Accelerate Your Career with Best Practices and Lessons Learned
Category: Team Building
Welcome to Tech2Exec’s Team Building category, your go-to resource for insights on forming cohesive teams and fostering their happiness and fulfillment. In today’s fast-paced work environments, building a strong, unified team is more important than ever. Here, you’ll find expert advice on strategies to enhance collaboration, improve communication, and build a positive work environment that thrives on trust and mutual respect. Our resources aim to empower leaders and team members alike, ensuring everyone feels valued and motivated to achieve their best potential. We offer a wide range of tools, from team-building exercises to leadership workshops, all designed to strengthen interpersonal connections and boost morale. Whether you’re looking to strengthen existing teams or create new ones from scratch, we’ve got the comprehensive tools and detailed guidance to help you succeed in cultivating a dynamic and productive workforce.
As you progress in your journey as a tech exec, you will encounter a diverse range of individuals and interact with various personalities. Amongst them, the most vexing leader to work with is undoubtedly the micromanager. Learning how to manage a micromanager can make your life much easier.
This person needs to be in control and wants to know everything you are doing. This is painful because you really need to be on your toes. There is a lot of extra work with a leader who is a micromanager because they constantly want to know what you are working on and want to provide lots of input.
Managing the micromanager
If you’re new and unfamiliar to the micromanager, it takes time to establish comfort. Follow their instructions, stay patient, and they’ll value your ability to comply. Eventually, most micromanagers become more lenient, but trust takes time. The trick is to gain trust swiftly. Here’s what you can do:
Regular updates – frequent status reports will help your manager feel good about your activities.
Face to face meetings – the more your manager sees you, the more comfortable they are that you are focusing on work.
Frank conversations – Although this might be uncomfortable, talk to your manager about giving you more space. Explain that you feel good about where you are with your work, and that you feel like you can be independent.
Micromanagers often display signs of insecurity and tend to have nervous personalities. Building a connection and understanding their interests can help foster a positive relationship. Take advantage of opportunities to discuss topics like family, activities, and sports to create common ground.
Building a connection based on shared experiences, such as attending the same university, can help foster a sense of comfort and trust. This, in turn, allows for more flexibility and understanding in your interactions. However, it’s important to remember that cultivating such connections requires patience and investment of time.
Patience is tough
Your manager may frustrate you, but patience and controlling your temper is key. Showing anger or impatience with a micromanager won’t help. Consistently updating your manager and demonstrating success will eventually lead to the freedom you desire. Stay guarded until your manager becomes comfortable with you.
In summary, remain composed, even in situations where your manager scrutinizes your work, seemingly due to a lack of trust. It’s not solely about trust, but rather a matter of control. Dealing with such personalities can be challenging, but rest assured, you will gain valuable insights from these experiences.
As a tech exec, prioritizing diversity equity and inclusion (DE&I) is crucial a creative and forward-thinking workforce. Unfortunately, it is common for leaders to hire individuals who mirror their own backgrounds and experiences.
People often seek the company of like-minded individuals because it provides a sense of comfort and affirmation. Surrounding yourself with people who share your views and align with your values can create a pleasant and reassuring environment.
DE&I means hire a diverse team.
Avoid hiring individuals who closely mirror your own traits. A true leader, embracing diversity equity and inclusion, seeks out those who challenge them and expand their horizons, offering a wide array of perspectives and innovative ideas.
Hiring individuals who merely echo your views leaves you susceptible to disruption. In essence, they lack the genuine concern for your best interests, as they fail to recognize the evolving landscape of the business world that can affect you. What you truly need are individuals who are unafraid to say, “That approach may not be the most favorable because…” or “Perhaps we should consider this alternative instead…” Having a team that is ready to challenge, and question is paramount to the success of any leader.
As a leader you need to establish a diverse team that allows a thought-provoking environment to thieve.
In summary, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) foster an organization rich in diverse perspectives, fueling creativity and vitality. Embrace individuals with great ideas instead of viewing them as threats. Ensure genuine collaboration, avoiding adversarial dynamics. Acknowledge each person’s uniqueness and set clear boundaries and expectations to enhance both personal success and organizational growth. DE&I is not just a “nice to have” in the workplace, but rather a crucial component for creating a successful and sustainable organization. By valuing individuals from different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences, companies can tap into a wealth of diverse perspectives that can lead to innovative solutions and approaches.
As a tech executive, what actions can you take to drive transformative change within your company? Start by becoming a change agent who champions innovation and improvement. While it can be challenging, cultivating a sense of patience and persistence is key to effectively driving change. This involves not only setting clear objectives but also encouraging a culture of continuous learning and adaptation among your team. Navigating these complexities requires a strategic approach and a clear vision that aligns with the company’s goals. Engage with stakeholders across all levels, gather diverse perspectives, and be prepared to adjust your plans as necessary to meet emerging challenges.
