Community heroes are clients who share our values and enrich the places where their people live and work through entrepreneurship, innovation, job creation, mission-guided impact and collaboration. This year’s honorees have been named from Missouri, New York, South Carolina and Washington. Learn more about the four 2024 community hero honorees and read their stories here.
As a business leader, you’re probably accustomed to conducting performance reviews with employees. This is because it’s so important for team members to receive constructive feedback from objective third parties. We simply do not see ourselves the way other people do.
But what about you – who’s reviewing your performance?
Maybe someone is conducting your regular performance review once a year, or maybe no one is evaluating you.
As business leaders climb higher up the organizational ladder, there are fewer opportunities to obtain constructive feedback. In fact, it could be pretty easy to avoid feedback entirely if you didn’t want to hear it. This is because:
(Side note: Employees’ fear of being honest and open is feedback in and of itself – a warning sign that your culture may require some attention or that your leadership style has reduced trust.)
It can be easy to get stuck within a leadership bubble, somewhat isolated and cocooned from any criticism or feedback, certain that you’re only getting better because of your current position or continued upward trajectory.
So, what’s the answer? One helpful solution can be leadership self-assessments.
This activity may not always be fun and can definitely be challenging, but it’s an essential practice for leaders who strive for improvement and growth.
A self-assessment or evaluation is a “warts-and-all” review of yourself that:
Why is this exercise so important for leaders in particular?
For starters, leaders need feedback for the same reason their employees do – to understand how to perform better and be more effective in their role.
A self-assessment is critical for:
In many ways, a self-assessment is like a personal SWOT analysis.
When you share your self-assessment practices with employees and explain to them how you’re trying to improve in certain areas, you can:
Furthermore, compared to an evaluation by an authority figure, a self-assessment can be incredibly motivating because it comes from within.
Certainly, it’s recommended to make leadership self-assessment an ongoing endeavor – something you practice daily as part of an effective habit associated with strong leadership.
However, it’s also a great idea to formally schedule times to evaluate yourself in a more detailed and comprehensive manner. Human tendency is to put off exposing oneself to criticism, but having time blocked off on your work calendar can make it harder to avoid this activity.
You can perform an in-depth self-assessment quarterly or a few times per year. The main point is to set up a regular cadence. Plus, the feedback you receive from others, if any, is likely in the form of a performance review that’s conducted annually. Self-assessment gives you ample opportunity to focus on improvement throughout the year.
Also consider going off-site from your workplace – making this a “personal retreat” of sorts. This will enable you to better focus and fully dedicate the appropriate amount of time to this exercise, away from the distractions of your office or home.
Consider which competencies and skills are most relevant and critical to your role and type of work.
Examples of common areas of evaluation for leaders:
It’s easy to want to touch on everything; to prevent this exercise from becoming overwhelming, select your personal top five to seven competencies.
Once you’ve decided when you will complete the self-assessment and identified the competencies on which you’ll judge yourself, you’re ready to get started.
You have a couple of options:
1. Create your own questionnaire and rate yourself
This option allows you to tailor your questionnaire perfectly to your company and leadership role. The questionnaire doesn’t have to be lengthy or complicated, but it does need to address all the core competencies you’ve identified as most important.
This can be done through a series of:
2. Use a third-party tool
If you really want to gain the most objective, bias-free picture of yourself and understand how others view you, this is a great choice. There are many different types of leadership assessment tools and general personality tests, such as Myers-Briggs or DISC, from which you can choose.
At the same time, you can supplement your leadership self-assessment by conducting a 360-degree assessment, during which you also solicit feedback from people at different levels of your organization who have a working relationship with you.
These individuals could be:
This fills out the snapshot of your current performance and can highlight any discrepancies in how you rate yourself compared to others for a certain skill.
Take care to avoid – consciously or unconsciously – tainting the results of your leadership self-assessment. Although you know yourself better than anyone else, and that’s why a self-assessment is so valuable, the potential for error is always present.
Top mistakes that leaders make when engaging in a self-assessment are:
A self-assessment is a pointless activity if you don’t leverage the information you uncover to your benefit, take meaningful action in the near future and hold yourself accountable for making improvements.
