Claudia's two cents

Leading a team that you may not have picked yourself can be tough.

This weeks questions:

How do I best start leading a team where I have not been involved in choosing the team members?

Summary on some of the ideas covered in the podcast:

• Have a kick off where you cover the usual stuff like the what, why and when as well as the ways of working but then 
• Add some storytelling - to allow the team to share their views and  
• Make it personal - to help people feel safe and connected
• Make time - to build trusting relationships

My boss is very controlling and does not really trust the team, he manages with a do as I say or you know where the door is style -in short he behaves like a major d..k!

How do I influence things?

Summary:

• Get the full story - as in all the facts not just a part truth and your own assumptions 
• Understand the boss and find out what the drivers are 
• Examine my own drivers, try to improve the relationship
• Generate other possibilities or options in writing 
• Speak to the boss - be empathetic and control the emotions
• No matter what the decision thank the boss and ask for feedback 

As always I look forward to your comments and if you have a question please email it to [email protected]

www.makeworkmeaningful.co.uk

One of the comments on my last podcasts was "You're well known for always showing sincere gratitude. How do you spot the things to say thank you for?" So that's the question I am answering this week.

In summary

• There is no framework or tick list
• Work on how a good set up so that you are in  a positive frame of mind
• Don’t be afraid to be emotional 
• Watch out for the little things (if you need help at first ask others to point out occasions that call for a thank you)
• If in doubt - Just do it - say "Thank you" and make it a habit.
• And remember please please please be genuine, put it into context and make it personal.

I hope it's useful!As usual please ping me any comments or other new questions to [email protected]

This weeks questions isHow do we continue to connect our people to maximise their feeling of belonging to the team?

Just as with onboarding and learning on the job in the hybrid work model this seems to come up in most of my recent conversations with any kind of leader so I feel that it deserves a spot on my 2 cents …

I share how I would get my team to figure out what is right for us

And talk about some ideas that we use already in a bit more detail.

• Showing gratitude
• Non-work related team chats
• Non - work related team activities or events
• And finally get-togethers in person in the same space - these might be work related

How do you make sure on the job learning is just as effective in a hybrid work model? 

In  a lot of recent discussions everyone seemed to agree that learning on the job or shadowing people deserves to be on the top of the list  when it comes to designing a deliberate experience in the hybrid work model.

Sharing my 2 cents around three ideas to cover learning moments / learning on the job in the hybrid world.

1. Co locate people to collaborate and work together in person for specific sessions
2. “Learning on the job time”
3. "Scenario based" on the job learning 

This weeks question is

How do I make sure I still create a sense of belonging for new joiners when they go through a hybrid induction.

For me there are a few key moments where meeting in person helps the new starter to feel part of the team and wanted and in short they are:

1. Meeting a business leader to understand the story and values of the company 
2. Meeting their coach or manager in one or multiple smaller sessions which focus on the new joiner and and their career aspirations 
3. Meeting a buddy - as a person that they are be able to trust to ask the stupid questions 
4. And finally building enough of a starter network with people they will be working or interacting with

How can we prepare for a hybrid work model?

Working out with your team on how they want to handle the hybrid work model is one thing - in this episode I am tackling what I would not compromise on when it comes to working together in a hybrid work model.

Find out my point of view on  

• Onboarding 
• Team Bonding activities
• Learning on the job (shadowing /observing)

when it comes to hybrid work model.

This episodes questions is 

How do you get people to feel excited to take on more responsibility?

And it comes from Marc Wallentin https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcwallentin/

Here is the quick summary:

Think about their motivation, which is helped by autonomy, mastery and purpose 

• Make time to talk it though
• Explain the bigger picture and why that work is important
• Set expectations and agree the outcomes 
• Give them accountability to work on their own and don’t interfere
• Make it easy to learn new stuff - offer coaching, mentoring or training 
• Make it safe to fail 
• Celebrate success and make sure they get recognition 
• Stick to your part of the bargain
• Be human, listen and be empathetic

This weeks question comes from John Fitzpatrick linkedin.com/in/johnfitzp

How do you deal with succession planning as a company is expanding from a start-up through the next Phase?

The takeaways for me would be:

• Don’t underestimate the difference between stepping away to exit properly and being succeeded in parts of your initial roles. This could be due to different factors size, time or skills, where someone is brought in to lead that part of the business instead of you - but where you are still around.
• The latter is harder for the founder but also for the successor and my advice would be to have as many dialogues as possible with all the people involved.
• When you finally step away as a founder apart from handing over an actual role you will leave a hole that can not be covered by a job spec or accountability list. Find the dialogue with your people and explain why you do what you do and challenge them to step up.
• You can not change someone’s personality or values but it might open their eyes to how they could contribute in their own way.

Explaining how we did it at Clarasys made this weeks episode slightly longer but I feel quite practical to replicate in your own firm.

This weeks question comes from Agnes Kuffel 

linkedin.com/in/agnes-kuffel-6259b814

In summary:

• Most importantly involve the people that are affected day to day to make it real - don’t come up with it just on your own.
• Use the outside in approach to consider a wide range of views and get people’s imagination flowing
• Create the roadmap of your people journey and then use your outside in ideas to tell the people story 
• Articulate the draft vision and ask for input from others to ensure it resonates - make changes if necessary
• Use your people story and your people vision to guide you on everything PEOPLE