When your organization or team communicates effectively, you’re nimble. You can respond to change quickly. But if your organization doesn’t invest in effective workplace communication, you’ll face a constant series of misunderstandings that waste time, create conflict, and drag down everyone’s performance. One easy-to-use workplace communication tool will eliminate most of these frustrations, save you time, and improve performance and morale.

Stop Asking “Do You Understand?”

Every moment of communication with your team or customer is precious. Especially in hybrid, remote, or fast-moving organizations, you’ve got to make every interaction count.

But one of the worst ways to waste these precious moments is by asking, “Do you understand?”

If the person answers “yes”—well, you know nothing more than you did before you asked. They said “yes,” but what does that “yes” actually mean?

Maybe they think they understand (and whether they do or not, you don’t know). Or maybe they just told you yes because that’s what they think you expect to hear.

Perhaps they just want to move on and get to their next task, so they say “yes” hoping to leave the conversation.

Regardless of the person’s intent, when someone tells you, “yes, I understand,” you know nothing more than you did before you asked. And you rarely learn about problems in understanding until later when things go wrong.

Now, if they tell you “no, I don’t understand,” that is better in the sense that now you have new information. But you still don’t know where the confusion happened or what to do about it. And it required the person you asked to have the courage to admit they didn’t understand (which shouldn’t take courage, but often does).

Maximize Your Workplace Communication ROI: Check for Understanding

You can make the most of every conversation and eliminate hours, days, even months of frustration, headache, and heartache by shifting away from “do you understand?” Instead, ask an open-ended question that helps both of you immediately figure out how well you grasp what one another has said. We call this a “check for understanding.”

Check for Their Understanding

When you check for understanding, ask the other person what they understand (not if they understand). There are many ways you can do this. Here are a few examples:

• “Let’s check for understanding here, what are the next steps we will take?”
• “I’d like to make sure we’re on the same page. What’s happening now?”
• “What’s your understanding of our agreement?”

All of these questions are open ended – the person answering will share what they know. There is no yes/no pressure to be right. It’s about sharing their perspective so we can move forward efficiently.

As you hear them summarize in their words, you’ll know what they know and where they are missing critical information. Now you can clarify and ensure everyone has what they need.

Check for Your Understanding

When you are on the receiving end of communication from a colleague, team member, supervisor, board member, spouse, child, friend – or anyone else, you can use the check for understanding to make sure you’ve got it.

This time, you’ll repeat back what you understand and ask for clarification. For example:

• “I’m hearing that we need to move this project up to deliver this Friday and that we should postpone our work on the marketing effort until next week. Do I have that right?”
• “It sounds like we’ve agreed to add a full-time person to this team. If that’s right, I’ll talk to HR to get it posted.”
• “It seems like this task will take about five hours, is that what you had in mind?”
• “I’m hearing that competing data requests from other teams are keeping you from getting what you need to complete this on time. Is that right?”

In all these examples, you don’t allow yourself to assume you understand. You double check. Sometimes you’ll extend that check for understanding to add more clarity. For example:

• “Thanks for confirming. So, what I see happening next is that the product team will be worried. How will we communicate the change with them?”
• “Okay, so not five hours. You want a 30 minute estimation. Are you comfortable with a range then as opposed to a specific number?”

Whether you check for their understanding or yours, now everyone has the same information.

Organizational Check for Understanding

One of the most frustrating parts of life in organizations that grow beyond one level of organization is cascading communication. We constantly hear the workplace communication frustration of senior leaders who don’t understand why everyone isn’t on the same page.

The problem usually stems from a lack of – you guessed it, checking for understanding. But there are usually two or even three checks that need to happen.

If you’re a senior leader who has information to cascade through the organization (and it’s not passive information – people need to do something with it), you need to ensure that everyone’s got it and acts on it. Here’s how you do it:

1. Start with your direct report team.

In addition to the key message, clarify with the team that part of their responsibility is to ensure that their team understands and acts on the message. Check for understanding with your direct reports. For example, “Okay, if there aren’t any more questions, let’s check for understanding. What needs to happen next? By when?” Make sure they’ve got cascading and ensuring understanding as part of their next steps.

