Here at Brave People Solutions, we keep coming up against conflict. Not our own, but in the teams we work with and support. One of the hardest things about conflict is that it is not natural to want to constructively address it. Most people tell us ‘I was hoping it would go away’. Another challenge […]
Author: Robyn Mercer
Apologised? Do it right or don’t do it at all
Under the headline ‘Newton apologises for controversial jokes’, in the Sydney Morning Herald, Bert Newtown is quoted as saying ‘If I did offend somebody or anybody or a lot of people, I apologise – but I can’t promise I won’t do it again because that is the way I work’. Is that an apology? In […]
Getting a defensive response to feedback? Try these practical steps.
Some people can’t wait to get feedback on how they are going at work and actively seek it out. Others learn over time to listen to feedback and ideas from others and use the information constructively. In our experience, there are a small group of people who find listening to feedback hard and this may […]
How much praise is needed to build an effective team?
It’s free, takes little time and is transformative for staff and teams. Why then is it missing so often in our teams? Praise is more important than we realise and so is constructive feedback – feedback is how we learn and develop. It is important for all managers to be skilled in giving constructive and […]
The recruitment and promotion bias that’s costing your organisation more than you know
Most of us know the value of working with people who are good to work with and working with a manager with strong leadership and people skills is a rare joy. Why is it then that there continues to be such a strong focus on qualifications and work history for promotion and recruitment at all […]
When to speak up and when to let it go
Recently a good friend said to me ‘and we know you are not backwards in coming forward’ and I noticed this wasn’t said in an admiring tone. It made me ponder the assertiveness I have fought hard to build, why I value it and why I was shocked that this attribute is not considered an […]
Some conflicts can’t be fixed – what can be done?
Our work in supporting people to perform well at work has shown that some conflict between colleagues is so long-standing and deeply entrenched that there is simply no way back over the mountain of hurt, shame, indignation and thoughts of revenge to reach a place of resolution. At best there might be an accommodation of […]
Unresolved Conflict at Work
Conflict at work is inevitable and part of life and yet a lot of effort goes into avoiding conflict. The hope that by avoiding it, conflict will go away seems to linger in the face of all evidence to the contrary. Conflict does not miraculously self-resolve and most often does not dissipate over time. What […]
Showing positive leadership at work (not uniting people in negativity)
As team leaders or managers in a large organisation we can sometimes feel powerless and frustrated by (amongst other things): Clunky processes and systems Changes to the organisation that you don’t want, which don’t seem sensible or weren’t explained well Unreasonable sort deadlines and cumbersome reporting requirements. Even though we might feel powerless in the […]
The ‘not quite good enough’ performer
Ever hear yourself say: ‘they do a good job, but…’ about a team member? This is about the ‘not quite good enough’ performer. You know you don’t really have a good performer if your assessment of some-one in the team is qualified or you have reservations about specific aspects of their work. The reservations may […]
Using the MBTI Step II for Coaching to Identify your Working Style
The MBTI type system assumes that even though we can and do use all preferences as needed, we all have preferences for specific aspects of our personality. The Step I MBTI assessment enables us to identify our four basic MBTI preferences. The preferences in MBTI are for either: Extraversion or Introversion as our way of […]
How do you Improve Team Performance?
The following strategies may assist you to improve performance in your team: Support innovation – encourage the use of new methods, tools and strategies to get to the end result. Support leadership – allow the leaders to develop goals and priorities for their teams that support the project. Hire the right people – ask the […]