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Managing Virtual Teams

Leadership Skills For Managing Virtual Teams

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While some industries were testing the pros and cons of their employees working remotely prior to the arrival of Covid-19, the work option wasn’t a focus like it is now. The pandemic took the world off guard, and today, many people are working from home without the proper support. Here’s what you need to know about developing leadership skills for managing virtual teams.

1. Let Go of the Micromanaging Mindset

Instead of overseeing your team from a controlling mindset, place your ego on the backburner and acknowledge your vulnerabilities. Be okay with the idea that you won’t have all of the answers. Embrace a humble attitude and welcome a childlike interest.

This different mindset will help you focus on common achievements by noticing and influencing varying skills, perspectives, and cultures within your team. When you release a micromanaging mindset, you’ll be better equipped to lead multicultural teams, which are more common with remote work. If you have a multicultural team, then it’s extremely important to be able to identify and manage conflict.

Tap into your sympathetic and empathetic side. When you genuinely care about the people you’re leading, it’s easier to develop trust, which is what people need to perform effectively. It’s important to realize that working remotely comes with different challenges. For instance, if you attempt to reach someone and they don’t answer right away, this doesn’t mean that they aren’t working.

Pay attention to your communication skills when leading people remotely because you won’t have the same methods available. Keep in mind that people communicate with their body language, mouth, and eyes. Misunderstandings are more likely to occur with remote leadership.

2. Offer Transparency

Leadership skills examples include embracing open communication. Create a transparent environment, one that allows each worker to take initiative without concern. As a leader, do your best to form a path that allows clear communication. This step will strengthen proactive actions and encourage responsibility.

When you provide a transparent environment, you’ll remove uncertainties about the company. You’ll also give your workers a greater sense of control during tough times. This will keep your employees feeling connected since they’ll be focused on a common goal. They will also feel like they’re a part of something important. Transparency will help you build a stable company culture.

3. Become Comfortable with Technology

These days, technology is imperative to running a company. Leadership skills examples for managing virtual teams include becoming comfortable with technology. This requires more than just being skilled at using the tools needed for virtual meetings or being familiar with live chat apps. Successful virtual team managers oversee the digital changes in their divisions. They also prioritize turning the latest technological advancements into calculated decision-making procedures and invest in technology that will improve productivity and implement their talents better within the team.

Provide training for your team. Make sure that your people know about any new products or services that are being rolled out. Also, when new technology becomes available, schedule time to train your people. According to a survey that included 440 employees from eight different businesses, an estimated 60% of the companies didn’t offer virtual team training. Specialized training will send people off to work at home more prepared. You can make sure that they know how to operate everything and how to do their jobs properly.

4. Be Consistent and Fair

As a virtual leader, it’s important for you to be consistent and fair when making decisions. Your team will be more productive if they can predict how you’ll react to situations. When leaders run things consistently, employees feel freer because they know that within particular limits, they can do what’s needed to get their jobs done.

If a manager is unpredictable, then his or her workers won’t know what they can or can’t do. This will make your staff feel restricted. It will also make your workload bigger. Consider an organizational restructure. Employees need to understand what’s happening with it and how it will affect them.

Make sure that you’re providing your people with as much certainty as you can. For instance, if you tell someone that you’ll get back to them by a particular time, then do it. Even if you don’t have an answer, contact the person to notify them of this.

5. Develop a Remote Team Culture

Managing virtual teams includes developing a remote team culture. While it might feel tired to use icebreaker questions and participate in games that help people get to know one another, you can make them fun and meaningful. Look for ways to bring your employees together using virtual apps. Catch people off guard by asking unusual questions. You could even invite team members to participate in a virtual run/walk, one that they can do as they wish.

Set aside time to get to know each member of your team personally. Ask them about their families and what they like to do for fun. When you’re meeting with them, see how their weekend went and if they’re doing okay.

6. Make Yourself Available

One of the toughest parts of managing a team remotely is that you’ll be missing out on in-person communication. When you’re with someone in person, you can tap into how the other person is feeling by paying attention to their voice tone and facial expressions. This ability is lost when people are communicating remotely. Make sure that your employees know when you’re available. Be there when they reach out to you with questions or concerns.

Leadership Skills for Virtual Teams

Developing leadership skills for virtual teams requires creativity and a willingness to tweak your in-person management techniques. For additional assistance, reach out to us at the Productivity Intelligence Institute.

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Make More Money

5 Ways To Make More Money Today

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Evaluating Five Ways to Make More Money Today – How You Can Earn More Money and Increase Productivity

If you want to make more money, you need to implement multiple strategies that will improve your productivity, maximize your profits, increase attentiveness and reduce your expenses. You may also utilize affiliate marketing, offer consulting services, and sell numerous types of products. Moreover, you should create a social media profile, and after you customize the profile, you may promote many products, accept paid sponsorships, offer promotional codes, and improve the reputation of your business.

