We know that the virtual workforce is growing, thanks to the availability of a variety of online tools and apps that facilitate collaboration for project management and many other work activities.

It is interesting to see some trends in how the remote workforce is changing.  Aside from the fact that it is growing, it is maturing and exposing workers to learning new skills, not just from a technology perspective, but also from a personal growth perspective – for both managers and employees.

Managers need to refine their ability to manage people, and their performance, remotely. They need to:

– specifying goals according to team and organizational level objectives, as well as providing feedback on those goals, is a process that is excellently facilitated by an app like Engage.

Moving on to the employee perspective, working remotely:

Such autonomy and empowerment is of course what most employees want – it is key for staying motivated – and the evidence for this is shown in the success of ROWEs – Results-Only Working Environments.

Sunni Brown is the author of ‘Gamestorming‘ – a book that shows us how using art and games can facilitate and empower serious problem-solving. She gives a great talk on the topic of doodling. In her own words:

and she cites a study that shows that doodlers retain up to 29% more information than their non-doodling counterparts.

So if you think doodling is a ‘bad’ or counterproductive behaviour that arises as a result of boredom, think again!

Being a fantastic leader comes from an amalgamation of many qualities.  Of course, some leaders have different styles from the ‘norm’, but they may be equally, or more, effective and still be great leaders – Steve Jobs of course is a prime example.

Scott Edinger, Executive VP at Zenger Folkman, says that you can help yourself grow into an extraordinary leader by further developing your strengths rather than focusing on your weaknesses – a topic Marcus Buckingham is renowned for, and that has also been addressed on this blog. In his article ‘Become an Extraordinary Leader‘, Scott gives a few specific examples of what to focus on when developing your strengths, and why it works:

Develop other areas that are strongly correlated with your current strengths – as an example, leaders who have strong technical skills also tend to be good at developing others, building relationships and communicating well. Figure out one or two skills that are related to your strengths, and concentrate on developing those for a while.

Concentrating on strengths works because it is in line with your natural interests – rather excel at a few areas you enjoy and can grasp naturally, than move from below average to average in skills and activities you aren’t interested in developing.

Remember you can’t have too much of a good thing – as Scott says, “Have you ever worked with a leader who possessed too much character? Was too strategic? Overly effective in interpersonal relationships? I doubt it.”

But developing strengths in yourself, and helping others do the same, is not the only thing it takes to make you an extraordinary leader. Great leaders also know that it is imperative to share and give credit where it is due, and take the blame when something doesn’t go according to plan. Tobias Fredburg and Flemming Norrgren did research on the topic and report that:

So what exactly does it take to be an extraordinary leader?

• The ability to develop your strengths
• Helping others to develop their strengths
• Giving credit, acknowledgement and appreciation to those who deserve it
• Accepting responsibility for projects or decisions that go wrong

Finally, it also helps to have the courage to make the right decisions for the benefit of all employees and the long-term growth of a company, even if it means sacrificing short-term success – as was the situation in this very interesting story about Merck.

Office politics is an everyday issue at work, especially at big corporates where bureaucracy rules. It is entirely possible that some people even enjoy the power trip –  on the extreme scale of things, it’s possible that your boss or a co-worker is a psychopath.

But the most common attitude around politics is that the potential stress, fall-out or disappointment is seen as a nuisance, and people accept it as something that is omnipresent and just has to be dealt with.

However, there are further underlying consequences that may not be immediately apparent.  Dr. Jan Stringer West writes about this in her article ‘When It Comes To Employee Morale, Office Politics Can Be Politically Incorrect’:

So, from an organizational perspective, it can have a real affect on productivity and profitability – the first reason you don’t want politics to dominate at your organization. Secondly, politics have an impact at the individual level.  It can certainly be stressful for employees, and contribute to a reduction in employee engagement and morale, while also increasing other behaviours that are undesirable.  As Anne Riches says:

So it is agreed that office politics has a largely negative impact – on both your organization as a whole, and on the individuals that work there. But politics, and the issues that surround them, can be addressed by effectively managing, rewarding and recognising employees on the basis of their performance only – not as favours – and having zero tolerance for negative or destructive behaviour.  Riches also talks more about how politics can be addressed in her blog post ‘Office Politics – ignore them at your peril’, and Ron Ashkenas suggests 3 guidelines for effectively managing office politics in his article ‘Use Office Politics to Your Advantage‘.

