How to Develop Consistent Communication Across Global Teams

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Developing strong communication on a global team isn't easy. Different cultures, time zones, and languages can make it challenging to stay on the same page. However, staying focused and connected is essential to success. In this article, we'll discuss how administration teams can train their global employees to develop consistent and intentional communication with each other in support of the business's long-term goals.

Define Clear Goals and Objectives

One of the biggest reasons communication can break down is the lack of clearly outlined business objectives. When working with global teams, it's essential to be as specific as possible when communicating the expectations of the organization and how employees should interact with one another to achieve them. Start by defining the end goal first, and then break down each task into smaller pieces.

Knowing precisely what will result in success is essential so that everyone stays on track with their duties. Next, use straightforward language to outline goals and objectives so that people from other cultures can clearly understand what you mean. When employees can realize the benefits of effective communication, they'll have greater respect for the process. This will inevitably lead to them better understanding of their roles and responsibilities as well as how to accomplish them.

Invest in the Right Collaboration Tools

One of the first things that remote working teams need to prioritize is investing in the right collaboration tools. Whether it's providing a centralized hub for remote employees to share documents or manage communication, or setting up video conferencing tools, these tools can make a big difference in building a solid team. Investing in the “right” tools for your business, however, means taking a harder look at how your business actually operates and which technologies will best contribute to its growth.

For example, while virtual tools like Zoom and Aspyr can be great tools for remote collaboration, they don't always meet the needs of a larger organization. Other tools that help companies manage projects, including Basecamp, Asana, or Wrike, may be better suited for smaller or mid-sized organizations growing quickly. Regardless of the collaboration tools you choose to use, it's essential to institute best practices around their use. If everyone uses these tools differently, it can create a fragmented experience that doesn't help the team accomplish their goals.

Set Up Regular Meetings

Another important way to stay connected with your global team is to set up regular meetings. These meetings can be with individual team members on a one-on-one basis or formatted for a larger audience with a regular cadence schedule. Either way, team meetings can be an excellent way for your remote employees to connect and build relationships with each other. It's also essential to ensure that remote employees feel included in in-person meetings. For example, you could consist of project-related information in some of the team's meetings or make it a point to ensure that some team members are included in specific team meetings.

Meetings are an important way to create a cohesive remote team. You can plan these meetings around goals and objectives or topics specific to the project. The key is to be clear about the meeting ahead of time. Ensure everyone participates when appropriate and always concludes with the following steps so you know where and how your team is heading next. Creating agendas and documenting action items (what people are supposed to do after the meeting) will help you stay organized and ensure all participants are getting maximum value from every discussion.

Find Ways to Show Appreciation for Remote Working Employees

While you should be setting up regular meetings and using collaboration tools to stay connected with your global team, you should also be showing appreciation for the work that they're doing. This could be as simple as sending employees a thank you note or flowers once in a while or offering them some time off work for some R&R. A small and simple gesture can significantly affect productivity and morale.

Employees engaged with their jobs are more likely to show up for work every day, stay late at the office, or even come into the office on weekends when necessary. Help build loyalty by offering incentives for high performance or thanking employees for all of the hard work they're doing on behalf of your company. Doing this can help your team build consistent and positive communication regardless of location.

Conclusion

Fostering communication across your remote team is essential for creating a cohesive and productive work environment. Without proper communication and collaboration, your team won't be able to function as efficiently or productively as in a traditional office setting. Therefore, when planning your virtual communication strategy, it's vital to lay out your team's most effective communication protocols. This can help ensure that everyone is on the same page and always working toward one goal — success.

About the Author: Luke Smith is a writer and researcher turned blogger. Since finishing college he is trying his hand at being a freelance writer. He enjoys writing on a variety of topics but technology and business topics are his favorite. When he isn't writing you can find him traveling, hiking, or gaming.

4 Ideas to Get Management Buy-In

A couple of weeks ago Art Byrne shared his tried-and-true strategies that leaders can deploy to encourage everyone to adopt Lean. This got me thinking about management buy-in itself. Management commitment is a “must” to any initiative. The employees of the organization will not care, if the management themselves do not show the attitude to follow the right path.

