While disagreeing may be uncomfortable, research tells us that diverse thinking is far more likely to lead to progress, innovations and breakthroughs than “nice” conversations where people hide what they really think. 

But how do you foster productive debate on your team? Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Shane Snow, author of Dream Teams: Working Together Without Falling Apart, offers four tips:

1. Remember that you are all on the same team: Remind everyone they are teammates, not adversaries, and there is no “winner.” The goal is not to convince people that you are right, but rather to find the best solution, and all viewpoints are welcome.
2. Keep it about facts, logic, and the topic at hand: Facts are different than interpretations of facts so stick to what is known. If the debate veers into other topics, acknowledge that and reset. Remember: “The debate is not about who cares more, who’s loudest, or who’s most powerful.”
3. Don’t make it personal: To depersonalize disagreements, agree that there will be no judgments or name calling, and that no one will lose face for changing their mind. “Instead of questions like ‘how could you believe that?’ or ‘why can’t you see…?’, try posing ‘what’ questions instead, such as ‘what makes you feel that way?’ or ‘what has led you to that conclusion?’”
4. Be intellectually humble: Listen to and respect every person and viewpoint. Be curious. Admit when you realize you are wrong, and graciously cheer on other ideas, different from your own.

How do you keep a debate on track when it seems to be veering? To join the conversation, click "comments" above -- we'd love to hear from you!

Learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication with our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022.

By now most of us are aware that employees become more motivated and engaged when their leaders express gratitude. Expressing gratitude can be more motivating to employees than money.

But it's how you thank that matters. A mere “drive by” recognition can have the opposite effect, according to Vidyard CEO Michael Litt. “They start to come off like cheap motivational techniques," he says. "On the flip side, they also run the risk of conditioning teams to expect constant positive reinforcement for meeting the basic requirements of their jobs.”

So, what to do? Fast Company editor Lydia Dishman offers these 3 opportunities:
​

1. Offer opportunities for the employee to participate in coveted projects or in meetings with important people.
2. Ask them what they've been up to lately and what fires they may have put out. Give them an opportunity to brag about their achievements.
3. Ask: “How can I help support you right now?”  This shows you share a commitment to their success. 

How has someone shown you gratitude in a significant way? To join the conversation, click on "comments" above.  We'd love to hear from you!

To find out how to create a habit around masterful communication, sign up for our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022. 

Without quality leadership, employee engagement and retention are endangered. Turnover hurts the bottom line, since hiring a new employee to replace an old one can cost anywhere from an additional 50 – 200 percent of the role’s salary. A far better solution, according to Katy Tynan, a principal analyst at Forrester, a global research and consulting firm, is to invest in leadership training.
​
According to a survey of more than 700 HR leaders conducted by Forrester and HR Executive Magazine, 65 percent of businesses spend up to $2500 per employee annually on such trainings. Consider that if five managers making $100,000 annually quit, a company might need to spend $500,000 replacing them.

Of course, leadership development isn’t something you can simply throw money at, and there is no guarantee that one course will transform a person’s leadership ability. Tynan’s advice for retaining the best talent is to reinforce workshops and virtual learning programs with immediate opportunities for practice. For example, after a workshop on giving feedback, HR leaders could match attendees with learning partners to practice in simulated real situations. 
​
Time, of course, has its own cost, but creating a learning community of practice can have deep and lasting benefits.
​
How much does your organization spend on leadership training, and how much time does it allocate for follow-up? To join the conversation, click "comments" above.

Learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication with our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022. 

As the pandemic lingers and economic insecurity looms, stress and uncertainly are pervasive in the workforce. Since uncertain environments make people more likely to engage in uncivil, and disrespectful communication—rudeness is on the rise, and so are its repercussions

According to Shannon G. Taylor and Lauren R. Locklear, writing in the Sloan Management Review, “Employees who experience incivility at work perform worse in their jobs, are less helpful to colleagues, and are more likely to steal from their employer. Rudeness also hurts employee retention and the bottom line. According to one estimate, handling a single incident of rudeness can cost an organization more than $25,000.” So what should managers be doing to keep rudeness from begetting more rudeness in a vicious cycle?

• Develop strong, shared expectations for appropriate behavior. Provide a strong example with your own behavior, encouraging employees to take cues from you. Be sure to define not only what positive behavior looks like, but also which negative behaviors are unacceptable. Company policies against incivility are most effective when managers clearly define what bad behavior entails. 

• Provide targeted training. To reduce uncivil behavior and its impact on employee turnover, offer training for teams struggling with a communication deficiency you’ve identified: A lack of active listening, or difficulty giving and receiving feedback. Improving these communication practices helps employees better understand their colleagues, so they can recognize and respond to one another’s needs. 
• Encourage gratitude and appreciation. Regularly encourage employees to thank and acknowledge each other. Make this real by showing them how to build expressions of gratitude into your team’s day-to-day work. For example, start meetings by asking each person to share something they appreciate about a colleague.

