The Modern Manager

Hiring remote team members has gained in popularity over recent years. With access to a wider talent pool, more varied price ranges, and the ability to hire project-based and full-time resources, what's not to love? So how do you effectively hire and work with someone whom you never meet in person?   This week I speak with Nate Hirsch, entrepreneur and expert in remote hiring and eCommerce. Nate is the co-founder and CEO of FreeeUp.com. Nate and I talk about how to hire remote workers to grow your team’s capabilities. We talk about different types of freelancers and how to set yourself and the new hire up for success.   Join the Modern Manager community to get a $25 credit to FreeeUP and other additional resources to support your learning journey.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.   Key Takeaways: With remote hiring, you have access to a larger pool of talent at a wider variety of price point. You can hire a remote individual for a one-off project, sporadic work, and full time employees. Even ‘brick-and-mortar’ stores can supplement their work with remote team members for things like customer service, social media management, graphic design, etc. There is always a risk with hiring anyone, in person or remote, that the person won’t deliver. But hiring is the only way to gain capacity and grow. It’s about implementing good processes for accountability and building trust. You need to know what you’re looking for before you start the hiring process. Too often when hiring remote, we think ‘we’ll know it when we see it’ about finding the right person. Once you’ve identified a person to hire, be intentional about sharing your expectations and clarifying what success looks like. Freelancers often work with multiple clients who have different needs and expectations. What makes one client happy doesn’t make another client happy. There are three levels of hires: (1) The basic level freelancer who can follow and execute on the processes and systems you’ve already set up; (2) The mid-level freelancer who is a specialist doing the work, for example a graphic designer, book-keeper or Facebook Ad manager who knows their craft; (3) The experts who advise in addition to doing work by bringing their own experience to help your business. Defining what level of work you need is critical. Where people go wrong is by hiring a basic level freelancer when the don’t have systems yet and then expecting that person to create the systems. If you hire full time people who are doing work central to your business, treat them as full members of your team or business by including them in weekly meetings. Ask for feedback regularly, even with your remote team members. Set the expectation that asking for and giving feedback are part of our culture.   KEEP UP WITH NATE AND FREEEUP Website: FreeeUp.com Facebook:www.facebook.com/nathan.hirsch and https://www.facebook.com/freeeupcom/  Twitter:@realnatehirsch and @freeeup Instagram:@realnatehirsch and @freeeup_ LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanhirsch/ and https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/10455467/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqoq7EGvwLQXgiYuIG8_iMg and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSWdjdeVEWmk6f6wrsMeZcQ Online Hiring Mastermind Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/OnlineHiringMastermind/?ref=br_rs

Introducing a new technology tool to your workflow, whether doing it alone or with a team, shouldn’t be taken lightly. You have to work the technology in order to reap the benefits. Getting set up properly from the start will make it easier to sustain the new behaviors that will lead to less stress, more alignment, and greater productivity.   Get the free mini-guide to help you set yourself and/or your team up for a strong start with a new to-do app.   Join the Modern Manager community to get the full guide to getting started with a task manager.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.   Key Takeaways: Be thoughtful about how you will structure your work in the app. As more content goes in, it becomes harder to find what you’re looking for. Having the content well organized from the beginning will make it easier to keep it organized over time. Be explicit about what norms or ground rules you’ll follow when using the app. Consider how you’ll use specific features, like tags, followers, and due dates. If you’re using the app with a team, agree together on expectations for how tasks will be assigned, communicated about, and updated. Reflect on what changes you’ll need to make to your existing routines. For example, how will you capture tasks when you’re not at your desk? When will you input those tasks? How will you plan your priorities for the day? How will you hold yourself (and your team) accountable to using the app and following the ground rules? Consider having a weekly team huddle to reflect on how you’re using the app, how you’re benefiting and what you can do differently. Consider adding some new routines like daily and weekly time to input, update and review the tasks in your app. Set up the infrastructure of your app before you input any content. Name the folders, create the tags, add and avatar, update your notifications, bookmark the app’s URL, etc. Do a braindump of everything you need to do. Collect items from your notebooks, email, other apps, etc to get a full picture of all your work. Input each task including the owner, due date, relevant tags, documents or links, etc. Remember this is a journey and you’ll discover what works (and what doesn’t) as you use the tool. You’ll find ways to use the features that are helpful and features you wish the app had which you need to work around. If you find you’ve stopped using the app consistently (or completely), don’t worry. Decide if you want to give it another go. Then reflect on what was challenging before and how you’ll work differently this time around.   Get it touch! Email me at mamie@mamieks.com

