Climbing the Ladder: How to Successfully Move Individual Contributors to Management Roles
How can existing managers best identify those people who should be promoted to management roles? When it comes to developing new leaders, this can undoubtedly present a challenge. Here's how to figure it out and how to support new leaders.
How Neuroscience Can Make You a Better Project Manager
Disengaged employees are a very real and very possible threat to your business. A Gallup survey says that four out of five workers worldwide are not working to the best of their abilities because they’re disengaged. And that the U.S. economy loses up to $350 billion annually due to the lackluster productivity levels of disengaged employees. But how do you re-engage them? What strategies can you use to bring them back from the dark side of the Force? Our CEO Andrew Filev wrote an article on ProjectManagement.com to teach project managers 4 PM strategies that are backed by neuroscience. Readers will better comprehend why their team members are disengaged, and be able to improve the way they manage projects overall. He writes: "We should know why it’s happening and learn how we can re-engage our teams. This is where neuroscience becomes a valuable resource. It isn't as complicated as it might seem initially, and the knowledge of our brain’s wiring provides us with practical insight into how best to motivate our team and improve teamwork." Read the article to get all four neuroscience tips: https://www.projectmanagement.com/articles/283917/4-Ways-Neuroscience-Can-Enhance-Project-Management
Unmasking Impostor Syndrome: 7 Ways to Boost Your Confidence at Work
"You don't belong here." "You're a fraud." "It's only a matter of time before everyone realizes." That is the voice of Impostor Syndrome. People with Impostor Syndrome often feel that their achievements aren't based on merit, but sheer luck. Thoughts like, "I have no idea what I'm doing," or, "The hiring manager made a mistake, I'm not qualified for this job," are common, in spite of all the evidence supporting their abilities and competency. Ironically, Impostor Syndrome is more common among highly intelligent, highly successful people. Impostor Syndrome is not the same as self-doubt or lack of confidence. It’s an inability to accurately assess your own abilities, especially in comparison with others. The result is, you box yourself in, limit yourself based on your own inaccurate self-assessment, and fail to live up to both your current abilities and full potential. You don’t even consider taking on certain projects or job opportunities because it never occurs to you that you’re capable. It keeps you from fully participating in discussions or volunteering your ideas because you think that if you do everyone will see you're out of your depth. Not only are you holding yourself back, you're depriving others of your unique perspective and contributions. Successful teams and businesses need everyone running at 100%, not holding back due to feeling inadequate or self-conscious. Next time Impostor Syndrome starts whispering in your ear, use these 14 strategies to shut it up for good. 7 Effective Ways to Beat Impostor Syndrome 1. Know that you're not alone. According to a study by the International Journal of Behavioral Science, 70% of us feel like impostors at work. That means almost 3/4 of the people around you also feel that they're not qualified when comparing themselves with you. It's easier to strip Impostor Syndrome of its power when you know everyone else feels exactly the same way, even those colleagues you admire most. 2. Recognize Impostor Syndrome for what it is. Acknowledge Impostor Syndrome as something that affects you, so you can start adjusting your attitude. Instead of thinking, "I haven't accomplished anything, and what I have done has just been luck," say to yourself, "I have a hard time recognizing my accomplishments and abilities." Stop thinking of yourself as incapable. Impostor Syndrome is simply an inability to internalize success, not an inability to achieve success. 3. Watch your self-talk. Impostor Syndrome is rooted in your habits surrounding how you talk to yourself. Luckily, bad habits can be broken and good ones built in their place. The next time your inner voice starts undermining your abilities and accomplishments, get out of your head. Take 5 minutes to call a friend and say, "I'm fighting the sneaky hate spiral today — here's what happened." Oftentimes saying what's going through your head out loud is enough to help you snap out of it, and if not, good friends can help us see through the haze of negativity. 4. Don't dismiss praise. When someone says, "Great job!" don't shrug it off. Instead of responding, "Oh thanks, I got lucky," just say, "Thanks!" It's easier to accept and internalize your accomplishments when you stop brushing them off or explaining them away. 5. Act before you feel 100% ready. Thinking about doing something without ever actually doing it is a large part of what makes you feel like a fraud, especially when surrounded by people you see as more authentic. So let go of perfectionism, just get started, and work on continually getting better from there. 6. Remember that being wrong isn't the same as being incompetent. In addition to downplaying their achievements, people with Impostor Syndrome tend to fixate on failures. Everyone makes mistakes — even Hall of Fame athletes strike out, throw interceptions, and miss free throws. Perfection is not one of your job requirements! 