Getting executives in your company to want to support and then adopt Lean Thinking may be difficult but not impossible. We would all like to work at a company where the top people in the organization don’t just do Lean but live Lean but many of us work at a place where they don’t even necessarily do Lean. Since every company culture is different the way to get executive buy-in will be different. Here is a list of ideas to help you convince your management to start thinking Lean:

1. Show benefits

If you can demonstrate how the approach will help the organization and the kind of benefits you can obtain, then you will catch the attention of your Senior Managers. To do this, Deployment Champions run a few improvement projects under no name in particular. They can then calculate the benefits using the finance community to validate them. Some benchmarking can also be done, showing what has been achieved in other similar organizations. Lastly you can highlight where your current problems are and then explain how Lean will help to address these issues.

2. Explain the concept and how to ensure success

If you understand the concepts, then you have the knowledge to explain how Lean can benefit a company and how to set up for success. If you don't, then you could ask an expert to come and talk to your Senior Management group.

3. Understand where it can help

Identifying where to run your projects is vital in any deployment and even more so in the early stages. You must pick projects which are not so easy that any attention would have solved them, or projects which are so big it would be like solving world hunger. If you pick a meaningful project which brings great results both monitory and other wise then you can usually gain the attention of Senior Management and then move to a full deployment in your organization. Another problem we have been encountering is that businesses don't really know where there real problems are. They work on solving symptoms and putting out fires, they don't actually know where the root causes are. In this instance then, we would suggest obtaining a diagnostic of your business which would then tell you where to start in your program deployment.

4. Understand what motivates your Managers

If you understand the motivations of your management team then you will know what buttons to press to get the concepts accepted. This might require some work and research and would include things like how they are measured, how their bonuses are made up, where they wish to take the company, what they believe the current issues are, what they know about the concepts and what they have tried in the past. If you work on these areas, your pitch to your Managers will be considered, have the right detail and will have a chance of working.

Gaining senior management buy-in is really about finding the right balance between the soft skills (knowing how to listen to them, how to anticipate their reactions) and hard skills (rock solid analysis, irrefutable facts, etc.). You may have to try different approaches and borrow from what has worked in other organizations or disciplines. It is the key to the survival of your role in the organization as ultimately without that buy-in, you will be limited in your tasks and responsibilities. At the end of the day, you run little risk in applying principles highlighted above so... go for it!

Lean Quote: Never Give Up!

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"Before you say you can’t do something…TRY IT."   —  Sakichi Toyoda

When you’re pursuing a worthwhile goal it’s almost inevitable that at some point you’ll think one or more of the following:

• “This is harder than I thought it would be.”
• “Why is this taking so long?”
• “I’m getting nowhere with this.”
• “I keep failing at this goal.”
• “I can’t do this. What was I thinking?”

And when you do have one—or more—of these thoughts, it’s very likely that you’ll want to give up.

Not giving up is a mindset. And it’s a mindset that you can adopt. What you do need is to constantly tell yourself the following:

• I persist when things get tough.
• I will either find a way or make one.
• Every problem has a solution, and I have the perfect ability to find it.
• Every day I gain more knowledge and insight about what works and what doesn’t, which means I’m getting stronger and wiser.
• Setbacks are temporary.
• I will find a way through this.
• Think! What’s the best thing to do now?

Having an “I won’t quit” mindset will make it much easier for you to persist—and refuse to give up—until you achieve your goal.

When you feel like quitting, look at all your reasons why your goal is so important to you. If need be, add even more reasons why. The greater the quantity of reasons—and the stronger the reasons—that you have to keep going, the more likely it is that you won’t quit.

Refusing to give up doesn’t mean that you should simply keep doing the same thing over and over again. If the approach that you’re currently using isn’t working, try a different approach. Continue in this way until you find a method, technique, or strategy that does work.

When you want to quit, push yourself to keep taking consistent action toward the achievement of your goal. Even if you haven’t seen results yet, you never know what may be happening underneath the surface.

Just because you can’t see anything yet, although you’ve been working on your goal for awhile, this doesn’t mean that nothing is happening. You may be closer to achieving your dream than you think. Don’t give up, when you could be just moments away from succeeding. Keep chipping away.

Achieving large, hairy goals isn’t easy. Somewhere along the way it’s very likely that you’ll want to quit. But when you feel like quitting, don’t give up. Live your best life by refusing to quit.

5 Incredible Ways Recognition Enhances Employee Engagement

Business organizations are keener than ever before to find answers to the complex challenges of employee engagement. In fact, businesses are happy to try every possible trick to boost employee engagement. This is for the simple reason that more businesses are now acknowledging the business benefits of cultivating engagement.

Needless to say, there could be countless ways in which organizations can approach employee engagement. However, sometimes, boosting engagement can be as simple as offering thoughtful recognition to your employees. As a business leader, you need to look at the massive scope for higher engagement that employee recognition has to offer.

