How can you help your team balance work and career development?

So much of this is about mindset. If we think about balancing between the two, it could imply that work and career development are at odds. Instead, think about how to blend the two. Understand that doing some of your work assignments will help you to develop your career. At the same time, if you develop your skills, you'll do a better job at work. It's a matter of constantly prioritizing the tasks within both. What are the assignments/actions that will have the most profound impact on the outcomes we need for the organization, our clients, our teams, our boss, and ourselves.

Abolutely, I can't agree more. In addition, creating a clear development plan for team members, incorporating training opportunities, regular feedback sessions, and setting realistic workload expectations are key to balancing work and career development. It's about finding that sweet spot between productivity and personal growth.

A leader who truly cares about the professional growth of the individuals in their care will be sincere and candid in their performance feedback sessions that spotlight areas for improvement. Once there is a "shared" understanding of areas to develop, the leader would be better served when they give their direct reports some workable options to balance both these responsibilities. As a leader, you may also want to consider delegating low-risk tasks that provide some real-life hands-on experience. What I have experienced with driven individuals in my care, is that they deftly carve out time to work on their individual goals without me having to micromanage and find a balance between work and career development.

During my experience of both at leadership position and as an employee an healthy balance between work and career is extremely crucial. 1 Finding something you really feel excited to work. 2. Have a goal : I ever had one :) I realize its so critical 3. Consistent Training, Feedback, Coaching, Mentoring 4. Working extra hours, till the time I got incentives i was good with it but having a healthy balance is important, Its not only about money health is equally important 5 Building a growth mindset and identifying internal talents who are extra ordinary 6. Talk about their goals, grow there mindset, 7. Get them to realize their self potential, Build inclusive culture These are some core which is very close to my heart.

Set realistic expectations, provide clear guidance when needed, but also give associates room to breathe and learn on their own. And yes, this includes by making mistakes. Do more than just say work life balance is critical to productivity and success. Show them by making it a priority of your own, while continuing to do good work. This area is one of the most critical facing professionals everywhere.

One thing that I do, is I work with local non-profit groups and Organziation to see where I can place members of my team as board members or advisors. Getting out in the wild like that so to speak can help team members grow, find confidence, and get out of their bubble.

Establishing a learning culture is critical. So is knowing your team members and helping them discover what *they* want in a career development space. Just because you want so many things for them, doesn't mean they want it. Knowing what each person wants and aspires to - what motivates them - will help you understand how to support their career development. The other thing to remember is this is *their* career - they must take the lead. If they aren't ready to grow, or want to slow down, or are perfectly content where they are, let them be.

Create a Learning Culture: Foster a culture within your team and organization that values continuous learning. Encourage knowledge sharing and discussions on what team members have learned. This creates a supportive environment for personal and collective growth.

Cultivate a culture of care and establish a mentorship program. Find ways to incentivize continued learning. Show that you, as a manager, value your team’s efforts for furthering educational endeavors by helping them to establish work-life balance, so they may feel that they can achieve their goals without burning out and celebrate their successes with them along the way.

Dedicate specific time, like Friday afternoons when it's (mostly) quieter, for continuous learning. This commitment fosters a culture of growth within your team. Whether it's industry trends, new technologies, or professional development, allocating a regular time slot ensures that learning becomes a non-negotiable part of everyone's routine.

To ensure our team members are balancing work and career development, we have to first be in tune to what their career goals are and what their current capacity and skill set is. This may sound simple, but I find too often working with leaders that they don't understand their team members capacity or goals - and when you aren't operating with that understanding it is hard to intentionally empower your team members to grow. Conducting regular reviews that focus on both current performance and future development is a great way to secure knowledge on where your team members are at, and strategically assign tasks that help them advance their professional skill set, keep them engaged and move them toward their career goals.

Very dedicated team members have tendency to do everything by themselves. Here is how we can help: ?? relate: explain that also you can't do everything by yourself. ?? feel safe: we are team because we help each other, ask for help. ?? reduce stress: we are all responsible for the result, not only you. Only then they can let go and spread responsibility. Only then they can grow. Only then they can teach this and help others grow. This is how you create future leaders ??

Lead by Example: Set an example by demonstrating effective delegation in your own work. When your team sees you successfully delegating and taking on challenging tasks, they are more likely to follow suit.

Using your career goals, work backwards from there. What skills and learning do you need to achieve in order to "take the next step" in your career? Who are the people you need to work with? Who can enable and train you in specific areas. Once you have your plan in place, it's important to block the time on a weekly basis and hold yourself accountable. Having a manager who hold you accountable for career development activities is also key.

Empower your team by delegating tasks and responsibilities. Trust them to excel in their roles, fostering a sense of ownership. This not only enhances individual skills but also creates a collaborative environment where everyone's strengths are utilized. Acknowledge accomplishments and provide constructive feedback to reinforce their autonomy.

as the leader, modeling the way is the most important one here. the days of 'do as I say, not as I do' are OVER. If your team doesn't see you 'practicing what you preach' then all your efforts are for naught. Leaders have to go first in this area to make it safe for their teams to find whatever work/life integration or balance they need. affording the flexibility and actively exhibiting the behaviors we want to see when folks are 'balancing' is key. As the leader, take the vacation, don't send or respond to emails after hours, etc. The more the team sees their leader doing it, the safer it becomes for them to find their balance.

It is hard for team members to focus on personal development when they are bogged down with work in their current position. I find that taking personal time to decompress bring back creativity and passion for work, and allows staff to pull back from the immediate to focus on big picture thinking. One barrier to taking this time, is not having enough staff resources to facilitate time off. Talented and dedicated staff will struggle to take a break when every time they get time off, they know they are either letting tasks slip or coming back to a mountain of work. Ensuring that your team has enough capacity to facilitate work-life balance is key to your team members' success.

Highlight the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Encourage your team to disconnect after working hours to recharge. Lead by example, emphasizing that quality work stems from a well-balanced life. This approach not only boosts morale but also improves overall productivity and creativity.

Transition Support Groups: Consider creating support groups or forums where team members who are going through career transitions can connect and share their experiences. These groups can offer emotional support and practical advice.

Landing in a job that isn't for you - it happens. It doesn't always mean something bad about the person or the company. In those cases, conversations must be had about the mismatch of talent, culture, priorities, etc. Foster a culture of transparency in having these conversations, offering support and guidance for potential transitions, ensuring both the individual and the team thrive.

Talk with your team members about their role. When I ran agency account teams, I made time to talk to my teams often about their current role, what they are interested in doing, and how that mapped to the goals of the agency. Based on their feedback we did what we could to make sure their career trajectory was a fit for the client and the firm. As a result, that meant shuffling around responsibilities, creating brand-new roles, or finding opportunities for team members to work on other account teams. Team members appreciated that their careers were thought about first. Recommendation: Host 30-60 minute conversations with your team members every six months specifically focused on their role and how it ladders up to their career ambitions.

I think it starts with leaders having conversations with their team members, understanding their career development interests, and developing a plan to balance work commitment and learning. Ways to help include ? Empowering teams to foster an environment for active learning, delegating tasks aligned with team members’ interests while guiding and mentoring them, ? provide opportunities to work on stretch assignments, lunch and learn sessions, participate in workshops, industry conferences, etc., ? helping team members achieve work-life balance by providing flexible remote or hybrid work arrangement ? and listening to team members and supporting their individual learning and working styles.