7. Embrace lifelong learning. There's a difference between feeling inadequate and recognizing opportunities for growth and improvement. We are all works-in-progress. If we can accept that and push ourselves to keep improving — while also recognizing how far we've come — we stop feeling like permanent frauds and start owning both our weak points and our accomplishments. Quick Tips to Try Today Keep track of your wins. Any time you get an email saying, "Nice work!" or your manager mentions the positive results of your efforts, write it down or archive it in a special folder. When the little voice in your head starts going on about how you’re a fraud and it’s only a matter of time before you’re found out, open that folder and remind yourself of how capable you actually are. Change your perspective of failure. Remember that a large part of doing good work and being successful actually involves failing, trying something new, and failing again until you find something that works. One of the biggest advantages “experts” have is that they understand this and keep working at the problem, and they've accumulated more tricks to try from their past experience. Encourage your teammates. When a teammate helps you out or makes a valuable contribution to your work, tell them. Managers: don't save positive feedback for annual reviews or wrapping up big projects; make it a regular habit. Remind your team members that they're contributing in ways that matter and that you've noticed their results, and if you can, prove it by showing them numbers. Boost your confidence through body language. How you carry yourself isn't just about how others perceive you; it has a profound impact on how you view yourself. Just a few minutes of altering your posture can affect your brain chemistry and make you feel more confident and less likely to let those self-sabotaging thoughts creep in. Keep learning and building on your strengths. Recognizing what you're good at and adding new skills around those strengths gives you more confidence in the form of tangible certifications, as well as practical working knowledge that you'll be able to use in the workplace. And when that knowledge proves useful on the job, you'll see time and again that you do offer value to your team. Pay attention to how other people handle setbacks. No one's perfect, and even the colleagues you think highly of make mistakes from time to time. Watch how they approach these situations to remind yourself that everyone is still learning, no matter how much of an "expert" they are, and pick up new, more productive ways of responding to setbacks. Ask for help. Instead of constantly comparing yourself to colleagues, ask them for help and advice. If possible, find someone you admire to mentor you. You'll learn something new, build meaningful relationships, and get insights into how the other person grew and overcame their own self-doubt. Fighting Impostor Syndrome How have you overcome Impostor Syndrome? Share your stories in the comments below and let's give each other some encouragement!
How to Get Unstuck: Focus on the Future (Work Management Roundup)
Welcome back to the weekly Work Management Roundup! We took last week off from the roundup in order to bring you our April Fools prank. But the hijinks were everywhere across the web: while some people lost their jobs because of a GIF, others were wowed by imaginary products, and people all over the globe scrolled through roundups of the best pranks to laugh with the rest of us. So this week, we're giving you a double helping of links to productivity-enhancing articles and management-improving blog posts to help you bounce back from the April 1st tomfoolery and get ready to tackle this new quarter with some verve. Read on! You Need to Practice Being Your Future Self (Harvard Business Review): The reason most of us are stuck in a rut? We're focusing on what's bugging us at this present moment instead of spending time moving toward our future goals. This means doing stuff which may feel unproductive at first because there's no instant gratification of marking off a checklist, but which will eventually help us achieve an end goal. How I've Learned To Get Through A 100-Hour Workweek In One Piece (Fast Company): The first rule is: if you can avoid it, do so. But if you can't, here's a comprehensive guide to surviving a hundred-hour workweek, including a handy infographic charting what tasks to do at which time of day, written by a survivor who didn't lose his mind while going through it. What Every Entrepreneur Should Learn from GoPro Founder Nick Woodman (Fortune): Today’s answer to the question “How do you come up with a new startup idea?” is quite simple: solve an existing problem. That's how GoPro founder Nick Woodman did it. And that's how all successful startups begin. The Hidden Psychology of Failure (BBC Capital): The rapid pace of business is forcing companies to fail fast and often — in short, experiment in order to innovate. Failure then isn't something to be feared, since the lessons learned can lead to a more successful future. But is there any scientific proof that successive failure propels innovation forward? 