Proactive Conflict Management for Managers: Red Flags You Can’t Miss

Conflict management is one of the most challenging aspects of a manager’s job. Not only does it have the potential to impact the entire team negatively, but it can also hurt the manager’s professional growth. Thus, conflict resolution is one aspect of the job in which every manager needs to be proactive rather than reactive. But how do you resolve something before it even occurs? Let’s find this out in this week’s The Top newsletter. #Conflicts are not a matter of a few hours or just some changes. Instead, they simmer over time before they boil over and spill onto the entire team. This is where the manager can step in! As someone who’s worked in teams, there are some sure signs of conflict that every manager should know. So here are some alarm bells to watch out for: Discomfort: If you notice team members feeling uneasy around each other while discussing shared issues, it could be a sign of an underlying conflict. People tend to feel uncomfortable in the workplace if their boundaries aren’t respected, or their views aren’t heard. Pay attention to body language; if you find yourself having closed-door conversations with individual team members instead of shared meetings, it’s a major red flag. Groupism: A team splitting into particular groups indicates underlying conflicts. Groupism and favoritism can harm team dynamics by promoting biases and the dominance of specific people. Returning to the basics: Is your team referring to the policy documents throughout everyday workplace interactions? It can be because the informal communication norms have been ineffective and insufficient. Team members who feel that their boundaries are violated borrow support from systemic resources to reinforce their position in the group. It could also indicate a lack of psychological safety and security at work, revealing more issues for the manager. Absenteeism: When the workplace environment becomes too toxic to bear, team members are more likely to disengage and drop out of informal and formal settings. Rising #absenteeism and disengagement can be a hint of conflict within the team. It is more likely visible in unofficial team-building activities and catch-ups. Remarks that make no sense: If you struggle to decipher the true meaning of sentences between team members, there may be some issues with grapevines and rumors across teams. Often, diatribes that begin as jokes can transform into genuine conflicts. Instances of bullying and toxic behavior toward particular team members might be hiding in plain sight. Rigid relationships: Rigidity and over-the-top formality in interactions at work are other signs of conflicts that managers need to look out for. For example, if some team members are avoiding communication or collaborative tasks, it might be due to tensions playing under the surface. Body language is another effective indicator of a lack of connection. Team members stay on guard and do not look relaxed around each other in case of conflicts. Unproductive meetings: Dysfunctional meetings can be a sign of conflicts brewing silently. High-stress situations and lack of cooperation can hamper productivity, leading to ineffective and inconclusive meetings as teams struggle to communicate effectively. In such scenarios, team members become unable and unwilling to contribute to projects, as their ideas are likely to meet confrontation or neglect.  If your team is experiencing any of these signs, it’s time to brush up on your conflict #management skills! Conflict resolution is a vital function of a manager and critical to your team’s success. Neglecting this critical area can prove to be a significant hurdle in the professional growth of managers and leaders.  Interested in learning more? On the 10th of May, join us for an insightful webinar on #ConflictManagement Strategies for #Leadership, brought to you by Risely and Discussions by Design. Industry experts will be sharing secrets to effective conflict management in the workplace. So don’t miss out – sign up now to secure your spot! #leadershipdevelopment #managerdevelopment

Effective Guidance starts with an Effective Goal Setting

One of the most critical aspects of guiding your team in the right direction is properly setting goals for them. Wandering teams with little clue on where to go are trouble. Do you also find your team lacking a clear action plan and typically wondering what to do after every short duration? Confusion among team members hurts productivity big time. However, even hyperactive and seemingly busy teams can sometimes fall into these traps. While they keep working, the tasks do not bring out the manager’s vision. Instead, the picture is blurry and slightly tilted in the wrong direction.  Goals are set at multiple levels. Depending on the team’s organization, plans can be collaborative, individual, or team-level. The lack of clear objectives at any level can be spotted very easily with the help of a few signs: 

• Lack of direction and purpose
• Lack of motivation
• Low productivity
• Confusion among team members
• Unclear understanding of what they are working towards
• Poor communication
• High turnover rates

