The Darling CEO

Money, Business, and Life Tips for the Working Mom

Questions to Ask Your Employees Every Week

Questions to Ask Your Employees Every Week

Leadership can be tough, especially in today’s environment.  However, a lot of leaders overthink how to manage their employees.  At the end of the day, employees just want to be enabled, empowered, and inspired.  But how do you achieve that?  Well, it starts with keeping an open line of communication with them and being intentional with that communication. Not sure where to begin?   This list of questions to ask your employees every week is a great place to start.

Conversation Basics

But before we begin, let’s start with the basics. As a leader, it is important that you treat employees like you would want to be treated.  You want your boss to believe that you have good intentions and want to succeed, right?  Your employees crave the same thing.   Work hard to go into every conversation with an employee with an open mind and heart.   Work to remove any bias and preconceived notions.

The next basic is that you must be genuine with the conversations.  if you are asking these questions to check it off your list, your employee will see right through that.  You need to be genuine and sincerely want to have the conversation and make it easier for your employees to be successful.  This means, holding off on a conversation if you are not in the right mindset. it also means being vulnerable and transparent in every conversation.   <If you want to learn more about vulnerability, I recommend that you read every book from Rene Brown!   It will transform your leadership!>

You should also hold yourself accountable.  The more you talk to your employee, the more they will talk.  The more they talk, the more you will understand what their challenges and struggles are.  Asking these questions weekly will ensure that you build that trust and set the groundwork for a consistent pipeline of communication. These conversations may feel awkward at first but push through that until they aren’t.  Eventually, you and your employee will look forward to your time together and you will both find yourselves more engaged and productive.

Questions to Ask Your Employees Every Week

How are you doing?

This first question seems easy enough, right? However, many managers don’t get it right.  At least once a week ask your employee how they are doing and genuinely listen to their response. Your employees are people with very real issues, concerns, and feelings both at work and at home.  Your job as a leader is to continue to check-in and show that you care about their wellbeing.

This question is not just a great way to show that you care and build emotional trust, but it is also a great way to learn more about what is important to your employee and what motivates them.  For example, when my manager asks me how I am doing, I always bring up my kids because they are the most important people to me.  My manager picks up on this and takes great care to ensure that I am able to have a work/life balance because that is important to me.

What are you proud of this week?

This is a great question to ask your employee every week because it gives them the opportunity to showcase their best work.  As a manager, you are likely very busy so it can be really easy to miss some of the contributions that your employees are making. Asking this helps minimize that.

In addition to allowing your employee to showcase their work, their response will also provide some insight into their priorities and passions.  This is important information that you can use as a leader to ensure that you are matching the right work with the right person.  For example, if your employee always talks about his ability to project manage, then you can ensure that they have opportunities to do that type of work more often.

What is Getting in Your Way?  How Can I help?

Your job as a leader is to make it easier for your team to do their best work. Therefore, it is essential that you have a firm understanding of what is getting in their way.   Are their processes slowing them down?  Do they have the right tools and resources?  Are they struggling with a partner or customer?

Once you find out, ask them what you can do to help support them.   Just asking the question shows helps build emotional trust.

As an aside, don’t be surprised if they say that YOU are the bottleneck.  If that is the case, thank your employee for letting you know. It takes a lot of courage to share that type of feedback and it indicates that they really care about the work. Next, come up with a plan to fix it.

Fixing it can mean giving up some control. For example, if you have to sign off on every email or document that your employee sends, perhaps you don’t have to do that anymore.   Or if it is a delay in communication, perhaps you set aside an hour every day for “office hours” where team members can pop in and ask you questions or get what they need from you.   Work with your team and ask them what they need.

What Did You Learn This Week?

Another goal of leaders is to grow and develop their talent.  Not only is this important for your employee’s engagement level, but it helps you build a more effective team.   Each week, ask your employee to share what they learned.  This will provide them an opportunity to share more about what they are interested in developing, where their skills are, and how they prefer to learn.

In addition, asking this question every week will keep your employees on their toes looking for learning opportunities. Asking them regularly will help hold them accountable to their own growth and development.

What Is On Your Mind?

This is the final of the questions that you should ask your employees every week, but one of the most important.  You want your employee to feel that they can come to you with anything.  Sometimes they may be apprehensive to doing so. Asking this question gives them an opportunity to do that.

By providing the space and time for the employee to discuss what is important to them, you are building valuable emotional trust.   In fact, as a leader this is one of my favorite questions to ask my team because it really allows me to learn their priorities and where they are in terms of engagement. Some of the best conversations and breakthroughs came from asking this simple question.

There you have it, a set of very simple questions that you can ask your employees.  This will help provide the framework to really get to know what is going on in your business, the challenges that your team is facing, how you can support them, and what is important to your team.

What are some questions that you have asked or been asked?   Leave a comment below!

Related Posts

Top 8 Employee Engagement Books

How to Hold a Team Employee Engagement Conversation

 

 

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Top 8 Employee Engagement Books

The Top 8 Employee Engagement Books

Employee engagement is likely something that you have been hearing a lot about, but why is it important? And why should you invest the time to read employee engagement books?

KFC and Chick-Fil-A.   Two companies that sell essentially the same thing, chicken.  However, these two companies have drastically different success.  Chick-Fil-A outearns KFC by almost 4x the amount of revenue with only a fraction of the stores.  And to top it off, they are only open 6 days a week.