2. Skip-level check for understanding.

Once the cascading timeline passes, have some conversations with people who report to your team. Ask then, “What is your understanding of [topic / key message]?”

Listen to what they say. If they have it wrong, don’t chastise them. Instead, gently correct: “Oh, actually, here’s what’s happening… What questions are coming up for you?”  Then you can wrap up with another check for understanding: “Just to make sure I’m communicating as clearly as I hope to, what are you hearing me say here?”

3. Coach the managers whose people don’t have it.

This is a critical step if you want a nimble, responsive, accountable organization. You’ve got to hold your team member responsible for their team’s understanding of the message. If their team doesn’t have it, that’s your team member’s responsibility.

Check in with your team member. Let them know they had some folks struggling with the message. Check with them about how they’re communicating. How are they checking for understanding themselves? Are they? (Or are they falling back on “do you understand” and failing to learn what people actually know?)

If the manager continues to struggle, it may help to attend a meeting where they will be communicating and observe how they do it and then coach them after the meeting. This rarely takes more than once or twice before they figure it out and ensure clear communication.

Eliminate Common Workplace Communication Barriers

Once leaders learn how to check for understanding, there are four common obstacles that get in the way of clear communication.

1. Concern that it takes too long

We get it—when time is short, every second feels precious.

But the investment in clear understanding gives you back so much time later that you won’t spend cleaning up misunderstandings, re-doing work, and solving unnecessary conflict.

2. Feeling like people should be “better than this”

“These are professionals. They should get this the first time.” We hear this one quite a bit.

Frankly, it’s nonsense. Human communication is challenging at the best of times and no one gets it right every time. Heck, we teach these concepts nearly every day, and we still have frequent misunderstandings where we’ll use the same word, but interpret it differently.

One of your most critical leadership responsibilities is communication. You can’t inspire, motivate, or take a group of people anywhere if you can’t communicate. And you haven’t communicated until everyone has shared understanding.

3. Intentional misunderstanding

When you hold everyone on your team responsible for their communication, you may discover a few folks who have been hiding behind intentional misunderstanding. After all, “if I leave it vague, I don’t have to follow through or disappoint anyone. I can’t be accountable for that.”

You and your team will coach some of these folks to greater accountability that will help their performance and relationships. Others may not want it and you’ll ultimately coach them out of the organization.

4. Avoiding negative emotions

Managers who struggle to check for understanding often want to avoid dealing with negative emotions.

If that key message is going to irritate or concern some of their team, they may deliver it without force. They might share the message, but not check for understanding because doing so opens the door for how people feel about the issue.

The person could say, “Yeah, I get it. Here’s what you’re saying. I just don’t like it.” Now what?

Help your managers learn to listen deeply, reflect what they hear—check for understanding about the team member’s concern and how they feel, and go from there. (And model this yourself.)

The next step might be to relay the employee’s concern to you. It might be to acknowledge how they feel and then ask for enrollment: “I hear that this is disappointing for you. I’m not asking you to feel differently. Is it something you can still do?”

Help your managers learn to listen and acknowledge without having to solve every problem or complaint and you’ll improve their ability to communicate.

Your Turn

In our leadership development programs, participants consistently rank the check for understanding as one of their most valuable tools. When you master this powerful workplace communication tool and infuse it throughout your team, you’ll be on your way to a nimble, responsive, and productive organization.

We’d love to hear from you—how have you used the check for understanding in your leadership? Do you have a story of a time people weren’t on the same page? Let’s hear your story!

The post Workplace Communication: Stop Asking “Do You Understand?” (and do this instead) appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

When you’re working in a remote or hybrid team, having a common agreement on your email best practices will save you gobs of time and frustration. Start with subject lines that tell the reader exactly what you need from them and when. Talk about who it makes sense to cc, and when. Create team norms for when to ditch the email and send a text for a quicker response. And, of course, ensure everyone knows when to pick up the phone or schedule a meeting for deeper conversation and decision-making.

In this article and the video below, I share some of the biggest challenges that derail email communication and best practices to prevent them.

