Time Management Tips

Improve Your Time Management Skills

Do you often feel like you have more things to do than you have time to do them? Here are tips to help you improve your time management skills both at work and at home.

• Keep Prioritized "to do" Lists: List tasks you must complete in order of priority (most important to least important). Cross off items as you complete them.
• Schedule Breaks: Schedule breaks at regular times. You'll be less likely to goof off when you should be working.
• Learn to Delegate: Don't try to do it all yourself. Assign jobs to others.
• Get Organized: It's much easier to accomplish tasks if your work area is organized.
• Learn to Say "No": This tip of course works better in your personal life than on your job.
• However, if you think your other work will suffer, try to explain it to your boss.
• Get Enough Sleep: Although it's tempting to work long hours, in the end you're actually less efficient when you're tired.

How to Deal With the Unexpected

The saying, "Nothing ever goes as planned," is as true at work as it is anywhere. Things don't always happen the way we intend them to. Being prepared for these difficulties is important both to the well-being of your employer and to your job success. The employee who solves a problem that threatens productivity, and ultimately the bottom line, will certainly be looked upon favorably. Next are several situations that are potentially harmful to a company's health. Along with each one, there is a plan that could help ease the crisis. These plans are not intended to prevent the unpredictable, but rather to make it less dangerous.

Situation #1

There is a big conference scheduled for mid-morning. The afternoon before the conference you discover the caterer has skipped town with your employer's deposit.
Uh-oh. The conference invitation clearly says that a light lunch will be served. While everyone else is in a panic, you calmly walk to your desk and return with a list of caterers who have told you they could cater a luncheon with several hours' notice. Your boss thanks you. You smile smuggly to yourself, as you remember how your boss insisted on using his caterer rather than the one you suggested.

Situation #2

It's the same conference. The company receptionist, who was to greet those attending the conference, has called in sick with the flu. Everyone else has been assigned another function to ensure this conference, which has been in the works for months, goes off as planned. No one else is available to cover the receptionist's duties.

Should the attendees just wander into the office with no one there to greet them? Luckily you have planned in advance and you know your employer will not need to be embarrassed. You have put together a list of temporary employment agencies and contacted each one to find out their fees. You have gotten your boss's approval to hire a temp if necessary. As soon as you find out you need someone to meet and greet guests, you call the agency and arrange for someone to work for the day. He will arrive ASAP.

Situation #3

Your company is in the midst of a big publicity campaign for a new product about to hit the market next week. The cost conscious powers-that-be have decided to print press releases in house, using a usually reliable copier. The copier, however, has decided to be difficult and is producing streaky copies. The repairperson has informed you that she can't come until tomorrow afternoon. Waiting until then to run off the press releases will mean that they will be sent out late, which is completely unacceptable. Being the brilliant person you are, you anticipated this problem. You contacted several nearby copy shops, whose prices are reasonable and whose turnaround is fast. You rush the documents to them and before the day is over, you have your copies and your boss's gratitude.

Situation #4

You are quietly sitting in your cubicle when you hear a horrified scream come from your boss's office. You run inside half expecting to find him injured or worse. Instead he is sitting in front of computer staring at a blue screen — his computer has crashed. You reboot the computer, hoping to revive it, but still nothing appears on the monitor. You try to calm him down, while you inquire about the location of the backup disks. He stares at you blankly, unable to comprehend what you are saying. Then he says, "backup disk? — I was planning to do that this afternoon." He then begins to realize that the report he has spent the last week working on may be gone forever. Well, maybe not. You search through your address file, and pull out three cards, each containing the name of a computer consultant that specializes in data recovery. You have done your homework — not only did you find these consultants, you obtained rates and references for each one in advance. As an added bonus, all make house calls. You make a quick phone call and set up an appointment for later that afternoon. Your boss takes you to lunch to celebrate your infinite wisdom

Effective Writing

An Important Skill

Of all the classes I took in college and graduate school, the two that have helped me most in my career have been English Composition and Business English. In these classes I learned effective writing skills, which I have used in every job I have ever had. No other job but my work on this site included writing as part of my job description. In spite of this, I was required to write in every job, and it was taken for granted that I would be able to do this. This is the case with most jobs -- whether you must write internal memos, correspond with clients, or help design sales materials. Writing beautiful prose and poetry is a talent. Writing effectively, however, is a skill that can be learned.

Organize Your Writing

Whether you are writing a memo to your co-worker or a report for your boss, you should decide what information you want to convey.
Here is how to do this:

1. List each item you need to discuss in your memo or report.
2. Put them in order -- from most to least important
3. Write a brief summary of your entire memo -- this will be your first paragraph.
4. Expand on each item listed in step 1.
5. If any action needs to be taken by the recipient, state that in your closing paragraph.

Some Tips

Avoid wordiness. Say out loud what you are trying to write. Listen to how the words sound. For example, the sentence, "I found out that I should take a look at our past sales figures in order to come up with a plan to help us re-evaluate our sales technique" could be more simply stated as "I must take a look at our past sales figures to re-evaluate our sales technique."

Write for your audience. Use simple language. You don't want the reader to need a dictionary to decipher what you are trying to say. You should not try to impress your reader with your huge vocabulary. Chances are you will frustrate your reader instead. Most people are juggling several tasks at the same time, and are interested in receiving only necessary information. You are responsible for making this happen. Instead of saying, "His gregarious nature credentials him as a superlative candidate for the job," say "His friendliness makes him a top candidate for the job."

Stay away from jargon your reader may not understand. If your work is very technical, but the person you are writing to is not well versed in that field, stick to words that person will understand. For example, if you are a Web site designer, this sentence in a memo to your client, a psychologist, will make no sense: "What would you like me to use as the BGCOLOR for your site: #ADD8E6 or #FFFFFF?" Anyone proficient in Web page design knows that this question can be translated to "What would you like the background color of your site to be: Light Blue or White?" However, don't expect your client to be more familiar with this technical jargon than you would be with her discussion of a psychological term such as trichotillomania.

A cliche a day keeps the reader away -- or at least it does not make him or her remember what you are saying. You want your writing to be memorable. Because we hear cliches often, we become desensitized to them. The words, then, are not uniquely associated with your writing. Rather than saying "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today" in a memo to a subordinate you are trying to motivate. Simply say, "Stop procrastinating. Get the job done now."

When possible, use the active voice. The active voice makes your sentence stronger and usually shorter. Let's try these examples. Passive voice: "Sales increased due to the networking I did." Active voice: "My networking increased sales."

Don't be redundant. It is not necessary to say "2 p.m. in the afternoon" or "the expectant pregnant woman." Saying "2 p.m." or "2 in the afternoon" or "the expectant woman" or "the pregnant woman" all convey what you want to say and are less wordy.

Of course pay attention to grammar. Use Strunk and White's Elements of Style, available on the Web. A good dictionary should be nearby, along with a thesaurus. A thesaurus will allow you to keep your writing fresh by helping you find a variety of words to use. Many of these resources are available online.

Proofreading is one of the most important things you can do. Since you probably do most of your writing on a computer, you have access to automated spelling and grammar checkers. Beware though -- some words, used in the wrong context may be missed by computerized spell checkers. For example the sentence "To employees attended too meetings two learn about the gnu software," would pass through the spell check without any misspellings being detected. Have someone else proofread your document, if possible. If time allows, put your composition away, and proofread it later, or even better, the next day.

