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Building psychological safety: It takes values first, then a village

Before teams can truly be psychologically safe in the workplace, there needs to be a change in thinking to how we support it. And we’ve found it’s in the adoption of a core set of values first, before anything else.

4 Ways To Boost Team Morale That Don’t Include Another Zoom Wine-down

Even the most motivated and driven among us have struggled with massive swings in our energy and morale. During this time of upheaval and crisis, how you help your team rediscover their motivation will be the top indicator for their long-term effectiveness, satisfaction and contributions.

Don’t Be A Hero

This crisis and upheaval has demanded a lot of managers. But those hero managers who jumped in headfirst, kept their teams afloat, and made sure nothing was dropped, are now burning out. Turns out, even heroes need a break. Instead, conductor managers and their teams are thriving. Here’s how to make the change.

Your Role Isn’t To Diffuse Conflict But Promote It

Professional instinct has conditioned us to avoid conflict with the age old saying “It’s bad for business.” Fast forward to today’s world of work and we’ll be the first to tell you that difference is what’s fueling outperforming teams. To lead your team in this direction, you’ll need to keep tension at the centre of your strategy.

Check Your Rearview Before Claiming A Crisis Is Over

We recently checked in with some of our senior clients and heard a variation of the phrase, “The crisis is over.” But after speaking with our users in middle management and on the frontlines of organizations, different experiences were left behind, far from it.

Your Feedback Is Going Nowhere. So Now What?

Remote work is hindering your ability to offer constructive feedback even though you’ve built social license to be candid with your team. Team outings and workplace comradery are no longer at play when it comes to effectively delivering critical comments. Alas, your feedback is being hidden behind screens with nowhere to go.

You Might Be Failing At Feedback, Here's Why

From retros to 1 on 1s, your ability to give feedback is what makes you a good leader. But simply giving constructive feedback often isn’t what’s going to help you effectively lead and improve team performance. If you think it’s about how often you coach, mentor, advise or opine, think again.

The Tips To Onboard (And Keep) Your New Hires

For the first time since Q1, many companies are ramping back up hiring. And while most have navigated the how to’s of interviewing and hiring remotely, a majority are struggling to effectively onboard those new hires.

The Secret Sauce To High Trust Remote Teams

Although swift and sudden, many teams have adjusted to working remotely. But as remote work drags on, team trust can easily fade if not purposefully maintained. Our research found 3 secret ingredients for what it takes to build high trust teams.

What Holds People Back From Being Vulnerable At Work?

We looked at our Align tool reports since the pandemic started to understand how the employee experience has changed. Between April-June, we saw a dramatic spike in teams who said they struggled to be vulnerable in front of their colleagues.

Career Development Can't Stay On The Back Burner Much Longer

Career development and mentorship opportunities have largely stalled. We asked young professionals about how they’re feeling and coping with the dearth of mentorship and development opportunities at what would typically be a high growth and learning stage of their careers.

How Employee Burnout Became Managers’ Top Fear

Despite the early pandemic headlines of employees thrilled to work from home and prominent companies declaring it their new long-term normal, our Return to the Office survey told a different story - remote work isn’t the reset we all hoped for.

You don’t need another Pulse Survey

Since Covid hit, our clients are telling us that they’re seeing an influx in Pulse surveys asking how they’re doing. While executives and HR leaders may like the data, we hear from staff and our users that they don’t see benefits from more frequent surveys and they simply don’t want to answer them anymore.

3 SHIFT insights we shared at PwC’s Rise Up

Last week, SHIFT was invited to PwC’s Rise Up Summit, a global event that showcased innovative approaches to helping companies get through the pressures of the pandemic.

Pick Your Team's Journey Through the Pandemic [Infographic]

To the surprise of most, the first weeks of the pandemic saw a boost in productivity. But two months in, the road is getting bumpier and teams are reaching an inflection point.

New Issues Emerge As Remote Work Drags On [Infographic]

Over the last few months, we have all experienced a dramatic shift in work in response to the COVID pandemic. Our new reality doesn’t respect the boundaries of work and life. Many of us are stuck at home, faced with isolation, distraction and uncertainty.‍

A letter from our CEO

The future has rarely been more uncertain. How our lives - our family lives, our working lives, our social lives - will look one month, three months, or even a year is unpredictable.

A Manager’s Guide To Working With A Newly Remote Team

The sudden and rapid movement to remote working has been jarring and disruptive to many teams. At first, many of our clients talked wistfully about a couple of weeks at home and the chance to skip their commutes. But as the honeymoon period wore off, excitement dwindled and struggles to adjust and thrive in the new normal started to emerge.

Communications During the Coronavirus Crisis

In times of crisis, leaders are often faced with questions they don’t know how to answer. This problem is especially acute in the case of the covid-19 pandemic, a crisis that leaders couldn’t have anticipated, yet are now expected to have all the answers and chart a steady course.

Remote Working is Easier Said Than Done: Lessons from China During COVID-19

In a bid to stem the spread of Covid-19, approximately 200 million people in China made the sudden switch to working from home by mid-January. Many companies cited rapid declines in productivity, while employees struggled with changing employer expectations and juggling work with homeschooling kids.