5 Email Best Practice Tips For Teams

1. Create a subject line protocol that tells your reader exactly what you need them to do
2. When it comes to email less is more: Summarize, synthesize, and use bullets
3. If the topic is complex, contentious, or emotional pick up the phone or schedule a call
4. CC to share information, not for escalation
5. Slow down and read what you’ve written

And Avoid These Mistakes

I’m going to assume you’re way past email blunder basics: replying to all with snarky remarks, sending the note intended for your partner to your boss, or emailing when you’re angry, or after that second glass of wine.

Here are a few common email mistakes to avoid.

Mistake #1: Cryptic Subject Lines

The biggest frustration I hear from nearly every team I work with is cryptic subject lines.

• “I shouldn’t have to read three-quarters of the way down an email to figure out what it’s about!”
• “I just wish the subject line would tell me what I need to do by when!”
• “Sooo….I woke up this morning to fifteen emails that all just had the subject line that read ‘update.’ I have no idea what kinds of updates, so I have to read them all to figure out what they are about. I’m so busy today and I have no easy way to prioritize my attention.”

Email best practices tips for teams #1: Create a subject line protocol that tells your reader exactly what you need them to do!

Tips for Better Email Subjects: click on the image to download a PDF

Mistake #2: The Barrage Effect

Early in my Verizon days, I was preparing a very senior leader for an impromptu meeting with the CEO on an important subject she knew little about, and the situation was evolving rapidly. I wanted her to be as prepared as possible, so I went through my inbox and forwarded the relevant information one email at a time.

One email had data, the other trends, the other some commentary that would give her a sense of the political landscape. I carefully commented on each one to explain the context and forwarded it to her.

The phone rang. “Karin, I’m searching my inbox for your name and deleting everything that’s come from you. Now I want you to send me one email with concise bullets I can share at this meeting, nothing else. It would take me hours to dig through all of this and figure out what is going on.

Email best practices tips for teams #2: When it comes to email, less is more. Summarize, synthesize, and use bullets.

Mistake #3: Your Email Should Be A Phone Call

Has this ever happened to you?

My peer sent me an email. I wasn’t quite sure what he was saying, but it was REALLY ticking me off.

I filled in the blanks of my confusion with assumptions. He returned the favor. We went back and forth three times before we got to the root of the matter. We could have easily spared one another the frustration and misunderstandings if one of us had picked up the phone.

Email can feel easy and less disruptive than a phone call, but often wastes time and drains energy.

Email best practices tips for teams #3: If the topic is complex, contentious, or emotional pick up the phone or schedule a call.

Mistake #4: Too Many CCs

I could feel my direct report’s anger burn through the phone. “Why did he cc you on this email? I’ve got this! I’m not cc-ing HIS boss!” To the manager working hard to resolve this situation, this felt like an unneeded escalation.

Be sensitive to who you’re copying on a note and why. If you wouldn’t draw them into a meeting or phone conversation on the topic, you may want to think twice. Even better, establish norms of who will be copied on project emails.

Email best practices tips for teams #4: CC to share information, not for escalation

Mistake #5: Sloppy spelling and grammar

My phone rang. It was the head of HR “Karin, how could you recommend this guy for a senior role? I know you say he’s good, but let me forward the email he sent along with his resume.” I was shocked at the grammatical problems: “there” instead of “their” “to” instead of “too.” This guy’s a great leader and knows grammar, but he was moving too fast. His excited response cost him the job and embarrassed me for recommending him.

Email best practices for teams #5: Slow down and read what you’ve written

The most important email best practice is to talk about it as a team. One good “how we could do things around here” conversation can save hours of lost time.

See Also: Stop Emailing When You Should Have a Meeting 

And if you’re ready to accelerate team performance for breakthrough results while improving communication, connection and trust…check out our team development program Team Accelerator.

The post Email Best Practices: How to Send a Better, More Effective Email appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

We all know that when there is team conflict brewing, it’s only a matter of time before it erupts into something bigger.

It’s like families refusing to talk about the tough stuff, and then one day Uncle Joe is throwing the Thanksgiving turkey off the balcony.

Here’s the good news. You don’t need to be the manager to address team conflict (although these techniques will work great for you too!). In this week’s Asking For a Friend, I share some really practical advice on bringing your team together and having much-needed conversations.

3 Ways to Surface and Heal Team Conflict (Even if You’re Not the Manager)

Here are a few things you can do to surface (and address) the conflict before it does too much destruction.