4 Ways to Keep Mobile Tech from Hindering Productivity in the Workplace (Entrepreneur): With BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) a reality in corporate offices everywhere, there's a very real struggle to keep workers productive when distractions are just a tap away. Here are 4 guidelines for ensuring devices help, instead of harm, worker productivity. New Report Released: How Marketers Get Things Done: The State of Agile Marketing in 2016 (Wrike): Our latest report explores the world of Agile and the challenges marketers are facing today. We surveyed 800 marketers about their work management, use of digital tools, and their collaborative relationship with other departments. And the results might surprise you. Working for a workaholic? If you're ever pressured to check work emails at all hours, or respond to requests on Sunday afternoons, then use these 10 strategies for impressing your workaholic boss without becoming one yourself. Here's the full blog post on #Wrike: ----- >>>>> http://bit.ly/workaholic-no A photo posted by Wrike (@wriketeam) on Mar 25, 2016 at 2:37pm PDT More Work Management Reads Business: Audio Of The Week: Albert Wenger and Mike Masnick on Encryption, Security, and Privacy (AVC) 4 Benefits of Managing Your MarTech Stack Like an Ecosystem (Boardview.io) Who Killed Project Management? A Baker’s Dozen of Project Management Do’s and Don’ts (PM Hut) Heavy Use of Social Media Linked to Depression in Young Adults (Psych Central) Study: Customers (Especially Millennials) Hate When You Fail to Deliver Cross-Device Experiences (Adweek) Creativity/Productivity: Adam Grant: The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers (TED Talks) On Using Inspiring Locations to Inspire Deeper Work (Cal Newport's Study Hacks) OneTab - a browser extension that converts all your open tabs into a list Tutorials: How to Start a Blog in 5 Steps (ProBlogger) How to Write Email Subject Lines Like a Pro (Huffington Post) How to Start a Business With (Almost) No Money (Entrepreneur) Browse The Work Management Roundup on Flipboard If you use Flipboard on your mobile device, then you can check out these links via The Work Management Roundup magazine. View my Flipboard Magazine.
Why We Complain About Work & How To Stop
Researchers say we complain about 15 to 30 times a day, and a lot of those complaints are about our job. Why do we complain about work? Let's take a look at what complaining is, why you do it, and how to get past it to lead a more positive life.
Combating Fear, the Productivity Killer (Work Management Roundup)
Welcome back to the weekly Work Management Roundup, where we share the week's best links to articles on work, productivity, focus, and success to inspire you to do great things. This week, our post title is an homage to a phrase in Frank Herbert's Dune novel ("Fear is the mind killer"), but we look at how fear blocks productivity and what we can do to get past it. Plus, learn how to create a work environment where productivity and creativity are abundant. Read on! My Most Important Productivity Method (Zen Habits): Productivity expert Leo Babauta pinpoints the one thing that gets in the way of our productivity: fear. In order to combat the fear of losing control, certainty, or comfort, he lists 5 steps that help you dive right into that uncertainty, and come to terms with how this fear is driving you to distraction. Building a Psychologically Safe Workplace: Amy Edmondson at TEDxHGSE (YouTube): In an earlier roundup, we linked to an article about what makes a great team, based on results from Google's Project Aristotle research. A chunk of that research stemmed from the earlier work of Amy Edmondson, a Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School, who is well-known for her work with teams. Her take on what makes a team successful? You must build a psychologically safe workplace. Watch her 11-minute TED talk for her suggestions on accomplishing this in your own workplace. The Career Advice No One Tells You (Quartz): Over on Quartz, entrepreneur and marketer Raghav Haran doles out 11 unspoken rules for career success, which includes nuggets such as "job requirements are negotiable," and "pick a boss, not a company." A good article for those trying to land their dream job, and a great reminder for those of us already in the workforce. What to Automate, What to Outsource and What to Do Yourself (Quuu): If you're feeling overwhelmed by your work, you can outsource and automate a lot of menial tasks. Just make sure that it supports, powers-up, or adds value to your workflow. Is Solitude a Key Element of Creativity? (Lifehacker): Creative insight depends on free-flowing ideas and emotions that go through our subconscious mind. Yes, we can nurture and control our subconscious mind through mindfulness exercises, but we also need periods of isolation to let ideas incubate properly. Want your remote teammates to feel like a real part of the team? Send them company swag. Company-branded gear will boost morale, and reinforce the fact that they’re valued just as highly as their colleagues who work from the office. #Wrike See more tips for including your remote team in your activities in this blog post: -------- >>>> http://bit.ly/RemoteTips A photo posted by Wrike (@wriketeam) on Mar 17, 2016 at 3:40pm PDT More Work Management Reads Think About This: What Happens When Millennials Run the Workplace? (New York Times) How Tracking Time on Projects Boosted One Company's Profits Almost 50% (A Girl's Guide to PM) Parental Leave (AVC) 10 Companies That Hacked Traditional PR for Big Digital Marketing Wins (Contentmarketer.io) Go Try This: Show Your Work (Seth Godin) Working for a Workaholic: 10 Tips to Reclaim Your Work-Life Balance (Infographic) (Wrike) This Cable-Wrapping Technique Will Stop Headphone Tangles And Change Your Life (Video) (Digg) How to Disagree With Your Boss Without Getting Fired (Lifehacker) Browse Productivity Works on Flipboard If you use Flipboard on your laptop or mobile, then you'll enjoy our magazine on productivity tips. Check out Productivity Works or click on the widget below: View my Flipboard Magazine.