To excel as a change agent, courage and focused implementation of tactics are vital.
Start with yourself
As humans, we all experience the force of inertia, which subtly influences many of our decisions. By closely examining our choices, we can uncover any inherent biases and proactively mitigate the negative impact of inertia. This self-awareness empowers us to formulate effective strategies for overcoming its effects, fostering personal growth and enhancing our ability to lead by example.
Recognize inertia
Identify specific areas within your organization, department, or project where inertia has firmly set in. This could manifest as resistance to new processes, outdated practices, or reluctance to embrace technological advancements. Assess how this inertia hinders the organization’s ability to attain the desired change and explore potential reasons behind it.
Develop change buy-in
The success of change initiatives heavily hinges on your ability to share and explore novel ideas with others. Collaborating with peers and introducing these concepts can significantly accelerate transformative efforts within your area of responsibility. Technical professionals often struggle to influence change due to limited control over decision-making. However, employing a collaborative approach fosters buy-in. By cultivating an environment of engaged and respectful collaboration that encompasses diverse perspectives, you can effectively prompt others to embrace fresh ideas. Encourage open dialogue and actively listen to feedback to build trust and commitment across teams.
A change agent influences others to change
Having an influential stakeholder as an ally wields immense power in promoting change. They can drive the case for change, reinforce messages, create incentives, and accelerate behavior modifications within the organization. However, change is not achieved through power and force alone. Many technical professionals lack the authority to enforce compliance. The most effective approach is to foster an environment of collaboration and learning to create lasting change. As a change agent, encourage continuous improvement and recognize efforts to motivate others to align with the transformative vision.
In conclusion, becoming a change agent within an organization can be quite challenging, as there is often a tendency to cling to familiar practices. This resistance is understandable, given that change usually brings uncertainty and risk. However, with determination and a consistent strategy, the long-term advantages will surpass the initial reluctance. It’s crucial to keep advancing while fostering positive relationships and avoiding alienation. Celebrating small victories along the journey helps maintain momentum and showcases the value of change.
Unconscious bias occurs when individuals unknowingly make judgments influenced by their subconscious. It’s important for tech executives to recognize and prevent decisions based on such biases. Many people remain unaware of their own biases, often shaped by their upbringing. For example, a child exposed to a parent’s frequent negative comments about a particular race or creed may carry those impressions into adulthood.
Human nature inclines us to connect with those who resemble us. However, in the business world, it’s essential to recognize that not everyone shares our traits. Surrounding ourselves only with similar individuals can unintentionally reveal biases and exclude others. Be mindful that your leaders may have these biases and strive to minimize their impact on you.
Here are some examples of unconscious biases:
Confirmation bias: the tendency to seek out information that confirms our existing beliefs or ideas and ignore or dismiss any information that challenges them. This can lead to a closed-mindedness and an unwillingness to consider alternative perspectives.
Halo effect: the tendency to judge someone based on one positive attribute or characteristic and assume that they possess other positive qualities as well. For example, assuming that an employee who is always punctual is also a hardworking and dedicated worker.
Similarity bias: the inclination to gravitate towards individuals who share similar backgrounds, experiences, or characteristics as us. This can lead to a lack of diversity in hiring decisions and limit the perspectives and ideas brought to the table.
Beauty bias: the subconscious preference for physically attractive individuals, which can lead to discrimination against those who do not fit societal norms of attractiveness. This can also create a toxic work environment where appearance is valued over skills and qualifications.
Gender bias: the tendency to favor one gender over another, often leading to unequal treatment in areas such as hiring, promotions, and pay. This can be especially prevalent in male-dominated industries like technology.
To combat these biases, tech executives should prioritize diversity and inclusion efforts within their companies. This includes implementing policies and procedures that promote unbiased decision-making, providing training and education on unconscious bias awareness, and actively seeking out diverse perspectives in hiring processes.
Here are some ways to avoid unconscious bias:
Monitor your language and thought process: Pay attention to the words you use when describing individuals or groups. Are they based on stereotypes or assumptions? Are there certain traits that you automatically associate with a particular group? Being aware of these patterns can help you address and challenge them.
Examine your decision-making processes: When making important decisions, take a step back and evaluate if there are any biases influencing your choices. It could be as simple as choosing someone for a project based on their similarity to yourself, rather than considering all candidates objectively.
Seek diverse perspectives: Surrounding yourself with people from different backgrounds and experiences can help broaden your perspective and bring new insights to the table. This can also help challenge and prevent biases from influencing decisions.