0:58  1. Talk one-on-one with team members about what you can do to help.

Start humbly. “I really care about this team, our work, and our collective success. I’d like to get some feedback about what I can be doing to better support this team. And, I’d love your thoughts on how we can work more effectively together.

By starting with your own behaviors, you’re more likely to create a psychologically safe environment where others will open up and share their true feelings.

Once you have everyone’s input, you can begin to collect the themes to share with your manager (and the team), as a starting point for a “How can we?” make this better conversation.

1:30 2. Have your team think about their best experiences working on a team

This is a basic appreciative inquiry exercise. But you don’t need to get too fancy. Just ask your manager for a few minutes to do this in your next virtual or in-person team meeting.

Ask your team to reflect on the best team they ever worked on, and why it worked so well. Watch as everyone lightens up and smiles as they share their stories and how it made them feel.

Next, have the team identify the common themes from those stories. What were the characteristics and habits of those high-performing teams, and most importantly, how did they behave?

1:57  3. Ask your team what needs to happen to reach closer to that ideal (get practical.)

Next comes the practical conversation. “How do we do more of that?”

You don’t need a long list. The themes will lead you to the obvious place to start. Work to establish one or two commitments and build from there.

What would you add? How do address conflict on your team (even if you’re not the manager)?

The post Team Conflict: How to Surface and Discuss Simmering Issues (Video) appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

“Hey Karin, I just had my 360 Feedback review, and I heard I should speak up more in meetings. But it’s hard. How do I get better at this?” #AskingForaFriend

4 Ways to Speak Up More in Meetings

This question came in from a really good friend of mine, whom I’ve known for over 30 years. And here’s the thing. She’s so smart with so much to offer. And, sometimes she holds back and doesn’t speak up in meetings. Which is tragic.

So here’s my advice for her and for anyone struggling to speak up more in meetings.

1. Start before the meeting begins.

The best way to have more confidence and speak up more in meetings is to be really prepared. Ask for the agenda in advance. Or, inquire about the topics to be discussed and decisions to be made.

A little advanced notice about the conversation gives some time to gather your thoughts and prepare your point of view.

2. Imagine the players at the table.

Before the meeting, picture who will be in the meeting and what could be on their hearts and minds.

Anticipating other people’s contributions and ideas can help you be more prepared to jump into the dialogue and add value.

3. Consider your most important points and write them down in advance.

It’s easy for conversations to go all over the place in meetings, particularly if you’re in a team full of extroverts.

Try writing down your most important points in advance, so when the conversation goes sideways, it’s easier to bring the conversation back and speak up more in meetings.

“One idea I have that I want to ensure we consider before we close is _______”

Or, you can frame it as a question.

“In preparing for this meeting, I’ve been wondering if we might consider ____. Would that be a topic worth spending a few minutes on?”

4. Position your ideas using our Courageous Cultures I.D.E.A. Model.

If you’ve read Courageous Cultures, attended one of our leadership development programs, or have hung out much on this blog, you know we’re big fans of the I.D.E.A. method for positioning your ideas. This is a great approach to help you speak up in meetings as well.

You can read more about the I.D.E.A approach for positioning your ideas here (or simply watch the video).

Your turn. What are your best practices for speaking up in meetings?

The post How To Speak Up in Meetings (A Video For if You’re Feeling Unsure) appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

You have some difficult feedback for your boss, but you’re not quite sure they’re ready to hear it. It might feel safer to stay silent. After all, they can’t shoot the messenger if there’s no message.

But if you stay silent, the problematic behavior will only continue, or even get worse.

If you want to get better at giving upward feedback start with these six steps.

1. Ground yourself in connection and intention.
2. Set up a time to talk in a private place.
3. Be objective and specific.
4. Ask for their perspective.
5. Probe for opportunities to help.
6. Schedule the finish.

6 Steps to Get Better at Difficult, Upward Feedback

Your boss is an imperfect human, doing the best they can. Just like you. They don’t brush their teeth in the morning dreaming up ways to be more difficult and frustrating to you and the rest of the team.

Maybe they’re unaware of the impact of their behavior. Or perhaps they’ve had a bad role model or two. Or, it could be they’ve not received the leadership training or 360 feedback they need to improve.

