Blog, culture and engagement | Ambition In Motion

by Grace Tripathy

Fri 13 December 2024

When organizations invest in tools like personality assessments to improve team dynamics, they expect measurable improvements in collaboration and communication. However, it’s common for teams to excel in leveraging these tools externally, such as tailoring customer interactions, while falling short internally. The disconnect lies not in the absence of tools but in the difficulty of applying them consistently under tight deadlines and high stress.

The challenges teams face when applying communication tools internally often stem from several factors:

Stress and Time Pressure: High-stakes environments naturally create tension, and team members may revert to ingrained habits rather than intentionally using learned communication strategies.
Lack of Reinforcement: While assessments provide valuable insights, without consistent practice and reinforcement, teams struggle to integrate these tools into daily interactions.
Misaligned Priorities: Teams often prioritize external-facing excellence, such as client communication, over internal cohesion, believing that internal dynamics are secondary.
Limited Accountability: Teams may lack a structured process for holding themselves accountable to the principles outlined in their assessments.

For example, a consulting company specializing in marketing, faces this exact issue. Despite regular use of personality and communication style assessments, such as DISC and Myers-Briggs, the team struggles with miscommunication during internal projects. Deadlines only increase the problem, causing team members to default to their natural tendencies and creating unnecessary conflict.

Take Emma, a results-driven leader, and Liam, an analytical thinker. When collaborating on a critical 48-hour project, Emma’s direct and urgent communication style overwhelmed Liam, who preferred deliberate planning. As a result, Liam became defensive, and their collaboration suffered, despite both having the tools to bridge their differences.

Building a Foundation for Better Internal Communication

To address these challenges, teams need a foundation of shared understanding and intentionality. This foundation should include actionable strategies that are regularly practiced and refined.

Cultivating Everyday Intentionality

To make communication tools actionable, teams must normalize their use in daily interactions:

Integrate Tools into Workflow: Encourage team members to actively reference their communication styles in meetings and collaborative work. For instance, Emma might say, “I know you prefer structured plans, Liam, so here’s a quick outline before we discuss timelines.” This small acknowledgment aligns both perspectives and using tools like AIM Insights helps facilitate the organization of these meetings including goal tracking and metrics.
Create Visual Reminders: Post quick-reference summaries of team members’ communication styles in shared spaces to make these tools visible and accessible.
Mentorship Best Practices: Leaders should consistently demonstrate how to apply these tools, setting an example for the team. For instance, a manager at a consulting company could start each meeting with a brief check-in: “What communication styles should we keep in mind as we tackle this project?”

2. Establishing Processes for Alignment

Intentionality is particularly critical when stress levels are high and time is short. Teams should adopt structured processes to align expectations and mitigate potential conflicts:

Pre-Project Meetings: Before starting a project, hold a brief meeting to discuss goals, roles, and communication preferences. This ensures clarity and minimizes misunderstandings.
Shared Language: Develop a common vocabulary for describing communication styles, such as “fast decision-maker” or “detail-oriented processor.” This shared language fosters empathy and streamlines problem-solving.
Regular Check-Ins: Schedule short daily check-ins to address concerns and realign priorities. Even five minutes can prevent small issues from escalating.

In the case of the consulting company, a quick alignment session could have helped Emma and Liam understand each other’s priorities before the project began. Emma might express her urgency while Liam outlines the steps he needs to complete his analysis efficiently.

3. Maintaining Momentum Through Reflection and Growth

Consistency in applying communication tools requires regular reflection and opportunities for growth:

Consistent Trial and Error: After each project, dedicate time to discuss how well communication tools were used. What worked? What didn’t? Use these insights to refine future approaches.
Stress-Management Training: High stress often leads to reversion. Equip teams with stress-management techniques, such as mindfulness or brief breathing exercises, to stay focused and intentional.
Celebrate Wins: Acknowledge and celebrate instances where communication tools were used effectively. This reinforces positive behavior and motivates the team to continue their efforts.

At the consulting company, a post-project review helped Emma and Liam identify areas for improvement. Emma learned to soften her urgent tone by providing more context, while Liam practiced responding more flexibly under pressure. Over time, these adjustments strengthened their collaboration.

When teams commit to consistently applying communication tools, they transform a common pain point into a competitive advantage. This requires:

Accountability: Assign champions within the team to encourage the ongoing application of tools.
Adaptability: Tailor communication strategies to fit the team’s evolving needs and challenges.
Visibility: Keep communication insights front and center in daily operations.

By prioritizing internal communication with the same care they give to client interactions, teams can navigate conflicting perspectives, meet tight deadlines, and foster stronger relationships. Emma and Liam’s journey illustrates how intentionality, alignment, and reflection can turn communication tools into actionable strategies, even in the most demanding environments.

When leaders create a culture of intentional communication, teams thrive under pressure, achieving better outcomes and building deeper cohesion. This not only enhances productivity but also sets the foundation for long-term success.

by Kayla Ambrose

Fri 13 December 2024

In many organizations, confidence often indicates strong leadership. Managers who display a strong sense of assurance and decisiveness are recognized for their strong encouragement and serve as an inspiration for their team. Although confidence in leadership is motivating, it becomes detrimental once it evolves to overconfidence which can significantly impact decision-making and organizational success. Learning to recognize and manage overconfidence is essential for management success.

Overconfidence Bias

Overconfidence is a cognitive bias discussing how people tend to overestimate their abilities or the accuracy of their predictions. The National Bureau of Economic Research published a study exemplifying the overconfidence bias. This study revealed that financial executives only saw actual market returns fall within their expected confidence interval 38% of the time. This large discrepancy highlights how overconfidence presents in management, leading to flawed decision-making.

Overconfident managers will often underestimate the risks associated with their decisions and ignore contradictory evidence to their beliefs. This exclusion of important information creates an illusion of control and a false sense of stability. Managers may believe that their expertise on a subject matter or past successes exempt them from facing significant challenges, leading to unrealistic project timeline estimates, exceeding budgets, and encountering unanticipated challenges. These unplanned issues can become incredibly damaging within complex organizations when there are high stakes and slim margins of error.

