Andre Williams

Optevo

For 38 years, I have owned or run businesses, the latest being Optevo’s Collaborative Work Management (CWM) platform. Optevo was established to boost motivation, productivity, innovation, and employee engagement but ultimately to make it easier to run my business. 

The motivation to create a simple software system in Optevo began during my ownership of a staffing company. The back-office issues and headaches common to managing workflow, company collaborations, and staff augmentation processes led me to create a solution that would simplify and streamline day-to-day business processes for myself, my employees, and my customers. 
 
I began developing digital time tracking software but was still frustrated by all the disparate systems required to manage the day-to-day business. While overcoming cancer, I began envisioning a single solution that would replace the many methods I used to improve my operations and how employees engaged for better work-life balance.

Such a platform would eliminate the need to keep asking the same questions, day in and day out, of why not a single pane of glass (view) of my business interactions, team collaborations, and customer engagements.

Today, I am very excited to see the tangible result of such a vision - Optevo. This revolutionary 
Collaborative Work Management (CWM) platform is a people-centric approach to achieving work goals and completing tasks - maximizing productivity and organizational resilience by simplifying workforce discipline and follow-through.  

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤-𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐬®, an industry-first, CWM-powered feature within the Optevo Cloud Platform that helps boost motivation, productivity, innovation, and employee engagement

Nimbulis®

Collaborative work management (CWM) platform. 

"Taking the work out of getting work done!"

Digital Time Tracking Software Development

Digital Time Tracking software (SAAS model company)

Human Resources / Staffing

Human Resources Staffing Software.  
Staff augmentation for fortune 500 companies.  

As a businessman, cancer survivor, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and CEO & Co-Founder of Optevo, my goal is to drive better engagement and operational success for my employees and our customers. Above all else, being a dedicated family man and providing service to others has been a part of who I am—and it always will be.

For 38 years, I have owned or run businesses, the latest being Optevo’s (formally Nimbulis) Collaborative work management (CWM) platform.  Optevo was established to boost motivation, productivity, innovation, and employee engagement but ultimately to make it easier to run my business. 

The motivation to create a simple software system in Optevo began during my ownership of a staffing company.  The back-office issues and headaches common to managing workflow, company collaborations, and staff augmentation processes led me to create a solution that would simplify and streamline day-to-day business processes for myself, my employees, and my customers. 
 
I began developing digital time tracking software but was still frustrated by all the disparate systems required to manage the day-to-day business. While overcoming cancer, I began envisioning a single solution that would replace the many methods I used to improve my operations and how employees engaged for better work-life balance.

Such a platform would eliminate the need to keep asking the same questions, day in day out, of why not a single pane of glass (view) of my business interactions, team collaborations, and customer engagements?

Today, I am very excited to see the tangible result of such a vision - Optevo. This revolutionary 
Collaborative work management (CWM) platform is a people-centric approach to achieving work goals and completing tasks - maximizing productivity and organizational resilience by simplifying workforce discipline and follow-through. 

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤-𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐬®, an industry-first, CWM-powered feature within the Optevo Cloud Platform that helps boost motivation, productivity, innovation, and employee engagement

Are "Expectations" a two-way conversation in your organization? 
They should be!!

When I say this to managers, I am sometimes met with answers like:
👉 "Is that not opening a can of worms? 
👉 What if we can't meet everyone's expectations?
👉 What if it is inviting conflict?

I say:
👉 These discussions can actually PREVENT destructive conflict down the road. 
👉 It's important to reframe thinking- if expectations ARE too high, these conversation become a valuable opportunity to negotiate realistic goals, understand each other's perspectives, and find a middle ground.


💡 You could also look at the concept of expectations from another perspective....i.e. unconscious silent expectations....

People often THINK their expectations are just about pay and working structure. Then something happens to make them realize they expected more all along. But by then...the damage has been done. 

Every employee should think about what they want BEYOND pay and working structure. They need to consider the intangibles as well as the tangibles: the learning opportunities; the workload; how the organization recognizes good work; how they will be communicated with...

And every employer needs to ask. 

Don't avoid regular conversations about expectations—it's a crucial part of building and retaining a strong, engaged team.

#employeeexpectations #employeeexperience #employeeretention #employeeengagement #leadership #leaders #managers

Trust is the hottest topic in leadership development today. Why? -the ability to build and sustain trust is the foundation of good leadership and a healthy company culture.