7 Leadership & Mindset Tips for Extreme Project Managers
If your team experiences high-stress, anxiety, low morale, and burnout from continuous, fast-paced projects, you may wonder: what can I do to escape this situation? Before you go looking for a new job, know that all is not lost. As a leader and manager, there are steps you can take to fix the poor mental health of your team. These tips are based on advice from an extreme project management expert, and should help restore the health of your team. But wait! Did you read our first post discussing the basics of the fast-paced, extreme project management, and how to decide if it's right for your team? Go read it now and come back to this post when you're ready to learn how to be a great leader for your extreme projects. Leadership and Management for Extreme Projects For extreme projects, being a great leader and manager is even harder because the projects you lead change constantly, which means you must change constantly too. In his book eXtreme Project Management, Doug DeCarlo gives an in-depth overview of extreme project management. According to him, this methodology does not begin and end at managing work in a flexible environment; it also includes adapting your mindset to a new way of thinking and developing a new set of leadership skills. If you are a leader of extreme projects, and you want to work on improving your leadership and management skills, we have some tips to help you be a better leader for your team. Tips to rework your management style: 1. Set priorities. Set project priorities, tell the team why they've been prioritized that way, and if the project is cancelled, give them sound reasoning. If you have standards for determining project priority, your team will feel less frustration when project priorities shift. 2. Communicate constantly. In a flexible environment, projects change a lot. Do not keep your team in the dark. If there is an update, tell them what has changed and why — immediately. Waiting means there is a higher chance someone will have to redo their work in order to match the new requirements. Avoid high-stress situations by communicating every project change quickly and clearly. 3. Set clear roles & ownership. Extreme project management means that there is less hierarchy and time involved in decision-making. That means everyone needs to know exactly who has the knowledge (or ability) to make decisions. Ensure that roles and responsibilities on your team and within management are crystal clear. And give your individual team members the confidence to make their own calls if they see something that needs to be done. XPM is about spreading and sharing responsibility, not locking it into the hands of a few people. 4. Reward your team for a job well done. If you're working on a fast-paced project with changing requirements and ever-increasing scope, chances are you'll be awash in relief when the project is finally complete. As a manager, make sure you recognize the great effort it took to get from day 1 to the end. Celebrate the skills, problem-solving, and high energy your team exhibited during the project before moving on to the next. If your team knows you appreciate and recognize them, it will fight low morale and burnout, and motivate your team for the next challenge. Tips to adapt your leadership mindset: 1. Study your own temperament. Your temperament is a good indication of your behavior during projects. Great leaders learn how to remain calm under pressure, even when their extreme project team is stressed — which will certainly happen with these types of projects. Are you able to be the voice of reason in a difficult situation? Practice soft skills to create a good atmosphere for your projects; read books on better communication, negotiation, conflict resolution, and influencing people. Check out our list of books every manager should read. 2. Learn to accept change as good. Humans like stability; it's in our nature. With everything constantly changing, extreme projects put a lot of emotional strain on the people involved. But you can't resist changes to project plans if you want XPM to work for your team, so learn how to get comfortable with last-minute scrambles. If you can't fully get comfortable, at least be aware of your own resistance so that you can fight your tendencies when they rear their predictable heads. Remember: if your project is changing, it is probably for the better. Don't shoot down new ideas without considering how they can positively impact your final outcome! 3. Trust your team to be responsible, capable adults. If you come from traditional management styles, where all decisions are made slowly after being reviewed by countless people, XPM will probably make your head spin. Decisions are made faster, and without the red tape that comes with big companies and complex hierarchies. Trust your team (and yourself!) to be intimate enough with the project that they will make the best decisions for your project without requiring extra input each time. If you have communicated the project goals clearly and thoroughly, then everyone should be able to make informed decisions for the team. Leadership is a Constant Work-in-progress I argue that leadership and management skill sets are not the kind you can master — they are the kind that you constantly work to improve. People look to you to make the best decisions, to always know what is going on with every aspect of every project, and to remain calm under the pressure of intense project environments. You have to be a hero among heroes, and that is hard. In order to be the best leader and manager you can be, it requires constant vigilance and education. Are you leading an extreme project team? What tips can you give for being a better leader? Share your wisdom with us in the comments. Related Reads: 3 Lessons on High-Performing Teams from TED Talks 15 Books Every Manager Should Read Why Employers Value Emotional Intelligence Over IQ (Infographic)
