BE ALERT AND READY TO ADAPT18

SCS VALUES THROUGH LEADERSHIP “

A selfless leader will always put others’ needs before their own. A leader with values will often demonstrate accountability in whatever they do. Therefore, leadership based on these values will create a friendly and conducive working environment. Remember to always bring out the best in others.

The Right Honourable Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari Bin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg Premier of Sarawak | 7 September 2022

FOUR DYNAMIC WAYS TO CREATE A COHESIVE WFA TEAM

BY WILLIAM ARRUDA

Source: Vector image is from freepik.com by studiogstock

USE THESE FOUR ANTIDOTES AND BRING HUMANITY BACK TO THE OFFICE

As a leader, having all your team members in the office was ideal. It made it easier for you to connect with them and for them to connect with each other. And it allowed for those impromptu moments that add a lot more value to business relationships than we ever knew. When things went 100% virtual and everyone was working from home, it created a humanity deficit, with cohesion plummeting alongside it. How could we even be called a team if we were working by ourselves? Well, one benefit was that at least everyone was having the same, albeit isolated, experience. The shared pivot was our common ground.

As we enter the new hybrid model, also known as work from anywhere (WFA), we’ll be experiencing a strange combination, and it’s already feeling as if we won’t be able to stick together anymore. Each week brings some of what we experienced in the real world and some of what we felt during all-virtual environment—making human connection and team cohesion more complex and convoluted.

For team leaders, the job of inspiring, supporting, educating, motivating and coaching your staff is now significantly more challenging, requiring a lot more finesse and taking deliberate actions to create an environment that includes everyone. A recent study by Deloitte found that a third of employees are struggling with fatigue and mental health challenges, with a significant dichotomy between perception and reality. “Only 56% of employees believe their company’s executives care about their well-being, while 90% of execs think their employees believe they’re cared about.”

Here are four antidotes that bridge the gap and bring the humanity back to the office—no matter where those offices are. Show your people you care and create a truly engaging experience in the WFA environment with these approaches.

Equalize your meetings

When the conference room became the Zoom room overnight, we all learned that virtual meetings are more challenging, exhausting and often less satisfying than their in-person counterpart. In-person meetings allow us to have those real, visceral moments with colleagues in a shared space, but they’re sharing the zone with virtual attendees now. To create a more consistent experience, make the hybrid meeting fun, with as much opportunity for personal interaction as possible:

• Send meeting prep materials (the stuff that doesn’t require interaction) to everyone in advance. Then office and remote members can experience your fundamentals the same way. • Make the live meeting all about interaction.

Be deliberate about calling on those who are participating remotely. Make the first slide of your presentation deck a photo of the whole team (see below). Off-site colleagues need more attention.

They also have a lot more temptation to multitask, because they’re participating on the same device that houses all the other work they can be doing.

During the meeting, use online polls and games that each person can interact with on their phone.

This way, local and remote participants interact in the same way.

Make the most of in-person opportunities

Whether it’s a team meeting where everyone files into the auditorium or a focused professional development retreat, heavily emphasize relationship building at in-person events. Look at your agenda and make sure it is heavy on engagement and fun and light on individual work. Use the fact that you have everyone together to get a team photo. Send physical copies of the team photo to each member after the event as a reminder of the fun you had, providing each member with a tangible reminder pinned to their home office wall.

Bring everyone into your office, figuratively speaking

You may not be able to have everyone in your office at the same time, and maybe some of your team will rarely or never visit the office. But you can still have them there all at once. Create a team wall with headshots of everyone in the group. Those who are in the office will be reminded of their remote teammates, even though they don’t get to see them regularly, every time they pass the wall. Remote team members will see pictures of the group in your background.

Stay in touch while staying on schedule

Managers of WFA teams need help, too. According to Gallup, team managers and project leaders are experiencing stress to a greater degree than the members of their teams. This is in part due to increased demands on their time communicating with team members—especially if WFA means widely varied time zones. To reduce the demand and build one more opportunity to foster a consistent experience for everyone, distribute weekly video updates. Try to keep the update to 1-2 minutes max. You don’t want your people to groan when they see it in their inbox. One of my clients produces her video updates at home and sends them to her people every Sunday evening. She includes:

• The big happening of the previous week • Kudos and acknowledgement of team member wins • An inspirational or focused thought for the coming week

WFA is making leaders’ lives more challenging and stressful. To reduce the stress, be deliberate about creating positive connections as consistently as possible. Remind them—and yourself—that no matter where you are, you’re all working together.

