How Employers Can Help Bring Mental Health First Aid to the Workplace

This year, employers must focus on improving workplace well-being because while employees are more productive than ever, many are reporting feelings of burnout. In addition, someone at your workplace is likely experiencing feelings of loneliness, depression, seasonal depression, anxiety, and substance use challenges.

The numbers surrounding mental health and substance use in the workplace are staggering. Some recent studies show that up to 200 million workdays are lost to mental health challenges yearly. Yet, despite the numbers, fewer than 10% of employees feel like their workplace is free of mental health stigmas, which is a perception that can discourage those in need from seeking the help they need.

Mental Health America's Mind the Workplace 2022 report showed that positive workplace mental health requires the investment of time and action at all levels of an organization, including executive-level leadership, management, and employees.

You can make an impact and create a healthier employee workforce for your employees with strategies for fostering a happy, healthy work environment. Here are some ideas to try in 2023:

•   Generate well-being programs that focus on mental and physical strength. This can mean offering wellness experiences like yoga classes, access to virtual fitness and telemedicine apps, or discount spa services.

• Train your leadership team in mindful and empathetic practices at work. Using these skills in your interactions creates a ripple effect that benefits the entire organization.  

• Ask your employees for feedback on how your organization can meet their mental health needs. Create an anonymous survey to find out from employees how you are succeeding in mental health and your areas of opportunity. Then, use the information you gather to make positive organizational changes so your employees feel heard!

• Bring Mental Health First Aid to your workplace. This skills-based mental health training gives participants skills for supporting individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge. It also helps them respond when faced with a crisis in a work environment by giving them information on connecting people with appropriate employee and community resources.

Taking these steps shows employees you care about more than their productivity. Make a difference to your staff and lead the way to a healthier workforce.

Contact Bauman Consulting Group and schedule a Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training for up to 30 individuals. We will come to your place of business in the greater Cincinnati area with two trainers to teach staff the tools they need for Mental Health First Aid at Work. We can also facilitate this training virtually or in a hybrid model to best suit the needs of your business. We are here to help! info@baumanconsultinggroup.com

2022 mind the Workplace Report. Mental Health America. (2022, April 12). Retrieved March 7, 2023, from https://www.mhanational.org/research-reports/2022-mind-workplace-report

What is The Daring Way™?

Avoidance of fear and things we dislike is only human. Our brains have wiring to seek pleasure and avoid pain. However, this avoidance can harm the person you want to be, the goals you want to achieve, and the relationships you want to establish. And there's the ever-present pressure to have it all "figured out."

What stands between you and those things you want? Is it fear, shame, or simply feeling unworthy?

To make new choices and create change in our lives, we must understand the obstacles that get in our way and how to conquer them. It means having courage and vulnerability. Many people will lock in on what they believe is right and stay the course, but it is much more common to feel unsure or try several paths before developing a sense of what is right. Vulnerability is not a sign of weakness; it is the bridge between your fears and what you truly want.

The Daring Way™ workshop through Bauman Consulting Group in Loveland, Ohio, helps you build the bridge. It helps participants recognize they are worthy of love and belonging no matter their path. It teaches us to acknowledge and utilize the power we have within ourselves.

The Daring Way™ is an empirically based training and certification program for helping professionals, based on the research of Dr. Brené Brown.* The work focuses on courage-building, shame resilience, and uncovering the power of vulnerability. The methodology is designed for individuals, couples, families, and groups.

The Daring Way™ workshop is for those who feel like they are not living their lives fully. Maybe they are afraid to present themselves with worries, such as an interview for their dream job, a crucial conversation with their partner, confronting life after a divorce, or a challenging relationship with a family member.

It is hard to show up for the scary things because we are afraid of what will happen if we fail or fall short of expectations. So, we avoid and then avoid some more. Then, as we get closer to the event, we start anticipating our negative self-talk voice: “Who do you think you are? Why do you think you'll be successful? Don't even try; you are sure to mess it up.”

The Daring Way™ gives us a method for working through issues that hold us back from accomplishing hard things, professionally and personally. Contact Bauman Consulting Group today to reserve your spot for one of our upcoming workshops at info@baumanconsultinggroup.com. Mention this article for 20% off the registration fee.