Overconfidence vs. Optimism

While optimism and overconfidence may sound similar, the two concepts are distinct and have opposite effects. Optimism is characterized by possessing a positive outlook, which can motivate teams and rally a community. Overconfidence is an inflated sense of certainty that leads individuals to disregard contradictory evidence and discredit potential risks. When considering the two concepts, optimism can coexist with realism as managers can be positive yet skeptical. On the other hand, overconfidence often leads to misjudgments.

The Cost of Overconfidence

The repercussions managers experience due to overconfidence are far-reaching and can lead to:

Project Failures

Determining unrealistic budgets or timelines can disrupt promising initiatives. Managers who overestimate their team's abilities or efficiency may put excessive pressure that they are realistically unable to perform. This can lead to a cycle of missed deadlines or increased costs, ultimately leading to a loss of stakeholder confidence.

2. Poor Decision-Making

Ignoring alternative solutions can reduce innovation and can result in suboptimal outcomes. Failure to consider dissenting information and solely relying on a manager's previous experience can exclude important information in the decision-making process. This closed-minded approach can leave the organization vulnerable to risks that may have been avoided with a broader perspective.

3. Erosion of Trust

Persistent overconfidence that leads to multiple failed projects can destroy a mangers credibility. Not only can this reduce trust, but a team's morale may suffer from the continued failure to meet expectations. Over time, low morale can result in higher turnover rates as team members seek out environments with more achievable goals.

Strategies to Circumvent Overconfidence

Seek Multiple Perspectives

Reach out to gain an external perspective to help counterbalance internal biases. Eliciting guidance from consultants, peer mentors, or even team members can provide a unique perspective. Incorporating various insights works to challenge assumptions and highlights areas of overconfidence. When gathering these perspectives, make sure to include diverse viewpoints. Individuals from different backgrounds, expertise, or organizational levels can help uncover hidden assumptions. Consider anonymous feedback mechanisms to encourage honest input.

2. Solicit Disconfirming Feedback

Actively seek out information that contradicts initial beliefs. While this may be uncomfortable, it's essential to identify blind spots in judgments and improve strategies. If struggling to find disconfirming feedback, put a team member in charge of seeking out contradictory information. Tasking a team member with this role can help prevent bias while sourcing the information. Furthermore, establishing “devil’s advocate” meetings that encourage team members to critique proposed ideas can make it easier to identify potential flaws in plans. Encouraging open conversation and critical perspectives can add value to the decision-making process.

3. Consider Consequences

When evaluating decisions, it is important to consider the consequences of each solution. Planning for each scenario and evaluating each on a case-by-case basis can work to remove initial biases. Incorporate quantitative tools such as cost-benefit analysis to objectively evaluate options. Additionally, dedicate time to review the long-term implications of decisions to ensure alignment with team and organizational goals.

4. Utilize Decision-Making Framework

Structured decision-making processes, such as SWOT analysis, can help mitigate overconfidence by ensuring consistent factors are evaluated on the same criteria. Consider documenting the decision-making process for transparency and to use it for future decisions.

5. Create a Culture of Openness

Create an environment that empowers team members to voice concerns and challenge ideas. Building a space that fosters psychological safety is crucial for gaining diverse perspectives and challenging overconfidence bias. Regularly reinforce the importance of constructive feedback and encourage team members to respectfully question assumptions. Leaders must set the tone by modeling openness and encouraging discussions.

Overconfidence bias is a challenge that many managers face, but actively implementing strategies to prevent this bias can ensure strong leadership capabilities. By understanding the root causes of this bias, and adopting strategies to counteract it, managers can make more informed decisions and enhance their organization. Cultivating an open environment, seeking diverse perspectives, and embracing uncertainty will lead to stronger, more effective leadership.

by Kendall Barndollar

Fri 13 December 2024

Enforcing accountability with peers can be a daunting task, even for leaders. It is challenging to balance both the relationship and work priorities. Calling out a coworker on a late deadline or failing to meet an expectation is not a good way to keep friends. On the other hand, it can be extremely infuriating for managers to watch their peers shirk responsibilities when they are personally committed to their roles and their responsibilities. It is not easy to handle these situations when dealing with emotion and frustration. Yet, in executive positions, it is the responsibility of peers to promote accountability because there are very few if any, positions above that will provide the necessary feedback and reminders to the individual.

Workplace leaders can hold their peers accountable by fostering a productive culture that thrives with constructive feedback. Cultivating the best-fit culture for a team can be challenging but encouraging accountability values alignment can be a great step. Further to foster this culture, leaders can focus on setting clear expectations, leading by example, promoting peer review, and utilizing goal-tracking software. Essentially, all of these tools work to provide crystal clear outlines of the set responsibilities and expectations of the role. Each of these work to improve communication or feedback in one way or another. Collaborative environments create cultures where individuals are enabled to openly and honestly communicate with their peers. By establishing shared values and mutual expectations for accountability, executives can strengthen their own skills, and their peer's integrity to ensure that each person upholds the standards and expectations of their role.

Setting Expectations

Creating clear expectations for roles and responsibilities enables executives to hold their peers accountable by establishing a transparent framework for performance and behavior. When each leader knows the expectation, there is a lower likelihood of ambiguity, confusion, or misunderstanding. Clear expectations also make it easier to address issues as they arise since everyone is aligned on what success looks like and understands the standards to which they are held. Clarity helps executives make timely decisions based on company needs. Sometimes leaders' roles will include sacrifice, by establishing shared expectations, executives have a sense of mutual responsibility to continuously foster a beneficial, cooperative environment.

