April 20, 2020 Giving Feedback, Managing People Well, Remote Work

Five ways to be a better manager while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic

For many, working from home is the new normal and poses all sorts of new challenges. Anyone in a position of management has, overnight, lost many of the tangible aspects of doing their job – particularly the non-verbal aspects of communication and how we interact in space, in person.

It is essential that managers are attuned to the various personal needs of their colleagues at this time. Here are five tips to help managers put themselves in the shoes of their colleagues and take their perspective.

December 21, 2015 Giving Feedback, Managing People Well, Organisational Strategy, Performance Reviews

Four tips for ditching your organisation’s performance reviews

Organisations sidestepping traditional performance review systems aren’t canning the idea of reviewing performance altogether. They recognise the need to continue to improve staff performance in some way – just one that is more effective. Here are four key tips for ditching your current performance review process.

October 12, 2017 Giving Feedback, Performance Reviews

Doing away with the annual performance review? More feedback isn’t necessarily better

For many employees the end of the year signals performance review time. The dreaded time of the year when they sit down with their supervisor and receive feedback on their performance over the previous 12 months. In Australia and the US, organisations are reconsidering this traditional approach to managing employee performance. Managers are worried the […]

April 21, 2021 Giving Feedback, Leadership

Eight ways NFP managers can vastly improve their communication skills

When it comes to communication, we all tend to think we’re pretty good at it.

Truth is, even those of us who are good communicators aren’t nearly as good as we think we are. This overestimation of our ability to communicate is magnified when interacting with people we spend the most time with.

These eight strategies will help you to overcome the communication bias that tends to hold us back, especially with those we manage or work closely with.

September 9, 2015 Giving Feedback, Managing People Well

Six effective ways to have that difficult conversation at work

Employees want more feedback. Gen Y employees in particular, want constant feedback. Managers however are often reluctant to give feedback if they fear that what starts as a rational conversation may degenerate into an emotional one.

In this guest post, Grace McCarthy provides some simple guidelines to help managers to achieve positive outcomes from these difficult conversations.

November 2, 2015 Giving Feedback, Leadership, Managing People Well

How to be compassionate in challenging conversations

Do you dread having tricky conversations with colleagues about performance, pay, restructuring or workplace conflict?

Throughout a career, every not-for-profit leader will face these conversations. But for many, they can be the most difficult parts of a job.

June 29, 2020 Giving Feedback, Managing People Well, Remote Work

Six tips for the difficult conversation with a remote employee who’s underperforming

Employees want more feedback. Gen Y employees in particular, want constant feedback. Managers however are often reluctant to give feedback if they fear that what starts as a rational conversation may degenerate into an emotional one. Even managers trained in coaching have admitted to being reluctant to tackle employees seen as abrasive or aggressive.

Here are some simple guidelines to help managers achieve positive outcomes from difficult conversations.

May 18, 2015 Giving Feedback, Health & Wellbeing, Meetings

Walking the talk: How walking meetings can make your staff fitter, happier and more productive

The Young and Well CRC is an international research centre, based in Melbourne, that focuses on the role technologies can play in improving young people’s mental health and wellbeing. Young and Well CRC is also a leader in workplace health and wellbeing.

In 2014, they publicly released their innovative and comprehensive wellbeing policy, with the aim of supporting other organisations to prioritise wellbeing in the workplace.

In this guest post, Rose O’Sullivan, Young and Well’s HR Advisor and Operations Support, shares why they love one particular initiative from their wellbeing policy – the walking meeting – and why you should bring walking meetings into your organisation too.

June 21, 2017 Giving Feedback, Managing People Well

How ancient wisdom can help managers give their employees better feedback

Giving feedback is unquestionably one of the most challenging tasks for any leader, as it can be painful to both the giver and receiver. It is nonetheless invaluable: Research has shown that employees recognize the importance of feedback – whether positive or negative – to their career development.

Despite the research showing that many people welcome it, provided it’s given well, most leaders are reluctant and uncomfortable providing negative feedback. So how can managers become better at providing their employees with negative feedback that successfully highlights problems and how to resolve them?

July 22, 2013 Giving Feedback, Leadership, Managing People Well

Look, Listen, Act: Communication skills for great leaders

Two truisms about leadership: First, leadership is not management and management is not leadership. Second, while not all leaders are managers, all managers should be leaders. If you’re expecting your broader staff group to demonstrate leadership in their roles then those with greater authority and position absolutely have to do so first. How do leaders […]