Tag: Leadership Skills

Things High Performing Teams Do Differently

Category: Business, Leadership, Organisation, Team Management

“Conscious leadership is the intention, awareness and choices designed to inform, impact and guide better thinking, feeling, and actions, to achieve meaningful and valuable results.” – Tony Dovale

The Covid pandemic has transformed the modus operandi of the digital workforce through remote working. Organizations across the world have been developing new ways of working resulting in hybrid working models. This has caused a dent in team bonding due to social distancing impacting the interpersonal relationships amongst team members. Leadership team is grappling with such new age challenges to keep up the employee morale and motivate them to deliver higher productivity for achieving growth and profitability. Let’s look at some of the things that high performing teams do differently for delivering superior performance.

Ineffective communication can often lead to poor staff engagement levels that can lead to trust issues and misunderstandings. This can have a negative impact on service delivery and customer satisfaction levels. On the contrary, when the communication is effective, it can create a clarity of purpose that helps the team members understand the organizational goals for strategic alignment. It creates a robust platform for building trust and interpersonal connectivity through sharing and understanding. Leaders need to instill confidence through inspiring communication for restoring faith and allaying any fears and anxieties during pandemic situations.

For being effective, team meetings need to be scheduled with specific agenda within the stipulated timelines. Being sensitive to the needs of the employees and encouraging feedback from their team members, business leaders would be able to tide over the crisis situation and build resilience within their teams. Generation of creative ideas and creating a culture of transparency and openness would help in building inclusivity resulting in effective collaboration with all the team members.

Normalize the emotional concerns and reinforce the values of the organization by demonstrating a can-do attitude in responding to the pandemic. Have water cooler conversations covering topics which are not related to work to de-stress the work environment and develop a close relationship with the team members.

Building a high performing team is not just about hiring the right talent and providing them with the appropriate tools for carrying out their work. Leadership needs to create a high performing workplace by encouraging their team members to express their emotions openly that can help deliver better individual and team performance.

Foster an ecosystem of reward and recognition to honor the staff who have gone the extra mile and performed during crisis situations. Remembering the team members who lost their lives due to the pandemic and paying homage to them as a mark of gratitude would help in demonstrating a culture of empathetic leadership. Appreciating the efforts of team members need not be top down always. In fact the peer to peer interactions grow deeper when the team members are cognizant of the efforts and achievements of their colleagues. Understand the psychological needs of employees and create a platform for connecting with team members through Employee surveys, town hall sessions and news stories.

Conclusion

We at Newlineinfo Corp have a high performing team who are equipped with the skills of the future and committed to handle any crisis situation with agility and business resilience.

Hybrid work model: Will it work?

Category: Business, Leadership, Organisation

“One of the secret benefits of using remote workers is that the work itself becomes the yardstick to judge someone’s performance.” – Jason Fried

Hybrid working is here to stay, and businesses need to appreciate the diversities in their teams to promote a culture of collaboration and inclusivity. The leadership team needs to handle the new normal sensitively to mitigate any risks arising out of unconscious bias that could result in social imbalance and glaring inequalities in the workplace. Let’s look at some of the ways by which organizations can remediate this transition smoothly without distorting the employee morale and workplace equilibrium. 

Large part of the workforce has gone through a turbulent phase due to COVID-19 pandemic and they have gone through multiple bouts of emotional and psychological stress. The management team listens to fears and anxieties of their employees so that they can address their pain points in the best possible manner. Giving advance information about the date of return to office would provide sufficient time for the employees to have a proper plan for returning to work. It would also help them respond to their personal obligations adequately and be willing to take up the responsibilities at work. The HR personnel need to align with the safety recommendations and ensure that staff who need to be relocated are provided proper accommodation as per the existing guidelines. 

Due consideration needs to be given to employees who face challenges due to physical disabilities and special challenges. Organizations need you to weigh their options and review the pros and cons, before making an open call for re-onboarding all their staff. It requires prudent judgement and effective decision making on part of the leadership team for handling the situation effectively based on their operational requirements. Businesses need to have a risk based approach that would not jeopardize the health and safety of their staff. Any callous decisions made due to negligence and oversight could result in regulatory breach and legal implications. 

Leaders need to create a well defined strategic framework for hybrid working that can be institutionalised across the organizations. The objective of this policy is to build a culture of collaborative leadership by empowering people and achieving the business goals. Creating focus groups and generating creative ideas would help in innovation and identifying top talent. Understanding the requirements of the staff and keeping them motivated through regular interactions would help in achieving better team bonding and higher productivity. Allowing flexible routines and work schedules would help in giving people more freedom to operate based on the requirements without compromising on service delivery. 