Why is there such a notable difference in the performance of these two chicken companies?  Chick-Fil-A has a culture that focuses on people.   They work hard to make sure that their employees are happy in order to make their customers happy.

Just think about any successful business- their success is likely enabled by engaged and empowered employees.  Apple?  They have enabled and empowered developers to bring revolutionary products to market.   Starbucks? They have engaged and empowered employees to deliver an exceptional experience to their customers.   Tesla? They have engaged and empowered engineers committed to revolutionizing the automobile industry.   Engaged employees make the difference.

Great leaders understand this secret to success and work hard every day to engage and empower their teams.

So how can you develop the skills necessary to achieve this type of success? Check out these employee engagement books that can help you build your leadership skills and grow your business.

 

The Truth About Employee Engagement: A Fable About Addressing the Three Root Causes of Job Misery

This is a wonderful story about how engaged employees can make or break a business.  It also provides very practical advice on how to engage and empower your employees.  It’s a an easy read that any leader can benefit from reading!

 

Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work: Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles of RESPECT

There is a lot of misconception about how to engage employees. For example, many companies focus on getting ping ball tables in their breakrooms or hosting weekly Zoom cocktail hours.  These things will not make an empowered and engaged workforce.   This book does a great job of breaking down what employees truly need in order to be engaged and is a must-read employee engagement boook.

The Non-Obvious Guide To Employee Engagement (For Millennials, Boomers And Everyone Else)

There are significant generational differences in what employees want and need in the workplace.  Great leaders understand these differences and work hard to respect these differences.     This book will walk you through these generational differences and provide practical ways to enable them.   This book also does a great job of dispelling engagement misconceptions that will help you take your leadership to the next level.

The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace: Empowering Organizations by Encouraging People

The 5 Love Languages is a bit of a cult classic.   It has helped people in marriages and relationships for years understand what their partners value. This book does the same for leaders to understand what their employees need in the workplace. It’s an easy read that sheds light on what employees really appreciate to help empower and engage them.

The Seventh Level: Transform Your Business Through Meaningful Engagement with Your Customers and Employees

Employees experience a lot of noise. This book looks to cut out the noise in order to genuinely connect with your employees. This book is a quick read and provides easy strategies to help form connections and deepen employee engagement. As an added bonus, it also covers customer engagement so you can tackle both holistically.

 

Fish!: A Proven Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results

This was one of the first “business books” I read out of college and it has paid dividends.  At the end of the day, people spend more time with their coworkers than they spend with their family.   Employees that are able to have fun and enjoy their time together are far more likely to be engaged and have better overall well-being. This easy read reinforces the need for fun in the workplace and provides some great strategies and tactics to make your workplace more enjoyable and engaging.

 

Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

‘Start with Why’ is a must read for any leader.   One sure-fire way to inhibit your employee’s engagement and performance is to not tie their work back to a purpose.   Working towards a greater good can help inspire the most curmudgeon of employees.  Once you are able to enroll employees in “the why”, you will unlock a new level of success. This book helps you do just that.

It’s the Manager: Moving From Boss to Coach

I’m a big fan of all of Gallup’s employee engagement work. They have unprecedented research of what contributes to employee engagement and drive success of organizations.  This particular book is great because it helps manager move beyond the archaic style of management to the style that resonates best with today’s workforce. This is a great read for new and tenured managers looking to deepen employee engagement.

 

These employee engagement books will certainly help you improve your leadership skills, better connect with employees, and enroll them in the greater purpose of the organization.

Do you have a favorite employee engagement book?   Leave a comment below and share!

 

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Service Delivery Fundamentals

Service Delivery Fundamentals

Providing a good customer experience is not just “nice to do”, it is a must-do. Whether you are a solopreneur with a handful of customers or a large corporation with thousands of customers- service delivery fundamentals are important to understand and put in action.

Lucky for us, most customers fundamentally want the same things. They want things to be easy, simple, and personalized.  Customers want things done quickly with minimal effort on their part. They also want to feel in control and empowered to do business how they choose to do business.   Finally, they want all of this with a smile 🙂

Just think of yourself.  What companies are you loyal to?  Why are you loyal to them? Likely, because they make you feel empowered, special, and make things easy for you.

Let’s take a look at some service delivery fundamentals to help you improve your customer experience and create loyal customers.

 

Make it Easy to Find You

Your interactions with your customers begin well before they ever talk to you.  By ensuring that it is easy for customers to find you and contact you, it sets the experience off on the right foot.

This also means knowing where your customers are and ensuring that you are there too.  For example, if you have a lot of millennial customers you will want to make sure that you have a good Facebook or Instagram presence.  Whereas Baby Boomers may rely on contacting you via phone more so you would want to have your phone number visible and easy to find. if you don’t know where your customers are hanging out online, ask them.

 

Make a Great First Impression

You have just a few seconds to make a great first impression with your customers.  In fact, some studies show that customers can start to form an impression of you within milliseconds. That is not a lot of time so you better make that time count!

You can make a great first impression by making sure that you set a professional and personal tone. Smiling (even if you are not in front of the customer) and offering a warm greeting helps you accomplish this.

A quick tip is to pretend that every customer is a friend that you haven’t seen for a while. It seems silly but it will help you be more excited and committed to helping them.