Have you experienced rudeness at work, and is your organization doing enough to mitigate it? To join the conversation, click "comments" above. 

Brent Gleeson, a Forbes contributor, first learned about effective leadership in chaotic environments as a Navy SEAL. “Many, if not all, of those basic principles apply in business and life in general,” he says. Among the most widely applicable lessons he cites: 

They know the difference between “activity” and “results”: SEAL teams say, “find work.” If you find yourself at the end of your To Do list, that’s not when your contribution to the team ends. Make a new list of priorities and execute -- not busy work, but activities that align with team goals.

• They focus on small, continuous improvements: “If you have ten priorities, you have no priorities.”
• They make decisions that align with their values: They have taken the time to identify their values and can lead with authenticity because they consistently rely on them.
• They focus on what is in their immediate control: Stay in your three-foot world, say the SEALS. Maintain situational awareness and focus on what you can influence and execute with the most impact.
• They surround themselves with people who make them better: Successful people keep company with mentors and other successful people. They eschew the company of negative people, who hamper their ability to thrive.
• They inspire others to be successful:  Effective leadership isn’t about cultivating a flock of followers who blindly follow the will of the leader. It’s about developing more autonomous leaders at every level of the organization.

As a leader, which of these principles do you follow, and which might you try to develop going forward? To join the conversation, click "comments" above.  We would love to get your feedback!

If you’ve been swearing more in the past year or so — even at work — you’re not alone. The corporate and financial research platform Sentieo recently combed through a database of around 9,000 conference call transcripts looking for expletives. They found 166 transcripts that contained them from 2021. That's a significant jump from previous years. Just 104 transcripts contained profanity in 2020, 112 in 2019, and 92 in 2018. So swearing at work appears to be up.  
 
Frustration with the pandemic and a work-from-home informality may both be factors in the rise of swearing. Our question: Is cutting loose with language always a bad thing? Experts quoted in Inc. say “not necessarily.”
 
Michael Adams, author of In Praise of Profanity, argues that swearing has many useful social functions including “bringing us together.” There’s an intimacy to profanity precisely because it is somewhat taboo. "Bad words," Adams writes, "are unexpectedly useful in fostering human relations because they carry risk.... We like to get away with things and sometimes we do so with like-minded people." Adams believes that swearing can also help us appear slightly more vulnerable and more authentic — both useful qualities in relationship building.
 
No one is suggesting you begin your next Zoom meeting by imitating a drunken pirate. But for those who are savvy enough to navigate delicate situations, an occasional swear word, science attests, may have genuine utility.
 
Have you ever uttered swear words at work, and how do you feel when co-workers do so? To join the conversation, click "comments" above just below the picture — we'd love to hear your thoughts!

Anxious about returning to the office? Join the club. After over a year of remote work, many of us are feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of returning to live work and seeing co-workers on-site rather than on-screen.
 
Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Alice Boyes, PhD, clinical psychologist and author of The Anxiety Toolkit, says the idea of getting back to the office might feel surprisingly difficult. Transitions often tend to spike our anxiety; we typically feel anxious about resuming anything we’ve avoided, even if that “avoidance” was externally imposed. Additionally, in the post-pandemic world, personal relationships and boundaries may have shifted.  For example, you may be concerned about who is or isn’t vaccinated and who does or doesn’t observe health and safety protocols.
 
Boyes suggests that we all “be intentional about retaining the best parts of WFH (work from home) and office-life.”  Working from home was a vast experiment, and it probably taught you a lot about what helps or harms your productivity. It likely also taught you a great deal about how you communicate most effectively. Holding on to any beneficial habits might prove to be a challenge when your environment changes—but being conscious of them is a first step.  Beyond that, she adds, “You’ll need to establish these habits almost from day one, as if they were completely new habits. This is because habits need consistent cues, and the cues you had at home will likely no longer be present, at least not in the same way.”
 
What concerns do you have about returning to the office, and how are you preparing for this transition? To join the conversation, click "comments" above.

Self-reliance is a quintessential American value, but it can be taken too far. At one time or another, everyone could use some help at work, though many are reluctant to ask. (Tweet it!)

Speaking to The New York Times , social psychologist Heidi Grant, author of the book Reinforcements: How to Get People to Help You, called the ability to ask for help “a learnable skill.” Although it is a skill we seldom think about, it can have a profound impact on our goals and lives.
 
The good news: People want to help. A 2008 study from Cornell found that subjects “underestimated by as much as 50 percent the likelihood that others would agree to a direct request for help.” The key is:

• Make sure the person you want help from realizes you need assistance.
• Put your desire into words: Ask!
• Be specific with your request and make sure the person knows why you have chosen them in particular.
• Make sure the person you’re asking has the time and resources to help.​

When was the last time you asked for help at work, and how did you go about it? If you have never asked for help, why not? To join the conversation, click "comments" above.
 
If you would like to read more about creating a habit around masterful communication, check out our book: Be Quiet, Be Heard: The Paradox of Persuasion