Utilizing Affiliate Marketing

Once you join an affiliate network, you can evaluate advertisers that offer cutting-edge products, local services, many types of links, and numerous incentives. Some advertisers will also provide custom advertisements, and you may utilize advertisements that feature detailed pictures, promotional videos, and a call to action. These advertisements could quickly increase sales, generate many leads, and improve the effectiveness of your marketing campaign

The affiliate network will provide custom links, and after a visitor clicks the link, the system can automatically place a cookie into the browser. The cookie contains software that may track the customer, evaluate the interests of the client and store important data. When the customer purchases relevant products, the software can evaluate the custom link, and the affiliate marketer will receive a substantial commission.

After the marketer generates many leads, the business may increase the commissions by more than 50 percent. Sometimes, the company could also provide a monthly bonus.

Managing Social Media Profiles

Typically, you should create a social media profile that features several advertisements, which will promote your business. The social media page may contain many testimonials, relevant links, and promotional videos, and you could post pictures that show multiple types of products.

The social media profile can increase sales, improve the reputation of your business and generate many leads. Once the guests view the social media profile, the visitors may share links that are related to your business, and consequently, the new links could consistently increase your website’s traffic.

If you manage a popular profile, many companies can provide paid sponsorships, and you could post numerous advertisements that will describe multiple products, local services, or well-known businesses. Before the companies offer paid sponsorships, the businesses may inspect the social media page, estimate the number of followers, evaluate the comments and examine the interests of the visitors. Subsequently, the companies could determine the value of each sponsorship, and the businesses may offer sponsorships that are worth more than $5,000.

Offering Consulting Services and Helping Numerous Businesses

Many companies frequently hire experienced consultants who can provide valuable information. The consultants could evaluate how to make more money, and the experts may describe strategies that could improve brand awareness, decrease several types of expenses and increase the effectiveness of each marketing campaign. The consultants can also evaluate the needs of customers, and the specialists could describe products that may interest the clients.

The consultants will estimate the values of many products, and the experts can study numerous trends that could affect the clients, local businesses, the prices of the products, and the overall supply of the products. The consultants may also evaluate economic news, competing companies, the opinions of customers, and innovative products.

Sometimes, a business will pay consultants more than $100 per hour. If the experts provide useful information, the company may frequently request new consultations, or the business can provide a detailed contract, a monthly salary, and numerous types of incentives.

Selling Multiple Types of Products

Many businesses have created innovative websites that sell custom products, cutting-edge services, and monthly subscriptions. Once you create an online store, you could design landing pages that will promote the products, and each landing page may contain excellent reviews, a detailed video, several pictures, and a call to action.

The website can feature tools that will allow the clients to customize each order. The customers could quickly purchase multiple products, evaluate numerous types of shipping, view the online cart, and choose a payment method. Additionally, the clients can check the status of each order, and after the company ships the package, the business should provide an email that contains a tracking number.

Increasing Productivity and Utilizing Neuroscience

While you manage a business, you should create a positive workplace, provide substantial incentives and recognize the accomplishments of many employees. Typically, a positive workplace can improve productivity, reduce chronic stress, stimulate creativity and promote teamwork. A positive environment could also increase the loyalty of employees, and an excellent workplace may substantially improve the reputation of the business.

According to multiple neuroscientists, most companies should offer rewards that can motivate employees. If a business provides substantial incentives, the employees could increase focus, promote teamwork, improve innovation and create new solutions. The experts described how to make extra money, and the researchers indicated that the incentives can consistently stimulate the production of dopamine within the brain. Dopamine is a natural compound that could stimulate neurogenesis, and the neurotransmitter may enhance well-being, reduce chronic stress, improve motivation and increase energy.

Generally, you should provide clear-cut goals, and you can evaluate daily tasks, the duration of each project, the costs of the project, and various types of rewards. Once a company creates multiple goals, the business could increase productivity by more than 20 percent. After a business evaluates how to make more money, the company may also help the employees to create efficient teams, and the teams could complete important tasks, evaluate numerous types of obstacles, increase motivation and achieve many goals.

Evaluating Our Services and Requesting a Free Consultation

Our business provides consulting services that can help large corporations, project managers, online entrepreneurs, and local companies. Once you visit our website, you may examine how to make extra money, and you could evaluate many strategies that could consistently maximize productivity, increase motivation, improve the cohesiveness of a team and reduce downtime. If you would like to request a consultation, you can submit our contact form, and an experienced consultant could answer your questions, evaluate your needs and schedule an appointment.

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Thought Leadership

Secrets To Leading Others Through Influence To Get More Done With Less

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Choosing Influence over Authority to Do More with Less

For much of the twentieth century, businesses used a top-down approach to organization. Employees in an upper management position had authority over workers down the chain. In some cases, this arrangement led to tyrannical managers who used their power to hire and fire as leverage to get work done.

