Kindness And Its Impact On The Workplace

When you think about transformative practices in the workplace, the simple act of kindness may not be the first thing that comes to mind. But sayings like “one good act deserves another” and “one kind act will always create another” are more than posters on a wall or something that your mom said when you were young. Researchers from the University of California, San Diego and Harvard performed a kindness study and found that cooperative behavior is contagious. When people benefit from kindness, they “pay it forward” by helping others and create a ripple effect of cooperation. What a powerful tool to improve workplace culture and team member satisfaction!

Just as negativity can quickly permeate a team and cause issues, kindness has a powerful impact on a workplace environment. A ‘culture of kindness’ results in all kinds of amazing benefits, including:

  • Improved employee morale and increased retention: It’s simple: happy employees are more likely to stay and unhappy employees are more than willing to jump ship. Kindness is a key component. Team members who work in a positive environment have a better overall sense of well-being.
  • Enhanced collaboration and teamwork: Kindness fosters a sense of belonging and mutual respect among team members. This can lead to better problem-solving, increased creativity and better collaboration.
  • Reduced stress and better mental health: According to the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, being generous and kind improves our own sense of well-being. Research like this shows that a supportive work environment can contribute to better overall well-being for workers.
  • Reduced conflict: Practicing kindness at work is a powerful way to diffuse tension and resolve conflicts between co-workers. Dealing with issues in an empathetic way helps employees reach resolutions more effectively and maintain a positive work environment.
  • Enhanced professional growth: A culture of kindness often creates an environment where employees feel comfortable asking for help, seeking feedback and taking risks. This can lead to professional growth with employees continuously improving their skill set.

We spend a majority of our waking time at work. Why not make it a place where spreading kindness and practicing compassion is the norm? This isn’t just a good thought that doesn’t produce results. Kindness can actually transform an organization! One of the best things about creating a culture of kindness is that it doesn’t take much to get started. Acts of service and kindness don’t need to be big or expensive in order to benefit organizations. If you’re feeling like your workplace could use a “kindness reboot”, Leah M Joppy and Associates is ready to help. To learn more, call us at 301-670-0051 or email us at leah@lmja.com.

How Does A Leader Build Kindness At Work?

Kindness hasn’t always been high on the list when it comes leadership. For some, leadership is about being tough and having people do what you say. For others, kindness is seen as a weakness or just the latest fad in leadership. But what if I told you that kindness may be the number one superpower of a strong leaders? Let’s take a closer look at what it means to be a kind, compassionate leader and some ways to put it into action within your organization.

Developed by Roffey Park, the ‘Compassion Workplace Model’ outlines five aspects of compassionate leadership and management:

  • Being aware of the needs of others.
  • Being non-judgmental to the viewpoints of others.
  • Being resilient and tolerant toward personal distress.
  • Feeling and showing empathy at all levels of a professional life.
  • Being accountable and responsible for all good and bad outcomes of the team.

So, what does that look like day-to-day in the workplace? What are some ‘real life’ ways that leaders can practice kindness and build a positive workplace culture? Here are a few examples:

  • Offer genuine compliments: Recognizing your teams’ hard work, achievement or skills can make them feel appreciated and motivated. Remember to be sincere and specific when complimenting them about their work or the impact of their actions.
  • Organize team-building activities: Plan activities that promote bonding, collaboration and fun among team members. Ideas include a group lunch, team games or volunteering together.
  • Practice active listening: Sounds simple, but when a team member is speaking, give them your full attention and listen carefully without interrupting. It goes a long way towards making them feel heard and valued.
  • Celebrate successes and milestones: Recognize the accomplishments of your team members by celebrating their successes, work anniversaries and other milestones.
  • Offer constructive feedback: When providing feedback, focus on being helpful and specific. Offer suggestions for improvement and make sure to highlight positive contributions.
  • Express your gratitude: Make it a habit to show thanks for the support and assistance you receive from team members. A simple “thank you” can go a long way in creating a positive atmosphere.
  • Show empathy during difficult times: Be supportive and understanding when team members are dealing with personal or professional challenges. Offering help, listening or a simple kind gesture shows that you care.
  • Be mindful of workload: Avoid setting unrealistic expectations and communicate clearly about deadlines and priorities.