30 Startup Founders Share Their Entrepreneurship Advice
When you've formulated a new business idea in your head, where do you go for advice on how to make your dream a reality? Your parents? Best friend? Google? These sources almost always have opinions to share, but unless your BFF is an entrepreneur, you might be getting just that — an opinion. It's better to take your advice from experts instead. We asked 30 experienced business founders and CEOs to share their best piece of advice for new entrepreneurs in any space. If you're confused about what to focus on, how to hire a great team, or ways to prove you're a worthy leader, skip the Googling and read what these successful founders have to say. On Following Your Passion The only thing that will get you through the tough times of being an entrepreneur — and there will be many of those — is being very singular and passionate about what you are doing. If you're not, if you're chasing money or anything else, then the highs and lows of startup life will absolutely wear you out. —Andrew Filev, Founder/CEO @ Wrike If your only goal in your business is to make money, don't bother. Find something you can be passionate about and run with it. Find other people who are committed to the same cause or passion as you, and divide and conquer. —Blair Nastasi, Founder/CEO @ Media Moguls PR Give it your all. You really can't try and start a business and give 50% effort. You need to dedicate as much time and resources to your endeavor as possible. I would also recommend having some skin in the game. Obviously, your time is important but when you invest your own money into the business, it will just make you work even harder. —Jason Parks, Owner @ The Media Captain On the Mental Hardships of Being a Founder There's nothing better than starting your own business but you have to be OK with the ups and downs. You are going to have higher highs and lower lows than you've ever had before. From an emotional standpoint, you need to be ok with this. But in the end I'd advise "just do it." —Will von Bernuth, Co-founder @ Block Island Organics You will have setbacks. They are normal, but the ones who will be successful think outside the box and figure a new way around the setbacks to push them ahead. You need to be innovative and have a different state of mind then the rest. —Marc Appelbaum, Founder/CEO @ Global Branding Central On Smart Business Planning and Change Keep a nimble mind. It's good that you want to stick to your vision, after all it's your baby, but things change along the way. Don't be afraid to embrace change and mix things up. —Brad Zomick, Co-founder/Senior Director of Content @ SkilledUp Double everything. It's like a home remodeling project. If they say it will take 2 weeks to complete a project it will probably be 4 weeks. Same goes for money. If you think it will cost $5,000 it will probably be $10,000. —Kimberly Rath, Co-founder/Chairman @ Talent Plus, Inc. On Growing Your Business I think the most important thing for young entrepreneurs to have is focus. It's not a lack of capital that kills startups, it’s lack of bandwidth. If the idea is good enough, there will be plenty of time to leverage it out to other aspects of the market. Stick to your knitting in the early stage and give yourself the opportunity to expand focus once you have the credibility of the core idea’s success. —Luke Schneider, CEO @ Silvercar [Don't] scale too quickly. It can be appealing to try and get your product out there as fast as possible, but it doesn't always work out. Repositioning and improving your product cannot be considered failures. —Nabeel Mushtaq, Co-founder/COO @ AskforTask.com Have patience. Ideas and businesses are not created overnight. Things will tend to take longer than expected, whether that is fundraising, product development cycles, customer acquisition, etc.... In Silicon Valley, this is tough, because the whole culture here is built around a short-term focus of how quickly you can grow. Have resilience and don't give up so quickly. Survive another day and keep at it. Those who have patience and resilience will eventually find success. —Jonathan Tang, Founder/CEO @ Vastrm Understand what market segment you service and market only to that segment. Become the leader in some aspect of your industry such that no competitor can ever come close to replicating your model. —Louis Altman, Founder/CEO @ GlobaFone On Carefully Accepting and Incorporating Feedback Get plugged in with the entrepreneurship community in your city/state. There are a lot of people there who have