Some options for a path forward:
All employees benefit from objective, thoughtful performance reviews – and even the most senior of managers are no exception. But because they occupy a unique position in the organizational hierarchy that can disrupt the ability to obtain honest, timely feedback from others, leadership self-assessments are necessary for leaders to grow, develop, improve and achieve goals.
To learn more about the practices that align with strong leadership, download our free magazine: The Insperity guide to leadership and management.
The below content was originally published on the Insperity blog, a great source of information for business and HR best practices.
You’ve probably heard someone say, “One of my professional goals is taking ownership of a big project.” But as a business leader, have you said, “I really want my employees to desire taking ownership of their work?”
When you think of an ideal employee or team, qualities like good communication, problem-solving and dependability come to mind. But an essential component of a high-functioning team and outstanding business performance is individual employees taking ownership of their work.
Employee ownership is a powerful driver for fostering a collaborative and growth-focused workplace. When employees take ownership of their roles and responsibilities, they feel a deeper connection to the organization’s goals, leading to enhanced engagement and accountability. This results in improved team cohesion, proactive problem-solving and continuous innovation.
And the benefits of employee ownership extend beyond strong business performance. There’s a direct link between employees taking ownership of their work and businesses achieving the things that are most important to them: high employee engagement, morale and retention. Furthermore, employees taking ownership is an indicator of a desirable workplace culture and thriving manager-direct report relationships.
Clearly, employees taking ownership should be a priority at any organization. Here, we’ll discuss how to get employees to take ownership, resulting in greater employee satisfaction and superior productivity.
We’ve all heard phrases such as take the reins, hit the ground running or take the ball and run with it, right? That’s exactly what we’re talking about here.
When we refer to an employee taking ownership of their work, this means that they assume responsibility for completing or overseeing a task, project or initiative from start to finish, and are accountable for the results.
During the process of completing their work, these employees are motivated to put in their best effort, going above and beyond to enhance the quality of their work. They feel invested in the outcome – caring about organizational success in the same way that their manager or a business owner would. Concerned for their own personal success as well, they desire to make a positive, wide-ranging impact and carry influence within their sphere of expertise.
Employees who take ownership may:
On a day-to-day basis, employees who take ownership exhibit these characteristics:
Taking ownership is the same thing as telling others in the workplace that you’re trustworthy, reliable, conscientious and diligent – even when authority figures aren’t looking.
Ultimately, taking ownership is the intersection of individual passion with initiative and accountability.
The alternative scenario has employees:
Taking ownership is important for employees, managers and the entire business.
For employees, taking ownership helps them to:
From a manager’s perspective, these employees:
For the organization as a whole, employees taking ownership positively impacts the bottom line through:
Leaders set the tone for ownership by demonstrating accountability, transparency and a willingness to accept responsibility. Modeling these behaviors encourages employees to follow suit.
Key qualities include trust-building, effective communication and the ability to provide constructive feedback. Leaders who prioritize these qualities create a supportive environment that fosters ownership.
Of course you want your employees to take ownership. Employees who embrace these characteristics are every manager’s dream team member!
But, how do you get to this point?
As a manager, here are the actions you should take to encourage your employees to take ownership of their work and reap the benefits.
Everything starts at the top of the organization. Your employees take their cues about what’s important and how to act from you – if you want your employees to embrace a certain behavior, you have to model it.
At the outset, explain to each employee that you value their taking ownership and encourage them to do it.
It can be difficult to inspire people to do more when you don’t fully understand them and what makes them tick. So, learn about your team members as individuals.
Regular one-on-one meetings and team meetings are important for regularly checking in to discuss these topics and just find out how they’re doing in general – both professionally and personally.
So much of encouraging employees to take ownership comes down to building rapport and maintaining open communication.
Most people don’t find it inspiring and empowering to feel like a “sheeple,” just blindly following orders with limited visibility. We all need to understand the why behind what we do.
That’s why employees must know:
It’s up to leaders to communicate this bigger-picture vision and imbue team members with a sense of purpose and direction.
Furthermore, when employees understand the reasoning behind what they do and how they do it, they are more likely to feel confident stepping up, claiming ownership and making good decisions when called upon to do so.
When employees first join your team, whether they’re brand-new hires or they’ve transitioned into a new role from another team or department, you need to give them a good foundation for their role through training.