*The Daring Way - Brené Brown. https://brenebrown.com/thedaringway

Lead Yourself Forward

What's next on your career path? Are you dissatisfied with your work but are unclear on how to move on? You're not alone. There's no doubt that COVID-19 has changed many things about living and working. According to Bankrate's August 2021 Job Seeker Survey, over 55% of what economists describe as the immediate workforce plan to re-evaluate their current work and find a better fit over 12 months. But, even if you plan to stay put, how are you reaching out to your direct reports or mentees to give them the support they need in their decision. When considering your next steps, it is sometimes helpful to consider using assessments to grow personal leadership skills and skills for potential leaders, either in your workplace or as a mentor.

The truth is that we can all continue to improve and develop. The better our leaders become, the better their team, which significantly impacts the overall business. When we partner with clients, leaders often say, "I've worked on so much over the years, I'm not sure what to work on now." Our response is always simple– "You need to take an assessment." It's more challenging to decide the next steps of your development without data to drive it. An assessment will give you that data for drafting a plan. 

Leaders have often taken assessments over the years and are apprehensive about returning to that route. They feel they've already gained all the information they can from that process, but assessments remain a valuable tool. Assessments give us information about a person at a particular time. Yes, you may have taken an assessment as part of employee development protocol several years ago– but you've likely changed a lot since then. You've most likely developed your skills, and perhaps you're not even in the same position, or you have a completely different work environment. There is value in going back to complete an assessment for all these reasons.

There are many different assessments on the market that you can consider for informing your developmental path. Each serves different purposes, and some are better than others when considering specific needs. We recommend three assessments to our clients beginning this process: the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Emotional Quotient Inventory 2.0, and the Global Leadership Assessment 360. These assessments provide an array of information, as outlined here:

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is perhaps the world's most well-known personality assessment. The participant completes the tool online or in person, placing you into one of 16 different personality types. The evaluation results provide:

•          Insights into how you interact with others

•          Increased self-awareness of each personality type's strengths and challenges

•          Ideas for adapting your behavior in response to other personalities in the room

Emotional Quotient Inventory 2.0 (EQ-i 2.0) is the world's leading assessment tool for evaluating emotional and social intelligence. The assessment contains 133 items that converge to provide insight into 15 competencies and five composite areas. In addition, the EQ-i 2.0 provides you with a picture of how you operate emotionally– something that research now demonstrates is a more significant predictor of success than traditional intelligence. The client and their manager, peers, and customers complete the assessment. The assessment result provides clients with holistic insight into their emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is a set of emotional and social skills that influence how we perceive and express ourselves, develop and maintain social relationships, cope with challenges, and use emotional information effectively and meaningfully.

Global Leadership Assessment 360 is a leadership assessment rooted in groundbreaking research conducted by Marshall Goldsmith (#1 Leadership Thinker and Executive Coach.) The study involved CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, global thought leaders, and international business executives of organizations on six continents. The GLA360 articulates and measures the top 15 most pressing competencies for today's global leader. In addition, it shows leaders the areas they need to develop to succeed in a competitive business environment. 

Don't stop at just completing the assessments. Once you have this data, it's time to put the information to work for you. You can incorporate these findings in a detailed personal or professional development plan. Partnering with a coach through this process can prove helpful. A coach can assist you with interpreting your assessment results, locating areas of opportunity, and guiding goal setting related to your development. Coaches also act as accountability partners and personal cheerleaders for clarifying your purpose and problem-solving in a confidential environment. Working with a coach, especially during a challenging time, can be the catalyst for change that you may need for lasting positive results.

Please find more information about Bauman Consulting Group and the coaching services and assessment tools we provide on our website, www.baumanconsultinggroup.com/coaching. In addition, all readers are eligible for a free 45-minute consultation.

Time Management in the Winter Season

Do you have a to-do list? Keeping a list is a common way for people to track tasks, but in Adam Grant’s TED TALK, How to Stop Languishing and Start to Find Flow, he suggests having a “to-don’t list.” A to-don’t list can include items like; don’t scroll through social media, don’t check the phone in bed, don’t turn on the TV unless there is already a plan to watch. He explains that these rules help him stay productive and manage his time more effectively. It is something to consider as we continue in this busy part of the year where many people are shuffling commitments and chores, at work and home, trying to find time to get it all done.