❓As leaders are you aware that there is a big neuroscience which shows a mathematical relationship between trust and economic performance?

❓The return on trust has an empirical💹and a qualitative value too?

Leaders and team members depend on each other for career security and social stability. The stakes are big, and so is the risk associated with failure. It is actually this risk that fosters trust between colleagues, team members and their leaders/managers.

"Contrary to what most people believe, trust is not some soft, illusive quality that you either have or you don’t; rather, trust is a pragmatic, tangible, actionable asset that you can create." 
Stephen M.R. Covey

The benefits of a high-trust organization from “The Neuroscience of Trust”, which appeared in the January 2017 Harvard Business Review, Claremont Graduate University Professor Paul Zak wrote that:
Compared with people at low-trust companies, people at high-trust companies report: 74% less stress, 106% more energy at work, 50% higher productivity, 13% fewer sick days, 76% more engagement, 29% more satisfaction with their lives, 40% less burnout.

The seven pillars of Trust that create winning in the workplace and marketplace:

✅Fosters emotional safety.
✅Is the cornerstone that builds character.
✅Creates goodwill.
✅Brings involvement.
✅Binds relationships.
✅Influences people.
✅Secures emotional vulnerabilities.

When people share a risk together, they come to depend on each other even when they don’t want to. This experimental learning is the foundation of how trust develops and grows.

Authentic leaders who constantly persevere to build and sustain cultures of belongingness, create a climate where partaking in risks is a way of building trust, safety, vulnerability and connectedness.

🔥This risk-taking ability is fostered on purpose with clear and authentic intentions. This supercharges the ability of sharing risks within teams, across groups, thus leading to more investment of trust.

🔥Trust is never secured by a single act or experience. It develops over time through many acts and experiences. This whole action strengthens the cultural fabric.

🔥It is imperative that a deep commitment to excellence is a prerequisite to creating not only success but happiness for your people, organization and communities.

🎇Remember as a leader you need to adopt a 'trust first' mindset to build a stellar culture of trustworthiness.

✡️Building trust is a leaders No.1 priority.

How do leaders in your organization create and foster an environment of shared risk taking?

#trust #cultureoftrust #leadershipmindset #organizationalsuccess 

Follow me 👉 me 👉 Zavahir D for inspirational leadership content.
If you find this post valuable repost ♻️within your network to inspire others.


OUR SUPERPOWER IS CHOICE

With all the things we have to deal with during the average workday, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of tasks that never seem to end. This can easily lead to burnout, especially for leaders who are trying to keep their finger on the pulse of all the projects and team dynamics under their care.

The good news is that there are 4 things that can help cut down on the volume and reduce the overwhelm. 

✅ DELEGATE AND EMPOWER - leaders who care about their teams will always be on the lookout for opportunities to delegate and empower team members, helping them to grow their skills, confidence and leadership potential.

✅ ASSESS PRIORITIES - how much of what is being done daily is not moving things forward to our desired outcome? Often we find that our time is taken up by ‘busy work’. Eliminating things that aren’t moving us forward to the desired outcome can significantly cut down on task volume and time spent.

✅ RATIONALIZE TECHNOLOGY - many people are spending way too much time juggling multiple software to get their daily work done. Optevo, https://www.optevo.com the teamwork solution designed to collaborate and get things done, can unify many processes to eliminate a significant amount of juggling.

✅ BE CLEAR ABOUT THE DESIRED OUTCOME - none of the above will help if we’re not clear about what our highest priority desired outcome is. Or, if we are clear, but don’t communicate this clearly to our team. It’s like trying to get route directions from your GPS without putting in an end destination.

Remember, we have a ‘SuperPower’. 
All of us. 
It’s the power to make choices. 

We can choose to do the same old things and keep getting the same old results… or we can choose to take some simple steps, like those I’ve suggested above, to simplify our workday, reduce our stress, and elevate our teams productivity and potential. It’s up to us!  

Let me know what you think…
#Leadership #TeamWork #SuperPower
—————-
I’m Andre, Co-Founder and C.E.O. of #Optevo, and my, and my team’s mission, is to ensure your work life doesn’t become your life’s work. Follow me and 'ring the 🔔' in the top right corner of my profile to be notified when I post. 
========
Danny Tony Joe Skip Jon Andrea Ludmila Steven Dave Alexander Claudia Dr Jo Stephen Zavahir Esteban Monte Michael Neil 🌐Michal Jay Mike Karin Karen Kristin Paul Ty Adrian Chad Ditu Oladimeji Paul Paul Julie Dr. Reinoud Rusty S. Scott S. Lucia Kemmy Catherine Bill


AMERICA RANKED 53RD IN RIGHT TO DISCONNECT?

