The business cost of incivility

In many organisations, senior leaders have their hands full dealing with digital change, external risks, or shifting workforce expectations, but there’s a cultural issue that often goes unnoticed – everyday incivility. Often brushed off as minor rudeness or personality clashes, it quietly eats away at trust, wellbeing, and performance. For organisations wanting to retain talent, encourage innovation, keep their customers on-side and protect their brand, addressing incivility must be part of the strategy.

What is workplace incivility?

Workplace incivility involves low-level disrespectful behaviours that violate basic norms of politeness and regard. Examples include interrupting others, speaking over someone in meetings, excluding colleagues from conversations, dismissive body language (eye-rolling, sighs), gossiping, or making belittling remarks. Unlike overt bullying, incivility can be subtle, ambiguous, or episodic – but its effects accumulate over time, contributing to stress, disengagement, and a fragmented culture.

Although incivility is less overt than bullying, its impact is significant. Studies across sectors in the UK show that it undermines mental health, diminishes performance, and erodes the social fabric of organisations.

The scale of the problem: UK research highlights

Across All Sectors: CIPD Findings

CIPD’s Good Work Index (2024) reports that about 25 % of UK workers experienced conflict in their organisation during the past year, often tied to incivility. In many of those cases, only 36 % felt the issue was fully resolved.


Workers who experienced conflict were more likely to report lower job satisfaction, poorer mental health, and increased intentions to leave.

A prior evidence review (2022) suggests that triggers for incivility include weak leadership, high stress, low psychological safety, and cultural norms that tolerate disrespect. The review also notes that line managers are frequently part of both the problem and the solution.

Customer-Facing Roles

In a recent national survey (2025), 98% of frontline workers (in sectors like retail, hospitality, and transport) reported experiencing incivility from customers. Around 73% said it happened at least weekly. This “external incivility” contributes to burnout, absenteeism, and morale issues.

Financial Services

Data from the FCA indicates non-financial misconduct (including bullying and harassment) increased by 60% between 2021 and 2023. Looking ahead, from September 2026, around 37,000 financial firms will be required to track and report culture and behavioural issues at board level.

NHS and Healthcare

A study by the University of Surrey (2023) suggests nearly 50% of NHS staff experience unprofessional behaviour. The estimated cost of bullying and related incivility in the health sector is £2.8 billion per year. The authors argue for systemic, leadership-led culture change.

Remote & Hybrid Workplaces

While remote work may reduce some face-to-face conflicts, it introduces new forms of incivility: ignoring messages, abrupt emails, and talk-over in virtual meetings. A UK Capterra survey reported 31% fewer bullying incidents in hybrid settings, but rising concerns about tone, exclusion, and “productivity paranoia.”

Tech and IT

Surveys spanning 2005–2014 found that up to 75% of IT professionals had witnessed or experienced bullying. Factors included stress, unclear role boundaries, and hierarchies that allow disrespect to flourish.

The business case: why leaders must act

Far too often, incivility is treated as a minor HR issue or a “people problem.” But for senior decision-makers, the costs are strategic and real:

What causes incivility?

Incivility in the workplace can be caused by all sorts of reasons, but common sources are:

Five strategic interventions for leaders

  1. Model civility from the top
    Leaders must act in ways that reinforce respect, conflict resolution, and openness to dissent. Behaviour at the top sets the limit for what is tolerated.
  2. Invest in manager training
    Equip line managers to spot early warning signs, lead with empathy, intervene, and mediate in fair, effective ways.
  3. Build psychological safety
    Create an environment where employees can voice concerns, admit mistakes, and challenge norms without fear of reprisal. Use pulse surveys, skip-level check-ins, and exit feedback to monitor trust.
  4. Clarify behavioural expectations
    Move beyond policies to co-creating norms with teams. Make civility measurable in performance reviews, and publicly celebrate respectful behaviour.
  5. Track and report
    Use confidential reporting tools and dashboards. Bring incident data—and responses—to board level. Transparency helps hold everyone accountable.

Incivility spreads – but so does respect

A single rude comment may trigger ripples across teams, eroding trust and morale. But the reverse holds true. When leaders commit to consistent respect, curiosity, and accountability, they help build a culture that supports performance, resilience and loyalty.

CEOs and senior leaders should ask:

Civility training for business that sticks 

I’ve partnered with Chris Turner, founder of Civility Saves Lives, to develop a programme for businesses on civility in the workplace – Civility Builds Excellence. There’s a free introductory course on my online learning platform, Evolve Online Learning, which will give you an idea of what we cover in the training. We also have a longer Civility Builds Excellence course available on Evolve Online Learning. For those who are ready for real organisational change and would like to make civility a focus in their organisation, we offer in-person training and coaching. To find out more about our in-person training or if you’ve got any questions, please get in touch. 

