Emotional Intelligence – mardihumphreys.com

Get in Align

The end of the year is a good time to reflect. Don’t know where to start? You can modify the agile retrospective used in project management and use it to both look back on what you accomplished this year and look forward to what you want to accomplish next year.

Start with Four Basic Prompts:

What went well?

Acknowledge wins, big or small. Maybe you mastered a new tool, streamlined your workflow, or received positive feedback from a client. Recognizing these moments builds confidence and clarifies what you should keep doing.

What didn’t?

Reflect on challenges. Did you struggle to meet deadlines or communicate effectively with a coworker? Identify pain points without self-judgment.

What do I need to improve?

Be specific. If you found time management difficult, pinpoint the cause. Was it procrastination, overcommitment, or distractions?

What are some ideas for achieving that improvement?

Brainstorm solutions. If you aim to improve your productivity, think about turning notifications off on all your devices.

Need a template?

Here is an example to help you get started. Let’s say you struggled with time management this year. Your reflection might look like this:

What went well? You met your quarterly goals for client deliverables.

What didn’t go well? You felt constantly rushed and missed a few deadlines.

What do I need to improve? Prioritizing tasks better.

Ideas for improvement: Use a time-blocking app to organize your day, plan weekly reviews, and delegate admin tasks to focus on high-value work.

But Wait, There’s More

Now that you have a framework, here are some additional prompts to help you reflect more deeply.

What tasks energized me this year? What drained me?

If presenting at meetings invigorates you, but repetitive admin work wears you down, consider delegating low-impact tasks or automating processes to free up energy for high-value activities.

What can I let go of?

Free yourself from habits or projects that no longer serve you. Maybe it’s saying no to tasks outside your organization’s mission or stepping away from a committee that’s not aligned with your goals.

What skills do I want to develop next year?

If you’re aiming for a leadership role, focus on skills like strategic thinking or team-building.

Where did I spend most of my time? Was it aligned with my goals?

If a significant portion of your time went to handling urgent but unimportant tasks, consider revisiting your prioritization methods. For suggestions on tools, Google “time management techniques.”

What feedback did I receive this year? Did I act on it?

If you received repeated comments about your unclear communication, then use them to set improvement goals.

What decisions or actions had the most impact? What can I learn from them?

Reflect on high-impact decisions, whether positive or negative. Did you successfully manage a challenging project? Or did you miss an opportunity because you hesitated? Identify patterns in your decision-making process. It will sharpen your capability to continuously improve.

What prompts do you use to gain insight on your professional development? Please share in the comments.

Presents or Presence?

I checked my data to see what I spent on the holidays last year. I have lists going back to 2020. Do you do that too? No? Just me? Okay. Anyway, I checked my data because I’m looking for ways to save money and I’m struggling. I want to be generous and I need to pay the electric bill. You too? Then let’s talk about some ways we can keep the holiday spirit without going into debt.

In a survey of Americans November 6 – 20, 2024, Gallup found we plan to spend $1012 just on holiday gifts (including gifts for coworkers) this year. If that number makes your wallet sweat, you’re not alone. With inflation still pinching budgets and financial stability on everyone’s mind, it’s time to rethink holiday spending; especially at work. You don’t have to be a Scrooge, but you do have to be intentional. There are plenty of ways to show both kindness and appreciation without spending a lot of money.

Research

Think back to last year. Did you give gifts to every member of your team, your department, and your remote colleagues? If so, consider whether that was necessary or if there’s a more meaningful (and affordable) way to celebrate this year. For example, Let’s say you work on a team of six people. Last year, you gave each coworker a $20 gift card. This year, suggest an alternative like a low-cost team activity; maybe an in-person potluck lunch or a virtual happy hour where everyone can participate without financial strain.

Redirect

If the majority of your coworkers insist on a gift exchange and it’s not in your budget to participate, declining can feel awkward. But you can do it gracefully. For example, your department organizes a Secret Santa. If you need to opt out, be direct but polite. You can say, “Thanks for including me! I’m trying to stick to a strict budget this year, so I’ll sit this one out. Have fun!” If appropriate, you can suggest an activity like coordinating a cookie swap during the gift exchange. This shows you’re still invested in the celebration and offers others who feel the same way you do a way to opt out too.

Redesign

Celebrations don’t always have to involve gifts. Instead, focus on experiences or gestures that build connection. For example, let’s say you’re part of a large department where individual gift-giving isn’t feasible. You could organize a group coffee outing where everyone covers their own drink.