Maybe the idea of a to-don’t list is not appealing to you. Still, the more significant point Grant made is essential to anyone seeking to increase their productivity— be intentional with your time. One of the most critical elements of good time management is prioritizing your tasks and your work. There are various effective techniques for evaluating a to-do list and splitting it into categories based on priority.  

One strategy to implement quickly in times of high stress is the 4 Ds of Time Management. It is simple to start; when you have a task to complete, you give yourself four options to deal with it.

1.     Do- Get it Done Right Away!

2.     Defer- Delay Until Later.

3.     Delegate- Can Anyone Complete the Task? Is it Your Responsibility?

4.     Delete- Drop it.

To start with the 4 Ds technique, examine your to-do list at the beginning of the day and assess your tasks. Then decide what can be done quickly right now, either by you or someone else, and which items to drop altogether or save for later. For example, look at this chart below from the glossary at www.productplan.com where they organize potential to-do list items by the 4 Ds.

Applying the 4 Ds method should make planning easier. Decide, process your first task, and move to the next one, then repeat. When we prioritize and process tasks in this way, it provides efficiency. We can spend more time focusing rather than wasting effort on insignificant things or scrambling for everything at the end of the day.

Whatever time management technique or strategy works for you, it is something to commit to daily and to revisit throughout the day. Because our responsibilities and demands limit our time, we must use care to decide how we spend the days. When we are intentional in our time management, it allows us to protect and plan for what matters most to us this season, like family, rest, and self-care.

At Bauman Consulting Group, we provide both individual and group coaching to help people achieve their personal and professional goals. Find out more at www.baumanconsultinggroup.com. Or contact us via email at info@baumanconsultinggroup.com.

Is It Time for a Job Change?

Fall is the season for change, so if you are considering a new job, or looking for an opportunity to grow your career, now may be the time. When so many businesses and workers are rearranging their priorities and needs, it is essential to think about what you can uniquely bring to the table when applying for a new position. But more importantly, what will your potential employer provide to you?

Our jobs are more than a paycheck, and while salary is significant, it does not ensure happiness for anyone. So, what should we consider for employment during a time when workplace wellness is ever-changing? According to research, factors such as belief in the mission, office culture, opportunities for development, and work-life balance are more important than money. Here is a shortlist for consideration.

1.     Enthusiasm

Passion for your job will help you feel satisfied and make it easier to work each day. Ensure that your role is meaningful to you and that the company inspires you to do your best. Inspiration comes to a person naturally if you identify with the company’s mission statement and the work you intend to do.

2.     Office Culture

The job environment can be hard to gauge before you start working somewhere, but there are a few questions you can ask yourself to help decide whether the company’s culture is a good fit for you. First, the size of the company is something to consider if you prefer to know everyone personally. Next, consider the environment and if you feel relaxed or formal during your interview, include the dress code in your evaluation, and decide what elements make you feel the most comfortable and productive.

3.     Co-Workers

Full-time workers spend a large part of their day at work, so it is vital to ensure that you enjoy and appreciate the company of your co-workers. In addition, having a good support network throughout the day will help motivate you; positive work interactions will increase happiness and productivity both at work and at home.

4.     Opportunity: Education and Advancement

Find a company that invests in the individual growth of its employees. See if your potential employer provides opportunities for developing skills that will help you progress to a more senior role, aid you in creating more quality work, or help you achieve other long-term goals. Make sure you are clear about what the company offers in professional development and see if it aligns with your needs.

5.     Hours and Flexibility

Maintaining a work-life balance is not only crucial for your health and relationships, but it can also improve your work performance. In today’s ever-changing business world, the ability to achieve this balance is increasingly complex, so it is more important than ever before to find a position that respects and encourages balance. First, consider the times you are required to work and the flexibility around those hours, then evaluate if that fits into your personal needs. For example, many jobs are now offering flex time and work-from-home opportunities that may benefit your lifestyle and happiness more than a traditional 9-5.