If you are helping customers in person, making sure that your physical location is clean, clear of clutter, and professional is a necessity. You must also pay close attention to your own physical appearance, making sure that you are appropriately dressed and wear a warm, welcoming smile.

 

Be Knowledgable

One common myth when it comes to customer service is that you need to “wow” your customers in order to provide a good experience. In most cases, that is not the case. The customer simply wants to get their needs met quickly and accurately.  If you can’t provide the basic needs the customer is looking for, trying to “wow” them will only further annoy them.  Being knowledgeable and knowing how to help your customer is the most basic service delivery fundamental.

An exercise that will help you become knowledgeable quickly is to write down the top 5 customer requests that you tend to struggle. Ask yourself what interaction do you dread? What do you have the most complaints about?  Once you identify those issues spend some time researching the issue and identify the steps to complete the request. Not only will researching help you but this can also serve as a quick reference guide.  Sometimes we just need to take a step back and recognize where our opportunities are.

 

Be Clear

Another service delivery fundamental is to be clear.  This can mean a couple of different things.   For one, being clear means that you speak slowly and clearly so that the customer can understand you.  This is especially true if you are on the phone where the customer can’t see you.  You should also avoid jargon and slang that customers may not be familiar with.

Being clear also means that you make it clear about the process.  What does the customer need to do? What are you supposed to do? When should they expect to hear from you?   A lot of customer frustration comes from not understanding the process so the more clear and upfront you are, the better it will be for everyone.

 

Reduce Customer Effort

The more effort that a customer is required to put in to do business with you, the less likely they will come back.  We live in a world of one-click shopping. Requiring a customer to jump through hoops just won’t work anymore.

Look for ways that you can take some of the effort away from the customer.   It can be as simple as walking as writing down information for a customer instead of having them write it down, transferring a call instead of having the customer call, or contacting a customer instead of having them contact you.

 

Ask For Feedback

Finally, always ask for feedback on how you can make the experience better for the customer.  Customers will tell you what they like and dislike about their experiences if you ask them.

You also don’t have to wait until the end of the interaction to ask them.  if you are going to be working with a customer longer than one interaction (for example, if you are helping them purchase a home), ask them throughout the process. For example, at the end of a call you can casually ask them “Mr. Smith, would you prefer more or less communication from me?” or “Am I contacting you the right way/right times?”.  Many times a bad experience is simply uncommunicated expectations so give them a chance to communicate them to you.

Each industry and each type of interaction surely has its nuances but if you follow these service delivery fundamentals you will surely win loyal customers over time.

Want to learn more? Take our Make Your Customers Love You course! This course will walk you through how you can improve your service delivery to create more loyal customers. Whether you work in customer service or own your own business, this course will walk you through all of the steps that you need to do to improve your customer service.

Make Your Customers Love You Course 

What service fundamentals do you value as a customer?   What annoys you?  Leave a comment below!

 

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How to Annoy Your Mentor. Avoid These Mentorship Mistakes

Mentoring is great. I get no greater joy than helping someone learn and grow in their career.  Some of my favorite memories in my career have been from helping someone move up the ladder and achieve their career goals. There are very few things that are more fulfilling. However, there are things that you can do to annoy your mentor.

Mentoring someone can also be incredibly frustrating. I’ve had my fair share of mentees either intentionally or unintentionally taking advantage of our mentorship relationship which left me with a sour taste in my mouth.  Understanding what frustrates mentors can ensure that you have a successful and fruitful mentoring relationship.

Here are a few surefire ways to annoy your mentor aka things to avoid!…

Not Truly Wanting a Mentor

I can tell within minutes of meeting with a new mentee whether they are truly looking for someone to mentor them or they are just doing someone their boss says they should do.  If you don’t want a mentor, that is totally okay, but don’t waste your time and someone else’s. That is a quick and easy way to annoy your mentor!

Before you agree or seek out a mentor ask yourself “why?”.  What do you hope to gain out of the mentorship? Do you have the time to allocate to the process? Are you able to commit and hold yourself accountable?   If you can’t confidently answer these questions, hold off on getting a mentor and wait until the time is right.

Not Having Clear Goals for the Mentorship

I want my mentee to get everything they possibly can out of our mentorship relationship.  For that to be the case, they have to know what they want.  I’ve had so many people seek mentorship and not really know what they want.  Are they seeking guidance in moving up in their career? Are they looking to master the position that they are in?  Are they looking to develop their leadership acumen?   Without the mentee having an understanding of what they are looking for, it is really hard for me to help them.

Check out this list of questions to ask your mentor! 

Now, I’m not saying that I can’t help you identify your mentorship goals, but it really helps if you have at least a high-level understanding of what you are hoping to gain. And if you aren’t quite sure (maybe this is your first mentorship and you don’t really know what to expect), just ask.   The sooner that I know, the more that I can help you.

Not Being Flexible

Your mentor’s calendar likely looks like a jigsaw puzzle, carefully and exhaustively pieced together. One of the very few things that your mentor will need from you is flexibility.  Not that your schedule is any less important than theirs, but if they are taking the time to mentor you, do your best to make it easier on them schedule-wise.  Sometimes this means coming in early for a pre-work coffee or a lunch hour touch-base.

If you need to reschedule, work with them to find a time that works best for them. Try to give them as much time as possible so they have time to move things around.  In a nutshell, being respectful and sensitive to their schedule will be greatly appreciated by your mentor.