Educate yourself on different cultures and identities: It’s important to continuously educate ourselves on different cultures, backgrounds, and identities. This can help us understand and appreciate the diversity around us and minimize any unconscious biases we may hold.
Implement inclusive hiring practices: When recruiting for your company, make sure to have a diverse pool of candidates and avoid relying solely on personal networks. Utilize tools such as blind resume reviews to eliminate any potential bias in the screening process.
As tech executives, it is our responsibility to create an inclusive work environment where everyone feels valued and respected. Addressing unconscious bias not only promotes diversity but also leads to better decision-making and ultimately, a stronger and more successful business.
Here are ways that unconscious bias can impact an individuals career:
Limiting opportunities: Unconscious bias can result in individuals being overlooked for promotions or challenging projects, simply because they don’t fit the traditional mold of what a successful employee looks like.
Negative performance evaluations: Biases can also lead to unfair and inaccurate performance evaluations, which can hinder an individual’s growth and advancement within a company.
Unequal pay: Women, people of color, and other marginalized groups may face unequal pay due to unconscious biases. This not only impacts their financial stability but also contributes to larger systemic issues of inequality.
Lack of support and recognition: Biases can also result in certain individuals receiving less support and recognition for their work, leading to feelings of exclusion and demotivation.
To combat the negative impact of unconscious bias on individuals’ careers, companies should prioritize creating a fair and inclusive workplace culture. This includes promoting transparency in processes such as performance evaluations and pay, actively seeking out diverse perspectives, and providing resources for employees to address and challenge biases.
If unconscious bias has impacted your career, here are some actions you can take:
Speak up: If you experience or witness bias in the workplace, don’t be afraid to address it and have open conversations about it. This can help bring awareness and create positive change.
Seek support: Find a mentor or ally who can provide guidance and support in navigating bias in the workplace.
Educate yourself: Continuously educate yourself on unconscious bias and ways to combat it. This will not only help you navigate your career but also contribute to creating a more inclusive environment for others.
Unconscious bias may have impacted your progress, but it’s not your fault for not being promoted. Your manager may have favored individuals with similar traits, showing a lack of inclusivity. Ideally, your company should educate leaders about unconscious bias; unfortunately, this is not always the case. If that’s the situation, you may need to navigate this challenge on your own. It’s difficult, but don’t let isolation hinder you. Communicate your feelings of exclusion to your manager and request opportunities that support your professional growth within the company.
In summary, unconscious bias is a widespread issue in the tech industry, and it can have harmful effects on individuals’ careers. As tech executives, it’s our responsibility to address and combat these biases through proactive measures such as educating ourselves, implementing inclusive practices, and promoting diversity within our companies. By creating an inclusive work environment, we not only benefit our employees but also contribute to the success of our businesses.
Leading and managing are often seen as interchangeable concepts that need to go hand in hand, yet they require very different skills and approaches. Leadership involves inspiring and motivating a team towards a common vision or goal, focusing on innovation and change. Management, on the other hand, is about organizing, planning, and executing tasks efficiently, maintaining order and consistency. Both roles are crucial for the success of any organization, and understanding the distinction can help individuals excel in their respective positions.
As a tech exec and mentor, we sometimes groom people for management roles without developing their key leadership skills. New managers struggle to be effective leaders, resorting to micro-plans, metrics, and negative pressure, resulting in low morale and a lack of respect.
Certain organizations aggressively promote individuals into management roles without adequately supporting their development as effective people leaders. In the long run, this approach can hinder the career growth of these managers. Additionally, it can create a detrimental impact on the leadership hierarchy of an organization, fostering a culture that prioritizes metrics over the well-being and needs of their workforce.
Consider this: Can we acquire leadership skills prior to assuming managerial roles? Or is leadership primarily an art form rather than a science? The qualities that define successful leaders are truly remarkable.
Successful leaders demonstrate the following:
They listen and have empathy.
They communicate openly and honestly.
They EMPOWER.
It’s important to remember: Exceptional leaders also aspire to become exceptional managers. Leadership alone might garner adoration from the team, but without management elements, progress may be hindered.
You can consciously acquire leadership traits and apply them to your situation. Reflect on your management style. Do you dictate and set unrealistic timelines? Do you expect automatic respect? Instead, foster respect and trust by mentoring, not losing your cool when deadlines are missed. To effectively apply leadership traits, break bad practices and negotiate with your manager for a rewarding team environment.
Cultivate maturity, maintain humility, and practice empathy. As a result, you can assemble an exceptional team that will support and contribute to your journey of becoming a successful leader.