Sometimes the signs that it’s time to move on are apparent, and other times, things just feel off to you, or you are simply not happy anymore. Trust your instincts. You should never feel guilty about moving on. Your professional life is short, so don’t spend more time than you must in a position you dislike or one that isn’t a good fit for you.

Bauman Consulting Group provides personal coaching to individuals and can help you prioritize what you want from your next position. In addition, we offer complete online services tailored to your needs, and one of our certified coaches would appreciate an opportunity to discuss your needs one-on-one. Contact us atinfo@baumanconsultinggroup.comor find more information on our website atwww.baumanconsultinggroup.com/coaching

3 Tips for Attracting Your Boss’s Attention While Working Remotely

There’s no doubt that COVID-19 has changed many things about the way we live and work. Many of us have been relegated to working remotely, which comes with a variety of challenges. Among those, being physically absent from your office makes it harder to be “seen” by your boss.  This lack of visibility may make it more difficult to stay on track for key assignments and promotions or to stand out in performance reviews. 

When bosses can’t see and monitor you, they may think you’re not being productive or less motivated than usual. Remote workers can easily fall off the radar of supervisors, themselves dealing with the challenges managing during a pandemic brings. 

The following tips are good practices in general, but especially important when working from home. 

Take initiative. 

Don’t wait to be asked to contribute. Be proactive when it comes to problem solving and idea pitching. Volunteer to take on projects others may pass up or that keep ending up on the trash heap of forgotten ideas. Bosses love it when employees do things before being asked. Consistently deliver quality results that get noticed. 

Communicate. 

Make sure your physical absence doesn’t equate to a communication absence. If anything, over-communicate. Speak up and proactively participate in calls and online meetings rather than fading into the background. Make regular calls and emails to your supervisor. Initiating regular check-ins with your boss can open an ongoing dialogue that gives you the opportunity to highlight your work and successes. 

Stretch yourself. 

Just because you’re working remotely doesn’t mean you can’t pursue professional development. Whether it’s undertaking an industry certification or attending an online conference, there are ample opportunities to participate in virtual career training, networking and professional growth. 

Take this time to stretch beyond your comfort zone. Learn a new skill – like a technology or process - that normally would fall outside of your area of interest of expertise. Volunteer to take on a difficult task such as leading a project or chairing a committee. 

 Demonstrate your ability to be a team player. Seek the opportunity to collaborate with others either in your department or across disciplines to meet a challenge or create an out-of-the box solution. Those who can successfully drive cooperative problem-solving tend to get recognized by organization leadership.

 At Bauman Consulting Group, we provide both individual and group coaching to help people achieve their personal and professional goals. Find out more at www.baumanconsultinggroup.com.

Successful Strategies for Working from Home

With much of the globe shifting work strategies to account for social distancing measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, many individuals are turning to working from home. While this may sound wonderful to those who have not had the work-from-home experience in the past (and it is!), it is not without its challenges. At Bauman Consulting Group, the majority of our employees work remotely. As such, we’ve developed some tried and true tips for this over the years which we thought we would share with you in case you’re in the process of shifting to remote work as well.

1)    Set up a dedicated workspace. This doesn’t need to be anything particularly fancy, but you want to have a designated space that is your “workplace”. At a minimum, you’ll want a location (such as a dining room table) where you can set up your computer and office supplies. If you can find a location that affords you some natural light, near a window perhaps, you’ll find that to be a wonderful bonus. Take some time to organize this space and set it up as similarly to your office workspace as possible. Make sure that the other members of your household understand that this is your workspace now and should be off limits. This is particularly true if you have small children! 

2)    Set your work hours. Your company may do this for you, but if they do not, it is imperative that you set boundaries around your time. This means identifying what hours you are “at work.” This is important for both you and for others in your life. One of the challenges of working remotely is that others (your boss, your family, your friends) and you can find it easy to blur your times. You may find yourself working more frequently because work is always right there waiting for you. Or you may find yourself struggling to put in enough hours because it is easy to get distracted by household responsibilities (I can throw in another load of laundry!) or others (I can call during the day now, because she works from home!) Setting and maintaining those boundaries are important to your success and productivity. You may find it helpful to even post those hours near your workspace as a reminder to yourself and your housemates that you are working during that time.