Refuse

Once you’ve set a budget, stick to it. Don’t feel the need to justify smaller gifts or creative alternatives. Rehearse polite ways to decline gift exchanges if necessary. The holidays should be about connection, not financial regret. Most people value the thought behind a gift more than its monetary value. For example, you can give a heartfelt card or handwritten note expressing specific appreciation for each person’s contributions. Thoughtful words of affirmation leave a positive lasting impression far beyond the holidays while costing little money.

How do you handle holiday gifting at work? Please share in the comments.

Leverage Your Impact

Anyone at any level of an organization can be influential. You don’t need a recognized leadership title to make a positive impact. How do you know whom you influence? How can you leverage it to benefit both you and your organization?

Collaborate

To identify whom you influence, understand your role relative to the entire organization. Influence happens through relationships.

Interactions

Peers: Do your decisions affect their processes? For example, if you’re a software developer, your code may directly impact a quality assurance teammate’s testing.

Managers: Does your input guide any of their decisions? For example, would having an intern help your team make the deadline on your current project? A well-reasoned suggestion in a meeting can influence high-level outcomes.

Cross-functional Teams: Do any teams outside your immediate work group rely on your deliverables? For example, do product teams use your reports to guide which features they prioritize?

Stakeholders: Does your work affect the user’s experience? For example, if you design workflows, who implements them?

Observations

Notice how people respond when you share ideas. Do they act on your suggestions? This signals influence.

Track Your Ripple Effect: Look for indirect outcomes. Did a new process you propose save time for other teams? Did a colleague adopt a tool you recommended?

Solicit Feedback: Ask peers and managers how your work impacts their tasks or decisions. Their responses can reveal areas where your influence might not be obvious.

Informal Mentoring: Pay attention to who seeks your opinion. Influence often shows up in casual ways like being the go-to person for advice in a specific area. For example, let’s say you’re a data analyst. Your influence may include other analysts who use your frameworks.

Empower

Leadership is about actions, attitudes, and the ability to both inspire and guide others.

Model: Lead by example. Qualities like ethics, expertise, and empathetic interpersonal interactions positively impact your team and your overall work environment. If you want to want to work with a team who has integrity, resilience, and enthusiasm, then you must demonstrate those values every day.

Recognize: Amplify the strengths of your peers. Say positive things about them in front of their managers. Value ideas from all levels of the company, not just from people at the top of the Org chart.

Catalyze: Leverage your networks to drive initiatives that are aligned with your organization’s goals. For example, be the hub that anchors multiple teams’ efforts and moves projects to completion.

Own

Part of owning your influence is aligning your team’s expectations.

Communicate: Clear and open communication is essential to influence. Transparency helps information flow freely within your team. Identify challenges and propose solutions to them even if they fall outside your immediate responsibilities. Actively listen to your coworkers, support their contributions, and encourage them to share their perspectives.

Mentor: Everyone needs mentors. Offer assistance to your peers, especially those less experienced. Look for people who are currently doing work you aspire to do and ask them about their career journey. Mentoring fosters a positive culture and strengthens relationships.

Reflect: What drives you? What skills do you have? What are your strengths? What sets you apart? Where do you see yourself in two years professionally? Armed with this self-awareness, you can make informed decisions about whose expectations you align with and whose you should respectfully disregard.

How does your influence show up at work? Please share in the comments.

Construct Conflict

No matter how smoothly a project starts, problems with clients are bound to happen. But conflict doesn’t have to derail your productivity or damage your relationships. The key is to have a plan in place to resolve issues quickly and constructively. When you ask the right questions you can understand the situation and use practical strategies to address it.

Why Is the Customer Upset?

Clients often react to how issues make them feel. For example, disrespected, ignored, or undervalued. Understanding the emotional undertone helps you address the real issue. So, get to the root of the problem. Is it a missed deadline, unclear deliverable, or lack of communication?

Example: Your project manager promised a deliverable by Friday, but the team discovers on Wednesday that it won’t be ready until Monday. The client is frustrated because they scheduled their own tasks based on the Friday deadline.

Strategy: Acknowledge the frustration without being defensive. Apologize for the inconvenience and provide a clear, revised timeline. For example: “I understand this delay negatively affects your schedule, and I’m sorry we didn’t flag this earlier. Here’s what we’re doing to ensure delivery by Monday.”

Has This Happened Before?