There’s a certain reassuring logic to traditional strategic planning. You start with the numbers, analyse the market, maybe throw in a SWOT analysis for good measure, and plot your course from there. On paper, it all looks quite linear.

But in real life, strategic planning isn’t that straightforward. It’s about more than the numbers, and the on-paper details – it’s about the people in the team, their personalities, drivers and motivations.

Why strategic planning often fails 

Too often, strategic planning focuses purely on what the business does – not how it works. We get caught up in forecasts, margins and market share, and forget that that none of it really matters if the team isn’t on board.

People resist change, even when they’ve asked for it. They miscommunicate, overthink, under-commit, or quietly hope the new direction doesn’t apply to them.

Worse still, planning sessions tend to be dominated by the loudest voices – or the ones with the most important titles – while quieter concerns or different perspectives go unheard.

And before you know it, you’ve got a strategy that looks good on a slide deck… and dies a slow death in implementation.

How to make strategic planning stick 

This is where Navigator comes in.

Navigator is a process we’ve developed that treats strategy not just as a destination, but as a journey that needs to accommodate every traveller. It factors in how people think, how they communicate (or don’t), and how they respond to direction, challenge, and change.

It doesn’t require weeks of meetings or 100-page reports – just one day.


One focused, structured, people-first day that gets to the heart of where you want to go – and how you’re actually going to get there. We still talk goals. We still look at where you are now. But we don’t ignore the human stuff – the personalities, motivations and internal dynamics that make the difference between a strategy that works, and one that doesn’t.

Sound simple?

It is.


But as the old saying goes, simple isn’t the same as easy. It takes the right questions, the right method, and the right environment – and that’s what Navigator provides.

So if you’ve ever wondered why your carefully-crafted plans never quite landed, it might be time to try a different approach.

You can find out more about the Navigator programme here, or get in touch to discuss running Navigator for your organisation. It’s designed for organisations of all sizes, from SMEs to enterprise-level organisations, and we can tailor your strategic planning day to suit your needs, your requirements and your team.

Feedback on Navigator strategic planning 

“We undertook the Navigator process with Evolution at a stage in our development where we needed to step back to see the way forward.  By giving ourselves (the Directors) the gift of a whole day working with Martin, we could not only see where we want to go but also had a route to get there.  We have already achieved the first 3 items on our plan, all ahead of schedule, thanks to having a clear and positive outlook on our strategic development.”

Claire Easson Bassett – Director –  Event Cornwall

“Working with Evolution we managed to agree our service objectives and design a plan to achieve them within the course of one day, a process which would normally have meant us holding several workshops. The process was creative, enjoyable and very effective and meant that the whole team could take an active part.”

Tracy Winser – Head of Customer Services – West Devon Borough Council and South Hams District Council

We were at a point in our business growth where we needed to take a step back and underpin our key visions for the future.  Martin at Evolution suggested the navigation planning technique to help us understand where the business was going and the directions we wanted it to take. The day was extremely rewarding and took us out of a busy office environment to plan the steps needed to reach where we wanted to be. Valuable time to reflect which you don’t normally get in the day to day running of your business. The process took into account the views of myself and  team and brought these together in a detailed report that we started working with immediately. Without this planning day, our vision would not be as structured and clear. Martin’s approach was very positive and professional, which allowed us to challenge future plans leaving the whole team motivated and ready to start implementation straight away. A fantastic process to work through.

Sue Hook – Director Sapience HR 

When you start out in your career, your technical skills in your chosen field are very important. You’re likely working hands-on, using the training and knowledge that got you to this point. For example, a junior procurement specialist might spend their day analysing supplier bids, managing purchase orders, and ensuring compliance with procurement policies.

As you start to move up in the organisation and into a leadership role, you’ll rely on your technical skills less – and your interpersonal and intrapersonal skills become extremely important. 

What’s the difference between interpersonal skills and intrapersonal skills?

Interpersonal skills are those we use for communication and managing relationships, such as effective communication, active listening, giving and receiving feedback effectively, leadership and the ability to motivate others.

Intrapersonal skills are what we use for self-management: resilience and the ability to manage stress, time management, confidence, self-regulation and emotional intelligence.

Why do interpersonal and intrapersonal skills matter more as you progress?

As you move up your organisation, your role becomes more strategic. It’s not just your output that matters – it’s your ability to manage the output of your team, keeping them happy, motivated and skilled at the same time. You’ll spend less time on day-to-day operations, and more time on interactions that require a high level of interpersonal skills, building relationships and negotiating with clients or suppliers.