3)    Set up a routine. It can be difficult to switch into work mode when you are working from home. As such, routine is critical. Adapt your office routine to your new home-work life. There may be some tasks that you can no longer complete from home. Other tasks may be easier. Your employer may have different expectations for your at-home work. Have the appropriate conversations with those your work with and then map out your daily schedule. This will help you to stay on task and will help you to maintain a sense of normalcy in this time of upheaval. 

4)    Dress for work. One of the things that we hear the most from people when they hear that BCG employees work from home is that we must all work in our pajamas. While that certainly sounds appealing, there is much to be gained by continuing to dress for work. Part of the work routine is the getting up and getting ready part! It is what helps us prepare for the shift from our home lives to our work lives. Research has also demonstrated that we tend to be more productive and more professional when we are dressed more formally. Now, we are not suggesting that you put on a suit while you’re working from home. That may be a bit over the top! But what we are suggesting is that you put the same amount of time and attention into your appearance that you would if you were going to the office. This may involve wearing business casual, or at least stepping it up beyond workout apparel. Trust us – this makes a difference in how you feel when you’re working. If you’re dressed for work, you feel more ready to work.

5)    Prepare to use remote technology. You likely already utilize many of these resources in your daily work in the office, but now you’ll be using them more frequently. And if you haven’t been using these regularly, now is the time to experiment and learn. 

a.     Even though you work from home, you’ll find that meetings are still a part of your work week. There are several free options that you can utilize (if your company doesn’t have paid resources for you). Resources such as Zoom or Skype can allow you to have video face-to-face meetings. If your company uses Microsoft Office, the Teams platform is also a nice option for video meetings. 

b.     Conference calls are another way to manage remote meetings. If your office does not have a conference line for you to use, there are several free sources available such as Free Conference. 

c.     Instant messaging apps make it helpful for you to have quick conversations with office mates – and still maintain the friendly relationships that you had in the office. There are many great apps available. Those using Microsoft Office can utilize Yammer or can chat within Teams. Others may wish to consider apps like Slack or WhatsApp. 

d.     Email will be your best friend. This is a great way to stay in contact and to share information. You’ve likely relied on this heavily in your in-office work – you’ll be even more dependent on it now!

e.     Do not hesitate to pick up the phone. Working from home can get isolating. While using digital technology can seem efficient, it can also result in misunderstandings. When a phone call would be a more efficient method of communication – call someone directly.

f.      If you find yourself in need of office equipment that you don’t have at home there are many apps that give you the ability to transform your cellphone into these tools. For example, Genius Scan and Adobe Scan affords you the ability to create pdfs through your phone camera. Doodle is a great site to find compare availability for conference calls or meetings or to gather opinions through polls. 

6)    Engage in professional development. With some extra time on your hands, it’s a great opportunity to engage in some professional development activities. There are so many great online options – many of which are free of charge. 

a.     Utilize Lynda or LinkedIn Learning. There are great online courses that you can stream on these sites. And many public libraries offer a free way to access these online. Check out your local library’s website to see if they offer remote log-in.

b.     Read books or articles related to your work. Now is the time to spend some hours reading that book on productivity that you’ve been putting off for years. Read up on leadership strategies. There are so many great books and articles out there that you’ll have no problem filling in your extra hours – and benefitting from it! If you need recommendations – send us an email and we’d be happy to provide you with some!

c.     Listen to podcasts. There are some truly wonderful work-oriented podcasts out there. Recently we shared a list of our top podcasts for women in the workplace. We’ll be posting another soon that lists our top podcasts in general for working individuals. In the meantime, put google to work for you and test run some of the podcasts out there!

d.     Enroll in online trainings. What better way to spend your remote time? Many organizations offer online learning (BCG being one of them!). If you’re going to have some down time, you might as well catch up on your training time. Check out your usual provider to see if they offer online options. (Or check out our list of online trainings if you’d like to register for one of those!)

Working remotely can be a great experience – if you plan for it and approach it with the right mindset. Set boundaries and enjoy the change of office scenery. If you’re like our team, you won’t want to head back to office life when the time comes!