Australia is the most recent country to enact ‘Right to Disconnect’ legislation. This concept hasn’t been embraced here in America… as yet. So what does this really mean and how does it affect the way we work, our work ethic and our leadership behavior?

First of all, if you’re not familiar with the ‘Right to Disconnect’ concept, in a nutshell, it means that employees have the right to disconnect from their work when their workday is over and this includes during weekends, statutory holidays and vacation time. This limits communications that would cause employees to work in any form, or fashion during these ‘off’ hours.

Is it a good idea? Why are more and more countries opting for this kind of legislation? And how do employers feel about this?  

While I’m all for creating a life-work balance - you might remember that Optevo’s motivation is to ‘ensure that your work life doesn’t become your life’s work’, I can see that it could become quite a complex issue, especially when an organization has on-site, hybrid and remote workers across the globe. 

Here are some details - and - drum roll - a great solution for both employees and employers… no legislation necessary! 

https://lnkd.in/dUpGR9Ah 

#RightToDisconnect #LifeWorkBalance
—————-
I’m Andre, Co-Founder and C.E.O. of #Optevo, and my, and my team’s mission, is to ensure your work life doesn’t become your life’s work. Follow me and 'ring the 🔔' in the top right corner of my profile to be notified when I post. 
========
Danny Stephen Ludmila Mike Andrea Jon Joe Debra 🌐Michal Neil Monte Michael Michael Catherine Samantha Nussi Oladimeji Karen S. Scott Adrian Dr. Reinoud Dr Jo Rusty Kemmy Caroline Skip Paul Paul Jessica Esteban Steven Julie Ron Zavahir Dave Alexander Michael Bill Clarence Frank

ONE OF THE STRONGEST ADVANTAGES OF COLLABORATION IS…?

We live in an age when collaboration is at the center of most of what we do at work. The simplistic era of working alone on segmented, compartmentalized tasks has given way to a different mindset and methodology. 

We face times that are volatile, uncertain, fluid and fast-changing. The way we work has had to become a lot more flexible and agile in response. 

That old saying that ‘two heads are better than one’ seems to have quickly been replaced by ‘a team’s heads are better than one’. 

With knowledge and technology developing by the nanosecond, that’s no surprise. Just as we often hear that leaders cannot, and do not need to, know everything, we now understand that this same principle applies to all workers.

But, what is the real power of collaboration? What is its greatest advantage? I discuss that here:

https://lnkd.in/dcgemPnh 

Let me know what you think…
#KnowledgeSharing #Collaboration
—————-
I’m Andre, Co-Founder and C.E.O. of #Optevo, and my, and my team’s mission, is to ensure your work life doesn’t become your life’s work. Follow me and 'ring the 🔔' in the top right corner of my profile to be notified when I post. 
========
Danny Steven Tony Joe Jon 🌐Michal Zavahir Stephen Neil Ludmila Debra Caroline Ron Michael Monte Mike Michael Michael Kemmy Esteban Chantal S. Scott Adrian Alexander Dave Catherine Jay Rusty Andrea Frank Julie Paul Paul Oladimeji Skip Karen Konstantin Dr. Reinoud Dr Jo Richard

👀𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗖𝘀?

Which three Cs are most important for you?

Are there other Cs you would add?

Be creative, pick a letter and create your own list?

Share your answers in the comments. 

In case you may not have noticed, each one of these Cs is essential for building and applying The Five Leadership Superpowers™.

We live in an age when collaboration is at the center of most of what we do at work. The simplistic era of working alone on segmented, compartmentalized tasks has given way to a different mindset and methodology. 

We face times that are volatile, uncertain, fluid and fast-changing. The way we work has had to become a lot more flexible and agile in response. 

That old saying that ‘two heads are better than one’ seems to have quickly been replaced by ‘a team’s heads are better than one’. With knowledge and technology developing by the nanosecond, that’s no surprise. Just as we often hear that leaders cannot, and do not need to, know everything, we now understand that this same principle applies to all workers.