This article was originally published in Forbes.

WILLIAM ARRUDA

William Arruda is the bestselling author of the definitive books on personal branding: Digital YOU, Career Distinction and Ditch. Dare. Do! And he’s the creative energy behind Reach Personal Branding and CareerBlast.TV – two groundbreaking organizations committed to expanding the visibility, availability, and value of personal branding across the globe.

Source: Vector image is from storyset.com

Closing the Power Distance

BY JULIET FUNT

“Smile, you’re on Candid Camera” is a jingle you may be able to hum even if you never watched the show. But if you’re anywhere close to getting a discount at the movies (or a fan of classic TV), you may recall with unique fondness the experience of seeing people from every walk of life being utterly themselves in the most innocent but revealing moments. Showing this realness was a special knack my father developed in the army.

Lessons from Candid Camera

Dad was a second lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps, stationed in Muskogee, Oklahoma, during World War II. He was assigned the task of recording messages from soldiers to their loved ones. But he had a problem. The rehearsal of the message always went well, but when the red recording light came on, the GIs became nervous and tongue-tied. The recording disks were expensive and couldn’t be reused, so Dad decided to disconnect the red light and record the practice run without them knowing it. On these takes, all the soldiers’ earnest feelings came through. That core idea of recording without others knowing grew into Candid Microphone, then Candid Camera, and eventually into the entire genre of reality television.

When my father interviewed kids for Candid Camera, his favorite part of his work, he faced a challenge. How could he quickly break through the intimidation children feel toward a big unknown adult? He did so by lighting a match and feigning difficulty blowing it out. Balanced on the edge of a preschool-size chair, he would huff and puff with theatrical overacting, turning finally to the youngster and saying, “Can you help me?” And they would. Moments later, my dad and his new friend would be chatting about guardian angels, the wonders of spaghetti, money, and a host of other delightful topics.

The gap my father was closing is called the “power distance,” a concept developed by Professor Geert Hofstede. This phenomenon can cause people to avoid or defer to those they feel are more powerful and, in doing so, shut down channels of honest communication. By asking for help, my father broke the power distance and opened a gateway to closeness with each and every match blower.

Tapping Into Empathy and Openness

If you lead at least a few people, this message is for you. And in order to develop the closeness needed to build a tight-knit and high-performing team, you’ll need to address the same lopsided dynamics as my father. You must ask for help, step out of having all the answers, and truly enlist a wide spectrum of input to make the changes you want. Speak to people about their needs, desires, and enthusiasms. And make it more than a gesture; authentically be open to using the ideas that spring from these conversations. I’ve met many leaders who are blind to the power distance. They are always so surprised that employees a rung or two down from them don’t have the confidence to do the things they do. Don’t be one of these leaders. Ask yourself and really consider what it must feel like to have limited power, have authority that can quickly be overruled, and always be a little afraid that the wrong statement or an honest mistake could throw a wrench into your progress toward your goals. Open your empathy stores and imagine what this would be like. And then do some inner work.

Here are some questions you can use to close the power distance between you and those who work for you: five for you and five for them.

Questions to ask yourself as a leader:

• Is fear one of the ways that I gain compliance or deference from my team? • Do I make vulnerable admissions that allow my team to see my softer side? • Do I pretend to listen and then turn a decision my way, or do I really take in others’ viewpoints? • What did I feel toward the boss in my first or early jobs? • How is the power distance limiting the way that smart people can make my company better?

Questions to ask your team members directly or in writing:

• Do you experience a sense of psychological safety around the leaders of our company? • Do you feel comfortable disagreeing with me or other leaders in this company? • Do you feel able to say no to work that does not add value to this company? • Are there any important opinions about our process that you hold back or feel afraid to share? • Is there a piece of feedback on my leadership you would like to share?

The power distance between you and others may not melt as quickly or as magically as did for my father and his tiny compatriots. But it can lessen and even at times evaporate if we raise our empathy, show our humanity, and pay attention.

This article was also published on Juliet Funt’s LinkedIn

JULIET FUNT

Juliet Funt is the founder and CEO at JFG (Juliet Funt Group), which is a consulting and training firm built upon the popular teaching of CEO Juliet Funt, author of A Minute to Think.