2. Leading By Example

Leading by example is a paramount tool for executives hoping to hold their peers accountable. Leading by example can set a visible expectation and standard for performance or required actions. Specifically, leaders holding up their end of the bargain should encourage others to follow. When leaders consistently display a commitment to their role, and the expectations of their role and practice integrity in their decision-making they create an environment that will promote overall accountability. Direct reports will respond better when they see how hard their superior is working or how committed to the project they might be. The same can be true for peers. Leading by example can require sacrifice and compromise, but creating this environment is critical for team success. Furthermore, by setting clear expectations, the onus will not be on those completing their work to hold others accountable. If a clear expectation is set, peers have no reason not to complete it. By modeling accountability, executives encourage others to meet the same expectations, making it easier to address any lapses constructively. Peers are more likely to hold themselves to high standards when they see those same standards reflected in leadership, fostering a team culture where everyone is motivated to perform at their best and support one another's success.

3. Promote Mentorship and/or Peer Review

Promoting mentorship among company leaders is a great way to foster a culture of accountability. Mentorship encourages continuous learning and mutual growth. Through mentorship, leaders and executives share knowledge and reinforce commitments to expectations and organizational goals. Through mentorship, individuals generally develop connections with their coworkers which will promote honesty and open feedback long-term. Additionally, peer reviews or horizontal mentorship can promote accountability in a similar way.

This dynamic encourages peers to hold each other accountable naturally, as professionals work together to overcome challenges, set realistic goals, and track progress. By promoting mentorship and peer connections, executives create a supportive network where accountability is viewed as a positive, growth-oriented process that benefits managers, their teams, and the organization as a whole.

4. Utilize A Goal Tracking Software

AIM Insights is a software that provides continuous goal and progress reports to both managers and their teams. Members can see personal and team goals, sincerely impacting performance and lifting expectations. This specific software could be useful for holding accountability by setting benchmarks and expectations with timelines applicable to leaders. Additionally, AIM Insights provides tools for attainable goal-setting that are accessible to both managers and direct reports, with benchmarking and gap analysis available, creating transparency in performance, expectation, and growth. Through the use of software such as AIM Insights, executives can utilize a concrete tool to display goal achievement and expectations.

Overall, fostering accountability among executive peers is a challenging task to undertake. But, necessary for building a cohesive and productive workplace culture. Although frustrating, it is crucial for executives to hold their peers accountable in the workplace. To ease this environment, leaders can promote cultures of accountability across all levels that will impact the expectations of peers. While it may be uncomfortable to call out colleagues on performance issues, establishing clear expectations, leading by example, promoting mentorship, and utilizing goal-tracking software can create an environment where accountability is embraced rather than avoided.

by Kayla Ambrose

Fri 1 November 2024

Fraternal organizations are frequently associated with strong bonds of brotherhood, supporting members throughout college and building relationships that withstand post-graduation. Despite their impactful role throughout the members' college experience, many fraternity alumni struggle to remain engaged with the organization after graduating. With a new career, family to spend time with, and other new responsibilities, alumni are left with little time to dedicate to fraternity events or reunions. Over time, how alumni want to remain connected with their fraternity also shifts from less of a social focus to more of a leadership development focus. Keeping alumni engaged in a meaningful way is critical for the success of fraternities moving forward.

Traditional methods of email newsletters, social media, or donation requests often fall short of maintaining engagement. These traditional methods fail to replicate the sense of brotherhood and purpose alumni felt during their collegiate years. A solution fraternities can implement to foster continued brotherhood within their organization is executive mastermind groups.

What are executive mastermind groups?

To determine if an executive mastermind group is a viable solution for fraternity engagement challenges, it's important to understand how these groups function. Executive mastermind groups are a group of peers collaborating to provide support to one another through shared experiences. During regular meetings, each group member can discuss recent challenges they encountered in the workplace and receive guidance from group members who have endured similar struggles.

For fraternities, this presents an opportunity for alumni to reconnect with college friends and continue to build relationships with other members of the organization. With a focus on professional development and current leadership and executive issues, alumni can solve problems in their professional lives and simultaneously enhance their social connections. Ultimately, alumni will be more connected with the organization in a more productive manner than interacting with emails or donations.

Why should fraternities utilize executive mastermind groups?

Strengthening Alumni Connections and Brotherhood

Post-graduation many fraternity alumni feel a sense of distance from the organization. Career and personal responsibilities increase causing a loss of connection with the fraternity. Executive mastermind groups provide a format for sustained, high-quality interaction. The facilitation of executive mastermind groups encourages regular meetings of alumni who can support each other and offer constructive career insights.

Through these groups, fraternities create a space for alumni to strengthen bonds and create new ones that go beyond college experiences. Shared values and experiences from their time spent at college in the fraternity will be amplified through these close-knit conversations. The support in personal and professional endeavors can lead to tightly connected alumni networks reaching across generations.

2. Supporting Professional Development

Implementing executive mastermind groups allows fraternities to serve as a platform for executive development. Alumni who are already executives recognize that it can be lonely at the top and having a group of peers that can relate to their unique challenges creates a safe space to work through those issues. Their valuable insights and guidance for navigating executive struggles can have a powerful impact on fellow alumni in leadership roles. Groups can also be comprised of alumni from varying industries, allowing for diverse perspectives and enhanced professional knowledge sharing.

The discussion format of executive mastermind groups encourages problem-solving and collaboration which creates an environment supportive of growth. Alumni will benefit from this style of communicating and contributing to complex situations. As alumni gain professional development from these groups, their fraternity loyalty deepens as this growth is supported by their fraternity peers.

3. Enhancing Alumni Involvement

Fraternities strive to maintain an active alumni network to encourage alumni to contribute time and financial support to their fraternity. Implementing executive mastermind groups offers a high-value engagement opportunity far more valuable than traditional alumni events. Alumni will become more active contributors to the fraternity when they feel that their fraternity supports their growth and success.

The structure of mastermind groups convening regularly reinforces the sense of fraternity identity and loyalty. It reinforces the lifelong commitment to a fraternity that evolves alongside their career and personal development. Regular involvement maintains this ongoing relationship and helps the organizations remain strong.