Is this a one-time issue or part of a recurring pattern? If it’s a pattern, it may signal a process or communication gap on your team’s end. Repetition of the same issue can point to systemic problems in your procedures, eroding client trust.

Example: A graphic design team repeatedly delivers drafts that don’t align with the client’s brand guidelines, despite having access to the brand kit.

Strategy: Review your internal workflows. Are team members using outdated documents? Is there a lack of clarity on what the client wants? To address recurring issues you may want to create a checklist or assign a quality controller.

Is Trust Broken?

Rebuilding trust may require more effort than simply fixing the immediate issue. Trust is fragile. If clients feel deceived, they will hesitate to continue working with you.

Example: A consultant promises weekly updates but misses two in a row without explanation. The client starts to question whether they’re a priority.

Strategy: Reach out proactively, own the mistake, and outline steps to prevent it from happening in the future. For example: “I haven’t provided the updates you were promised. Here’s a new schedule, and I’ve set calendar reminders to ensure this won’t happen again.”

Would More Communication Help?

Sometimes clients just want clarity; an explanation of what happened and what you are doing to fix it. Being transparent can defuse tension.

Example: A software development team changes the scope of a project mid-stream due to legal compliance requirements, but they fail to notify the client promptly.

Strategy: Keep communication frequent and transparent. In this case, a quick explanation could diffuse the conflict. For example, “We had to adjust the project to comply with new regulations. Let me explain how this impacts the timeline and what we’re doing to minimize delays.”

Will the Customer Participate in a Solution?

Resolution works best when both sides are involved. Determine if the client is open to collaboration or firmly in blame mode. If they’re unwilling to cooperate, then progress stalls.

Example: A financial agency submits strategy for approval, but the client rejects it without providing specific feedback, saying only, “This isn’t what I want.”

Strategy: Encourage constructive collaboration by asking open-ended questions. For example, “Can you share examples of what you’re envisioning? That will help us align with your expectations.” By framing it as a partnership, you’re more likely to get actionable feedback.

What conflicts did I forget? Please share in the comments.

Time to Give

This is the final installment of our series, Give a Little Bit. For the last three weeks we’ve talked about generously giving your energy, attention, and money to your coworkers. Let’s wrap up this topic by talking about generously giving your time. It is the most precious resource you have. Once it’s spent, you can’t get it back and you can’t make more. So, why should you give it away to your coworkers? Because it builds strong relationships which improves your team’s productivity, morale, and culture. Here are five things you can do.

Check In: Regular huddles go a long way to build a strong foundation for efficient teamwork, communication, and productivity. You can set up 15 minute weekly meetings with your team to give everyone a chance to share the most important or urgent project they’re working on, ask for assistance, and decide who is working together this week. These short meetings allow you to stay informed, connected, and aligned across projects without taking up too much time. They sustain a reliable rhythm for your team to build rapport and trust.

Shared Resource: A shared folder centralizes key information, templates, and tools. It’s especially valuable for asynchronous work when time is tight, and efficiency is crucial. Create a spreadsheet with tabs for current goals with deadlines, and a checklist of what needs to be done. Also file resources like logos, confirmation receipts, a Word document with links to pertinent articles, etc., in the shared folder. Update it regularly and encourage team members to contribute their own resources. After your weekly huddle, send out a brief recap of the week’s plan including a link to the folder. This ensures everyone has easy access to resources and keeps the whole team on the same page without lengthy meetings.

Help Out: If a colleague is struggling with a specific project, offer to work with them on a portion of it. Resist taking over the whole task. Your intention is to empower them. Could you do just the research or the data analysis or the rough draft of the report? This way, you can manage your own workload while providing immediate, practical help. You want to be known as a team player, but not a steamroller nor a doormat. If you and a teammate click, think about mutual mentorship. Can meeting informally once a quarter to share your experiences and networks be mutually beneficial? At the very least, it showcases your leadership development.

Set Goals: What gets measured, grows. Each week, aim to share one useful resource with someone on your team. Give genuine support without the expectation of getting something in return. Document these in a spreadsheet. They will be useful for your performance review. Not all accomplishments can be easily quantified. Capture anecdotal evidence describing the relationships you are strengthening, like testimonials from clients and LinkedIn recommendations from coworkers, to track the relationship-building skills you use.

Highlight Wins: When you’re in a group setting, whether it’s a team meeting or an email update, mention the accomplishments of others. It is a social norm that when you do someone a favor, like amplify their good work in front of others, they feel compelled to return that favor in kind. This should not be your only motivation to encourage your team. Instead, use it as a tool to build morale and design the environment you want to work in.

