Encourage your team to call out narcissism

Having a narcissist — someone who is grandiose, self-promoting, and larger than life — on your team can be a challenge. While their drive can be effective in moving organisations forward, their insistence on winning at all costs can create havoc on a team. You can mitigate the effects of their behaviour by creating a strong sense of team cohesion and encouraging everyone to openly and constructively confront problematic behaviour. A group setting makes dysfunctional acting out more noticeable, controllable and discussable — and appropriate peer pressure will push the narcissist to adapt to the group’s norms.

(Adapted from “How to Manage a Narcissist,” by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries.)

Convince your boss to let you work remotely

Working from home has lots of benefits: zero commute, higher productivity and periods of quiet, uninterrupted time. But don’t expect your boss to let you work remotely unless you make a convincing case for it.

— Consider your specific role and what a realistic remote work schedule would look like: Is it to work Tuesdays and Thursdays from home? Or would flex hours suffice?

— Then consider what might worry your manager, and think of ways to pre-empt those concerns. For instance, you might offer to come in for an important Friday meeting, even if that’s your work-from-home day.

— And when you have an unplanned chance to work from home, seize the opportunity to demonstrate how productive you can be outside the office.

(Adapted from “How to Convince Your Boss to Let You Work from Home,” by Rebecca Knight.)

Address biased comments carefully

When someone at work makes a comment that sounds biased, and you’re not sure if they’re being prejudiced or not, it’s hard to know how to deal with the situation.

— Before you speak up, think about what you really want to achieve — an apology, punishment, repentance? Is it enough for the bad behaviour to stop? What kind of relationship would you like to have with the person?

— Then carefully describe your concerns to the person without judgments, and avoid levelling accusations

— Describe what actually happened — no apologies no self-repression, and no indictments. Begin with the facts, calmly suggest what the facts mean to you, and then invite the person to discuss the situation.

(Adapted from “How to React to Biased Comments at Work,” by Judith Honesty, David Maxfield and Joseph Grenny)

To solve a problem, stop thinking about it

When you’re trying to come up with a creative solution to a problem, you might be tempted to buckle down and focus until you solve it. But recent research shows that taking breaks at regular intervals leads to better outcomes. Set a timer for a certain amount of time, say, 30 minutes. When it goes off, switch tasks: Organise your reimbursement receipts, and then return to the original task. If you’re hesitant to stop because you feel that you’re on a roll, you should take a break anyway: We tend to come up with redundant ideas when we don’t take regular breaks, so ask yourself whether your latest ideas are as great as they seem. And don’t feel guilty about taking breaks. Doing so may actually be the best use of your time.

(Adapted from “To Be More Creative, Schedule Your Breaks,” by Jackson G. Lu, Modupe Akinola, and Malia Mason.)

Project warmth when giving video feedback

It can be awkward to give constructive feedback to someone who’s not in the same room as you, but if you manage remote employees, you’ll have to do it. Set up a video conference, and be sure to position your camera at eye level; any lower will make it seem as though you’re looming above them. Maintain natural eye contact, and keep your body language open and relaxed. Start your conversation with the usual small talk, but make an extra effort to be warm. Express your appreciation for their work, if appropriate. Since your virtual employee may not have the regular opportunity to read your tone or body language, establishing this mutual trust and reassurance will help your message become more palatable. Just say enough to confirm to your employee that you’re on their side.

(Adapted from the HBR Guide to Performance Management.)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, October 23rd, 2017