Helping enterprises improve team engagement

With continuing remote work model, enterprises need to develop ways for better communication with the employees

Enterprises have continued to work in the remote work model and will mostly continue to do so until the pandemic is completely eliminated. The work from home model, however, resulted in distorted communication. CIOs believe that if this model has to continue, it is vital to develop measures for seamless communications between teams and their managers.

Managers need to follow modified processes to better team dynamics, boost employee engagement, and assure them that their voices will be heard clearly.

Paying attention

While micromanagement is not advisable, too much leniency where the employees are left wondering about their role or the role of the leadership is not advisable either. A regular one-on-one meeting where the personnel have undivided attention is a foolproof way to ensure that leaders have time with each direct report.

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Conducting skip-level meetings

CIOs acknowledge that having one-on-one meetings with direct reports is critical, but they are not enough, in organizations with a complex structure. The skip level meetings allow leaders to skip over a manager to communicate with an individual contributor directly. Traditionally skip-level meetings need to be shorter (15 minutes or so) and less regular than one-on-one meetings. CIOs believe that skip-level meetings allow them to learn new aspects about the team members and detect multiple opportunities to serve the clients and go ahead in their careers.

The skip-level meeting allows leaders to organize their teams to ensure that they have diverse skillsets that are complementary to one another inside a business function. This gives clear data on where CIOs should go if impromptu business requirements come up.

CIOs say that it’s crucial that direct reports be given a heads up before the skip-level meetings are initiated. If such meetings are initiated without informing the team leaders first, they risk damaging the trust built up over the years with them.

One major element to be wary of is that C-suite leaders should avoid appearing favoring one particular contributor at all times and taking for granted their direct reports.

Acknowledging and building relationships

Enterprise leaders believe that it’s vital to be aware of the types of employees they work with. To be respectful of people who would rather receive a “Thank you” or “Great job” than be given stock options or a raise.

As C-suite leaders, they are expected to invest time in building relationships with every team member via one-on-one and other communications. Relationship building helps them understand what kind of an acknowledgment each employee answers to and then ensure to offer it.

Providing authentic feedback

CIOs feel that it should always be authentic when positive feedback is provided; this includes either constructive or positive feedback. When the desired result is not achieved, it is vital to inform the team constructively.

It is better when feedback is provided at the earliest after an event or a situation as possible. CIOs should ensure to unambiguously point out the behavior or action in question and provide the scenario of any potential failure. It eliminates ambiguity and trains the team members to engage in targeted improvements. A one-on-one meeting is an excellent scenario to provide feedback at.

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Boosting team engagement

Leaders say that paying attention to the responsibilities of the teams and developing skill sets via both skip-level meetings and one-on-ones with direct reports is helpful. Their accomplishments should be acknowledged in a manner that is unique to them and bosses should ensure they provide authentic feedback. A leader should remember to be a multiplier and start with scheduling regular one-on-one meetings with the team.