Bad goals are about more than team members sitting idle without enough work. Bad goal-setting can overwhelm team members to the extent of burnout too. Setting unrealistic goals is an effective strategy to raise the productivity and morale of team managers. However, this myth often leaves them with overworked team members who can no longer contribute actively to their innovation and ideas.  Clarity and transparency are of essential importance in any team. Teams with these qualities can ensure their team members can find their place in the team’s journey. They can spot their efforts when the team’s success is finally celebrated. However, if the team’s ideas are chaotic and ad-hoc at best, it is hard for team members to see where they stand and why their contribution matters.  For instance, let’s see the example of Joe, a marketing specialist who has recently joined a new team. Despite being in the role for several months, the team member has not received any clear guidance or direction from their manager on what goals or objectives they are expected to work towards. As a result, Joe feels unsure about their role and what they should prioritize in their work. So, they spend time on tasks not aligned with the team’s overall objectives and struggle to complete tasks due to a lack of clarity on their expectations. They also feel demotivated and disconnected from the team and the organization as a whole, as they do not clearly understand how their work contributes to the larger goals. Without proper goal setting from their manager, their potential is not fully utilized, and they become frustrated and disengaged over time.

The challenge here lies in the ineffective goal-setting of the manager. If the manager had set goals for Joe initially, they would have clearly understood their roles and responsibilities. Additionally, achieving goals would help them build motivation at work too.  Make sure that your team members do not face the same troubles as Joe; take the free self-assessment on goal-setting skills by Risely now.  The free goal-setting self-assessment analyzes the goal-setting skills of managers to bring out the strengths and weaknesses which impact the whole process. The assessment also collects feedback from team members to ensure that your development is not limited to your vision but includes everyone.  Setting effective goals for your team is not just about keeping them busy. Instead, it brings out several advantages that enable productivity and define the manager’s success, such as:

• #Clarity: Clear and specific goals provide a roadmap for the team to follow. This clarity helps everyone understand what is expected of them and how their work contributes to the team’s overall success.
• #Focus: Goals help managers and team members focus on what is most important. It helps them prioritize their work and allocate resources accordingly.
• #Motivation: Goals give team members a sense of purpose and direction. When they see progress toward their goals, it can be a powerful motivator to keep working towards them.
• #Accountability: Clear goals also create a sense of accountability. When everyone knows what is expected of them, tracking progress and holding team members accountable for their work is easier.
• #Performance evaluation: Goals provide a basis for evaluating performance. When goals are set at the beginning of a project, it is easier to measure progress and determine whether the team is on track to meet its objectives.

Not setting #goals is like leaving your team in the desert with no map to get them home. Hence, ensure that you always set smart goals for your team and become the guide that delivers success.  #goalsetting #leadership #leadershipdevelopment #managerdevelopment

Small Steps to Big Wins: How Micro Goals Can Improve Your Team’s Performance

Do you find yourself staring at tall piles of work but unwilling to move? If the answer is yes, then today’s edition of The Top newsletter is the panacea you have been looking for! Pretty much all of us have found ourselves waiting for motivation to strike until we start working. This act of continuously postponing or delaying the work you set out to do is called procrastination. It can include not completing tasks on time or not making decisions when needed. There are many reasons why procrastination may happen.  For instance, a manager is delaying a crucial decision for their team’s strategic direction. At the back of their mind, they fear the adverse outcomes that can occur because of the associated risk. Thus, the manager avoids deciding for as long as possible not to confront the feeling of fear.  On the other hand, we can have another manager who has an offsite planned for their team. Throughout the planning process, they keep on postponing decisions whenever the team members preparing the event ask about it. Generally, the responses leave them uninspired and confused. The manager could be doing this because they do not consider this event important for their team. The manager believes the team should focus on working instead of organizing this event which distracts everyone. The perception of team-building activities as unnecessary and distracting makes them think the associated work is a burden. So, it keeps on getting deflected day after day.  Apart from health-related issues, people procrastinate because they might be anxious or overwhelmed. The fear of outcomes, an environment full of distractions, and a lack of purpose can also drive procrastination high. But that’s not all, and managers often procrastinate when they are low on motivation or do not see value in any particular task.  You can read more about procrastination here to understand how it manifests for managers at work.  Managers are not the only ones cornered by feelings of anxiety or demotivation. Similar issues can strike your team members too. However, team members caught up in procrastination and resultantly delaying work are more likely to be termed lazy. One often ignored and underrated cause of procrastination among employees is overworking. As ironic as it sounds, having a list of tasks that piles up just too high can make people push it away too.  How can you identify an overwhelmed employee on your team? Take note of the following signs: 

• There are visible changes in their mood, especially signs of distress
• Their productivity might be going down 
• Engagement seems to be falling, as they are disinterested in work 

