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Business Coaching: 12 Ways to Build Up Your Team
Trainer’s Note: Feel free to reproduce and distribute this article to managers and employees, as well as the manager’s assessment
Words to Lead By
“Make sure that team members know they are working with you, not for you.” The other day I came across this quote by former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. It got me thinking about how often life’s wisdom can be found in the simplest of ideas. Coach Wooden’s words are as meaningful in business as they are on the court.
Think about the people on your team. How do you refer to them? If you’re out with a buddy, and you run into one of your employees, how would the introduction go? ” I’d like you to meet John. He works for me…” Or would you say, “This is John. We work together…”
The distinction is huge. If you believe they work for you and not with you, that’s what they will believe and that’s how they will act. Most importantly, you will have a barrier that affects productivity and morale.
Coach Wooden lived his words. He made sure his players knew they worked with him toward a common goal. The result? He and his team had four perfect seasons and won 10 national championships - 7 consecutive. He built up his players and his team every day and his team members knew that what they did mattered. They knew they were in it together.
It’s no different in business. You can’t achieve the company’s goals without your team. So what can you do to make sure that your team members know that they work with you and not for you? You can do what good coaches do every day: inspire, encourage, and challenge your team members.
Now on to the 12 Ways to Build Up Your Team… OR Take the Assessment (PDF) Read the rest of this entry »
Guest Article: Stress Free Holidays
Media Partners Note: Home holiday stress can follow your valuable employees to work. Here are a few helpful tips on how your team members can keep this festive (and sometimes stressful) season joyful.
Holidays can be stressful, especially when families gather for dinners and celebrations. Here are some tips that can help make your holidays more enjoyable:
1. Anticipate
One of the best ways to deal with aggravations among family members is to anticipate them and plan ahead of time. Set up two or three small areas with refreshments so that guests can congregate in several places in your home. Likewise, set up activities such as viewing family albums or board games in different areas. Plan a seating chart ahead of time and if Uncle Ralph is known to get on Cousin Bea’s nerves, assign seats accordingly. Keeping family members who don’t get along busy or apart is the key.
2. Entertain the Kids
Enlist the help of older kids to help keep the younger ones busy…. Read the rest of this entry »
Guest Article: Enthusiasm-The Key to Productivity & Innovation
What’s the difference between enthusiasm and gasoline? Maybe, there’s not much difference between the two. They both provide the power to drive us forward.The internal combustion engine of our automobile runs on gasoline. Gasoline vapor enters the cylinder and the spark plug ignites the fumes unleashing the power that can propel our vehicles over one hundred miles an hour.
Enthusiasm in the workplace, properly ignited, can propel your business into success. Motivated employees work harder. They’ll even come with ideas to improve the product or service. Motivated and enthusiastic employees are the best kind of employees to have.
Enthusiasm is rare, however. Most employees want to do a good job, but they feel under appreciated. Generally, bad management is blamed for unmotivated workers, but often, good management can still provide unenthusiastic workers. So, what’s the secret?
Open & Shut Case: How to Open your Training Session with Confidence
11 Ways to Add Meaning to Your Training Session
So, you’ve purchased a training program. It’s realistic. It’s intelligent. It’s funny. It’s meaningful. (It must be a Media Partners production.) Most importantly, you’re confident that it meets the needs of your business and that the training will positively impact the company.But, are you ready? Have you done everything you can to help ensure that your training will meet the unique needs of each of your employees? Even top-shelf training programs can be enhanced by your efforts to customize the content. To make it specific to your business world.Customizing your training adds meaning, which is critical to adult learners.Adult learners need to know that you value them and their experiences. That’s why speaking specifically about their world is so important. It also increases the likelihood that training will be transferred to the work setting. But, don’t let the idea of customizing a program intimidate you; we’re not talking about rewriting anything or developing content. That’s why you purchased a program. We’re talking about little things that you can do to add company-specific relevance to your training.Consider the following 11 things you can do before the training, during the training, and after it…
Guest Article: Five Ways to Overcome Negativity in the Workplace
Trainer’s Note: Feel free to reproduce and distribute this article to managers and employees.
We’ve all faced a negative attitude or work environment. Perhaps your experience was short lived, or maybe it seems to be the standard operating mode for you. Perhaps you are the culprit of the negativity, or maybe you’re the victim.
Whatever your experience, I’m sure you can agree, that a negative environment doesn’t help our productivity, job satisfaction or success.
