Mentoring a colleague or intern can be an incredibly rewarding experience for both parties; the lessons and learning from a mentorship can be beneficial to your nonprofit’s mission as well. If you’re a mentor, here are some ways to build a great relationship with your mentee.

Get to know your mentee. Ask about their professional interests and goals. Listen with no agenda except to learn more about your mentee. Find out what kinds of things they want your help and guidance on. Tune into areas of shared interest, but also resolve to discover and explore areas of difference and unique interests and experiences.

Set expectations collaboratively with your mentee. Consider:

• How often will you meet?
• How available will you be to your mentee between meetings?
• How will you know if the mentorship is fruitful?
• How will you work together? Will you give your mentee “homework” between meetings, or simply have free-flowing discussions?

Celebrate their achievements. Mentor-mentee discussions can get heavy, as mentees often seek help or guidance on issues they struggle with. Make sure to highlight and cheer your mentee’s accomplishments, too. When you see your mentee excel, name it and congratulate them.

Honor your commitments. Treat your meetings with your mentee as you would any other professional responsibility; work to make every meeting, and if you ever need to miss a meeting, let them know as soon as possible. Accountable means doing the things you agree to do. When you tell your mentee you’ll do something, do it.

Look for ways to help them grow. As your mentee shares their goals with you, keep an eye out for opportunities that could help them reach those goals—like a conference on a subject they want to learn about, or an introduction you could make to a potential future boss.

Ask thoughtful questions. When your mentee shares a struggle or a dream, ask questions to learn more about why something’s important to them or why they reacted a certain way in a conflict. A mentor can provide valuable outside perspective to help their mentee see patterns in their behavior, both strengths and challenges.

Avoid assumptions. It can be easy to jump to conclusions about what your mentor might be thinking or feeling. But if you’re ever unsure about their reactions to something you say, ask. You’ll learn more about your mentor and glean information about how best to work with them.

Share your own struggles. Your discussions should principally center on your mentee, not on you. But if you have relevant experience to share, especially about setbacks and challenges, do so. When you’re vulnerable, you will encourage your mentee to be vulnerable. This can show your mentee they’re not alone in facing professional difficulties and help build their confidence.

Prepare to learn. Mentoring is a two-way relationship, and many mentors in successful pairings learn a great deal from their less experienced mentee. Open your mind and heart to learning from your mentee. If you’re struggling with a work-related decision or fork in the road, ask your mentee: Would it be ok if I asked for your advice? What would you do?

Don’t make decisions for your mentee. Help your mentee see multiple sides of a situation and explore the possibilities, but resist the temptation to make decisions for them. A great mentorship helps the mentee get new perspectives and solve problems for themselves.

Resources

• How to Be an Amazing Mentor, HubSpot
• How to Be a Mentor – 4 Ways to Change Someone’s Life, BetterUp
• How to Be a Good Mentor: 10 Important Steps You Can Follow, Indeed

Studies regularly show that one of the most effective ways to recruit and retain great employees is to support their professional development. Many professional development opportunities cost money, but many others cost nothing. Use this checklist to create professional development plans for each member of your team that will show how much your organization values them.

Consider creating an organization-wide professional development framework. To do this, you’ll need to know:

• What skills and abilities your organization seeks in its employees
• What skills your employees need to improve to deliver the mission
• What resources—including money, time, and information—exist to invest in skills development
• How your organization will offer professional development (e.g., will you hold your own programs quarterly, cover employees’ attendance at an annual conference, etc.?)
• How you will communicate professional development opportunities to your team

Ask team members to assess their own skills.

• Create a survey that asks them to identify strengths they bring to the role and challenges they face.
• Find out what skills, career paths, and competencies interest your team members.

Review the skills assessments with an eye to your team’s needs.

• Compare your assessment of each individual’s skill level and their work record with their self-assessment.
• Look for opportunities where individuals’ skills and interests align with the goals of your team.

Build resources for professional development at your nonprofit.

• Seek nonprofit discounts from third-party providers.
• Include pitches for training funds in your grant applications.
• Consider peer-to-peer coaching opportunities (can one employee train another on a key skill?)
• Explore mentoring and skills training options through professional association memberships.
• Ask board members for referrals who could provide pro bono training in needed areas.
• Use the “train-the-trainer” approach; ask employees who develop a new skill to train others

Collaborate with employees to build their professional development plans.