Challenge yourself and your team to complete a few random acts of kindness today. Track the outcome, record how it made you and your team feel and how it brought people together. Then, watch how it creates a positive ripple effect.

A kind leader is a strong leader. How can you lead with more compassion and empathy? And what impact might it have on your team members and their productivity? Leah M Joppy and Associates can help your organization create a culture of kindness and start reaping the benefits of this powerful tool! Call us at 301-670-0051 or email us at leah@lmja.com to learn more.

Accountability And How It Works

Have you ever worked in an environment where team members were chronically late for meetings and when they did show up, interrupted the flow and needed to be caught up? How about trying to work with people who blamed others for their mistakes or made excuses for not finishing a task or hitting a goal? These are just a few examples of workplaces with a lack of accountability. What starts as small issues can quickly snowball when no one takes ownership of making decisions, addressing challenges and solving problems. And it makes it impossible to create a high performing team.

What does accountability look like in the workplace? A culture of accountability means that team members take responsibility for their performance and project outcomes. They don’t play the “blame game” when something goes wrong, but take ownership of mistakes and try to learn from them. Accountable employees work to find solutions. As a result, an organization thrives and doesn’t have as many issues with productivity and engagement.

That doesn’t mean that holding team members accountable is easy. We often resist doing it because it makes us uncomfortable, we simply forget or maybe we don’t even know how to go about it. Here’s a look at 4 things managers can do to foster an accountable team environment:

  • Lead by example: You can’t hold others accountable until you begin with yourself. As a manager, you set the tone, performance and culture for your team. If you’re continuously showing up to meetings late, pushing deadlines and not owning up to your mistakes, people will follow your lead.
  • Set clear, measurable goals: When you clarify expectations and goals, you help your team understand what their focus should be. Explain what should be done, why it matters and what the final outcome should look like. Most people want to meet their goals and help the team, especially when they truly understand what’s at stake.
  • Work on your feedback skills: Giving tough feedback is never easy, but it’s a necessary management skill and one of the most important to develop. However, it’s also important to provide consistent positive feedback. If all your employees hear about is what they’re doing wrong, that’s hardly motivating. It’s all about clear and respectful communication, something we’ll cover more in our next article.
  • Reward accountability: When managers see accountability being practiced, they should celebrate it and recognize team members that are doing it. Ideas include: making accountability a criteria when considering employees for promotions, publicly thanking team members for taking accountability and solving problems and offering professional development opportunities when team members take accountability in areas they need to learn.

Fostering a culture of accountability on your team will not only improve employee morale, but it’ll also give your team the sense of ownership they need to thrive. If you feel accountability is lacking within your organization, working with a coach, like Leah M Joppy and Associates can help. We can work with you to identify any accountability issues on your team, assist managers with how to deal with them and help build a culture of trust and transparency. The result is more engaged, focused and happy employees!

Ready to learn more? Call us at 301-670-0051 or email us at leah@lmja.com.

Responsible Communication

For many organizations, collaboration is a key element. But just because teams are collaborating more than ever doesn’t mean they’re doing it effectively – and the main culprit is usually communication. In an era where we’re balancing in-person, hybrid and remote workers, effective communication is more important than ever. But it takes work and it often means being candid.

When people hear the words “candid conversation,” it can often be accompanied with feelings of anxiety and a pit in their stomach. But being “candid” doesn’t have to be synonymous with being disrespectful or unkind. In fact, candid communication used in the right way is kind – it builds greater trust, transparency and opens the door to more constructive conversations about tough issues.