 If these signs are present in your employees, they might feel overwhelmed. As a result of this feeling, team members may lose interest in their work, and thus their performance falls. The impact can spread further than procrastination and become health issues.  Read more here to check how managers can help overwhelmed employees at work. Escaping the feeling of overwhelm and getting back to work can seem complicated. But there are ways out for sure. One slow and steady but smart way to overcome procrastination is setting goals. However, huge and ambitious goals sound like too much. Hence, start small with micro goals.  Micro goals are small, actionable steps that lead to more significant success. Think of them as the stepping stones to your dreams across the bridge. Micro goals are great for managers because they provide clarity and a sense of accomplishment to keep doing things regularly. You can think of them as a to-do list. It’s an excellent way to stay organized and keep track of your progress toward the larger goal. Plus, they help create and sustain positive momentum! For example, if you want to increase your team’s productivity by 20% by the end of this quarter. You can create some micro-goals such as: 

• Identifying and eliminating the main productivity blockers at work in the first week 
• Providing additional training and coaching to team members who need it afterward
• Establishing clear expectations for your team members 

In this way, the road to higher productivity might be more straightforward!  Check out the blog here to learn more about micro goals.  Procrastination is one of the significant productivity killers that managers and teams struggle with. Yet, it often goes unnoticed as its blame is shared by the assumed laziness of the people fighting it off. Nonetheless, there are ways out of these time-consuming loops, with micro goals just one of them! 

Persuasion Mastery: How Managers Can Convince Anyone, Anytime

As a manager, you spend considerable time getting people on board, right? Remember the last plan you made, whether to schedule a team-building activity or get your team started on the next set of strategic moves toward success. Of course, all of it takes good persuasion skills from #managers and leaders. However, the quality of being persuasive is often an underrated one!  Managers and team leaders need to be persuasive to be successful professionally. While it seems easy enough that the authority associated with the position should give your decisions and ideas substantial weight for people to back them, it might not be so simple always! Consider the difference between a manager who just announces decisions. The team complies, no matter what they might think of them.  On the other hand, a persuasive manager enables the team to see things their way. As a result, the team members truly understand and buy into the reason put forth by the manager. Consequently, they are not simply complying with the orders but also bring in motivation and ownership over the tasks assigned to them. Now, think thoroughly. Which scenario seems better?

Persuasion refers to the ability of an individual to convince others of their views and ideas. It can include generating support for plans and changing the beliefs or opinions of others. It is a critical skill because it can be used anywhere and everywhere – from simple projects to elaborate designs impacting the entire team. Influencing #decisions and building motivation is just one of the many ways persuasion skills help managers become effective with teams. It takes them out of troubling situations such as conflicts and helps them escape roadblocks on the negotiation table when the stakeholders do not see eye to eye. Most importantly, a manager must be persuasive because they have to take the baton for their team. A leader needs to rally support from their team to ensure that their plans do not fail mid-way due to a lack of support. Building consensus and gathering support for initiatives is the most crucial thing persuasive leaders can do.  Persuasion is among the critical conceptual skills for leaders, thanks to the reasons above. Therefore, building this skill set is imperative for every manager who desires to succeed. How can you do that? Let’s find out. 

Persuasive people are identified by their confidence and clarity in their goals. They know what they want to achieve, figure out a creative way to get it done, and ensure that doubt does not cross anyone’s mind. It is backed by research, knowledge, and experience. This charisma binds everyone together. In addition, their flexibility and empathy toward the concerns of others make them a favorite for the team.  This eclectic mix of emotional intelligence, excellent #communication skills, and clarity helps persuasive people stand apart as the victors. Are you one of those? You can find out now in just a few minutes with Risely’s free Persuasion Skills Assessment for managers. The free self-assessment checks your ability to persuade others and informs you about the challenges you need to overcome. Make it the first step to your successful managerial journey now. The journey to becoming persuasive is not a straightforward one, though. For every manager, it can be unique. In some cases, making logical arguments can work best. For example, dealing with a rational bunch of people starts by presenting your case and adding reasonable explanations to strengthen it. 

