Work from home and flexible work requests
Work from home and flexible work requests - are you ready? In recent months we’ve been considering management challenges and business risks as we emerge from this disrupted period of working with Covid. However, right now things are getting “real”. Which is why we have introduced our Flexible Working Support Packs - to support businesses navigate post-Covid changes in their workplace and understand, from all angles, the implications as staff increasingly request work from home and flexible working arrangements.
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Planning for success: how to help your team put their strengths to work
Edition 8 - Managing risk as teams go back to work. After focusing our last edition on delegation – both the need for it and the process for doing it well – we have been asked for more tips on how to explore development opportunities with employees in ways that are perceived as constructive, not “load shifting”!
In addition, we’ve included a free download of our ‘Guided Discussions on Development Plans’ worksheet, to help you put these tips into action.
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The art of delegation
Edition 7 - Managing risk as teams go back to work. In this article we focus on that old challenge of delegation - in the context of new working environments we’re all navigating. In particular, how can skilful delegation be used to mitigate risks? How can managers identify why, what, to whom, when and how to delegate? What outcomes can you expect?
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Performance reviews are more important than ever…so why the excuses?
Edition 6 - Managing risk as teams go back to work. In this article we consider eight excuses we regularly hear for avoiding performance reviews and provide some tips on how to minimise such risks in your business so they don’t come back to bite you! Managers have a critical responsibility to connect with each of their team members and the performance review process presents an enormous opportunity to do this.
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Do you know what motivates your people?
Edition 5 - Managing risk as teams go back to work. During the various lockdowns of the past year, one of the most common challenges reported from managers has been: “How do I motivate my team during this very strange time?” Now we are being asked a new variant of the same question: “How do I motivate my team now that we’re trying to establish some ‘new normal’?” The irony of course is that in many respects the answer to both questions is the same: “You can’t.”
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Doers, thinkers and carers
Edition 4 - Managing risk as teams go back to work. As we all regroup and refocus on what we are planning to achieve in the year ahead, there is a temptation to focus exclusively on the “functional role” that each of our team members must perform. Whilst achieving clarity here is vital, it can be equally important to focus on the “team role” of each one.
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How to make your team function well, today
Edition 3 - Managing risk as teams go back to work. Is your team fully formed and functioning? And how do you know? Or is your team stuck? Are you struggling to get them back in to the swing of things this year following the disruptions of 2020? In this edition we are drawing on the Teams Module of our MDP which has some practical insights to inform how you might get your team to move forward successfully.
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Six steps for effective communication
Edition 2 - Managing risk as teams go back to work. Possibly one of the good things that has emerged from our various lockdown experiences during C-19 is that we were forced to re-examine our communication methods – and then develop our communication skills. There are many elements to good communication but applying some basic principles can make a big difference. Here are our six steps for effective communication…
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The role of the Manager
Edition 1 - Managing risk as teams go back to work. Our following articles will be focussed on some common issues, with an opportunity to download a few short, practical guides or key steps from our well-established Management Development Program (MDP) which may be of value to you or your teams. First, let’s consider the actual role of the manager or supervisor in this time of emerging from C19. What do we expect from them? How do we help them deal with some key challenges…
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8 Excuses for avoiding performance reviews and what to do about them
A few months ago we shared an article on the risks of poorly managing salary reviews during this period of Covid uncertainty, and today we’re following through considering the risks associated with poorly managing employee performance reviews, and suggesting why and how to minimise such risks to your business…
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How to spot the signs of team overwhelm (and what to do about it using Belbin Team Roles)
Edition 3 - Address stress using Belbin team roles. The final edition of our 3 part series. Team members show different indicators of stress as they deal with change and you may need to manage them all in slightly different ways. Considering their Team Role to assess the best approach can be a powerful approach…
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How to spot the signs of team overwhelm (and what to do about it using Belbin Team Roles)
Edition 2 - Address stress using Belbin team roles. Part 2 of 3 from our series on spotting and addressing stress in your team. Here we are considering another 3 of Belbin’s 9 Team Roles and some clues to indicate stress and how to respond. You don’t have to be an expert in Belbin to apply some of the practical tips we share here…
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How to spot the signs of team overwhelm (and what to do about it using Belbin Team Roles)
Edition 1 - Address stress using Belbin team roles. This is a three part series (1 of 3) on spotting and addressing stress in your team using Belbin Team Roles. This is particularly important during this time when so many of our team members are working remotely and we have to be more alert to indicators. You don’t have to be an expert in Belbin to apply some of the practical tips we share here…
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7 Sins of salary reviews post C-19 - and how to avoid them
You may be facing a decision common to many other businesses in the months ahead: Do we give our employees a salary increase this year or not? Only you can make that decision for your business – you know your business and its particular circumstances. What we know, are seven key things to be aware of…
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7 Steps on how to make the dreaded Job Description a welcome guide
Are your team working from home? Or from other changed workplaces? Getting them to focus on the right stuff is challenging. We’ve identified seven steps to provide the focus your teams need during COVID-19.
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A Belbin Team Role Guide to Managing Your Team When No-one Is In The Office...
Amidst dealing with immediate operational and longer term planning challenges, paying particular attention to each of your Team Roles and how to best manage them remotely based on their strengths and their preferred ways of working will be essential. This article explains specifically how to manage each of your Belbin Team roles while they’re working remotely.
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Be careful what you wish for. The banking industry crisis from an HR perspective
Paying high incentives to people to push the boundaries without a proper governance process in place is a high-risk strategy. The banking crisis and recent findings of the Royal Commission reinforces the importance of organisations spending time identifying carefully the competencies required for the business to be successful.
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How to get people to do what they're supposed to
Is it possible that only 50% of your people know what is required of them? Do they know what good looks like or how you will measure their success? Gallup research suggests that setting clear expectations may be the most foundational element in impacting engagement. Here’s how…
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Give your people a reason to stay - providing direction
Whether they’re business, leadership or people problems that keep you up at night, there is overwhelming research which suggests there are some key elements which will contribute to helping you get and keep the good people who can be part of the solution. So how do you do this…
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Recruitment - Getting it right more often
Are you making poor hiring decisions? This article outlines the key elements Horizon believe are critical for getting recruitment right, more often.
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