The 7 Essential Podcasts for Women at Work

Podcasts have become a favorite medium for business professionals to enjoy insightful content while on the go. The portable, on-demand format allows you to listen on your commute, while you exercise, as you work, or while completing household tasks. There are so many excellent podcasts available on a wide variety of topics – but if you are a woman in the workplace, we’d like to recommend 7 essential podcasts to add to your listening queue. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, serving at a not-for-profit, engaged in public sector work, or working in a for-profit business, these podcasts all offer fantastic advice and insights to help you grow professionally (and in some cases personally as well!). 

1. Courage and Clarity – hosted by Steph Crowder. In each episode, Steph interviews successful female entrepreneurs who took the leap to chase their own dreams and start their own businesses. Each interview is broken into two components. The first focuses on courage or the bravery that led the individual to make the leap. The second focuses on clarity the actual how behind the leap. Listen as each outstanding woman offers words of encouragement and tips for success that can guide us all moving forward.

2. Girlboss Radio with Sophia Amoruso – hosted by Sophia Amoruso (CEO and founder of Girlboss) and Neha Gandhi (editor in chief and COO of Girlboss). In this podcast, you’ll find honest conversations with women at the top – those who have achieved success in their given field. They share insights on how they built their career, the challenges they have navigated, and lessons they have learned along the way. Prepare to be inspired and energized!

3. She Did It Her Way – hosted by Amanda Boleyn. Each week Amanda offers business tips and interviews with women who have successfully left their 9-5 and launched their own businesses. But you don’t have to be an entrepreneur to benefit from these conversations – you can apply many of these ideas to your work no matter the structure.

4. Studio 78: Branding, Productivity, & Business Tips for Creative Women – hosted by Nache Snow. This podcast is geared towards women who work in the creative fields and provides guidance for those looking to launch their own business or create a side hustle. Again, much of these tips can be applied within the organization that you work in, so don’t hesitate to listen if you’re not an entrepreneur! 

5. Support is Sexy – hosted by Elayne Fluker. Elayne uses her journalistic skills to offer business insights, inspiration, and practical tips for women seeking to build their professional lives to their fullest. She focuses her approach on building a network of supportive individuals to create a community of encouragement and knowledge. Elayne assures her listeners that you can have it all, but you don’t have to do it alone.

6. Women at Work – hosted by Harvard Business Review Editors Amy Bernstein, Amy Gallo, and Nicole Torres. This podcast is devoted to the struggles that women face in the workplace around gender discrimination and how to navigate these challenges. They tackle some of the toughest issues that women encounter in the workplace in a positive and pragmatic way. They interview experts, share stories from their own career experiences, and offer practical advice for overcoming these difficulties. It’s a must listen for all women in the workplace.

7. Women on the Rise – hosted by Lara Dalch. In this business podcast, Lara offers listeners a holistic view of success. She focuses on the idea that women succeed and thrive when they approach success through a more balanced approach focusing on health, stress, time management, happiness, productivity, and more. She busts myths around perfection and encourages listeners to create their own vision of success – both personally and professionally.

Take some time to download and subscribe to these fantastic podcasts. And, while you’re at it, head over to the websites for each of these to find great articles, downloads, and content. Invest in yourself today so you can create your own success.

Leading Growth with an Assessment

Agency leaders are often tasked with working to develop staff throughout the organization. Often times leaders tend to focus on two types of staff – the shining stars that we see headed for success within the organization or the struggling supernova who need to drastically improve or move on to another company. As a result of the time and attention placed on this task, leaders are often quite skilled at identifying the strengths and areas for improvement in our own staff. However, when we have achieved leadership status within an organization a fatal flaw often presents itself. Leaders tend to believe that they don’t need to improve any more. They view themselves as having arrived or achieved what they set out to do. What’s the point of more personal and professional development when you’re at the top? 

The truth is that we can all continue to improve and develop. The better our leaders become, the better the staff can become, and the better the agency can be. When we partner with clients, we often hear leaders say, “I’ve worked on so much over the years, I’m not sure what to work on now.” Our response is always simple – “You need to take an assessment.” It’s impossible to make a good plan without data to drive it. Taking an assessment will give you the data you need to draft an improvement plan.