Their initial training period is when employees:
As their manager, you are responsible for getting employees to a place at which they feel knowledgeable, prepared and confident – and, as a result, will feel comfortable seizing ownership when the opportunity arises.
But to maintain employees’ passion and motivation to do more, establish a culture of continuous learning.
Help employees expand their knowledge, keep up with trends and understand that their initiative equates with advancement:
Want to know what your employees think about a business challenge? Want them to share their ideas for achieving a certain goal? Get in the habit of regularly asking them for their opinions.
This is a major part of building up employees’ self-confidence and autonomy. After all, everyone wants to feel like others trust them and value their opinion. Once that seed has been planted, employees will do it more often.
However, to maintain trust and a culture in which employees feel comfortable speaking up to share their ideas and opinions, you need to:
Instilling a culture of gratitude in your workplace is so important.
Everyone likes to receive positive feedback and feel appreciated. It makes us feel good about ourselves and, as a result, increases confidence. It also creates an environment in which people are happier and more motivated.
When your employees exhibit desirable behavior, such as taking ownership of their work or accomplishing a positive outcome, don’t forget to thank them and tell them you noticed.
Also consider a formal recognition program or encouraging peers to recognize each other for a job well done.
As a result of earning the acknowledgement that most employees crave, they’ll keep up the good work.
Hopefully, with the rise of remote and hybrid work, the days of managers hovering over their employees’ shoulders and breathing down their necks is a manager mistake of the past.
There’s no quicker way to diminish employee morale, initiative and confidence than making them feel constantly watched, judged and bossed around, forced to conform to someone else’s preferences.
Remember earlier when we said that employees take their behavioral cues from managers? If you make them feel small and childlike, they’ll feel stifled and resentful. If you make them feel boxed into a certain way of doing things, it reinforces the idea that they’re “beneath” you and can’t do anything without your say-so.
But if you empower them and build them up, they’ll take ownership. In fact, most employees want more autonomy in the workplace – not less. People want to feel smart, valued and trusted.
How can you banish the temptation to micromanage and learn to let go?
Understand the proper role of a manager.
Managers should be available to answer questions, offer guidance and coach employees – not to spoon feed employees and hold their hand every step of the way. You do not need to get involved in every single task that an employee undertakes or manage every single conflict or challenge that employees face. Instead, encourage their independence.
Learn to delegate more often.
Engage in open communication with employees and solicit their feedback on your performance.
Ask them how you can better serve them.
Team collaboration tools make it easier for employees to communicate, manage tasks and stay updated in real-time. Features like instant messaging, project tracking and file sharing can help eliminate communication roadblocks and keep teams connected and productive.
Access to professional development resources, such as online learning platforms and internal training programs, empowers employees to sharpen their skills and foster a culture of continuous learning. By providing opportunities to learn and grow, companies inspire individuals to take charge of their development, leading to greater engagement and a stronger sense of accountability.
Performance management systems play a crucial role in encouraging ownership by offering clear feedback channels and goal-setting tools. These systems help managers establish expectations, track progress and provide regular input. The result? Greater transparency, which helps employees see how their work aligns with the company’s goals and also motivates them to take more initiative.
Employees taking ownership of their work is critical for businesses in terms of a motivated, confident, and engaged workforce; trusting relationships; quality work output; and, ultimately, successful performance and goal achievement. If you implement the seven tips outlined here, you’ll have a positive work environment in which employees feel empowered to take ownership of their work and managers feel comfortable in stepping back and enabling more independence.
Encouraging autonomy is one piece of the puzzle. To learn more about creating a workplace in which employees are nurtured for growth, download our free template: Crafting a high-impact leadership development program.
Despite your best intentions, sometimes HR becomes out of touch with the rest of the company.
Your HR team thinks everything is going great, but in fact, employees are unsatisfied, aggrieved or disengaged.
If you suspect that an HR disconnect is intensifying at your organization, you’re not alone, and you’re not without tools for mending it.
To fully understand this issue, let’s explore:
HR alignment problems affect companies in different ways. The first signs may be subtle, but the sooner you can identify them, the easier they will be to correct.
However, there’s one symptom that you should never ignore:
Your employees are hesitant to contact HR or have stopped altogether.