But, what is the real power of collaboration? What is its greatest advantage? I discuss that here:
Let me know what you think…
#KnowledgeSharing #Collaboration
—————-
I’m Andre, Co-Founder and C.E.O. of #Optevo, and my, and my team’s mission, is to ensure your work life doesn’t become your life’s work. Follow me and 'ring the 🔔' in the top right corner of my profile to be notified when I post. 
========

Andre Williams on LinkedIn • 4 min read

ONE OF THE STRONGEST ADVANTAGES OF COLLABORATION IS…

Our traditional “one size fits all” approach doesn’t work anymore.
We could use it for most of our careers, but it’s time to let go.
Today’s VUCA and BANI world requires something else.
 
Here is an excellent, practical framework to help you.
 
First, zoom out.
Then, consider the CONTEXT of the situation you are in.
Use the Cynefin framework depicted in the figure below to do so.
 
This framework (Dave Snowden, The Cynefin Company 2019) shows four domains:
·      two ordered, “obvious” (or “simple”) and “complicated”,
·      two unordered, “chaotic”, and “complex”.
 
In the “obvious” domain, an apparent cause-effect relationship exists. 
So, if I can fit the situation in the “obvious” basket,
I respond with a “best practice” solution.
 
In the “complicated” domain, multiple cause-effect relationships are at play. 
The approach: find experts to conduct a more detailed analysis and
define a new “good practice” for that situation.
 
The critical point for me was to understand that
the "chaotic" and "complex" contexts are unordered, 
without a clear, apparent cause-effect relationship … nothing!
(or if there is one, I will only know it after the fact, through hindsight). 
 
So, “one size fits all” will not work.
We have to use new, emerging practices.
Define a hypothesis, set up safe-to-fail experiments, 
see what works and what doesn’t, and take it from there!
 
The bottom lines:
The complex world creates complex business situations. 
Traditional command-and-control management styles may work
in an ordered, predictable, well-oiled, smooth operational setting. 
But they will not be successful in complex contexts!
 
Complex situations require a different, highly flexible, more creative leadership approach.
Fail-safe experiments are needed to determine what works and what doesn’t.
Conditions need to be present for this experimental approach to happen. 
Leaders have the responsibility to create such conditions. 
So that new practices can bubble up and emerge to choose from.
 
I learned this framework through the article “A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making” by David J. Snowden and Mary E. Boone (HBR, November 2007. 
Thank you, Mary Stacey for integrating it into our leadership development program.
 
 
____________________________
 
😎 Hi, I am Reinoud.
👉 I am helping you to grow as a manager or leader.
👍 No nonsense, practical, results-oriented leadership coach.
 
If you like my posts, ring the 🔔 on my Profile,
and share this post with your network!
 
#leadershipcoaching #creativeleadership #leadershipdevelopment 
#resilience #psychologicalsafety #leadershipcircle #selfawareness
#personaldevelopment #growth

OUR SUPERPOWER IS CHOICE

With all the things we have to deal with during the average workday, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of tasks that never seem to end. This can easily lead to burnout, especially for leaders who are trying to keep their finger on the pulse of all the projects and team dynamics under their care.

The good news is that there are 4 things that can help cut down on the volume and reduce the overwhelm. 

✅ DELEGATE AND EMPOWER - leaders who care about their teams will always be on the lookout for opportunities to delegate and empower team members, helping them to grow their skills, confidence and leadership potential.

✅ ASSESS PRIORITIES - how much of what is being done daily is not moving things forward to our desired outcome? Often we find that our time is taken up by ‘busy work’. Eliminating things that aren’t moving us forward to the desired outcome can significantly cut down on task volume and time spent.

✅ RATIONALIZE TECHNOLOGY - many people are spending way too much time juggling multiple software to get their daily work done. Optevo, https://www.optevo.com the teamwork solution designed to collaborate and get things done, can unify many processes to eliminate a significant amount of juggling.

✅ BE CLEAR ABOUT THE DESIRED OUTCOME - none of the above will help if we’re not clear about what our highest priority desired outcome is. Or, if we are clear, but don’t communicate this clearly to our team. It’s like trying to get route directions from your GPS without putting in an end destination.

Remember, we have a ‘SuperPower’. 
All of us. 
It’s the power to make choices. 