Of course, intrapersonal skills like good time management and an ability to manage stress are important for everyone, wherever you are in your career – but when you’re in a strategic and leadership role, your inter- and intra-personal skills have a greater effect on an organisation’s bottom line, and with increased pressure that comes with more responsibility, it’s important that you can self-manage – and manage those around you.

From negotiation to motivation, here’s why these inter- and intrapersonal skills matter more as you progress.

Negotiation 

Negotiation skills are critical for any leadership role, whether you’re in sales, procurement, or HR. Interpersonal skills like clear communication and active listening help you understand the needs and perspectives of suppliers and partners (which in turn helps you build good relationships with those partners) while intrapersonal skills like confidence and emotional intelligence help you stay composed and strategic during tough negotiations or difficult conversations.

Managing and motivating your team

As a leader, your ability to effectively motivate your team and keep the lines of communication open will directly correlate to your team’s success. Interpersonal skills are essential for building trust, giving constructive feedback, and creating a culture of civility and inclusivity. Intrapersonal skills, such as emotional intelligence, help you understand your team’s dynamics and address any issues proactively. By fostering a positive work environment, you can keep your team engaged and productive.

Managing your own increased workload

With leadership comes a heavier workload and more complex responsibilities. Effective time management is crucial to help you handle the increased demands on your time. Setting priorities, delegating tasks, and maintaining a work-life balance are all intrapersonal skills that help you manage your workload efficiently. This ensures you can focus on strategic initiatives without becoming overwhelmed.

Handling high-pressure situations

Leadership roles often involve high-pressure situations that require quick decision-making and problem-solving. Intrapersonal skills like resilience and stress management help you stay calm and focused under pressure. These skills enable you to make well-considered decisions, maintain your composure, and lead your team effectively through challenging times.

Both interpersonal and intrapersonal skills are critical as you advance in your career. While technical skills lay the foundation, it’s your ability to manage yourself and your relationships with others that will determine your long-term success. By developing these skills, you can unlock your leadership capabilities, drive organisational success, and create a positive, productive work environment. 

I developed the Developing Procurement Talent programme to help procurement teams build these interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, and maximise their procurement power. You can find out more about the Developing Procurement Talent programme here – or feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

Years ago, during an internal interview for a training role, I had to give a presentation. While I was speaking, one of the managers in the room closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and remained that way for the whole presentation. It threw me off a bit – thankfully, there were other people in the room and I directed my presentation towards them.

A few weeks later, I passed the manager in the corridor – and he stopped me and thanked me for my presentation, going into detail about how valuable he found it. He had listened intently to every word I had said and remembered it. And yet, when I was watching him, I had no idea that he was listening; I thought he was asleep!

It was a great example of the effect that passive listening – as opposed to active listening – can have on someone, and highlighted the value of active listening, whether you’re watching a presentation, negotiating, having an important conversation, or just want to build better relationships with the people around you.

Passive vs. Active Listening

Passive listening, as I found during my presentation, can lead speakers to falter or withdraw. When we feel unheard, we’re less inclined to share our thoughts openly. On the other hand, when you demonstrate active listening, you build trust with the person you’re interacting with, encouraging them to be more open and less defensive.

The Art of Active Listening

Want to master the skill of active listening? Here are five ways to show you’re really listening.

1. Eye Contact

Meeting someone’s gaze demonstrates that you’re fully present and listening to what they have to say.

2. Body Language

Lean in to show you’re engaged – don’t slump in your chair, let your gaze wander or close your eyes. Subtly mirror their body language with your own. Establishing rapport through body language builds trust.

3. Verbal Cues

Subtle affirmations like nods, “uh huh,” and “OK” indicate your attentiveness. Avoid interrupting the speaker, but small verbal cues show you’re engaging with what they have to say.

4. Summarising

Reflect back a condensed version of what was said. This shows that you not only listened but understood the essence of their message – and is also a good way to ensure you didn’t miss anything important. 

5. Ask questions

When it’s appropriate (in a natural break in the conversation, or at the end of their presentation), ask questions. This is a great way to keep the conversation going, to engage the person you’re talking to, and to demonstrate that you were listening to what they had to say.

People Remember Active Listeners

Even if you find it difficult to speak up in group settings, you can still demonstrate active listening – and believe me, the speaker will notice. A delegate of one of my NLP Business Practitioner courses once told me about a group interview she attended for a sales job. The first day involved a presentation by some of the sales team followed by a group discussion and exercises for the interviewees. At the end of the day, she met with the hiring manager and was offered the job; he mentioned that even though there were other people who spoke up more during the group discussion, when the sales team were presenting she was fully engaged, clearly listening to everything they were saying, and that was why they’d chosen her.