• Consider where the employee needs support to make the most of their strengths and address their challenges.
• Revisit job descriptions. What skills and competencies can the employee improve that will impact their job performance?
• Revisit your nonprofit’s mission and strategic plan. Are there organizational gaps that professional development could help close?

Guide employees to monitor progress, celebrate wins, and navigate challenges.

• Ask employees to record the professional development steps they take, what they learned, and how they applied lessons and takeaways.
• Review progress regularly with employees.
• Discuss challenges and additional opportunities for learning.

Resources

• 4 Best Professional Development Practices for Nonprofits, Nonprofit Hub
• Employee Development Plan (With Template and Two Examples), Indeed
• Nonprofit Human Resources Best Practices Toolkit, Taproot Foundation
• Professional Development Plan, Duke University

We’ve all faced challenging situations at work. Sometimes we can step away to pause and collect ourselves, but sometimes conflict surfaces in the middle of a tense meeting or a challenging interaction with a client. Here are some things you can do in mere seconds to stay calm during a difficult interaction at your nonprofit.

Before conflict arises

Nourish yourself. Make it a regular practice to get enough exercise, eat nourishing food, drink plenty of water, and replenish your system with sleep. The more mental and physical resources you can draw on when conflict arises, the better off you’ll be.

During conflict

Breathe. Even in the middle of a tough conversation, you can take deep breaths, which activates the calming capacity of your parasympathetic nervous system. Inhale for four counts and exhale for six. When your exhales are longer than your inhales, it primes your body to leave fight-or-flight mode and enter a more relaxed state.

Cool down. Literally. To change your physiological response to conflict, bring down your body temperature. Take a sip of water, touch a cool surface in the room, or put an ice cube from your drink in your mouth.

Ask questions. Give yourself time to respond in a constructive way. Ask questions like “I’m hearing that you’re unhappy with how our app is working for your benefits. What else do you need me to know about the problem?” This will help you process your emotions and consider what to do next.

Distract yourself. You need to listen to the person who’s upset you, but at the same time, give yourself something to think about besides your emotional response. Dig your feet into the floor, feel the sensation of your hips in your chair, or focus on the eye color of the person you’re talking to.

Have some go-to responses. When you’re not in the middle of conflict, take a moment to come up with a couple of things you could say in a heated situation. Examples include: “Thanks, I need a little time to think about that” or “Can you tell me more about that?” This approach keeps you in the conversation while giving you precious time to calm down.

After conflict

Take time to process. The strategies outlined here will help you navigate difficult situations with poise. But you’ll still need to take time to understand what happened and your reaction; if you don’t do so, mental and physical stress on your body will mount. Take time to explore your feelings about the conflict alone or with someone you trust. This will help you determine if you need to revisit the issue with your manager or the person who triggered you.

Resources

• How to Quickly Calm Down When You’re Triggered at Work – Harvard Business Review
• 4 Techniques to Control Your Emotions and Maintain Calm During Stressful Moments at Work – Business Insider

As business travel continues to rebound post-COVID, make sure your nonprofit is ready. Here’s a checklist to evaluate the risks and benefits of travel and navigate health and security issues wherever your team is headed.

Cornerstones of Safe Business Travel

Create or update your organization’s travel policy.

Keep in mind that a travel policy for a small nonprofit may consist of a one-page list of reminders and tips, while the policy for a large international nonprofit is likely to be multiple pages long.

Policies might include:

• Travel recommendations and requirements
• What travel expenses your organization will and will not cover
  Tip: lead with respect and flexibility: For example, “Employees are expected to use good judgment regarding expenses covered by this Policy, including the selection of carriers, hotels and ground transportation options.”
• Whether your nonprofit permits or requires that staff book refundable tickets
  Tip: although refundable airfares generally cost more than nonrefundable fares, it would be a shame to waste money on a ticket that can’t be used due to circumstances beyond your team member’s control.
• Approved or preferred travel partners and providers
• Approval steps or procedures before booking travel
• Communication expectations while on travel
• General tips on staying safe while traveling
• Vaccination, visa, and other requirements
• COVID-related considerations, such as:
  • precautionary health screenings for employees and their families
  • health and safety practices (for social distancing, masking, etc.) that follow the recommendations of official organizations such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization

Determine if travel insurance is applicable for the trip.

Speak with the agent or broker for your nonprofit’s property and casualty coverages to determine which, if any, policies are applicable to business travel. Determine if your volume of upcoming travel warrants purchasing additional coverage, and also whether you will encourage or discourage travelers from purchasing coverage from rental car providers. 

