610-793-6609 michael@achievable.com

Communicating Effectively with Your Remote Teams

May 28, 2020 | Business Growth, Business Owners, CEOs, Leadership, Leadership Development, Productivity

The way we live and do business has changed dramatically as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. To prevent the spread of the virus, we have been practicing social-isolation. As business leaders we have been forced to lay-off some of our people or decrease their hours and I encourage all of us to stay in contact with those employees and provide assistance whenever we can. Those who are able to still work from home are challenged to navigate through the inundation of e-mails and video-calls. Parents working from home are struggling to find some sense of balance as they juggle their roles as homeschool teacher, parent, and employee. We are all trying to figure this out and social isolation is not making it any easier because human welfare relies on interdependence. We need to find a way to truly stay connected to each other despite the upheaval. The way we do this is by communicating with people in the language they understand.

For the purpose of this post, I want to focus on communicating with your teams working from home. Working from home is a huge transition for teams used to office life, and your communication might be suffering. More than ever before, it is critical that you are aware of your own communication style and the communication style of your team members. The Working From Home Report is a new assessment tool developed by TTI SI that will give you and your team the gift of self-understanding. Inside the report, you’ll find: personalized work from home tips and direction on how to communicate with your team when everyone is working from home. I’m offering this assessment tool to you and your team for FREE!

Productivity increases by 20-25% in organizations with connected employees, according to the McKinsey Global Institute. Give your team the boost they need right now with the Working From Home Report by improving communication between everyone. Click HERE to complete the assessment now and then share the link with your team!

5 Ways to Eliminate Time Wasting

May 28, 2020 | Business Owners, CEOs, Motivation, Productivity, Strategic Planning

5 Ways to Eliminate Time Wasting           

How often do we excuse unaccomplished goals with the statement “I don’t have time?” I believe that we all have the time to achieve everything we want in life and business if we focus more on what really matters most – high payoff activities. You want to spend time doing the right thing in the right way at the right time and for the right reasons. As business leaders some high payoff activities include personal development, building a high performing leadership team, providing strategic direction, goal setting and planning with your team, tracking results, and managing capital. The reality is that we get so caught up in daily operations and navigating through crises that we put off these high payoff activities for when we have time – and the time never comes.

You can apply the S.E.D.O test to all organizational tasks, activities and processes and refocus your attention on the high payoff activities. S.E.D.O. stands for Simplify – Eliminate – Delegate – Outsource. And 5th test, Automate, has been recently added to remind us that technology can help us handle repetitive tasks without wasting our time and energy.

Simplify  – What task, activity, or process can be simplified, streamlined, consolidated or rearranged?

Eliminate – What task, activity, or process that no longer has value to the organization can be eliminated?

Delegate – What task can be delegated to other team members?

Outsource – What task, process, or project are you currently doing that is not part of the core of your business? How can you outsource it?

Automate- Create systems and processes to handle repetitive tasks.

When you spend your time on high payoff activities, you will be more productive. You will have more energy. Your people will be more engaged, and you will increase your opportunities to achieve your overall vision and mission with less stress. Not only will you have time to do what you want in life and in business but you will be happier too!

Click here to download the S.E.D.O tool for free.

 

 

How Will You Emerge From This Crisis

May 6, 2020 | Business Growth, Business Owners, CEOs, Leadership, Leadership Development, Strategic Planning, Success

If you are waiting to get back to “business as usual” you will be grossly disappointed. The world has changed, is changing, and will continue to change. Those who are waiting to go back to “business as usual” will be left behind.

So what do we do to thrive in the “new normal”?

As business leaders, our number one priority is to stay focused on strategy and provide direction for our teams.

You might be wondering what an effective strategic plan even looks like right now. Dennis Carey, Ram Charan and Tierney Remick wrote an article  in The Executive outlining 5 critical “pivots” CEOs must make right now to stay in business and ensure a successful future.

Make employees a top priority.
Keep the organization lean and nimble.
Redefine what a “responsible” balance sheet looks like.
Adapt to consumers’ changing needs.
Step up to social responsibility.
If you want your business to thrive you have to be intentional in your actions and not just reactive. Intentionality requires planning. Ask yourself these questions: Is your current plan still applicable?

Are your goals aligned with the aforementioned criteria? Are you taking action to achieve those goals? Are you communicating openly with your team and are you listening to their feedback?

How you and your business emerge from this crisis depends entirely on what you are doing right now. Are you thinking strategically and acting intentionally? Creating a One Page Strategic Plan is a good first step to ensure that you are.

Click here  for more information and to download the One Page Plan Strategic Checklist and get a jumpstart today!

Make It a Grateful Day

May 3, 2020 | Business Owners, CEOs, Happiness, Leadership, Leadership Development

Paul J. Meyer of Leadership Management International defines attitude as “a mental disposition toward events, people, or situations that controls behavior.”

This definition clarifies why it is so important to be mindful and aware of our own thoughts and attitudes. Our thoughts CONTROL what we do, whether consciously or subconsciously.

It is equally important for those who want to live successful lives to change negative thought patterns and attitudes through continuous repetition of new, positive thought patterns.

Attitude is essentially the perspective we take when looking at the world around us. Over the past few weeks, I discussed several different ways that we, as leaders, can look at adversity in a positive light.

Today, I want to discuss one fundamental and powerful perspective that is perhaps most often overlooked – Gratitude! Adopting an attitude of gratitude is a simple step we can take during these times to change our focus from problem to solution. When we start thinking about why we are grateful, our reasons to be grateful become more and more abundant. But how does this work?

Practicing gratitude changes the structure and function of our brains. The more we express gratitude, the more grateful we become overall. Although there is not enough space here to dive deeply into the neuroscience that supports this, you can find it here.

Research also shows that expressing gratitude positively correlates with being happier, healthier, and more professionally engaged. Madhuleena Chowdhury of Positive Psychology explains that regular practice of gratitude releases negative emotions, lessens pain, helps us sleep better, improves our ability to manage stress and reduces anxiety and depression.

As leaders it is our responsibility to model positive attitudes and behavior. If we adopt an attitude of gratitude, our behaviors will show this. We will communicate gratitude to our families, employees, customers and communities not only through our words but through how we live and do business. What a wonderful world it could be if we all behaved gratefully.

Do you want to get started on the journey toward an attitude of gratitude? Click here to download the Attitude of Gratitude worksheet today. Another way to express gratitude is to Celebrate Your Success. Click here to Download.