Lean Tip #2866 – Give More Praise Than Criticism.
Giving honest feedback in performance reviews
and team meetings is important, but it’s important to be mindful of the
motivating potential of meaningful compliments and praise mixed with
constructive feedback. Singling out team members who’ve gone above and beyond
can be a powerful motivating force for boosting employee engagement.
Lean Tip #2867 – Check in Even When Nothing is Wrong.
Make time for one-on-one meetings on a regular
basis. This gives your direct reports an opportunity to bring up questions or
challenges before they balloon into major problems. They also give you a less
formal opportunity to communicate with your employees and gauge their level of
motivation.
Lean Tip #2868 – Get in the Trenches.
While it’s important for you to stay focused on
the big picture, you also can’t lose sight of what the day-to-day work of your
team entails. Being involved in managing individual projects on a personal
level as they unfold in real-time can help keep you connected to the work your
team is doing. Ask questions about the hard work your team members are doing,
and stay up-to-date on trends in your field or business.
Lean Tip #2869 – Think About Lasting Solutions.
No matter how difficult the problem, there is
always a quick solution, and leaders are happiest when they are devising
solutions to problems. The trouble is that, in our zeal to fix things quickly
and move on to the next fire, we often overlook the lasting solution that may
take longer to develop. Although it's more fun to be a firefighter, the next
time you have a problem to solve in your organization, deal with the cause of
the problem instead of simply treating the symptoms.
Lean Tip #2870 – Be Open, Honest and Transparent
Good communication and trust are key
ingredients for a happy high performance team. If you want your team to feel
comfortable, to be honest and have trust in you, then you need to do the same
with them. People can always sense when someone is not being genuine with them.
Being honest and open also means admitting your own mistakes and acknowledging
when you don’t have the answers. Don’t try to be a know-it-all.
Lean Tip #2871 – Be a Mentor and a Coach (Not a
Drill Sergeant)
View yourself as a coach and a mentor who is
there to help develop your team and team members’ potential, not as a drill
sergeant there to crack the whip and keep employees in check. Most employees
want a job where they can grow, be respected, challenged with great work and
where they can build great relationships and friendships. View yourself as a coach
who is there to motivate the team when they need it and mend their wounds to
get ready to fight another day.
Lean Tip #2872 – Put Yourself in Their Shoes
& Provide Support
Every great leader was once a follower. Never
forget where you came from and put yourself in your team members’ shoes to
consider things from their perspectives. Ask yourself: what would have been
helpful for me if I was in that situation? What type of support/coaching would
have benefited me?
Lean Tip #2873 – Give Them Challenges & Help
Them Build a Development Plan/Career Roadmap
To build a high performance team, you need to
challenge your employees to do their best work while also allowing them to
reach their personal career objectives. A happy employee is one who sees the value
of their work and who feels productive and needed. As a manager and a coach,
you should help each team member reach their full potential by helping them
create a yearly development plan of one or two key career goals they would like
to meet. Then during the year, be on the lookout for these opportunities and
give them to the employees who are actively working on acquiring these skills.
Lean Tip #2874 – Never Stop Learning
In order to be a great manager, you should
recognize there is always room for you to learn and improve. Cultivate a
positive personal growth mindset and create your own yearly development plan
with individual career goals.
Lean Tip #2875 – Encourage Ideas That Challenge
Your Own
Despite the fact that you are their manager,
your team members likely understand their job far better than you do. It is
virtually impossible for you to come up with all the ideas, especially when it
comes to process improvements. Solicit, encourage, and adopt any ideas that are
good--regardless of where they come from.
Your team performance can only be as solid as
the ideas that you allow your team members to share. If you stifle your
employees' creativity, you will eventually stifle your own as well.
Lean Tip #2876 – Achieve Better Work-Life Balance,
Establish Clear Boundaries
Establishing boundaries at work is an effective
way to create work-life balance because it ensures you have time and space
available for meaningful aspects of your personal life. Possible boundaries
include not taking work home, not checking work email on weekends and leaving
work on time each day, even if you are in the middle of a task. While there are
likely to be occasional exceptions or last-minute emergencies, do your best to
stick to these boundaries. Discussing your desired boundaries with your manager
to gain their support can help you feel comfortable implementing these
practices.
Lean Tip #2877 – Achieve Better Work-Life Balance,
Make Your Time Count
Effective work-life balance requires that you
spend your time meaningfully in each of the respective spaces. By ensuring you
spend your time outside of work pursuing hobbies or doing activities that align
with your values, you can recharge your energy levels and feel more fulfilled.
This also helps you be more present at work, knowing that you have ample
opportunities for a full life outside of work as well. Similarly, if you engage
in challenging, meaningful projects at work, you will be more likely to
experience work as fulfilling, and thus, find that both work and your personal
life are valuable.
Lean Tip #2878 – Achieve Better Work-Life Balance,
Leave Work at Work
Develop a mental on-off switch between work and
home. It helps to establish a transitional activity between the two realms.
This might consist of listening to music or recorded books during your evening
commute, exercising at the fitness center, running errands, or keeping personal
appointments. Scheduling such activities immediately following your normal work
hours also prevents you from spending that extra twenty minutes at the office
which then turns into several hours.
Lean Tip #2879 – Achieve Better Work-Life Balance,
Work Smarter Not Harder
Using time more efficiently is an important
skill that everyone from the receptionist to the CEO can learn. Adopting the
right combination of time-management practices can cut stress and save you up
to an hour a day. This can include the use of technology to become more
organized, grouping emails and voice messages, avoiding procrastination and
learning to say "no."
Lean Tip #2880 – Achieve Better Work-Life Balance,
Focus on Results, Not Time Spent
Rather than thinking about working harder,
focus your time and energy on achieving bigger results. By simplifying your
areas of focus, you free up more time to live a more joyful and balanced life.
It’s really easy to fall into the trap of doing
countless activities that drain your energy and take you away from building
momentum in moving your business forward. You are being pulled in multiple
directions and don’t have enough time and often take on too many projects. This
can often leave you drained, worried and uncommunicative at the end of the day.
Remember, getting more things done means
nothing when nothing great is done.
By focusing on a smaller number of projects and
delivering maximum impact, you have a bigger sense of achievement, confidence
and motivation. Plus, you may have more time to stop work early and spend time
with the people that matter.
