Love Ratio

"Additional research also shows that work groups with positive to negative interaction ratios greater than 3:1 are significantly more productive than teams that do not reach this ratio." - Jon Gordon

One technique that I've found to be easy to boost this ratio is the weekly development meeting. During this one-hour talk, we review a single employee and talk about their interests, needs, and strengths. More importantly, we build a list of possible ideas that will help them reach the next level of success, whether that means excelling in their current job, being promoted within their current job, or even helping them find a new job if that's the best fit for them. Surprisingly, it takes me about 2-3 meetings for each employee to come up with something that feels solid. The next step of course is for the supervisor to have a comparable discussion or two with the employee and see if any new ideas come up. These meetings are a winner for everyone it seems. They inherently care about the employee, they set the employee up for success, they help the supervisor understand my biases and definition of excellence, and the sidebar chats build a stronger familiarity in our relationship. It may be the best hour I spend all week!