Active Listening Helps You Build Better Relationships

We’ve all been in one of those conversations where you can tell the person you’re talking to isn’t really listening to what you’re saying; they’re just waiting until it’s their turn to speak. On the other hand, having a conversation with someone who’s fully engaged with you, making eye contact and asking great questions, is really enjoyable, often gets you to open up more than you normally would, and you’ll always remember that person positively.

Whether you’re negotiating an important deal, at a job interview or delivering difficult feedback, active listening will help you get the results you want – but it’ll also help you to build better relationships with the people around you, which has long-lasting benefits beyond whatever you hoped to achieve with one conversation.

Active listening is really simple, and it’s a great skill to practice. I challenge you to take what you’ve learned in this blog post, and use it in the interactions you have for the rest of the week – and notice the effect it has. You’ll almost certainly get more out of those interactions than you would as a passive listener.

If you’d like to develop your active listening skills further, have a look at my Active Listening microlearning course on my online academy Evolve Online Learning. It’s a short, focused 10 minute course designed to develop your active listening skills. 

I recently came across an article in the Harvard Business Review which cited a study that found that only 12% of employees apply new skills learned in training and development to their jobs. The article focused on lean learning: how it can help organisations make the most of their training budget, improve learning retention and empower employees to gain real, lasting value from the training they do.

What is lean learning?

Like launching with a minimum viable product, lean learning is identifying the core of what you need to learn, and focusing on that. What is really useful for you to learn for your role? What skills do you or your team need? It means approaching learning and development with a focus on retention: regular review, applying learned skills quickly in the real world, receiving immediate feedback and adjusting accordingly.

It’s ensuring that employees “not only learn the right thing, at the right time, and for the right reasons, but also that they retain what they learn.”

How to apply lean learning at your organisation

The principles of lean learning will help you spend your training budget more efficiently – and spend your employees time spent learning more wisely – which means more focused and better training for your team, and happier and better-trained employees who have the skills they need to do their job well.

Here’s how to apply the principles of lean learning at your organisation:

Make sure training aligns with employees’ needs

Before you start lining up training for your team, assess what they need. Speak to your team, or carry out a skills matrix exercise to identify where the gaps are and how you can fill them.

Make retention a priority from the beginning

Build retention into the training itself, rather than making it an afterthought. Before you start planning training, think about how you’re going to ensure it sticks. This might look like planning one-on-one coaching sessions after the training, to address any questions your team might have – or backing up in-person training with online content that employees can go back to review when they need to. We often pair face-to-face training sessions with access to our online academy, where delegates can go back to review online versions of the sessions (and other related courses) at their own pace.

Encourage your team to learn in a way that works for them

There are some broad-brush skills that are useful to everyone in an organisation, but often, more targeted topics and methods of learning are a better use of training resources. Instead of signing your whole organisation up for a workshop that only applies to 10% of the team, think about how you can offer more flexible methods for learning. Many people learn best by doing, and immediate feedback helps them to adjust and absorb what they’ve learned in real-time. Others might benefit from learning in smaller chunks: microlearning courses or audio versions of training sessions will give them the opportunity to learn during breaks or while out walking.

Lean learning on the Evolve Online Academy

We’ve been delivering corporate training and coaching for almost 25 years, and we’ve found that a targeted, flexible approach with a focus on retention is the best way to guarantee good learning outcomes.

We don’t work in a one-size-fits-all way with businesses: we tailor the support we offer based on organisations’ particular needs. We look at their goals and plans, where the gaps are in their team, and how we can address them in the most efficient way. We offer packages of in-person and online training, one-to-one coaching, and access to our online academy that allows teams to learn long-term.

We can create bespoke online content to go alongside in-person training or coaching, so businesses can give their teams access to the online content to watch, re-watch and review at their own pace (and even their own speed – they can watch at half-speed or in double-time).

We offer a range of course lengths, from in-depth toolkits to short 10-minute microlearning courses focusing on a particular skill.

Including corporate memberships in a package of business training allows employees continued access to the learning content, from videos to PDF downloads and audio recordings of sessions, so that they can review what they’ve learned or refresh their skills when they need to. We often hear of delegates pulling up the course videos on their phone to review before a meeting or presentation!

You can view the Evolve Online academy content here, or get in touch to talk to us about how we can help you make the most of your L&D budget with lean learning and a tailored package of support.