How do you generously give your time to your coworkers? Please share in the comments.

Money to Give

For the last two weeks we’ve talked about giving both your energy and your attention to your coworkers in our current series, Give a Little Bit. This week in Part 3, let’s examine how you give your money to your coworkers and neither one of you realizes it.

From Conforming to Transforming

A scarcity mindset breeds competition, anxiety, and ultimately, limits. But with an abundance mindset, you create value that leads to growth not only for you but also your entire team. When you begin to treat your job as an art, you look for opportunities to give your art away. For example: When you share knowledge it is upskilling that your coworkers don’t have to pay for. The result is continuous improvement that saves the company money. Hopefully you will benefit in the short term. But even if you don’t, you will in the long-term. People need things and place value on those who can meet those needs. Your teammates have networks. They will happily introduce you to those connections because your habitual generosity will make them look good. If you were trained to conform to the belief that taking as much as you can is how you succeed, then do the opposite because that doesn’t work any more. Transform your mindset and habits to give as much as you can without expecting anything in return.

What It Can Look Like

Mentorship: Support newer team members or coworkers who would like some guidance. This helps you practice leadership and signals you’re invested in the group’s success, not just your own.

Visibility: Speak up on behalf of colleagues who are doing good work, especially if they’re uncomfortable amplifying themselves. By elevating others when they are not in the room, your acts of generosity make you someone others want to be close to.

How It Can Backfire

Being generous is the way to go, but I’m not going to lie. It can be hard. Here are a few obstacles you may face and how to handle them:

Misinterpretation: In highly competitive settings, your generosity might initially be seen as a tactic rather than genuine support. Keep going. When you behave consistently and with transparency, your actions eventually demonstrate your authenticity.

Limited Recognition: By focusing on your team, you may get lost in the background. Document and occasionally showcase your contributions to remind your manager of your worth and positive impact.

Taking Advantage: This is probably the first thing you thought of, right? If your environment is built on taking, then you are setting yourself up as a target for your teammates to take advantage of your generosity. The bad news is there will probably be some coworkers who insist on operating in a scarcity mindset. They will interpret your generosity as a weakness. These are the teammates you’ll have to set and hold your boundaries with. The good news is they cannot diminish how modeling generosity accelerates your own achievements.

At the end of the workday, it doesn’t matter how your teammates react to your generosity. When you maintain a mindset of abundance backed by practical acts of generosity the money follows. Generosity is a leadership skill you can put on your resume, on your LinkedIn profile, and talk about in your next job interview.

What knowledge do you generously share with your teammates? Please share it with us in the comments.

Attention to Give

Last week we talked about how a mindset of generosity can positively impact your team’s energy at work in Part 1 of our series, Give a Little Bit. I received feedback suggesting my theory worked in a perfect world. Since none of us live in that branch of the multiverse, let’s discuss how being generous with your attention helps you both stand out and earn respect in a workplace filled with competition.

Some organizations intentionally set their employees up to compete against one another to drive job performance. (I’m lookin’ at you, Sales.) While ambition can be motivating, too much competition can create a limited mindset. For example, this research supports my theory that when you feel like the only way you win is when someone else loses, that is a limited mindset. If you have an unlimited mindset, then you believe your talent and hard work will produce growth; not only for yourself, but also for your team and organization. If you choose creating value over playing a zero-sum game, then you are generous. Your initiative produces innovation, opportunities, and a big payoff for everyone involved. Generosity, cooperation, and mutual growth become your strategies, and they set you apart in a competitive work environment.

Try Coopetition

Keeping tabs on your coworkers isn’t a bad idea. It can help you understand how to bring more value to your role and inspire you to up your game. But one-upping your coworkers can get toxic fast. Instead, focus on assisting your competition to achieve their part of the organization’s mission by cooperating with them. I like to call that “coopetition”. In this case, generosity is about sharing credit, knowledge, and encouragement. When you’re generous, you create a reputation for being reliable, approachable, and self-assured. People respect those who support others. Here are a couple of suggestions.

Shift the Attention: The next time you achieve a success, publicly acknowledge everyone who played a part. This expands the spotlight to shine on the team rather than just you. It makes you look both gracious and confident. You can do this in an email to your manager and the company’s leadership and copy the team.

Share Knowledge Regularly: Make a habit of sharing resources, insights, or tips that could help others succeed. When a coworker sees you aren’t holding back to stay ahead, it increases their trust in you.