Reinforce racial gender equality to ensure that all the staff get a free and fair share of their opportunities for career progression and development. Schedule meetings during core hours to invoke participation from all staff and pay undivided attention to all the team members involved. Meetings need to be carefully scheduled so that all the team members who support different time zones can participate actively without being left out. Demonstrate an empathetic understanding of the staff requirements and accept diversities within the team. 

Conclusion

We at Newlineinfo Corp are people oriented and always willing to go the extra mile to help our staff during difficult times. We treat people fairly and provide equal opportunities to everyone in the team and ensure distributional equity for their growth and development.

Covid19 and Organisational Resilience

Category: Business, Leadership, Management, Organisation

“Resiliency is the ability to spring back from and successfully adapt to adversity.” – Nan Henderson

Covid19 has created an unprecedented impact on the business world and the leadership team needs to imbibe some important lessons as a fallout of this crisis. The C level executives need time to fit themselves out and keep pace of this tectonic shift for maintaining their competitive edge in the digital landscape. Let’s look at some of the ways that can help build organisational resilience during Covid. 

It is natural to get impacted by a crisis with a flurry of negative emotions like fear, grief, anxiety and mental sufferings. Organisations need to be wary of this and learn to engage with their staff that would help them overcome mental and psychological afflictions. Staying connected with the employees through video calls and developing an empathetic understanding of their pain points would help in laying off their anxieties for physical and mental well-being. Extending a helping hand to the team members through collaborative leadership would provide the much needed fillip for positive reinforcement of value system and beliefs. 

Leaders need to prioritise the physical, psychological and emotional wellness of their employees and be attentive to the needs of their team members in all the interactions. Creating health and safety awareness programmes through webinars, podcasts and video conferencing would help in clearing any misconceptions and keep a tab on the mental and emotional health of team members. Conducting vaccination drives and getting all the employees to participate actively in these initiatives would help in reducing the risk of fatality through immunisation. Welfare measures like medical reimbursement, enhancing the insurance coverage limits and extending the benefit to the employees and their family members would go a long way in providing the financial support needed during uncertainty. 

Build a culture of trust and transparency by building positive relationships with the employees. Structure meetings and ensure all the team members are given a platform to share their thoughts. There would be some team members who may not be willing to share their thoughts during the first instance. Reiterate faith and belief by having iterative discussions with team members. Respect differences within the team and be willing to give people their space to share their thoughts and feelings. Set expectations clearly about their goals and share developmental feedback that would drive inclusivity and team alignment. Create a positive environment through mentoring and assign buddies for monitoring their performance. Recognising talent and rewarding performers  would help in keeping the employee morale high. 

Sharing best practices and conducting training programmes would help in improving the staff awareness. This would help in understanding the challenges faced and responding appropriately during crisis situations. Avoid being judgemental and weed out actions like blame game that would impact relationships and disrupt team bonding. Be prepared to amend organisational routines, schedules of work and the processes based on inputs from staff members. This would be helping in giving better flexible working options to people based on their requirements. Reschedule tasks and adjust work practices to suit the needs of employees and client expectations. Modelling vulnerability would help in assessing the preparedness and organisational ability to rise to the challenges posed by unforeseen threats and measure its ability to stay resilient. 

Conclusion

We at Newlineinfo Corp have responded positively to Covid Pandemic by leveraging on strategic resilience measures and we continue to meet our client expectations with the help of our skilled workforce.

Working From Home: Is it making us paranoid?

Category: Business, IT staffing and consulting, Leadership, Work From Home

“People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses or the problems of modern society.”- Vince Lombardi

Easily a juggernaut in the current times, the Covid Pandemic has transformed the modus operandi of the corporate world and businesses are fast embracing new ways of working to adapt to this sea change. Remote working has made geographical boundaries and social demographics less significant thanks to far-fetched digital outreach. However, it has also given rise to social isolation resulting in negativity, a sense of disbelief leaving the digital workforce paranoid. Let’s look at some of the ways by which Work From Home Paranoia can be managed effectively. 