The Prerequisites
While there are some specific things you can do to overcome negativity (yours or those around you), there are three prerequisites for success. Without them, you’ll never successfully overcome negativity.
- Recognize it is an issue. If you have read this far, you probably agree with this item. Negativity saps our energy and passion. Negativity takes our focus away from our work. Negativity keeps work from being enjoyable. The effects of negativity are real, and when you recognize this, you have overcome the first hurdle to overcoming its effects.
- Recognize that you can overcome it. Whether negativity is the norm or an occasional visitor, you must believe that it can be overcome. If you think that isn’t possible, you’ve given into the negativity far too much!
- Recognize that it is about you. Yep - it is about you. Whether you are the instigator or the target, you have a responsibility to overcome negative attitudes. There are things you can do - there are things in your control. If you want to know what you can do, read on.
Now on to the Five Ways to Overcome Negativity in the Workplace… Read the rest of this entry »
Dealing with Learning Resistance and the Disruptive Learner
You know the look. Arms crossed. Slouched in their seat. Maybe even a furrowed brow. And you wonder is she going to be a silent resister? Or will she pounce at the first thing with which she disagrees? Will he shift and harrumph when his opinion differs from yours? Or, is he going to freely share his negative opinions with others in his group? Will they try to discredit you by respectfully challenging you? Resistant learners can cause havoc in your training meeting in a variety of ways. Some may silently undermine your training with their body language and gestures. Others may share their negativity covertly, during small group discussions or breaks. Some may verbally challenge every point you make, or try to draw you into an emotional or heated exchange. All can disrupt your training by creating tension and negativity. Here are some ideas for dealing with resistant learners…Read the rest of this entry »
Turn Training Anxiety Into a Training Edge
Butterflies in the stomach. Wobbly knees. An anxiousness deep in your gut… Most of us can relate to at least one of these descriptions of nervousness. So, how do you stop that feeling before it takes over and wreaks emotional havoc with your training session? You don’t.
Instead, you control it and use it to energize your training. (And, if you’re sitting back thinking how nice it is that you haven’t felt anything like that in years, think about this: adrenaline, which causes nervousness, can be good for your training. So, keep on reading.)
Let’s face it; some people are born to be in front of an audience. And then, there are those, who through career choices, job responsibilities, advancement, and maybe even love of learning have found themselves in the role of trainer, presenter, or speaker. Whether or not public speaking comes naturally to you, nervousness comes with the territory. Pre-session nervousness - when you control it - can be positive. The adrenaline that causes your nervousness actually increases your energy. Whether it’s nervous energy or focused energy is up to you. . Nervous energy can take over and sabotage your best efforts. Focused energy can be exciting and engaging to your learners. It can give your training an edge.
Keeping that energy, that training edge, can be tricky though. For new trainers, it means controlling nervousness and turning the anxiety into positive energy. For seasoned trainers and presenters, it means turning routine into positive energy.
Customers Have the Last Word: 5 Reasons Customers Leave
Trainer’s Note: Feel free to reproduce and distribute this article to managers.
I have always found the saying “perception is reality” to be subtly profound. Not profound like a thought-provoking, life-changing revelation. But, profound in the sense that the essence of those three words explains so many things. Why someone behaves a certain way. Why two people from the same family have vastly different recollections of the same event. Why misunderstandings so easily occur. Why customers choose to shop elsewhere.
Customer Service: The 9 Musts of Customer Recovery
Trainers Note: Feel free to reproduce and distribute this article to managers.
Take off your manager’s hat for a moment. Think of yourself as an upset customer, walking into your place of business and interacting with your staff. Would your employees treat you with understanding, patience and respect? Would they treat you as a valued guest who has a problem to be solved? Would they go out of their way to turn you into a satisfied customer? Are you sure?
The truth about customer recovery is that your employees have to want to turn an upset guest into a happy and satisfied one. Your employees make a choice each and every time they are faced with an upset customer. They can choose a helpful and caring attitude and work to understand and solve their customer’s problem. Or, they can be indifferent and argumentative. How they choose to handle the situation means the difference between customer loyalty and customer loss.
Upset customers are never fun. But, with a little guidance and encouragement, your employees can learn to handle customer problems with confidence and poise. Check out these customer recovery tips and share them with your team.
Employee Performance: 5 Common Employee Sidetracks and How to Manage Them
Trainer’s Note: Feel free to reproduce and distribute this article to managers.