So often, managers (particularly new ones) and team members are focused on being “nice” and they’re afraid to speak up when problems arise. Or they sugar coat communication so much that it loses any effectiveness. There are ways to be both candid and respectful. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

  • Learn how to provide feedback: We touched on this briefly in our last article, but learning how to give constructive feedback is so vital. When challenges arise, leaders can use both kindness and candor at the same time. The key is self-awareness and training. It’s important to understand your own feelings about having difficult conversations, especially if you’ve had experiences when feedback was given in a hurtful way or if you’re uncomfortable with conflict.
  • Build trust through communication: When you build relationships that include mutual trust, you and your team will be more comfortable bringing up issues and being yourselves. How do you build that kind of relationship? Actually, the first step is being more candid! A leader who provides honest and transparent communication is more likely to gain the trust of their team than someone with a facade of “niceness”.
  • Make sure you lead by example: Again, it all comes from the top. Show that you’re open to feedback (ask for it!) and others will do the same. Provide opportunities for team members to bring up issues without having to be afraid of repercussions and reward those who do it respectfully. Not every candid remark will be helpful, but nurturing a culture of candor and kindness has more benefits than downsides.

Remember that approaching difficult conversations with kindness allows you to be both objective and empathetic – and these are the basic requirements for candidness.

Effective communication is the backbone of any organization, yet many leaders struggle when it comes to having honest, candid conversations with team members. Working with a coach, like Leah M Joppy and Associations, can help managers at any stage in their career take a closer look at their communication style, areas for improvement and tactics to provide feedback and solve problems in a direct and respectful way. Your employees will thank you for it!

Call us at 301-670-0051 or email us at leah@lmja.com to learn more.

Psychological Safety And Teams

Take a moment and think about the last time you had a meeting with your team members. Was everyone engaged and encouraged to share their ideas? When someone did speak up, was everyone listening or were they distracted by their phones? Were new ideas or questions met with interest and enthusiasm or was there a bit of laughing and a “that will never work” kind of attitude? As we go through our daily routine, we may not think about how the workplace environment is shaping the attitudes and perceptions of team members. But there’s an important component of workplace motivation and engagement that shouldn’t be ignored: psychological safety.

What exactly is psychological safety? It’s the belief that people feel safe in admitting they don’t know something or can disagree with an opinion without the risk of being thought less of, penalized, retaliated against or considered not a team player. It’s feeling comfortable taking risks and expressing work-related thoughts and feelings. Psychological safety plays a vital role in decision making, healthy interpersonal relationships, greater innovation and more effective execution within organizations.

The big question on leaders’ minds is, “How do I know if my team has psychological safety?” The answers to these 7 simple statements, developed by Amy Edmondston, Harvard Business School professor and author of The Fearless Organization, can give you a sense of the degree to which employees feel psychologically safe:

  • If you make a mistake on this team, it is not held against you.
  • Members of this team are able to bring up problems and tough issues.
  • People on this team often accept others for being different.
  • It is safe to take a risk on this team.
  • It isn’t difficult to ask other members of this team for help.
  • No one on this team would deliberately act in a way that undermines my efforts.
  • Working with members of this team, my unique skills and talents are valued and utilized.

A lot of what goes into creating a psychologically safe environment are good management practices. This includes things like encouraging open communication and actively listening to employees, making sure team members feel supported and making it clear that their voice and ideas matter.

Here’s what psychological safety is not: It’s not about “being nice” or creating an environment where people have to feel comfortable all the time. Taking risks can make people feel like they’re out of their comfort zone. Mistakes happen and need to be pointed out in order for learning to take place. The key is that these risks and mistakes happen in a safe environment.

Psychological safety has become a hot topic in the workplace and for good reason. An environment where it’s lacking results in greater employee dissatisfaction, less productivity and innovation and, ultimately, more turnover. How would you rate the level of psychological safety within your organization? Do team members feel comfortable sharing their ideas, questions and concerns or is there room for improvement? That’s where Leah M Joppy and Associates can step in and help. We can look at your current practices and help you craft new and innovative ways to communicate, problem-solve and engage with team members.  

Ready to learn more? Call us at 301-670-0051 or email us at leah@lmja.com to learn more.