Due to lack of personal interaction and social cues, it is important that business leaders and managers stay connected with their team members in remote working. The C-level team needs to keep the communication channel open to foster a culture of openness and transparency. Employee grievances need to be heard with an open mind and adequate measures need to be taken for remediation and redressal. This world helps in maintaining a healthy relationship with team members and provides them developmental feedback for better performance and enhanced productivity. 

Setting the expectations clearly with the team members and managers would go a long way in building trust and creating a platform for a mutually rewarding relationship. People would start to acknowledge their shortcomings and learn to align themselves to the organizational goals through positive engagement and collaboration. Invoking active participation from all team members would help in breaking the silos and generate creative ideas for process improvements and building efficiency measures. 

Digital adoption has opened the floodgates for exhaustive meetings through new age tools like video conferencing, Skype meetings, podcasts, webinars etc. Scheduling the meetings based on their importance and delegating the not so important tasks to the other team members can help in freeing up quality time which can be used effectively. Managing meetings with the availability of all team members would help in delivering key messages and promote remote inclusion. Proactively managing scope creep is essential to avoid staff dissatisfaction and burn out. 

Conclusion

Overtly personalising other people’s actions can lead to frustration and emotional disruption. Respecting differences and developing a sense of empathetic understanding towards others opinions would help in emotional catharsis resulting in positive remote relationships. Maintaining a good work life balance and spending a quality time with friends and family would help in emotional rejuvenation and recharge. Leverage on innovative people engagement techniques like casual no agenda meetings through virtual coffee and lunch sessions for socialisation and better team bonding. This would be a stress buster and provide the much needed respite from bone-dry routine and mundane interactions. We at Newlineinfo Corp have good work ethics and we are committed to the well being of our employees. We demonstrate an attitude of care and concern for our staff through inclusivity, team bonding and empathetic understanding.

Ways to Improve Virtual Methods of Working and Adapt to the New Normal

Category: IT staffing and consulting, Leadership, Management

“Giving employees great autonomy and flexibility allows people to feel independent and empowered while still feeling like a part of something bigger. This leads to happy, loyal employees with a rich quality of life, which in turn leads to an amazing culture.” ― Larry English

The unrelenting pandemic has ushered in new ways of working, capable of delivering far reaching benefits in the future in order to tide over this crisis and move towards flexible working models to remain competitive in the digital landscape. In this process, it’s not uncommon to find that the employees get fatigued due to digital overdose resulting in feeling of isolation and negativity. Let’s look at some of the ways by which zoom fatigue can be remediated with the help of virtual collaboration. 

New techniques like webinars, podcasts, video conferencing have shrunk the geographical boundaries through digital enablement. Businesses need to revisit their recruitment strategy and leverage on candidate skills irrespective of their work location. Brainstorming with people from different cultures and backgrounds can churn out creative ideas promoting inclusive growth and resulting in enhanced productivity. Employees would feel more emotionally connected when they feel that their voice is heard and realise that the organisation is inclined towards addressing the challenges that they face. Reimagining the workspace would help in creating multiple communication channels that would help in understanding the concerns of staff and taking quick actions to address them appropriately. 

Investing in the well being of staff would remain critical in times of uncertainty. Companies need to focus on people engagement initiatives and demonstrate care and commitment towards their staff. Managers need to reinforce a spirit of togetherness and a sense of belonging amongst their team members. Conducting wellness programs through video conferencing, having informal chats, water cooler conversations would create positive vibes for good physical and mental health. Having regular one to one sessions with staff helps in establishing a personal connect with staff for providing constructive feedback for growth and development. It would also help in providing reassurance and defenestrate any unfounded fears regarding job loss and career. 

Conclusion

Carrying out well being surveys would help in knowing the pulse of team and employee experience. Deploying crowdsourcing tools would help in getting valuable insights relating to employee exhaustion. This would help in addressing the issues faced by larger sections of the organisation and take dedicated efforts to alleviate employee pain points. Companies need to use this cautiously to be wary of any unconscious bias that would impact effective decision making. Given that the work environment is constantly evolving, leaders need to be agile in handling change and find ways to adapt to the dynamic needs of the future. Virtual working and collaboration helps businesses to become more adaptable and resilient in the event of business disruption due to uncertainty. We at Newlineinfo Corp have an engaged team willing to go the extra mile in meeting customer expectations through state of the art technologies and digital innovation. 