Do you have too many tasks to keep them all in your head?

Do you make lists?

For lots of people, the problem with lists is that is difficult to prioritise them. We tend to start at the top and work our way down, and any new tasks either get added to the bottom or we do them as they come in rather than continuing our systematic approach.

At the end of the day we turn the page and start the process again the next morning.

This is ineffective, unproductive and demotivating.

Dwight D Eisenhower said in a speech in 1954, “I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.”

Urgent means that a task requires immediate attention. These are the to-dos that shout “Now!” Urgent tasks make us reactive.

Important tasks are things that contribute to our long-term objectives. Sometimes important tasks are also urgent, but typically they’re not. When we focus on important activities we are much more proactive and motivated.

Steven Covey popularised this approach to prioritising with an urgent/important matrix split into four quadrants. This helps you to decide whether a task should be done, dumped, delegated or delayed.

I’ve adapted this approach to make it more dynamic, so you can continually review and revise tasks throughout the day or week, and accurately change priorities when new tasks arrive. It also allows you to feel a sense of achievement when you have completed tasks – always a good motivator.

I teach the Eisenhower matrix in many of my online courses, including my Microlearning course ‘How to Prioritise Your Workload’, which is a short 10-minute course that focuses on the Eisenhower matrix.

I’m currently offering a free month’s Tier 1 membership to my online academy Evolve Online, which gives you access to all of the courses in Tier 1: there are microlearning courses on leadership and giving feedback, and longer, more in-depth Toolkit courses on topics like managing change, resilience and stress management.

Sign up here (you’ll need to enter your payment details to sign up for the membership, but you won’t be charged until the first month is up, and you can cancel any time before or after your free trial is up).

To chat about business training and coaching that incorporates the Eisenhower Matrix, time and task management, any anything else that would benefit your business, get in touch.

A version of this blog post was originally posted on the Evolution Development website. Read the original version here.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and chatbots have revolutionised communication for business, with incredible benefits for streamlining any process that uses language – from customer support to content creation and even coding. However, in the face of this new wave of AI-powered communication, here at Evolution we think the value and importance of face-to-face interaction is greater than ever.

With so many cost- and time-saving opportunities, it’s easy to foresee businesses adopting AI wherever possible. While we welcome the benefits that AI will bring – we’ve found it very useful in planning our online content – we also think that it’s absolutely essential that businesses don’t forget about the value of human interaction in building trust, getting the most out of negotiations and thinking creatively.

Really good face-to-face communication should go hand-in-hand with AI’s many useful tools, offering businesses the chance to streamline their processes and save time, but also to maintain the trust of their customers, team, and stakeholders in a way that only human interaction can achieve.

Here’s why in-person, face-to-face communication is a more important than ever – and a great partner to AI tools.

Effective business relationships are built on trust and rapport. Face-to-face communication allows individuals to establish a genuine connection by utilising non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice. These elements foster trust and strengthen interpersonal bonds, enabling colleagues, clients, and partners to engage in open and transparent collaboration. While AI and ChatGPT provide efficient responses, they lack the ability to build authentic rapport that drives successful business interactions. As of now, there’s no way that AI can replace the natural skill we humans have for building rapport.

Negotiations and persuasion play a vital role in business deals and partnerships. Face-to-face meetings provide an environment where professionals can gauge reactions, adapt their strategies in real-time, and leverage persuasive techniques effectively. Reading subtle cues, responding to objections, and adjusting negotiation tactics based on visual and auditory cues are advantages that humans possess in face-to-face interactions. AI and ChatGPT, though capable of processing information swiftly, may struggle to navigate the complexity of negotiations and adapt their approach accordingly.

Businesses thrive on collaboration and innovation, and humans are great at it. Face-to-face interactions foster a fertile environment for brainstorming sessions, creative problem-solving and collaboration. In-person meetings allow team members to bounce ideas off one another, build upon collective expertise, and inspire innovative thinking. The dynamic energy, immediate feedback, and the ability to explore tangents in real-time drive creativity and lead to solutions that AI alone just isn’t capable of generating.

In the realm of customer service and support, face-to-face interactions hold immense value. Personalised attention, empathetic listening, and a human touch contribute to enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty. Face-to-face meetings provide an opportunity to understand customers’ needs, address concerns promptly, and build lasting relationships. While AI and chat GPT can automate certain customer interactions, the human element in communication adds a level of emotional connection and understanding that is crucial for exceptional customer experiences. At the end of the day, we’re hard-wired to trust faces, and AI will never be able to fully replace that.

