The Lakeview Blog

Whether you have the formal title of manager or not, you will give and receive lots of feedback during your career. If you're like a lot of people, you have a difficult time doing either. Certainly, receiving feedback often stimulates our fight-or-flight impulse. Does it have to be this way? Is criticism really a threat to our survival? Of course not! That would be silly. Our brains are, however, wired to see criticism as a potential threat and it is this underlaying fear that makes receiving feedback so difficult to take. Feedback is also very hard to give. No one wants to be the difficult boss or cranky colleague. (Unless you already are, in which case, you are likely oblivious and that's a whole other post!) Here's how to do it effectively. When giving feedback: Be timely. There is no point in offering constructive criticism when it's too late for anything to be done about it.  Be clear. Don't use waffly terms that leave your colleagues scr...

Communication is everyone's job. That's right. I said it. Your communication department can't do it all alone. Whether you lead a team or are an employee, you are the face of the organization inside and outside. As a manager or supervisor, your team counts on you to share organizational updates, to recognize good performance and to listen to ideas and concerns, and escalate them as appropriate. The communication culture you create can build a great team or destroy it. An an employee (regardless of where in the organization you work) you should be aware of what your organization is doing, what it's goals are and how you fit into the picture. Your employer should be providing this information. It's up to you to stay informed. So, if we have to do all this, why have a communication department? you might well ask. Your communication experts not only must provide information and set up the avenues for you to be informed, they are also responsible to: ...

When I worked at the Province of Nova Scotia, I was part of a team that launched the first survey to measure how engaged provincial employees were. The survey measured staff opinions and perceptions in 10 areas: teamwork, communication, employee involvement, quality of work life, leadership, compensation and recognition, personal growth, diversity, safety and security, and recruitment and retention. (You can find out more about this and subsequent surveys here .) Prior to and during my time at the province, I had often been the go-to person for employee communication programs and had  been an advocate of good employee communication practices. This was because none of my PR colleagues thought employee communication was exciting enough. I didn't agree. I thought if organizations were going to say that employees are their most valuable resource, they should show it and I was excited about the possibilities of this work. The experience with the employee surveys, however, gave m...

Many employers believe that delivering a paycheque is all they have to do to ensure that their employees are doing all the things the employer has hired them to do. But is it? There's a big difference between those employees who show up to work, sleepwalk through their shifts and leave the second the clock tells them it's time to go home, and those who are enthusiastic about their work, deliver great customer service and think about improvements or innovations to your business. Studies over decades have shown that engaged employees -- those who give the extra 10 per cent, who are committed to their workplace -- deliver better results, take fewer sick days and stay with companies longer. Don't believe me? Here are 32 studies that show just that. Communication is an important piece of employee engagement. HR Review cites it as being a top-five contributor to employee engagement. Great communication reduces the need for the rumour mill and the negative envi...