How To Be A Compassionate Hybrid Leader

Although it’s not a particularly new concept, hybrid work setups have become a growing trend in industries across the world. In fact, because most offices have resumed normal operations, up to 74% of companies have said they’re either already using or planning to adopt hybrid setups. This comes as no real surprise considering that studies prove that organized hybrid work is beneficial to output and creativity. These comprehensive studies were based on a diverse range of industries and business scales, which further underscores how hybrid work is the happy medium for both companies and workers.

That said, hybrid work is not without its challenges. For most office leaders, one of the top concerns they have with this model is the lack of access between themselves and their teams. This has led some bosses to worry that their team culture may suffer or their employees will feel isolated. Conversely, 77% of surveyed company leaders have found that compassion can benefit both people and profits. Therefore, while hybrid does reduce face-to-face interactions, leaders can (and should) still exercise compassion through this particular medium. And here’s how:

Image ref: Pexels

Show your employees you appreciate them

While you shouldn’t just toss out empty praises for the sake of it, you shouldn’t hold back on showing your employees appreciation either. This shows employees that you value them and recognize the adversity they’ve overcome so that it empowers your hybrid team no matter how challenging the transition may be. That said, to underscore the sincerity of your appreciation back up your words with actions. This is especially impactful for teams that work mostly remotely as it shows that you appreciate everyone fairly.

To show employees appreciation virtually, say “thank you” through meaningful gestures. This can include sending decorations for home offices, planning a virtual hangout to unwind, or gifting food delivery cards. Through such well-thought-out executions, you show that your appreciation comes from a place of compassion which is inspiring for many workers. In fact, surveys reveal that while 46% of employees left jobs because they felt under-appreciated, 79% said feeling appreciated gave them a boost professionally and personally.Continue reading

3 Leadership Lessons I’ve Learned From Making All The Mistakes: Lesson 1 – Complete Communication

Guest post in our leadership series. I met Paul Pickard, CTO for Korrus, a few months ago, and am so impressed by his appreciation of the human aspects of leading technical teams. Enjoy! – Kimberly

I’ve been meeting people on LunchClub for the past year or so, and it’s given me the opportunity to connect with people with diverse interests and backgrounds from different locations around the country and world.  I was recently speaking with an early career software engineer who was mulling over an opportunity to move into a position where she managed people.  She asked me for my “top of mind” things to I’ve learned about managing people in my career.  After explaining that anything I could relate would come from having made all the mistakes – some of them repeatedly – I came up with three core intentions that I’ve adopted over the years and passed them along.  I say intentions because I don’t always exhibit these behaviors, but it is certainly my aspiration to do so.  This post covers the first intention.  I’ll follow up with the other two in subsequent posts.

#1: Communicate Completely

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Good Writing as an Essential Leadership Skill

Contributed article in our business series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

Our writing gives us away. It is an element of great importance in our image because it says everything about a person. Talk about your education, your values, your way of seeing life, etc. Everything we put together through words is indicative of our personality.

Today, with the influence of electronic media, the impact of our spelling and writing is imminent. From sending a text message, writing an email, writing a paper in college, writing on a person’s Facebook wall to chatting, it reflects everything about us.

These have become the most common and current means of communication used by millions of people. Unfortunately, with surprise, we realize that the writing of many is deficient. In schools and universities, jobs and exhibitions are saturated with spelling errors. We have lost this habit that is essential to maintain and encourage, not only to project a good image but to be able to understand each other.Continue reading

Ways to Lead Your Hotel Team More Effectively

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KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

Contributed article in our business leadership series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

Running a hotel is definitely not something that you can do all on your own. You have to hire a team of people who can help you manage the hotel on an everyday basis, from maintaining its finances and marketing the hotel, to keeping it clean and doing renovations. But how can you lead your hotel team effectively so that everyone enjoys what they do and so that your business will continue to succeed? Check out the tips below for some helpful insight.

Be Clear in Your Business Plans

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How to Lead Effectively. Video Blog 3 by Kimberly Wiefling (Wiefling Consulting)

How can you lead effectively when you’re promoted? You have 2 ears and 1 mouth, so use them in that ratio! Start by listening, collaboratively set clear goals, and work together as a real team, not just a group of people jockeying for position, power and status. Check out Kimberly’s 1 minute view on this.

* Thanks to Japjot Sethi of Gloopt for making this professional video!

Lifelong Family Success-Living This Way Every Day by Kimberly Wiefling (Wiefling Consulting)

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(This article was originally published on www.svprojectmanagement.com)

Continuing our exploration into envisioning your family’s fabulous future . . .

Stage 4 – Communication and appreciation are essential ingredients in your family’s excellent adventure. Keep the communication flowing. Conversation creates reality, and is also a terrific way to clear out the cobwebs. What’s rewarded is repeated, so make sure you reinforce what’s working lest it disappear. You’re on your way to achieving your family’s dreams Now make this a way of life. Continue reading

Working Remotely … Face-to-Face! by Kimberly M. Wiefling, M.S.

Business Team Meeting by Ambro

(Originally posted on ProjectConnections.com)
Image courtesy of Ambro/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Globalization in today’s business world is rapid and inescapable. As a result, many projects these days involve geographically dispersed teams comprised of members from a wide variety of countries and cultures. While language barriers, decision-making style, and time zones are well-recognized challenges, the positive benefits of global teams continue to drive this trend.Continue reading

Whose English is it Anyway?

Originally published on CareerShorts.com where Kimberly has been invited to contribute blogs periodically on global leadership and project management.

My work takes me from my home in the San Francisco Bay Area, where more than 50% of the people living here don’t speak English at home, to Japan and elsewhere around the world nearly every month. I have the distinct honor and pleasure of working with people from all over the world, and recently had an incredible adventure with 37 people from 12 different countries who all came together as a global team to propose the future direction of their company. It’s an incredible experience to work with such a diverse group, and a heck of a challenge due to the most basic of reasons – we all speak different languages.

Even though  all members usually speak some version of “English”, it might as well be Klingon. Continue reading

Common Sense Produces Uncommon Results

Originally published on CareerShorts.com where Kimberly has been invited to contribute blogs periodically on global leadership and project management.

Did you know that there are 192 countries recognized by the United Nations and a total of 233 listed on Wikipedia?  You may not even have heard of the smallest ones, some of which have less than 1000 people.  I’ve been fortunate enough to work with human beings from over 50 countries during my career.  Although I’ve discovered many fascinating differences among them, and many delightful common human traits worth celebrating, I’ve also unfortunately found that we share a couple of fundamental tendencies that get in the way of our ability to achieve our goals:

Unclear Goals

Unclear Communication

Unclear Priorities

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