Good Listening Skills

Here's Why You Need Good Listening Skills

Several years back there was a public service announcement that ran on television. It talked about the importance of good listening skills and the difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is a physical ability while listening is a skill. Listening skills allow one to make sense of and understand what another person is saying. In other words, listening skills allow you to understand what someone is "talking about".

In 1991 the United States Department of Labor Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) identified five competencies and three foundation skills that are essential for those entering the workforce. Listening skills were among the foundation skills SCANS identified.

Why You Need Good Listening Skills

Good listening skills make workers more productive.

The ability to listen carefully will allow you to:

• better understand assignments and what is expected of you;
• build rapport with co-workers, bosses, and clients;
• show support;
• work better in a team-based environment;
• resolve problems with customers, co-workers, and bosses;
• answer questions; and
• find underlying meanings in what others say.

How to Listen Well

The following tips will help you listen well. Doing these things will also demonstrate to the speaker that you are paying attention. While you may in fact be able to listen while looking down at the floor, doing so may imply that you are not.

• maintain eye contact;
• don't interrupt the speaker;
• sit still;
• nod your head;
• lean toward the speaker;
• repeat instructions and ask appropriate questions when the speaker has finished.

A good listener knows that being attentive to what the speaker doesn't say is as important as being attentive to what he does say. Look for non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and posture to get the full gist of what the speaker is telling you.

Barriers to Listening

Beware of the following things that may get in the way of listening.

• bias or prejudice;
• language differences or accents;
• noise;
• worry, fear, or anger; and
• lack of attention span.

Listening Starts Early

If you have children you know what it's like to feel like you're talking to a wall. Kids have an uncanny ability to appear to be listening to you while actually paying no attention at all. While this is something that may pass with age it is important to help children develop good listening skills early. They will do better in school and you will keep your sanity. As the SCANS report points out, good listening skills will prepare children to eventually succeed in the workforce.

• When you tell your child to do something, ask him to repeat your instructions;
• Teach your child to maintain eye contact when talking to or listening to someone;
• Read out loud to your child and then engage her in a conversation about what you have read; and
• Engage your child in age-appropriate activities that promote good listening skills.

Give Yourself the Competitive Edge

How to Be Competitive in Today's Workplace

Today's work place is very competitive. You will need to have a variety of skills that will give you the competitive edge you need to succeed.

To be competitive in today's work place you must be able to:

• Listen Well: Good listening skills make you more productive, help you get along better with others, and allow you to work better in a team-based environment.
• Know How to Use a Computer: No matter what your job is, it's likely you will need to use a computer. It's important to make sure your computer skills are up-to-date.
• Write Effectively: Whether your job requires you to write short memos or lengthy reports, you must be able to communicate well in writing.
• Deal With Crises at Work Being able to solve problems quickly and seamlessly can set you apart from others.
• Manage Your Time: Learning how to manage your time effectively will allow you to complete projects in a timely fashion.

Does Your Boss Engage in Electronic Monitoring?

If your boss is engaging in electronic monitoring, using equipment to monitor your Internet and telephone use, you are probably not even aware of it. You think no one will notice if you just take a few minutes of your work day to do your online shopping. And those phone calls you make from the office -- who cares about that? Let's not forget those jokes your buddies email to you. Your email is private -- or is it?

According to the 2000 AMA Survey on Workplace Testing: Monitoring and Surveillance^* ( American Management Association ) if you work for about 78% of the survey respondents, your activities at work are not private.

This number has doubled since the survey was first conducted in 1997 and has increased significantly from the 1999 survey.

If you are like many people, you surf the net at work at least occasionally. You may have thought nobody noticed, but employers are engaging in electronic monitoring of your Internet use and so much more. Your phone calls, voice mail messages, computer use, email messages, Internet activity, and even your job performance are subject to electronic monitoring and surveillance. You may not even know you're being watched. According to the survey, only 88% of those companies who engage in monitoring and surveillance tell their employees. That's a little scary!

So, is it right? Should employers use electronic monitoring to watch what you're doing? Well, let's look at it from your boss's point of view. The AMA Survey says that employers monitor workers for the following purposes:

• Performance Review: Employers tape customer service and consumer relations personnel so they may evaluate and improve performance.

• Legal Compliance: Provides legal protection for employers in regulated industries.

• Legal Liability: Protects employers from charges by employers who are offended by what co-workers have on their computer screens.

• Productivity: Non-business related activities on company time is costly.

Okay. You got caught. Now what? More than half the respondents to the AMA survey “have disciplined employees for misuse or personal use of office telecommunications equipment, and 28% have dismissed individuals for...” misuse of telephone, email, or Internet. So, before you log on or pick up and dial, think about what you're about to do. Is it more important than your job?

Self Assessment

What Is a Self Assessment?

Self assessment is the process of gathering information about yourself in order to make an informed career decision. It is the first step of the Career Planning Process and is often conducted with the help of a career development professional.

Anatomy of a Self AssessmentWhat should a self assessment look at? A self assessment should include a look at your values, interests, personality, and skills. Here is an overview of the tools you can use to accomplish this. Value Inventories

• Value inventories measure how important different values are to you. Examples of these values, which play an important role in one's job satisfaction, include autonomy, prestige, security, interpersonal relations, helping others, flexible work schedule, outdoor work, leisure time, and high salary.
  

• Interest Inventories
  The questions in an interest inventory ask about your likes and dislikes regarding various activities. The premise of this self assessment tool is that people who share similar interests will also enjoy the same type of work. Examples of interests are reading, running, playing golf, and knitting.
• Personality Inventories
  A personality inventory looks at one's individual traits, motivational drives, needs, and attitudes. The most frequently used personality inventory is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator(MBTI).
• Skills Assessment
  In addition to determining what you're good at, a skills assessment also helps you figure out what you enjoy doing. The skills you use in your career should combine both characteristics. You can use the results of the skills assessment to make some changes by acquiring the skills you need for a particular career.

How to Respond to a Bad Review

Here's How:

1. Read your review very carefully. Don't respond immediately.
2. Take time to determine if the negative review is really unjust or if you're just taking offense at being criticised. If you still feel the review is unjust go to Step 3. If you realize the review is correct go to Step 6.
3. If you can honestly say that you've received an unfair review, make an appointment to meet with the person who wrote it.
4. First, acknowledge any points that are correct.
5. Then use clear examples to contradict those points you feel are untrue. Use a paper trail to back yourself up.
6. You've realized your reviewer was fair. The truth hurts, but you can use a bad review as a learning experience.
7. Make an appointment to meet with your boss so you can find out how to improve your performance.
8. Keep a paper trail of everything you do, beginning with that meeting. You'll want to have evidence of the effort you've made to improve your performance.
9. If you follow your boss's suggestions, next year's review should be much better.
   

Tips:

You must be very objective in determining whether your evaluation is unjust. Take some time to think things through.

Give yourself at least a day to calm down. Nothing gets handled well in the heat of the moment.

Keep in mind that the boss usually wins. It may be worth a shot, but your next step may be job hunting.

Why Annual Performance Reviews Are A Waste Of Time

Why Annual Performance Reviews Are A Waste Of Time

How many times have you had to stop doing something important just to fill out an employee's annual performance evaluation? How often was that because somebody from Human Resources was bugging you for it? Or the employee was reminding you, because their raise depended on it?