Before You Book

Review your organization’s travel policies. Make sure you understand them. If you’re uncertain about anything, now is the time to ask.

Check travel advisories for any health and safety issues at your destination. The U.S. Department of State website lists travel advisories for security issues, such as terrorist activity, and for COVID outbreaks. The Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center maps global and U.S. state virus outbreak data and trends.

Obtain approval for the trip from your supervisor and any other necessary parties. Talk with your supervisor about risks, threats, and risk reduction measures specific to your location.

Confirm requirements to visit your destination and prepare to meet them. Apply for any necessary visas and schedule any required vaccinations. Allow plenty of extra time in case of processing delays.

Before Travel

Book your itinerary according to your organization’s policy. Where possible, book well in advance of your trip, as fares tend to increase as departure dates near.

Schedule a security briefing before travel to higher-risk locations. Ask about local customs at your destination and how to maintain personal safety in your environment, as well as location-specific terrorist threats and what to do if you encounter them.

Update your immunization record if traveling internationally. Carry a copy of your record during the trip.

Screen for health issues as appropriate. Self-test or get tested for COVID and any other required health screenings according to your organization’s policy.

Have alternative payment methods ready. Pack at least one back-up personal credit card and bring some cash in case organizational credit cards aren’t accepted at your destination.

Designate a staff member to check in with while traveling. Set a schedule for how frequently you will check in and by what method.

Understand your technology options and limitations. Pack the necessary technology to connect safely and securely at your destination; if possible, identify a back-up option for connecting, such as a personal hotspot.

During Travel

Check in with your designee every day. Make sure to use the agreed-on check-in method if possible.

Use good judgment. Don’t draw attention to yourself in your actions or manner. Stay aware of your environment. Never give out personal information or mention that you are traveling alone.

When in doubt, leave the situation. Avoid putting yourself in any environment or interaction where you feel unsafe. Trust your intuition and take action.

Recognize and follow local laws and regulations. Respect the cultural norms and laws of your host location. When in doubt, ask!

Report any concerns, even if they seem small, to the appropriate contact person at your organization or host.

Be proactive with your health. Mask according to your comfort level, that of your hosts, and the health risks of the situation to you and others. Wash your hands frequently. Replenish yourself with nourishing food and rest. Seek treatment for any health issues that arise immediately.

Upon Your Return

Notify your supervisor immediately when you return. Report any security issues that arose during the trip.

Return any IT equipment you borrowed for use during the trip.

Complete expense reports by the due date. Include required receipts. Double-check that you have recorded and reported all credit card transactions and reimbursable expenses.

Debrief with your supervisor and any other required colleagues. What was your experience with safety, security, and health on the trip? What can you and your organization learn from your experience for the future?

Take time to process your experience. It’s easy to jump right back into regular routines after travel. But take a moment to celebrate a successful trip, or acknowledge that you handled challenging situations during travel to the best of your ability. Recall the new things you saw, heard, and experienced. What did you learn? What will stay with you?

Many employees feel most comfortable in a hybrid work environment, where some work takes place remotely and some happen in person. The best strategy to excel in a hybrid work environment is one your team has likely used to excel in other areas: set and reiterate clear expectations, try new things, and adapt quickly when your plan doesn’t work as expected. Here are some tips to help your nonprofit maximize the benefits of hybrid work.

Determine where key tasks ideally will take place. Identify which work tasks are key for your nonprofit, determine what drives productivity and performance for each, and consider what working arrangements best facilitate them. Note that remote work often is the best option for tasks like research or writing that are best done independently without distractions. Keep in mind that this isn’t necessarily true for an employee with a noisy or distracting at-home environment! In-office days will best foster collaboration, like idea sessions and team meetings. Make employees part of the process through surveys and interviews to gauge how and where they work best.

Invest in your people and infrastructure. Train leaders on how to manage hybrid teams. Make sure on-site offices and conference rooms offer remote-capable collaboration stations, allowing remote participants full inclusion in team discussions. Work with managers to understand their new responsibilities to coordinate meetings and schedules, from determining when others are in the office and available to leading hybrid meetings where part of the audience is online. Invest in tools that will help your teams manage their schedules.