In a global business landscape, cultural sensitivity and understanding are critical in building lasting relationships. Face-to-face contact allows professionals to navigate cultural nuances, communicate effectively across cultural barriers, and build relationships based on mutual respect. Direct interaction fosters cultural intelligence, expands global business networks, and facilitates smoother international negotiations. AI and ChatGPT, while proficient in translation, may struggle to capture the intricacies of cross-cultural dynamics and adapt accordingly.

We are really excited about the benefits for business that AI presents – but as experts in communication who have been working with organisations for almost 25 years, we’ve seen first-hand the value that real face-to-face interaction has. We urge businesses to embrace all the value that AI has to offer, but not to forget the importance of human communication. Artificial intelligence is an incredible tool – but so is our ability to communicate, build relationships, and engineer interactions to achieve great outcomes.

If you’d like support for your team when it comes to great communication, whether that’s internal communication, negotiating, purchasing and procurement, public speaking or just getting the most out of every interaction, get in touch to talk about how Evolution can help.

Good leadership is a skill that comes naturally for some, and less easily for others – but it can be taught. It comes down to good communication, an ability to really listen, being able to plan strategically and take decisive action, and the ability to get others on board with your plans. As we look towards a flexible and remote working future with many teams now split across multiple locations, good leadership is more important than ever to keep teams motivated, happy and productive.

Good leadership skills are essential for managers, directors, and business owners, but being a good leader will stand you in good stead in many other areas of your life. The communication skills that enable you to manage a team or direct a company will help you in your personal relationships: you’ll listen better and empathise more. Decisiveness and strategic planning will help you pin down and execute personal goals. Being able to guide a team through periods of change will in turn make you more able to weather change and disruption in your own life.

Leadership training forms a large part of the online learning, training and coaching packages we put together for businesses here at Evolve Online Learning and Evolution. Whether you’re looking to improve your leadership skills at work, or for your own personal development, here are our top six tips for becoming a better leader.

1. Communication is key. Being able to build rapport is a valuable skill: it’ll make people much more likely to see your point of view and get on board with your way of thinking. If you consistently find that people fail to deliver what you’re asking of them, it’s likely that you’re not communicating in the right way. 

2. Listen. Listening is just as important as speaking when it comes to communication. What does your team need? What would make them more productive? Do they feel supported? Everyone is different, and being able to understand individual needs and ways of communicating will help you get the best out of your team in the long run.

3. Model the behaviour of others. If there’s a colleague, a friend or a public figure whose leadership skills you really admire, work out what it is they do that makes them successful – and replicate that behaviour. If you find that tricky, try business coaching: a trained coach will have spent years studying and modelling behaviour that works, and will help you apply those skills to your own life.

4. Learn to manage change. Change is an inescapable part of business, and you can’t avoid it. Learning to guide your team or your business through periods of change is essential; if you can use change to develop, grow and evolve, you’ll thrive.

5. Have a clear vision. Good strategic planning will give you a clear plan for your business, so that you can provide clear direction to your team.

6. Spend time on your own personal development. Know your own strengths and weaknesses: where do you need support? Where could you improve? Working on your own goals will set a good example for your team, and it’ll make you a better leader in the long run. Being able to manage your time, be more resilient, and manage your stress levels will take the strain out of leadership and allow you to focus on the work that really matters.

If you’d like to develop your leadership skills even further, have a look at the courses available on our online academy. If you’re looking for business leadership training, get in touch to discuss how we can help.

This post was originally posted on our business coaching and training site, Evolution. Read the original here.

Being able to give and receive feedback constructively is an incredibly valuable skill that’ll help you in innumerable ways in your professional and your personal life. Feedback often gets a bad rap: we confuse feedback for criticism, and avoid giving it, because we don’t want to come off as critical, or dread receiving it, because we think we’ll be criticised. You might have had negative experiences receiving feedback, or maybe you’re just not confident in being able to deliver feedback in a helpful, non-judgemental, constructive way.

It’s time we unlearn those negative associations – feedback is an incredibly useful tool that can help us build rapport, catalyse growth and transformation, and create a positive work culture where people feel supported and encouraged. Avoiding feedback means missing out on so many of those opportunities. 

Why it’s time to embrace feedback

Feedback is a catalyst for growth

Feedback, when provided constructively, is an excellent catalyst for personal and professional growth. It enables your team to gain valuable insights on their performance, identify strengths and areas for improvement, and ultimately reach their full potential. It’s a chance to reinforce what someone’s doing well, and offer guidance on where they can improve. Regular feedback makes it easier to keep things on track: rather than avoiding it until things go right off course, checking in regularly provides an opportunity to make small adjustments and improvements and avoid big conflicts before they happen.