Expecting a Career Handout

It’s obvious that people seeking out a mentor do so in order to advance their careers or business.  That’s a no-brainer.  However, one of the most annoying things that you experience as a mentor is coming across a mentee that is only trying to use you for connections.  I’ve had a couple of mentees who that think just because they participate in the company mentorship program, they are entitled to a bigger position.

I’m not saying it’s a bad thing to use a mentor relationship to move ahead. I’m just saying that your goal should be to develop skills and deepen your network in order to get a promotion, not just expecting one. It’s up to the mentee to own their own career and take charge, not just sit back and wait for something to be handed to them.

Not Being Prepared

One of the surefire ways to annoy your mentor is come to a meeting unprepared. For every meeting that you have with your mentor, you should have two things  1.) an agenda (that you can send over to your mentor before the meeting) complete with questions/topics that you would like to discuss 2.) A status update on any actions taken since the last meeting.

You don’t need to write out a formal proposal, a few bullet points will work just as well.  The key is to make sure that you are prepared to make the most of your time together.

Not Taking Action

This one is hands down my biggest pet peeve as a mentor…  I’ve had several mentees over the course of my career that have simply not wanted to put in the work to achieve their goals.  We would have a good discussion, identify areas of action, and then nothing.  The employee wouldn’t take action on what they committed to do. They would say that they got too busy and didn’t have the time, or worse yet, just forget.

Trust me, I get it, life gets crazy.  I understand that things come up beyond your control from time to time. However, repeatedly not taking action demonstrates that you don’t really value your mentor’s time or advice.  Mentors mentor because they want to help people learn and develop.  Therefore, not taking action is a slap in the face for them.   Take action every time (even if it is small action) and be the one to communicate that action.

What are your mentoring annoyances?  Have you ever done anything to annoy your mentor?   Leave a comment below!

 

 

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Make Your Customers Love You

Make Your Customers Love You

Customer service is one of the most transferable skills that you can possess.  In almost every role, in every company, in every industry, you will have customers that you need to make happy.   Luckily, it’s pretty easy to make your customers love you!

Let’s take a look at some simple ways to improve your service delivery and make your customers love you.

It Starts with Mindset

Providing excellent service starts before you ever interact with a customer. In order to provide excellent service, you must have the right mindset. One that is focused on helping the customer, providing solutions, and ignoring any negativity thrown your way.

One quick exercise to get in the right mindset with even the most difficult of customers is to imagine that every customer is having the worst day of their lives.  This will help you meet each interaction with empathy and a focus on providing help.

What the Customer Sees Matters

Customers begin to assess the interaction within milliseconds. Everything they see from the moment they begin interacting with you begins to influence their perception. Meaning every little thing that the customer sees matters.

If you are in a brick and mortar location- everything from the parking lot to your own appearance needs to be paid attention to. If you are helping customers online, your website and online banking should be simple to understand and on-brand.

 

Positive Language Creates a Positive Interaction

Customers are looking to work with people that are confident, knowledgeable, and willing to help.  You can convey this by using positive language.  Ensure that the words and phrases that you use with customers are easy to understand and convey your willingness to assist them.

One way that this can come to life is always to look for a way to say yes. Even if you can’t provide a customer with what they need, provide an alternative solution that will help them.

For example, if you don’t offer a particular product the customer is looking for, offer to help them find something that could fit their needs. If that is not possible, offer the name of a competitor that may offer it.  Seem strange to send your customer to a competitor?  it may seem counter-intuitive but I guarantee the customer will remember your willingness to help and will come back to you for their future needs.

Know Where Your Customer Prefers to Do Business With You

Customers are looking to do business with companies where they prefer.  They want choices.  You can make your customers love you by knowing where your customers like to do business and having a really strong understanding of how to do business there.

For example, more and more customers are turning to social media for help. However, very few companies provide training around how to deliver a good experience there.  Knowing how to show up for customers will go far in improving your customer service skills.

A Complaint is an Opportunity

Every time a customer complains, they are giving you a gift.  Wait, what?!  A customer complaining certainly doesn’t seem like a gift. But hear me out…

For every customer that complains, there are 25 others out there that won’t. These silent unhappy customers are dangerous because will just leave without ever giving you a warning. Therefore, every time a customer complains, it is actually an opportunity to learn about how you can improve the experience for not only the complaining customer but for everyone else.

Not only that but when a customer has a problem and you fix it, they become more loyal to you.  They have trust that if something goes wrong, you will make it right.  This loyalty will pay off in increased retention, lower costs, and increased sales.  Sounds like a win-win to me!

Note: I’m not saying handling complaints is easy, check out these affirmations for stressful days!

These are just a few ways to deliver an exceptional customer experience and make your customers love you!  If you are interested in learning more, check out the Make Your Customers Love You course. This comprehensive self-paced course will provide more detail on developing the right mindset, learning what the customer expects and how to provide it, as well as identifying and helping upset customers.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE MAKE YOUR CUSTOMER LOVE YOU COURSE

 

What are your customer service tips?  What makes you love a business as a consumer? Leave a comment below!

 

How to Hold a Team Employee Engagement Conversation

How to Hold a Team Employee Engagement Conversation

 

Wondering how to hold a team employee engagement conversation? You have come to the right place!