Start with the benefit of the doubt that this can and will work, be the leader you want your boss to be, and make a plan to get better at giving difficult feedback.

1. Ground yourself in connection and intention.

For years, we’ve been asking this critical question in our leadership development programs:

If you knew someone truly cared about you, your career, and the success of the team, would you want to hear difficult feedback, even if it was hard to hear?

Every single time, every hand in the room goes up.

Every person with that raised hand is somebody’s boss.

Of course, we’re not naive. We’ve both been there and heard the stories. We’ve both experienced the wrath of a toxic boss responding poorly to difficult feedback and have heard from many of you about the times it didn’t go well.

But we also know this.

If you start your difficult feedback with genuine human connection and a good intention, your chances of getting through improve exponentially.

Try something like this:

“I really care about you and the success of this team. I have an observation (or idea) that I think could really improve ________ (insert desired outcome here, e.g. productivity, the customer experience, revenue, morale.) Would you be open to talking about it?”

2. Set up a time to talk in a private place.

Most of the time when difficult feedback goes wonky, the timing or location is off. The easiest way to ensure your feedback will be met with defensiveness is to share it in front of others. Or, to give it from a place of anger or frustration.

Setting up a time and place to talk in private gives you a chance to think through your approach and makes it easier to have a focused conversation. The privacy signals your genuine concern for your boss and conveys respect for them and their position.

3. Be objective and specific.

When hearing difficult feedback, nothing is more frustrating them vague feedback with no examples.

“Everyone is feeling frustrated by your angry, terse attitude,” would be difficult for anyone to hear.

“In yesterday’s meeting, I noticed you raised your voice and cut off both Jon and Kathy when they were sharing their ideas. And after that, no one spoke up again,” is an easier starting point.

Note: If you’re familiar with our I.N.S.P.I.R.E. method for tough conversations, these are the N (Notice) and S (Support) steps.

4. Ask for their perspective (and really listen.)

“I know it’s been a challenging few weeks, how are you feeling? What’s going on for you?”

Or you can even take a “reflect to connect” approach. “You seem really frustrated with our team right now. Am I right? What’s weighing on you the most?”

5. Probe for opportunities to help.

Next, try an open-ended question that offers your support.

“I’d love to help our meetings go more smoothly. How can I best support you?”

“What do you think we can do differently to reduce frustration?”

Note: This might feel frustrating at first. You might be thinking, “Hey, they’re the one with the problem!”

But chances are, this gentle, empathetic approach will help get underneath the root causes of their behaviors. And you might even get an, “Hey, it’s not you, it’s me. Here’s what I can do differently.”

6. Schedule the finish.

If you’re familiar with our 6 concepts you can’t lead without, you know we’re big believers in “scheduling the finish.”

And, we always recommend that you close an I.N.S.P.I.R.E. feedback conversation with a direct report by scheduling time to talk about the behavior again.

You can do this with your manager too (depending on their receptivity to the earlier steps).

“It sounds like we all have some things we can do to reduce the frustration around here, and I think we have a good path forward. Do you want to chat again after our next team meeting?”

Giving difficult feedback to your boss is rarely easy. But, practice builds confidence. And the best way to work for a better boss is to help them grow.

The post How to Give Difficult Feedback to Your Boss (Even When You’re Scared) appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

What is the Sandwich Feedback Technique?

You start by telling them something great about their performance. Then you give them the constructive feedback you really want them to hear. And you follow it up with some more positive feedback.

Why the sandwich technique doesn’t work

Sandwich feedback is the easiest way to ensure your message is lost. Either the person only hears the good things you are saying, or they only focus on the constructive. Or, they leave the performance conversation remarkably confused.

At Let’s Grow Leaders, we are BIG believers of giving people all the feedback they need, both positive recognition and constructive feedback so they continue to grow —but not in the same sentence.

In today’s episode of Asking for a Friend,  we talk about the challenges with this common coaching technique (and what to do instead).

See Also: What Do I Do If They Cry?

Want to do better than sandwich feedback, join us in our new open-enrollment leadership development program beginning this Fall.