We all have that inner critic who wants us to believe “I can’t.” As a manager, you may also see that voice taking control of your team mates. So how do you quiet the inner critic and unleash the full potential of yourself and your colleagues? This week I speak with Tara Mohr, expert on women’s leadership and well-being. Tara is the author of Playing Big: Practical Wisdom for Women Who Want to Speak Up, Create, and Lead. Tara and I talk about different forms of fear, that annoying inner critic that holds us back, and how to respond to someone else’s inner critic when it’s holding them back.   Join the Modern Manager community to get Tara's "Ten Rules For Brilliant Women Workbook” and other additional resources to support your learning journey.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.   Key Takeaways: Playing big is not about striving more or working harder. It’s about getting in touch with and taking action on your own hopes and dreams. There are different kinds of fear. The first type 'pachad' is projecting the worst case scenario. This is the irrational fear that holds us back. The second type 'yirah' is the feeling of taking on more responsibility, getting an influx of energy, or being in the presence of the sacred. This is the fear that tells us we're on the right track. If you don't address your inner critic, it will sabotage you time and again. The inner critic works almost identically in all of us. When you do something that feels emotionally risky, the inner critic speaks up, trying to get us to retreat to emotional safety. Ask yourself, "What is the emotional risk I'm taking - failure, rejection, incompetence, uncertainty, etc." Once you've identified it, you can acknowledge it, have compassion for yourself, and decide to act from the part of you that wants to fulfill your dreams. Especially as women, if you do substantive work, it will be met with praise and criticism. When you get praise or criticism, what comes up for you? As managers, we get an up close view of our colleagues' inner critic. We often make the mistake of thinking our encouragement or confidence will make someone's inner critic will go away. But it actually can make someone more concerned. Have a conversation with your team about the inner critic. https://www.taramohr.com/quieting-the-inner-critic/ Being your authentic self, and sharing creative or innovative ideas often comes with self doubt. Confidence doesn't come with more experience when we are continuing to grow, take on more responsibility, and work at our learning edge.   KEEP UP WITH TARA Book: Playing Big available on Amazon Upcoming: Playing Big Facilitators Training - taramohr.com/facilitators-training Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tarasmohr/ Twitter: @tarasophia Instagram: @tarasophiamohr LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tarasmohr/ Twitter: @tarasophia

There are endless benefits to using technology at work. But, software tools and apps are not a magic pill. They require behavior change and sustained dedication to using them in order to reap the benefits. Therefore, even considering the idea of adding a new app to your tech toolbox should be done thoughtfully.   Get the free mini-guide to help you reflect on why you need a task management app and what features are most important.    Join the Modern Manager community to get the full guide to generating buy-in for a collaboration app with your team along with suggested tools.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.   Key Takeaways: Adding a new technology tool to your workflow, whether doing it alone or with a team, shouldn’t be taken lightly. New apps require new behaviors. Be clear about the problems you want the tool to solved.  Paint a vision of what benefits you (and the team) will receive when using the app successfully. Identify unique capabilities and feature needs based on the type of work your team does. Explore 3-5 apps by reviewing their marketing site, using the web and mobile apps, visiting the help site, and reading reviews. Select one to use first and give it a go for a few weeks. You'll discover things you like more about it and things you like less or that it doesnt do which are needed.  Then decide if you want to stay with this one, try another, or find a non-technical way to solve the problems you identified. Articles with app reviews: https://zapier.com/blog/best-todo-list-apps/ https://www.proofhub.com/articles/top-project-management-tools-list-2018   Get it touch! Email me at mamie@mamieks.com

Kris Plachy, Founder and CEO of Leadership Coach and host of the How to Lead podcast, shares her expertise on managing difficult employees. She emphasizes the importance of addressing specific behaviors instead of labeling individuals, which can lead to misinterpretations. Kris also discusses the anxiety that often accompanies confrontations and suggests starting these discussions by highlighting the behavior's impact. By fostering open communication and accountability, managers can transform team dynamics and promote a healthier work environment.

Almost everyone deals with times of procrastination, either with ourselves or our colleagues. At its best, procrastination is a natural tendency to wait until the last minute, resulting in a rush of adrenaline that actually creates focus and helps produce our best work. At its worse, procrastination is due to lack of clarity or avoidance of work. Regardless of the root cause, if procrastination is something you or a colleague struggle with, there are proven approaches that will help you get a handle on procrastination.   Get the free mini-guide to help you better manage procrastination tendencies.    Join the Modern Manager community to get the full guide to tackling procrastination and many more resources to support your learning journey.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.   Key Takeaways: Procrastination is not always a bad thing. Some people do their best work when they are forced to focus under the pressure of an upcoming deadline. If you manage someone who procrastinates, you may need to learn to manage your own expectations rather than change their behavior. There are multiple approaches to combating procrastination IF you've determined it's causing problems such as missed deadlines or poor work quality. Set milestones to create mini-deadlines along the path to project completion. Determine why you're avoiding the work - lack of clarity? task feels too big? it's not fun work? etc. Commit to doing the task you've been avoiding first thing. Schedule time on your calendar to do the task. Determine what the first, smallest step is to get started on the work. Bribe yourself. Determine a reward that is equal to the work being accomplished.   Get it touch! Email me at mamie@mamieks.com

