Completely Prevent Nasty Conflict!

First, ask yourself...
Do you find that some of your past conflicts should and could have been avoided in the first place?

When working in a team environment, we as human beings are guaranteed to disagree, have differences of opinion, and not see eye-to-eye with others - this is what we call "normal differences." Due to our unique personalities and unique past experiences, these normal differences are absolutely avoidable. These situations do not have to result in heated or disruptive conflicts or arguments, but when we don't handle them correctly, that's exactly what happens!

There are many ways to help resolve normal differences in a healthy way without allowing them to result in disruptive conflict. One of the first and easiest steps to take is for both parties to agree to take time to sit down and share their opinions, what they know about the situation, their feelings, and what they feel the issues are. Remember, each party will undoubtedly have their own opinions and experiences that they are drawing their conclusions from, and sharing those thoughts with each other is the ONLY way to ensure both parties are on the same page.

All it takes is the effort to open up with each other. When this simple act of casual dialogue occurs, the parties will often find that the "normal difference" is not as big or meaningful as they thought and that there is a logical solution available- therefore avoiding a full-blown conflict, and at the same time, setting the stage for another successful interaction when the next normal difference occurs in the future!


**This week's tip was taken from "Resolving Conflict Successfully" which is the September session of The Compass Program. Click Here to view the schedule of all 12 sessions for The Compass Program.

Getting Your Employees Committed!

First, ask yourself...
Could every single employee of yours accurately recite the company's goals for this year?


When everyone within an organization is working towards achieving one common goal, it significantly helps to develop things such as communication, teamwork, and overall employee motivation and commitment. When this is the case, a strong competitive advantage is created, and a much stronger level of employee engagement throughout the organization will build.

There are many ways to align your employees' thinking so that they are focused on doing whatever they can to help the team accomplish its goals, but the VERY FIRST thing the organization can and should do is simple: Share the goals with employees! If the employees are going to play a role in helping the company accomplish the goals, how can you expect them to do so when EVERYONE is not crystal clear on what they are trying to achieve?

Take a moment to consider how clear your communication has been with employees in regards to overall goals. If you believe there is an opportunity for management to be more open with employees about exact goals and how the organization plans to achieve them, take a moment to re-evaluate your communication approach. Just consider this: If the company has an overall goal of expanding operations into a new state, there is no possible way for an employee to approach her manager with a great idea about how to help the company do that, if she didn't know what the goal was in the first place!


**This week's tip was taken from "Committing to a Common Vision" which is the November session of The Compass Program. Click Here to view the schedule of all 12 sessions for The Compass Program.

Helping Your Employees to Stay Positive!

First, ask yourself...Would you like your employees to stay positive during tough times?


When things are tough and success is harder to achieve, often times the first things to be affected is our confidence, self-esteem, encouragement and motivation. We have all been there before where our attitude might be affected by external factors. Sometimes when we are going through a rough patch, all of a sudden we begin to expect things to go wrong, and we lack the confidence that we can successfully right the ship. Having these feelings doesn't make you a weak person - just normal!

When things are tough and you feel your employees might begin to feel this way, one of the best things any manager or leader can do is make sure your employees are aware of their Proof Points, which are small victories that they have already achieved that prove to them they are doing the right things, heading down the right path. A few things you can do to make sure your employees are keeping aware of their Proof Points is to try holding weekly meetings to openly reward and encourage victories, keep providing positive feedback, and post accomplishments around the office so that they are visible to them and others.

When you can help remind others of the things they have already accomplished, it helps to build the confidence that they can accomplish much more. Plus, openly communicating Proof Points helps to show them that they might be closer to achieving their goals than they originally thought, which will have a significant impact on their motivation and attitude!


**This week's tip was taken from "Being Positive & Resilient" which is the December session of The Compass Program. Click Here to view the schedule of all 12 sessions for The Compass Program.

Help Your Employees Provide Better INTERNAL Service!

First, ask yourself...
Would you like employees within your company to make the effort to go above and beyond, for each other?



