20 Dec 2022
In the modern workplace, it’s essential to keep employees motivated and engaged to achieve success. One way to do this is to prioritize the role of fun. As a leader this means not only setting clear goals and expectations but also making sure your team has opportunities to relax and have fun together. Especially during stressful times, it can be beneficial to step away from work for a bit and engage in activities that promote bonding and enjoyment.
One way to accomplish this is by organizing team board game nights. Not only can these nights provide a fun and engaging activity for everyone to participate in, but they can also improve team dynamics and working relationships.
The Importance of Fun at Work
It’s no secret that work can be stressful and demanding, and this can take a toll on the mental and emotional well-being of employees. Incorporating fun and lighthearted activities into the workweek can help alleviate some of that stress and promote a more positive and enjoyable workplace.
Research has shown that when employees have fun at work, they are more engaged and productive, and experience lower levels of burnout and turnover. Incorporating games and other fun activities can also help break down barriers between team members, promote communication and collaboration, and foster a sense of community within the workplace.
The Benefits of Team Board Game Nights
One way to promote fun and team bonding is by organizing board game nights. Not only are board games a classic form of entertainment, but they can also help improve cognitive skills, such as strategic thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making. Also especially in IT they keep you away from a screen which most definetly is an extra plus.
The benefits of board games go beyond simply having fun and improving cognitive skills. Playing board games as a team can also improve communication, teamwork, and collaboration. Games like Captain Sonar, for example, require players to work together and communicate effectively in order to win. This can help build trust and respect between team members and improve overall team dynamics.
Another great game to play is Codenames, where players work together to find hidden agents while avoiding traps. This game requires effective communication, critical thinking and some personal knowledge on how your team approaches problems, as players must work together to decipher clues and strategize their moves.
Relating Board Game Nights to Self-Sustaining Teams
Organizing board game nights can also tie into the concept of self-sustaining teams. By allowing team members to organize and lead these events, leaders can promote autonomy and self-management within the team. This can help build trust and confidence within the team, and allow team members to take ownership of their work and responsibilities.
Moreover, by promoting fun and positive experiences, self-sustaining teams can foster a sense of community and shared purpose, and help create a work environment that team members are excited to be a part of. This can lead to higher levels of engagement and commitment, as well as improved performance and outcomes.
In conclusion, incorporating fun and team-building activities like board game nights can help promote a positive and engaging workplace. By allowing team members to take ownership of these events, leaders can also promote self-sustaining teams and foster a sense of community and shared purpose. So why not plan your next team game night today?
02 Oct 2022
Effective leadership is a crucial skill for professionals looking to advance in their careers. While technical expertise is important, being able to manage and lead a team is equally vital. In this post, we’ll discuss the key principles of effective leadership that helped me build a self-organized and trusted team.
Delegation is Key
As a leader, it can be tempting to micromanage every aspect of your team’s work. However, this approach can quickly lead to burnout, resentment and frustration, both for you and your team. Instead, one of the most important principles of effective leadership is delegation.
Delegation involves trusting your team members to take on responsibilities and make decisions on their own. This not only lightens your workload but also allows your team members to develop their own skills and grow in their roles. It also fosters a sense of ownership and accountability within the team.
Build a Self-Organized Team
Another key principle of effective leadership is building a self-organized team. This means creating a culture in which team members are empowered to take initiative and make decisions without always needing to seek approval from you as the leader.
To achieve this, it’s important to establish clear goals and expectations, and to provide your team with the resources and support they need to achieve them. Encouraging open communication and collaboration is also essential, as it allows team members to work together and leverage each other’s strengths.
The established open communication will help to keep you in sync of everything that is happening. So you as a leader are never surprised by things that are happening within the team or by the teams output.
Trust is Crucial
Trust is at the heart of any effective team. As a leader, it’s essential to build trust with your team members by being transparent, reliable, and consistent. This means following through on your commitments, being open to feedback, and being willing to admit when you’re wrong.
However, trust is a two-way street. It’s equally important for you to trust your team members. This means giving them the autonomy to make decisions and take action, even if it means making mistakes along the way. It also means being open to new ideas and approaches, and encouraging your team members to take calculated risks.
Conclusion
Effective leadership is about more than just giving orders and making decisions. It’s about building a self-organized and trusted team that can operate independently and achieve its goals with minimal supervision. By delegating responsibilities, empowering your team members, and building trust, you can create a culture of excellence that drives success and growth for both you and your team.
10 Aug 2022
In a work environment, effective communication is essential to the success of any team. However, communication is not just about sending and receiving messages. It is about creating a culture of open dialogue and feedback that allows individuals to grow and the team to function cohesively.
The Importance of Feedback Culture
A feedback culture refers to a work environment where constructive criticism is encouraged, and everyone feels safe and empowered to share their thoughts and ideas. When feedback is given constructively, it can help improve employee morale, productivity, and job satisfaction.
One of the biggest benefits of a feedback culture is that it encourages continuous learning and improvement. When team members receive feedback, they gain valuable insights into their strengths and weaknesses, which can help them grow professionally. Additionally, feedback culture ensures that there is transparency and accountability within the team, as everyone is encouraged to give and receive feedback.
Creating a Feedback Culture
To create a feedback culture, the first step is to establish open communication channels. Team members should feel comfortable approaching each other and their managers with any concerns or ideas they may have. This can be done through regular one-on-one meetings or through open forum discussions.
It is also essential to establish clear guidelines for giving feedback. Feedback should be specific, objective, and actionable. It should focus on behavior rather than personality traits and should always be given with the intent of helping the person improve.
17 Nov 2021
At the current point in my career, it becomes more and more important to train myself on my leadership skill-set. Leadership is something that I am interested in for a long time.
The early days
It all started back in middle school when I was in a class that focused on something called CoCoCo which stands for Communication, Cooperation, Conflict Resolution. Where the goal was mainly to learn how to educate yourself in cooperation with other students and how to deal with schoolyard quarrels. It sparked my interest in the area of social communication and dealing with people’s problems.
The student years
After a good start in middle school, this path of my career was mostly set aside during my time in high school where the only focus points were my roles as team lead and project manager in various school projects.
It gained more traction again during my university studies where I focused a lot on the area of conflict resolution, coaching, team-building. I also get the opportunity to use these learned skills when I became a tutor for software engineering and afterward took over the administration of the lectures in software engineering leading a team of about twenty to twenty-five tutors.
The present
After trying out some jobs I eventually ended up in a large corporation as a small developer in a team of six to eight very skilled engineers. Everything was solved in a very democratic way. People joined and people left but we managed to stay at about the same size with a very experienced technical lead who was one of the technical founders of the product I work on.
Fast forward two years. Our lead developer left and after expressing my interest I became the chapter lead of the newly re-branded backend chapter. My next challenge was to scale up the chapter to our current size of about fifty developers.
Game of Thrones
The biggest learning in my two years as a chapter lead is the importance of knowing whom you can trust to drive your topics. Whom you need to talk to, to move mountains, and when you take a step back stand-down of your opinion and just offer some support regardless if you like the idea or not.
Or what is simply called politics.