The Latest from Kristy-Lee

Why are planning sessions so crucial to your team?

There’s a reason why Simon Sinek’s Start With Why upended the world of leadership and business when he hit the mainstream with both this talk and the book.

For a long time, the focus in the workplace was on outcomes without connecting their people to the why of those outcomes. We soon realised by using Simon’s framework, that connecting people to the core of why the business exists and exactly how their role impacts the world created stronger relationships, better outcomes, and more innovative thinking.

A fundamental aspect of connecting your people to your business why is running effective team planning sessions. From this connection grows a rich dynamic for your team – but without a well-structured planning session you could be missing out on leveraging the best from your people.

People want purpose.
People want clarity.
People want to belong.

Understanding these driving motivators, and planning sessions are...

Why do we need to hit the brakes in our businesses from time to time?

We’re living through an unprecedented post-pandemic period of transition. Many of us are starting the year feeling completely depleted. Everything feels hard and in some instances, insurmountable.

So, what’s the deal?

Whether you struggled or thrived through the pandemic, there’s research being released about the short and long-term impacts on our collective and individual well-being around the world.

The Georgia State University Research Magazine released an article titled Two Years of Trauma in a bid to better understand the lasting legacy of the mental health adversities of the pandemic. Doing the promotional rounds for his latest release, The Myth of Normal, Dr Gabor Maté also talks about the lasting impact of the pandemic as a trauma we are still emerging from.

Hustle culture also isn’t all it cracked up to be, and being a boss has never been...

What does your team need to help your business succeed?

I bet if I ask you what your 2023 vision is for your business, you’ll likely have a good idea. Maybe you’ve reflected, formally or informally, reviewed and planned and strategised what your business is going to look like in 2023.

One vision I notice many small to medium businesses miss clarifying is their vision for their team. If I ask you what your 2023 team vision is – do you have an answer?

There are a few key ingredients to identifying your 2023 team vision. You need to know the what. You need to know the why. You need to then share it with your team. And then you need to plan your team’s capacity – what do they need, maybe even who do they need, to deliver your business vision?

Is it more tools? Or is it more people? Is it clearer roles and responsibilities? Is it a new position? Is it professional development? Is it transitioning team members across roles that...

What do you need to know as a business owner about pay secrecy clauses in your employment contract?

If you’re a small business owner or you work for an organisation that includes sole traders, partnerships and trust structure in Australia you are likely covered by the Fair Work Act.
 

The Fair Work Act covers a range of rights in the workplace including a host of industrial relations legislation and compliance updates that organisations and business need to keep up with. For a more in-depth dive on this act, passed in 2009 by the Rudd Government, read more at the Fair Work Ombudsman.

With the recent changes in government there have been a raft of industrial relations reforms underway in Australia across the end of 2022 into 2023.

The update we’re focusing on today is the banning of Pay Secrecy Clauses in employment contracts and agreements which came into effect on 7 December 2022.

From this date onwards, if you introduce a Pay Secrecy Clause in any of your...

The key to success in business is letting go

Elsa sings in the earworm Disney hit, Frozen, “Let It Go” which is a nice sentiment but not a reality for many business owners who often carry too much on their plates and wear too many hats.

At some stage in a successfully growing small to medium business, the owner and founder is going to have to start letting some of their daily tasks and responsibilities go. This is usually to other people in the business as they start to hire and expand, or outsourcing when there’s a little more cash flowing through the business (sometimes before).

The reality is, in order for our businesses to grow and thrive, and for us to have time to live the life we want, we are going to have to learn how to start letting things go.

Letting go isn’t an easy task as a business owner, though – especially in fledgling or rapidly growing businesses.

Why are we so bad at letting go in our businesses?

When we talk...

There’s a fine balance between the number of people that report into any one position and how effectively a business or organisation continues to run. It’s quite often an aspect of organisational structure that is overlooked, neglected, or spirals quickly out of control as businesses scale and grow without a clearly identified structure or resourcing plan for growth.

But there is a magic number of direct reports that hits the sweet spot, ensuring that you have just the right number of staff reporting into a single position while still ensuring that position itself is effective depending on the nature of the role.

Structure is one of the fundamental aspects of ensuring that you don’t overwhelm, or even underwhelm, your management team and help set them, and their teams, up for success – in the long run, this feeds into your business success and is well worth investing in.

There are actually five key factors or variables that impact the success of direct report...

As we dive head first into another December we have well and truly shifted into ‘festive’ season with the Christmas and New Year celebrations starting to kick into full gear.

Catch ups are booked in advance, parties organised, shutdowns scheduled, and Kris Kringle plans are definitely being made by someone (we hope?).

Yet, this time of year as a business owner can be fraught with stress! How to host a Christmas party without running the risk of a legal nightmare. How to get everything done and all the orders delivered before close down, and how on earth to keep people focused when all they are thinking about is holidays?

So how can you as a leader manage this period, especially when you yourself might not be feeling the excitement to celebrate and feeling less willing to tolerate the slide in focus and increase in frivolity during the coming weeks?

Here are my top 8 tips for staff management during the ‘silly season’:

• ...

No less than once a week I’ll get a call, or question online, that goes a little like “I have a problem with a staff member, they are getting their job done but they aren’t being a great team member, I can’t quite put my finger on it but every time I raise an issue with them they have an excuse, there is always some reason things haven’t gone to plan”. Does this sound familiar to you? Have you had someone like this on your team before?

Sure enough, after a few questions my typical conclusion is – you have someone who is below the line. What line? Great question!

I first became aware of this framework probably about 15 years ago, I’d heard about it conceptually but when I really noticed this as a powerful framework for teams when I worked with a business who really embraced the concept so much that their team used the language in their day to day operations – this is when I really started to pay attention to this...

What is the Labor Party’s Industrial Relations Reform agenda?

The Australian Labor Government has recently announced updates to the Industrial Relations Reforms alongside reforms currently before Parliament.

With each new government businesses can expect a host of changes including to Industrial Relations which is a key campaign area for all parties and often closely aligned with the party’s core values. A new government is akin to a new CEO coming into a company who takes stock, reviews and refines according to their agenda and what’s important to the company in their perspective.

We are seeing the Labor Party, traditionally representing workers' rights, coming into power after a long period as the Opposition. As part of the 2022 Industrial Relations Reform, after the unprecedented global pandemic, we are seeing a key focus on job security, protecting employees’ rights, eliminating the gender pay gap and maintaining wage increases to better meet the rising...

Have you planned for end of year closure and the new year?

Planning for the Christmas shut down period, end of the year and the start of new year is something that often slides off business owners’ plates. The last quarter of the year can feel like a race to the finish line, wrapping up projects, getting things ready for a break, and possibly even burning out as you hurtle towards the short holiday that usually comes over the Christmas and New Year period.

It sounds counterintuitive to then add planning into the mix – business owners want to be doing the bare essentials and planning is one of those things that often isn’t considered essential at this time of year.

This period of time is one of the most critical periods for a business and where planning ahead for both your business and your team can set you up for a smooth new year. Christmas close down periods are when our teams, our employees, are taking time off, spending it with their family, travelling,...