delivering clear communication will always be valuable assets to an organization.  With the importance of clear communication in mind, it is no surprise that miscommunication can lead to many repercussions — including lost productivity, failed missions, and broken relationships.  Here are the most common types of team miscommunications and a few tips on how to resolve them. 1. Setting unclear expectations It is your role as a leader to set expectations for your team that revolve around your project’s purpose. Your team deserves to know how you picture the outcome because they play a huge role in the whole progress of the project. If you ask a member to do a task, it is your duty to provide them the details they will need. Additionally, you should also set out success metrics. Remember to be specific, or you may be disappointed. 2. Poor phrasing Written communication is more complicated than its verbal counterpart. It’s hard to know the tone of the speaker just by looking at the text. Worse, a poorly phrased email can confuse your team members, which might lead to errors and counterproductive arguments. Writing clearly and concisely is even more critical these days since most of us are working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those teams who used to rely on verbal communication must now learn how to use emails and instant messages properly to prevent miscommunication. 3. Time zone differences Another miscommunication problem that remote teams are facing is managing time zome differences. Make sure to set core hours companywide, especially when your employees are having a hard time adhering to a specific timezone. This will help you ensure that each team member can reach those in other time zones whenever needed. 4. No communication What’s worse than unclear communication is no communication at all. One of the biggest recipes for business failure is failing to discuss the issues that your team is facing. No matter how frustrating and doubtful it can be, you need to talk it out with your team. Never let the day go by without pointing out an issue that needs to be addressed. Always reach back out and ask. Communicating is important especially when dealing with ethical issues. If someone is disobeying the social distancing protocol, don’t turn a blind eye and take action immediately. Silence does nothing but tolerates bad behavior to continue. 5. Micromanaging employees An extreme has an equally dangerous consequence, just like a lack of communication. And while it is not as obvious, overcommunication can also be dangerous to your team’s productivity. After all, nothing kills productivity quite like micromanagement. Due to micromanagement, your team will likely remain silent because they feel like you are overpowering them. Try not to be overbearing, and you’ll get better results from your team. 6. Blaming others A simple act of finger-pointing can create tension even on the strongest teams. An unproductive accusation can only lead to bad relationships, so don’t ever think about doing it. Instead, teach your employees accountability. Let them know that if they make a mistake, it is their responsibility to own up to it. And if they score a win, well, they deserve a merit for that too. 7. Giving unconstructive criticism Yes, your team needs criticism in order to improve their performance. Sadly, not all types of criticism are valuable. If there’s a type of criticism you have to avoid, it is unconstructive criticism or giving disapproval that doesn’t suggest a better alternative. Always give constructive feedback by peppering words of encouragement and praise, no matter how poor the employee’s performance is. If your harsh criticism is badly needed, you can try to reframe your feedback as a question. Asking “what would you do differently next time?” can be both conducive to learning and less aggressive. As a leader, it is your duty to lead your team by being an example. The better you communicate with your team, the better they’ll communicate with each other. Make sure to look for these miscommunications you are probably guilty of, so you can build a more productive and collaborative team.

In essence, effective meetings are meant to boost the team’s productivity and efficiency. Meetings help keep everyone on the same page, so they can work towards their goals by the end of a specific time. And when everyone is on the same page, it can give awareness to the team about what should be done and can help them accomplish even the most challenging tasks. In reality, while meeting with the team seems like an obvious requirement, we find ourselves stuck at unproductive meetings with no sense of purpose. We even spend 18 hours a week at meetings on average, which might be one of the biggest time-wasters at work.  Yes, meetings have earned a bad reputation as the biggest time sucker. But that doesn’t mean you can’t turn it into something productive. Effective meetings can help a team move forward by helping attendees come to a decision and find ways to solve a problem. Apart from that, an effective meeting can inspire team collaboration which has a direct effect on every employee’s happiness.  So how do you run an effective and enjoyable meeting? These tips will surely help you. 1. Ask yourself whether the meeting is really a meeting. Before you send out invitations to the attendees, it would be better if you determine if the meeting is actually a meeting. There are a lot of culprits out there pretending to be meeting-worthy, but in reality, you can just skip them to save your time. For instance, if the meeting is just one person talking while the others are trying their best not to check their phones, then it’s likely a presentation than a meeting. To keep the attendees engaged, you can send them the slides in advance, so you can use the time together to do group discussions. 2. An effective meeting should have a clear objective. A meeting will only be as productive as you want it to be if you have a clear objective from the very start. Perhaps, the meeting is all about generating new ideas, making decisions, gathering information, or all of the above. You have to be sure of what you’re trying to accomplish, or else, your meeting will just be one of those time-suckers.  Entrepreneur and influencer Neil Patel said it best. For him, he doesn’t want to have a meeting just for the sake of having a meeting. He believes in “no purpose, no meeting.” Keep in mind that meetings are not social gatherings. You are gathered for a purpose, and that is to assess goal-oriented agendas. While there is nothing wrong with hanging out, you should not do it during a business meeting. Keep the meeting goal-focused. Always remember that when you start with the goal, you’ll be able to finish with success. 3. Always be prepared. Preparation is always the key to successful and effective meetings. Right before the meeting starts, you should provide all attendees with an agenda. Make sure that your agenda includes the following:  topics to be covered short description of the objectives a list of participants who will lead each topic time and location any background information attendees need to know about the meeting 4. Make sure to start on time and end on time. Let’s face it. Nobody likes waiting for the person in charge to show up. A lot of those in positions of power fall into the habit of being late for everything. Perhaps, it’s because they are busy. Or maybe, they like being reminded that their time is more important than everyone else’s in the room. Whatever the reason may be, being late is not a good habit since it only wastes everyone’s precious time. Just as important it is to start the meeting on time, you should also end it on time. Having a definitive end time can help ensure that you can finish everything on your agenda. Additionally, it can help get everyone back to their work promptly. 5. Have a stand-up meeting. A stand-up meeting is an effective way to keep everyone engaged, more collaborative, and less territorial. Also, standing on your feet during a meeting gives a strong sense of urgency which pushes the workers to give their best when suggesting ideas and voicing out their opinions.  Professor Bob Sutton and Jeff Pfeffer, the authors of Hard Facts, observed that they were able to cover everything more effectively when they have no place to sit. As a result, they were able to conclude that groups took 34% less time making decision during stand-up meetings. While a stand-up meeting is not the most practical, you might want to consider it if you want to be more time-efficient. 6. End an effective meeting with an action plan. Leave the last 10 minutes of the meeting to talk about the next steps. Feel free to discuss about the responsibilities and what the deadlines are. Your meeting will only end up useless if you don’t have an action plan at the end of the meeting. Now that you learn how to conduct an effective meeting, make sure that you always keep it short, simple, and effective.