Executive mastermind groups are an innovative approach for fraternities to re-engage their alumni in a powerful way. Mastermind groups can enhance the alumni experience by fostering professional development and support. By implementing mastermind groups, fraternities provide benefits for their alumni base and create a culture of engagement. Creating ways to support alumni throughout their life post-college continues to fulfill fraternities' mission of developing strong, well-rounded individuals far beyond their college years.

by Kendall Barndollar

Fri 1 November 2024

Moore's Circle of Conflict is a powerful tool for understanding the underlying causes of conflicts in professional environments. This model, developed by Christopher Moore, categorizes conflict sources into 5 different areas: data, values, relationships, structure, and interests. Each of these 5 types of conflict gives insight into why arguments or disagreements arise and how they can best be addressed. For managers, understanding how to categorize and address types of conflict is paramount for building a beneficial team culture. Understanding the Circle of Conflict enables managers to make strategic decisions in effective resolution within a team.

Both conflict management and relationship management are paramount to building successful, productive teams in the workplace. Effective conflict management allows leaders to use constructive resolution techniques, mitigating impacts on morale and productivity as a result of said conflict. However, the most crucial aspect of mitigating and resolving conflict is promoting active listening, enabling managers to strategically address issues. When resolved with strategic solutions, team members can become more innovative, and collaboration may be improved across team members. Leaders also play a vital role in preparing the next generation of leaders to adequately address conflicts.

Relationship management, on the other hand, focuses on fostering mutual trust, respect, and open communication within the team. Building a team culture based on trust will promote transparency and honesty in resolution. Strong relationships between team members or direct reports and managers will encourage constructive conflict where individuals feel supported to share their ideas and contribute and disagreements are easily solved. Effective relationship management will enable psychological safety within a team and promote balance. Conflict and relationship management skills enhance individual performance and drive collective success, as teams work in harmony toward common goals.

1. Data Conflicts

Data conflicts occur when there are misunderstandings or disputes over information or lack thereof. In a professional setting, data conflicts are common and can arise from miscommunications, incorrect data interpretations, or the absence of vital information. For example, if two departments are working together and have different data sources or data interpretations, disagreements are almost inevitable.

When leaders are equipped to recognize a data conflict, they can prevent misunderstandings from escalating. The primary strategies for managers addressing data conflicts are clarifying information, enhancing transparency, and potential preventative training. Specifically, clarifying information could utilize leaders holding a meeting to go over any questions or disputes, with full access to data and information. To enhance transparency, leaders should work to provide as much information upfront, including how data is collected and shared. Finally, preventative training on data literacy or something similar may benefit teams repeatedly struggling for data conflicts. Addressing data conflicts effectively reduces tensions and enhances decision-making, ensuring everyone operates from the same factual basis.

2. Value Conflicts

Value conflicts are rooted in differences in beliefs or personal principles, such as ethics, cultural values, or social norms. For instance, one team member may value innovation and risk-taking, while another prioritizes stability and proven methods.

Leaders who recognize value conflicts can play a pivotal role in guiding discussions that respect everyone’s beliefs. Key strategies for addressing value conflicts are setting common ground, promoting diversity, and creating open communication paths for disagreements. Value conflicts revolve around disagreements of morals or beliefs. To mitigate, promote conversations that find common ground and compromise for similar beliefs. Additionally, policies and actions that promote diversity and inclusion will bring outside perspectives that can impact value conflicts. Acknowledging diverse perspectives can help find similarities in values and resolve conflicts. Finally, creating open communication paths for conversation between team members provides an opportunity for individuals to share, feeling respected and understood. Addressing value conflicts with empathy not only improves relationships but also fosters a workplace where diversity of thought is valued.

3. Relationship Conflicts

Relationship conflicts typically stem from personal issues between colleagues, often due to misunderstandings, communication issues, or historical grievances. These conflicts can be deeply personal and can quickly disrupt team dynamics if left unaddressed.

Leaders can tackle relationship conflicts by encouraging open communication, promoting team building, and additional training on conflict resolution. Creating opportunities for team members to share their perspectives and experiences is paramount to resolving relationship conflicts. Encouraging mutual respect and team building a great tools to aid in mitigating the conflict. When people feel connected to their co-workers, they are less likely to have serious conflicts that are beyond their ability to resolve. Finally, conflict resolution training can be a great tool for preventing relationship conflict, and equipping leaders with necessary tools to promote harmony across a team. When leaders proactively address relationship conflicts, they create a cohesive, positive environment, reinforcing a culture where collaboration can flourish despite personal differences.

4. Structural Conflicts

Structural conflicts are caused by organizational structures, such as unclear job roles, power imbalances, or resource constraints. For example, if a team feels overwhelmed due to a lack of support staff or unclear role definitions, tension is likely to increase.

Leaders can resolve structural conflicts by clarifying responsibilities and addressing power dynamics. Ensuring each individual understands the requirements and expectations of their role and how it impacts others can clarify and prevent misunderstandings. Accordingly, addressing power dynamics can be a great tool for managers to mitigate power differences as they relate to conflict in the office. Together, these tools serve as prime resources to strategically address structural conflicts in the workplace. By addressing structural conflicts head-on, leaders can ensure a fairer workplace where systems and processes support rather than hinder productivity.

5. Interest Conflicts

Interest conflicts arise when team members have competing personal or professional goals. For example, one employee may seek a promotion while another wants to maintain a work-life balance. These conflicts are common in goal-oriented environments and require thoughtful leadership to resolve.

Leaders can address interest conflicts by promoting personal and organizational value alignment, and flexibility and encouraging a collaborative culture. Values alignment will create an understanding environment for both managers and their teams. By understanding individual goals, managers can find ways to align these with the company’s objectives, allowing for mutually beneficial outcomes. Flexibility will create an environment where compromise is encouraged and professionals are willing to meet in the middle. Finally, a collaborative culture will allow leaders to help team members and facilitate a productive environment moving forward. When handled effectively, interest conflicts can be opportunities for growth and innovation, as team members find creative solutions that satisfy multiple interests.

