One of the top issues operational leaders seek my help with is getting their people to take on more accountability. Many leaders I speak to are simply not fulfilling their potential because they are working one level or more below their job role – they are filling the accountability gaps as they can’t get people to step up. Is this because they have employed people who can’t or won’t do their jobs, or is something else going on? In my ...
Just last week we heard a great story from a senior manager who had come to a CommsMasters programme on driving up performance in their team. A key part of driving performance was for managers to implement regular, structured, one-to-one time with each team member. One manager was sceptical. He already knew his team well, but he’d give it a go. Having now been committed to one-to-ones for six months, the manager is a convert. He says he feels that ...
When we choose to label a conversation as difficult, we are using a word which has powerful negative connotations. This sets a distinct tone for how we think about and prepare for that conversation – we are on edge, nervous and worried about it. It makes us defensive before the conversation has even begun. That’s why in her latest post, Heather Campbell breaks down the idea of difficult conversations to help leaders reframe their approach and tackle them in a ...
Contribute to the CommsMasters research into “Fear in the Workplace” by completing our online survey Psychological safety is a bit of a new kid on the block in organisations. It’s all about the belief that you won’t be punished when you make a mistake or challenge the status quo. It encourages open, honest conversation; innovative thinking; and builds trust at all levels. Not sure if you’re already enjoying psychological safety in your workplace? Here are three questions to help you decide: Do you feel ...
I once worked with a manager who never gave his staff realistic annual performance reviews. Everyone was apparently performing equally well. Eventually problems began to surface, so the director of HR sat down with him to find out why he hadn’t flagged up issues in good time. He claimed that he found it hard to find the right words – “I don’t find these conversations easy”. The company invited him and several others to a communications workshop, so that they could ...
If you recognise that fear is undermining performance and productivity in your organisation, you are not alone. In our recent survey, 49 per cent of respondents said that fear is having a significantly or excessively adverse impact on performance and productivity in their organisations. Your challenge is how to get other people to buy in to doing something about it. In this blog post, I’m going to outline what you can do to get the right people focussed on reducing fear in your organisation. ...