Tuesday Tips

Employee Engagement is Not a Feeling Has your organization ever implemented a “great place to work” initiative?  The theory being that you first make your employees happy, and then in turn they will work harder for you and productivity will rise.  Let’s face reality.  This. Doesn’t. Work.Productivity is not about happiness, it’s about engagement.  Engagement is not a feeling.  Real engagement is about deliberate and demonstrative behaviors – in other words “doing.”  To instill

Why Employee Engagement is so Important Along with other leadership topics, employee engagement has become a high priority to many leading organizations today.  This recent focus on getting people more engaged has created a variety of issues for leaders as they consider what it is, how it is measured, and how important it is to their organization’s success.Employee Engagement is Important because…88% of fully

3 Tips for Successful Meetings 1.    Assign roles in advance of the meeting- Facilitator- Action Register Keeper- Pass Up/Pass Down Distributor- Participants2.  Establish ground rules for the meeting- Arrive on time- Be prepared for the meeting- No cell phones in the meeting- One speaker at a time3.  Set a standard agenda- Action Register Review- Scorecard Review- Recognition- Around-the-Table- Pass Up / Pass Down Distribution- Action Register (review actions captured during

Does your organization advertise or communicate?Most organizations are experts at advertising. Email, newsletters, bulletin boards, intranet are methods organizations use to be in contact with their employees. Problem is they are not communicating with the employees, they are advertising. True meaningful communication is face to face, two way.Three Ways to Improve Communication in Your Organization:1.    Weekly, face to face meetings with your staff. Talk about the businessand share key business information.2.     Develop a process to pass

Three Tips for Distributing Key Business Information1. Set standard agenda items for each weekly meeting - Pass Up / Pass DownBefore each weekly meeting, designate a team member to capture critical business information which will be shared with employees Leaders should identify 3-4 key pieces of information they want to share with employees2. Schedule

Do You Dread Meetings at Work? Do you dread meetings at work? Most people do.  Many times, employees go to a meeting expecting it to be bad.Employees don't mind going to a meeting if it is outcome driven and advances the business.Three Tips for Outcome Driven Meetings:1. Action Register - Use an action register to capture assignments and tasks resulting from discussions in the meeting.  This will eliminate discussing a topic multiple times. Close

Scorecard Mistakes to Avoid in 2012With the ringing in of a new year many leaders see it as a chance to get motivated and start out with a clean slate.  Many seize the opportunity to boost results by crafting a new scorecard for the upcoming 12 months.If you are revamping your team’s scorecard, here are a few common mistakes to avoid.Common Business Scorecard Mistakes1 – Tracking Too Many Things – simply because you

Decrease Conflict, Increase Productivity The workplace is more diverse than ever before.  Leaders have teams with a variety of individual backgrounds, conflicting viewpoints, multiple generations, and varying amounts of experience.  Great leaders are adept at managing emotions, opinions, needs and wants and inspiring their people to work as a cohesive unit.5 Stages of Workplace Conflict1) Unmet Needs – conflict begins2) Lack of Recognition of an Unmet Need – conflict escalates3) Acknowledgement of an Unmet Need –

3 Productivity-Killers to Avoid For most Front Line Leaders, increasing productivity is the underlying goal for everything they do, day in and day out.  With the constant pressure of being asked to do more with less it is important to identify and avoid possible productivity killers.3 Productivity-Killers to Avoid1) Company Culture Excuses. Sometimes rules, controls, policies and procedures are outdated and/or simply don’t apply to your current situation.  The next time someone on your team says

Convert Workplace Stress into Team Success Today, Front Line Leaders are being asked to continually increase productivity even though they face tighter and tighter budgets, fewer employees, limited training opportunities, and pressure from overseas competition.  For many leaders this situation leads to ever increasing stress levels.Don’t Stress Out – Share the LoadThe key to increasing productivity despite the obstacles is to inspire and engage those around you.  You may be pleasantly surprised at the