An excellent way to close the gap between an employee’s self-perception and yours is to ask for a self-evaluation. This is something that can be integrated in your annual performance appraisal process.
I recommend that you include qualitative and quantitative questions in the self-appraisal. Think about asking 8-10 questions and ask for specific answers.
Do your employees’ work habits support or detract from your business? Are they slated for strong performance in the future?
Be honest when you think about your answer to this. Leaders who ignore the impact of the detractors can find themselves in a downward spiral when the pressure is on.
Did that title get your attention? I hope so, because love in the workplace is all about appreciation. Why not use the Valentine’s Day holiday to enhance your professional relationships?
Be generous in expressing appreciation to colleagues, team members, and clients, in fact, anyone you value. This can be as simple as “thank you”.
There are times that leaders don’t pay enough attention about whether their people are working on assignments that are over their heads.
Understand that when asked if they need help, they’ll probably say no. They don’t want to appear to be less knowledgeable than they are in reality.
What we see goes through our personal filter. I know one fairly paranoid person, for example, who assumes that if people aren’t overtly positive when they interact with him that he has done something wrong.
It never crosses his mind that these people may be preoccupied with other things.
This question may seem a little like mind reading, and at times it is. Leaders who do not clearly articulate what they want are hard to follow, and sometimes it may indeed seem like mind reading.
This becomes even more challenging when they change their mind on a dime and “forget” to tell their teams that there has been a change in direction.
I think most people would agree that effective client service is inconsistent. While we may ruefully nod in agreement about this, it represents an opportunity for you and your company to shine.
My most recent vignette relates to nonsense over a prescription refill. This medication recently became available as a generic, which my doctor requested when placing the order.
Critical thinking is an essential skill in our current economy. The ability to discern, evaluate, and differentiate can make the difference between informed and careless decisions.
Our workers are often in a rush. Many have more work to do than time to complete. Consequently, sometimes even the smallest of items are handled without thinking, let alone without critical thinking.
Although you might rarely hear your employees utter these words, if you pay attention, you’re likely to read them in their gestures, body language, and tone of voice. When people are burned out, this is often what they express nonverbally.
People who are otherwise reliable individuals start to slip. They miss deadlines. They forget about important details. They neglect delegating.
Communication can be challenging, to say the least! When you speak face-to-face, you can see body language, gestures, and hear intonation. If that same conversation is on the phone, you essentially miss the body language and gestures. If that message is conveyed by email, you lose the intonation as well; and if text, it can be even more obscure.
Many people shoot off an email without regard to how the recipient is going to receive or interpret the message. For example, one person I work with reads whatever is visible on the screen of her phone. Her staff knows that everything important needs to be in the first few lines.