|
|
Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
20 March 2020
Updated: 07 December 2020
|
With many people now working from home for what is likely to be an extended period of time, leaders will need to adapt how they work and stay connected with their teams. We thought to share some of our favourite tools used on our programmes and a few others that have been suggested by our community.
1. Set up a Slack workspace
You might remember Slack as the tool you used to share ideas with people during Discover. It's a free and really flexible tool that gives you a way of checking in with the team that's less formal than an email. It's super easy to set up and use - just follow their own online guide here.
2. Zoom meetings and breakouts
Zoom is a particularly good video conferencing tool, as it not only allows HD video and sound, but also great features like breakout rooms. The free version is great for small teams but limits video calls to 40 mins - if anything, good motivation to keep your meetings snappy? Check it out here.
3. Hangouts for creativity
Zoom is great for formal meetings, but it can take a fair bit of bandwidth. So for more informal chats, Google hangouts are a great alternative, as you can limit the video quality if your internet is slow, which is really helpful. Here at Clore Social we are using this to have an hour each day for free floating ideas - exactly as we would in the office. Start hanging out.
4. Prioritise with Trello and Asana
There are a few simple project management tools that allow managers to share tasks with their teams and keep track of progress. Two of our favourites are Trello and Asana. Trello is very flexible and lets you and your team develop your own system, while Asana is based around a gant chart system and is perfect for those who like a little bit more structure. More on Asana here and Trello here.
5. Google docs
Google docs is a tool that you've probably heard of and may even have used. It's the perfect thing when you want to work on a document with someone, as you can comment, edit and look at different versions, all from anywhere. One thing to be careful of, however, is your privacy settings - the documents are easy to share but you can easily lose track of who has access. Find out more.
6. Collaborative Spotify playlists
Last but certainly not least! Creating a shared sense of experience when people are all in their own homes can be a challenge. One fun way of doing it is with a Collaborative Spotify Playlist. These playlists let anyone add a song to them, meaning you can create your own office soundtrack. Start collaborating.
Tags:
collaboration
covid
future
skills
tips
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
|
Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
10 February 2020
Updated: 07 December 2020
|
Most of us have been there. You are at a meeting and someone shows you an exciting new digital tool. You immediately download it and on your return to your office try and get your colleagues to adopt and use it - promising that it will revolutionise everything you do. Maybe you get a few weeks or even a month out of it, but more often than not people start to gradually revert to the old ways of doing things. Slack messages turn back into emails; Trello boards become post-its and your data dashboard finds its way back into excel.
But does it have to be this way? What’s stopping the take up of these brilliant tools and how do we make it better?
What we want you to do
Over the next three weeks, we want to hear your best ideas on how to make the take up of digital tools more effective and fun. How have you done it in the past? What worked? What didn’t? Don’t worry, your ideas don’t need to be totally thought out, tested or prototyped. We are just looking for those initial thoughts and ideas that have the potential to be great.
Once you’ve got an idea simply go to the Clore Social Forum Facebook group and post it under the topic “Innovation prizes” to share it with the whole community. Or click here to respond via an online form.
As always the best idea will be awarded £200 and will be shared with all the Clore Social community.
Tags:
challenges
change
future
joy
skills
tips
values
wellbeing
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
|
Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
13 January 2020
Updated: 07 December 2020
|
January - How might we spark motivation?
We all know that the late winter months can be a difficult time. The excitement of Christmas and New Year are behind us but the days are still short and grey. It can be a time when excitement about work drops and people seem to be just battling through to the spring. So we thought what better time than right now to harness the creativity of our community to think about the challenge of motivation.
So often leaders think of motivation as something to be done to teams. Something that leadership is totally responsible for. Something that comes from the top. But what if we flip this? What if rather than asking how leaders can motivate staff we instead ask how leaders can support staff to find their own motivations - how we spark motivation in others.
What if we think about the tools, processes and even permissions people need to find their motivation? How do we as leaders create these things and what do they look like in real-world settings? This is where you come in.
What we want you to do
Over the next two weeks, we want your best ideas for how we might spark motivation in people. We want to hear about your ideas for techniques, resources, activities or anything else you can think of. Don’t worry your ideas don’t need to be totally thought out, tested or prototyped. We are just looking for those initial thoughts and ideas that have the potential to be great.
Once you’ve got an idea simply go to the Clore Social Forum Facebook group and post it under the topic “Innovation prizes” to share it with the whole community.
As always the best idea will be awarded £200 and will be shared with all the Clore Social community.
Tags:
challenges
change
future
joy
skills
tips
values
wellbeing
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
|
Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
18 October 2019
Updated: 07 December 2020
|
By developing our social leadership capabilities we can increase our impact for our teams, beneficiaries and sector. But the journey of leadership development is far from easy.