To this day, I think of a former colleague whenever someone mentions dental work or a needed auto repair. I recall talking with her a few years back about taking my car into the shop for a 30,000-mile check and new brakes. I wondered aloud what else I might need and how much it would cost. She quipped, “Teeth and cars. When’s there’s a problem it’s never any fun. ”
I can think of a few managers who might like to add employee problems to root canals and worn-out brakes. Let’s face it. Dealing with performance issues and poor work habits may come with the job, but it’s never fun. And, it’s even more challenging if we get sidetracked.
What is a sidetrack? It’s an attempt to divert a discussion away from the problem. During a performance improvement discussion an employee’s natural defense mechanism can sabotage a manager’s best efforts. That is, unless the manager is prepared. A manager who anticipates a sidetrack can stay focused on the problem.
Although there are many different types of sidetracks, understanding these five common sidetracks and how to manage them will help you stay focused too… Read the rest of this entry »
Retail Customer Service: 8 Ways to Reduce Customer Stress
Trainer’s Note: Feel free to reproduce and distribute this article to managers.
Recently I was reading the USA Today and a Snapshots® graph about shopping stress caught my eye. Shopping stress? I suppose I might feel stressed if I blew my budget or if I waited until an hour before a party to go shopping for a gift.
I looked at the graph more closely. It wasn’t about spending too much money or poor planning. It was about the retail experience and the statistics were surprising.
An online survey, conducted by the Consumer Reports Research Center, asked 1,264 women what they find most stressful when shopping:
- 33% said checkout lines
- 29% said interacting with salespeople
- 24% said finding the best price
- 14% said finding the right product
That means 62 percent - almost two out of every three women surveyed - said they find basic customer service the most stressful aspect of shopping! As a manager, you probably find these statistics as startling as I do. Customer satisfaction based on checkout lines and interactions with your salespeople is a direct reflection of your people.
Checkout Lines
As a manager, you can’t influence whether your customer has set aside enough time to have a relaxing shopping experience. But, you can impact the wait by making sure your employees are checking people out instead of doing non-customer tasks, or worse, idly standing by. Nobody likes to wait. But, if customers feel like they are waiting needlessly, you can almost see their blood pressure rise. Waiting in line while other employees are stocking shelves, talking on the phone, or - the worst infraction in the world of serving customers - chatting among themselves, is sure to build your customers’ stress level.
Interacting with Salespeople
How would your employees rate on this one? Do they try to connect with your customers? Do your employees show that they care or do they treat customers as interruptions?
Customers expect to be served. If a customer deals with indifference or is treated as a disruption or can’t get his questions answered, you’re not doing your job and you’re not meeting your customers’ basic expectations.
While the results of this survey are limited to the sample group, they should certainly give all managers reason to pause. What would your customers say? If your customers were asked what they find most stressful when shopping at your business, how would they answer? Would they tell you that your checkout lines are stressful for them? Would they say that interacting with your salespeople is the most stressful part of their shopping experience? Would they say something else?
The good news is that as a manager, you can directly impact the customer experience associated with checkout lines and interactions with employees. Start by thinking about these ideas:
8 Easy Ways to Reduce Customer Stress….
Customer Service: 7 Ways to Keep Your Promises and Build Customer Trust
Trainer’s Note: Feel free to reproduce and distribute this article to managers.
I was driving on the highway the other day and noticed the billboard advertisement had changed. Facing me, and all the other motorists who drive that stretch of the road, was a mouth-watering display of fine dining: an elegant dinner spread out on a table covered in a white tablecloth. The words “Room Service” were written along the bottom.
No, the billboard wasn’t advertising the offerings of an Inn or a Bed and breakfast. But like all advertisements, it was setting expectations. In essence, it was making a “promise.” It was making a promise about the food served at a local hospital. The very same hospital that my neighbor had been complaining about the week before.
I had called to ask about her husband. Although her husband was recovering, it was going to be a long process, slowed evidently, by his reluctance to eat the hospital food. She started bringing him food from home so that he could gain some of his strength back.
According to my neighbor, the hospital food often came late and was cold. Other patients and families complained about the food and the service too, she told me. Then she said something interesting. Something all businesses and all managers should think about. Read the rest of this entry »
Customer Service Commitment: An Experience & An Assessment
It’s rare that I go to a restaurant that provides pagers to accommodate its wait-times. You see I’m just not that patient. It’s also been my experience that when customers are waiting, some restaurant staffs take their seated guests for granted.
Not this place though…even with its share of problems.
