Disagree Productively

 From HBR:

Disagreements in the workplace don’t have to fuel conflict. If you handle them well, they can be opportunities to build closer relationships and come up with better ideas. Here are some strategies for navigating these difficult conversations. First, approach the exchange with a willingness to learn, rather than a persuasive or combative attitude. Be humble. It’s possible that you’re missing something, and an open mind will invite your counterpart in instead of pushing them away. On the flip side, don’t underestimate their interest in learning from you. Give them the benefit of the doubt until they prove that they haven’t earned it. This kind of generosity will make the exchange more pleasant for both of you. Finally, be explicit about your intentions. For example, before making your own argument, you might say: “This is an important topic. I’m curious to hear what people who disagree with me think about this issue.” Then you could close your own argument with: “I recognize that not everyone sees this in the same way, and I would like to better understand where other people are coming from.”

How to build feedback into team culture

 from Harvard Business Review email

Build Feedback into Your Team’s Culture

As a manager, how can you help your team become more comfortable giving and receiving feedback? It’s all about making the process less formal and intimidating and the feedback more frequent and actionable. To embed feedback into your team’s culture, start by creating a shared understanding of what feedback really is. Host an open discussion where you ask questions like: What does feedback mean to you? When feedback is effective, how does it feel? When does feedback feel forced or scary? The answers will help your team come up with a definition that works for everyone. Next, develop a new process that makes it faster and easier for everyone to give useful insights to each other. This might mean dedicating time in meetings or creating space on virtual channels for people to request feedback, deliver specific praise, and raise ideas for improvement. Finally, in your one-on-one meetings with direct reports, you can take the fear out of feedback by starting the conversation with thoughtful questions rather than your observations. This approach gives your employees more agency in the feedback process and allows the conversation to happen on their terms, rather than yours.

PLCs - protocols

 Reading for understanding protocols - link

Bad at writing

 "Many people assume they are bad at writing because it is hard. This is like assuming you are bad at weightlifting because the weight is heavy.

Writing is useful because it is hard. It's the effort that goes into writing a clear sentence that leads to better thinking."   James Clear

Hone the People Skills You Need as a Leader

 from Harvard Business Review

Hone the People Skills You Need as a Leader

More than ever, companies need leaders who can harness ingenuity and foster engagement. It’s not enough to be a technical expert or a visionary strategist. You also need to invest in your people skills to empower and enable your employees. These skills take different shapes in three areas: in small groups, across distinct networks (like teams and units), and across your entire organization. Here are the most important skills to develop in each area. In small groups and one-on-one interactions, prioritize listening. Asking good questions, empathizing with, and empowering your employees will allow you to draw wisdom, insight, and creativity from them, solve problems collectively, and foster a sense of psychological safety. Across networks, focus on collaborating and influencing. Agility and innovation depend on cross-functional cooperation and the ability to build and work through informal relationships. Across the organization, concentrate on culture-shaping and aligning. To empower, motivate, and inspire people on a large scale, you need to communicate a compelling direction or purpose and act as a cultural role model in your day-to-day leadership.

Gracefully Deliver a Difficult Decision to Your Team

 from Harvard Business Review daily email

Gracefully Deliver a Difficult Decision to Your Team

It can be difficult to tell your employees about a tough decision that will negatively impact them. Whether you’ve decided to cancel a project or are conducting layoffs, here’s how to deliver tough news in an honest, respectful, and compassionate way. First, don’t bury the lead. When you make the announcement, state the news clearly and at the top of your message. Obscuring or sugarcoating it will only make the experience more difficult for your team. Next, after delivering the news, take a pause. Give your team a moment to digest what you just told them, and don’t ramble to fill the silence or avoid eye contact. Then, take responsibility. You could say something like, “I know this is a lot to take in and comes as a shock to many. I will take a few minutes to explain how we came to this decision. I don’t expect you to agree with our conclusion. But I owe you an explanation of how we got here.” Finally, take time to show empathy, acknowledging the impact of the decision and the emotions people might be feeling. Close with an invitation for both conversation and support.

Show Your Employees That You’re Invested in Their Development

 from HBR

Show Your Employees That You’re Invested in Their Development

When you become a manager, you take on the responsibility of your direct reports’ career development in addition to your own. How can you demonstrate that their growth is a top priority? Start by having career-development conversations with your employees early and often. The dialogue should begin around a year into their tenure. You might send out a prompt in advance of the first conversation, with the goal of better understanding your employee and their aspirations. In the conversation itself, focus on asking questions and listening carefully. Find out what they enjoy working on most, what motivates them, and how they hope to grow. In the follow up, work with them to put together a customized development plan. Then run some small experiments—relatively simple changes to their responsibilities and workweek to point them in the right direction. For example, think about any classes, conferences, or training programs that might match their interests, and encourage them to come to you with ideas of their own. Finally, check in roughly once a month to make sure they’re on track. These conversations can be brief—a quick 15-minute chat is enough to remind your employee that you remain invested in their development.