In some other scenarios, the solution might lie in appealing to the emotions of the other party. Maintaining a balance and identifying what each situation needs is the key to being persuasive across various people and situations. Beyond all these, you must be sure of your ideas and plans. Combining this with good faith among people that lets them trust you freely makes you a great persuasive communicator. #Persuasion is one of the most effective skills in combating #peoplemanagement challenges that any typical manager can face. From conflicts arising out of different perspectives of stakeholders in a meeting to getting your peeved colleague on board for the latest plan, persuasion can win you the best. With this, we leave you here to grow more until the next edition of The Top newsletter.  #leadership #leadershipdevelopment #managerdevelopment

Unrealistic Goals vs. Stretch Goals: The Fine Line

An incredible journey starts with a goal. As the new year is slowly ebbing towards the end of its first phase, it sets an excellent opportunity to review your goals and performance. Unfortunately, goal fatigue and low rates of achieving objectives are too common for us, whether in the workplace or in personal goals. In today’s edition of The Top newsletter, we will see what managers can do to stay ahead of their goals for the rest of the year!  One of the most common problems in goal-setting lies in the nature of the goals themselves. Achieving a goal takes many things. For instance, you need resources to get the job done, a healthy environment to free your mind, and supportive team members to pull you out of traps when trouble strikes. But before all of these, are your goals designed to be achievable? 

Let’s sit back for a minute and look at the world running on. There’s speed, and there’s great competition. No one wants to be left behind, so the goals keep climbing new heights – until they are straight-up unreasonable! Unrealistic goals seem like a good way to motivate teams to push harder than ever, but they cause substantial damage too. The constant feeling of falling short overwhelms the mind while the chase tires down the body. All of it creates a straight route to burnout in professionals. So, before anything else, take a moment to free yourself from the trap of unrealistically high goals.  Check out more information about unrealistic goals and how to not set them here.  While unrealistic goals are definitely a no-no, your goals should certainly offer challenges and build motivation to do more. The caveat lies in setting challenging goals that fuel your ambition but are still guided by pragmatism. For managers and working professionals, these fall under the category of stretch goals. 

Stretch goals exist over the main objectives set by the team. The primary goals are set to achieve a reasonable increase or to sustain performance levels, and the stretch goals are placed above and beyond those limits. They are great motivators to do more than the bare minimum and exceed limits set by our minds. It presents an excellent opportunity for team managers to boost motivation and create a sense of purpose. Attaching them to additional rewards and learning opportunities makes it furthermore exciting. Sounds interesting right? You can read more here to know all you need about stretch goals.  Stretch goals are just one way of designing your goals to excel. Beyond that, to keep goals working over a more extended period, you will need a goal-setting framework to keep the process moving. Goal-setting frameworks are structures that make goal-setting and tracking more accessible for managers. In addition, it helps replicate efficient practices and inculcates a team culture over time. Some of the most popular goal-setting frameworks are Smart goals and OKRs. Smart goals set criteria for managers who are in the process of defining goals. Whether the goals are for yourself or your team, they are more likely to succeed when they are more innovative yet transparent. On the other hand, OKRs reverse the view. The process starts by defining the objectives the team wants to achieve and returns while describing the actions and results needed regularly to make them true. 

These are not the only goal-setting frameworks loved by managers globally. You can check out the top 9 goal-setting frameworks managers use here to learn more about them.  Apart from looking into goal-setting frameworks, there are many ways to ensure you achieve your goals. Involving the team in the process of identifying goals is one such way. It helps them connect and builds accountability. Similarly, you can look into the best practices followed by renowned leaders to get more insights. Combining these inputs would lead you to a unique goal-setting strategy that suits you and your team.  Goal-setting tools and frameworks make the process easier by generalizing tried and tested learnings of all managers and team leaders globally. Some might fit your deck precisely, while some may not. With trial and error, you can find the most suitable goals for you and your team. 

Beyond Gut Instincts: How Managers Make Tough Decisions Every Day!

Every manager spends the day making a number of decisions. These decisions can impact not only their personal and professional lives but also their teams’ trajectories. Yet, not every decision is the same! While some call for speed, others invite thought. Nonetheless, all are critical to determining success for a team. In this week’s edition of The Top newsletter, let’s look at the various decisions that managers take to navigate day after day.  Let’s start our day with Jake, a product lead at a SaaS startup. The morning arrives with a pertinent question – should their team diversify toward a new product? So, to tackle this problem, Jake begins by looking at the market. Then, after thoroughly understanding their environment, Jake is aware of the costs involved in launching and developing a new product. Next, they used data and quantitative analysis to assess the risks and benefits of the investment and weighed it against other investment opportunities or team priorities.  Ultimately, they concluded that diversifying would be the right step for their team. This analytical approach helped Jake make an informed decision based on data and analysis rather than gut instincts or emotions. In managerial parlance, this is known as analytical decision-making. You can read more about it here. 