Remote Working : Staying connected

Category: IT staffing and consulting, Leadership, Management, Uncategorized

“Starting with trust and giving employees great autonomy and flexibility allows people to feel independent and empowered while still feeling like a part of something bigger. This leads to happy, loyal employees with a rich quality of life, which in turn leads to an amazing culture.”― Larry English

Covid19 pandemic has ushered in a new era of working from home which has resulted in digitizing the employer employee relationship. People have started feeling a sense of isolation and loneliness due to dwindling social interaction and human connection. Companies need to look at different ways of reinventing themselves to cope with this challenge to mitigate the impact of remote working and build a collaborative workplace for the future. 

To feel comfortable and stay motivated during WFH, companies need to look at providing the infrastructure support required for employees to create a virtual office environment at their work location. Creation of online forums for community building for sharing their posts and updates would help in staying connected preventing burnouts. Having virtual coffee sessions and water cooler talks helps in taking a break from work and socializing with other team members. 

The leadership team needs to demonstrate a culture of empathy and connect with their teams to provide support and motivation for keeping the employee engagement levels intact. The communication between the senior management and the employees needs to be maintained on an ongoing basis for providing regular updates about the pandemic and the steps taken to handle it proactively. This would result in sustaining a stress free environment at the workplace by promoting inclusivity and a sense of personal concern. A centralized platform or information hub containing all the critical information about covid19 response along with company policy and procedures needs to be shared with all the staff for disambiguation and positive assurance. 

Businesses need to work on making  realistic plans for bouncing back from challenges and staying resilient during crisis situations by leveraging on social capital. Upskilling the workplace and allocation of resources based on business requirements would help in reducing the overload at work resulting in effective utilization of resources. This Will also help in improving the work life balance of employees by allowing them more free time with their kith and kin resulting in better personal and mental well being. Rewarding the efforts of employees who demonstrate a positive attitude and willing to take the extra mile to support their colleagues will go a long way in building a healthy relationship at the workplace and creation of high performance teams. 

Despite remote working there is a need for employees to stay connected digitally without much supervision. Businesses need to foster a culture of trust and openness to achieve the desired results and business outcomes by empowering their workforce. Creation of focus groups conducting fun filled activities like online puzzles, quizzes, brainstorming and groupthink would result in enhancing the creativity and boosting the performance levels of employees. To break free from rigidity and bring an element of fun and heightened interaction, meetings can be made more interactive with specific agenda and sticking to committed timelines. Invoking participation from all the attendees will make them feel more socially connected helping them to vent their feelings without any inhibitions. Since the workforce is scattered across different locations in remote working, setting specific goals and metrics would be critical to track and measure the results. 

Conclusion

We at Newlineinfo Corp have an engaged team capable of delivering sustainable business solutions to our customers through digital transformation and enablement. 

5 ‘Marvel’lous Comeback Tips for Startups

Category: Business

Marvel is one of the most iconic brands in the mid -1990s. Marvel is well known for its comics and superheroes. Amidst the struggling comic book market, the company took financial risks to survive but eventually declared bankruptcy.

Marvel made the difficult decision to sell off the movie rights of Spider-Man, X-Men and the Fantastic Four. With the prominent characters out of its hands, it seemed the company was destined to die. So Marvel shifted their focus on movies instead of comics and worked towards adjusting its strategy. It assembled its team: Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk and equipped with a different approach and strategy, it initiated a comeback.

The plan proved to be a success. Marvel returned better and stronger than ever. In fact, its newest movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron had the second-highest domestic opening of all time.

It’s a superhero success story, and one that’s just as exciting as any that Marvel’s team could have written. Get inspired by Marvel’s comeback and make the most of adversity to succeed.

Adversity – The Stepping Stone

Adversity in business may ‘knock you to the ground.’ Realize that even the most successful of the business ventures were possible only after various trial and error experiments.

Dream Team – The Pillars

Start building your team of supporters of friends, family and business associates. Depend on them for advice and support to make a comeback in your business. You’re going to need them, so start assembling your dream team.

Negativity – The Destroyer

Negativity comes in all forms, be aware of self-defeating thoughts and overcome doubt and fear with determination to make a successful comeback.

Setbacks – The Opportunities

Setbacks are often the opportunities in that are presented in the form of raw materials. It requires determination and hard work to transform these opportunities to make success. Start by re-evaluating your goals, and then develop a solid plan to reach them.

Focus – The Problem Solver

Focus on the solution rather than the problem to work towards success. Re-evaluate the situation to reach the solution. New opportunities might open up
For more information, visit our website Newlineinfo, or contact us at 301.760.7366.

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