Employee engagement is critical to the success of any business. Without engaged employees, you will never be able to meet your full potential.  You will be mediocre at best.  Study after study has shown that an engaged workforce helps reduce costs, reduces risks, and increases revenue. Yet, so few leaders focus on employee engagement and understand when and how to have employee engagement related conversations with their teams.  In this post, we will show you what to look for, know when to have a conversation, and how to have the conversation.  We will also take a look at what you should do after the fact and how to ensure that your team feels heard, supported, and ultimately more engaged.

When Should I Have Employee Engagement Conversations?

In short, all of the time.   Employee engagement conversations should happen as frequently as other meetings such as operations and sales meetings. Why is that so?  Well, who brings the objectives from those operation and sales meetings to life?   Employees.   And engaged employees can bring those objectives to life much more efficiently and successfully than disengaged employees.

Just reflect back on your own career. When were you the most successful?  It was also likely a time that you were the most engaged.  Conversely, think about a time when you were the least successful and productive. You were likely disengaged at some level.

By focusing on deepening your employee’s engagement, you are setting them up to work at their peak potential, thereby expediting any goals that you may have.

For example… the company that I work for did heroic things during the global pandemic to help serve our customers.  What would ordinarily take months (if not years) to do was accomplished in a matter of days.  If we had disengaged employees, that would not have been possible.

If employee engagement enables success, it should go without saying that these conversations should take place much more frequently.  A good rule of thumb is to have some type of team employee engagement related conversations at least 1-2 times per month.

How Should I Have Team Employee Engagement Conversations?

So how do we go about having team employee engagement related conversations?  It’s actually easier than you think and doesn’t take too much effort.  Follow these easy steps to hold an effective engagement conversation with your team.

1. Review the Data

The first step in having an employee engagement discussion with your team begins before the actual conversation. First, take some time to review any employee engagement related data or insights that you may have available. This could include employee surveys or employee comments. When reviewing the data, look for trends and for outliers. What are you doing well? What could be improved?   Review the quantitative and any qualitative data to get a holistic picture of what is going on.  It’s also helpful to review notes from any past employee engagement discussions. Any insights help you gain a clearer picture of where your team may be in terms of engagement.

2. Schedule the Meeting

Next, let your team member know that you plan on discussing employee engagement with them and schedule the time to do so. Ask them if there is anything that they would like to discuss or make sure is covered.   Ask if they have any preference for when and how the conversation is facilitated.  Your goal is to make sure that your team feels comfortable and secure in having the conversations.

When scheduling the meeting you should make sure that you have plenty of time. Scheduling an employee engagement discussion for fifteen minutes at the end of a sales meeting doesn’t necessarily scream that you are committed to employee engagement. If you are able, schedule the meeting for 1 hour or 1 1/2 hours.   It’s better to have more time than less.   On the flip side, anything more than 1 1/2 hours may be too much.  Sometimes these conversations can be emotional so too much time can be exhaustive. If you need more time, schedule a follow up.

3. Set the Stage

Before the conversation, share a list of questions or topics that you would like to discuss with the team.  This will help the employee prepare and gather their thoughts.  It will also allow them to provide feedback if there is something additional that needs to be addressed.

Before the meeting make sure that you ensure that the conversation will be a safe and confidential discussion.  Assure them that you are committed to improving engagement and look forward to hearing their feedback and working together to identify ways to help improve team engagement. Don’t assume that your employees know this. It’s important that managers continue to declare their commitment to help the employees feel safe and heard.

4. Hold the Discussion

Now it’s time to hold the conversation.  Your role should be to facilitate and guide the employees through the discussion using the prepared list of questions.  As a facilitator, you should only be doing 10-20% of the talking. Your employee should be doing the most sharing.  Try to keep the conversation upbeat but be empathetic to employee’s concerns and emotions.

Whatever you do, don’t take feedback personally and get defensive. This will cause the employee to shut down and avoid sharing. An employee sharing feedback cares enough to do so. Disengaged employees don’t care enough to share feedback. So as much as it can be difficult to hear feedback, it’s actually a gift.  If you find yourself getting emotional, take a quick break and compose yourself.

5. Determine Your Goal & Action Items

Hopefully, the conversation with your team led to some clear goals and actions that could be taken to help improve engagement.

With your employees, decide what your goal should be. It’s helpful to be very specific with what you want to cause. Employee engagement has many components so trying to do too much can lead to ineffectiveness. Be as detailed as possible with what you want to tackle.   For example “We would like to ensure that the team members feel supported in their professional growth” or “we will work to cut down on unnecessary processes to help improve productivity”.

Now that you know what you want to accomplish, work with the the team to identify 2-3 steps to help you get there. Use the SMART framework to help you identify actions for you and the team members to complete.

After the meeting, send a summary to the team member and, if applicable, document the action plan. If possible, keep the action plan in a location that is easily accessible to everyone. This will help keep the action plan top of mind and hold everyone accountable to what was committed to.

6. Schedule Next Meeting

Immediately after meeting with the team, schedule the next engagement meeting. The worst thing that you can do is to have one singular engagement related conversation.  Engagement is ever-evolving and something that should be discussed often.

Scheduling the next meeting right away will help hold yourself accountable and indicate to your employees that you are truly committed to putting in the work to help them achieve deeper engagement.