done it before and can give you rock solid advice. —Sean Higgins, Co-founder @ ilos Videos Be careful who you choose to listen to. Too much of the wrong feedback and ideas can choke your creativity and your beliefs. Feedback is the lifeblood of a startup, but you need to be able to put the feedback in context. Does the person giving you feedback share your lens? Do they fit your target persona? —Nick Kellet, Co-founder @ Listly Everybody will tell you what you're supposed to do, if you ask them. Don't ask, just figure out what kind of company you wish existed — and make it. Maybe it'll succeed, maybe it'll fail, but either way your odds are best if you trust your instincts and ignore the naysayers. —David Barrett, Founder/CEO @ Expensify On Talking to Your Customers If you haven’t spent at least as much time talking to your customers as you have building your prototype, stop and go have as many conversations as you possibly can. Ask open-ended questions about people’s experiences and challenges and listen very carefully to the words they use. You’ll get more game-changing insights about your product, messaging, positioning and sales strategy than you could ever learn from reading business books. —Alex Turnbull, Founder/CEO @ Groove On Failure and Success “Act more. Think less.” I believe that many entrepreneurs can suffer from “analysis paralysis” and overthink themselves to inaction, which lets valuable opportunities slip through their fingers. I encourage my employees to be proactive in their roles and learn from their experiences — good and bad. Failure isn’t a negative, as long as you learn from what you did! —Rob Bellenfant, Founder/CEO @ TechnologyAdvice It's so important to celebrate the small wins. When you venture into entrepreneurship for the first time, experiencing the frequent and unpredictable ups and downs can be unsettling. Every day is a journey and the low moments of uncertainty and doubt are inevitable. You will question yourself, your model, your team. When that tide turns again (which it will), take the time to celebrate and reflect on that win. It will serve as your foundation for the next bumpy ride. —Samantha Laliberte, Co-founder @ Ezzy Lynn On Leadership The secret of leadership is to create more leaders. You do that by giving up responsibility and [letting] the other person fail on their own. We never learn from others' teachings, we learn from our experiences; please let your managers/leaders grow the same way. —Annkur P. Agarwal, Founder @ PriceBaba.com I really encourage any aspiring entrepreneur to view themselves as the archetypal member of the team — focus on building habits and behavior that they want to see in others and that will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. —Colin M. Darretta, Founder/CEO @ WellPath Solutions Read, learn, and read some more! The amount of information that can be found on the web is incredible. And don't forget about books — How to Win Friends and Influence People, Lincoln on Leadership, and The Big Leap are great places to start. As a leader, you need to be good at a lot of stuff. Start rounding out your hard edges so that you can make yourself easier to work with. —Arsham Mirshah & Chris Mechanic, Co-founders @ WebMechanix On Hiring a Great Team Never, ever, settle on a co-founder. If it's not right, take a pause. Even if you have to drop the project entirely for a while. Even if you fall far behind. Because a great co-founder will just take you to so many amazing places, so much faster. —Jason Lemkin, Co-Founder/CEO @ Echosign and SaaStr Get great at recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and onboarding. Building a world-class team is perhaps the single greatest talent a leader can have, but in my experience, few new entrepreneurs recognize it — let alone work deliberately to develop their skills in this area. —Ben Landers, Founder/President/CEO @ Blue Corona Build a team of people that aspire. You don’t want the person who is the best in the field, you want the person who desperately wants to be that person. —Jessica Jessup, Co-founder @ Giftovus Hire for the person and personality first, specific work skills second. Does the person have the smarts and people skills? Do they have the hunger and determination to succeed? If so, their specific prior work experience is less important, particularly because in a startup everyone wears so many different hats. —Alex Moazed, President/CEO @ Applico My one piece of advice for budding entrepreneurs is to hire people who compliment each other. Not everyone needs to have the same personality to have a great culture. Find complimentary people who work well together. Make sure that the team is involved in the hiring process so there is buy-in. —Deborah Sweeney, CEO @ MyCorporation.com On Remote Employees Actively embrace remote working and invest in the right tools that make it easy. Location shouldn't matter anymore. Embracing this means that you can hire the best people — not just the best people in the vicinity. —Sam Bruce, Co-founder @ muchbetteradventures.com On Nurturing Your Company Culture Culture is something that you should manage intentionally. Culture is not a ping-pong table, beer, and a dog-friendly office. Culture is a competitive advantage and it will