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CULTURE SAVING TIPS ABOUT SETTING UP A PODCAST FOR YOUR REMOTE TEAM

A great deal of trust can be built up
between podcaster and listener.
Even when the podcast host
is the CEO.

 

In today’s remote work environment, team collaboration is more important than ever before. Remote teams are often spread across different locations, time zones, and cultures, making it more challenging to find effective ways to connect, interact, and stay productive. If you are a CEO, Founder, entrepreneur, or team leader, you may have some of the following concerns with remote work that keep you up at night.

  • How can I maintain contact with my team and my coworkers?
  • When we are all in different locations, how can I retain a human connection?
  • How can I get my team more involved?
  • Will my business culture suffer as a result of being remote?
  • How do I create or maintain a positive team culture?

Leaders can make every effort to maintain contact, but when we you switch to a remote or hybrid team structure, engagement can decline. How can it be fixed? Well, here comes podcasting!

HOW DOES PODCASTING HELP MY REMOTE TEAM?

Whether you’re a remote team of two or two thousand, podcasts can be a great tool to keep your team connected and motivated. They allow team members to stay in touch and stay informed, no matter where they are. Plus, they can be used to create a sense of community and help keep everyone get on the same page.

A podcast is essentially an audio program that can be recorded, edited, and shared with an audience. It’s a great platform for remote teams because there are no geographical boundaries to contend with. All you need is an internet connection.

Podcasting is “intimate,” to put it simply. It’s one of the best simulations of a genuine conversation there is and the most scalable approach to communicate with large numbers of people while maintaining a personal touch.

This has a lot of influence in a professional, remote setting. It implies that managers can communicate with a large group of employees by speaking to them as a whole. It implies that CEOs can brief the entire organization and encourage participation. It implies that coworkers can broadcast to coworkers in a style that is quite similar to a water cooler talk, sharing knowledge, insights, or status updates.

It becomes even more potent when the just-in-time component is included. Instead of mandating that all employees use webinar software like Zoom and others.

HOW CAN PODCASTING IMPROVE REMOTE TEAM CULTURE?

Once your podcast is up and running for your remote team, you can begin to create content. Think about topics that are relevant to your team and that can help keep everyone informed and motivated.

There are several ways that podcasts can be a helpful tool for remote teams.

1. Improve Culture and Cohesiveness

Your content can be used to create a sense of culture and togetherness. Remote teams can use podcasts to stay connected to each other by discussing topics of interest, sharing stories about team members, discuss successes and challenges, talk about upcoming projects, and hearing from each other.

2. Encourage Collaboration and Brainstorming

It can also be a great way to encourage collaboration and brainstorming. Through podcasts, team members can discuss solutions to common problems and work together to find creative solutions.

3.  Provide Training for Your Team

Podcasts can also be used to provide training and educational content for remote teams. Team members can tune in to learn new skills, stay up to date on industry trends, and gain insights from industry experts.

4.  Provide Feedback and Recognition

Podcasts can also be used to provide feedback and recognition to team members. This can help to motivate and encourage team members to continue their hard work.

5.  Share Team Experiences

Finally, podcasts can be used to provide an outlet for team members to discuss their experiences as remote workers. This can help to foster a sense of appreciation and camaraderie among team members who work remotely. It can also help to give remote workers a platform to share ideas and valuable experiences that can help to inform the team’s decision-making process.

CAN I KEEP THE AUDIO PRIVATE AND INSIDE MY COMPANY?

You can, thanks to fantastic private podcasting tools! For example, you can create a podcast for your CEO update, a podcast for staff development, and a podcast for your community and make them accessible to your complete team or just specific members. To keep teams informed about information that is exclusive to them, you may, for instance, establish a “development team” podcast or a “HR Team podcast.”

HOW WOULD REMOTE TEAM MEMBERS LISTEN?

A team member may say it sounds fantastic, but when am I expected to listen? There question makes sense. Do you anticipate that your team will listen to an hour-long podcast episode that you release every week or month during their downtime? Attempting to listen to a podcast “in the background” while performing any sort of knowledge job would be completely unproductive.

Instead, consider suggesting team members include it in the workday or workweek is an alternative. Telling your employees to take brief time off each week or month to listen to the podcast.  Tell them to ‘take an hour each Friday to listen to the team podcast while you get some fresh air ’. This way it makes the podcast feel like a reward.

To start a podcast for your remote team, you’ll need to find the right hosting platform for your needs. There are a variety of options available, from free to paid. Once you’ve chosen a platform, you’ll need to create a podcast channel and upload your audio files. Contact us if you need help setting up your podcast.

Overall, podcasts can be a great tool for remote teams. They provide an opportunity to stay connected and engaged, while also providing a platform for training, feedback, and collaboration. With the right podcast, remote teams can stay connected and productive despite the challenges of remote work. So if you’re looking for a way to keep your remote team connected, a podcast could be the answer.

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What First-time Managers Need Most in a Leadership Development Program

Making the transition from an individual contributor to leading others can be challenging because the two roles are very different.  When you are responsible for managing people, often you are focusing your newly found job functions with the activities that come with keeping a team on track.  To do this successfully, you need the foundational skills of management and the techniques of successful leaders.

If you are in the position to develop a group of first-time managers, the best elements to include in your leadership development program include the following.