We can choose to do the same old things and keep getting the same old results… or we can choose to take some simple steps, like those I’ve suggested above, to simplify our workday, reduce our stress, and elevate our teams productivity and potential. It’s up to us! 

#QuestionForGroup
Let me know what you think…


#Leadership 
#TeamWork 
#SuperPower
—————-
I’m Andre, Co-Founder and C.E.O. of hashtag
#Optevo, and my, and my team’s mission, is to ensure your work life doesn’t become your life’s work. Follow me and 'ring the 🔔' in the top right corner of my profile to be notified when I post. 
========

Australia is the most recent country to enact ‘Right to Disconnect’ legislation. This concept hasn’t been embraced here in America… as yet. So what does this really mean and how does it affect the way we work, our work ethic and our leadership behavior?

First of all, if you’re not familiar with the ‘Right to Disconnect’ concept, in a nutshell, it means that employees have the right to disconnect from their work when their workday is over and this includes during weekends, statutory holidays and vacation time. This limits communications that would cause employees to work in any form, or fashion during these ‘off’ hours.

Is it a good idea? Why are more and more countries opting for this kind of legislation? And how do employers feel about this?  

While I’m all for creating a life-work balance - you might remember that Optevo’s https://www.optevo.com motivation is to ‘ensure that your work life doesn’t become your life’s work’, I can see that it could become quite a complex issue, especially when an organization has on-site, hybrid and remote workers across the globe. 

Here are some details - and - drum roll - a great solution for both employees and employers… no legislation necessary! 

#RightToDisconnect #LifeWorkBalance
—————-
I’m Andre, Co-Founder and C.E.O. of #Optevo, and my, and my team’s mission, is to ensure your work life doesn’t become your life’s work. Follow me and 'ring the 🔔' in the top right corner of my profile to be notified when I post. 
========

Andre Williams on LinkedIn • 3 min read

AMERICA RANKED 53RD IN RIGHT TO DISCONNECT?

ONE OF THE STRONGEST ADVANTAGES OF COLLABORATION IS…?
We live in an age when collaboration is at the center of most of what we do at work. The simplistic era of working alone on segmented, compartmentalized tasks has given way to a different mindset and methodology. 

We face times that are volatile, uncertain, fluid and fast-changing. The way we work has had to become a lot more flexible and agile in response. 

That old saying that ‘two heads are better than one’ seems to have quickly been replaced by ‘a team’s heads are better than one’. With knowledge and technology developing by the nanosecond, that’s no surprise. Just as we often hear that leaders cannot, and do not need to, know everything, we now understand that this same principle applies to all workers.

But, what is the real power of collaboration? What is its greatest advantage? I discuss that here:

https://lnkd.in/dcgemPnh 

Let me know what you think…
#KnowledgeSharing #Collaboration
—————-
I’m Andre, Co-Founder and C.E.O. of #Optevo, and my, and my team’s mission, is to ensure your work life doesn’t become your life’s work. Follow me and 'ring the 🔔' in the top right corner of my profile to be notified when I post. 
========

Empowerment is not as simple as “tell them the goal, and let them decide the how”

In our process driven, matrix organized and highly regulated companies and industries, it’s just not easy to feel empowered or take decisions.

I was listening to leaders speaking about empowerment recently and I could hear their own doubts. But they said it anyway.

Empowerment = finding and eliminating barriers to local decision making. 

Facilitating cross functional dialogues to determine effective approaches to competing goals.

Listening and unraveling the chaos of global, regional and local objectives.

Discovering and eliminating irrelevant rules and procedures that no longer help.

Teaching people about how to make decisions in highly complex organisations and in face of uncertainty.

Sometimes I think leaders at the top tell people to be empowered because they have no idea themselves what to do. But when people make local decisions or take initiative, they often get chided for mistakes, overreaching their authority or for ignoring important financial or regulatory issues. 

Even “customer first” is a useless mantra when what we mean is “customer first as long as it makes money for us.”

When facing complexity, we need to expand people’s understanding but also reduce decision uncertainty by providing more actionable heuristics. 

Second we need to coach self reflective and collaborative critical thinking. #psychologicalsafety without challenge can lead to thinking in bubbles. These are central skills in our AI-mediated world.

No matter what - when you hear the phrase “tell them the goal, and let them work out how” you know your hearing BS.

The how is the problem and we need to coach and facilitate cery actively to ensure effectiveness and progress.

#safe2great

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