How to Make a Good “Ask:” Context, Clarity, and Communication

Here's a super read on something #managers and #leaders tend to take for granted viz. #delegation

It lays emphasis on the how and what to communicate in clear terms, which tends to get missed out due to the fast pace of the corporate world.

From the article:  "the “ask” is a conversation where both parties co-create agreements on follow-up, milestones, key metrics, and so forth. This should be a conversation, but it should be a conversation where you, the leader, have gained clarity in your mind about what you are asking others to do."

Read the rest of the article here.

The next competitive advantage in talent: Continuous employee listening

#leaders and #managers are often reminded that they should continuously #listen to their #teams . This has lead to team meets, skip level meetings and one-on-one meetings, which of course, consumes loads of time.

This interesting article shows how a consulting organization actually leveraged #analytics and #technology to do this. I wish they provided some inputs about the impact of their amazing and massive effort.

Read the article here.

The Five R's of Feedback: A Blueprint for Personal and Team Growth

 

From this excellently detailed article : "Feedback is not the reality but rather an opinion."

(This line has been in my head for the past 2 days - I would add the words "... opinion as per personal / societal norms")

Strangely, most organizations (people) are interested in giving feedback, instead of receiving feedback. Yet, as a trainer I find that this is not a topic of high priority for organization learning, even they are quite aware of the benefits.

Read the rest of the article here

Are You Boss of Your Cognitive Bias?

Photo by Marta Nogueira: https://www.pexels.com/photo/ pink-and-blue-background-divided-diagonally-with-two-matching-colored-pencils-placed- on-opposite-colors-top-down-view-flat-lay-with-empty-space-for-text-17151677/

 

If you are human, cognitive bias comes with the territory. You cannot beat it, but you can fight against it. In a new white paper, we explain why it is particularly important for organizational leaders to understand and check their cognitive biases, especially when making critical decisions.

Cognitive biases present a serious risk to organizational leaders who bear any responsibility for high-level decision-making. Educating yourself and your team on these five common mental traps will help you neutralize them for improved decision-making, team dynamics, and workplace culture.

1) Anchoring Bias

Read the rest of the article here.

Participant Feedback - Emotional Intelligence Workshop

Here are the pictures of my recent one-day workshop on Emotional Intelligence for participants from a financial organization.  The interesting point here is that the participants (not all were managing teams) have nominated themselves for this workshop.  Their interest was evident right from the start, with their questions and participants.

I was able to facilitate a couple of areas and not the entire workshop since there the participants needed content to increase their understanding the topic.  Hence the workshop was a mix of facilitation and training. 

Learning Expectations

 

Participants try to portray and identify each other's emotions

The participants thoughts about what makes a leader (hint - behaviours)

Participants identify ways to manage self, motivation and others

Learnings that participants wish to apply at the end of the workshop

The client feedback received was positive (they enjoyed it, were keen on applying their learnings), and participants wanted it to be of a longer duration.

Do let me know if you would like to conduct such workshops for your teams / organization. Write to me on ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com or call me on +919820155778 for a discussion.

How to get a quality answer

Getting answers that are useful means you have to frame the question appropriate to the topic you want to know more about.  Asking quality questions is a topic that doesn't get adequately covered in the education system, while there is an excessive focus on the 'right' answer.. 

Here's an intriguing topic - "Clean Language Interviewing". From the article - "As leaders have significant authority, this is compounded by the “acquiescence effect”, whereby people respond with what they believe the questioner wants to hear."

Read the article here

Participant Action and Feedback - Managerial Effectiveness for First Time Managers

I recently got to design and deliver one of my favourite workshop topics "Managerial Effectiveness for First Time Managers" for recently promoted employees for a financial institution.

This was a two day workshop, with a followup plan.  The participants were energetic and full of questions - as they agreed to as part of the Ways of Working they created at the start of the workshop.  I loved the way in which they participated in all the discussions and facilitation processes.

For me, I did my best to incorporate different facilitation processes (and an Improv exercise) into the design for both days, and didn't use a PowerPoint Presentation (much to participants surprise).  Here's some of the action from the two days.

The participant learning expectations which they wanted to apply immediately after the workshop

Sorting out the competencies of the leader

After a detailed discussion, the competencies of a leader, as they defined and understood it.

What they picked up from Day 1

And here's the overall learning from two days.

I'm thankful to Mr. Rajesh Almeida, Head - HR, for the opportunity to work on this assignment, design  the session and his team who supported me during the workshop.

I'm looking forward to more such assignments with those organizations that want to build their leadership pipeline.  Please connect with me on ryanbbbarretto@hotmail.com or +919820155778 to schedule a discussion.