The post The Problem With Sandwich Feedback Video (and what to do instead) appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Whether your team is heading back to the office, will continue working remotely, or somewhere between, silence and space are critical leadership gifts to give your team.

Mixed Feelings about Going Back

Over the past month, as more U.S. citizens have access to vaccines, we’ve been talking with people whose teams have worked remotely about their thoughts on returning to in-person work. Conversations about going back to the office have included a wide range of feelings. Some are eager for the stimulation and energy of being around other people. Others are not. People who aren’t as excited about returning to fixed times and locations cite several concerns. Besides the benefits of flexibility, working across geography, and the ability to care for loved ones and life interests, at the top of the objection list is concern over lost personal productivity.

• One team member said, “With no commute and without physical interruptions from other people, I’m getting way more done.”
• Another person I spoke with said, “My manager was all about us working remotely until he realized that he’s an extrovert and now had no one to talk to. Now’s he’s been upfront that he wants us back in the office because he needs to talk. But that kills my productivity.”
• One senior leader we spoke with talked about how, despite her preference for extroversion, she has enjoyed the fact that people aren’t interrupting her with “Just one thing real quick …” She worries that when they return to the office, her colleagues and team will abandon the productive batching communication habits they’ve developed.

There are pros and cons for every work arrangement – and they differ across industries. This isn’t an argument for any specific approach – they all have their place. But when people share a common concern about their improved ability to get things done, it’s an opportunity to build a better workplace than the one we left.

A Silent Surprise

As I’ve interviewed people and looked at data on going back to the office, the concern about time lost to talkative coworkers and bosses brought to mind a visit I made to a radio station several years ago.

Every Friday morning the most popular morning radio show in town hosted Live Audience Friday. A group of 12 people got to sit into the broadcast booth to watch the three show hosts do their thing, ask questions, and take part in on-air contests.

I’d listened to their show for years. Every morning the hosts reliably bantered for four hours, made me smile, laugh, reflect, and, a time or two, even cry. Between songs and commercials, they played games, shared trivia, commented on the events of the day, held contests, and shared observations they’d made about life and the oddities of human behavior.

The three of them had incredible chemistry. They were a joy during the years I drove my daughter to school and then drove myself to work. After years of listening to Live Audience Friday, my sister, her husband, and I decided it was our turn, so we applied to visit.

When our morning arrived, we met outside the studio in the chilly morning dark while most of the world slept, filed into the studio, and waited for the magic to happen.

The show was as enjoyable as I hoped, the hosts’ interaction with the audience was kind, fun, and uplifting. But what struck me most about watching these three create their on-air repartee – was the silence.

When the “on-air” sign lit up, they were full of energy, connected to one another, and poured energy across the airwaves into their hundreds of thousands of listeners. But when the sign went dark, they went silent. They studied notes, occasionally asked a quiet question of one another, and generally said very little.

It was the opposite of what I’d expected. My impression as a listener was that what we heard on our radios was the on-air continuation of an ongoing conversation. That somehow we’d just been allowed to listen in.

In hindsight, that sense of connection and the ongoing conversation resulted from the hosts’ craft and professionalism. They were good at what they did. They included those moments of silence where they gathered their energy, reviewed the content they’d prepared, and did the work to deliver a best-in-class show.

Because of the pandemic, Karin and I shifted our in-person delivery to 100% to live remote leadership training. Some days feature five or six hours on camera engaging leaders around the world in human-centered leadership practices and skills.

Over the many months of pandemic-enforced remote programs, I’ve thought of those radio hosts’ moments of silence many times. When we turn off our camera for a breakout session or pause between programs, Karin and I study our notes, return emails, and exchange a quiet question or two.

Silence can be craft and professionalism.

“Be silent, or let your words be worth more than silence.”~Pythagoras

Bring the Gift of Space and Silence Back to the Office

I’ve read comments from a (thankfully) few cynical executives who say that people’s productivity concerns are packaging for the other benefits of working remotely.

I don’t think that’s true.

We’ve seen too many statistics citing the increased productivity over the past 15 months. It feels good to do well, and it makes sense that people don’t want to lose that.

