PeopleSense Consult

28/11/2017

SIGNIFICANCE

November is coming to an end. The end of the Year is just a step away. It's a good time as any for reflection. You have worked hard. You have done plenty. You have been busy. Very busy. What memorable action have you taken this past year that is key, significant and noteworthy to your future progress?

*Photo courtesy of Jeff Haden

23/11/2017

How are you dealing with this?

In 2008, i set out to write a research paper on managing remote teams as part of my post-graduate studies. I was intrigued by the challenge that this new form of working presented to managers. You might find this weird, but there wasn't much written about this subject then and so i ended up abandoning the topic. Today remote working is the new normal and, in barely 10 years since, so much ink has already gone into it. How many of these 12 tips are you practicing in your business today?

How do you lead a team that's not there? It’s hard enough to be a

08/11/2017

How are you dealing with this?

Every business has a reason for its being. The challenge is in getting that purpose across and known by everybody working in the business. How are you going about ensuring that everyone knows and is able to articulate the purpose of your business?

31/10/2017

How are you dealing with this?

"You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere." - Lee Iacocca

We are living in a world in which progress demands that we connect and collaborate with others. The demand for effective communication on everyone has never been greater than it is today. What practices do you have for ensuring that you are having deep, meaningful and impactful conversations with your team members and stakeholders?

24/10/2017

How are you dealing with this?

One of the biggest concerns today in organizations and society in general, is our level of inclusiveness. We seem to be growing further and further apart. The issues that divide us are increasing. And a lot of injustice and unfairness in happening at these intersects. What practices have you put in place to help your people raise their sense of inclusiveness and inspire them to rise beyond embedded divisions of tribe, race, gender, religion, political persuasion etc?

20/10/2017

Weekend booster

This day (Mashujaa Day) serves as an invitation to us not only to search and reflect on our past but also to dispassionately look into our present and future - because the thread of life weaves in one continuous forward motion. Our present is informed by the decisions we have made in the past. And tomorrow is dependent on the decisions we make today. So, when it comes to our heroes, it's not merely an issue of "who" we celebrate but also of "what" and "why" and "how" we celebrate heroism. If we are to move forward heroically, we have to gain clarity into these issues.

17/10/2017

How are you dealing with this?

We are living in the age of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity). To be successful in this age manager-leaders are required at every level of the organization, who are adept at both ex*****on and at inspiring creative energy that is needed to drive change. It is now no longer enough for a manager to be good in managerial tasks. To be effective he/she must also be able to inspire people i.e. be able to lead rather than merely manage people.

What practices do you have in place for growing manager-leaders in your organization?

10/10/2017

How are you dealing with this?

Building an effective team involves a delicate balance between empowering individuals to take responsibility and coaching them towards being more effective in pursuit of the set goals. If you are totally hands-free, the team might feel like you don't care. If you are fully hands-on, the team might feel like you don't trust them. What strategies or practices have you put in place to ensure that you are able to step back without appearing like you don't care?

06/10/2017

Weekend booster

"Decisions of the kind the executive has to make are not made well by acclamation. They are made well only if based on the clash of conflicting views, the dialogue between different points of view, the choice between different judgments. The first rule in decision making is that one does not make a decision unless there is disagreement...a decision without an alternative is a desperate gambler's throw, no matter how carefully thought through it might be." - Daily Drucker

This caught me completely flat footed. It compelled me to reflect on my decision making and the way I handle disagreement and conflicting views. It gave me some thinking to do over the weekend. I hope you feel the same way, too.

03/10/2017

How are you dealing with this?

Giving negative feedback to an employee can raise the wrong kind of emotions if the feedback is not well understood. What safeguards have you installed in your feedback sessions to enhance clarity and avoid misunderstanding?

29/09/2017

Weekend booster

"Too many people believe that if they're successful, they'll be happy. That's backward. The author and psychologist Shawn Achor says it straightforwardly: 'Happiness comes before success.' That's because positive emotions...have a host of benefits: our brains function better; we are more creative and adaptable; we have more energy, make smarter decisions, and better manage complexity. It's simple: happy people perform better..." - Annie McKee in an Article titled 'Happiness Traps' in Havard Business Review Blog

We spend approximately 70% of our life working.

What's keeping you from being happy at work?

What are you doing to reclaim your right to happiness at work?

26/09/2017

How are you dealing with this?

Everything inside a business creates only costs. It's the customer only who creates a profit. Results therefore exist on the outside. We have various tools for collecting data and controlling what we do on the 'inside'. But we rarely have adequate or reliable information about the 'outside'. This is a challenge every executive faces - how to deal with his/her insulation from the outside and how to collect critical info about the outside environment (consumer behavior, tech developments, competition, government policies etc). How are you dealing with this challenge in your business?
- Paraphrased from the Daily Drucker