Get in the Habit of Giving Praise With Your Team
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It was easy to see the smiles exponentially light up around the room as the co-workers gave each other praise for various things. Even the thickest skinned member of the team couldn’t help but smile when a co-worker thanked him for supporting her with an RFP coming due. The team of hard-nosed marketers turned into […]
What is All this Work For? Finding Meaning at Work
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Recently, I presented at a conference, discussing burnout with professionals. Several people in the room were very close to quitting their jobs for various reasons, i.e., being charged to do more with less, constantly shifting workplace environment, a major change in responsibility. For some, those may be welcome challenges. For others, they were just one […]
Houston We Have A Problem…with Employee Engagement
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In 2013, Gallup undertook a massive effort to study the current state of employee engagement around the world. After surveying 73,752 employees in 141 countries, Gallup found that 24% of employees are actively disengaged, 63% are not engaged, and 13% are engaged. You will find that when an employee is disengaged with their work environment, […]
Stop Talking About It: 4 Clear Ways to Actually Create a Motivating Workplace Culture
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Marie was in her first professional job. One of her first projects was to create a new program offering from the ground up that she was to oversee and maintain. Excited about the project, she jumped right into the research and planning. She expected to be reporting back to her boss with results and progress […]
The Four Big Myths of Dance Floor Theory
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Dance Floor Theory is an engagement system that can be used by any team or organization to better engage their employees or members. We use dance floors as a visual representation of engagement within an organization. In the middle of the dance are the most engaged dancers. We call them 5s. The least engaged dancers […]
Better than a Raise: Connections are the Key to Employee Happiness
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“From now on, we’ll use this white board to track every interaction you have had with a client. If you don’t meet your quota, not only will everyone see, but there will be repercussions.” “The funeral is in the morning, so you’ll be back in office in the afternoon, right?” “I heard you did poorly […]
Engaging “Neutrals” on Social Media
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If you’re reading this, you may also be a member of the Student Organization Leaders Facebook Group. (If you aren’t, do me a favor and request to join.) Our goal with this group is to create a place for people who have seen our Dance Floor Theory program or follow our work to continue the conversation […]
The Failed Promise of Open Office Spaces
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Innocently enough, a co-worker of mine recently asked me about a meal replacement shake I was having for lunch. While I was explaining the finer points of the ingredients, another co-worker overheard our conversation from her desk in our open office space and chimed in. Moments later, another co-worker made a sarcastic comment about my […]
Swift Kick’s 3 Steps To Creating A Culture Of Connection
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A core value of Facebook is “Move Fast.” “Moving fast enables us to build more things and learn faster. We’re less afraid of making mistakes than we are of losing opportunities by moving too slowly. We are a culture of builders, the power is in your hands.” A core value of Apple is “Saying No.” […]
7 Ways To Stay Engaged With A Virtual Team
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I pulled over in the middle of nowhere on I-80 next to a herd of cows because it was the only WiFi signal I was able to find for the last 40 miles. I tethered my phone to my laptop and dialed into our team’s daily 10:10am huddle. In looking at myself in the reflection […]