Sometimes, delegating work can feel like more trouble than its worth. Wouldn't it be nice to have more time for other work? Who will benefit from taking on new responsibilities and growing their skills? But then, how do I make sure the work is done "right"?   In episode 22, I talk with Dave Stachowiak, host of Coaching for Leaders podcast about all things delegation. From mindset to practical steps, learn how to hand off work and set everyone up for success.   Key Takeaways: Delegation is as much a mindset as it is a practice. As Simon Sinek says, “Leaders aren't responsible for the results. Leaders are responsible for the people who are responsible for the results.” Before you sit down to review the delegated work with an employee, get clear on: What is the quality metric? What does success look like? What are the outcomes? What is the timeframe for the work? What are the budget and resources available for this work? Consider: Who is the right person to delegate the work to? Who is already good at this work? Would could benefit from growing in this way? Focus on explaining the outcome rather than all the steps of how to do the work to achieve the outcome. Consider delegating anything that you aren’t uniquely qualified to do or that is only appropriate for your role. Get it in writing to ensure clarity and alignment of expectations for both parties. Encourage ownership of the work by having the employee create a plan and come back to you a few days later to review and enhance the plan. When reviewing the plan, look for indicators that the plan will accomplish the outcomes within the timeframe, resources and quality metrics. When you delegate the right work to the right people, it’s possible to achieve even greater results.   oin the Modern Manager community and get Dave's guide 11 Crucial Books that Every Leader Should Know and additional resources to support your learning journey.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.   Listen to my interview on productive meetings on Coaching for Leaders -- https://coachingforleaders.com/podcast/358/   KEEP UP WITH DAVE Website: https://coachingforleaders.com podcast: https://coachingforleaders.com/itunes LinkedIn: https://coachingforleaders.com/linkedin

This is the second bonus episode in the Parenting Your Business series. In these episodes, I talk about my experiences as a parent and manager / entrepreneur, comparing situations and learnings. In this episode, I reflect on moments when we might be too close to the work or situation, and would benefit from taking a step back. Get in touch and join the conversation! mamie@mamieks.com mamieks.com/podcast patreon.com/modernmanager

There are times when rich conversation is exactly what needed to happen, but that’s really the exception, not the norm. For most meetings, a good conversation is simply not enough. Too often meetings that are intended to produce a decision or clarify next steps result in little if any follow through. So what can you do about that?  In this episode, I discuss 5 practices to make your meetings outcomes more actionable, ensuring greater meeting follow-through.   Get the free mini-guide to better follow-through.   Join the Modern Manager community to get the full guide to managing meeting follow-through and many more resources to support your learning journey.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.   Key Takeaways: Recap next steps and decisions at the end of the meeting. Assign one owner to each action item. Write down the tasks, decisions, and learnings (key takeaways) so you don't need to rely on memory. Share the meeting notes with all attendees and those who need to be informed.  Use a meeting note app such as Beenote or Wisembly Jam. Follow-up on tasks assigned from prior meetings. Use the old notes to help keep track of open items. Transfer action items assigned to you to your project plan or regular to-do list. Don't keep meeting action items separate from your other work.   Get it touch! Email me at mamie@mamieks.com

It's helpful to hear stories and lessons learned from managers who have experienced the daily challenges of working with a team. In episode 020 I speak with Rick Kiley, a founding partner of Soho Experiential. We talk about his experiences as a manager growing his team, holding people accountable, and lots more lessons over his 13 year journey in the business. One word of warning: there is some inappropriate language for children in this episode.   Key Takeaways: Train people properly. Invest in people's growth. Set them up for success.  Incorporate your company or team values into your hiring process. Hiring is not just about talent. ​How the person will act and interact with colleagues and clients is just as important. There are three types of people: problem makers (who you want to avoid hiring)​ problem identifiers (who are helpful but common) problem solvers (who will figure out solutions and are critical to success) Find problems and poor performers quickly and take action. The sooner you find it, the sooner you can address it. As teams and organizations evolve, processes need to be formalized and systemized. As an entrepreneur, you begin by wearing all the hats (roles) and over time you take off a hat as you hire someone to do that role. The person you hire for that role should do the job as good or better than you. Don't feel bad if the people you hire are better than you at that role. They should be! Your team will be more successful if each person does great work and you are a great manager. Manage people and teams by objective (results) and empower them to do their roles.    Join the Modern Manager community for additional resources to support your learning journey.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.   KEEP UP WITH RICK Website: sohoexp.com/ Email:info@sohoexp.com Instagram:@sohoexp