In this blog, we effectively highlight some exceptional ways in which employee recognition can enhance engagement. So, let us get started without further ado.

How recognition adds to employee engagement

1. It promotes a sense of workplace belonging

Recognition is a direct measure of value and acceptance. When you recognize the effort and achievements of your employees, you inspire the feeling of acceptance and allegiance in them. Simply put, even the smallest acts of employee recognition promote a great sense of workplace belonging among employees.

Having said that, when employees are confident that they belong in the workplace, they respond with greater commitment and zeal. They then feel a strong urge to raise the bar of their performance in an incremental way as they feel empowered. To substantiate, as per Deloitte, a strong sense of workplace belonging can enhance employees’ performance by 56 percent. Isn’t that amazing?

On the contrary, if there is no recognition for employees’ efforts, they will soon disengage. They will never be able to blend into the environment to be able to make positive differences.

2. It fosters high optimism in the workplace

When leaders or managers recognize and appreciate their employees, there is high motivation and optimism in the workplace. Needless to say, all of us crave motivation to keep giving our best in a consistent manner. Besides, when we fail to find motivation, our productivity starts withering away.

No matter how much zeal we carry on the inside, we often look for motivation beyond ourselves. Having said that, employees often look up to their seniors for motivation and you can deliver that the best through appreciation. Parallel to workplace motivation, optimism will also be high as working relationships will also improve on the sidelines of recognition.

This increased motivation along with greater optimism in the workplace will lay a perfect foundation for high-performing work culture. It is an undeniable fact that with a highly motivated team, you can even move mountains. However, for sustaining that motivation you need a vibrant system of employee recognition.

3. It boosts employee satisfaction

Employee engagement and satisfaction go hand in hand. In fact, it would not be incorrect to say that satisfaction is the basis of employee engagement. People give their best when they are satisfied with the idea of doing so. This is where business leaders need to realize that employee appreciation and recognition are essential for satisfaction.

Unless employees find their satisfaction, they will often fall into the category of disengaged employees. In fact, the lack of satisfaction can also be the reason why an organization may have to face high turnover.

Now if you ask your employees what satisfies them the most, a large proportion of them would say recognition. In fact, as per HubSpot, 70 percent of employees say that they will work with greater commitment if they receive due recognition from their superiors.

This clearly indicates that employees are more than happy to go the extra mile for their organization if their efforts are acknowledged. Having said that, with recognition, you can unlock extraordinary levels of employee engagement and performance.

4. It fosters trust in the workplace

As a leader, do you ever lay emphasis on the need for cultivating trust in the workplace? Did you know that employees in high-trust organizations are likely to be 76 percent more engaged? Harvard Business Review further states that in companies that thrive with trust, employee productivity levels are 50 percent higher.

As you can see, a small virtue of trust can make such an unthinkable difference. Cultivating trust can be far more advantageous than most employee engagement activities. The question is, how does workplace recognition help in trust-building? Well, when managers and supervisors extend recognition and appreciation it does add incredibly to the process of trust-building.

To explain, recognition empowers employees in the sense that they start to believe that their commitment and achievements will not go unnoticed. Whenever an employee receives recognition, others are also convinced that they can trust the management when it comes to highlighting their accomplishments.

Having said that, this trust will push them to upscale their commitment and contribute to the organization in a more wholesome way.

5. It inspires effective goal setting

When recognition and appreciation become natural virtues in the workplace, it does create a substantial difference in terms of goal setting. In the bid to achieve more and win the appreciation from the management, employees will reassess their goals.

To explain, when they see their colleagues receiving heartwarming recognition, they would want to be at the receiving end of it as well. Hence, they will undertake effective goal setting and will show greater dedication to accomplishing their goals.

All in all, with this optimized goal setting and execution in the workplace, the engagement scenarios will witness a massive hike. As a leader, you can inspire greater reliance, accountability, and excitement among your teams by offering consistent recognition. After all, sharing credits and appreciation with others are true trademarks of greater leadership.

To conclude, we do not always work for recognition but recognition does inspire the best in us for sure. Employee recognition has substantial benefits to offer to business organizations in terms of higher engagement and productivity. As evident above, recognition can amplify employee engagement in some incredible ways. 

About the Author: Jessica Robinson loves to write interesting and knowledgeable blogs regarding business management, education and life to satiate the curiosity of her lovely readers. Currently, she is serving as a content manager at the ‘Speaking Polymath’. Every piece of content that she writes demonstrates her immense love and passion for her profession.