The Psychology Of Employee Engagement

We spend the majority of our week at the office, yet how often do we stop and think about what makes us really excited about our job? For leaders, do you ever consider what keeps team members motivated to do their best work? We get so caught up in the next project and deadline that sometimes we forget to focus on how to improve engagement in the office. That’s where the three principles of employee engagement come into play: psychological safety, psychological meaningfulness and psychological availability.

In our last article, we took a look at psychological safety. Here, we’ll take a closer look at the other two components: psychological meaningfulness and availability. All three were developed by organizational psychologist William Kahn, author of the 1990 study “Physical Conditions of Personal Engagement and Disengagement at Work.”

Psychological Meaningfulness

What is psychological meaningfulness? It’s when team members feel motivated within their positions due to challenge, opportunities for autonomy and strong goals. They feel like they’re a part of something larger than themselves. If you give people challenging and meaningful work, you set them up for success and they’ll reciprocate by pouring themselves into that work. Research from the American Psychological Association has shown that workers who perceive their jobs as meaningful report higher job satisfaction, are more engaged, have lower rates of absenteeism and even enjoy better health.

How can organizations increase psychological meaningfulness with team members? Here are a few tips to help:

  • Communicate the work’s bigger impact and make team members aware of the connection between their contribution and the result.
  • Recognize and mentor team members’ potential. Ask them what they’re interested in, learn what their strengths are and match them with opportunities.
  • Nurture personal connections with team events, check-ins, educational opportunities and social time.
  • Give team members autonomy and use “leading to support” behaviors (ie- clarify confusing or missing information related to team goals or tasks, provide reasons for any policy changes and encourage team members to be self-starters).

Psychological Availability

What is psychological availability? It’s when team members team members feel the demands of their position are reasonable and achievable. They believe they possess the physical, emotional and psychological resources necessary to do their job.

How can organizations increase psychological meaningfulness with team members? Here are a few ways to help:

  • Provide learning opportunities and feedback that allows them to feel confident about investing themselves in their work. In short, set team members up for success.
  • Ensure that team members have the necessary resources to do their jobs. This includes examining the physical work environment (noise level, lighting, accessibility to quiet meeting spaces, etc.).
  • Examine if the demands of the job are achievable. Make work/life balance a priority.
  • Provide empathy for personal situations by offering support and resources. Look for any changes in behavior and have regular check-ins.

Most organizations don’t know where to begin when it comes to helping their employees find more meaning in their positions and increase overall engagement. The typical “office perks” are often surface level and don’t delve into the root issues. That’s where Leah M Joppy and Associates can help. A fresh approach and perspective, combined with experience tackling all different types of employee disengagement issues is just what you need to jumpstart your team’s motivation! Call us at 301-670-0051 or email us at leah@lmja.com today.

When Your Team Hits An Obstacle

You and your team are working on a project and, suddenly a problem (or two or three) develop and threaten to derail your progress. Dealing with obstacles and challenges is a regular part of working life and overcoming them isn’t always easy. People tend to do three things when faced with a problem: 1) they get afraid or uncomfortable and wish it would go away; 2) they feel that they have to come up with an immediate answer and it has to be the ‘right’ answer; and 3) they look for someone to blame. Most of us are ‘conflict-adverse’. It makes us feel uncomfortable and dealing with that discomfort is a huge challenge. That’s why building a culture of creative problem solving in the workplace is so vital.

So, what exactly does creative problem solving mean? Creative problem solving or CPS is a method for approaching a problem or a challenge in an imaginative and innovative way, aka thinking “outside of the box”. It helps you redefine the problems and opportunities you face, come up with new, fresh solutions and then take action. If you do an Internet search on the term, you’ll find many variations, most of which can be traced back to the work started by Alex Osborn in the 1940s and further developed at Buffalo State College and the Creative Education Foundation. CPS is based on a few core principles:

  • Everyone is creative.
  • Creative skills can be learned and enhanced.