This is a huge warning sign that you and your employees aren’t on the same page anymore.
And the more your employees disregard HR when they need help, the more siloed your team becomes from the people you’re there to support.
Initially you might assume that silence from employees is a sign that things are going well and that your employees are feeling engaged and productive.
However, if you consistently fail to hear much from employees, the opposite may be true.
But how can you reliably confirm that the silence indicates a problem?
Here are some suggestions ordered from the simplest to most-involved:
Online reviews of your organization often come from the inside. If you haven’t been regularly monitoring them, you may find some opinions that surprise you.
The most popular sites for these include:
Is there a recurring negative sentiment among the comments that you find on these sites? If so, that may be enough to confirm your suspicions of HR misalignment.
New employees usually get to know your company through HR or recruiting first, and then in their first few months, they experience your company for themselves.
Checking in with new hires multiple times within their first 90 days of employment can help you understand whether the real experience of working for your company is different from the way you present it during the hiring process.
Simply ask them how their experience is going, and then document the answers you collect to help you track any patterns showing misalignment.
Surveys can be a very useful diagnostic tool when you suspect an HR disconnect.
Even if you only conduct a full climate survey once every year or two, you can still send your employees a couple of questions per quarter, asking specifically about their interactions with HR.
For example, you could ask your employees to indicate their level of agreement with the following statement:
“I can go talk to HR if I have a question or problem.”
Be sure to respond to your employees when you survey them, as they will expect to hear back after providing you with their feedback.
The next step is to understand the root of the problem.
Here are some common causes that could be behind your employee and HR alignment issues.
Sometimes employees view HR only as an administrative resource for hiring, terminations and benefits questions.
However, a strong HR department will have both tactical and strategic programs for employees.
HR usually spends a lot of time with the organization’s owners and senior leaders. Sometimes the rest of the workforce takes notice of this tendency and concludes that they aren’t approachable or must be pro-management at heart.
HR is charged with initiating a lot of difficult conversations:
Even slight miscommunication in these situations can break down trust (like an employee relations issue that wasn’t explained fully). If employees disagree with one of HR’s stances or actions, they sometimes stop trusting HR altogether.
Employees may also become wary of HR staff who have personal friendships outside of the department, making their impartiality less convincing.
When employees don’t feel they have someone to approach who is connected with the C-suite:
When HR and employees are out of sync, the sentiment can eventually travel outside of your organization. This can negatively impact your recruiting efforts.
Now let’s focus on how you can fix your HR alignment problems. Here are a few solutions to try.
The more you interact with employees on a regular basis, the more trust you can rebuild. When you take time to get to know people on a personal level, you may see new ways to positively impact the work environment in your role as an HR person.
This includes:
Just be sure to balance your time among employees to avoid appearing overly friendly with one group.
Make every effort to be welcoming and receptive when employees come to you. Even in situations that are challenging for you or involve conflict.
Don’t just cross an employee task off your list. Truly listen, engage and support your employees through the processes that may seem mundane to you.
For example, in an employee counseling circumstance, don’t just document issues. Show that you believe improvement is possible and help the employee and manager create a development plan.
Host a lunch-and-learn or Zoom meeting around an issue you’re proactively discussing in HR. Invite employees to participate and ask lots of questions. Carefully consider their feedback and concerns.
Build trust by helping employees see that they have a future at your organization. Let them know that you’re there to help them advance and grow.
In difficult conversations, demonstrate your HR conviction, communicating that you care too much about the individuals involved and your organization to let it go unaddressed.
Operating from the right motivation and sharing your perspective with employees will help earn their trust and respect.
Don’t let hesitancy to contact HR become the norm for your employees. Find out if it’s coincidence or true reluctance and learn what might be driving the divide.
Try implementing some of the solutions above. Over time, taking these actions will help you reestablish a healthy connection between your workforce and your HR department. But you don’t have to stop there. Download our free e-book on the 7 most frequent HR mistakes and how to avoid them to learn how to anticipate and resolve more common HR issues.
Learn about Insperity’s culture of care for our employees and our clients in our newly released 2023 Corporate Social Responsibility Report. This report tells our story as a company and is a great way to see how we accomplish our mission of helping businesses succeed so communities prosper through philanthropic action, client programs and more.