There you have it. Just follow these six easy steps to have team employee engagement conversations and you are well on your way.  After all, employee engagement is not rocket science, it’s as simple as intentionally listening to your employees, working hard to enable their success, and treating them like you would want to be treated.

What tips do you have for having a team employee engagement conversation? Have you ever had a disastrous engagement conversation? Leave a comment below!

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Best Books for New Leaders

Best Books for New Leaders

Are you a new leader?  Check out this list of best books for new leaders. Sure to help any new leader gain valuable skills and avoid the pitfalls that many new leaders make.

The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan

Your first 100 days in a new position are critical. This book will help you walk through this important time period.  It is filled with practical advice and downloadable tools and resources. It really intended to be more of a workbook than a traditional book.  Work through it as designed and you should leave with a workable action plan to get you started in your new role.

 

Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

‘Start With Why’ is a book that every leader in every organization should read, especially every new leader.  Leaders across the world make things much more difficult for themselves by not creating a vision and connecting their employees to that vision.  This book helps you understand why a vision is important, how you can connect your team to that vision, and how to be much more intentional with everything that you do.

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

John Maxwell has so many great books for new leaders, with my favorite being The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.  This book provides a great combination of inspiration and practical advice.   This is a book that you will reference again and again in your leadership career.

How to Win Friends and Influence People

This leadership book by Dale Carnegie is an oldie but goodie. So much of leadership is how you relate and connect with other people. How to Win Friends and Influence People is a book that will provide you with very practical guidance on how to do this successfully. Not only will this book help you become a better manager but a better influencer in all areas of your life.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Patrick Lencioni’s writing is always educational but also entertaining. In this leadership fable, he writes about common team struggles that even the most successful teams have. As a leader, you are the coach of the team.  It’s your main role to make sure that every player is playing their part. It’s imperative that you understand how teams operate at their core so you can recognize dysfunction and handle it quickly.

Fish: A Proven Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results 

Too many leaders feel that work is not a place for fun. That leads to a disengaged workforce very quickly. And a disengaged workforce leaders to an unproductive workforce. Reflect back on your own career.  Chances are the times that you were most engaged (and likely successful) were when you were enjoying work.  This book is a quick and easy read that will help illustrate why play and fun are critical for success.

Multipliers, Revised and Updated: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter

Great leaders know that they need to surround themselves with people that are smarter than themselves. They also know that they need to create an environment that brings out their team’s intelligence and creativity.  This book is great at explaining these concepts and providing you with practical advice on how you can build this leadership muscle.

These are just a few of the best books for leaders. What books have you read that have influenced your leadership and success?  Leave a comment below!

Check out the best books for women leaders!

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How to Transition Back Into the Office

How to Transition Back Into the Office

Many of us have been plugging in from our home offices (or couches) for the last 18 months or so.   With the vaccine rollout, many companies are asking that employees come back to the office. It leaves many employees thinking about how to transition back into the office.

Doesn’t it seem like an eternity ago that we rushed to drop the kids off at school, grab our morning coffee, and make our way into the office?   Ahhh, the good ole’ days.

Over the last year, we have changed our entire routine, and that routine is now sunk in (it only takes 21 days to create a new habit/routine).   We have since gotten used to having no commute, wearing leggings instead of suits, and simultaneously balancing kid’s schoolwork and work conference calls.

Now is the time to start thinking ahead about what a transition back into the office will look like.

Here are some strategies for how to transition back into the office that can help make that transition less stressful and more successful.

Have Grace With Yourself

First and foremost, have grace with yourself.  Just as transitioning into work from home life was rocky,  the transition back to the office will be rocky.   There will be anxieties, tardiness, and miscalculations.  It’s going to happen, and that is okay.

You should also have grace with yourself if you are uncomfortable with transitioning back into the office.  It’s okay to not feel okay with it.  That doesn’t mean that you don’t love your career or that you don’t want to be a good employee.  It’s also okay if you feel excited to go back into the office.   This doesn’t mean that you don’t care about your family or that you don’t enjoy spending extra time with them.

Also, having grace with yourself if your mind changes from day to day (or hour to hour).  We are in the middle of an unprecedented global pandemic.  Our lives have been turned upside down, almost instantly.   It’s okay to feel what you feel.

And when you do transition back into the office, have grace with yourself that things are NOT going to go seamlessly.  Things will go wrong.  You will have socially awkward encounters with coworkers, you will underestimate the time required for new protocols making you late for an important meeting,  you may cry in the bathroom over fear or exhaustion.  When things happen, try your best to laugh it off (humor is a great coping mechanism) and understand that everyone is experiencing the same struggle.  You are not alone.

Communicate Your Needs

Everyone’s circumstances are different.  During this tumultuous time, you need to communicate your needs to those around you. This includes your partner, your children, childcare providers, coworkers, your boss, or anyone else that may be in your circle.

You simply can’t take for granted that people know what you need, You need to verbalize it. This is especially true in times of crisis.

If you need your partner to pick up some slack around the house, ask them.  If you need your kids to be a little more self-sufficient in the morning, ask them (not that they will always listen, but a little tough love goes far). If you need special accommodations from your employer, ask them. The worst they can say is no. Plus, if you have an employer that is unyielding (within reason), that is a great sign that you should look for a new job anyways.

Check out: How to Ask for a Flexible Working Arrangement 

Be explicit and confident when conveying your needs.