Independence at Work

On July 4, 1776, in a sweltering hall in Philadelphia, 56 men gathered to sign “the unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America.” As we celebrate independence in the US how much independence is there to celebrate in your workplace?

Too many knowledge workers — professionals with immense talent, experience, and drive to do meaningful work — are stifled by managers who misunderstand what effective management means. In misguided attempts to boost productivity and direct innovation, managers can kill both creativity and passion — the intrinsic motivation required to stay deeply engaged in work — by destroying people’s autonomy.

Researchers measured the impact that money had on performance. For basic, non-thinking tasks more money equaled more output. Interestingly, if even a moderate amount of thinking was involved, more money resulted in a decline of performance.

The three top motivators were Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. Autonomy focuses on the freedom to act independently. Employees given this freedom to work on projects or opportunities of interest added greater value to their organization through innovation and customer focus. Mastery is about the opportunity to get really good at something and purpose is a connection to the big picture.

One of the leader’s responsibilities is to continually remind people about purpose – how their work impacts the customer and the greater mission of the organization. It is easy to forget this and work can become a boring chore.

To be truly intrinsically motivated and to gain a sense of achievement when they do make progress, people need to have some say in their own work. What’s more, when employees have freedom in how to do the work, they are more creative.

Lean Quote: The Secret to Innovation is Freedom

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth."   —  George Washington

Let freedom ring! It’s that time of year where we celebrate summer and America's Declaration of Independence. George Washington defined freedom best when he said, “Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.”

Innovation is the most important fact about the modern world, but one of the least well understood. It is the reason that most people today live lives of prosperity and wisdom compared with their ancestors. … The main ingredient and the secret sauce that leads innovation is freedom. Freedom to exchange, experiment, imagine, invest, and fail. … 

Autonomy around process fosters creativity because giving people freedom in how they approach their work heightens their intrinsic motivation and sense of ownership. Freedom about process also allows people to approach problems in ways that make the most of their expertise and their creative-thinking skills. The task may end up being a stretch for them, but they can use their strengths to meet the challenge.

Give employees complete freedom to offer ideas. Let them know you welcome ideas at any time, in any form: in the suggestion box; by e-mail, voice-mail or memo; at staff meetings or during hallway conversations. This encourages people to share their ideas in the first flush of enthusiasm, so that good ideas don't end up on the back burner where they may be forgotten.

A culture of creativity and innovation in the workplace directly contributes to business success. By giving employees the freedom to cultivate and find creative solutions to their daily tasks or business problems, they become more productive, motivated, and inspired.

Lean Tips Edition #189 (#3046 - #3060)

For my Facebook fans you already know about this great feature. But for those of you that are not connected to A Lean Journey on Facebook or Twitter I post daily a feature I call Lean Tips.  It is meant to be advice, things I learned from experience, and some knowledge tidbits about Lean to help you along your journey.  Another great reason to like A Lean Journey on Facebook.

Click this link for A Lean Journey's Facebook Page Notes Feed.

Here is the next addition of tips from the Facebook page:

Lean Tip #3046 – Check in With Employees on a Regular Basis.

Checking in with employees is an effective way to make sure communication is strong. Plan in-person or online meetings every few weeks or months. Discuss projects, feedback about leadership, and suggestions for the future. You can also schedule stay interviews or create employee surveys. People want to share their thoughts and opinions. By respecting and listening to your staff, you will improve communication in the workplace.

Lean Tip #3047 – Identify a Common Goal.

Every organization has a common objective that motivates employees to show up every day and do their jobs. By identifying, clarifying, and reinforcing this objective, you’ll strengthen your staff’s productivity because it’s a reminder of why they joined your organization in the first place. Inspire, motivate, and keep teams on track. After all, there’s nothing more important for a team than for everyone to be on the same page.

Lean Tip #3048 – Focus on Company Culture.

Communication should be part of your company culture. It encourages employees to connect with each other and aligns them to your organization’s goals. You can do this by implementing employee engagement ideas into the workplace. Also, promote your core values by branding your intranet, office decor, business documentation, and other places you can represent what your organization stands for.

Lean Tip #3049 – Value Teamwork.

Sometimes with team projects, employees like to get their tasks done individually, with little communication with team members. Some people feel comfortable collaborating, others don’t trust working with other people. How do you get employees to work together? Encourage teamwork with collaboration tools that boosts productivity. The workplace should be a place where employees communicate and work together. Asking your employees to take team-based approaches may cause initial discomfort, but a few minds are always better than one.