Regular feedback = engaged and motivated team

Regular feedback, given constructively, is a great way to maintain an open conversation with your team. It fosters a culture of open communication, trust, and transparency, making employees feel heard and appreciated. When people receive meaningful feedback, they are more likely to feel engaged, motivated, and invested in their work, leading to increased job satisfaction and commitment.

Feedback supports your team in their goals 

Feedback is a powerful tool for professional development. By providing specific feedback, organisations can guide employees toward acquiring new skills, improving existing ones, and expanding their knowledge base. It’s a way to support them in their wider goals – is there something they’ve always wanted to explore, but haven’t had the confidence? Lots of organisations allocate employees a personal development budget, and regular feedback is a great way to support your team in using in constructively. It helps employees set clear development goals and provides them with targeted guidance on how to reach those goals. Through ongoing feedback, employees have the opportunity to continuously learn and grow, enhancing their capabilities and adaptability in a rapidly changing business environment.

Better collaboration

Feedback plays a vital role in fostering collaboration and teamwork within an organisation. By encouraging open and constructive feedback, team members can address conflicts, resolve misunderstandings, and improve communication. Delivering feedback well is a great way to build rapport between managers and their team, and between teammates. When people who work together in a team aren’t afraid of giving each other (and receiving) feedback, collaboration is easier, teams are more creative and ideas can be shared much more effectively. Constructive feedback helps to build trust and creates a culture of accountability and shared responsibility, leading to a more cohesive team.

Employee retention and talent development

In a corporate environment, well-delivered feedback contributes significantly to employee retention and talent development. When employees receive regular feedback on their performance, it demonstrates that the organisation is invested in their growth and development. This, in turn, fosters loyalty and commitment, reducing turnover rates .By identifying and nurturing high-potential employees through feedback and coaching, organisations can create a pipeline of future leaders, ensuring the long-term success of the business.

In short, learning to give and receive feedback will help you unlock your team’s potential and create an open, collaborative culture that makes employees want to stay. As a special offer, our ‘How to Give and Receive Feedback’ Microlearning course is currently FREE (you just need to sign up for a free account). Access the course here.

If you’d like to talk to us about feedback training for your organisation, or coaching for your team, get in touch.

When you’re planning training for your team or thinking abut recruitment, having a clear idea of your team’s skillset is essential: what’s covered, where the gaps are, and how confident each person is when it comes to the various competencies. 

While most good managers will have an idea of where the gaps are, it can be helpful to spend some time on this process: it’ll help you write better job ads and hire the person your team really needs, ensuring that you’ve got all the bases covered.

What is a skills matrix?

A skills matrix is a really useful way of evaluating your team’s skill spread. It’s a simple exercise that you can tailor to your team and organisation. You’ll use a customisable spreadsheet to map out how confident each member of your team is for each of the skills you’d like to evaluate – and, crucially, how willing each person is to learn that skill.

Why should you be using a skills matrix?

There are lots of tools out there to help you map skills this way, but the beauty of the skills matrix is in its simplicity. It’s easy to customise it to fit your team, its accessible and once you’ve got the template, it’s free to use forever.

Get help when planning training 

If you’re planning training or coaching for your team, going through the skills matrix exercise beforehand will make sure that you get the most bang for your buck when you book something in. It’ll help you identify areas where your whole team could benefit from training, or individuals who could do with one-to-one coaching in a particular area. 

Recruitment 

Whether you’re growing your team or looking to backfill the role of someone who’s leaving, it’s important to know exactly what skills you need in your new hire. Recruitment is a great opportunity to evaluate your team as a whole, and make sure the new hire fills the gap. Although it’s a simple exercise, the insights gained from the skills matrix can be really valuable: more often than not, there’s a skills gap that managers weren’t aware of, so it’s worth taking the time out to go through it.

How to get access to the skills matrix 

As a business coach and trainer, I often incorporate the skills matrix into a tailored package of support when working with organisations – usually alongside a mix of in-person and online training, one-on-one coaching, and online learning content.

If you’d like to try out the skills matrix, have a look at my 10-minute microlearning course that walks you through the process: exactly how to use it, and how you can adapt it for your team. It comes with a free customisable download of the skills matrix that you can start using straight away.

Helping businesses make the most of their team and their time is what we do best. If you’d to talk about support for your business through Evolution, get in touch or have a look a the Evolution website.

Assertiveness is an essential part of effective communication, and it’s a skill that’ll come in handy in just about every area of your life. Being assertive will make you a better communicator, a better colleague, teammate and friend, and it’ll help you get the most out of your life, while respecting those around you.