While this is great as it involves analysis of facts and figures, it is not the only way to decide. Jake’s teammate Jessie addressed this question quite differently. She invested in some thinking to determine whether the new product line aligns with the team’s overall vision and goals. As her team values sustainability significantly, she looked specifically at those metrics in closer detail. In this process, the team asked themselves several questions, such as  “would it contribute to the team’s overall sustainability goals?”  By engaging in values-based #decisionmaking, Jessie ensured that the analytical decision to invest in a new product line aligns with the team’s broader mission and goals and will contribute to its long-term success and sustainability. Values-based decision-making processes best consider the core values that pivot a team. Find out more about values-based decision-making for managers here.  Jake and Jessie invited some team members to comment as the matter progressed. One team member suggested that moving ahead with the product would be a good decision, as it puts them in a better position in the long term. 

As the industry is shifting to adopt modern tech, it is in the team’s best interest to move along too. However, the product would need some changes in its design, as the team has a greater commitment to sustainability, and the present version creates a substantial amount of waste. In addition, they questioned whether the new product line was consistent with the team’s brand identity and whether it would enhance or dilute the brand’s value. By engaging in #conceptual decision-making, the team assessed the potential risks and benefits of the new product line beyond just its financial impact by using critical thinking. They considered the decision’s broader implications on the team’s identity, culture, and reputation and made a decision consistent with its values and goals. This brainstorming session provided Jake with some much-needed insights into the product. Before moving forward with the plan, a few changes were decided. Such a style of decision-making that invites multiple perspectives to create a bigger picture extending into the future is called the conceptual decision-making style. You can read more about it here. Finally, with expert opinions included and multiple aspects covered, our manager, Jake, decided to proceed with the plan. For some managers, this whole process sounds too much! By consulting multiple stakeholders and going through various perspectives, a lot of time is spent before any action is taken. Such managers prefer a directive decision-making style, which looks quite contrary to the path adopted by Jake above. 

A directive decision made by Jake would have led to the development of a new product line based on their experience and expertise without engaging in extensive analysis or consultation with others. They could have speedily finalized the matter based on their experiential or experimental inputs.  While it saves them from the time and effort needed to build a consensus, it can also land them in trouble. Personal #biases and subjectivity can come into play big time. Nonetheless, it can work well for fast-paced teams that rely on one source of direction. Directive decision-making is the way to go in critical situations that call for quick and confident responses. You can read more about the directive decision-making style here. All decision-making styles come with their sets of pros and cons. While none is the best, one always comes on top, depending on the situation where you are standing. Knowing the different ways you can approach situations is excellent for managers to navigate the complex and constantly evolving environment where teams thrive.  #leadership #leadershipdevelopment #managerdevelopment

How are you communicating with your team?

The skills of a successful manager are many. But how does the world find them until the manager communicates? A manager’s communication skills become the bedrock of their professional success. With this idea providing ample guidance, there is a lot of talk about communication skills. But what exactly are communication skills, and why do managers need them? Communication skills refer to the ability of a person to share their ideas and information with another person accurately. It also includes considering the role of their background, existing knowledge, and biases in interpreting the message. Effective communication is not just about sharing information but involves precisely understanding the inherent message and emotions surrounding it. It shows that communication carries a broad definition, with multiple aspects that rarely get noticed.  One such aspect of communication that often lacks significant attention is nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication uses expressions and gestures to share and emphasize messages. As much as words, our expressions add meaning to conversations. For example, a manager frowning while listening to a proposal from their team member immediately shows that they are disappointed and will likely not approve of the idea. On the other hand, another manager maintaining eye contact and nodding while listening will gain the confidence of their team member – by communicating their attention and trust to the member.  Read more about why every manager should focus on nonverbal communication.

Effective communication is one of the most critical soft skills that a manager needs to have. Hard skills can help you bring breakthroughs in demanding arenas, but only communication skills can help you lead your team from the front. A manager with strong communication skills can elaborate and explain their squad’s roadmap. By answering questions, providing feedback, and listening actively to team members, managers build a collaborative spirit based on mutual trust. On the other hand, the weak communication skills of a manager can throw teams into the menace of miscommunication.  We realize the importance of communication best when miscommunication prevails. In the absence of effective communication, be it the lack of appropriate channels or barriers, teams fail to achieve their goals. Poor communication habits manifest in misunderstandings. A manager that constantly avoids direct answers and eye contact does not listen to their team very often and interrupts them repeatedly, causing the spread of bad communication habits, which results in a poor workplace environment populated by distrust and conflict. 