be the thing that helps your employees deliver great work. Start by taking the time to identify your values as a company. Then write them down, post them on the wall, and revisit them on a quarterly basis. —Chris Ostoich, Founder @ BlackbookHR Your employees are your most valuable asset. Even more important than your first funding round or your attempts at going viral. You must focus on creating a work environment that is empowering, flexible, and enjoyable, especially if you’re looking to hire millennial-aged (or younger) talent. Also focus on hiring people much smarter than you — if you’re not, you’ve got it all wrong. —Clayton Dean, Co-Founder/Managing Director @ Circa Interactive A culture will naturally evolve and as a business owner it's your job to pay attention and be a catalyst for that culture. If you see employees all heading to the gym over lunch, offer to pay for gym memberships. Try and recognize culture shifts and help your employees bloom. —Jim Belosic, CEO @ ShortStack Share our slideshare! 12 Founders Share Their Entrepreneurial Wisdom What's your best piece of business advice? You may not be a business founder or a startup whiz, but we know you have business lessons to share. Hit the comments and teach our readers something new. Related Reads: The 7 Deadly Sins of Bad Startup Leaders Top 10 Reasons Startups Fail (Infographic) 7 Ways to Fund Your Startup (Infographic)
5 Rules for the Solopreneur's Success
Ever considered a possibility of self-employment? While the idea of autonomously balancing your career and personal life appeals to everyone, there's hard work behind it. So if you wish to be your own boss, here are the 5 rules I would suggest taking into account: 1. Acquire good time-management habits When working solo, you have to wear all the hats – administrator, marketer, the actual service provider, just to name a few. To avoid being lured into spending 12 hours a day at a computer, get the most of your time. Make yourself a list of the 3-5 things you must accomplish today. Once you've prioritized, block out your time and work on these things distraction-free. Know that you cannot interrupt yourself until the most important of those things is done. 2. If you want a job done perfectly, hire a professional! The typical solopreneur is easily tempted to become workaholic, never feeling that their work is done. But it's rather misleading to think that you don't need (or want) anyone. Even if you believe that you can simply do everything better by yourself, it's always good to have others who can challenge your ideas a bit. Once you start to establish the processes to make yourself successful, hiring freelancers helps you get things done that you wouldn't normally be able to do on your own – without the overhead of full-time employees. Here are a couple websites I usually use: elance.com, odesk.com ... 3. Effective communication is king Communication is paramount for any business. When dealing with remote clients and freelancers, it's crucial to have a powerful system in place to turn your online discussions into something very close to the face-to-face meetings. I use Wrike project management software for this purpose. So, for example, when I have a task assigned to a client, they know the project doesn't go forward until their portion is done – and they clearly see that within Wrike. I also can sift through tons of e-mails in a snap. I turn e-mails into tasks and receive notifications when tasks are completed, having seamless collaboration automatized. 4. Celebrate your achievements Outside of the office cubes and corporate ladders, it's easy to lose sight of how much you've moved forward in your work. That's why it's very important to regularly track the progress of your accomplishments. I like to see what I need to accomplish in a day, week or month. I have a lot of different projects to juggle, and it's crucial that I do not drop the ball on any of them. I like to use Wrike's "Table View" to view my task lists across all projects. If I'm feeling bogged down, I filter by "Overdue" or "Due Today" to allow me to focus on what needs to get done first. I make sure that I write comments in every task and log my time so that I know I'm not spending too much time on one thing. 5. Access work when needed - anytime, anywhere Solopreneurship takes devotion and diligence, and these things do not at all involve being tied up to a certain workplace or work hours. As a person who is constantly multitasking, I like being able to add or view something crucial from my phone. It's also really nice to easily access documents on the go. And it's all available in Wrike project management software, whether I'm working from my home office, Starbucks or the beach. Are you doing any of the above as a solopreneur or in the hustle of full-time work? You are very welcome to share your experience here with us!
The Unexpected Benefits of Shaking Up Your Work Routine
Can a routine ever get in your own way? Can you fall into the trap of doing things just for the sake of doing them—whether they benefit you or not? Well, to put it simply, yes. And when it happens, your routine isn’t doing you any favors. Here's why we lean on these predictable systems, plus the unexpected positive effects of shaking things up.
