Bossit

Providing coaching and support Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 If the person you’ve delegated to wants support, a way you can help them accelerate their learning and complete the tasks faster is by initially increasing the level of interaction between you and them at the start of the task, when they are setting an approach for completing it. By inputting early and often on their approach, it should mean less potential for missing objectives and less re-work required later on. If they approach you for assistance then it’s important to avoid "upward delegation”. If there’s a problem that needs fixing, or a challenge they can’t yet overcome, don't permit them to shift responsibility for completing the task back to you. Guide them on how they can do it instead of simply taking it back off of them. An effective way of guiding them is by indirect coaching through the use of open questions such as: - What approa

Checking in Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 Even though you have now delegated your task to someone else, it’s important to recognise that since it originated with you, that you retain overall accountability for its successful completion. When it comes to taking accountability, you’ll want to take a balanced approach. On one end of the scale, you don’t want to totally abandon the task or the person you’ve delegated it to. Equally, you want to avoid micro-managing the person. If you regularly check-in with the person that you’ve delegated to, you can ask them for feedback not only on how things are going with the task and whether they require support but also, you can ask them for feedback on how they feel about your interactions and this can help guide you. Your activity for today is to spend a few minutes preparing a proposed schedule for checking-in with the person you’ve delegated to, then finding a t

Handing it over Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 Delegating a task tends to be a bit of a balancing act. If you offer too little guidance or clarity, it makes it harder for them to successfully complete the task. Telling someone to do something and then just walking away, leaving them to get on with it is delegating… it just often tends to be ineffective because of the lack of oversight and support. However, too much guidance and instruction can come across as painful micromanaging - one of the least wanted traits in a leader. So you want to try and strike a balance between the two; asserting the right information and asking the right questions. Try to arrange the handover as early as you can - that way, the other person has as much time as possible to prepare for and complete the task, reducing the pressure on them. Your activity for today is to spend a few minutes preparing for your handover meeting

Defining the task Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 Before you can fully handover ownership of this task, it’s crucial to properly define it first. That way, you can properly align with the person you’re delegating to and ensure you both understand it the same way. Your activity for today is to spend no more than 5-10 minutes forming a perspective on your task definition. Try and outline its: - Context - detail the task’s rationale and benefits. Why are you doing it? - Stakeholders - who should be involved, either for their input or their buy-in? - Scope - what should the task involve and what should it not? Are there any constraints or boundaries to it? - Resources - what be used to complete the task? - Desired outcome - what does successful completion look like, including any measurable results and timeline?

Choosing whom you should delegate to Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 When you delegate, you’re transferring responsibility for completing the task to someone else, as well as the authority to get it done. To ensure this person fully takes on that responsibility though, they’ll need to feel that they have ownership of the task, which is a problem if you try delegating the task to more than one person. So always task to an individual and not a group. Your activity for today is to spend 5-10 minutes reviewing who you should delegate the chosen task to. Consider: - Who would be motivated to complete the task? - Who has the relevant expertise & experience? - Whose learning goals match the task at hand? - Who has sufficient capacity? - Who is the task most relevant to? - How able are you to suitably support them on this task? There isn’t normally a perfect answer for who you should delegate to but you want

Identifying what you should delegate Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 Delegating can be hard because we want to hold onto control, ensuring things stay at their best. Try and shift your mindset to one where you’re ready to let go. If you can’t release control and be prepared to accept some uncertainty, then it will be hard to delegate effectively. As such, you might want to start small for now, selecting a task that you’re more ready to let go off. Your activity for today is to spend 5 minutes reviewing your list in order to choose a task to delegate for the next 2 weeks. Prioritise tasks for delegation when: - It’s not critical that you do them personally; - You have a team member that can be upskilled sufficiently to complete the task; - There is sufficient time for them to do the task without excessive pressure; - You have sufficient time to support them on the task; - The delegation is an investment be

Why you should delegate more Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 Over this series we’ll run through some steps you can take to make delegating easier and more successful, such as; how to identify what to delegate, how to choose the right person to delegate to, how to set them up for success, and how to manage them throughout the task. To help you learn, you’ll want to delegate an actual task to someone during the series so that you can practice the steps as we cover them. Your activity for today is to spend 5 minutes considering what tasks you have to delegate that: - Would take hours or days to complete and can be done over the course of the next 2 weeks; and - Which isn’t mission critical. Since you’ll be practising delegation techniques, it’s best to choose a task that’s meaningful but where you won’t have the need to take it back from someone if they need more help or time with it. Write down your options