Moore's Circle of Conflict is a valuable tool for managers and executives who strive for effective conflict resolution. Improving communication and open dialogue will enable managers to efficiently resolve conflict within teams. By understanding the nature of conflicts and taking targeted actions, leaders can transform challenges into opportunities for collective growth.

by Kendall Barndollar

Fri 18 October 2024

In the continuously evolving workplace, generations have begun to prioritize emotional intelligence and interpersonal factors. A 2023 Forbes article entitled “Why Emotional Intelligence Is Crucial For Effective Leadership” explains that today's leaders differ from those of traditional, stereotypical leaders. Rather than solely focusing on specific data, sales targets, or goals, managers are now expected to achieve these goals while also promoting psychological safety. Forbes author, Sanjay Sehgal highlights the difference in today's leaders, boasting self-awareness and care for fostering relationships over giving directions creating a new kind of workplace.

In this new and evolving role that managers have an expectation to undertake, many struggle to support direct reports going through personal struggles or challenges. Managers' ability to navigate these situations requires empathy, emotional intelligence, and the focus to balance professional and personal needs. Sometimes managers struggle in switching from a task-oriented to a relationship-oriented workplace, however, prioritizing relationships in the workplace is paramount to the success of modern leaders. Leaders commonly lack the training or experience relevant to handling sensitive, emotionally impactful conversations, which can make it difficult to provide genuine support. As organizations increasingly prioritize balance, managers must develop the awareness needed to effectively support their teams during challenging times. Here are 6 ways managers can provide emotional support and build psychological safety for their team members:

Encourage Open Communication

Oftentimes, communication barriers hinder managers' ability to emotionally support their direct reports. Without a clear understanding of the extent or challenge someone is facing, leaders have no way of knowing what will best support their teams. Miscommunication or lack of trust can lead to misunderstandings, leaving employees feeling unsupported or unvalued by the team. On the other hand, open communication strengthens relationships, fosters a sense of psychological safety, and ensures employees understand the personal and professional support available.

2. Offer Flexibility

To emotionally support direct reports by demonstrating empathy and understanding of personal challenges, managers can offer flexibility in teams, where available. Finding productive methods to manage contributions and find a compromise to support individuals is challenging. Altering schedules, adding a cushion to deadlines, or allowing remote work can aid employees in managing their struggles. Flexibility and understanding when possible can foster stress and aid in reducing stress for employees facing a variety of challenges. Creating an environment where direct reports are comfortable asking for help or support should be at the forefront of focus in creating psychological safety.

3. Build a Strong Team Culture

Creating a strong team culture positively boosts a manager's ability to emotionally support direct reports by fostering a sense of trust, camaraderie, and mutual respect among teams, and levels of an organization's hierarchy. Working in an inclusive culture, employees are much more likely to openly communicate personal and professional hurdles, enabling managers to provide timely and appropriate support. Building productive workplace cultures has another benefit for providing support to team members. A strong culture encourages peer support and empathy, building a culture where team members care for each other, reduce stress, and provide a comforting work environment.

4. Set Clear Expectations

Employees' fundamental understanding of their roles, responsibilities, and goals works to mitigate stress and promote efficacy in the workplace. Clear expectations offer a foundation for trust and open communication which encourages employees to ask for help, and clarification and express concerns as they arise. Building a structure to foster a supportive environment will promote employees' feelings of security, and better enable managers to provide meaningful emotional support when needed.

5. Promote Balance

Enhancing workplace balance is a strong tool for managers hoping to provide emotional support to their direct reports. When managers encourage work-life balance, employees are more in control of their personal and professional lives which, can be supportive in facing hurdles in either sphere. Ongoing support reduces burnout and anxiety, which makes employees more apt to approach managers or leaders to discuss their challenges. A balanced workplace creates an environment where every employee can feel supported in work and personal needs. By prioritizing balance, managers demonstrate care for their team's well-being, strengthening trust and improving their ability to offer emotional support when needed.

6. Offer Continuous Feedback

Providing opportunities to receive continuous feedback can aid in supporting direct reports through personal challenges. In creating trust and promoting transparency, providing continuous feedback is crucial for continuous growth. Regular feedback not only provides employees with a clear sense of their performance but helps to alleviate confusion and, provides opportunities for discussion about responsibilities and workloads. Feedback circles enable a conversation between direct reports and their employees, allowing managers to better address challenges and comprehend major factors affecting their direct reports. Having a proactive approach to discussing performance with employees demonstrates a focus on overall development and well-being, promoting comfort and support.

In today’s workplace, emotionally supporting team members is crucial for managers to foster a positive and productive environment. Encouraging open communication ensures that employees feel heard, valued, and safe to express their challenges. Offering flexibility, where possible, helps managers accommodate personal struggles, reducing stress and building trust. A strong team culture and clear expectations further reinforce psychological safety and mutual respect, making it easier for employees to seek support. Promoting work-life balance enhances employees' well-being, helping them manage both personal and professional demands. Finally, continuous feedback creates a foundation for growth and clarity, allowing managers to offer timely emotional support. Altogether, these strategies build a resilient, connected team, benefiting both individual employees and the organization as a whole.

by Kayla Ambrose

Fri 18 October 2024

While dependents are great when filing taxes, they are way less beneficial to have as team members. Instead of providing a nice tax break, overly dependent team members seek constant approval, require guidance for simple tasks, and avoid making decisions they are qualified to do. This constant need for external support results in ordinary tasks taking copious amounts of time, ultimately decreasing team productivity. While it’s natural for employees to seek guidance, too much reliance on direction from managers can affect individual and team performance. The challenge for managers is how to transform these dependents into self-sufficient team members who are confident in their abilities.

What Causes Manager Dependency?

When managing an overly dependent team member it’s crucial to consider the root cause of their over-reliance. The main causes of manager dependency include micromanagement, lack of confidence, inexperience, and fear of consequences.