Wrong Reasons
Those are certainly the most common reasons why we make time for them. Sometimes a sense of obligation or a good secretary's reminder triggers it. None of those are valid reasons for doing an annual performance evaluation, yet that's why most of us do them.

Right Reasons
Did you ever think, "If I don't get all of my employees' annual reviews done on time this year my boss may hold it against me on MY annual review" ? That is a better reason, but I'll bet it never happened.

How about doing it because "I may be able to help an employee improve his or her performance"? I'll bet that doesn't happen as often as hauling someone into your office and chewing them out or walking out to somebody's cubicle and congratulating them on getting the project done ahead of time.

And that is my point.

ANNUAL performance reviews are a waste of time because they are too infrequent.

You see it yourself in your own review. Your boss doesn't mention whether or not you got all of your employees' annual reviews done on time, because. usually, it happened so long ago he doesn't remember. And neither do you for that matter.

So What's Better
Well, more frequent is better. And less formal is better. Better for both you and the employee.

If you have to do formal reviews, do them quarterly. Most of us can actually remember what has happened over the last three months. Be sure to spend less than a quarter of the time doing them that you would have for an annual review. Then when you have to do an annual review you can just review the past three months and tack on the three previous quarterly reviews.

The best performance review is the ongoing review. Work with your employees on how they are doing on a task by task basis - daily or weekly. Let them know right away what they are doing wrong so they can correct it now, not twelve months from now when it has become an ingrained habit.

Be sure to also point out the things they are doing well. Remember, we all like praise. Remember too that if you neglect to tell them that something they are doing is right, they may not realize it and they may change it.

Skip the Formality
The other benefit to doing frequent (continual) performance evaluations is that they become less formal. Neither you nor the employee feels stressed about it. This can eliminate the kinds of extreme behavior that we read about when an employee, who has been reprimanded, goes home gets his gun and comes back to the office and shoots his boss, several coworkers, and himself.

The Annual Performance Review

How to maximize the benefits from this required time waster

There are three key things to remember about annual performance reviews:

1. They are a waste of time.
2. They are required at many companies.
3. They should contain no surprises.

A Waste of Time

Annual performance reviews usually are a waste of time. They are too infrequent and too formal to be of any value for the person being reviewed. They are something managers feel they have to do, not something they see as a tool to improve the performance of their group. In Why Annual Performance Reviews Are A Waste Of Time I provide specific suggestions on how to improve them.

Required

Most companies require an annual performance review be completed for every employee.
The Human Resources department provides a standard form and a required grading scale. Every manager dutifully fills out the inane form, or has the employee do it, then spends as little time as possible discussing it. Whatever discussion does take place is usually combative, because the employee knows this one document will determine the amount of their raise for the next year.

Since you can't get out of doing an annual performance review, do what you can to make them as useful as possible.

No Surprises

The best way to get value out of a performance review is to make sure it contains no surprises. You shouldn't put anything in an annual performance review that you haven't already told the employee. This includes your overall evaluation of their performance and how that compares to others in the group.

The main reason companies require annual performance reviews is to have a method for distributing annual raises. If each employee is given a grade, raises can be distributed based on that grade. As a result, when you do an annual performance review, the only thing the employee listens to is their grade. They want to know what their raise will be.

Using employee grades to apportion raises is fundamentally flawed. It doesn't effectively tie raises to what an employee did during the year to help the company achieve its goals. It is just a mathematical distribution. However, you have to use it if it is the company system. Just make sure you use it in the way that is most helpful in getting your group to produce at peak levels.

Assuming you have been doing continual performance reviews as things happen, and more formal reviews every quarter, each of your employees will know how they are doing. Therefore, assembling their annual performance review is simply a matter of pulling material from their previous three quarterly reviews and adding the fourth quarter items. Make sure the employee understands that this is just a quarterly review so they can concentrate on what you are telling them, rather than worry about their grade.

When complete their fourth quarter review, you have completed the performance review part of the annual review. You and the employee should have a clear and identical perspective on their performance and, more importantly, their goals for the coming review period. You should both be able to select the same appropriate grade from whatever list the company has compiled (A, B, C 1, 2, 3, etc.). If there is a difference of opinion, it's usually from the employee not understanding how their performance compares to others in the group. So if the employee selects a grade higher than you select, make sure you clarify why.

At the end of this process, you have:

• Given the employee feedback on how their performance is helping the group achieve its goals,
• Clarified for them how their performance compares to others in the group,
• Motivated them to continue to improve their performance,
• Selected with them the appropriate grade from the company list, and
• Completed the annual review that is required.

Now comes the hard part of ensuring that the realistic performance grades you gave your employees are commensurate with their peers; making sure that what you label as average is not called superior by another manager. For that, you will need to work closely with your boss.

How To Give Negative Feedback Properly

“Jane, you ignorant slut.” No one who heard Dan Ackroyd make that statement on the early Saturday Night Live shows had any doubt that he was about to strongly disagree with whatever Jane Curtin had just said. The problem was he was going to disagree not with what was said, but with who said it. That’s not the way to give negative feedback.

Difficulty: Average

Time Required: varies

Here's How:

1. Get your emotions under control. You don't want to critique someone else's actions when you are angry or upset. You are likely to say something you don't really mean or to react poorly to something that is said to you.
2. Find a private place. No one wants to receive negative feedback in front of others. Sometimes it is unavoidable, but that should be a last resort. Take a meeting in your office, call the person into a vacant conference room, step into the lunch room if it is vacant.
3. Focus on their actions, not on the person. You create an immediate barrier when you criticize the person. Focus instead on what you want to change. Focus on their performance.
4. Be specific. It does no good to tell someone 'you have a bad attitude'. You need to identify specific actions the person took or specific things they said if you want them to understand.
5. Be timely. Negative feedback should be given as soon as possible after the event. If you see an employee being rude to a customer, don't wait until their annual performance review to tell them. How many other customers will they have angered in the meantime? Call them into your office right away.
6. Be calm. Don't yell and scream. The other person will become defensive and won't hear what you are trying to tell them.
7. Reaffirm your faith in the person. This reinforces step three, but here you tell them that you still have faith in them as a person and in their abilities; it's just their performance you want them to change. Say something like "you're a good customer service rep, so I'm sure you see the need to be more patient with customers".
8. Stop talking. After you have told the person what specific, recent actions were inappropriate, and why, stop talking. Give the other person a chance to respond to or refute your statements. Listen to what they have to say.
9. Define positive steps. Agree on what future performance is appropriate for the employee. If there are specific things the employee needs to start doing or needs to stop doing, be sure they are clearly identified. If there is something you need to do, perhaps additional training for the employee, agree on that as well.
10. Get over it. After you have given the negative feedback and agreed on a resolution, move on with the job. Don't harbor ill will toward the employee because they made a mistake. Don't hover over them out of fear that they may make another mistake. Monitor their performance as you do all employees, but don't obsess.

Tips:

1. Giving negative feedback is never easy, but if done properly it isn't unpleasant.

What You Need:

• A private place.
• A calm mind.
• Patience.
• Your sense of humor.

