Behavior changes, even those that represent clear benefits for employees, require active reinforcement — including accountability mechanisms and human champions. A management consulting team leader, worried about exhaustion on her teams, began encouraging more rest. But when the sincere urging hardly affected the entrenched behavior, she established “the energy audit.” Every workday she asked members of her team to email or text one item they were taking off their to-do lists for the day. She celebrated these removals and sometimes asked for bigger ones if they seemed too trivial. She applied the same rule to herself. The concrete actions, along with constant reminders from the manager, produced far better results than lip service. The required daily check-ins kept the new behaviors top of mind. And the committed team leader continued to model their use.
Source: The power of feelings at work
Original Publication: strategy+business
Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior
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