Managing Made Simple

This week, I want to equip you with a tool you can use to simplify your team operations almost immediately: the Thriving Team Checklist! As managers, it's easy for small things (or big things that don't necessarily fall into the realm of our day-to-day responsibilities!) to slip through the cracks. This doesn't mean we're doing a poor job, or that we're bad managers—it jus...

What better time to talk about the importance of gratitude than on Thanksgiving week (for those of us based in the US) - but the truth is, we should be appreciating our team members ALL of the time.  In episode 90 of Managing Made Simple, I talk about what happens on our teams without a regular practice of recognition, appreciation, and gratitude, and share three simple strategies for appreciating...

There is one simple, easy-to-implement tool you can use to reduce turnover, streamline workflows, and boost team morale... One-on-one meetings. If you didn't know that one-on-ones are a necessity for a thriving team, that's all right—not many do! But after an experience I had with a mentee, I came to realize just how crucial one-on-one meetings with our team members are...and just how mu...

There's one question that I know you've probably asked yourself at least once... "Why can't my team members just read my mind?" No, I haven't been reading YOUR mind - I've just been there! In fact, I'd hazard a guess that EVERY manager has been there at one time or another. We all sometimes wish that we could hire a clone of ourselves to work on our team and...

With 2024 rushing toward us at breakneck speed, it's time to start deciding what we're going to prioritize in our businesses to finish out the end of the year. As managers and business owners, we have a very unique skill: we can see dire importance in EVERY task we set in front of our teams, no matter how small. But this skill can also cause a bit of a problem: because we see everything...

What if I told you that it only takes one simple mindset reframe to save you a heap of time, money, and stress? Reframing people's perspectives is my jam. I'm obsessed with reworking your view on certain things to reveal the opportunities that have always been there...you just couldn't see them. Today, I'm going to help you reframe your view around delegation. When we delegate,...

When it comes to being a manager it can feel like there are so many things you have to get right. But when you cover off on the basics, you've laid such strong foundation to have a high functioning team.  In this episode of Managing Made Simple, I'm joined by Jackie Koch, Founder/CEO of People Principles and HR expert, where dive into simple strategies for nailing your 1:1s, onboarding,...

There's a reason that onboarding is the very first thing we talk about inside my Ops Playbook. When we don't onboard our employees thoughtfully - both new and new to their role - we can accidentally prevent them from achieving the kind of success and creating the kind of impact they're capable of while working on our team. There are two common beliefs surrounding onboarding that I&a...

Having innovative and creative teams is something we all strive for, but we don't always know how to foster these qualities on our teams - especially when we're running from one deadline to the next. But when we think in terms of story, expectations, and learning, we're able to weave this into every fiber of our work.  In this episode of Managing Made Simple, I'm joined by Andr...

Here's what it feels like to be stuck in a rut as a manager or business owner: You feel like work follows you everywhere - even at home. You feel like you have too much work and not enough support. If you're a business owner, you might feel like you're not getting what you need from your team. You can't remember the last time you took any time for yourself without worrying abou...

When we hear the word “productivity,” we often think about getting more done, but that definition is incomplete. In this episode of Managing Made Simple, I’m joined by Tamara Myles, Author, Speaker, Instructor at UPenn where we discuss reframing our definition of “productivity” to include meaningful work, explore the link between meaning and wellbeing, and how leaders can help employees find meani...

When we try to ignore the small issues in our team operations, they WILL grow into huge disasters...and at that point, it's going to be ten times harder to actually SOLVE them. Trust me, I get it. I get why people shy away from taking a close look at what could be changed in their operations. It can feel too complicated. It can be frustrating. It can disrupt your team, which can then result i...

What is one of the biggest leadership lessons that applies both to managers in the corporate world and entrepreneur space? Investing in your people. When we lead with authenticity and demonstrate to our teams that we are invested in them and their growth, they not only will stay, but do better work.  In this episode of Managing Made Simple, I'm joined by Jillian Murphy, Sales & Business C...

We've all had those days when it feels like nothing is going right on your team. I mean "come on people!" But before you write off your team members and go down the path of thinking you need all new people, try a perspective shift.  In this episode I share ways to reframe this stuck feeling into one of opportunity but taking responsibility for how you're showing up, setting cle...

Being a manager comes with a whole set of challenges - but is there anything harder than managing a former friend or even family member? Especially when you have to deliver some tough feedback? In this episode of Managing Made Simple, I'm joined by Robyn Rapp, Leadership Development Coach & Facilitator, where we dig into some of the stickiest of situations as a manager. Fom managing a for...

Ah meetings. Love them or hate them, they're a part of working life. Depending on what industry you work in, you might even find yourself spending MOST of your week in meetings, making it paramount to ensure the time is being spent effectively.  That is why in this episode of Managing Made Simple, I talk about three simple shifts to make to your meetings to prevent them from going over, resul...

We know conceptually that inefficiencies in our team can cost us money, but we don’t always dive into see what this really looks like. But as fractional CFO Bridgette Boucha calls out in this episode of Managing Made Simple, “minutes are money.” In this conversation, we dive into how streamlining your team operations improves your bottom line as a business, the power of knowing your money story to...

We know we can't do *everything* ourselves in our teams and in our businesses, but sometimes doesn't it just feel like things would go faster if we could? Spoiler, not only does this belief actually slow us down, it makes our team members think we don't trust them, which leads to low morale and even lower productivity.  In this episode of Managing Made Simple, I talk about the reaso...

We know we can't do *everything* ourselves in our teams and in our businesses, but sometimes doesn't it just feel like things would go faster if we could? Spoiler, not only does this belief actually slow us down, it makes our team members think we don't trust them, which leads to low morale and even lower productivity.  In this episode of Managing Made Simple, I talk about the reaso...

To track or not to track? That is the question so many business owners and team leaders ask me when wrestling with how to have a better sense of the status of work on their team.  In a word: yes, track your work. But it's more nuanced than that, especially if we want it to save us time and money. In this episode of Managing Made Simple, I talk about WHY we need to track work, and how to do it...

Remember that time when you got super frustrated about something that happened on your team that had NOTHING to do with that situation? We've all been there.  In this episode of Managing Made Simple, I'm joined by Danya Douglass Hunt, money mindset coach for entrepreneurs, where we talk about how mindset impacts your behaviors and actions; and strategies for reprogramming your subconscio...

Ah the performance review. It means well, but in reality it often created a whole lot of stress for both managers and team members without a ton of benefit. That is unless you build or deploy a system with more intention around the behaviors you want to track and measure. In this episode of Managing Made Simple, I talk about just that. How to build a performance system that incentivizes the behavi...

When someone is new to a role, you’re catching them at their most excited and engaged. Your role as a manager is to keep them there. In this episode of managing made simple, I’m joined by Jess Heller, Executive & Leadership coach specializing in onboarding, where we discuss the ins and outs of onboarding in building a high performance team. We dive into how onboarding is an extension of recrui...

 Load balancing is something we need to continually do as a manager, but are we handling these conversations as effectively as we can be? When a team member comes to us overwhelmed our first instinct often is to jump right in and fix it, but that can often leave us solving the wrong problem. In this episode of Managing Made Simple, I talk about how to frame the conversation so you know exactly whe...

As managers and leaders, we're no strangers to sprinting marathons. But there comes a time when we have to take a step backwards and ask ourselves, is this sustainable? In this episode of Managing Made Simple, I'm joined by Corene Phelps, hypnotherapist & somatic success coach for entrepreneurs and business leaders, where we discuss overcoming burnout and building resilience on teams...