Preparing for your delivery Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 The best deliveries are prepared deliveries and that means practising - you should always build in sufficient time to practice before doing it for real. You can practice by yourself, which can uncover opportunities for further refinements, increase your confidence and smoothen your delivery but practising by yourself is of limited value compared with presenting to somebody else. If you can find someone to practice with, ideally someone of similar experience and knowledge as the audience on the relevant matters, then you can extract even more value from the practice. If they can highlight the most impactful and least impactful aspects of your presentation, whether that be the messages or how they are delivered, it can help you decide what changes, if any, you want to make before going into the real thing. The added stress of practising in front

Expressing your storyline Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 Stories can be communicated in a variety of forms, such as: - Spoken word, i.e., saying it out loud; - Written word memos and reports; - Slides with words and visuals such as illustrations, charts, and diagrams; - Videos; - Interactive simulations or games; and - Props such as galleries, mock-ups and models. It’s crucial to determine not only the best way to express your entire story but also how to express each individual message - some messages may be better said out loud whereas others may be better communicated with a visual. And when you’re determining the medium you wish to use to express your story, you need to consider not only the messages but also your own style and most importantly, the audience - you need to determine what your audience requires and express your story accordingly. Your task for today is to spend 5 minutes considering

Refining your Messages Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 The best storylines tend to have more than one person crafting them. It’s best not to spend too long working on a storyline by yourself before you take it to someone else - someone who knows the situation and the topic - and ask them to review it and give you feedback. They can offer you a new perspective. You want to take their feedback, ensure you understand it fully, consider it openly, and only then iterate your storyline as you see fit. Spend 10 minutes identifying someone who can review your storyline for you and offer you feedback. Then tomorrow, or once they have provided you with the feedback, take some time to consider it and iterate your storyline.

Structuring your Messages Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 Storylining structure is how your messages tie together and flow from start to finish. The structure you want to use will depend on the content of your messages, your audience, the story’s goals and your own style. A common business storylining structure is called SCR, which is an acronym for Situation, Complication, Resolution. - The situation is the context; - The complication is the problem that has arisen; and - The resolution is the answer to that problem. Imagine how your audience would react to each of your messages as you go through them in sequence. - Would they react positively or negatively? - Would they want to hear more, or cut you off? - Would they have a question which might interrupt your flow? By imagining how your audience might react, you can re-structure your storyline to make it more conducive to your specific audience. Gre

Creating your Messages Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 You need 5-10 key messages that will form the backbone of your storyline and lay the foundation for everything else you want to say. Initially, don’t worry about their order or their precise wording, just write down the the first 5-10 bullet points that come to mind as the most important points you would want to make to your specific audience. Try to ensure your messages are appropriately synthesised - If you can imagine your audience asking you the question “so what” in response to you saying one of your messages then identify how you’d answer them and use that as your message instead. Next, run through each message, checking to see whether it needs to be supported. If you’re asserting a conclusion, you need to ask yourself whether it requires facts or insights to be shared in order to back it up. Next, read through your points again removing any s

Analysing the Audience Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 Audience is the second component of the GAME framework. GAME stands for: Goal, Audience, Message, Expression. Explore what you know about the audience, in order to determine how that should affect the messaging and overall storyline. We can understand our audience better by performing what’s known as “audience analysis” - a series of questions that we need to ask ourselves. Your task for today is to perform audience analysis for your upcoming meeting, so grab a pad of paper and draw up up 8 columns. In the first column, write down the names of your audience members as rows. Then in the second column, note down the goals for each audience member. Then column by column we will be answering relevant questions for each audience member: 1. Where are they in terms of their understanding and involvement in our story - what do they currently think, feel or

Setting your Goals Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 When it comes to defining a Goal for a storyline we suggest being tactical and having specific goals for your specific audience, around the themes of: - “Head” - how do you want them to think? - “Heart” - how do you want them to feel? - “Hands” - what do you want them to do? The clearer you are on what you’re trying to achieve with your storyline, the easier it should be to create the right messages. Defining goals also acts as a very helpful checklist once your story’s been drafted to compare against and confirm whether the story you’ve developed will actually help you achieve them or not. Your task for today is to spend 5-10 minutes thinking about your upcoming presentation or meeting and its audience, in order to determine what you’re trying to achieve. - What are your goals? Write them down. - What do you want your audience to think, to feel, to do?