Flatten The Pyramid

Somebody has to do it
Employees are often promoted to their level of incompetence. Often, those employees would like to step back to a position where they were successful but can't. Their ego may get in the way, the position may have already been given to someone else, or the company may not know how to handle such a request. Smart companies recognize the damage done to their organization by leaving people in a position at which they are incompetent. They use Performance Management to move them sideways, if possible, or back down. If Performance Management doesn't work for you, or if you want out-of-the-box thinking, consider self-directed teams as an alternative.

Self-directed teams
Self-directed, or self-managed, teams are not new.
heir utility in business situations is well documented. One aspect of the value of such teams that is often overlooked, however, is their ability to effectively manage the competency levels of the team members.

Self-directed teams are frequently created within traditional business organizations either to address cross-functional issues or to promote employee empowerment. They also are found in non-profit companies and in non-business organizations, such as social clubs. One of the more recent appearances of self-directed teams is in "virtual" corporations.

"Virtual" corporations
"Virtual" corporations are formed when several individuals, or small companies, band together to pursue a business opportunity. Usually it is an opportunity for which that the individual or small company could not successfully compete on their own. This can be due to lack of specialized expertise or simply lack of size. By teaming with others, they can overcome their handicap.

These virtual corporations are a prime example of how self-directed teams manage incompetence. The teamings are usually short-term, like the business opportunities they pursue, but are often repeated frequently. A group of 10 individuals may have a long term understanding, which allows them all to work together smoothly. On any given team, a smaller number of group members may participate based on the opportunity. Which members participate changes frequently, depending on the needs of the group.

In cases like this, an individual or small company simply will not be included in those opportunities for which they are not qualified. The group self-selects the best members for the opportunity. Incompetents just are not selected.

If the team continues to select an incompetent, perhaps because he is the only one in the group with a specific area of knowledge, the group will not be able to compete as effectively. In time, they will either cease to exist or they will replace the incompetent with another individual with the level of expertise needed. Self-directed teams can function in this same manner within a company.

Flexibility required
There are many requirements for a self-directed team to be successful. In terms of managing the competence levels of their members, however, the key requirement is flexibility. The team has to be given authority to add or remove team members. This does not have to be total authority. The company can, and should, place guidelines around the process. However, the team must be given sufficient latitude to adjust the composition of the team that they can achieve their objective. If they have this latitude, and if they are committed to achieving their objective, they will either exclude incompetent members or they will move them to a position where they can contribute.

Flatten the pyramid
Self-directed teams are one way to flatten the pyramid. Others should be explored. The more we can remove the hierarchy from the organization structure, the less pressure there is on an individual to continue to seek promotion to "higher" levels, even to levels for which they doubt they are qualified. We also provide an opportunity for individuals to move laterally in their search for challenging, fulfilling work rather than always having to move "up". Finally, there is less resistance on the part of the individual to moving back down, and there are a greater number of options for the company that needs to move someone to a different position.

Manage This Issue
The flatter the pyramid, the greater the flexibility you have to manage. Don't create organizational levels that are not required. Take full advantage of self-directed and matrix teams in your efforts to flatten the pyramid. Not only will you get a more responsive organization, you will be able to limit the number of individuals who rise to their level of incompetence, only to get stuck there.

Do your employees trust you?

I guarantee you that you will not get top performance out of any employee who does not trust you.

If they don't trust you to make the best decisions AND trust you to look out for their best interests - they feel they have to do it themselves. The time they spend doing that, or thinking about how to do it, takes away from their production, their quality, and their creativity.

Okay, be a Type A, or a 9,1 on the GRID. You may be able to push performance levels up, but you can't keep them there. Without the employees' trust you won't get that spark of creativity from them that is so important. They won't innovate that one little idea that could have kept you ahead of your competitor.

Your Performance
Let's face it. The performance of your employees reflects heavily on your own performance. After all, Management is the ability to get things done through others. If you can't get top performance from your employees, how can you prove to your boss that you are a great manager?

If your employees don't trust you, you probably aren't going to trust them too much. You will end up spending your time, and you are short of that already, checking up on them. That time could be better spent elsewhere, couldn't it?

Profits
We just documented the time wasted by both the manager and the employees because of lack of trust. You can measure the cost of those wasted hours, but the bigger cost is lost innovation and creativity. Profits are not made by doing a job well. They are made by DOING IT BETTER.

It doesn't matter too much whether that is by "Continuous Improvement" or by sudden change. All that really matters is that it happens. Your competitors are going to find newer, better, cheaper ways to do things. If you don't, you'll lose customers and then lose profits.

Question Two
Question two may be a little harder to answer (how can I find out whether they trust me?), but here are some suggestions:

• Ask Them One of the simplest ways to get an answer is to ask direct questions. You probably have someone in your group whom you trust. Don't ask them how they feel, instead ask them how the group feels. Don't try and isolate comments about specific individuals. Concentrate instead on group impressions. You will be surprised at what you can learn.
• Listen to Them When you ask an employee a question, really listen to their answer. It's almost like reading between the lines. If they start to tell you something and then stop, that is a pretty good example that they don't completely trust you.
• Be Less Formal Get out of your office. Management by Walking Around (MBWO) really does work. Not only are people more apt to approach you in "their territory," but you will hear and see things that never make it into the reports that come into your office. Besides, when your employees see you walking around, they begin to see you as a person, not just as "the boss." It's a lot easier to mistrust "the boss" than to mistrust an individual.

Delegate, Don't Just Dump

Most managers don't know how to delegate. That's not really surprising, because no one ever delegated anything to them. How else are they going to learn?

Many times, managers dump their work onto someone else, but there is a big difference between delegating and dumping. When you delegate something to a subordinate it should serve two purposes.
First, it must lighten your load so you can concentrate on more important issues.
Second, it must help the receiver learn and grow.

When you delegate, as opposed to dumping, you give the other person the same authority to complete the task as if you had done it yourself. If the task means signing a requisition, the person to whom you delegated the task must have the same authority to sign that requisition as you have. That doesn't mean you delegate all your authority to that individual, only that you have to give them the authority to do what you would have been able to do.

Remember, though, that you can delegate the authority, but you cannot delegate the responsibility. It is up to you to see that the person is adequately trained before you delegate to them and is adequately supervised after you delegate. They won't necessarily do it the same way you would have, and they probably won't do it as well to begin with. That doesn't matter. Keep them from making any major blunders as they get the feel of the task and you will have successfully delegated. You will have lightened your load and you will have helped one of your people develop further.

How to Give Orders

Many people believe that to be a good manager you have to give orders to the people below you. They are wrong. You do not have to give orders. In fact, you should not give orders.

Don't give orders
When you give orders, you tell someone to do something. "Put that file on my desk", is an order. So is, "put Roger on the late shift". When you give an order, you do not allow the other person any latitude to think about what to do or how to do it. All they can do to satisfy your order is exactly what you ordered. There are two reasons why this is bad. First, you do not allow the person to figure out the best way to do the task. Second, you do not let them learn.

Give instructions instead
When you tell an employee what you want done, instead of giving an order, you give them the freedom to come up with their best way of getting that task done. It may not always be the best way, and you may have to do some monitoring and guiding, but there is also the chance that they will come up with something better than what you planned.

When an employee is given an instruction instead of an order, they have to think. They can't just do what they were told and say they were following orders. They have to think of ways to get the job done. They have to decide which is the best way. They have to invest a little of themselves in the solution.