Review your hybrid policies and benefits for equity and inclusion. When you survey employees to figure out hybrid arrangements for work tasks, find out who is and isn’t taking advantage of remote working options and why. Who isn’t reaping these benefits? Will everyone in the organization receive an opportunity for hybrid work? What if team members don’t have access to fast broadband Internet or a comfortable home office environment? How will your organization offer as much flexibility and comfort as possible for everyone, from the front lines to the executive team?

Evolve how you measure employee performance. In a hybrid environment, it’s especially important to make sure that with respect to salaried employees, your organization measures results, not just the hours employees clock on the job. Develop performance measures that evaluate how well your employees do the tasks that most contribute to your nonprofit’s success. Make sure your performance review process reflects this approach, and doesn’t overly weight measures like number of hours worked. Keep in mind that hourly, non-exempt staff must be paid for every hour worked, regardless of outcomes. Communicate expectations clearly so team members understand how you will evaluate their job performance.

Keep your one-on-one meetings, and use them well. Amid all the changes and adjustments of a hybrid environment, you might be tempted to let one-on-one meetings with team members slide. Don’t do it. Regular communication, clarification of expectations, and two-way feedback are more important than ever.

Experiment and iterate. Test how well your processes work in a hybrid environment, invite employees to weigh in, and learn from your results and feedback. This might mean that your organization implements a new process and must quickly make additional adjustments to it.

Resources

• Nonprofit Risk Management Center – A Happier Hybrid: Managing the Risks of Hybrid Work
• Gallup – The Advantages and Challenges of Hybrid Work
• Harvard Business Review – How to Do Hybrid Right
• McKinsey – The Future of Work: Managing Three Risks of the Hybrid Workplace

Do you struggle to meet deadlines and complete tasks? Almost everyone can get better at time management, and even small investments can yield big rewards. Your work will improve, you’ll be less stressed, and you’ll have more time to work on the things that interest you most—or to focus on the rest of your life. These simple steps can help you get better at time management.

Learn how long tasks take you, and allot the time they require. Many of us underestimate how long it takes to complete a task. Look back at the past to see how much time your major tasks take you. Then block the time you need on your calendar to get those tasks done.

Make your own stricter deadlines. Have a big project due on the 15th? Give yourself a deadline of the 12th. If life happens and you don’t finish on the 12th, you can still finish on time. If you finish on the 12th, give your project an extra proofread, set it aside and look at it again to see if any final great ideas occur to you. Or use that extra time to ask a colleague who brings a different lens and perspective to take a look!

Do one thing at a time. Multitasking is a myth. Even if you can only focus on a particular task for a short block of time, you’ll do better work and finish faster than if you juggled it with other things.

Eat the frog. This phrase has become time-management shorthand. Whatever your hardest or most demanding task is, dive into it first thing in the morning and make some progress before you jump into other things.

If you can’t do a lot, do a little. For those tasks you hate or find stressful, schedule short sprints where you work your hardest for 15 to 25 minutes. This will help you make progress and avoid procrastination. Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism, reminds us that “Research has shown that of all forms of human motivation the most effective one is progress. Why? Because a small, concrete win creates momentum and affirms our faith in our further success.”

Do similar tasks in chunks. This could mean setting aside one day a week to meet with constituents, or pulling data for several reports at once. To learn how to “chunk” risk management tasks, see “Chunk Change: Ask for Less to Get More.”

Don’t get sucked into constantly responding to messages. Check email only at designated times, not all day. Even if you can limit looking at your inbox to every half hour, it will make a huge difference. Go longer if you can.

Take breaks between tasks. Step out for a brisk walk, even just around your office building or yard; turn away you’re your screen and look out the window or at a piece of art in the room or in a book; pause to listen to music; or do anything else that clears your head. Taking a break between tasks will help you focus more effectively on your next to-do.

Use a reminder system. Track when tasks need to be done through electronic calendar reminders, or in a paper planner if analog reminders work best for you. Pick one system and stick to it—if you juggle both paper and digital reminders, things can fall through the cracks.

Did you know that time is your most valuable resource? It’s the only asset that can’t be regenerated. We can rebuild a sullied reputation and repair fractured friendships, but we can’t go back in time and re-do yesterday. Investing in time management skills is a wonderful way to steward your most valuable resource!

Resources

• 10 Tips for Mastering Time Management at Work – Slack
• Time Management – Corporate Finance Institute
• Time Management Is About More Than Life Hacks – Harvard Business Review
• How to Make the Most of Your Workday – New York Times

Have you ever sensed that your nonprofit team adopts a negative frame when you’re talking about a challenge or downside risk? Reframing a challenge as an opportunity could help your team break out of frustration mode, get curious, and form new ideas. Here are some ways to do so.

