OBSERVATION Active Observation is the act of observing your environment or individuals with the intent of remembering key characteristics that create a normal state or environment or personality. In the case of your environment, Active Observation plays a key role in understanding what normal is and when things are off. Normal would be where everything is functioning as it should and when things are off that could be IT issues, Facilities issues, or Faculty issues as a few examples. We could go one step further and call to the attention of turning a blind eye. This is when we know about an issue in the workplace that exist but fail to do anything about it either out of sheer laziness or in fear of the consequences for addressing it. An easy example would be a piece of trash on the ground that everyone notices is there but fail to do anything about it. In retail, Active Observation played a role in noticing new displays the team has built or new merchandise the vendors have supplied without formally being notified of it. Active Observation when it comes to your employees can play a vital role in driving results for your business and it is why it is one of our first topics. When you practice this technique with your team, you set yourself up for a greater chance at connecting with your team members on an individual level vs. a blanket approach that many managers attempt to use. Observe the actions of each individual and their demeanor in certain situations. What is their body language when they are expressing a certain emotion such as happiness, frustration, anger, and content? How do they react when you say particular words and phrases? How about their interaction with other team members? This will help you be able to mold sensitive topics to an individual where you can relay that information in an appealing way to the associate and furthermore allow you the understanding of how to interact with that person in the most advantageous way for the both of you. Active Listening is just the same but with the intent of understanding another individual perspective, feelings or creative ideas. When someone is talking to you, it could be a customer or an employee, give them your undivided attention and listen to understand them. Don’t speak until they are finished and when you speak make sure you give a response that shows you where listening. Other ways of Active Listening are to spend time talking to your team about non-work related topics from time to time when its appropriate. For instance if you have an associate walking into work and the first thing you say or ask is about are some reports or why certain things did not get done, you are giving off the impression that you are an all work and no play kinda of boss. Avoid this. People want leaders that are relatable, if you care about your personal life just as much as you care about your business life you are surely to get along and find more things in common with the people you lead. I must say you have to be careful however. I alway separate my personal and business relationships with the people I lead. This is solely to the point that it can become difficult to manage those that become your friends and when faced with making a hard decision you end up doing what is wrong for the business because you could not make the tough decision. I call this Familyitis. The inability to effectively lead, manage and make decisions that are in the best interest of the enterprise due to business relationships turning into personal relationships. Now that I have made this point, you are always free to do as you wish, just always remember that Familyitis is inevitable if you choose to further your business relationships into personal ones. Active listening goes much further that you taking an actual interest in what other people have to say. Your employees are actively observing and listening to you as well. Most people look up to you and want to be and do as you do, and sometimes others are waiting for you to slip up or say the wrong thing. But never be mistaken that your team does not care what you say and do because they really do.