Also, when you give an employee an instruction, instead of an order, and let them decide for themselves the best way to accomplish the task, you are more likely to get their buy-in and support. If they have made the decision about the best way to accomplish the task they are more likely to believe it is correct and valuable. They will defend it against others who question it.

Be clear
Orders are generally very clear. "Get the report to me by Thursday morning", does not leave much room for interpretation. So when you give instructions, instead of orders, you need to be as clear about what results you expect.

Instead of saying, "I'd like you to review the past month's data and get back to me on it", be more precise. For example, you could say, "Please review the past month's data. By Monday morning, I expect your recommendation of the best course and a couple of alternatives for ways to close more sales.” Or you could say, "By our meeting on Friday, I want you to have consolidated all the department's projects into a single master schedule. I want you to tell me where we are over committed and where we have excess capacity.”
When you give instructions instead of orders there is a tendency to be less clear about the expected outcome. A good manager makes instructions clear.

Give instructions, not orders
Your job as a manager is to get things done. However, it also means getting things done through others. When you give orders, you limit the group to your level of expertise. When you give instructions, you let the employees contribute whatever they can. It may not be as good as what you would have done, but that is an indication that you need to do further training. However, it also might be better than your idea. When that happens, you have an employee who feels involved and motivated and you look smarter.
The next time you start to give an order, give instructions instead. Tell the employee clearly want you want done. Let them figure out how to do it. It is a better solution for both of you.

Strong Opinions…

“….the virtues of wise people – those who have the courage to act on their knowledge, but the humility to doubt what they know…to deal with an uncertain future and still move forward – they advise people to have ’strong opinions, which are weakly held.’ …… Bob explained that weak opinions are problematic because people aren’t inspired to develop the best arguments possible for them, or to put forth the energy required to test them. Bob explained that it was just as important, however, to not be too attached to what you believe because, otherwise, it undermines your ability to ’see’ and ‘hear’ evidence that clashes with your opinions. This is what psychologists sometimes call the problem of ‘confirmation bias.’”

When dealing with complex and uncertain futures having strong opinions, weakly held is an important philosophy in how to approach the development of strategy.

Strong opinions encourage you to develop strong arguments that support your point of view. Consider the alternative, weak opinions, when we have weak opinions:
1.We generally don’t develop robust arguments to support a weak opinion.
2.Weak opinions don’t challenge other people to debate and test the validity of the supporting argument.

Take a strong stand, if you’re wrong, acknowledge it and be open to learning along the way. By taking a strong stand, rather than a weak one, will invite the opposition, debate and dialogue necessary to test that validity of the supporting argument.

Weakly Held….

Much of the opinions we hold today, are based on what we see today. While strong opinions encourage you to develop strong arguments supporting your point of view, if those opinions are strongly held we often fail to change in response to other people’s ideas and fail to change in response to new information. Considering the human tendency to actively seek information and evidence that supports our existing point of view. People with strongly held opinions invest way too much time and energy, supporting their existing opinions and fail to observe and respond to new information and feedback.

Having strong opinions, weakly held enables us to observe and rapidly respond to the changing world. Taking a position and developing a supporting argument, then rapidly testing your point of view, whilst being open to learning is a crucial skill required for success in complex and uncertain situations.

Try the following when you’re next faced with a complex issue to resolve:

• What strong opinions do you have about the issue you’re working on?
  Do you have a clear argument to support your opinion?
  Share your opinion with a number people on both sides of the issue.
  Consider how you can incorporate some of the ideas and feedback to strengthen your argument. Or, alternatively should you be changing your opinion?
  
  

How do you go about becoming a good leader?

“Figure out what you’re good at. Hire only good people who care, and treat them the way you want to be treated. Identify your one or two key objectives or directions and ask your coworkers how to get there. Listen hard and get out of their way. Cheer them. Switch from macho to maestro. Count the gains. Start right now”

What is Character?

“Character isn’t a superficial style. The word comes from the ancient Greek verb meaning “to engrave” and its related noun meaning “mark” or ‘distinctive quality.’ Character is who we essentially are. I also believe, however, that our character is continuously evolving. Unlike some of the Freudians, I don’t think character is fixed at age six. I think we continue to grow and to develop. The corollary of this is that the process of becoming a leader, to me, is much the same process as becoming an integrated human being. I see a real connection between what it takes to be a leader and the process of character growth……. one way to define leadership is as character in action.”


Vision

“Leaders create a vision with meaning – one with significance, one which puts the players at the center of things rather than at the periphery. If organizations have a vision that is meaningful to people, nothing will stop them from being successful. Not just any old vision will do, however; it must be a shared vision with meaning and significance…. A vision can be shared only if it has meaning for the people involved in it….. To communicate a vision, you need more than words, speeches, memos and laminated plaques. You need to live a vision, day in, day out — embodying it and empowering every other person to execute that vision in everything he or she does, anchoring it in realities so that it becomes a template for decision making. Actions do speak louder than words.”

Purpose

“I can’t exaggerate the significance of a strong determination to achieve a goal — a conviction, a passion, even a skewed distortion of reality that focuses on a particular point of view. And the leader has to express that determination, or purpose, in various ways….. Michael Eisner once told me that Disney didn’t have a ‘vision statement,’ but rather a strong ‘point of view’ about the Disney culture. When making big decisions, Eisner says, ‘the strongest point of view almost always wins the argument.’”

Trust

“Real leaders, and people of strong character, generate and sustain trust. I can’t overemphasize the importance of encouraging openness, even dissent…. Leaders must be candid in their communications and show that they care. They have to be seen to be trustworthy. Most communication has to be done eyeball to eyeball, rather than in newsletters, on videos, or via satellite. One of the best ways to build trust is by deep listening. People’s feeling that they’re being heard is the most powerful dynamic of human interaction. Listening doesn’t mean agreeing, but it does mean having the empathic reach to understand another…… To trust others, to have confidence in them, people of course also need to see evidence of competence……. Yet another indispensable aspect of character, and leadership, is constancy……. Before they can trust a leader, followers have to know what to expect. So sometimes leaders have to put off their grand ideas or glorious opportunities until they have had a chance to convince their allies of the ideas’ value. In business, as in politics, the effectiveness of a decision is the quality of the decision multiplied by the acceptance of it….. What all these behaviors and skills surrounding trust add up to is integrity, and that means character.”

Action

“What employees want most from their leaders is direction and meaning, trust and hope. Every good leader I have spoken with has had a willful determination to achieve a set of goals, a set of convictions, about what he or she wanted the organization to achieve. Every leader had a purpose. Remember what hockey great Wayne Gretzky says, ‘It’s not where the puck is that counts. It’s where the puck will be.’ Character counts because, in the leader, character is having the vision to see things not just the way they are but the way they should be — and doing something to make them that way…… Leaders have a bias toward action. They have the capacity to convert purpose and vision into action. It just isn’t enough to have the great vision people can trust. It has to be manifest in some external products and results. Most leaders are pragmatic dreamers or practical idealists (even though those descriptions may seem like oxymorons). They step up and take their shots every day, perhaps knowing that ‘you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take,’ to borrow another line from ice-rink philosopher Gretsky…… ‘Strike hard and try everything,’ wrote Henry James. You’re never going to get anywhere unless you risk and try and then learn from each experience. Leaders have to play even when it means making mistakes. And they have to learn from those mistakes….. Companies are the direct reflection of their leaders. All the leaders I know have a strongly defined sense of purpose. And when you have an organization where the people are aligned behind a clearly defined vision or purpose, you get a powerful organization. Effective leaders are all about creative collaboration, about creating a shared sense of purpose. People need meaningful purpose. That’s why we live. With a shared purpose you can achieve anything. And that’s why a central task for the leader is the development of other leaders, creating conditions that enhance the ability of all employees to make decisions and create change. The leader must actively help his or her followers to reach their full leadership potential. As Max De Pree once put it: ‘The signs of outstanding leadership appear primarily among the followers.’”
How do you go about becoming a good leader?
“Figure out what you’re good at. Hire only good people who care, and treat them the way you want to be treated. Identify your one or two key objectives or directions and ask your coworkers how to get there. Listen hard and get out of their way. Cheer them. Switch from macho to maestro. Count the gains. Start right now”
Highly Recommended Reading..
If you haven’t read any of Warren Bennis’s books I would strongly encourage you to do so. He has authored more than twenty-five books, many of them on the topic of leadership. Some of my personal recommendations are:

Character ----the Fundamental of leadership

I found and interesting article from The Josephson Institute entitled “The Character of Leadership” in this article Warren Bennis discusses the importance of character for leaders.

“Successful leadership is not about being tough or soft, assertive or sensitive. It’s about having a particular set of attributes — which all leaders, male and female, seem to share. And chief among these attributes is character…… the noble mission of the leader can’t be used to justify the means. In the leadership arena, character counts. I’m not saying this casually. My convictions about character-based leadership come from years of studies, observations, and interviews with leaders, and with the people near them.”

Most organizations evaluate their executives and managers using these seven criteria:

Technical competence or business literacy (knowledge of the territory)
People skills (capacity to motivate people)
Conceptual skills (ability to put things together)
Results (track record)
Taste (capacity to choose terrific people most of the time)
Judgment (ability to make wise decisions in a fog of reality and uncertainty);
Character (integrity to walk the talk

“Of all these, we know the least about judgment and character, including how to ‘teach’ them. That’s a shame, because I’ve never seen a person derailed from a position for lack of technical competence. But I’ve seen lots of people derailed for lack of judgment and character. The stakes are high for the individual, the organization and the country, so it’s worth knowing more about the character-component of successful leadership.”

Have You Defined what the Succes Mean from You ?

Have you defined what success means for you and for your life? Unless you have thought through the answer to that question, you are at risk of letting others define success for you or trying to keep up with their definitions of success. Only when you can define what is most important in your life can you set the right priorities for your life and become an integrated leader" - Bill George with Peter Sims, True North

Effective leadership requires that we have a clear picture of success. Every morning we’re faced with a myriad of things to do, each one competing for our attention. When we have a ton of things on our to do list, we very quickly loose perspective. And without perspective leaders quickly become ineffective. Unless leaders have a clear picture of success, they have no way of deciding between one task and the next. Without a clear focus, our to do lists overwhelm us, creating a passive response to life and knee-jerk reactions to everyday events.

A clear picture of success and big picture goals help leaders maintain their perspective, keeping their focus on doing the right things, rising above the distraction of the everyday events. Our big picture of success, keeps the focus on what our life is about and what we want it to be. To help shape your vision of success, consider the following questions…..

What is the "it" that you want? What is the it: Spiritually, Financially, Physically, Family, Mentally, Socially and in your Work?
What will it look like when you have it?
What will you be doing behaviourally when you have it?
Who are you doing it with?
Where will you be doing it?
How will your life be different from the way it is now when you have it?
What aspects of your life do you have to overcome or change in order to get it?
What must you do to have it?

Three Key Components of a Compelling Vision….2

A real vision statement reveals what business a company is in. It identifies not just the products or services offered, but the company’s core reason for existence—its purpose. It focuses organizational energy. A real vision statement provides broad guidelines for how to proceed in fulfilling the organization’s purpose, and a real vision statement offers clear pictures of what success looks like. We have found three elements that constitute a compelling vision:
Significant purpose: What business are you in? Purpose is your organization’s reason for existence. It answers the question “Why?” rather than just explaining what you do. It clarifies—from your customer’s viewpoint—what business you are really in…… Great organizations have a deep and noble sense of purpose—a significant purpose—that inspires excitement and commitment. When work is meaningful and connected to what we truly desire, we are able to unleash a productive and creative power we never imagined.
A picture of the future: What will the future look like if you are living according to your purpose? A picture of the end result should not be vague. It should be something you can actually see…… Your picture should focus on the end result, not the process for getting there.
Clear values: How do you want people to behave when they are working according to your purpose and on your picture of the future? Values provide guidelines on how you should proceed as you pursue your purpose and picture of the future. They answer the questions, “What do I want to live by?” and “How?” They need to be clearly described so you know exactly what behaviors demonstrate that the value is being lived. They need to be consistently acted on or they are only good intentions……. Most organizations that do have values either have too many values or they are not rank ordered. Research shows that people can’t focus on more than three or four values or those values will not really have an impact on behavior. Also, values must be rank ordered to be effective. Why? Because life is about value conflicts. When these conflicts arise, people need to know which value they should focus on.
"A vision is compelling when it helps people understand what business they’re really in, provides a picture of the desired future, and offers value guidelines that help people make daily decisions."
A clear and compelling vision for a leaders and their organisations is of vital importance. Looking at these three components of a compelling vision. How compelling is your vision? How compelling is the vision to those who work for you? How compelling is the vision for your organisation? Is it alive? Is it lived daily? Is it talked about? Is it being passionately pursued?

Three Key Components of Compelling Vision

An article "The Vision Thing: Without It You’ll Never Be a World-Class Organization" by Ken Blanchard and Jesse Stoner discuss the three critical factors exhibited by all world-class organisations:

Clear vision and direction championed by top management
Trained and equipped people focused on implementation of the agreed-upon vision and direction
Established recognition and positive consequence systems that sustain the behaviors and performance that the vision and direction require

In their article they focus on the importance of a clear vision for leaders and their organisations, making the following observations:
Vision and direction are essential for greatness. In world-class organizations, every-one has a clear sense of where the enterprise is going.
Vision helps people make smart choices be-cause their decisions are being made with the end result in mind. As goals are accomplished, the answer to “What next?” be-comes clear. Vision takes into account a larger picture than the immediate goal.
Vision is important for leaders because leadership is about going somewhere. If you and your people don’t know where you are going, your leadership doesn’t matter.
Without a clear vision, an organization be-comes a self-serving bureaucracy. The top managers begin to think “the sheep are there for the benefit of the shepherd.” All the money, recognition, power, and status move up the hierarchy, away from the people closest to the customers, and leadership begins to serve the leaders and not the organization’s larger purpose and goals.
When people share and believe in a vision of what the organization can be, they generate tremendous energy, excitement, and passion. They feel they are making a difference. They build a strong reputation for excellent products and services. They know what they are doing and why. There is a strong sense of trust and respect. Managers don’t try to control. They let others assume responsibility because they know everyone shares the vision and is clear about their goals and direction. Everyone assumes responsibility for their own actions. They take charge of their future rather than passively waiting for it to happen. There is room for creativity and risk taking.