We are thrilled to announce the newest addition to the retirement education wheelhouse: the 401(k) Toolbox.
The 401(k) Toolbox is an educational guide to demystify the world of 401(k) plans for your employees. It offers an interactive platform that allows users to progress at their own pace and quickly find answers to their questions.
Eligible participants can explore key 401(k) topics through easy-to-read content, videos, interactive charts and calculators to simplify complex topics such as Roth vs. pre-tax, loans vs. hardship withdrawals, investment concepts and tips on managing their account. The sidebar menu categorizes content, enabling quick access as they scan and select relevant sections. Whether your employees are seasoned investors or new to retirement savings, this guide empowers them to make informed decisions about their 401(k) with ease and confidence.
The toolbox can be easily accessed here.
The below content was originally published on the Insperity blog, a great source of information for business and HR best practices.
In today’s dynamic business landscape, the role of human resources extends far beyond traditional administrative functions. HR plays a pivotal role in driving organizational success, but a big part of doing that is to make sure HR initiatives are in alignment with overarching business objectives.
Plus, the connection between HR strategies and business plans is not just beneficial; it’s imperative for sustainable growth and to maintain a competitive advantage.
In this blog we’ll uncover:
To effectively align HR initiatives with business objectives, it’s crucial to first understand the company’s mission, vision and long-term goals. This knowledge serves as a compass for HR leaders and business owners to navigate their initiatives in the right direction.
Setting and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) relevant to business success provides a tangible framework for measuring progress and adjusting strategies as needed.
In order to start with a foundation, make sure your business objectives:
There are some higher-level areas within your people strategy that you can – and will want to – look at in relation to your overall business objectives.
Tailoring the talent acquisition process to meet specific business needs ensures that organizations attract candidates who not only possess the required skills but also align with the company culture and values.
Enhancing the onboarding experience further reinforces this alignment, setting the stage for new hires to contribute meaningfully to the organization’s goals from day one.
Strategically designed training and development programs equip employees with the skills and knowledge necessary to drive business objectives forward. By fostering a culture of continuous learning, organizations not only enhance employee engagement but also promote agility and adaptability in the face of an ever-changing business landscape.
Structured performance evaluations that directly reflect business targets serve as a powerful tool for aligning individual employee goals with organizational objectives. Recognizing and rewarding employees who contribute to business success reinforces a performance-driven culture and directly connects employees’ work with business goals.
Developing employee engagement strategies that are rooted in the company’s values and objectives cultivates a sense of purpose and belonging among employees. Recognizing the intrinsic link between employee satisfaction and productivity, HR initiatives aimed at fostering engagement directly contribute to driving business results.
Defining metrics to assess the impact of HR initiatives on business objectives is essential for gauging effectiveness and making informed decisions. Regular feedback loops enable continuous refinement and alignment, ensuring that HR efforts remain closely aligned with evolving business needs.
The strategic alignment of HR initiatives with business objectives is not just a desirable goal; it’s a fundamental driver of organizational success. By partnering closely with business leaders and stakeholders, HR professionals can harness the full potential of their initiatives to propel the organization toward its goals.
In a rapidly evolving business landscape, the ability to adapt and align HR strategies with changing priorities will be key to maintaining a competitive edge and achieving sustainable growth. Take the next step towards sustainable growth and competitive advantage. Learn more about how a PEO can help by downloading your free guide, A step-by-step guide to HR outsourcing.
Curious about what’s top of mind for business leaders in 2024? Unravel the pressing expectations, key concerns and strategic priorities shaping today’s business leaders in Insperity’s Business Outlook Report 2024. Get guidance from some of today’s most successful business leaders, explore our findings and arm your business with the insights it needs in an ever-evolving business landscape.
The below content was originally published on the Insperity blog, a great source of information for business and HR best practices.
Between planned updates, new initiatives and unexpected changes, today’s workplace offers leaders plenty of opportunities to earn their change management stripes.
When leading through change, you must manage your team’s progress toward your goal as well as your employees’ attitudes throughout the experience.
Sometimes managing change calls for grace periods as your staff absorbs and understands a transition. Sometimes it calls for realism that’s not too sugarcoated. At all times, change calls for strong, consistent communication from the top of the organization before, during and after a change cycle.