Focusing on providing an outstanding level of service to internal customers can do wonders for teamwork, conflict resolution and communication - but unless everyone is on the exact same page with what "outstanding service" truly is, we are setting people up to fail in terms of meeting our expectations as well as those of the organization.

The first thing that must be done to develop an effective and consistent internal customer focus is to clearly define exactly what you expect. All companies have visions, but very few have what is called a service vision. A service vision is not much different than an overall company vision - it is realistic, easy to interpret, commonly understood by all, inspiring, and meaningful. Its purpose is to describe the type of service the organization expects, and provide a road map for individuals as to how to act with, and treat others.

Remember, it is one thing to expect individual employees to provide above and beyond service for each other, and it's another thing for them to FIRST clearly understand what "above and beyond service" really is. When this is true and the vision is effectively communicated through the organization, employees will be
motivated to live it, they will be confident that that same level of service will be reciprocated for them, relationships with strengthen, attitudes will become much better, and even the service provided to the external customer will be enhanced as well!

**This week's tip was taken from "Internal & External Customer Focus" which is the August session of The Compass Program. Click Here to view the schedule of all 12 sessions for The Compass Program.

Encourage Your Employees to Embrace Accountability!

First, ask yourself...
Would you like for more of your employees to take ownership in achieving their goals?


Everyone has goals they are working towards. Obviously, your employees are no different. But spending time trying to "hold them accountable" to achieving those goals can be time-consuming, frustrating, and give you the feeling that all you do is go around putting out fires. What we, as leaders, need to do is to help others make the choice to take ownership in achieving their goals...so you don't have to!

For this to happen, there are many critical steps that leaders should follow. One of the easiest is to involve your employees in the goal-setting process. If they are involved in determining the goals, and are given the chance to provide their input, they will be much more likely to do whatever is necessary to ensure success. Plus, involving them in the goal-setting process helps to ensure that the goal is emotionally meaningful to them (which will have an impact on their motivation to achieve it) and in the situations where the goal might NOT be meaningful, or possibly too unrealistic (which will deter them from putting in max effort) they will have the chance to tell you so it can be adjusted!

When you are successful in this practice, you will spend less time trying to hold others accountable because you have successfully created a culture of accountability!

Motivate Your Employees Through The Change Process!

First, ask yourself...
Do your employees ever "lose steam" at some point of the process during a big change?


Going through change is difficult for many reasons. Change requires people to take a chance, step out of their comfort zone, and possibly do things they have never been asked to do before. We as leaders must do all that we can to ensure we get the best possible result from the changes we decide to implement.

To achieve the best possible outcomes from change, we will need the commitment, motivation, and effort from each and every one of our employees throughout the entire change process. To help make sure this happens, we should try to "create victories" for them as much as possible. They desire to know that their efforts are working, and that they are making progress or accomplishing something with all of their hard work. Creating victories can come in many different forms- anything from sharing a weekly progress report, to e-mailing an update, to giving periodic awards to people for accomplishing specific goals related to the change.

Showing our employees that they are doing a great job, the changes they are trying to make are working, and that they are on the right path, will help to keep them properly motivated and their minds focused on the end goal.

Do a Better Job Resolving Conflicts!

First, ask yourself...
Would you like to have better success resolving conflicts with your colleagues?

Contrary to what most people think, successful conflict resolution does NOT begin with the actual realization that there is a conflict at hand. So, where does it start? It starts with the relationship you have with the other party! This means that your ability to resolve a conflict in October might have begun in January when you first started working with that person.

Having a track record of working with the other party to resolve conflicts, having an open line of communication already established, and trusting that the other party has integrity and a mutual best interest at heart are all things that will come into play when trying to resolve the conflict at hand.

Without a solid relationship already in place, when a conflict does arise, both parties will be much more likely to only care about their own interests and not be willing to have an open dialogue - which will significantly hinder your ability to find a quick and positive resolution to the issue. The stronger and more trusting your relationship is with the other party, the greater the chances are that you will be able to find common ground on your issue, ensuring BOTH parties leave feeling satisfied.

**This week's tip was taken from "Resolving Conflict Successfully" which is the September session of The Compass Program. Click Here to view the schedule of all 12 sessions for The Compass Program.