It’s hard to find time for learning and development when the immediate needs of the social sector are so great. So how can we commit to (and stick with) our own leadership development? This blog post explores how understanding our personal tendencies can help us stick with our leadership development goals.
Know yourself and your tendencies
Leadership development must start with self-awareness, which is why our programmes start with “Know yourself, be yourself, look after yourself”. But for a leader, self-awareness is about more than knowing your strengths and weaknesses. It’s also about understanding how to make time for your leadership development and what strategies can help you stick with your development goals.
"The question we should ask ourselves is: How do I respond to expectations?"
According to Gretchen Rubin the question we should ask ourselves is “How do I respond to expectations?”. In her book The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People's Lives Better, Too), Rubin explains that we all face two kinds of expectations—outer expectations (meet work deadlines, answer a request from a friend) and inner expectations (keep a New Year’s resolution, start exercising). Our response to expectations determines our “Tendency”—that is, whether we fit into the category of “Upholder”, “Questioner”, “Obliger”, or “Rebel”.
“Upholders” respond readily to outer and inner expectations. They keep the work deadline, and the New Year’s resolution, fairly easily.
“Questioners” question all expectations; they’ll meet an expectation if they think it makes sense and meets their inner standards — so they follow their own inner expectations.
“Obligers” meet outer expectations, but struggle to meet expectations they impose on themselves. An Obliger journalist has no trouble writing when she has an editor, colleagues, and deadlines, but struggles to write a novel in her free time.
“Rebels” resist all expectations, outer and inner alike. They want to do what they want, in their own way, and if you ask or tell them to do something, they’re likely to resist.
Developing strategies according to your tendencies
According to a nationally representative sample for the US, Rubin’s research found that, the US population roughly breaks down along the four tendencies:
- 41% Obligers,
- 24% Questioners
- 19% Upholders
- 17% Rebels
If we have some insights into what our tendencies are, it’s easier for us to make a leadership development plan that we actually stick with. Understanding other people's tendencies can help us understand how to best support them in their development. Here are some strategies to consider for different people with different tendencies, that can help them stick with their development goals.
Scheduling (most important for Upholders)
Scheduling is a powerful tool for Upholders. They love to keep a schedule and march through every item. They can make time for leadership development by putting it on the calendar. Upholders can meet inner expectations, but only when those inner expectations are articulated. This means that it’s important to schedule a time for self reflection or coaching to help articulate their development goals.
Clarity (most important for Questioners)
For Questioners, creating Clarity is key to starting a new habit. They want to know exactly what they’re doing, and why. They won’t meet an expectation if they don’t understand the reason. They need robust answers and must clearly see and trust the authority and expertise of the person asking them to meet that expectation.
Identity (most important for Rebels)
For Rebels, the most effective habit-change strategy is to connect the new habit to their identity. Because Rebels place great value on being true to themselves, they can embrace a habit if they view it as a way to express their identity. Creating Clarity is also helpful to Rebels, because it focuses on why a habit might have personal value for them. The more Rebels think about what they want, and why they want it, the more effectively they pursue it.
Accountability (most important for Obligers)
All Four Tendencies (even, under certain circumstances, Rebels) find accountability to be useful for developing habits, but Obligers absolutely require structures of external accountability. If you (like me and 41% of people) are an obliger, it can be difficult to meet your goals in the absence of external accountability. That means you need to build that external accountability into your leadership development.
One programme that taps into people's need for accountability to help organise their development is Clore Social’s new programme called Peer Journey. Recently, a cohort of social leaders have kicked off their journey. They’ve all picked a leadership challenge they are faced with that they will work to address over the next 10 weeks. They are grouped into smaller peer groups that they’ll regularly check in with to help support each other, learn from each other and (importantly) hold each other accountable.
The Peer Journey Programme can work for Upholders (if they schedule time for it), Questioners (if they understand why) and Rebels (if they identify with it) alike - but it’s especially helpful to Obligers. One of the previous participants put their finger on it by saying:
"I just know that if they hadn't been there waiting for me, I never would have finished the things I had planned."
“The accountability of the peer group was huge to me. I just know that if they hadn't been there waiting for me, I never would have finished the things I had planned.”
How do you respond to internal and external expectations?
How can you use these insights to create the conditions needed for you to make time for and stick with your leadership development.
To learn more about building habits and understanding people’s tendencies watch the talk: Gretchen Rubin: The 4 Ways to Successfully Adopt New Habits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBNEVXg2CNU
Take the four tendencies quiz to identify your tendency: https://quiz.gretchenrubin.com/four-tendencies-quiz/
Blog by Nora Dettor, Digital Transformation Manager, Clore Social Leadership
Tags:
perspective
skills
tips
wellbeing
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
|
Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
06 June 2019
Updated: 23 October 2020
|
We all know that crossing the road is easy…right? But what has this got to do with coaching? Well, stay with me and I will explain.