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4 Vital Career Lessons from "Calgary's Worst Driver" [Video]
People at our Mountain View office were recently fascinated by a trending YouTube video showing what is allegedly "Calgary's Worst Driver" taking a painful four and a half minutes to pull out of a pretty standard parking spot. It's a video that leaves you with more questions than answers. BUT! What you see on the video isn't merely an incompetent driver trying to worm his or her way out of a tough spot. What you see is an enlightened guru with vital lessons to teach us about life, career, and the pursuit of efficient productivity. Read on: Lesson 1: Plan Before You Do. The driver kept at it for over four minutes, trying different patterns, each one more complicated than the next. We can't help but think the entire debacle could have been avoided if the driver had taken some time to think things through. Perhaps even stopping completely to step out of the vehicle and judge how close the surrounding cars were situated. When you get into a tough spot in your career, Nike's tagline won't always work; "just doing it" won't lead to success without first thinking things through a little. What are the repercussions of your actions? Which resources will you need to access? Even better, plan out your entire year in advance. Lesson 2: It's Okay to Ask for Help. If you are no expert at your task at hand — whether it's driving in snow, programming code, or writing a blog post — it is incumbent upon you to seek assistance. If you don't, you could cause serious damage to your surroundings and innocent bystanders. Humble yourself, grasshopper. Ask for advice. For example, talk to subject matter experts in a LinkedIn group. You're more likely to get out of a tough spot when you have input from those more skilled or more experienced than you. In the end, succeeding with help will hurt your pride far less than failing alone. Lesson 3: If It's Not Fun Anymore, It May Be Time To Walk. While perseverance is critical in the pursuit of your passions, failure to improve may be a sign that your heart just isn't in it. Our CEO Andrew Filev recently told a story about a time he had a heart-to-heart with a struggling software engineer only to discover the employee was reevaluating his career path — he wasn't enjoying it and it was leading to his substandard work. In the case of "Calgary's Worst Driver," their struggle is probably a sign for them to move on. It may be time for the driver to invest in a bus pass. Lesson 4: Admit Your Mistakes. Everyone messes up sooner or later. The difference between moving on with your dignity intact and going infamously viral is how well you handle the situation. If "Calgary's Worst Driver" had stopped their car and left a note after dinging that red car, we probably never would have seen this video. Similarly, if you make a mistake and miss a vital deadline, man (or woman) up and admit it. Then ensure it doesn't happen again. It's a small world, and your reputation as someone who dodges responsibility will follow you. If Karma doesn't find you, the internet definitely will. Some of life's lessons can only be learned the hard way. If you haven't seen the video yet, it's time to sit through 4 of the most painful minutes of your life: Hindsight is 20/20, so it's important that we keep looking back to catch those learning moments. If you have any embarrassing stories that taught you a great lesson, please share them in the comments — even anonymously! It's important to pass on your newfound expertise and prevent other poor souls from making the same mistakes.
8 Mental Weapons to Vanquish Procrastination (Infographic)
Ah, procrastination. We know we’ll regret giving in to its siren call, and yet it’s so seductive that most of us can’t resist. This infographic will help you understand the root causes of procrastination so you can start to withstand the lure of “I can always do it later…." Arm yourself with these 8 strategies to fight procrastination: Focus on the benefits. Look at the task as something that will improve your life, rather than a chore that must be completed. Chart your progress. Making progress visible by checking items off a list or filling in a progress bar can boost your motivation. Feed your productivity — literally. Eat a banana or drink a glass of juice to replenish your blood glucose levels and give your brain a boost. Work somewhere comfortable and familiar. Our brains read uncertainty as risk and are more prone to distraction. Set a timer. Tell yourself you only have to buckle down and focus for 15 minutes. Repeated, short sprints can add up to big progress. Find a work buddy. Having someone to hold you accountable — and celebrate with when you’ve accomplished your goal — is great motivation. Establish a routine. Include scheduled breaks to refresh your brain and renew your focus. Set mini-goals. Break up a big, intimidating task into individual steps, then give yourself a little reward when you hit specific milestones. Read the rest of the infographic to find out exactly what happens in your brain when you procrastinate, the driving factors behind habitual procrastination, and the surprising monetary cost of putting off tasks. Source: Agile8.com Looking for more tips to keep procrastination at bay? Give these 4 new productivity techniques a try.