If your work truly requires co-location, you can still give people the gift of productivity they’ve enjoyed over the past year with silence and space. Here are six ways to bring the gift of silence and space back to the office:

1. Don’t hold meetings for you.

Hold meetings only when they are the most productive use of time for the attendees (eg: to solve a problem or develop their abilities). Otherwise, leverage the communication infrastructure you’ve built over the past year.

2. Audit what you’ve eliminated.

You and your team have had to do things differently. What did you stop doing that doesn’t need to come back? It will be easy to fall back into location-based habits, but you don’t have to. Work with your team to keep unproductive habits you retired from popping up again.

3. Consolidate communication. 

The benefit of co-location can quickly become its bane if people fall back into the habit of interrupting one another for minor items. Once again, you can leverage the communication platforms. Help the team commit to batching discussion items so everyone has the best chance to do their best work.

4. Practice the pause. 

As I’ve watched meetings happen over Teams, Zoom, Chime, and Skype, I’ve noticed how people became more comfortable with a pause. A pause while someone reaches to unmute. A pause to ensure they’re not speaking over a colleague. Technology forced us to pause. We can bring that pause into our conversations and meetings. Give a question room to breathe. Don’t rush to fill the silence.

5. Consider quiet hours. 

Some organizations we’ve worked with introduced this practice even pre-pandemic. Carve out 90-120 minutes once or twice a day dedicated to deep work. Interruptions may only happen for emergencies (and define an emergency). Leverage the communication platforms you’ve used over the past 15 months to facilitate and protect these windows.

6. Communicate about quiet and communication.

The most effective hybrid and virtual teams take time to talk about how they work together. This practice is vital for in-person teams as well. Creating shared expectations and understanding will help everyone’s productivity. You can use the prior items on this list as starting points for your discussion.

Your Turn

If co-location is in your future, these practices will help maintain your team’s productivity. I’d love to hear from you: What would you add? As people come back to the office, what practices would you find most helpful?

For more tips see: How to Stay Productive as You Return to the Office

The post A Post-Pandemic Productivity Gift You Can Bring Back to the Office appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

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AND, let’s face it. These meetings are expensive. By the time you add in the time off the job, travel, conference space, AV, and break-time cookies, you’re right to question ROI.

How do you ensure your leadership message sticks? How do you ensure your team is taking your message back to actually DO something?

The Easiest Trap to Fall Into When Sharing Your Leadership Message

Mary’s Story

Mary had brought her managers together to discuss their 2019 priorities along with a bit of Winning Well management training. She kicked off the meeting with a highly-motivating and inspirational message.

She clearly articulated the MIT (Most Important Thing) strategic priorities they had aligned on during their executive session; worked hard to explain the “why” behind what matters most; and, most importantly, translated the priorities into what that meant the managers needed to DO differently.

I was applauding on the inside.

But as I looked around the room, I noticed that not a single person had taken notes. They were all just smiling back at her politely.

I had a hunch that no one had truly picked up what she was putting down.

So as she handed me the mic to begin our training, I did a quick check for understanding. “So who can tell me one of the three most important priorities Mary talked about?”

Crickets.

It wasn’t because they weren’t listening. They were.

It wasn’t because they didn’t care. They do.

But it was taking them a minute to catch up.

What Mary so needed was a recap and a feedback loop. A check for understanding.

So I asked Mary to recap the three priorities, which she did slowly and deliberately.

And then we asked again.

This time every manager was able to share all three priorities. They nailed it.

An hour into the training, I went there again. “What were the three priorities Mary shared?”

They nailed it AGAIN. Progress.

One subtle shift.

Getting the team to share back what they heard. It only took two minutes and made all the difference.

Your Story

It’s so easy to assume your team will get it the first time. After all, they’re smart. They care. And if you do say so yourself (it’s okay, it’s probably true), you’ve crafted a really careful and powerful leadership message.

But the truth is, they’re just catching up.

You’ve been sitting in the planning meetings. You understand the nuance and the backstory. You wordsmithed the talk points.

But for them, here it comes … all at once … and it’s likely they’re processing #1 and what it means to them, while looking at the escalation blowing up their phone AND thinking about the fact that they only had one slice of lunchmeat for little Bobby’s lunch that morning and wondering if he’s going to notice.

I know it’s frustrating (been there). But try to slow down. Ask what they heard. Repeat if necessary with a warm smile. Ask again.