To help you communicate well during seasons of change in your organization, we’ve assembled a list of the key messages that your employees need to hear throughout the change cycle.
Using these talking points and grasping the change management strategies behind them can help you:
What do your employees want to hear during change initiatives?
“Here’s what’s happening, and here’s why”
When you know a change is coming, share the news with your employees as soon as possible. This initial communication, where you articulate the need for change in your organization, initiates the change cycle.
Your employees may go on to experience:
To soften the initial news, make the big picture clear, shedding as much light on the situation as you can. Explain why the change is important to your organization and how it will affect your company in a positive way.
The sooner your employees hear from you when change is coming, the more time they have to process it. And the better they understand the reasons behind a change, the easier it will be for them to get on board.
“Here’s how this is going to benefit you”
Don’t stop after you’ve explained how a change will benefit your business, even if you receive more support than resistance. Your employees may not articulate it, but they will probably be wondering: What’s in it for me?
You can gain your employees’ trust by anticipating these natural concerns. Consider how each group and individual will profit from the change. How will it make their work lives better? Be ready to point to these benefits when speaking with your employees. Look for ways to make the changes matter to them on an individual level.
“Here’s our goal”
Are you excited about what your organization will look like on the other side of this change? Invite your employees to envision it with you. Share your chief goal for the future, and reference it often.
Each person must decide to push through the discomfort that change requires – it will take some employees longer than others – and join you in working toward a new goal. Having a clear target can keep your team unified and encouraged even as they process and adapt to change at different speeds.
“I don’t have all the answers, but let’s talk through this”
You’ll speak openly. You’ll speak clearly. You’ll speak confidently. But will you speak vulnerably? And will you ask your employees to share their thoughts, too?
To lead through change well, you should strive for openness. Be transparent addressing the questions you don’t have answers to. Make sure your team is comfortable sharing their thoughts and questions.
If successful, you’ll appear more genuine and trustworthy. Transparent leadership, coupled with the opportunity to share opinions, gives your employees a greater sense of control over the situation, too. The result? Staff who are more likely to feel they’re making changes with you, rather than feeling that something is happening to them.
“Let’s strategize together”
Once your employees have asked their initial questions and shared opinions on the change, it’s time to include them in the transition. Asking for their ideas again – after they’ve had time to process a change – helps further. That’s because your employees are more likely to become invested and collaborative if they get the opportunity to think strategically and offer valuable input.
“Tell me how you’re feeling through this”
Check in on your people at various points in the change cycle. Remember, no two employees are alike in their pace of processing change. Someone who seemed open to the idea early on may struggle later, in the middle of the actual changes. That’s why it’s important to keep checking in, especially if you notice disheartened attitudes.
You can reach out to your whole group during team meetings and to individuals who seem to need it most during one-on-ones.
Dig deeper in these conversations by asking:
Mention any resources your organization provides that could help manage their stress and change fatigue, such as an employee assistance program.
“It’s time to join us”
Leaders sometimes run into an individual who won’t accept change and begins to take a disruptive stance against it. If a negative attitude becomes a performance issue, it may be time for a difficult conversation where you insist the employee finds a way to adjust and come along with the rest of the team.
Occasionally, the best choice for everyone might be for the employee to switch teams or otherwise part ways. But hopefully, you can avoid this outcome and even these conversations by leading and communicating well from the outset.
“We’ve gotten this far today”
Celebrate small achievements as your team works to adjust to or implement a change. Notice what has gone well, and bring their attention to it. Show gratitude for your team’s efforts and positivity.
Words of affirmation alone can lift employee spirits; allowing them to break for the day a few hours early or giving another small reward can show that you’re truly thankful for their contributions.
“Well done”
Affirm efforts along the way and celebrate in a big way when your team has brought you through an important change. Rewards could include public recognition, time off, extra help and more. The key to meaningful recognition is understanding what matters most to your team and giving them something that’s important to them.
Be gracious toward yourself, too
To have the emotional energy needed to take care of employees during seasons of change, leaders can’t neglect themselves in the process. Know your personal support system and reach out when your energy or enthusiasm wanes.
Keep reminding employees about how the changes will positively affect them, and show respect for each person’s unique response to the situation.