Lean Tip #3050 – Welcome Questions.

There is a saying: “If you have a question, ask. If you think it’s silly, ask. If you think you know the answer, ask.” Questions are one of the most fundamental components of effective communication in the workplace. Just as you should be asking questions, so should your employees. Instill that mindset in your organization. Make sure employees are comfortable to reach out with questions to you, managers, or each other.

Lean Tip #3051 – Build Employee Engagement

Collaborative efforts between management and employees can help form stronger relationships. Boost employee engagement by peer-to-peer awards for good work. Another alternative, is to create an ‘ideas leaderboard’ where employees can see or build onto other employee ideas. Through a encouraging, supportive, and engaging environment, your company can help transform these ideas into realities.

Lean Tip #3052 – Involve Employees in Ideas

It’s essential to involve all employees in the idea creation process. Employees have an incredible potential to provide outstanding insights and ideas about organizational practices, customers, and broader business goals. Employees need to be motivated, involved, and participating in the idea process. They shouldn’t have to be forced to reveal their thoughts. Pulling employees into the innovation management process is easier with organizational-wide transparency.

Lean Tip #3053 – Encourage Your People to Think About Innovation on a Daily Basis

Innovation shouldn’t be something people think about only during retreats and workshops. If thinking about new ways of doing things is seen only as an occasional exercise, you’ll never be able to access the full potential of your employees’ creativity and imagination.

Instead, make room for your staff to consider innovation as part of their daily tasks. For example, manufacturing giant 3M is famous for giving its employees a 15% time allowance every day for constructive daydreaming.

Of course, this doesn’t mean handing out a 15% buffer for employees to just snooze at their desks. You should ask your people to demonstrate the results of these innovation sessions.

Lean Tip #3054 – Accept Failure and Make it the Norm

It’s an unavoidable fact that innovation carries the risk of failure. For every example of world-changing innovation, there’s a whole trash heap of failed ideas.

Rather than running from this fact, companies need to come to peace with it. Acknowledge the possibility of failure, dedramatize it and encourage risky initiatives to help employees approach innovation in a more open and inventive way.

Lean Tip #3055 – Give Employees a Reason to Care

The fact is, if people aren’t feeling connected to your company, there’s little incentive for them to be innovative.

Make sure you keep your team in the loop on your firm’s strategies and challenges, and invite their input.

Employees who are involved early on in processes and plans will be motivated to see them through to completion. Their active participation will fuel more ideas than if they learn of initiatives second-hand.

Lean Tip #3056 – Empower Your Employees to Make Decisions and Take Action

People who are trusted to take safe risks and attempt new ways of doing things just may stumble across that next great business solution.

Be careful about being too critical when things go wrong, though, because employees will take note.

No one wants to be the center of negative attention, and people will hold back on making suggestions if they’re worried about potential consequences.

Lean Tip #3057 – Calm the Naysayers For More Creativity

A key reason people often hesitate to offer fresh proposals is that they worry what others might say. No one wants to have their ideas shot down immediately or become fodder for jokes. Make sure you’re doing all you can to make it safe to brainstorm.

Even if someone makes an unrealistic suggestion, thank the person for thinking creatively. Also make sure that people can offer their recommendations in writing if they’re not comfortable speaking up. Stress to the entire team that you welcome input any way they prefer to share it with you.

Lean Tip #3058 – Remove the Red Tape

You may think that it’s easy for employees to offer their ideas, but is it really?

Consider which internal processes might be stifling innovation.

For instance, it can be demoralizing if recommendations must go through multiple layers of approvals in the organization and take a significant time before they’re implemented, if at all.

Look for ways to streamline the process so people can see their good ideas in action quickly.

Lean Tip #3059 – Be Positive About Every Suggestion

Treat every idea with the same amount of respect. Record or write every idea your team suggests, but try to limit how much time you spend on each idea. This can help encourage your team to continue thinking of new ideas and using previous suggestions as inspiration.

Lean Tip #3060 – Realize That Innovation is Everyone’s Job

A common issue in organizations is to assume that innovation is someone else’s job to figure out. Surely coming up with new ideas is for the creative team/the managers, no one else?

The reality is that no matter where you are in the organization, everyone has ideas. Everyone can, and should, share their unique perspective to help the organization grow and improve.

Getting into the mindset that innovation is everyone’s job can take some adjustment. But by encouraging everyone to contribute and valuing everyone’s ideas equally, you can learn so much from your team.