Don’t reframe things that shouldn’t be reframed. Reframing some things to see only positives, like a death or a layoff, would qualify as toxic positivity. But a single perplexing problem could be a good candidate for reframing. So could a lingering and limiting belief—like “there aren’t enough good candidates for our jobs”—if your organization has truly explored and analyzed the issue.

Name setbacks and the emotions you and your team members feel. Identify setbacks and emotional reactions to them as normal and healthy. If emotions get recognized and validated, people will feel less need to dwell on them.

Treat failure as temporary. This will keep your team moving forward and focus them on what they can do to address the situation in the short term.

Focus on what your team can learn from the experience. Once the immediate setback has passed, give team members a chance to reflect on what happened and how you could handle things differently in the future.

Question your question. Are the questions you’re asking about the situation limiting your team? If you ask, “How can we make sure our emails reach clients?” you’ve automatically assumed email is the best way to reach them. Change your question to “How might we engage our clients wherever they are?” and you might find different ideas and solutions.

Seek bad ideas. If a challenge has your team stuck, ask team members for ideas that wouldn’t work to solve it. This can help your group go beyond obvious solutions and think more creatively.

Break the rules. What things does your organization, or even your whole sector, take for granted? Challenge those assumptions. What would happen if you did the opposite of what you believe to be “the way it’s done”?

Show how your team connects to the big picture. When your team experiences a setback, use it to illustrate how tied to the mission their work is and how the team’s work impacts your nonprofit.

Try to find some “quick wins.” After a setback, look for a couple of small victories your team can pursue to rebuild confidence. If you achieve them, celebrate!

Resources

• Three Ways to Reframe a Problem to Find an Innovative Solution – Fast Company
• How to Help Your Team Recover after a Setback – Atlassian
• Turn Setbacks into Opportunities in Three Easy Steps – TED
• Managers: How to Deal with Setbacks as a Team – Hired
• Make Your Team Stronger By Acknowledging and Celebrating Setbacks – Martina Kuhlmeyer

The past few years have been especially challenging for nonprofits, their teams, and the people they serve. You’ve likely steered your team through many challenges, from budget strains to community grief about injustice and acts of violence. And there will be many more challenges to navigate. Here are some ways to take the best possible care of your team members when times get tough.

Take time to understand and address your own emotions. You can’t support your team or model healthy behavior if you neglect yourself. Write down what you feel, whether it’s sadness, anger, frustration, all of the above, or something else. Ensure your basic needs like sleep and nourishing food are met, so your body has time and sustenance to process those emotions.

Acknowledge what’s happening. Tell your team you know things are tough and you understand people may be anxious. Name what’s making things difficult: losing a big contract, an act of violence impacting people you serve, a leadership change that shakes the team up. Let people know, individually and as a team, that it’s OK for them to talk to you about these things, and it’s also OK if they don’t want to.

Don’t automatically cancel social activities, but read the room. Events like a virtual happy hour or team-building outing can provide a needed stress release during difficult times. Use good judgment: if you are grieving someone’s death or announcing layoffs, put that day’s event on pause. And always make social activities optional. What feels restorative to one person might drain another.

Set clear priorities. Challenging times often bring confusion about what happens next. Every step you take to clearly communicate expectations about what work must get done and what can wait will make people feel more safe and secure.

Revisit expectations. Most people will be less productive during difficult times. Accept that and work with people where they are. If you’ve set clear guidelines about what work must get completed, you should be able to let a lot of things slide, at least temporarily.

Make your team members aware of formal and informal support resources. Share information about mental health or career counseling resources appropriate to the situation. Communicate how you’re willing to support your team; that they can ask for a mental health day anytime without details, call you during working hours to talk if something’s worrying them, etc.

Be true to yourself, but don’t make yourself the focus. If you have conflicting feelings about change at work or issues in your community, you can be honest about that. But don’t dwell on it, and don’t steal air from people and communities in your work who may be more directly impacted than you.

Keep advocating for resources and reasonable workloads for your team. Even if immediate change doesn’t seem possible, circumstances can shift. Regular advocacy for your team can shake resources loose in those moments when new possibilities unexpectedly show up.