Gary Hamel is an expert on strategy and management, an influential business thinker, and the Innovation Architect at MIX.

He has done a fantastic and engaging presentation on why management practices, policies, tools and methods – in other words, everything about management – needs to change.  Everything in the world today is changing at a rapid pace, and business is no exception.  Companies need to be adaptable, flexible and resilient in order to face the challenges presented by continuous change.  But it can’t be done with outdated management policies, most of which were invented before the 1920′s.

Watch to see the suggestions Gary makes to overcome these challenges, and reinvent management so companies are ‘fit for the future’.

This question was posed in a fantastic article by Jonah Lehrer for Wired. He refers to a study led by Jason Moser, which explores the particular question of why some people are so much more effective at learning from their mistakes, and are therefore able to learn more quickly.

Carol Dweck, a leading psychological researcher and author, has identified two categories of people – those with fixed mindset and those with growth mindset:

Fixed mindset: individuals believe that they (and others) have a certain degree of intelligence that cannot be significantly changed or improved upon with work or effort.

Growth mindset: individuals believe that their intelligence can be improved through continuous effort and learning – and it so happens that these people are much better at learning from their mistakes.

The question is: How can we help people adopt a growth mindset, if at all possible?

In his article, Lehrer refers to a study conducted by Dweck to shed light on this. The study involved a sample of school children completing a series of puzzles:

Although the study cited above was conducted with younger learners, such learning principles will continue to apply in a working environment – especially for new employees who are in unfamiliar territory, both with their role and their new working environment.

The article and study teach us something important about giving feedback in general, and provides a very clear idea of the specifics of what we should say to one another:

Preferably, we should praise people for the effort they put into their work rather than praising their intelligence or ‘smarts’.

Those praised for effort are more interested in learning where and why they went wrong, and in learning from their mistakes.  They are just the type of individuals organizations strive to recruit and retain.

A few days ago, we posted about working environments and how they can have a considerable impact of productivity, camaraderie, and so forth.

One option (though not necessarily suitable for everyone) is to have an extremely creative, wacky office space, which undoubtedly encourages a tremendously creative working environment. If that’s what you’re looking for, you may find this office space in Johannesburg inspirational – it is, quite simply, incredible!

Missing Link, through the eyes of Fred Roed (Marketing guy at Ideate):

I am encouraged again today as I reflect on the powerful impact that a human being in their ‘zone’ can have on the world.

Steve Jobs wanted to “make a ding in the universe” and “change the world”. Jobs certainly accomplished both, evident in the fact that most of us heard of the sad news of his passing on one of his beautiful devices.

I like to think that Steve Jobs would have approved of this quote:

Anon – “Don’t ask your self what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and go and do that; because the world needs people who come alive.”

Come alive! Find your purpose.

Just about every professional athlete has a coach. But what about other professionals – doctors, teachers, lawyers, and so forth?

This is an excellent question posed by Atul Gawande, professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, in his article ‘Personal Best’ for The New Yorker. He discusses why he believes it’s important to have a coach from his own standpoint as a surgeon, and his reasoning is entirely applicable across any industry.  He also gave a great interview to National Public Radio on the topic -

There are numerous benefits that come from continuous coaching, for both individuals and the organizations they work for. Most notably:

• Improvements in individual’s goal achievement and performance
• Greater ownership and responsibility
• Higher organizational performance and productivity
• Facilitates the optimal use of an individual’s full potential and talent

Angry Birds has exploded into the gaming arena – 300 million downloads, and it’s expected to reach 1 billion!

A couple interesting stats in the infographic below (found on Adverblog) stand out regarding the topic of career and work; in particular, the reasons it is so addictive:

1. It is simple (no complicated learning curve necessary)
2. It is rewarding (gain a sense of achievement by blowing things up!)
3. It is realistic (in terms of the physics, which keeps it challenging)
4. It is funny (and we all like to laugh!)

Perhaps these are all points to remember in setting goals at work (ie, make them realistic yet challenging), providing rewards (through both recognition and monetary bonuses), and creating a fun environment where humour is encouraged.