Ease Into Your New Routine

The first few weeks back to the office are going to be difficult.  Do yourself a favor and ease back into the swing of things.  Ask your employer if you can work half days for the first few days or flex your schedule a bit. At the very least, try to keep your schedule light for those first few weeks back.

You have likely been home for a while so you may need some time to adjust to your new daily routine. Do not be afraid to make that ask.

It will not only help you logistically, but it will be good for your physical and mental wellbeing. Going back to the office will be taxing and you need to take extra care of yourself.

Schedule & Set Goals

You simply can’t expect to head back to the office with the same productivity that you had pre-quarantine.  Therefore, in addition to having a massive amount of grace, you will also need to be very intentional with your time and priorities.

One of the first things that you should do is identify your priorities and set SMART goals for each week. What is critical to get done ASAP? What will help you achieve your long-term goals and help drive your business/career forward? Those are the things that you should be prioritizing and making time for.

Speaking of time, one of the first things that you do as you transition back to work is to map out your week. What will your workweek and days look like? Will you need to make any changes due to childcare or new protocols? Next, start to plug in your priorities. Dedicate the most time to those things that you identified that will help you the most. Leave very little room for anything else.

This is one of those times to viciously seek out non-productive activities. Having a new-ish routine is a great time to get rid of dead weight.

Check out ways to be more effective such as time blocking and other time management hacks.

Look to Micro-Simplify Your Life

Our lives are filled with countless amounts of mental load. If you aren’t sure what mental load is, mental load (or emotional labor) is having a million things on your mind such as doctors appointments, school work for your kiddos, dry cleaning to pick up, birthday gifts to buy, school supplies to purchase, and on and on. You have all of this in addition to your actual work.   This stress can eat away at you.

As you transition back into the office, look for ways to reduce this mental load.

Consider these ways to reduce mental load:

  • Use a grocery delivery service instead of running to the grocery store. I use Shipt and get my groceries delivered most weeks, thus eliminating an errand that I absolutely hate!
  • Using Amazon Subscribe and Save for everyday home items. I have toilet paper, dish soap, shampoo, toothpaste, and more on Subscribe & Save.  It’s so nice not having to worry about running out of essentials.
  • Set Reminders as much as possible. Sometimes the mental load is worse than the task actually warrants. Think about a time that you had to schedule an appointment for a check-up. You kept remembering that needed to schedule the check-up, woke up at night worrying that you didn’t schedule it yet, and then thought about it some more.   MUCH worse than setting a reminder for yourself at a certain time and date and pushing it out of your brain.

Practice Mindfulness

When you transition back into the office after Covid-19, you are likely going to be on edge.  Not only are you going to be transitioning into a new normal (new routine, new working environment, new protocols that you will have to follow) but you may be a little scared or stressed.

Practicing mindfulness such as meditation is a great way to stay centered and calm when you are transitioning back to work.   I’ll admit it, I used to think meditation was a little hippy-dippy. I tried it at the urging of a friend and I haven’t turned back.

Meditation has helped me during some particularly challenging times in my life. When I am feeling a little tense or unfocused a quick 3-5 minute meditation session is all that I need to get me back on track

When I am feeling a bit overwhelmed, I close my door and listen to a quick 3-minute meditation for stress. Afterward, I ALWAYS find myself feeling more relaxed, focused, and in control.

Luckily, there are a ton of resources for mindfulness beginners.  Personally, I absolutely love the Headspace app.   They have guided meditations for a variety of scenarios, emotions, and lengths of time. You can also find guided meditation sessions on Spotify and YouTube.

If you don’t have access to an app, even stopping, closing your eyes, and focusing on your breath for 2-3 minutes can help immensely!

 

Transitioning back into the office after working remote can be challenging.  With a little preparation and a whole lot of grace, you can reduce the stress and disruption.

What are you most nervous about transitioning back to the office?  How do you transition back to the office?   Let’s chat, leave a comment below!

Related posts:

How to Request a Flexible Working Arrangement

Types of Flexible Working Arrangement

 

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How to Stay Connected to Your Team While Working from Home

How to Stay Connected to Your Team While Working from Home

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases made through these links may result in a small commission. 

Many people are working from home for the first time.   The first couple of days are likely amazing.  You love the freedom that working from home provides.  You love the extra time in your day from not having a commute.

Then after the novelty wears off, you start to notice that you may become a little lonely.  Working from home can be very isolating, especially if you are used to working closely with others.

Luckily, with a little creativity, it is very possible to stay connected while you are working from home. You can start to enjoy the best of both worlds!

I’m going to share some tips for how you can stay connected to your team while working from home.

Video Chat

Video chat is a great tool for staying connected with your team while you are working remotely.  Seeing each other one video allows you to keep that personal connection that many people lose when you are not in the office.  You can use Skype or Zoom to set up video calls.

In fact, video calls allow you to learn even more about your coworker’s lives which can increase connection.  For example, you can learn more about their personal tastes, their pets, family members, and how they dress outside of the office.  This all helps you learn more about each other and humanizes them outside of the office.

Set a weekly video chat at a minimum.  Make sure that you set some time aside in the chat to just talk and connect.   For example, our team has set up a video chat every Monday and Friday where we just chat.  We don’t talk about anything work-related, just the casual chit chat that we all miss from the office. It has been one of my favorite times of the week!