Be the Advantage

The way to outshine your competition is by choosing collaboration over rivalry. In highly competitive workplaces, everyone is vying for attention individually. Standing out by being a team player when others are focused on personal recognition signals your strong leadership. While others focus on showing why they’re better than their peers, you are the one who knows how to leverage the strengths of everyone around you. For example, Take the initiative to propose projects that benefit multiple people or departments. By setting up opportunities for others to succeed alongside you, you create positive exposure for yourself while enlisting allies across teams. Generosity helps you build a brand that will last longer than any competitive win. Experiment with coopetition and let me know what happens.

How has generously giving attention to your coworkers differentiated you from your competition? Please share in the comments.

Energy to Give

We have officially entered the season of giving. As we prepare for the end-of-the-year holidays, for the next four weeks, Let’s talk about a mindset of generosity and how it can positively impact your T.E.A.M. at work.

Generosity at work is a game changer. Not only does it create a synergistic environment that enhances productivity, but it also elevates your own job performance and brand. Whether you’re working on a team project, collaborating across departments, or sharing your subject matter expertise, supporting your coworkers pays dividends. But what does that look like?

Short-Term Challenge

Let’s say you’re part of a team project where deadlines are tight, and tensions are high. Even though your workload is heavy, you can’t help noticing your newly hired teammate struggling to complete their part of the project. You pause what you’re doing and offer to help them get unstuck. You listen as they explain their challenge. You ask a few insightful questions. You help them figure out for themselves what their next step is and you both move on with your own work. Your support not only empowered them to succeed but also reinforced your leadership skills. You demonstrated empathy, initiative, and emotional intelligence; all key traits of effective leaders. These traits enhance your ability to influence without authority, a crucial skill in any workplace. Plus, the rest of your team watched what you did. This simple act of generosity has a ripple effect. You created a sense of camaraderie that will improve morale, encourage a more positive work environment, and strengthen your team’s relationships. Let’s break down what you did and analyze its long-term benefits.

Long-Term Benefit

Trust: When supporting your colleagues is your normal behavior, you become a go-to person. You train your coworkers to rely on you. As you help others grow, you solidify your reputation as a valuable team player. This trust translates into getting more work done faster. By helping your coworkers, you not only improve their chances of success but also boost your own role, develop essential skills, and create a more productive workplace.

Communication: Trust encourages open dialogue. When team members feel supported, they’re more likely to communicate openly. This both reduces misunderstandings and streamlines processes. Trust decreases the whole team’s stress levels, increases job satisfaction, and contributes to a problem-solving work culture. When you help someone overcome a challenge, it not only feels good but also develops a sense of community.

Future: It is only a matter of time until you get stuck. Helping others now paves the way for asking for help later. When you invest in your colleagues’ success, they’re more inclined to return the favor when you need it. Strong networks and partners are invaluable for future projects. Imagine stepping into January with teammates who are not just coworkers but allies. People who understand your work style and appreciate your contributions. You set a cooperative tone that can propel projects forward from their beginning.

How does generously giving your energy now shape your team’s future success? Please share in the comments

Unite and Conquer

Packed schedules, differing work styles, and multiple distractions all conspire to make you want to do the entire project yourself. But teamwork, while sometimes challenging, produces better results. If you are strategic about how you collaborate, then working with your teammates enhances time management rather than hinders it. What can you do to solve some common collaboration challenges?

Challenge: Schedule Coordination. One of the biggest hurdles to effective collaboration is aligning everyone’s calendars. The more people involved in a project, the less everyone is available at the same time.

Solution: Flexible approaches to meetings. Not every challenge needs to be solved in real time. Consider tools like asynchronous communication (e.g., email updates, shared documents, video messages, etc.) so team members can contribute when they’re available. Save meetings for solving complex problems and making decisions. One of the goals of your meetings should be getting everyone on the same page by regularly reviewing and prioritizing tasks as a team. This reduces misunderstandings and ensures that time is spent on what matters most. The further out you can schedule regular meetings, the more likely everyone is available. For example, Plan your first one-hour meeting two weeks out, then have it recur every two weeks, making scheduling smoother over time.

Challenge: Work Habits. Some people work best in bursts of energy and others need a rigid routine. This gets frustrating when there is misalignment in how tasks are approached because bottlenecks happen and progress slows.