Resources

• Managering in Terrible Times – Lara Hogan
• How to Be a Supportive Manager When Times Are Tough – Harvard Business Review
• A Psychologist’s 5-Step Guide for Resilient Leadership When Everything Is Going Wrong – Fast Company
• Supporting Your Employees During Hard Times: A Manager’s Guide – University of California, San Francisco

Grief and loss are part of life. Three years of a global pandemic focused new attention on that fact, and brought to light the many ways grief affects people and workplaces. But most leaders never learned how to deal with grief at work—and sometimes, people cause harm when they want to help. Here’s a primer on what to do—and not to do—when someone on your team is grieving.

Finding Words

Taking Action

Make sure your organization offers the most generous resources it can for employees who experience loss. Grief experts recommend people take 20 days off work after a close family member dies. Offer more than the average three days of bereavement leave if you can. Let employees use accrued vacation, sick time, or PTO days as additional leave. Share information about counseling and mental health resources with your employee.

Ask your team member what support they need. Offer flexible work arrangements, like changes in work hours, working from home, and a shift in project load. Let the employee make the choice. Some people find comfort in work after a loss; as long as they don’t show signs of overwork, let them work. If the person doesn’t know what they need, revisit the discussion later.

Give them space to talk about their loss if they want to, and respect it if they don’t. Acknowledge their loss and give them the opportunity to share as much as they want. Ask if they want you to tell team members what happened or not, and how much information to share.

Let them know you’re thinking about them. A food delivery gift card, greeting card, or flower delivery from the team can show support without any expectation for the person to respond. Etsy offers sympathy cards with nuance.

Invest resources to train leaders and teams to deal with grief. Even a half-day workshop with a grief counselor who has expertise in workplace issues could make managers feel more empowered and less helpless when a team member experiences a loss.

Resources

• Managers: What Do You Do When a Teammate Shares Their Grief? – Lara Hogan
• The Consequences of Unacknowledged Grief in the Workplace – MIT Sloan Management Review
• How to Navigate the Whole-Self Workplace – Quartz
• The Cost of Dying – empathy.

Collaboration in the workplace can catalyze more creative ideas, help with employee retention, and make it more fun to go to work every day. But it won’t happen without some effort and focus. Here are some ways to foster collaboration in your nonprofit team.

Learn employees’ likes and dislikes. Ask your team members what types of projects and work experiences fill them with energy, and which ones drain them. This can help you better identify collaboration opportunities for team members and help them grow their ability to work with each other.

Establish how you will communicate. How often will you meet, and for what purpose? What will be your primary methods of exchanging information between meetings? How quickly do you expect a response to messages?

Establish the team’s goals and review progress. Make sure all team members know what their group is responsible for, and give specific responsibilities to team members. If you can, give team members input into their goals. Discuss with your team how you are progressing on the goals at least quarterly.

Create times and spaces where employees can do their best work individually and together. If you have in-office spaces, make sure you create areas that invite collaboration, as well as quieter areas of the office where employees can write or think. Online, communicate norms for how employees can manage their time—can they set a “do not disturb” status for an hour to focus on writing, for example?

Share examples of great collaborative efforts by your team, and reward them. Your performance management system will need to change as you increase your emphasis on collaboration. If all your employees’ goals are based on individual achievement, you can’t expect them to make collaboration a major focus. Include teamwork goals in your employee performance assessments.

Foster psychological safety. Collaboration can’t happen if employees don’t feel safe sharing their opinions with their team members. To create a climate of psychological safety, leaders must demonstrate that they trust their team members, become less reactive, and allow for failure and experimentation.

Assign people roles when appropriate. Dictating every step you want team members to take would negate the innovation and experimentation benefits of collaboration. But to get collaboration started, it can help to assign people duties on a team. You might want to assign a team mentor, so employees know who to approach with questions.

Welcome conflict and provide guardrails to navigate it. When you work with team members who are different from you, the group will likely have some differences of opinion. That can help surface potential issues in client service delivery. Set expectations for how to handle conflict and how long you will take to make a decision about how to move forward.

Resources

• Collaboration in the Workplace: 11 Ways to Boost Your Team’s Performance – Asana
• 5 Tips for Effective Collaboration at Work – Slack
• 12 Crucial Strategies for Promoting Team Collaboration – HubSpot
• How to Improve Teamwork Collaboration in the Workplace – Gallup
• How to Increase Collaboration Between Teams in 10 Steps – Indeed