How to be a better storyliner Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 If we want to do better, we need to be intentional and apply a structured process that can guide our approach to storylining. In this series we’re going to talk through a structured approach to building storylines, and practice on one that you need to write currently. We’ll be leveraging a framework called “GAME” developed by an expert in the field called Steve Seager, as well as leveraging some techniques used by the pros at the consulting firms. “GAME” stands for: - Goal - what is the objective of your communication? - Audience - what do we know about them that will affect our messages? - Message - what should the content and structure be? - Expression - how should it be delivered? Your task for today is to spend 5 minutes choosing a communication or meeting that you have coming up where you know you’ll need to convince others of something.

What it means to storyline Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 When you do need to affect someone in someway, then there are few ways to do this more powerfully than with a good story. Your messages, the actual substance of what you’re saying, are crucial to affecting your audience. How you word them and the order in which you deliver them matter just as much as how you deliver them. In the business environment, a storyline would look like a series of bullet point messages, one after the other, which if your audience read from start to finish would not just convey key facts and insights but also their meaning and implications for the audience. The messages also need to be written and sequenced in such a way as to make them clear, coherent and compelling. And it’s crucial to develop this storyline before you start putting together slides or preparing speaker notes for a presentation in order to realise its po

Ongoing feedback and support Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 Asking whether someone wants ongoing support from you, hearing what they have to say, and being honest about what you can provide them with is a great step forward. If they ask you to provide ongoing feedback on a specific area or relating to a particular task, be sure to make a note of that and find a suitable trigger to ensure that you follow through. Your task for today is to spend 5 minutes adding notes to your feedback log for the person you most recently shared feedback with: - What do they most want feedback on going forward? - What tasks will they be doing that present opportunities to address that feedback? - Can you add triggers to remind you to observe them for feedback at those times? Keep your feedback log to hand and add to it when you make an observation that you want to share feedback on. Alternatively, spend 5 minutes on it dai

Delivering feedback constructively Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 Before sharing feedback, consider the other person’s feedback preferences to determine: - When you should do it - a time unlikely to be cancelled and soon enough to be useful; - Where - ideally a safe space that’s comfortable for sharing confidentially; and - For how long - enough time for questions and to make it a collaborative discussion. If you don’t know the other person well, or you’re concerned about how they might react to the feedback, then there’s a feedback delivery framework you can try called OILS: - Observation - what did they say or do and when? - Implication - how did their actions affect you? - Listen - invite them to ask questions and get clarity. - Suggest - propose what they could do. When you share an implication, it’s crucial to steer clear of subjective judgements about them as an individual, such as who they are or

Developing actionable feedback to share Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 Being intentional about when you choose to share feedback, considering the other person’s preferences and the feedback you have to share, will generally lead to a better outcome. In the event that you share feedback in scheduled 1-to-1 settings, it can help if you’re prepared for it by arming yourself with actionable comments that you’ve developed beforehand. A great way to do this is by taking notes on those you’ll be sharing feedback with, keeping a feedback log always to hand such as a notebook or mobile app. When you see something worth providing feedback on, you can take a note of: - What did they actually do or say and when did this happen; - The implication of what they did or said - such as how it made you feel or how it affected the work you’re doing; and - If you already have a clear idea of anything they should do differen

Why share feedback? Want to share feedback about the podcast? It would be much appreciated. 3 min survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N72QP67 A common wish for many is to receive more actionable feedback from their colleagues. Feedback that will help them improve, help them to develop and also, make them feel valued. If you help others grow through effective feedback, they’re better able to support you and more likely to commit to your shared endeavours. So your task for today is to spend 5 minutes reflecting on this and making a list of: - Who you’re sharing feedback with and how often; and - What kind of feedback you’ve been sharing with them - how actionable is it? Then consider: - Who else you ought to be sharing feedback with? You should be sharing it with anyone you value and have meaningful interactions with. - Whether you should be sharing more often? It should be regular and frequent enough to help them learn. - Whether you’re giving them the feedback they need to improve? It should