Solution: Civil communication. When people come together they bring a variety of strengths to the table. Working with others gives you different perspectives, which reduces decision fatigue. Instead of going back and forth alone on whether to pursue a particular strategy, discussing options as a team can lead to quicker, more confident decisions. Collaboration also spreads the workload. When done effectively, delegation allows everyone to focus on their strengths and contribute where they are most effective. It’s easier to complete complex tasks when you divide them into manageable pieces, shared among the team. Discuss work preferences early in a project, so each person’s habits are clear, and adjust workflows accordingly. For example, if someone prefers frequent check-ins while others need deep focus time, strike a balance that respects both. Recognizing these differences at the beginning of a project allows you to anticipate potential friction and smooth it out before it becomes a problem.

Challenge: Interruptions and Distractions. With more collaboration comes more chances for interruptions. Whether it’s the ping of an instant message or a spontaneous request for a huddle, interruptions fracture focus and distractions derail productivity.

Solution: Boundaries around collaborative time versus focus time. Set, clearly communicate, and defend those boundaries. Establishing how and when your team communicates helps prevent unnecessary distractions. Schedule specific times for check-ins and avoid interrupting teammates during their deep work time. Make it known when you’re available for quick chats and when you need uninterrupted work time and stick to the schedule. Either batch your questions and save non-urgent issues for the team’s designated meeting times, or use one of your asynchronous communication channels.

Efficient time management isn’t just about organizing your own schedule. It’s about finding ways to work more effectively with others. By tackling the above challenges, you can turn collaboration from a time drain into a time saver.

How do you reap the benefits of collaboration without losing control of your time? Please share in the comments.

More Civil Service

I received valuable feedback on last week’s post. Thank you! Leaders asked how to immediately implement civility into their cultures. Formal training is not possible for every organization and adding another task to Human Resource’s to-do list is not a popular option either. So, this week, let’s continue the conversation around the civility trend. What if implementing civility into your culture is not expensive? What if it saves your company money? Or even brings in new revenue?

Civility as a Competitive Advantage

By building and maintaining an environment of civility you mitigate risk, attract top talent, and sustain productivity. A culture rooted in civility encourages collaboration and open communication. Organizations that embrace civility are more resilient, competitive, and profitable because it is a tool for both inclusion and knowledge sharing. Civility helps you create a workplace where employees feel valued, supported, and motivated for everyone to succeed.

Strategies to Encourage Civility

Positive Reinforcement: Implementing civility doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Regularly recognize civil behavior and reward it either through formal awards or informal praise. When you highlight employees who demonstrate civility their behaviors are contagious and spread throughout the team. Normalize relentless respect. Spotlight random acts of kindness in your company newsletter. Take a team who lives inclusivity out to lunch. Celebrate those who go out of their way to show both effort and empathy. This can be as simple as a shoutout in an all-hands meeting or sending them an email of praise and copying leadership. Small and consistent rewards for civility can have a large impact.

Model Behavior: LinkedIn’s latest Workforce Confidence Survey says 7 in 10 U.S. employees would leave a job if their manager was bad. Retaining talent saves you money. Civility is an employee-engagement tool. Wield it by being mindful of how you communicate. Actively listen, maintain eye contact, ignore your phone, and encourage opinions that are different from yours. Recognize effort, not necessarily results. Acknowledge your staff’s hard work, even if the outcome isn’t perfect. Calling out enthusiasm demonstrates your support and builds trust. Pay attention to how different people prefer to communicate. Introverts, for example, may appreciate a written thank you note rather than having the spotlight thrown on them during a virtual meeting. Extroverts, on the other hand, would relish that.

Create Systems: Allow truth to speak to power. Create safe spaces for employees to express concerns or ideas without fear of consequences. You could hold open forums where staff can speak both freely and respectfully. You could send an email asking your team how they felt about communication and collaboration during their last project. Whatever you choose, use their input to make adjustments and keep the team aligned. For example, after the completion of your next project, send your team a short survey asking how they felt about the process. For example: “How comfortable did you feel contributing to group discussions?” or “Were you able to use your strengths?” This kind of feedback offers insights into how your team perceives their interactions both with their work and with one another. You can identify areas for improvement and make targeted changes to iterate to a more civil environment where everyone’s skills are used effectively. Use this data to capitalize on individual strengths while addressing interpersonal challenges and ensure the right people are working on the right projects. Business moves at the speed of trust. The faster your team can trust both you and one another, the more business your company can do and the more money it can make.

How do you use civility as a strategy for wise decision-making, stronger teamwork, and better results? Please share in the comments.