Skills Development

Formal learning opportunities around practical, applicable content, tips, tools, and resources for essential management skills including setting stakeholder expectations, motivation strategies, trust building, coaching, performance feedback, delegating, priority/time management, communication, and much more.

Peer and group coaching

Time dedicated to a small group discussing daily challenges, brainstorming to help solve problems, connecting with others, and sharing how each person is applying new skills on the job.

Individual coaching

A one-on-one relationship with a coach using highly targeted questions to identify possible outcomes, potential barriers to success, and action steps.

Mentoring

A relationship between an experienced colleague and a newer colleague focused on giving guidance about navigating the unique aspects of the organization, the specific needs of the business, and the knowledge needed at higher levels.

Personal and team assessment

An approach to help identify personal management style, increase self-awareness, and facilitate understanding of how different types of people work with others.

Many companies use the Set to Lead Academy as a key resource for their manager onboarding and leadership development programs because it contains the elements listed here. Learn more at www.settolead.com/academy.

12 Highly Effective Strategies to Lead Manager One on One Meetings Like a Pro

If you are a manager and you can’t remember that last time you had a one on one meeting, you should be concerned.  Why you might ask?  Because one on ones are crucial if you want to build a high-performing team. When you keep lines of communication open, you have more of chance to notice warning signs and opportunities to remedy issues before they come to a head. Follow the strategies below to ensure productive one on one meetings with your direct reports.

Schedule regular, reoccurring time for your one on ones.

Have each direct report schedule time on the calendar for regular one on one time. If you have a small team, weekly or bi-weekly meetings are a good idea.  For larger team, meeting weekly may not be realistic but you will have to cover more ground when you do connect. Avoid going over 30 days without checking in with each person on your team individually.

Everyone doesn’t demand the same amount of support.

Make extra time to guide newly hired, recently promoted, or those placed in a new role. They need extra support to learn the ropes and opportunities to ask questions.  You may have someone else giving them onboarding attention but remember this is your opportunity to ensure they are aligned to the department and company vision.

Carve out the time to engage and support.

If you meet weekly, 30 minutes might be just enough time. When your check-ins are spaced out over weeks, you should set aside a full hour to connect to ensure you can fully engage in listening and offering support.

Set expectations for one on one meetings.

Make it clear what your goals are for your one on one meetings and how they will work.  At the heart, one on one meetings are about improving communication.  Let them know that the meeting is to discuss whatever is on their minds. Additionally, it is an opportunity for coaching, career development discussions, and feedback both ways.

Don’t just book time on the calendar.  Plan for a meaningful discussion.

Reserving time on the calendar for a one on one is a great start but it isn’t enough.  You also have to plan how you are going to use that time if you want to reap the benefits of meeting up with each of your direct reports. You and your direct report should plan what you want to discuss in advance.  A best practices is to let them know you are comfortable if they drive the agenda.  If you focus on the issues that preoccupy and concern you team member, you can make sure what type of support they need and make one on one as productive as possible. It doesn’t hurt to ask them to send you an outline of what they want to discuss.  It keeps the conversation focused and gives you time to prepare to coach and support them.

If you have to cancel, make sure you reschedule.

Life happens.  So, cancelling a one on one meeting might be inevitable but make sure you reschedule.  Frequent cancellations without rescheduling builds distrust between you and the direct report. It can defeat the purpose the meetings were set in the first place which is to build up trust and communications.

One on ones meetings should be private.

A cubicle drive by is not a one on one meeting.  A proper one on one takes place in a private area between you and the direct report.  Head to a conference room, go for a walk together, visit a coffee shop, go for lunch, have a private phone call. 

Share praise and specific feedback.

Employees want to know what they are doing.  Use the one on one time to share feedback.  Find areas that you praise.  If you want positive behavior to be repeated, you have to include specifics in your feedback.  Give specifics on the type of behavior you want to see change and what you would like to see more of.

Discuss career growth and development.

Fear of the career development conversation will undermine your ability to help others grow. Asking career development questions demonstrates that you respect and value your team members. Weave in thoughtful and well-timed questions during your one on one meetings. Start off with asking simple questions. Pick one of the 3 questions below and see where it leads your team member.

  1. What do you like about your role most?
  2. How can your talents/strengths be used best in your role?
  3. What skills would you like to develop?

You get rewarded when you care about their growth. This form of acceptance motivates people to be better, try harder, and do what is right.  If they are not ready, don’t push it but revisit this discussion from time to time.

Take notes.

Take notes to ensure you don’t forget important comments discussed in the one on one. It can help you spot patterns in your discussions and determine if situations are getting better, worse, or staying the say. Each time you have a new meeting, review your notes from the last meeting and build upon topics discussed at the last meeting in the new meeting, if it makes sense.

Suggest next moves and end on a high note.

End with a positive close even if it was a difficult conversation.  Express confidence on the direct report’s ability to do good work and move forward. Wrap up with actionable next steps, if you discussed solutions to issues.  This reinforces in the team member that when you come together around a problem, something gets done.  That is a huge part of building trust as a manager. 

Nurture accountability with follow up.

Make sure you follow up in with action items in writing.  It clarifies next steps and ensures you and your team member are accountable on the matters you discuss.

Done well, these suggestions will make it easier for you to provide constructive feedback and address issues before they become critical.  In the long run, you’ll be glad you did!


Are there any one on one meeting strategies that you would like to add?  We would love to hear your ideas.  Share your thoughts below.