Such problems can occur even more frequently with remote teams, as the opportunities for informal interaction are limited. When getting immediate feedback face-to-face is not an option; conflicts can go unaddressed for longer while distrust simmers in the team. Managers of remote teams need to understand some unique challenges that can come from a lack of familiarity with the medium and barriers arising from diverse settings.  In all of these scenarios, the manager can help their teams by becoming a facilitator of effective communication. Being a facilitator is about laying down the pathway for your team members to get things done. A manager acting as a facilitator of communication ensures that the team environment is designed to make communicating easier for everyone. For instance, the manager can ensure that their entire team uses the same communication tools. They can also go further by helping some members build proficiency with those tools. On the other side, becoming a facilitator can also ensure that the team members have access to adequate and equal information, eliminating the scope for grapevines to run amok.  Read more here to learn how to become facilitate communication in your team.

A manager frequently becomes the pivot of a team’s communication, as all information is shared, and they answer questions. In addition, they can allocate team members to work together on shared projects. Hence, it is critical for good managers to be aware of any communication-related issues that could prevent their team from collaborating smoothly. For example, a manager can note if gossip is negatively impacting the team and take steps to cut it out.  In totality, a manager’s communication skills need to be top-notch to design resilient teams. Communication skills include understanding and overcoming communication barriers, identifying and creating the proper communication channels, and controlling the flow of information across the team. Moreover, it also focuses on two-way feedback that incorporates the views of team members, not just the managers.  Are your communication skills prepared to handle all of this? Test now with Risely’s free Communication skills self-assessment for managers. The free assessment minutely analyzes your communication habits to provide feedback that helps you grow.  Growth is a constant for every manager set to accomplish great goals with their teams. The new year 2023 comes with a precise focus on the soft skills of managers and leaders. As teams go global, managers must rapidly adapt to a world of hybrid work with diverse groups. Wondering what else is going to happen? Check the top leadership development trends of 2023 to stay on top of the game! 

Performance Reviews are around the corner. Are you ready?

Keeping a tab on the #performance of teams is an integral part of a manager’s job. Nevertheless, many things create problems in this. One such trouble is bias. While biases exist all around us, we often fail to recognize them. As a result, we act on intuition instead of rationality. It is a dangerous prospect for any manager as it keeps them from being productive at work. Meanwhile, the quality of their team suffers too. Let’s take the example of a Sales manager, Andrew, who has 150 people working with them. While Andrew ensures their judgment is fair across all metrics in varying situations, they hear in external feedback sessions that some employees are unhappy. What could be the reason? Let’s find out with them!  In order to understand this issue, Andrew went back to their last performance review and tried to look for trends. They noticed that they had given average scores to many of their team members. Upon further thought along this line, Andrew could gather that they were providing such scores to the team members unfamiliar with them and, thus, unable to rate their work effectively. Many employees who were not reaching their goals were getting average scores too. It was a problem, so Andrew began reading about central tendency bias. 

Further, as Andrew continued to analyze trends, they noticed that people whose work was unfamiliar to them were getting higher scores in general too. Specifically, people working on new sales methodology had consistently high averages. It was an area where Andrew did not have extensive expertise. Resultantly, Andrew could not accurately measure the causal success of their efforts and results and ended up giving a higher score.  On the other hand, team members focusing on their manager’s area of expertise were receiving lower ratings. It clearly points out that the manager used themselves as a point of reference for evaluating their teammates. In managerial parlance, this is the idiosyncratic rater bias. Another trend hinted that there was a vast difference in the performance of their on-site and remote workers. While in-office workers received good evaluations, workers predominantly adopting the remote mode failed to make a mark. However, this put our manager Andrew in a confusing situation, as they were sure of the ability of their remote team too. Not only do they perform well, they often cross targets. So, what could be happening here? 

