Dragon-Fly Eye & Acting With The Best Of Intent

At SkillCycle, our mission is to make it easy for everyone to grow in their careers, unlock their potential, and achieve greater happiness at work. This month, we came across some incredible lessons which we believe are vital for success in the workplace, which we’re sharing with you here.

Problem Solving Is a Survival Skill 

This article from McKinsey talks about the importance of problem solving. When life becomes chaotic, these skills help you break through difficulties to thrive. Not everyone is born with problem solving skills. The good news is that they can be learned.

We loved the chart at the beginning of the article highlighting the six skills crucial for problem solving: 

• Ever-curious
• Imperfectionism
• Ambiguity
• Collective intelligence
• Dragon-fly eye (the ability to see things from all angles) 
• Show and tell 

Practice these problem solving skills, and you’ll find yourself making better decisions in tough situations. 

How to Actually Act with the Best Intentions 

There were three great resources we came across this month on the topic of acting with the best intentions – something that frequently doesn’t happen in the workplace, unfortunately. 

Minda Harts posted something highly relatable on LinkedIn this month about the very popular (which is also overused and flat-out wrong) phrase “assume the best intentions.” This phrase has become an excuse for not driving accountability. Making assumptions can actually be dangerous, and leads to gaslighting. 

The second article, from Harvard Business Review, is a how-to guide about how to actually act with the best intentions. It’s easy to talk the talk – walking the walk is where many corporate leaders fall short. This article explains the importance of fostering conversations to understand what challenges exist for employees, then addressing them so they’re no longer challenges. 

We found the third article on HR Dive, and it’s for all those CEOs whose hearts are in the right place, yet their actions don’t line up. Companies’ most valuable resource, the HR department, has become burnt out. They’ve been forced to become the COVID and compliance police. To prevent HR burnout, leaders must provide this department with the tools and learning to get work done well and manage members’ whole lives (not just work).

Make Going Back to the Office a Smooth and Successful Transition

Towards the end of March 2022, Microsoft released its Work Trend Index. This annual report always has some interesting findings, though this year’s results are especially thought-provoking.  

Half of all international business leaders surveyed said they’re already requiring or planning to require employees to come back to the office this year. For employees who’ve become accustomed to working from home for the past two years or so, this could be a potentially difficult transition. 

The authors of the report had some excellent advice for business leaders to make this shift easier: 

• Focus on the fundamentals. Fostering team connection will be crucial for managers, and the best way to do this is to avoid putting social events and off-site get-togethers first. Instead, they should pay close attention to what really matters: prioritization, productivity, work-life balance, a supportive team culture, and employees loving their work. 
• Improve manager support during onboarding. If you want a successful onboarding, it has to go beyond onboarding buddies and other forms of peer support. Managers should be the first line of support for new employees, not their colleagues. They need the resources from upper management for that to happen. 
• Empower managers with insights. We’ve heard the phrase “knowledge is power.” Managers can gain knowledge by putting a listening system in place to understand employee concerns. A listening system allows managers to fulfill a heightened role in maintaining a connection between all team members in an increasingly digital world. In addition, managers need more training and resources to offer guidance to employees in hybrid or remote work arrangements.