How to improve the Effectiveness When leading

With organisations under pressure to constantly produce short-term results there is a need to have leaders at all level within an organisation. Leadership today is not about position or authority, it’s about influence and responsibility. And those who are leading from below, rather than from the top of an organisation have a unique set of challenges. Middle and lower management need to deal with the day-to-day operational issues, whilst at the same time focusing on bringing about the necessary strategic change. With this in mind the Wall Street Journal has published a great article with the following insights on improving a leaders effectiveness when leading from below.

Make the decision to be a leader. “….In every case of successful leadership from below that we have studied, the manager made a conscious decision to move beyond the service and governance roles, without waiting to be told to do so…. [how?] ……. First, they reorganized their group to make themselves less essential to the provision of services or the exercise of governance. This began to free up time and energy for leadership…. Second, the managers we studied opened themselves up to influences from outside the company. In many companies, middle managers have been trained to focus on internal rather than external signals…… To take on a leadership role, managers needed to listen to the signals coming from outside — customers, competitors, suppliers, neighbors, the media. Then they could begin thinking about what those signals meant for action inside the company.“

Focus on influence, not control. “Every successful case we have found of leadership from below involved a basic shift in thinking: The managers did their job with their colleagues — not to them or for them. People simply react more enthusiastically to being enlisted in a common cause than they do to being ordered around…… [how?] ….Adopt the perspective of the people you’re trying to influence; don’t make them adopt yours….. Expose others to your information; don’t hoard it….. Aim to influence existing work processes; don’t build new ones…… Don’t worry about being proved right….. Keep things clear and simple…… Keep a sharp focus.“

Work on your “trusted adviser” skills. “You have to earn the right to influence people. People have to want to talk with you, and value what they hear from you. This requires more than being seen as a technical expert. It requires being seen as a trusted adviser…..[how?] ….. The trusted adviser has skills that turn conversations into meaningful discussions that make people want to seek you out. Listen more than you talk; ask questions that broaden people’s perspective, instead of telling them how to think or what to do. Without violating confidences, share what others have seen and done in similar circumstances.”

Don’t wait for the perfect time, just find a good time. “There is never a perfect time to take the risks of leading from below. When times are good, everyone is too busy and no one seems bothered by the need to do things differently. When times are bad, everyone is too busy (or too scared) and there are too many other demands….. [how?] …. look for situations where the complacency that pervades most companies has been disturbed. In those situations, there will be less resistance to change. There may even be an active desire for new approaches. Mergers, acquisitions and divestitures all break the existing patterns in the way a company operates.“

Culture Drives Success

Fast Company Now has a short but intersting article on the importance of culture in driving organisational success.

“I came to see in my time at IBM that ‘culture’ isn’t just one aspect of the game - it is the game.” - Lou Gerstner, Former IBM CEO, credited with its turnaround"

The article suggests the following steps as a simple approach to identifying and changing a teams culture.
Consider the team/group/organization you’re leading:

Look at your vision/mission statement and jot down the behaviors that everyone supposedly follows.
On a second list jot down the behaviors that everyone actually follows.
Pick the one discrepancy that annoys you the most.
Make it a top priority to change it.
Have a conversation with colleagues on why each of you think the discrepancy exists.
Agree on some structures to put in place to ensure that change happens (communication, processes, rewards etc).

Where to Start to Change?

This is an inscription on the tomb of an Anglican Bishop in Westminster Abbey:
“When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits,I dreamed of changing the world.As I grew older and wiser I discovered the world would not change ¯So I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country,But it too seemed immovable.As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt,I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me,But alas, they would have none of it.And now I realize as I lie on my deathbed, if I had only changed myself first,Then by example I might have changed my family,From their inspiration and encouragement I wouldthen have been able to better my country,And who knows,I might have even changed the world.”

The Power of Conversation

I’m constantly amazed by the power of conversation in our lives, some of my experiences with conversations are:

I’m amazed at how many novel ideas I come up with during informal conversations. It seems to me that conversations help to pull new ideas and concepts out of me and others in the group. Considering this, informal conversations are especially rich sources of creativity, learning and innovation within organisations.

Conversations give me energy, they generate energy, often I find conversations as a catalyst for action. In this way conversations help me to organise and prepare for action!

Conversations help me to think, shape new ideas and concepts. Conversations help us to see the world from a different perspectives.
“…it’s through language that we create the world, because it is nothing until we describe it. And when we describe it, we create distinctions that govern our actions. To put it another way, we do not describe the world we see, but we see the world we describe.” - Joseph Jaworski, Synchronicity: the Inner Path of Leadership
All this leaves me asking for more……
How can we cultivate and nourish conversations in our personal lives, organisations and communities?
If conversations occurring in our lives and organisations are a catalyst for creativity and innovation, should we not be taking them more seriously? Should we not become more intentional in managing and nuturing these conversations?

Resolving Stuck Conversations

Meaningful strategic conversation is an emotionally draining and difficult leadership task. However without meaningful conversation, buy-in and commitment remains elusive, as was observed by Steven Covey “no involvement, no commitment“. Meaning conversation creates involvement……. which generates the commitment …… and…… it’s commitment that ensures aligned action and an effective end result. Therefore, getting the conversations right is of critical importance.

One of the most frustrating situation which a leader is faced with is one where a team’s conversation becomes stuck. I’m sure we’ve all experienced these stuck conversations, on these occasions:
People feel they have not been heard and therefore keep repeating the same points over and over again.
It feels like everyone in the room has run our of ideas.
People feel that they have missed some critical aspect of the issue at hand and therefore get stuck in analysis paralysis.
People are ask themselves, ”why we’re have in this conversation again?”
People feel that they don’t have all the facts necessary to commit to a course of action.
There seems to be a hundred different reasons why the ideas resented to solve a problem are doomed to failure and will not work.
Unless stuck conversations are resolved, effective action will remain elusive, additionally any action “agreed” upon in the meeting will fail to be executed. Getting a stuck conversation back on track and productive requires insight into the meeting dynamics. It’s in these situations that I’ve found the ”change formula” (I previously posted on the change formula here) a useful tool. The change formula describes what’s required to bring about change in an organisation or in this case a conversation. The formula shows that change will occur when a dissatisfaction with the current situation, a vision of what is possible, and the first steps toward reaching the vision are greater than the resistance to change, as illustrated below….



The key insight behind this formula is that if the value of dissatisfaction, or vision, or first steps is zero, the resistance to change will not be overcome nor can anyone commit to taking ant action. A critical mass cannot be formed, and any organisational change cannot be sustained. Just as these components are required for meaningful organisational change they;re also necessary for meaningful conversations. So, to use the change formula when you’re next in a stuck conversation, help the meeting through the following steps:

1) Check for a Shared Understanding of Current Reality
Are the right people in the room?
Do all the people in the room have access to the evidence, data and facts relating to this problem (or opportunity)? Has this data been shared and discussed?
Have the people in the room discussed the available data and shared their interpretation(s) of the facts?
Is there sufficient diversity of opinion and organisational functions for us to have a meaningful discussion?
Do all the people engaged in the conversation have the same understanding of the problem (or opportunity)?
Have use used tangible and specific examples, anecdotes and stories to illustrate the impact or the problem (or opportunity)?
Has the exploration of the facts and data made those in the room dissatisfied with the current situation? If not you may need to stop the meeting and start a programme of collective learning, see my previous post on why this is necessary…

2) Facilitate a Shared Vision of the Future
Do all the people engaged in the conversation have a common understanding of what a desirable outcome would look like?
Have we explored various alternative futures?
Have we considered each alternative future’s advantages and disadvantages?
Have you answered the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?) question?
Have you engaged people emotionally by creating an inspiring picture of the future?

