Managers and leaders have a direct effect on their employees’ stress levels, but too few leaders are aware of this power. Even well-meaning managers may unwittingly stoke anxiety.
Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, professor of business psychology at Columbia University and an associate at Harvard’s Entrepreneurial Finance Lab, points out five behaviors that can increase people’s anxiety levels. Leaders who can spot these behaviors can start to change them.

1. Using negative language: Words matter…Even if two leaders are addressing the same issue, impacts vary. Talking about “possibilities,” “improvements,” or “potential” has a different impact than “problems,” “dangers,” or “complications.”
2. Erratic or unusual actions: Even in unpredictable situations like the current pandemic, leaders should act in consistent and predictable ways. Don't make employees guess what you’ll do next.
3. Emotional volatility: Work hard to notice your nonverbal communication when you’re feeling stressed. It soothes others when you project calm.
4. Excessive pessimism: Pessimism can be useful in preventing risks. But keep pessimistic communication in check. During uncertain times, your staff has a right to expect you to notice what they can be optimistic about.
5. Ignoring people’s emotions: During stressful times, avoid obsessing on your own emotions. Focus on others and exhibit empathy.

As a leader, do you think about how your words and actions impact those you manage? Have you consciously changed any of your behaviors during this stressful time? To join the conversation, click "comments" above.
 
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​We’ve all been guilty. Ten minutes after logging in to a Zoom meeting our mind begins to wander. Our attention turns to our in-box, our curious dog, or what time dinner is coming out of the oven. Chalk it up to the Ringelmann Effect. When French architectural engineer Max Ringelmann asked a team of people to pull on a rope, and then asked individuals — separately — to pull on the same rope, he noticed that when people worked as individuals, they put in more effort. The bigger the group, the less responsibility each individual feels. In virtual meetings—especially large ones—the Ringelmann effect is magnified.
 
So, the success of virtual meetings depends on listener participation. Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Sarah Gershman, professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and president of Green Room Speakers, offers tips for staying focused:

• Define your value ahead of time: Identify beforehand what you will contribute and/or learn from the call. For contributions, have your points, reasons, and examples ready.
• Acknowledge previous speakers: Before raising a topic, reiterate what you just heard—even asking the speaker whether you’ve characterized their point correctly. People are more likely to listen to you if they first feel heard.
• Connect the dots: Reflect on what you've heard to move the conversation forward. For example, “I’ve heard several people say the client seems impatient. I wonder if anyone has thoughts about why this impatience is occurring now?”
• Note distracting thoughts: When your mind wanders, try jotting down the distracting thought on a pad. This allows you to put the thought “somewhere” so that you can return to it after.

 
How did you handle the situation the last time your attention wandered during a virtual meeting? Any tips to share? To join the conversation, click "comments" above.

​Like many of us, you may be facing the challenge of working remotely or managing a newly virtual team. If so, Vlada Bortnik, Co-founder and CEO of Marco Polo, the popular video messaging app, has some advice based on best practices of her company, which has been operating fully remotely since its establishment in 2012. ​​

Many leaders have crossed the first hurdles of ensuring that their remote team members have set up their tech tools and defined their processes. The next step is keeping everyone engaged and motivated. Though academic research on remote productivity is mixed, with some studies saying it declines while others promising it increases, Lindsay McGregor, co-author of The New York Times bestseller Primed to Perform and co-founder and CEO of Vega Factor, a technology and consulting firm, says success depends on how you do it:

Motivators that lead to increased productivity, says McGregor, include play (the joy of problem-solving with a colleague), purpose (visibility into one’s impact on clients or colleagues), and potential (access to colleagues that teach and mentor). What can leaders do to try to keep these elements present in remote work? McGregor suggests the following weekly rhythm:

• Monday: Hold a performance cycle meeting for the team that  covers the asks: 1) What impact did we have last week and what did we learn? 2) How can we help each other with this week’s commitments? 3) How can we experiment to improve performance this week?

 

• Tuesday-Thursday: Have at least one individual meeting with each team member, focusing on helping them tackle challenges. Coordinate small group meetings in which employees can collaborate on the week’s experiments and tackle problems together. (Tweet it!)

 

• Friday: Focus on reflection. Review and gather input on the experiments of the week. Have team members share metrics and insights. Check in on each other’s motivation and progress. How are people feeling, where did they struggle, and where did they thrive?

      
If you are suddenly working remotely, do you feel more or less motivated in your role, and why? To join the conversation, click "comments" above.

If you would like to learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication, check out our online learning programs.  

Whether we planned to or not, many of us now work in virtual teams. Adapting to this format presents countless challenges—not the least of which is maintaining strong interpersonal relationships. In the absence of lunchtime get-togethers, water cooler conversations, or even random encounters in hallways or elevators, a certain amount of bonding may be sacrificed.

Sebastian Reiche, Professor of Managing People in Organizations at IESE Business School, offers this advice for fostering virtual team bonds: 

• Make room for informal conversations: Humans are social animals, and people want to feel known. To help build relationships and trust, encourage team members to share their feelings and chat informally. A few minutes doing this at the start or end of meetings can go a long way.

 

• Show appreciation: When your team, or one of its members, achieves a particular goal, organize a virtual reward ceremony. This could take the form of a virtual standing ovation, or a small gift sent to all team members that everyone can open at the same time during a video call.

 

• Help pre-existing teams open up to new methods or members: If you “inherit” a pre-existing team where everyone knows each other and works well together, be aware they may be resistant to change. Shared online training activities can help.

 

• Be available: Perhaps most important of all, be available to your team members. Let them know it is okay to reach out to you one-on-one for advice or to brainstorm or just to talk about their day, their mood, and their challenges--which, these days, are not in short supply.

Are you leading or participating in a virtual team? What tips do you have for keeping spirit and cohesiveness strong? To join the conversation, click "comments" on our Community of Practice Forum.
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If you would like to learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication, check out our online learning programs.