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Culture is a powerful concept in business, identifying the way people actually work together to get stuff done. It’s connected with other larger cultures, of course, including the community, society and country we live in.
Individuals also bring their own micro-culture — how they interact, communicate, make decisions, and so on.
But here I’m focusing on the culture we all share in our organizations. Our key processes interleave with the way we work together as people. We’d like to think that they’re in sync. When they’re not, everyone gets frustrated and the processes don’t work well.
Read the rest of this entry »I’m involved with several organizations for which this is the beginning of the new year. Not on the traditional calendar, but in the way we think and plan and organize.
January 1st is just an arbitrary date, right?
So now might be a good time – as good as any – to make some decisions.
We’re creating more and more innovative team structures. Some people are at home, some in the office, some in a remote office, ….
It’s truly exciting as we discover how much work is independent of location.
But the challenge is that not everyone is on an equal footing.
People who run charities or other volunteer organizations have a big advantage over those of us in the for-profit sector: They know they have to tap peoples’ energy in a different way.
Because, of course, they can’t pay those volunteers. Well, maybe with a bit of beer and pizza, but that’s about it.
Over the course of my life, I’ve volunteered my time and energy in many places. And I’ve led teams of volunteers myself. Am I crazy?
Read the rest of this entry »Zoom has become an absolute lifeline for many businesses. How would we have gotten anything done at all without the ability to do office jobs from home?
But we’re finding out something very important about what it means to work with others via video-conferencing: It’s not just about performing work tasks.
Yes, it’s very easy now to pull together a meeting. We discuss. We make decisions. We follow an agenda. But … it’s not enough!
Read the rest of this entry »We all have excuses. My alarm didn’t go off. Someone forgot to tell me. I’ve been busy.
Yeah, there’s always a reason for messing up someone else’s life. It couldn’t possibly be … me!
This is deadly to your reputation as a leader. Leaders are all about getting stuff done – as an individual, and as a team. So when you make an excuse, that’s laying the groundwork for everyone to blame others, and not accomplish very much.
I was discussing today the importance of having friendly relationships with your neighbors. You know, those folks who live next to you who can make your life miserable.
I’ve discovered a crucial philosophy to create friends rather than enemies: Lead with generosity, friendliness, and flexibility.
But what does this have to do with business? Everything!
Read the rest of this entry »This last year has worn us out. Sure, we can blame Zoom Fatigue – which is a real thing – but the honest truth is that we’ve an intense period of uncertainty, fear, instability, and even boredom.
But this is going to continue, and we wonder if we’ll ever experience “normal” as we had it a couple of years ago. I suspect not.
So how do we keep our energy up?
Read the rest of this entry »As you call people back to the office, you may have a hard time figuring out how strongly to demand that everyone follows the same rules.
There are so many variables! Nature of job tasks, desire for people to connect face-to-face, costs, sanitizing requirements, and so on.
What it comes down to is this: You want to have enough flexibility so that everyone feels reasonably productive, comfortable and supported.
Read the rest of this entry »I see a lot of businesses struggling with their new model for people working in the office versus from home. This is a significant issue for those who worked so hard last year to suddenly create new approaches.
We’ve now discovered that “calling the troops back” isn’t nearly as simple as we expected.
Part of it is the still-evolving regulations, of course, but that’s minor compared to what workers need and expect from their employers. The difficult truth is that each person is making his or her own unique decision, based on complicated factors that they’ve never had to deal with before:
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The Values-Based Business 