Summing it up
In today’s dynamic workplace environment, leaders face numerous opportunities to lead their teams through change – and it’s important to have a strategy that will make the process smooth and successful. Articulating the benefits of change at both organizational and individual levels enhances employee buy-in and trust, sets clear expectations and creates cohesion. Ultimately, fostering a culture of inclusivity and support leads to greater employee engagement and resilience in navigating change. For more information on how to lead your team through change, download The Insperity guide to leading through change.
The below content was originally published on the Insperity blog, a great source of information for business and HR best practices.
The era of virtual meetings brings with it a new type of meeting fatigue. While meetings are essential to fostering collaboration and building rapport in a digital work environment, too many can take a toll on team productivity and morale.
So, what do you do when blocked calendars and exhausted agendas impact culture? Here are some tips to avoid meeting overload and strike the right balance.
Although it may seem like a minor issue at surface level, meeting fatigue carries with it many pitfalls, including:
At the same time, meetings are an essential tool in a collaborative environment. Understanding the benefits of meetings can help leaders and managers use them to their advantage while still allowing their teams sufficient time to get their work done.
Here are some of the upsides of well-planned and well-executed meetings:
Clearly, meetings have their place in a positive, collaborative team environment. Here’s how to get the most out of them while avoiding meeting fatigue and overwhelm:
1. Ensure a meeting is warranted in the first place
Before scheduling a meeting, take a moment to ask yourself whether the purpose could be effectively achieved through an alternative means such as email, project management tools or a team messaging platform like Slack. If there’s no need to have an interactive dialogue or to resolve an issue that requires input and feedback, skip the meeting and opt for the more time-efficient option.
2. Allocate less time for meetings
Block off shorter time slots for meetings, such as 45 minutes instead of an hour, to keep attendees focused and minimize unnecessary tangents from the main discussion. This promotes efficiency while also allowing participants to have more time in their day.
3. Clarify the purposes of meetings
Create a more intentional meeting by articulating the objective in advance and if possible outline an agenda. This helps attendees prepare and also ensures the discussion stays on track, resulting in a more purposeful, efficient meeting.
4. Whittle the attendee list
Include only the people who truly need to attend the meeting according to the agenda. Not only does this respect the time of participants, but it also keeps the meeting focused and streamlined.
5. Consider no meeting days
Some teams find that designating specific days where meetings are minimized or prohibited (for example, “No Meeting Wednesdays”) can help give the individuals valuable, uninterrupted time for focused work. While this strategy isn’t very workable for businesses or departments that work directly with clients, for internal teams it can help reduce the overall impact of meeting fatigue on productivity.
Another alternative is to simply set one team meeting every morning or on a weekly basis with a set agenda to discuss all the major points that would otherwise necessitate separate meetings throughout the day or week.
6. Create rules for big meetings
In large meetings, establishing clear guidelines is paramount for staying focused and keeping attendees engaged. Such rules should cover when to ask questions, when to take discussions offline, whether or not to have cameras on and whether to keep oneself muted. Not only will these rules make meetings more productive, but they’ll also strengthen team relationships.
7. Encourage time blocking
Keep your calendar up to date and block off times for focusing on project deliverables and tasks that are essential for daily operations. This approach helps individuals ensure they’re maintaining a proper balance between dedicated work time and collaborative sessions.
Pro tip: Align your calendar scheduling with your body’s natural biorhythms for optimal productivity. For example, if you do your best work in the mornings, block off your calendar until noon so you can participate in meetings after you’ve made a satisfying dent in your workload. Alternatively, if you’re an afternoon warrior, block off your calendar for some post-lunch-focused work.
8. Don’t forget to schedule breaks
Don’t forget to give yourself some time for some well-deserved and much-needed breaks during the day, which can help reduce burnout and increase productivity. This is best accomplished by blocking off your calendar for these as well. If you notice a particular day or week is filling up with meetings, schedule a fifteen-minute or half-hour slot to avoid dreaded back-to-back meeting days.
As we navigate the new world of digital work, virtual meetings have become integral to collaboration and human connection, but the rise of meeting fatigue requires an intentional approach. Incorporate the tips above to ensure that meetings contribute in a positive way without hindering productivity. For more performance strategies, download our free e-book, How to develop a top-notch workforce that will accelerate your business.