Flexing your authority may be a necessary tactic in a crisis, but more businesses are seeing the wisdom of developing influential leaders. Leaders with the soft skills to persuade and inspire are more likely to receive higher performance, greater commitment and longer tenures from their team members.

Traits of an Influential Leader

Some people are born leaders. They bring a charismatic personality along with the ability to articulate a clear vision. People are more receptive to a leader whom they like and admire. You may not have been born with all the traits of an influential leader, but you can develop them over time.

Passion

Leading others through influence involves passion. Your team members assume that you are an expert in your field who will do the necessary work with focus and zeal. Passion is contagious, and employees will mirror the enthusiasm of their leader.

Responsibility and Self-Motivation

In a top-down authority structure, those beneath the leader typically receive the blame for failed projects. Influential leaders take responsibility for their mistakes and work with the team to grow from them. Such leaders know how they fit into the organization, and the rest of the team can count on them to honor their commitments.

Self-Awareness

Influential leaders know their limits and hire employees accordingly. They have the confidence necessary to admit when someone else on the team has expertise. In this way, they demonstrate how to lead a leader and cultivate leadership within the team. 

Engagement

There can be a fine line between micromanagement and engagement. Influential leaders are aware of how a project is unfolding, but they do not control every step. Often, the leader gathers information by asking questions in an informal conversation with employees rather than disrupting the day with formal meetings.

A Role Model

Influential leaders provide leading examples for their teams. By reliably carrying out their parts of projects, they develop credibility and trust. Engaging other team members with a hands-off approach fosters an atmosphere of creativity and productivity.

We dug deep into Jack Canfield’s $1 billion mind to find the secret to his Effortless Success

Traits of an Influence-Centered Workplace

Your workplace culture will reflect the example you set as a leader. An office is a place of business, but it does not need to be a place that employees endure for the sake of a paycheck. Influential leaders develop an atmosphere that brings the best performance from staff members.

Low-Stress Culture

Strong, authority-centered structures tend to use fear and anger as motivators. Employees will meet goals to avoid negative consequences. In this workplace, employees frequently trigger the stress response as they try to struggle with tight deadlines or quotas. Work is exhausting, and they can hardly wait to leave at the end of the day.

Low stress does not mean unproductive. Instead of fear, employees work with a shared vision. The influential leader sets the example, and the others follow. Leaders who listen will also acknowledge the realities of life. Long-term employees should not be nervous about asking for extra time to do a better job.

Empowering Curiosity and Creativity

In a low-stress environment, employees have the freedom to experiment in ways that can improve productivity. One of the most important leading examples is acknowledging mistakes and failures gracefully. Influential leaders know that failure can teach as many lessons as success. Employees in such a workplace are encouraged to learn more about their fields and look for innovative solutions to daily problems.

Positive Atmosphere

Neurological hormones shape the way that people feel. The anxiousness of stress stems from hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. Feelings of satisfaction and reward come from the release of dopamine and serotonin. When employees feel appreciated and know that they are engaged in meaningful work, it triggers these positive hormones. As employees begin to associate positive feelings with the workplace, they will grow in enthusiasm for their jobs.

Growth Mindset

Influential leaders recognize that things can always be better. They are constantly on the lookout for ways to streamline processes and encourage team members to embrace innovation. Instead of dwelling in the comfort of what they have always done, they seek innovation to do it better.

Group Process

In an influence-centered workplace, team members trust that their opinions matter. They are free to discuss and even disagree with leadership. The group recognizes that every team member brings different gifts and expertise.

Secrets for Establishing Your Influence

Leading others effectively requires improving your soft skills and reframing your understanding of authority. Pursuing these changes will improve the productivity and general atmosphere of your business.

Listen to Your Staff

People are willing to listen when they feel heard. There is much more to the life of an employee than what you read on a job application. When an employee speaks to you, put down whatever else you are doing and pay respectful attention. 

Observe Patterns and Preferences

As you move from station to station at your workplace, take time to notice what is happening. How do your employees approach the task at hand? Some people are content when working alone, and others thrive with a partner. Employees will feel appreciated when you take these natural patterns into account.

Align Their Passions with Your Vision

Once you learn more about your staff members, it is time to bring them on board with your vision. If you can make connections with your mission and their passions, you will find that there is greater excitement about the job. Rather than employees who work for you, you will develop team members who promote your vision.

A Helpful Resource for Leading Others

At the Productivity Intelligence Institute, my focus is on helping entrepreneurs become the best leaders they can be. If you wonder how to lead a leader or grow in your personal leadership style, I can provide tools and training to get you on your way. Feel free to reach out for an initial consultation.