Micromanagement

Employees who have experienced a micromanager on their previous team may lack exposure to functioning autonomously. While their frequent seeking of approval is exhausting on this team, it was the norm on their previous team. Similarly, it’s important to reflect on personal management styles to ensure micromanagement isn’t occurring. Managers often struggle to delegate tasks and allow team members to take ownership of their work. Reflect to ensure delegation strategies are implemented throughout the team.

If a team member joined the team with little to no prior experience, they may still receive treatment like the ‘newbie’ despite working on the team for a considerable time. Reflect on management styles with this employee to ensure they are treated appropriately.

Lack of Confidence

Team members also may be dependent due to a lack of confidence. Doubting their abilities leads employees to seek additional reassurance when completing tasks or making decisions because they believe this will prevent errors or failure. While they have good intentions of avoiding mistakes, this can create a cycle of continued dependency ultimately decreasing productivity.

Lacking confidence can manifest as a result of poor psychological safety. Creating a safe space for employees to make mistakes and receive constructive feedback works to build confidence and allow team members to feel comfortable taking educated risks.

Inexperience

In certain situations, new or inexperienced team members might lack exposure to specific tasks they are responsible for completing. This lack of prior knowledge can lead them to seek additional guidance when carrying out the tasks. To promote more autonomy for team members with limited experience, provide clear directions and expectations for their assigned tasks. Additionally, provide resources they can refer to throughout the task and develop mechanisms for them to get more structured feedback while progressing through the assignment.

Fear of Consequences

A workplace culture that heavily scrutinizes and penalizes mistakes can develop dependent tendencies within teams. This overemphasis on failure avoidance and perfection may prevent team members from taking risks or frequently seeking approval. When employees feel a mistake could lead to repercussions such as disciplinary action or criticism, they become more risk-averse. Furthermore, this fear of consequences can stifle innovation due avoidance of innovative yet, risky solutions.

General Strategies to Limit Dependency

After considering what is contributing to team members dependency, managers must develop strategies to progressively decrease dependent behaviors.

1. Slowly Increase Responsibility– progressively allowing team members to gain responsibility will signal trust in their capabilities. Slowly increase their responsibility through delegating more significant tasks overtime to build confidence and competence. Tasking them with more responsibility will allow them to feel more capable and have an increase since of ownership over their work. Break down milestones and deadlines into smaller, more achievable goals. When each goal is achieved, make sure to celebrate their successes to continue to develop self-assurance.

2. Provide Clear Directions– when communicating tasks or how to get feedback, make sure to provide specific instructions. Reliance on management can arise when team members are unsure of the directions they are given and consequently ask a lot of questions. To prevent this constant bombardment of inquiries and reassurance, articulate tasks thoroughly. This can be achieved through demonstrating examples, asking if they have initial questions, and providing resources they can utilize when they encounter difficulties. The goal is to provide sufficient information, so they don’t need further guidance.

3. Establish Boundaries– team member should know when they are empowered to make their own decisions. Discuss clear boundaries so employees know when to seek approval from management and when they are encouraged to be independent. To better establish when team members can seek support, set up regular meetings to discuss concerns and relevant questions. Creating a set time to provide assistance will prevent them from seeking out guidance throughout the day. Over time, these meetings can decrease in frequency as the employee becomes more confident and autonomous.

4. Accept Mistakes– throughout this process of developing independence it is crucial for managers to accept mistakes. Although mistakes may occur more often due to the less frequent clarifications, the dependent employee will become better at working independently over time. Being hypercritical of mistakes when trying to boost confidence is counterproductive. Provide constructive feedback and make sure to celebrate successes. Not only should managers being accepting of mistakes, but it is important to foster this acceptance of mistakes in the dependent employee as well. Work to help them develop a growth mindset, so they start seeing setbacks as opportunities.

Working to reduce dependency can be a challenging initiative. Even with increasing responsibilities, communicating clear directions, establishing boundaries, and developing a safe place to make mistakes, team members may still struggle to become more independent. Recognize that each employee is different so different strategies may need to be utilized to coach them towards independence. If consistent issues arise, seek advice from mentors who have experienced similar challenges to learn about successful strategies they have utilized.

Throughout this process of increasing independence, remember that team members won’t become autonomous overnight. Working to change their natural habits will require patience and guidance. Help theme to take small steps each day to become more confident completing tasks on their own.

by Garrett Mintz

Fri 11 October 2024

As the economy reverts back from the 2021 hiring boom, companies are increasingly removing middle managers in favor of one leader for very large teams. For example, as opposed to marketing being led by one middle manager, outside sales by another manager, customer support by another manager, and customer success by another manager, many companies are opting to remove the layer of middle management and have one leader in charge of all of those functions without any leaders in between.

This has led to a major need for companies to increase their focus on helping their employees effectively communicate and collaborate across functions to achieve desired business outcomes. While somewhat redundant, there was still a lot of information handled by those middle managers that is now the responsibility of the employee.

Why have companies opted to remove middle managers in the first place?

The simple answer is lack of perceived value.

The logic behind creating a layer of middle management is that the guidance of a manager of a smaller team that owns and is fully accountable for their outcomes will be greater than if there was one manager for multiple functions within the organization.

This logic is sound if:

Those middle managers know how to manage and lead people (e.g. know how to have effective 1:1’s, know how to give feedback, and know how to achieve results as a team).
They have incentives that compliment other functions of the business and are directly correlated with achieving overarching business goals.
All the middle managers are effective in their roles (e.g. they communicate well across functions, are willing to sacrifice individual metrics for overall business success, and they hold their team accountable).

This logic doesn’t make sense when:

The middle managers fail to effectively manage and lead people.
The middle managers have unintentionally competing incentives.
The middle managers choose to achieve individual team goals over business goals and/or they have to pick up the slack for another poor-performing team.

For example, let’s say we are a recruiting company in 2021 and the market is hot. All the outside sales team needs is a pulse to close deals. There was a process that the middle manager leading outside sales followed to maintain a base level of competence but because sales are coming in from everywhere, bad habits are overlooked.