It was 4 pm Saturday afternoon and the restaurant was filled. People stood in the vestibule and held pagers as they waited upwards of about 20 minutes for a table. The restaurant, which has only been open for about a month, doesn’t take advance reservations. But we knew about its call-ahead service, which is why a hostess - armed with menus, activity books, and crayons - seated the seven of us in a large booth as soon as we arrived.
Sean took our drink orders as we looked over the menu. Within minutes, he came back to our table and took our orders, readily agreeing to accommodate my mom’s special request. He came back again and brought warm bread. On his third trip and after a reminder, he brought the children’s chocolate milk. They were getting restless…
Be sure to take the Manager’s Assessment or Employee’s Assessment to find out how you’re doing!
Six Things You should Never Say to a Customer
During my years in training, I’ve had many conversations with people about the connection between behaviors and attitudes. Does an employee’s poor attitude cause poor performance? Or does an employee’s poor performance create a poor attitude, a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy?
The answer is yes and yes. But, the reality is like the ongoing question of which came first, the chicken or the egg. It really doesn’t matter. How do you know someone has a poor attitude? It shows. And, if it shows, you’re dealing with behaviors. If it doesn’t show, it’s not a problem.
Although there is a direct correlation between how we think (our attitudes) and what we do (our behaviors), the only way to help your employees change poor performance is to focus on their behaviors. What they do and say. How they are acting.
But it’s not black and white. While you can’t change your employees’ moods or attitudes - they need to do that for themselves - you can influence how they think about and approach their work. Regardless of whether you work in a hospital, a retail store, a restaurant, or a non-profit, when you come to work, you’re on. You need to check your mood and emotions at the door and you need to help your employees do the same. Why? Because your customers don’t care whether you overslept. Or missed the bus. Or had an argument before breakfast. Your patients don’t care if you got a speeding ticket. Or that you didn’t get the day off you requested. Or that you’re tired and cranky.
As a manager, it’s important that your employees understand how their moods and attitudes affect their behaviors and ultimately everyone around them. When you help them understand they can “put on” any disposition they want, they’ll find that they enjoy work more and their customers will have a better experience as well.
What your employees say to your customers is an easy barometer of their attitude, how they are feeling, and what they are thinking about work. There are many things an associate shouldn’t say to - or around - a customer or a patient. Some are driven by a poor attitude and some are driven by lack of knowledge about what is or isn’t appropriate.
Whether you’re dealing with a poor attitude about work or unacceptable customer service behaviors, here’s a good starting point for a discussion: Six Things You Should Never Say to a Customer…
Read the rest of this entry »
The Basics of Handling a Disappointed Guest
Customer service is a noble profession. But some days, it’s just plain tough.
Marc, a customer service associate I met recently would probably agree with that sentiment. I met him on one of those tough days. One of those days when you’re dealing with unhappy customers and things keep going wrong. Marc, who goes to school during the week and works part-time on weekends, met the challenges of a tough customer service day head on and turned things around.
He expertly handled a disappointed guest. I know because I was there.
Six Things Your Customers Love to Hear
I have always believed that providing good customer service is a choice. Kind of like flossing your teeth each night. You finish brushing your teeth and you choose to pull out the dental floss even though you’re tired. A customer steps up to the checkout and you choose to smile and say hello.
Or not…
By suggesting that customer service is a choice, I’m not trying to simplify the concept of overall customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. I have researched and written training programs on the subject of customer service. And, I recognize that there’s more to creating a customer service culture that is in line with company values than merely smiling and acknowledging a customer. The manager needs to lead by example. The company needs to remove obstacles that prevent the employee from truly serving the customer. I could go on, but that’s an article for another time.
What I’m talking about is basic frontline service. The kind of service that an employee chooses to provide every time a customer walks in the door. The kind of service that shows customers that the employees care.
Over the years, I have changed banks more times than I can count because the employees didn’t care. I have stopped patronizing certain restaurants and have boycotted certain stores on customer service principle alone. When an employee makes a choice to deal with me as if I don’t matter, then I usually take my business somewhere else.
And, I am not alone. A survey conducted by the Small Business Administration last year found that more than two-thirds of customers will take their business elsewhere if they feel that an employee is indifferent. And the SBA findings mirror other survey results on the same topic.
Can you afford to lose two out of three customers because your employees’ attitude is indifferent or aloof? The good news is that there are a few simple things your employees can do to help your customers feel cared about. Let’s call them…
…Six Things Every Customer Loves to Hear.