CPS is an essential soft skill that can help leaders and team members find new solutions to old problems and thrive in a fast-paced and ever-changing environment. Making creative problem solving a priority has a wealth of benefits for organizations:

  • It encourages innovation
  • It improves productivity
  • It allows for adaptability
  • It fosters growth

And here’s a really big one: It leads to better job satisfaction. When people are encouraged to be creative, they’re also more engaged. They’re not just solving problems in the stale, same old way, but are brainstorming and coming up with new, fresh ideas to approach challenges. This encourages retention and more joy in the workplace. And who doesn’t want that in today’s competitive hiring environment?

How many of us have had training in problem solving? We know it’s an important part of our role, but do we actually know how to do it effectively? That’s where working with a coach, like Leah M Joppy and Associates, can help. We can walk you through the CPS process, work with your leaders and team on how to approach problem solving in a fresh way and support you through any challenges during the entire process. Call us at 301-670-0051 or email us at leah@lmja.com to learn more.

Building A Creative Problem-Solving Culture

It’s inevitable. Problems are going to happen in the workplace. It’s how leaders and team members approach them that makes all the difference. And trying to solve new problems using old solutions isn’t the answer. That’s why creative problem solving (CPS) is a such a vital skill to prioritize and develop. It fosters innovation, encourages brainstorming and approaches issues from a fresh perspective. In our last article, we looked at many of the reasons why CPS is a benefit for any organization. But how do leaders and teams get started if this is a relatively new concept and way of approaching problems?

The CPS process can be broken down into 7 steps:

1. Identify the goal: Before solving a problem, you need to understand the problem. Take some time to analyze the conflict and clear up any confusion. Did you misunderstand some details or overlook something? Clarity is key.

2. Gather data

Once you know what the problem is, you need to learn all about it. Gather all the information you can to gain a better understanding of the issue and to solve it. For example, who is involved in solving the issue? Who does it affect?

3. Ask challenging questions

After you’ve gathered details, turn the problem into a question. Be sure to phrase the question in a way that encourages suggestions and ideas. Questions should be short, concise and only focus on a single issue. Trying to tackle too much only leads to frustration and feeling overwhelmed.

4. Explore ideas

Now the brainstorming begins and the creativity really starts to flow as you create possible ideas and solutions. With so many ideas being thrown around, it’s crucial that you write each one down—even they seem a little stupid! Trying to sort out bad ideas from good ones during this step can squash creativity.

5. Come up with solutions 

Evaluating each idea will help you zero in on the best solution and weed out the less effective ideas. See if the possible solution actually solves the problem and if you can implement it successfully. If it doesn’t resolve the issue, move on to the next idea.

6. Create an action plan

Now that you have a solution, it’s time to create an action plan outlining steps for implementation. Think about what resources you’ll need, how long it will take and document everything clearly. Once you create the plan, communicate it to the rest of the team so everyone is on the same page.

7. Take action

Now that your plan is created and your team on board, it’s time to implement your solution and resolve the problem. Then, take a step back, look at what worked, what could have been done better and document ideas for the next time.

Dealing with problems in the workplace is a fact of life, yet so many us are conflict-averse. It’s human nature! But learning the CPS process can make a big difference in how both leaders and team members face hurdles and come out stronger on the other side. It takes training to build these skills and that’s where Leah M Joppy and Associates can help. We work with both leaders and team members to learn how to approach problem solving in a fresh, creative way that builds trust, innovation and a new perspective. It’s an investment that pays off in a big way for your organization.  

Ready to learn more? Contact us at 301-670-0051 or email us at leah@lmja.com to learn more.

Recognizing A Strong Leader

If someone asked you, “what are the critical components of strong leadership”, what answer comes to mind? Maybe good listening skills or excellent communication would top the list. Or perhaps the ability to delegate and not micromanage. While all of those answers are spot-on, you may be surprised by one crucial component that’s often overlooked: self-reflection.

If you’re in a leadership role, when was the last time you made an effort to focus on self-reflection? Or have you ever really done it or even figured out what it means? Self-reflection is taking some time to think about your thoughts, behavior, motivation and actions. The concept seems simple, but it can be surprisingly difficult to do. We’re always moving on to the next project, meeting or crisis without pausing to reflect on what happened earlier that day or that week. On the flipside, self-reflection is NOT about beating yourself up and getting stuck in the past. We can’t turn back time or erase a negative outcome, but we can learn from those experiences and change our behavior or leadership tactics moving forward.