Leaders have often taken a great number of assessments over the years and are apprehensive to return to that route. They feel as though they’ve already gained all the information they can from that process, but assessments remain a valuable tool. Assessments are great at giving us information about a person at a particular point in time. Yes, you may have taken an assessment as part of an employee development protocol several years ago – but you’ve likely changed a lot over the years. You’ve probably completed a great deal of development work. Perhaps you’re not even in the same position anymore. You may have a completely different work environment. All of these (and there are many more!) are reasons why you should go back to step one and complete an assessment.

There are many different assessments on the market that you can consider to inform your developmental path. Each serve different purposes and provide different types of information – and some are definitely better than others. There are four assessments that we recommend to our clients who are looking to start this process: the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the Everything DiSC, the Emotional Quotient Inventory 2.0 (EQ-i 2.0), and the CliftonStrengths. These assessments provide a diverse array of information – which is why we suggest that our clients take any and all of these assessments. The more data you have the better – so invest in as many of these as you can in order to develop your growth plan. If you have taken one of these in the past, but it’s been more than 2 years since you’ve completed it, it’s worth investing in another assessment. If nothing else, it can confirm your earlier results and provide you with more confidence in the outcomes.

 ·      Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) – The MBTI is perhaps the world’s most well-known personality assessment. The tool can be completed online or in-person and provides a typing which places you into one of 16 different personality types. The results of the tool provide insights into the way that you interact with others, increased self-awareness of each personality type’s strengths and challenges, and ideas for adapting your behavior in response to other personalities in the room that can assist you with achieving greater success. 

·      Everything DiSC – The Everything DiSC is another personality assessment designed to help individuals better understand themselves and better learn to adapt their behaviors with others. This online questionnaire classifies individuals into four quadrants: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. The information is then utilized to explore strengths and areas of growth. 

·      Emotional Quotient Inventory 2.0 (EQ-i 2.0) – The EQ-i 2.0 is the world’s leading assessment tool for evaluating emotional and social intelligence. The assessment contains 133 items which converge to provide insight into 15 competencies and 5 composite areas. The EQ-i 2.0 provides you with a picture of how you operate emotionally – something that research now demonstrates is a greater predictor of success than traditional intelligence.  

·      CliftonStrengths – CliftonStrengths (formally the Clifton StrengthsFinder) is an online talent assessment. This assessment evaluates your natural patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving and categorizes them into 34 CliftonStrengths themes. The results are utilized to identify what you naturally do best, how to develop and leverage your greatest talents into strengths, and how to maximize your potential. 

Don’t stop at just completing the assessments. Once you are armed with this data, it’s time to put this information to work for you. You can incorporate these findings in a detailed personal or professional development plan for yourself. Partnering with a coach through this process can assist you in your growth development journey. A coach can assist you in interpreting your results, shed light on blind spots that you may not be conscious to you, guide you in setting goals related to your development, and act as an accountability partner as you take the action steps towards your goal. 

Team Development

Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, prefer working alone vs in a large group, or consider yourself a follower and not a leader, the chances are that you have been part of a team at some point. Between school, family, sports, and now work which can even include being on a global remote team at times. 

With all the various types of teams we end up on in life, the question isn’t whether or not we want to be on the team but rather how to be on the team. Enter: team building. Team building isn’t just trust falls and introducing yourself with 2 truths and a lie. Team building is taking time to really understand your own individual role and how the team operates as a whole with everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. 

 Let’s start by looking at the individual. Do you know how you are on a team? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What are you comfortable performing for the team? Identifying these things in yourself, through self-reflection and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, can help gain an understanding of everyone that makes up the team. 

 Next, it is important to take a look at the team as a whole. What are the team dynamics? How does the team communicate and handle conflict? These are important things to know when trying to build a team or examine a team. The Team Emotional and Social Intelligence Survey 2.0can help with this. 

Third, examine the functioning of the team as a group. Perhaps your team is falling into some of the common traps that teams can fall into - also known as the Five Dysfunctions. You can take proactive steps to address these dysfunctions and create a more effective team.

 Finally, get the team together for a retreat! Taking a day, a weekend, or a week to go away with your team and focus on one another can help build team morale and work through conflict. While you might initially be frustrated with having to spend even more time with those you work with, the long-term benefits of connecting with the team outside the office quickly outweigh the annoyance. 