In coaching, we use the GROW model, a widely recognised framework designed to structure coaching sessions. It is an acronym widely used due to its simplicity and usefulness in the coaching process. It stands for Goal, Reality, Options/Opportunities, Way forward/Willingness. It's a great model for understanding your goals and how to reach them, which I have recently had the chance to put into practice.
I have recently had the privilege of going to Cambodia to do some volunteer coaching with SHE Investments, a Social Enterprise making a great impact locally by working with local business women. This was a great opportunity for me and the start of a great adventure which began with simply crossing the road.
As a coach, this was my time to literally walk my talk. Here’s how I crossed the road using the GROW model.
Goal: What do you want?
The goal was set. The Royal Palace, the destination. It was a SMART goal – it was Specific – the Royal Palace, Measurable – I could tick off that I had been there, Achievable, Relevant and Timely. I had the route mapped out and could do it and be back in time for dinner.
Coaching helps you to create SMART goals. Getting the right goal for you and understanding the importance of having this goal to you – is a critical first step to the coaching process.
Reality: Where are you now?
Ok, so I was confident that I knew how to cross the road - I had done it many, many times before. I had graduated to unconscious competence nearly five decades ago. I was good to go.
What I hadn’t bargained for was the traffic in Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh. It is just crazy! These were not like any roads I had ever seen before - there were motorbikes, scooters, tuk-tuks, push bikes, cars, vans all moving …at the same time…at different speeds …in different directions. My brain went into panic mode. Where are the pedestrian crossings? Where is the green man when you want one? OMG I don't want to die! OMG how am I going to do this?
Crossing the road had just become a daunting and scary prospect.
In coaching the first step is to be aware of where you are right now. Checking your reality. What is going on for you in this moment? How are you feeling about that? What is working for you and what is not? What is important about taking this next step? What is the purpose?
Coaching is about moving forward to the next step - and my next step was going to be into a sea of oncoming traffic. I began to question just how much I wanted to see the Royal Palace.
When assessing whether to take the next step or not fear can often hijack the amygdala and stepping out of the comfort zone can seem like a real ‘high stakes’ prospect. In my case it felt pretty real. But real or imagined, the grip of fear can make that comfort zone (or the comfort of my hotel room) seem very appealing.
Options/Opportunities: What could you do?
Decision time. It was time to assess my choices.
Do I just step out with gaze fixed on the other side?
Do I wait until the traffic comes to a grinding halt (that seem unlikely to ever happen)?
Do I walk really slowly? Or
Do I walk really fast to increase my chances of a successful outcome?
Survival. The stakes were high.
Coaching helps to explore choices (and possible consequences). Once the goal has been set and the destination in sight. What then? Options considered – the only real choice is will I do it, or won’t I?
"The time for courage and trust had arrived."
Way forward/Willingness: What will you do?
At some point I needed to actually take the next step. The time for courage and trust had arrived. The edges of the comfort zone had been reached and it was time to step out.
I gripped the arms of my travel friends - safety in numbers right? (Who is around to help?), walked with confidence (‘fake it till you make it’), waited for the flow to ebb - albeit only slightly (assess the risk), reminded myself that although this was a challenge, it was one I was definitely ready for - I was well qualified to do this (substituted negative thoughts ‘OMG I’m going to die’ for more helpful thoughts ‘You can do this. Look at all the other people (including that child just out of nappies) who have managed it successfully.’
Coaching is generative. It is about moving forward. It requires action. It is ok to ponder, and explore and examine and talk out loud...but when all is said and done - what action will follow? The choice to pull back is ever present until you really commit. This stage often requires trust - a willingness to take that first step. Sometimes it might just be to test the waters and (due to some unforeseen motorbike) you might have to jump back on the pavement and wait for a bit before trying again. Sometimes it about striding bolding and committing - half way there, is also half way back - so time to keep walking. The destination is in sight.
So I lived to tell the tale. Coming out of your comfort zone, is really just like crossing the road.
"Coming out of your comfort zone, is really just like crossing the road."
If you are interested in finding out more about stepping out of your comfort zone, you might be interested in reading – Dare to Lead by Brene Brown in which she talks about the importance of choosing ‘courage over comfort’, or Emotional Agility by Susan David, which discusses ‘showing up and stepping out’
And if you want to try stepping out of your comfort zone, we have recently launched the Backpack, which includes a number of tools that offer as a step-by-step guide to tackle social leadership challenges in practice. These tools can hopefully help you cross the road on your own leadership journey.
Tags:
casestudy
challenges
change
coaching
courage
future
tips
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
Blog Home
All Blogs
RSS