Harassment Free Holidays
Snowflakes, wreaths, family dinners, gift baskets and company parties…it’s beginning to look a lot like the holiday season. Because we have more opportunities to socialize in the office, there are also more opportunities for potential misunderstanding - and harassment - in the workplace.
Over the last few years, I have found it interesting to watch businesses, especially retailers, try to celebrate this time of year without overtly mentioning any specific holiday by name. In my mind, that approach lumps everything together and takes away the significance of each. Why not try to honor and respect the uniqueness of each of the holidays as well as the employees who celebrate them?
Guest Article: Excellent Leaders are Excellent Cheerleaders
Question: What is a secret shared by fantastic leaders and also great spouses and life partners?
Answer: Cheerleading!
That is, people with excellent leadership skills cheerlead after:
- Positive Events
- Victories
- A job well done
They also buoy up employees who experience a setback, bad news, or mistake.
Key Leadership Skill Research
Recent research showed that a person who responds enthusiastically - like a cheerleader - to his or her partner’s good news produces a stronger and healthier relationship than a person who responds compassionately to bad news. This was found in research by Shelly Gable, Ph.D., UCLA psychology professor, and reported in Journal of Personality & Social Psychology (Vol. 91, No. 5).
This relationship research sheds light on a key leadership skill: Leaders who ‘bond’ and form strong, productive relationships with employees and colleagues excel at cheerleading.
Gable and fellow researchers videotaped 79 couples talking about positive and negative events. Then, trained raters coded their partners’ responses for
- Usefulness: constructive or destructive
- Enthusiasm: energetic or passive
Example: A person proudly tells their partner that she or he just landed a promotion. Then, there are four possible responses to accomplishment… Read the rest of this entry »
Guest Article: The 7 Proven Leadership Characteristics
The world is full of articles, books, manuals and courses on what it takes to be a great leader. So why do you need another one?
With all of the hype around leadership and leadership attributes, sometimes it makes sense to get “back to basics” and really examine what, over three decades of hands-on experience, have shown us to be true.
Let me describe for you the seven know-hows that are the bedrock of success proven time and time again… Read the rest of this entry »
5 Fool-proof Ways to Become the Boss You’ve Always Hated
Trainer’s Note: Feel free to reproduce and distribute this article to managers.
You’re a manager. You may not have the coveted corner office; you may not even have an office at all, but you’re on your way. You’re a leader. You have a team of employees. When you speak they listen. When you say, “jump!” they ask, “how high?” Or so the saying goes.
If only the transition from employee to manager were that easy. The reality is that a manager title does not make you a leader. You have to do that yourself. It takes desire and it takes work.
The truth is being a crappy boss comes easily. As a matter of fact, I’ve never met anyone who didn’t have an awful boss at one time or another. If that’s your aspiration, consider these fool-proof approaches to poor management and become the boss you’ve always hated…
Guest Article: Management - What’s your managerial personality?
Five different managerial personality styles–the upsides and downsides of each.
11 Warning Signs that Your Employees May Be Ripping You Off
Trainer’s Note: Feel free to reproduce and distribute this article to managers.
The warning signs of possible theft or other criminal activity aren’t always easy to spot. Sometimes there’s no forewarning. But, internal theft is different. The warning signs are almost always right in front of us - if we’re paying attention.
And given that research suggests 1 in 3 employees steal if given the opportunity, employers should pay attention. Losses due to employee theft of cash and property can be staggering. Small businesses may collapse, while the profits of large businesses take a huge hit. Consider these statistics:
- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that employee theft costs American employers more than $50 billion dollars each year.
- In a study conducted last year by The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, executives of 60 percent of the companies surveyed said they expected their employees to steal money or equipment.
- Another study conducted by The Chubb Group in 2004 found that 39 percent of private companies had employees who stole company funds, equipment, or merchandise.
Management Training: 6 Ways to Bring New Managers Up to Speed
Each month, ASTD’s The Learning Circuits Blog posts its “Big Question” for learning professionals, educators, and trainers to weigh in on. The question for March — What would you do to support new managers? — got me thinking about a new manager’s first day.
All new managers I’ve known walk in their first day feeling good about themselves. They feel good about their new promotion or new job. They are excited and determined to succeed. There is usually an underlying anxiety as well. They need to prove that they are worthy of the promotion or their new manager title.