Interested in focusing on your team? At Bauman Consulting Group, LLC we offer workshops to help your company with their team development. Please contact us with any questions and for further details!

Team Development with the MBTI

Participants in this workshop will have the opportunity to discuss effective team dynamics; explore their Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) results; identify the ways each Type relates to the six core team issues (communication, culture, leadership, change, conflict resolution, and stress); and practice ways to make their multi-type teams function more effectively. This workshop is held over 2 days for a total of 15 hours and can accommodate 6 to 24 participants.

Team Development with the TESI 2.0

Participants in this workshop will have the opportunity to discuss effective team dynamics; explore 360 team feedback on the seven critical competencies for emotionally effective teamwork using the Team Emotional and Social Intelligence Survey 2.0 (TESI 2.0); and practice ways to make their teams function more effectively through stress management, conflict resolution, communication enhancement, and beyond! This workshop is held over 2 days for a total of 15 hours and can accommodate 6 to 24 participants.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Workshop for Teams

Participants in this workshop will have the opportunity to discuss effective team dynamics; explore Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and practice ways to make their teams function more effectively. This workshop is held over 2 days for a total of 16 hours and can accommodate 6 to 12 participants.

Team Retreats

Taking time to connect as a team is an often-overlooked element of success. These occasions can be organized for workgroups, clubs, networks - any group wishing to build a greater sense of community and purpose. At a carefully planned retreat, groups have the opportunity to reconnect, celebrate successes, plan for the future, and build powerful relationships with one another. Onsite at your home base or away in a stress-free environment, investing in your success will leave your team energized, motivated, and refreshed.

Workplace Mentors

One of the most beneficial professional relationships someone can have is that of being a mentor or being mentored. Whether you are a C-level employee, starting to get your business off the ground, or considering going back into the workforce after a break, there is so much to learn from others with more experience.  It’s as equally important to help those that are coming up behind you. Research on mentoring shows that those with a mentor have improved career outcomes, are more engaged employees, have less turnover, and feel more included in the workplace.  But it’s not just the mentee that benefits – the mentor receives several benefits as well: greater job satisfaction, more commitment to the organization, greater career success, and more fulfillment in their careers. 

If you are considering being a mentor or are considering asking for a mentor, here are some things to consider:

For those looking to mentor:

·      Do you have the time for this? Being a mentor can be time consuming, and often you do not know how much time it will take at the beginning. If you do decide that you have time in your schedule to become a mentor, it is important to be upfront about how available you are to whoever you mentor. Setting time limitations at the very beginning is critical to make sure boundaries aren’t pushed and no one is overextended.

·      What can you offer and who do you want to offer it to? It is important to know WHAT you can mentor on before you even start to look at who you would like to mentor. What are your strengths and weaknesses, what advice would you like to pass along, and can you identify who you would best pass these things along to? 

·      It is important to remember that cross-cultural mentoring is possible and can be incredibly beneficial to both parties but educating oneself on how to do cross-cultural mentoring is critical. Some helpful articles on mentoring those from backgrounds different from your own can be found here, here, and here. 

For those looking to be mentored:

·      Why do you want a mentor? Having a mentor means putting in work and applying many lessons that are being taught to you. If you are having a hard time in your current role because of being uncomfortable or feeling unprepared, your boss or someone in HR might be able to help you settle that before looking for a mentor. If you are unsure of what you want to be doing in your career a mentor might be the right answer to help you find a path to follow but there are also career coaches, which we offer, available to make sure that you are even in a career that is the right fit. 

·      What type of leaders and people do you look up to? A mentor doesn’t have to be the most successful person that you know but rather someone that you admire and want to learn from. Also, it is important to be able to identify who you are comfortable learning from. Some people prefer male leaders while others prefer females. Some people prefer those that they have previous connections with (similar school, have worked for same company, similar career advancements up to a point) and some want more diversity in who they learn from. All of these are personal preferences and important to identify before asking someone to be a mentor.

·      You can have more than one mentor. Asking one person to teach you everything and lead you into your desired position is a lot to ask! Instead, consider having multiple mentors that address various needs and interests. 

At the end of your day or career it is important to be able to look back and think of those that helped you move along your path just as it’s important to be able to identify those you helped behind you.