Virtual Lunch Date

Many coworkers are used to grabbing lunch together or hanging out in the break room together.  This time is actually really important to employee’s mental well-being and employee engagement. In addition, a study by Cornell shows that groups that eat together tend to perform better than groups that don’t. It’s important that you don’t lose this personal connection time.

When you can’t meet with someone in person, schedule a “virtual lunch date”.   Schedule time with one or more of your coworkers to eat lunch and chat. This is a great way to stay connected and stay caught up on what is going on in their lives.

Virtual Theme Party

Speaking of food, schedule a “virtual theme party” to stay connected.   Once a week pick a theme for the day, hopefully coinciding with your weekly video chat.

During this “party” everyone can dress up, eat/drink related food, and listen to themed music.

Sounds super cheesy, but cheesy things often connect teams and deepen engagement.

For example, host a “Virtual Fiesta”.  Have everyone dress for a fiesta on your team’s video calls (with festive music playing in your background). For lunch, team members can eat tacos and drink virgin margaritas.   If you send emails fo the team, you can include fiesta themed clip art. Whatever you can do to insert some fun and novelty into the day.

These things all sound silly but they brighten everyone’s mood and break up the monotony of working from home.

Virtual Book Club or Professional Development

It’s always a good time to build your skills.  Use professional development as a way to stay connected to your team while working from home.

You can select a skill that you can all work on for the week, such as public speaking or data analysis.  Or you can all read the same book or take the same online class.

Have each team member do a quick presentation on what they learned (working on those public speaking skills!) during a team meeting.  Just make sure that you don’t make it too formal or involved. The point is to keep it fun and engaging.  Once you make it an exercise, it can backfire.

Ramp up the Recognition

Working from home can be isolating and you can feel that you are on an island trying to get things done.   Your work may not be as visible to your team members and boss resulting in you receiving less recognition. This can be damaging to your engagement and productivity.

To help prevent that, be more mindful and intentional with the recognition that you give. Try to recognize one person a day for something great that they did and be very explicit with it.   People often don’t realize that they are being recognized so make sure they are aware that is what you are trying to do. Write a note saying something like “Heather, I wanted to recognize you for handling that client situation so well.”    The more you recognize others, the more the whole team will recognize others which works wonder for morale.

Another fun exercise is to recognize each person on your team each week on a team call. Knowing that you will need to recognize someone publicly, will keep you on the lookout for things to recognize them for.   Doing this regularly will keep you connected with each other and the work that you are doing.

Tokens of Appreciation

Who doesn’t love a token of appreciation?   Take the opportunity to brighten your coworker’s day in order to stay connected while you are working from home.

It can be as easy as a handwritten note or an electronic Starbucks gift card.   These small gestures will be remembered and go far in building a deeper connection with your coworkers.

How do you stay connected to your team while working from home?   Do you have any best practices or suggestions? Leave a comment below!

 

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Must Read Personal Finance Books for Women

Must Read Personal Finance Books for Women

Disclaimer:This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases made through these links. 

Looking to check out some personal finance books?   Look no further.  These books are guaranteed to help you improve your personal finances.

The Total Money Makeover- Dave Ramsey

I  love Dave Ramsey. He offers such easy to understand and no non-sense practical advice.  This book will walk you through his “baby step” process to start building wealth.  My husband and I  have followed this plan and we are completely debt-free (including mortgage free) at 34 years old.   His plan works if you are wiling to follow it.

 

You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth by Jen Sincero 

I absolutely love all of Jen Sincero’s books. She tells you exactly what you need to hear in a straight forward and encouraging way. She is like your best friend that always gives it to you straight but is always in your corner.    This book does exactly that but with your finances. She tackles things like mindset, fears around money, and different ways to make money.

 

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money – That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! by Robert T. Kiyosaki

You may already recognize this book as it is one of the personal-finance classics.  The author tells of his experience learning money lessons from his father (who struggles with money) and his best friend’s wealthy dad.  He illustrates how wealth and poor pole think differently. It’s a must-read personal finance book for everyone.

 

The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau  

So many people think that the best way that you can become a millionaire is by saving money but the wealthy know the real key is increasing their income. Particularly, increasing the number of income streams that they have.  Starting a side hustle is a great way to earn more and diversify your income.

Chris Guillebeau makes this process so simple with the steps he lays out in the $100 startup.  He walks you through how to set up an extra income stream with less than $100 and minimal effort.

 

Smart Women Finish Rich, Expanded and Updated by David Bach 

You can’t have a list of top personal finance books for women with Smart Women Finish Rich. This book by David Bach is a New York Bestseller many times over.  This book has been helping women improve their finances for many years.  He provides simple and easy to follow directions to help create a personal finance plan. He teaches you basics concepts in a way that is easy to understand and provides practical steps that you can take right away.   It’s a must-read for any woman.

 

The 30-Day Money Cleanse: Take Control of Your Finances, Manage Your Spending, and De-Stress Your Money for Good by Ashley Fernstein Gerstley

This book is a must-read for anyone that wants to change their relationship with finances quickly. And this book is amazing at just that!  The author will help you identify obstacles and causes to you may be overspending and walks you through how to stop your bad money habits.   It’s a great jumpstart for anyone that wants to take some meaningful change towards improving their personal finances.

 

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