Did you know? Our STAR® Manager mantra is…
ANYTIME – ANYWHERE – ANY DEVICE
…because you really can complete your STAR® Manager programme wherever you are.
You may, however, have a few reservations about how easy it will be for you to continue on your STAR® Manager journey in different circumstances (lockdown, working remotely or furloughed), especially when it comes to completing your STAR® Missions…
So let us share with you some hints and tips about how you can successfully continue on your learning journey and complete your STAR® Missions 1-10 in a variety of situations.
For a start, you don’t need to carry out Mission 1 at work. You can begin any conversation with an insightful question and repeat the mission as many times as you like. Think about all the different touchpoints you have throughout your day with colleagues, family, friends, neighbours, bank managers, school teachers, government administrators etc. All of these conversations can be used as an opportunity to practise your insightful question.
If you’re still working, albeit remotely, there is nothing stopping you from completing Mission 2. Use this mission to evaluate how much time you’re spending in each leadership domain when you are video conferencing, writing emails, sending messages, making phone calls, and consider what is causing you to spend time in that specific domain. If you’re furloughed think back to a typical day in a week before the lockdown and complete it based on that day instead. The point here is to reflect on the percentage of time that you typically spend in each of the domains.
This is also a great time to complete Mission 3. While your team is getting accustomed to a new way of working in lockdown, they’re probably relying on you to resolve a lot of issues at the moment. This will create ample opportunities for you to help them find their own solutions by asking them questions instead of telling them what to do. If you’re not working, you can also try this out with your partner, children or other family members and see the difference it makes. Make a careful note of what happens, the changes in behaviour that you see so that you can reflect on that when you return to the programme.
It can be quite difficult for people working remotely to benchmark their own performance so your team will really benefit from the extra feedback if you successfully complete Mission 4. Giving positive and appreciative feedback when you spot members of your team doing something right will do wonders for their morale and motivation. So use this mission to remind you to give appreciative feedback when someone asks a helpful question or solves a problem or has a great idea, however small. This is a mission you can easily complete at home with friends and family too. Note here the impact of what changes as a result of giving appreciative feedback.
Mission 5 could be the perfect antidote to help you deal with any negative emotions you’re experiencing as a result of the current situation. If you’re feeling anxious, worried or frustrated by an upcoming interaction with a team member, Mission 5 will help you to embed your ‘STOP triggers’ so that you interrupt your normal response and respond in a new way which could result in a much better outcome for all parties involved. STOP triggers apply equally to the relationships around us and at home. Building-in the capability to get us to STOP is the mission here, and we know many relationships that could improve as a result of mastering this key skill – teenage children anyone?
Keep your eyes and ears open for great examples of coachable moments so that you can complete Mission 6. Even from home, you’ll be able to identify more opportunities in your interactions with your colleagues or family than you first think. Ask yourself whether, since lockdown, you have had any conversations that could have gone better – this is a good starting point from which to grow and learn.
Mission 7 is your chance to put your repertoire of powerful Operational Coaching® questions into action. If there aren’t many opportunities for face-to-face video conferencing in your lockdown agenda, try asking Operational Coaching® questions in your email communication and telephone conversations, or use this mission to facilitate new face-to-face touchpoints that will generate powerful results. You can use Operational Coaching® questions in every area of your life, so hone your skills by practising on friends and family too.
The quality of the conversations you have in lockdown is critical to success. Mission 8 will encourage you to listen intuitively when you hear people complaining or being negative so that you can identify the subtext and work out what’s really going on. Communication is not always spoken so you may need to read between the lines of an email, watch out for body language on a video call or recognise recurring patterns in a range of different types of communication. In fact, having the ability to listen intuitively could really make the difference between high engagement and low engagement while in lockdown. There probably hasn’t been another time in history where we could all benefit from developing this level of intuition.
Lockdown won’t get in your way when it comes to putting STAR® into practice in Mission 9. You can easily schedule three full Operational Coaching® conversations with people in your team. If your team has been reduced in size or furloughed, you can look further afield for opportunities to practise. Your boss, your opposite number, a colleague or friend looking for career coaching, the team leader of a special projects team – these are all great examples of potential candidates. You can also proactively invite people to participate in an Operational Coaching® conversation with you in order to help you develop your skills.
Mission 10 is your chance to really gain momentum. You can complete this mission in a range of different situations, even when you’re not at work. You might be surprised to see what happens when you use STAR® with your family and friends, as well as your work colleagues.
Here are just a few examples of non-work related situations where you could have a STAR® conversation:
- Collaborating with your partner on a home DIY project
- Helping a friend to find a new job
- Motivating your children to do their homeschooling
- Helping your parent to learn how to keep in touch with you virtually
- Encouraging your housemates to contribute more to the chores
- Helping your friend to think differently about a situation that’s getting in their way
- Volunteering creatively to support your community
- Supporting people around you to overcome boredom
- Facilitating better relationships between warring siblings
- Looking for new opportunities to save or make money at home
- Generating supportive networks through social media
- Helping an acquaintance to re-imagine their business
- Communicating with a partner about the best ways to get the most out of your time in lockdown
However, don’t be deterred if you want to set a workplace mission that you can’t do from home right now. Simply use your learning log to create an action plan that gives a detailed account of the mission you will undertake as soon as the opportunity arises and then revisit your learning when you are back at work.
Ready to start your next Mission? Click here to log on to your STAR® Manager Programme