So, why is self-reflection a key practice for leaders? It’s all about the 3 A’s: Awareness, Adaptability and Action. Let’s take a closer look:

  • Awareness: Self-reflection helps leaders become aware of their strengths and weaknesses. That kind of awareness helps them better understand how they lead, teaches them to capitalize on their strengths and work on improving weaknesses.
  • Adaptability: The practice of self-reflection enables leaders to gain insights from past projects, interactions and team dynamics. They’re better able to adapt, grow and respond to changes, conflicts and whatever else is thrown at them.
  • Action: By practicing self-reflection, leaders learn to look at situations from a neutral perspective and set their own egos aside. This helps them see the big picture and take action where needed.

A consistent self-reflection practice pays off in so many ways for leaders and helps them:

  • Set priorities and make better decisions
  • Learn to use feedback for growth rather than taking it personally
  • Maintain better relationships
  • Communicate effectively by understanding how they come across to others
  • Create a more honest and productive work environment

Taking the time to reflect has big benefits for both leaders and organizations. Yet many don’t recognize the value or know how to put it into action. That’s where working with a coach, like Leah M Joppy and Associates, can help leaders build a regular, ongoing self-reflection process. Leaders will learn how to ask effective types of reflection questions, receive personalized feedback and help set and achieve their goals. Ready to learn more? Call us at 301-670-0051 or email us at leah@lmja.com to learn more.

 

 

 

The Bests Ways To Practice Self-Reflection

For such a useful practice, the self-reflection process is not something we know how to do intuitively. It’s not something we learn about in school and it isn’t part of most job training. Our work environments tend to focus on what to do next or how to do more. We’re shaped by “always moving forward” work cultures and we believe there’s no time to pause and reflect. Most of us don’t learn about the power of self-reflection until someone else, often a coach or mentor, guides us through the process.

Self-reflection enables leaders to identify their strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement. But how do you begin a self-reflection practice if it’s not something that you typically take the time to do? Here are a few suggestions: 

Reflect regularly

Schedule 10 to 20 minutes a week for self-reflection. This should be blocked out in your calendar, so it’s a set time for you to quietly think and self-reflection becomes a regular habit. A quiet and calm place without distractions is ideal. For some, leaving the office environment helps clear the mind. Others may choose to arrive at the office 30 minutes earlier when it’s quiet, to reflect on the day or week ahead.

Develop a structure for reflection

Self-reflection can be overwhelming to begin with and particularly without a set focus. You may want to start with a single question or topic, such as the following areas:

  • Week in review: What went well? What did you learn? What could you do differently?
  • Highlights: What did you do well as a leader this day and/or week?
  • Leadership: What type of leader do you want to be? Which leaders do you look up to? How does your team view you as a leader?
  • Values: What are your core values? Do they align with your organization’s values?
  • Team: What type of leader does your team need? Are there ways you could better meet their needs?
  • Goals: What are the current goals of your organization? What needs to be done and are you on track? What do you need to do as a leader to meet these goals?

Write down your thoughts

Writing down thoughts and ideas down during self-reflection frees up space in your mind and gives you the opportunity to organize your thoughts. Plus, having a record of your self-reflective thoughts means that you can check back regularly and see your progress.

Encourage your team members to practice self-reflection

While self-reflection is important for leaders, your team can also find a lot of value in it. Encourage your team to regularly reflect on their own performance, as well as yours and make them feel comfortable sharing their insights with you.

Self-reflection is a humbling, but powerful technique that helps leaders (and team members) improve their performance. But it can be a tough process that makes you take an honest look at yourself: your strengths, your weaknesses, areas for improvement and how you should work to grow and develop. Leah M Joppy and Associates is ready to help you make self-reflection an important component of your leadership process. We can help you set goals and provide support and accountability. Contact us at 301-670-0051 or email us at leah@lmja.com to learn more.