New Free Work Tools From Google Help You Think Like the Leader of a Billion-Dollar CompanyThe search engine shared its internal tools for running a business and leading a team.
ByRose Leadem•
Entrepren表达的意见eur contributors are their own.
From free gourmet lunches to on-campus rock climbing, it's no wonder everyone wants to work at Google. However, behind all of these fancywork perksis a company that focuses on and sets protocols for employee improvement, training, equality,work-life balanceand more.
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In fact, the search giant has a structured process for nearly every aspect of management. From anonymousfeedbacksurveys to unbiasing workshops, Google makes sure it supports its employees every step of the way. And now it wants to help you too.
Recently released on its blogRe:Work, Google shared some of the most effective internal tools it uses in order to manage and run one of the most successful organizations in the world. In fact, it goes beyond some tools -- the company has also released a robust set of guides, insights, training programs, workshops and more to the public, covering everything from hiring to team building.
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To learn how you can lead more like the search giant, here are 11 problems some of these free tools could solve for you, improving everything from goal setting to work-life balance.
Providing constructive feedback to managers
To continuously improve as a manager and build a cohesive team, it's important to foster an environment open to feedback. Themanager feedback surveyis Google's way of gathering anonymous employee feedback to provide to managers and help them develop. The survey consists of around a dozen statements, which employees either "agree" or "disagree" with.Opening up the conversation
To help managers understand employee goals, aspirations and wants, Google uses acareer conversations worksheet, which helps create a blueprint of someone's career at the company. It uses the GROW model, which breaks down the structure into four categories: goals, reality, options and will.Having a healthy work-life balance
Google wants to make sure employees have a healthy work-life balance. To ensure this, the company encourages employees to set goals using its"one simple thing" worksheet. Team members write down one personal goal and share it with their manager, who helps encourage them to reach it. Some examples of goals are: "I will take a one hour break three times a week to work out" or "I will not read emails on the weekend."Preparing for effective one-on-one meetings
To make sure employees are receiving the attention they need to be successful, Google encourages managers to have one-on-one meetings with their direct reports. To make sure the right questions are asked and the best topics addressed, the search giant provides a1:1 meeting agenda templatethat managers and employees can contribute to before going into a meeting. The template includes agenda suggestions such as check-in questions, goal updates, next steps, career development and more.
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Training new employees and managers
To help employees seamlessly transition into managerial roles, Google designed its ownmanager training course. The course focuses on skill building, introspection, perspective shifting and awareness building. It provides a guide, a student workbook and presentation slides.Setting and achieving goals
Google uses OKRs (objectives and key results) to set and measure objectives. Graded on a 0.0 to 1.0 scale, the company can measure and keep track of how well employees achieved an objective. It has shared itsOKR scorecardand the OKR spreadsheet it uses to calculate overall grades.Hiring fairly
To ensure every job candidate gets the same fair treatment and opportunity, Google uses a structuredinterview grading rubricto assess prospective employees. That way, hiring managers can take detailed notes and consistently assess and compare candidates' responses.Creating good job descriptions
Writing a job description is easier said than done. And to make sure hiring managers check all of the boxes, Google uses ajob description checklistin order to draft the perfect job posting.Raising awareness about unconscious biases
To foster a culture of equality and avoid any unconscious biases, Google makes sure employees are educated and trained on the existence of unconscious biases in the workplace. The company offers employeesunbiasing workshopswhere they open up the topic for conversation and make sure there is a common understanding of it too. It also offersa guideto start the conversation about unconscious bias.
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