Andrew realized they were acknowledging the workers’ efforts they could actually see working. On the other hand, remote workers had to make efforts to get noticed. The proximity bias was clouding the view of the manager. Do you feel that the same happens with your team? Read more to check if the proximity bias limits your hybrid team’s success.  Another fascinating discovery in this study was that an employee often raised the bar for everyone. Their success meant that others had to reach bigger goals. As a result, the charts often showed an over-achiever and several employees clustered around them. It was happening due to the contrast bias.  Without knowing so, the performance of the first employee was generally treated as the yardstick to measure the performance of other workers. And accidentally, the first worker happened to be the team’s star performer. The other employees did not receive an accurate performance evaluation because they were tested in comparison, not on merit. The bias made the manager contrast the workers and their performance instead of permitting an objective assessment. 

This study of performance reviews revealed a lot to Andrew, who then decided to study more about these biases and looked for solutions to overcome them. Not only were the biases limiting their potential, but they were also affecting their team’s success. In the absence of adequate feedback, they could not understand where and how to improve their performance. Therefore, every manager needs to understand and overcome biases, not limit their teams.  While some habits might remain, #managers can ensure that they are primarily objective in their assessments. The key is to remember that you are evaluating the one employee who works with their goals and environment independently of others. With the help of technology, you can make your job easier too. You can use assessments designed for yourself and your team on platforms like Risely. They help you overcome human limitations like subjectivity and hesitation. Sign up today without the wait! #proximitybias #contrastbias #centraltenencybias #idiosyncraticraterbias #leadershipdevelopment #managerdevelopment #leadership

As we find ourselves midway through the year, it’s the perfect time to give your team a boost and take a fresh look at things. But hold on, I’m not going to bore you with the same old training methods in a shiny new package.  I have an exciting idea that could truly invigorate your connection with your team, taking it to a whole new level of awesomeness! When it comes to improvement, we often think of the usual suspects: coaching, mentorship, offline or online courses. You know the drill, right? Managers sometimes wonder if these methods really make a difference.  But what if we approached it from a different angle, leveraging the assets your team already possesses? Enter reverse mentorship – a whole new way to enhance skills and abilities within your team. The name itself tells you it’s a complete 180-degree shift from traditional mentorship. And guess what? It’s a game-changer, especially for managers who haven’t had much time to keep up with the ever-evolving world. Picture this: a marketing team manager connecting with a junior team member to tap into the latest happenings in the industry. The junior member takes on the role of a mentor, sharing insights on innovative tools or the hottest SEO tricks.  Believe it or not, even experienced managers can learn a thing or two from these fresh perspectives. Combining this knowledge can propel the manager ahead of their competition in no time. But wait, there’s more! Going back to our earlier example, reverse mentorship also fosters connections and common interests between managers and their team members. For the new mentors, it creates an interesting opportunity to see their managers in a new light – reminding that leadership is a continuous learning process for each one of us.  It builds relationships and demonstrates that their efforts and learning are highly valued. Plus, it could be an entertaining crash course in Gen-Z slang too!  Now it’s time to find those incredible mentors within your team who can crack the latest buzz and collaborate with the established to create unprecedented innovation. And while you’re at it, feel free to read more about reverse mentorship. But do you know what’s the secret ingredient to making such initiatives successful? It lies in humility. Humble leaders work behind the scenes to ensure that their junior team members are confident in sharing their knowledge while the older ones are open to learning. In adopting reverse mentorship, humble leaders can make a mark in many ways.  For instance, the entire idea of learning from new peers begins with acceptance of the fact that there might be something you do not know! Further, as the lesson proceeds, one needs to come to terms with the existence of mistakes and failures too. Transforming them into a learning experience would set a great example for the team. Similarly, humble leaders are not afraid to share due credit, which is essential to making reverse mentorship successful.  Recognizing the skills of your team members, celebrating their achievements, and expressing gratitude for the efforts made in helping others learn are all crucial jobs in making reverse mentorship a successful habit in your workplace.  The journey may not be an ideal and smooth ride, yet it can take your team into unexplored seas. Generally, managers could face resistance from older and senior members upon the inception of such a program. The comfort of the status quo and the discomfort of change are both strong motivators to resist.  However, the key is to remember that professional as well as team growth is not a linear trend. Going back to such team members, addressing their concerns, and lending an ear to actively listen to their perspectives can help managers leave such issues behind. Reverse mentorship can be a unique and interesting detour for your team this year. But it need not be the only one. As the world is constantly changing, keep an eye on the latest in the world of leaders, managers, and workplaces with Risely every week. Happy learning and exploring new horizons!