Consider fairness before granting a flexible work schedule

When an employee comes to you asking for a flexible schedule, you might be tempted to say yes. But giving one person tailor-made working conditions can easily be perceived as favouritism. Before saying yes (or no), ask yourself three questions:

— What is the employee asking for and why? If there is a legitimate reason for the request, it will be easier for others to understand.

— Do I feel comfortable communicating this deal to other team members? If not, chances are others will find the deal suspect.

— Will saying yes make things difficult for others? For example, if one person negotiates a reduced workload, the rest of the team might have to cover for them.

(Adapted from “How to Allow Flexible Work Without Playing Favourites,” by Elise Marescaux and Sophie De Winne.)

Feedback for salespeople should focus on behaviours

Busy sales managers tend to deliver a curt message to their reps: “Get better and sell more.” This feedback may work for some salespeople, but not for most. Instead of asking your reps “What’s closing this month, and how can we make those deals happen faster?,” talk with them about the indicators that have historically led to sales, such as demos, web registrations, calls, or C-suite-level meetings. If you focus on the intention (“Close deals”), you won’t help them change their behaviour. Feedback on indicators might sound like this: “You’re behind peers in setting meetings with VP-level prospects, and we know those contacts increase our win rate substantially. Let’s talk about the organisation of your prospects and what we can do to get the right access.”

(Adapted from “Find the Right Metrics for Your Sales Team,” by Frank V. Cespedes and Bob Marsh.)

Solve a problem by thinking about the worst possible solution

If you need to come up with a new idea, stop trying to think of the best one. Instead, imagine the worst idea possible: What would be the wrong way to solve this problem? What do our customers absolutely not want? How could we make all of our stakeholders angry? Try to come up with ideas that would get you laughed at (or maybe even fired), and then work backward from there to find new ways of solving the problem. This process, called “wrong thinking” or “reverse thinking,” isn’t always easy to do. You can start by trying to see the problem as a beginner would. What would someone who knows nothing about the context suggest? When you give yourself permission to have bad ideas, you often come up with the best ones.

(Adapted from “To Come Up with a Good Idea, Start by Imagining the Worst Idea Possible,” by Ayse Birsel.)

Get over setbacks by learning from them

The next time you feel that you’ve royally messed something up at work, avoid self-flagellation and think about what you can learn from it. Don’t interpret setbacks as “I’m not cut out for this challenge.” Instead, tell yourself, “I haven’t yet developed the required capabilities for it.” Framing the setback this way will not only help your self-esteem but also allow you to candidly reflect on what went well and what didn’t. Those insights will help you set challenging learning goals and experiment with alternate strategies. You can make sure you stay in learning mode by worrying less about demonstrating your ability to perform certain tasks and focusing more on your development.

(Adapted from “Good Leaders Are Good Learners,” by Lauren A. Keating et al.)

Freelancers: always get terms in writing

One of the most stressful things about being self-employed is managing your cash flow. It’s especially difficult if clients don’t pay you on time. You can avoid most problems by putting a contract in place before you start an assignment. Don’t believe a handshake will suffice, even if you’re working with friends. Informal agreements are the source of almost every payment problem, so be sure the scope of the project, the payment terms, and the expectations for both sides are written down. For small projects an email chain will often suffice, but for longer engagements you should get a signed contract.

(Adapted from “How Freelancers Can Make Sure They Get Paid on Time,” by Rebecca Knight.)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, February 19th, 2018