What is assertiveness?

Essentially, being assertive is about respecting yourself and others. It’s being confident, without being arrogant or aggressive.

Assertiveness is:

Essentially, assertive behaviour comes down to the simple issue of respect, and balancing self respect with respect for others.

What are the benefits of assertiveness?

We negotiate all the time, when we agree contracts, buy things, disagree with a partner, set boundaries, make compromises, interact with family – the list goes on. When you can get your point of view across and stand up for yourself without upsetting other people, negotiation becomes much easier. It means that you’re much more likely to get the outcome you want, while keeping the peace and remaining positive. Sometimes, being assertive means you don’t get the outcome you wanted, but that you’ve reached a fair compromise.

If you often find that you end up compromising too much, give in easily, and feel that people take advantage of you, learning to be more assertive will help you to stand up for yourself.

If you often find that you upset people unintentionally, are accused of being aggressive or confrontational, or find it difficult to communicate in a calm way, then assertiveness will help you be a better listener, and give you more awareness of your interactions, so you can be respectful and compassionate with others.

How can I be more assertive?

There are three basic steps to becoming more assertive:

  1. Really listen, and show that you’ve understood
  2. Say what you think and feel
  3. Be clear about what you want to happen next

Now let’s break those down with some more detail:

  1. Listen. Focusing on listening first allows you to approach interactions with more empathy, and to understand others and their point of view, even if you don’t agree with it. Really listen (rather than using the time the other person is speaking to build up a defence or attack).
  2. Say what you think and feel. Try to get comfortable expressing what you think and feel in a direct way, without being aggressive or self-deprecating. You have a right to make your own decisions, and for your voice to be heard, just as much as anyone else, and although it might feel uncomfortable at first (especially if you’re used to suppressing what you want to please others, or being too forceful when you’re speaking your mind), it’s a good habit to get into, and the more you practice, the easier it’ll get.
  3. Be clear. Indicate in a clear and straightforward way what action or outcome you’d like. It’s that simple: if everyone, in every interaction, was clear and direct while being respectful, it’d be much easier to get things done. Understand that you might not always get what you want, but as long as you’ve articulated what you want in a clear way, you’ve got a good chance of getting it – and either way, you’ve approached the situation in a fair, respectful way, which is always a win.

If you’d like to learn more about how to be assertive, have a look at my Assertiveness microlearning course on the Evolve Online Learning academy. You can purchase the course individually, or sign up for a membership (from £10/month) to get access to a whole range of useful courses on everything from time management to managing stress and confident public speaking.

Creating and selling online courses is a great way to set up an additional income stream. Whether you’d like to develop a way to make passive income alongside your job, or you’re looking at making the shift to selling online courses full-time, it’s fairly simple to get set up and start monetising your expertise.

There’s a lot of information out there on creating and selling online courses, and it can be difficult to know where to start. I’ve been putting together courses and training for over 23 years, and I’ve spent the last three years developing an online academy building on my in-person courses, so I’ve seen first-hand the pitfalls and challenges that can go along with a project like this. 

I’ve put together a simple checklist for anyone looking to get started selling a course: if you’re not sure where to start, start here.

  1. Choose your topic: find something you’re knowledgable in. The perfect topic is something that people are searching for, but that’s not saturated, so do your research and make sure there’s a demand for your area of expertise, even if it’s very focused.
  2. Research your topic. Once you’ve decided on your topic, start researching. Look at other courses out there – what sells well? What gets good reviews? Which ones aren’t so good? Find out what makes a good course in your niche good (or not so good) and use that to model your courses.
  3. Learn the basic skills. You don’t need lots of equipment or experience to start filming online courses, but you should make your setup the best you can afford. You’ll need a camera, a microphone, somewhere to film and somewhere to host your courses.
  4. Start marketing: start building an email list, set up social media accounts, research your niche and start posting to drive interest in your courses.
  5. Outline your course content and structure. How are you going to organise your content? Breaking it up into chapters or segments can help make your online course more digestible.
  6. Choose a hosting provider. There are a few options here: you could build your own website and host your courses yourself, or use an existing platform like Thinkific. Setting up your own website gives you more control, but using an existing platform is quicker and easier, so decide which one works for you to begin with.
  7. Set up your filming area. Pick a quiet area where you won’t be disturbed, either with good natural light or lights set up around you. Think about your backdrop: what does it say about you? What would you like it to say? Make it interesting but not distracting.
  8. Record your first course and start getting feedback. Give colleagues, family and friends early access and ask them for constructive feedback. This step is really important, because they’ll be coming to your course with fresh eyes and might spot important details you’ve missed.