3) Agree the Next Steps
Is the gap between the current reality and the future vision small enough to be achievable, but not too large to be overwhelming? If not you’re going to have to chunk the the next steps into tangible short-term tasks that people can relate to (get the minds around)….
Are the next steps achievable in the short term (6-12 months)?
Are the actions described in S.M.A.R.T. terms (see my previous post on how to achieve this here) ?
Has each action have an owner who is responsible for the S.M.A.R.T. outcome?
Have you agreed to how the progress towards the vision will be tracked and managed?
That’s it, a simple and effective framework to help you resolve a stuck conversation. Any additional thoughts, ideas and suggestions are welcome. Try it, I would be interested in your feedback and experiences in using and improving on this approach….

The Four Laws of Change

In the native American oral tradition, the Shawnee nation enhance the effectiveness of the big decisions by understanding and using the four laws of change.

1. Change comes from within. This means that change will always come from within the individual, from within the group, and/or from within the organization. Ideally, the change will be like a pebble through into a lake where the change ripple from within all of these configurations.

2. Permanent change requires a vision. This means that unless we hold a clear and/or compelling picture of what is the change that needs to occur, the initial insight or energy or reason for changing will fade into the background until triggered by the next difficult reminder and/or painful event.

3. A great learning must occur. This means that change is accompanied by a personal insight or a group awareness that is shared with the larger community. Hence, for an individual, it could be an insight that they are actually creating most of their problems by how they behave towards other. So as to make it a permanent change, the person needs to share it with others, who in turn will support them in the change.
For an organization, it could be a shared awareness that each person within the organization is responsible for how the organization functions. What grounds the change is that the insight or shared awareness becomes the responsibility of the group to sustain the changes.

4. A healing forest must be present. This means that any change to be permanent must have the support of the larger community. For an individual, it could mean that the insight or vision is shared with family and friends. For a group, it could be that the change is shared with people outside the group who can support the changes versus unknowingly undermining it by not knowing that change has occurred.

Nine lives of leadership

800-CEO-Read has made the ebook the Nine Lives of Leadership, by Lisa Haneberg, from Management Craft fame, available for free. It’s a great leadership resource for all leaders and managers and the read. A sneak preview of the the Table of Contents for whet you appetite:

Go Deep Fast - Develop Strong Relationships As A Catalyst For Success
Organic leadership - Learn from the career paths of highly successful mega-leaders
HOT Teams and Getting into the Mood - Improve results and satisfaction by optimizing team member performance
Let’s Get Radical - Add energy and velocity to you and your employees’ career growth
The Start-up Spirit - Infuse your employees’ work environments with the energy of a start-up while leveraging their well-established systems and processes
The Clarity State - Make tough decisions in an easier and more effective manner
Organizational DNA - Determine your organization’s predominant style and use this information to more effectively drive change
Emotional Acumen - Increase employees’ impact and influence with others
Betting at Work - Up your odds for success and take control of your destiny

Become a Better Manager

Listed below are ten things you can do to become a better manager.
Pick one. Do it today. Pick another one for tomorrow. In two weeks you will be a better manager.

1. Select the best peopleAs a manager, you are only as good as the people on your team. Give yourself a better chance to succeed by picking the best people from the start.
Read Job Interview Questions to Ask to learn to be better at selecting the best candidate for the job.

2. Be a motivatorHuman beings do things because we want to. Sometimes we want to because the consequences of not wanting to do something are unpleasant. However, most of the time we want to do things because of what we get out of it.
It's no different at work, people do good work for the pay, or the prestige, or the recognition.
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3. Build Your TeamIt is not enough that people are motivated to succeed at work. They have to work together as a team to accomplish the group's objective. After all, if we just want them to all "do their own thing" we don't need you as a manager to mold them into a team, do we?
Here are some ways to improve your team building skills:
There Is No "I" In Team
Team Building

4. Be a Leader, Not Only a Manager.You have built the best team from the best employee available. You motivated them to peak performance. What is missing? Motivating a team is worthless unless you provide direction; unless you turn that motivation toward a goal and lead the team to it. It is the ability to lead others that truly sets a manager apart from their peers. Remember that leaders are found at all levels of the organization, so be one.
Here are a couple of examples, one good and one bad:
The Best Leader I Ever Knew
The Toxic Boss Syndrome

5. Improve as a CommunicatorCommunication may be the single most important skill of a manager. After all, all the others depend on it. You can't be a leader if you can't communicate your vision. You can't motivate people if they can't understand what you want. Communication skills can be improved through practice. Here are two exercises you can use to improve your ability to communicate effectively.
Getting Your Point Across
Writing for Business

6. Get Better At Managing MoneyTo stay in business, a company has to make money. That means bringing money in the door and it means spending less than you bring in. Depending on your function in the organization, you may have more influence on one area or the other, but you need to understand both. You can help your company, your employees, and yourself be getting better at managing the company's money.
Don't be put off by the numbers, or by the fact that "it's math". Start learning more about money management by reading these articles:
How To Read An Income Statement
But Am I Making Any Money?

7. Get Better at Managing TimeThe one thing you will probably have less of at work than money is time. The better you get at managing time, yours and others, the more effective you will be as a manager. Here are two key skills:
Project Management 101
Pareto's Principle - The 80-20 Rule

8. Improve YourselfDon't focus so hard on your people that you forget about yourself. Identify the areas in which you are weak and improve them. The fact that you are reading this article shows you understand the concept. You need to put it into practice.
Management Tips for Personal Development
Management Books You Need To Read

9. Practice Ethical ManagementEnron-like scandals have really driven home the point about how important ethics is in business. If you want to avoid similar mistakes, here are some things to consider:
Lessons Learned From Enron
Business Ethics Resources

10. Take a BreakYou are less effective as a manager if you are over-stressed. You are less tolerant. You snap at people more. No one wants to be anywhere near you. Take a break. Give yourself a chance to relax and recharge your batteries. Your increased productivity when you return will more than make up for the time you take off. Have a good laugh or go lie on a beach somewhere.

Business Humor
Do I Dare Take Vacation?
Bottom LineManagement is a skill that can be learned. You can improve as a manager by working every day to get better. Bookmark this page and come back every day for the next two weeks. If you pick one subject each day, and work on improving in that area, you will be a better manager before you know it. And others will notice it too

Learning From Successful Leader

We can learn about leadership formally, through training or informally through conversation. There are times when opportunities to engage with successful leaders present themselves unexpectedly. How many of us make productive use of these opportunities? If you were invited to meet a successful leader over lunch, what questions you would ask him or her?
In his leadership book “On Becoming a Leader“, Warren Bennis, lists some questions he uses to explore, as he put it: “how people learn, how they learn to lead, and how organisations help or hinder the process - or, to put it succinctly, how people become leaders“. The questions are interesting, and worth using as a tool when we have the opportunity to spend time with a respected leader. The questions mentioned in the book are:

What do you believe are the qualities of leadership?
What experiences were vital to your development?
What were the turning points in your life?
What role has failure played in your life?
How did you learn?
Are there people in your life, or in general, whom you particularly admire?
What can organisations do to encourage or stifle leaders?