And as a close, ask each person in the room to send you a quick email about what they will be doing differently as a result of your message.

Your turn.

What’s your favorite way of ensuring your leadership message sticks?

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During times of change and uncertainty, your team is desperate for information. They’re looking for the story behind the story. They’re thirsty to listen to anyone who knows what’s REALLY going on. And in the absence of information, they’ll find their own stories and share them widely.

Most of the time, those stories are 10X worse than the truth you’re afraid to share.

Yes, get your story together to explain what you’re doing and why. Hold town hall meetings. Conduct great skip level meetings. Walk around as much as possible, AND don’t overlook the importance of listening to the stories your team members are telling one another.

Simon’s Story

I met Simon, a millennial Austrian engineer on a recent diving trip. He’d quit his well-paying engineering job and was on a 3-month backpacking adventure in South America. Curious about what gives someone the courage to just quit a job with nothing lined up when they return, I asked to hear his story.

Our company got bought by a Canadian-owned multinational company. All they care about is profits and reducing costs. They’ve created all these remote teams without much training or communication and I now work for a German boss who is a complete #@%&@$#.

They cancelled the Christmas Party!

You’re a leadership person, don’t you think that’s a bad sign? And then right after they cancelled the Christmas party, they had a big meeting where they brought us all in to talk about how great it was going to be and all this rah-rah about being one team. They had money for that, but not for the Christmas party?

This company is ruthless. So I quit. I’m going to travel and when I come back, I’m going to find a job for a smaller company that really cares.

I asked him what he would have wanted to hear in that big meeting.

The truth about where we are going. Transparency about the vision and cost-cutting efforts. How and why decisions are being made and how I will be impacted. Is that too much to ask?

In the absence of information, Simon had built his own story of bloodthirsty opportunistic grinches, which of course was validated by the stories of his peers–many of whom are still there looking for more evidence their story is true.

It might be. Or maybe not.

I don’t know about this company or the leadership motives behind their communication strategy. But, I’ve worked with enough senior level teams to know that there is another side of the story.

I asked Simon if he had shared why he had really left.

“No one asked.”

Sarah’s Story

And now what I heard from Sarah, just the other day.

I was brought in to do some “brand ambassador” training. The focus was how to help frontline employees provide extraordinary customer service and represent this premium brand.

The minute I walked into the room, I knew there was no way we could start there. So after some introductions and some fun, I asked, “What’s really scaring you about what’s happening in the company right now?”

Sarah spoke up first:

The only people who care about the customer around here are the people in this room. Ever since the merger (8 years ago) it’s been all downhill and now this new IT system is the final straw. Now we won’t have any choice but to be “corporate.” We’ve lost all ability to do the right thing for our customers.

Now this time, I DID know the other side of the story. I understood how and why the new IT system would improve the customer experience. I’d engaged in hours of discussions about the importance of extraordinary customer service as their key differentiator. In fact, that’s why I had been brought in. The senior team’s number one priority was differentiation around an extraordinary customer experience.

But that story doesn’t matter. Until we understand the story Sarah and her friends were sharing.

“Why do you stay here?” I asked.

George spoke up next, “because these people are like family, but you can bet I’ve stopped wearing my company shirt to the bowling alley. And if someone sees me at the grocery store with it on, I make up a story of winning the shirt in a golf tournament.”

It was only after hearing their very real stories, that we could begin the real work of transforming the customer experience, digging into the AND of personalized service and the value of new systems to take that experience to the next level.

Why the Brain Loves Stories

I know you are working to frame the story you want your team to hear. It’s also so vital to slow down and be really open to hearing the stories they are telling one another.

Paul Zak has done some fantastic research that matters when it comes to your culture and how your team processes change.

The first part of the answer (as to why the brain loves stories) is that as social creatures who regularly affiliate with strangers, stories are an effective way to transmit important information and values from one individual or community to the next. Stories that are personal and emotionally compelling engage more of the brain, and thus are better remembered, than simply stating a set of facts. In the absence of information, your team is more likely to make up a story far worse than even your most difficult bad news.

Do your best to be as much of a story listener as a storyteller.

Hear their stories. Listen well. Share yours. Listen again.

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