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Brain Hacks

Brain Hack Secrets for Productivity Professionals

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How do people achieve success? According to research, successful people develop a vision, continue to try after failing and are honest. Along with these positive characteristics, people can become successful in life with brain hacking. Here are seven hack secrets to train your brain for success. 

1. Think About Tomorrow Today 

Successful people prepare for the next day before they leave the office. Before leaving work, or logging out from your computer at home, take about 10 minutes to prepare for tomorrow. Make a list of the top three things or projects that need your attention the most the following workday. 

Sort your tasks to determine what you can complete quickly. Then, do them first the next day. This will eliminate them and free your brain to focus on the things that are more important. 

2. It’s Okay to Say No 

Become comfortable saying no to limit your obligations. This allows you to focus on the important stuff. People who struggle to say no often experience depression, burnout and added stress. Steve Jobs once said, “People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on, but that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are.” 

3. Make Time for Your Health 

When you exercise, your brain releases endorphins. This helps your brain solve problems more effectively and helps with creativity. You can also hack your brain with meditation. Those who meditate enjoy inner calm, which works to break down the brain’s mental walls or emotional limitations. 

Eat a diet that’s filled with omega-3s and good fats. Including these nutrients in your diet will ensure that your brain’s dopamine levels remain active. It will also boost your cerebral circulation. 

Make sleep a priority. Try to get 6 ½ to 8 hours of quality sleep each night. Good sleep will help you be more alert and attentive. 

4. Embrace Feedback Loops 

In management, it’s important to embrace feedback loops. Look at your results and consider ways you could have improved them. Do this even if your results were successful. This brain hack will help you achieve even greater results for your next project. 

Become comfortable questioning yourself. Also, be open to feedback from others. Pursue preferably adverse feedback. This is always hard to hear, and it will be hurtful, but you’ll likely benefit the most from it. 

Take steps to hire people who have the skills and training to give you consistent and honest feedback. Tighten your feedback loop as much as you can for greater efficiency and speedier implementation. That way, you’ll be able to create a better overall product or service. 

Workplace-Jazz-Course

Create teams that quickly get results and build a harmonious workplace with the 8-step Workplace Jazz method, with behind-the-scenes improvisation secrets that integrate productivity, workplace culture, music, and neuroscience to help your team achieve peak performance.

5. Keep a Consistent Work Schedule 

Hack your brain by creating a consistent work schedule. The brain loves a schedule, and when you choose work hours, you’ll be conditioning your brain to prepare to work at certain times of the day. You don’t have to work in full 8-hour blocks if your management job doesn’t require you to. 

If you’re working from home, consider splitting your day up into two sections. For instance, work from 9 am until 2 pm, and then, take some time to do something for you or your family. Complete your additional hours toward the late afternoon or early evening. The brain hack is to keep it consistent each day. 

6. Know Your Brain 

The human brain attaches to the spinal cord. The reticular activating system, or RAS, is located at the base. This part of the brain manages cognition. It is also responsible for filtering out around eight million pieces of information that enter the brain. Basically, the RAS gets rid of the white noise. When a message filters through your brain’s RAS, it is sent to the cerebrum where the message is categorized as a conscious thought, emotion or both. 

What messages are sent to your cerebrum? Any messages that are important to you will be allowed to enter your cerebrum. For instance, if you are preparing a presentation, then the RAS will permit thoughts that will help make it successful such as resources that will work to make your presentation memorable. 

Familiarize yourself with your brain’s fundamental cognitive functions and harness them for your productive needs. These functions are your: 

• Reasoning skills 
• Problem-solving abilities 
• Knack for planning 
• Execution expertise 

These functions are the perfect mixture for workplace productivity. However, the brain works best when you simplify things. While multitasking is often touted as a great ability, when you try to do several things at once, you’re holding your brain in a processing mode instead of in a thinking one. Decrease your choices as much as possible. 

Keep in mind that the brain’s neurotransmitters drop in the mid-afternoon, which is another reason to start each day with your most challenging tasks. 

7. Energize Properly 

Brain hacking involves staying energized and excited about projects while avoiding overstimulation. If you’re not excited about a task, then you probably won’t do it very well. On the other hand, when you start getting close to a deadline, you become more energized to reach it. 

Keep in mind that you can become too energized, which may harm your performance. Some stress is helpful, but too much can cause the kind of anxiety that will hurt you. Try to keep yourself near the tip of being energized but not overstimulated. 

Brain Hack Secrets for Success 

Take advantage of how your brain works by keeping your goals near the top of your mind. Document your goals each day, visualize what you want to happen and stick to a schedule. When you follow these steps, your subconscious mind will continue working toward achieving them. For guidance on how to hack your brain to achieve success, contact us at the Productivity Intelligence Institute. We work to help managers gain positive results for their companies.