Fast forward to 2023. The market has completely dried up, and the outside sales team is really struggling to meet their goals. The CEO is begging and pleading for his team to close more deals. The outside sales team blames the economy and all these other factors for why their numbers are down. But in reality, the middle manager in charge of the outside sales team hasn’t been holding her team accountable to the standard business development process they have found to be tried and true. And now she’s out of practice at holding her team accountable, and the team is out of practice taking hard advice from their manager. This is a recipe for failure.

The CEO then asks the middle managers in other departments to help pickup the slack in sales. He implores his customer success team to focus on upselling current customers. The customer success middle manager says that she is up for the task. She and her team have devised a plan for trying to turn open support tickets and queries into opportunities for upselling.

The plan looks great, but they run into a brick wall with customer support. The customer support middle manager is incentivized to close support tickets as quickly as possible, and this clashes with the overarching business goals of upselling to current clients. To resolve this, the customer success manager has a 1:1 with the customer support manager. The customer support manager knows that him closing support tickets hurts the customer success managers goal of upselling the existing customers and closing more deals, but mentions that “his hands are tied” because in order for him to achieve his end of year bonus, he needs his time to closed ticket ratio to be under a certain level. They are at an impasse.

The outside sales manager isn’t effectively holding her team accountable, the customer support manager is only focused on his end of year bonus for the metrics he is accountable for, and the customer success manager is stressed out because her team is putting in overtime to try to pick up the slack for the outside sales team but keeps running into hurdles from the support team.

Executive teams look at this situation and have determined…screw it! Let’s remove middle managers and have one overarching manager over a wide group of people so they can adjust incentives effectively and ensure everyone is rowing in the same direction. The executive team can’t guarantee that this new model will be any more effective, but they can guarantee that it will cost a whole lot less to not have all of these middle managers than to have them.

Their logic is that if it isn’t working with middle managers right now, why keep paying for them?

In order to achieve effective cross-functional communication and collaboration, there needs to be:

Clear accountability as to who owns what functional unit
Training to the leaders of those functional units on how to effectively delegate, how to have effective 1:1’s, how to give feedback, and how to develop skills and competencies
Incentives that focus on the business outcomes above everything else and a clear process for challenging and adjusting individual team incentives if unintended consequences develop from the those incentives
Regular (minimum monthly) opportunities for middle managers/functional leaders to meet, share challenges, and collaborate (and the executive team needs to give them the grace on their individual expectations to have the time to do this).

If companies cannot effectively achieve all four of these points, they will continue to struggle to achieve effective cross-functional communication and collaboration.

by Grace Tripathy

Fri 4 October 2024

Emma, a seasoned manager at a mid-sized technology company, had always believed in the power of innovation. Her company was known for its cutting-edge solutions, and leadership consistently emphasized the importance of staying ahead of the curve. However, as the company grew, Emma noticed a disconnect between the innovative goals the company was setting and the day-to-day efforts of her team. Despite their technical skill and dedication, her team seemed to be losing focus on the big picture—where the company was heading and how they fit into that vision.

As the company rolled out a new initiative to demonstrate innovation to clients, Emma knew she needed to rethink how to align her team’s goals with the company's larger vision. It wasn’t just about setting targets or assigning tasks; it was about ensuring her team felt motivated and understood the value of their work in driving innovation forward. Emma began to consider how incentives could play a role in achieving this cohesion, but she knew it would require careful evaluation and constant tinkering.

Establishing Clear Job Goals

To begin, Emma revisited the job goals for each member of her team. While everyone had clear responsibilities, Emma realized that the team needed more than just a list of tasks—they needed a deeper understanding of how their roles contributed to the company’s goal of demonstrating continuous innovation to its clients. She gathered her team for a meeting, focusing on how their individual efforts fit into the bigger picture.

Key elements Emma focused on:

Ensuring each team member understood the specific outcomes their work was driving toward (e.g., new product development, process improvements).
Aligning short-term goals with long-term innovation targets set by leadership.
Regularly updating job goals to reflect shifts in the company’s priorities.

By breaking down broader company objectives into actionable, measurable steps, Emma’s team began to see how their contributions mattered. However, simply understanding the goals wasn’t enough; Emma also needed to create incentives that reflected these objectives.

Crafting Incentives That Align with Organizational Goals

Emma knew that financial incentives could motivate her team, but she also understood that innovation requires more than just monetary rewards. To keep her team inspired, Emma developed a balanced system of financial and non-financial incentives that aligned with the company’s vision.

She also considered how different members of her team were motivated by different types of rewards. Some employees thrived on the prospect of a bonus, while others valued recognition or the opportunity to grow professionally. To create an environment where innovation was constant, Emma decided that the incentives needed to reflect both individual motivators and the collective drive to push the company forward.

Financial incentives Emma implemented:

Innovation bonuses: Team members were rewarded for submitting and implementing new ideas that improved products or processes, with quarterly bonuses tied to the success of their innovations. This direct financial reward ensured that those who contributed to the company’s progress saw immediate benefits, encouraging a proactive approach to problem-solving.
Profit-sharing linked to innovation milestones: Instead of traditional profit-sharing based on general company performance, Emma adjusted the plan to reflect key innovation achievements, ensuring her team’s financial rewards were directly tied to the company’s larger goals. This not only incentivized innovation but also helped employees feel more connected to the company’s financial success.

Non-financial incentives Emma introduced:

Recognition programs: Emma launched a monthly “Innovator of the Month” award, spotlighting employees who contributed to the company’s innovation efforts. This not only boosted morale but also encouraged healthy competition. Public recognition in company-wide meetings gave employees a sense of pride and ownership over their contributions.
Opportunities for professional growth: Emma partnered with upper management to provide her team with opportunities to attend conferences, enroll in advanced courses, and participate in cross-departmental projects that aligned with the company’s innovative initiatives. Offering educational incentives reinforced the company's commitment to long-term development and creativity.
Time for creative exploration: In addition to formal rewards, Emma allowed her team to dedicate a certain percentage of their work hours to projects outside of their typical responsibilities. This freedom gave employees the space to experiment and explore new ideas without the pressure of immediate results, fostering a culture of curiosity and innovation.

Evaluating and Re-Evaluating Incentives

After a few months, Emma took a step back to evaluate how her incentive structure was working. She noticed that while financial rewards motivated some team members, others were more driven by recognition and professional development opportunities. Innovation had increased, but there were still areas where the team struggled to stay focused.

To address this, Emma made adjustments to the incentive plan. She introduced periodic check-ins to gather feedback from her team on what motivated them the most and what barriers they faced in achieving their innovation-related goals.

Emma discovered three key insights:

Flexibility was crucial. Some team members valued immediate recognition more than long-term rewards, so Emma implemented smaller, more frequent bonuses alongside the larger innovation-based profit-sharing program.
Transparency drove engagement. By sharing detailed updates on how their contributions directly impacted the company’s client relationships and overall growth, Emma’s team felt more connected to the larger vision.
Continuous feedback improved performance. Regular one-on-one meetings allowed Emma to tweak incentives based on individual preferences and changing market conditions, keeping her team motivated and aligned.

Emma’s journey taught her that the key to aligning team goals with organizational vision lay in balancing financial incentives with a broader sense of purpose. By crafting a dynamic incentive system, Emma helped her team see the value of their contributions not just in terms of personal gain but as part of the company’s mission to lead in innovation.

by Kayla Ambrose

Fri 4 October 2024

Managers appreciate having a “high-performing” star employee who consistently exceeds expectations and is highly motivated. An equally valuable, but often overlooked team member is the “silent star”. This individual is also a high performer consistently driving exceptional results, but they are more introverted and less visible in team interactions. While these silent stars may thrive individually, their introverted tendencies can pose challenges in team settings that rely heavily on collaboration. Given their heavy contributions to the team, it's crucial for managers to find a balance between supporting individual productivity and team cohesion

How to Identify Silent Stars?

With silent stars being less vocal about their contributions to the team, it can prove difficult for managers to identify which individuals are truly creating this positive impact. Identifying these employees takes a strong awareness of performance metrics and behavioral patterns. Managers should look beyond vocal participation and pay close attention to consistency, quality, and impact of individuals' work. A strategy to help determine the silent star is to utilize performance measurement software to gain insights into individual team members' contributions and progress toward goals. Additionally, regular performance reviews and observing how team members engage in smaller or more controlled environments may also lead to a greater understanding of which individuals are heavily contributing under the radar.

Managers may also find a crowdsourcing approach as a more involved approach to determining silent stars. Speaking with team members and others throughout the organization asking them to nominate peers who are strong contributors and don’t receive sufficient recognition from management. Once identified by peers, managers can speak one-on-one to the silent stars and learn about their contributions to the team.

Why is it important to recognize these silent stars?

These individuals are the top talent on the team, but if they feel unrecognized they may leave for an organization that will value them more. One of the main reasons employees quit their jobs is insufficient recognition and appreciation, so managers must actively ensure these silent stars feel valued within their team. Silent stars are often willing to take on thankless tasks within the team and won’t publicize their successes to the team. Despite these behind-the-scenes contributions, they aren’t content with anonymity and this lack of recognition can cause them to disengage from the team over time.

Here are Some Strategies to Recognize These Silent Stars and Support Them:

1. Active Praise

Managers should make a conscious effort to recognize these employees both in private and in public. Praising contributions privately through email or even a one-on-one conversation to thank them for their work can go a long way. Make sure to publicly recognize employees as well, specifically to other managers and executives so these silent stars know that their work isn’t going unnoticed. Recognizing these efforts not only signals that managers are noticing their contributions it can also boost confidence ultimately encouraging them to be more vocal within the team.

2. Increased Responsibility

Along with recognizing their talents, increasing their responsibilities within the team can demonstrate that their work is appreciated. Managers should assign the silent stars to high-impact projects that align with their skill set. This provides the silent stars opportunities to take ownership of their work and encourages them to take on leadership in areas which they feel more comfortable. Ensure that with this increased responsibility they are also given resources that they need to support them in this new role.

3. Training Opportunities

Offering specific training opportunities to support their professional development is another way to recognize and support silent stars. Silent stars may be less inclined to pursue professional development opportunities or situations outside of their comfort zone to grow their skill set. Providing online courses, one-on-one mentoring, or horizontal mentorship opportunities are all great ways to facilitate professional growth. Additionally, it may be beneficial to encourage them to pursue additional certifications to enhance their individual contributions. Providing these training opportunities can be a subtle yet effective way to support silent stars and appreciate the value they bring to the team.

4. Foster Psychological Safety

Silent stars may be quieter in team settings due to a lack of psychological safety. It is important to ensure that they have a safe and comfortable environment at work. Managers should create a culture in which all team members feel they can share their ideas free from judgement. Silent stars may be more hesitant to contribute to group meetings, so providing them more time to prepare for meetings or placing them in smaller group settings can increase their psychological safety. Focusing on improving psychological safety may help these silent stars be less silent.

5. Build Rapport

Work to develop a relationship in one-on-one settings through monthly conversations. Establishing a relationship with silent stars takes a conscious effort and intentional actions. Since they may not engage in personal conversations as frequently as other team members, it is important to reach out to build this relationship. Regular check-ins to discuss their progress with their work and their life outside of work is a great way for managers to gain insights into the motivations of these silent stars.

Recognizing and supporting silent stars is crucial for creating a balanced and high-performing team. Although these introverted team members may not highlight their contributions, their consistently high performance has a significant impact on the team’s success. Managers must work to identify these under-recognized team members through careful observation and performance metrics. By praising silent stars, increasing their responsibilities, creating development opportunities, fostering psychological safety, and building relationships with silent stars, managers can ensure that they feel valued and appreciated. Acknowledging and supporting silent stars will not only boost their motivations but also retain these top performers who might otherwise go unnoticed.

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