New Day Excitement
Without support, new managers quickly lose that first day zing. I remember a friend who was newly promoted into her first supervisory position. Within the first month she was overwhelmed and was pining for her former job. She had excelled in her former position; in her new job she was floundering. Her anxiety took root and planted doubts. By the second month, she told me she was constantly questioning herself and her abilities. And, most importantly, she hated her new job.
Those of us in the training and development field know that proper support is critical. Without it, new managers face a difficult road and a journey that impacts their entire team. While there’s no question in my mind that ongoing management and leadership skill training are an integral part of any manager’s development, new managers need more.
They need to be coached, inspired, and challenged. Like all employees, they need to know that what they do matters - especially in the context of managing their teams. When dealing with management, there’s a lot on the line. Ironically, our most inexperienced managers impact the most people in an organization. Usually they have the most direct reports, and in customer-driven organizations, they’re also the manager who is closest to the customer. Read the rest of this entry »
Guest Article: 4 Common Misconceptions about Employee Incentives
Having good intentions is unfortunately not enough at all to make employee incentives work for your company. If you want to spend your money on a truly worthwhile cause, do make sure first that you’re not suffering from any misconceptions about employee incentives.
Misconception #1
Money Makes the World Go Round And maybe it does, but not all the time. True enough, surveys will frequently show that employees desire financial incentives more than non-financial ones while employers believe otherwise. Who do you think is right?
You might think that it’s what employees believe that counts but in reality, the employers have it right. It’s undeniable that money has the power of changing people’s perspective…but once the money’s on their hands and spent for whatever reason, they lose motivation immediately after that.
When choosing and giving out employee incentives, always make sure to do what you can to maximize on its benefits.
Misconception #2
Performance-Based Employee Incentives are the best but in reality, it’s not… Read the rest of this entry »
Guest Article: Management - 10 Things Your Workers Want from You
Workers are human beings. That may seem obvious to you, but because of that simple fact, we’ve got decades of behavioral science research that can help us understand what they want.
Here are ten things that workers want from you…
- They want to know what you expect. If they don’t know, they’ll either guess or decide not to act until they know. Neither of those is a choice you want them to make.
- Lay out your expectations individually and for the group. They want you to be reasonable. Your workers want you to set reasonable performance targets and give them the resources they need to hit those targets. Read the rest of this entry »
Guest Article: Use Goals As A Time Management Tool
You’ve heard the saying, “If you do not know where you are going, how will you know when you get there.” Imagine the aggravation of traveling by automobile to another state for a conference, meeting or preferably a vacation, without a map as a guide, the convenience of map quest or have the privilege to have On Star in your automobile to determine the best route to take to get to your destination. You would travel unnecessary routes, waste time and increase your stress level 100 percent. Why would you do this to yourself?Well, you do it to yourself in your business if you do not have clearly defined goals which pave a way to your desired destination or outcome. Let’s explore three simple ways to use goals as a time management tool.
Go For Fun This Holiday Season
Trainer’s Note: Feel free to reproduce and distribute this article.I am one of those people who look forward to the New Year. I clean out the closets. I organize my office. I secretly challenge myself to write a check without writing the wrong date. I even like the idea of making a New Year’s Resolution or two.
But this year, I’m doing something different. This year I am going to forget the New Year’s Resolutions I’ve made - and broken - in years past. Eating healthier. Exercising. Getting organized. Keeping up with the house. Starting four college funds.
Don’t get me wrong. Those are all good things that I should focus on and I will, a little at a time. After all, there’s something to be said for perseverance. But, this year I want to try something new. And, instead of waiting for January 1, I’m going to start now. I am going to add more fun to my life…
Guest Article on Management: Delegation Trains Everyone
The inability to delegate is one of the most common problems of managers. Management and leadership is all about getting results by organising and supervising a workforce. Poor delegation or no delegation is inefficient and expensive. And the worst thing about not delegating is that managers are losing wonderful training opportunities for their workers.- They feel at ease doing routine tasks rather than supervising the work of others
- They aren’t familiar with the skills of their workers and therefore unsure of other people’s ability to take more responsibility
- They hate correcting other people’s work
- They know they can do some things better than others
The High Cost of Turnover
I had an interesting conversation the other day with a friend of mine about a problem employee. After several attempts to work with him to improve performance, she and her boss have determined that he isn’t making the cut. Great guy. Good employee. Wrong job.“Are you going to try to move him into a position for which he is better suited?” I asked.
“We tried. But, he doesn’t want to move. Says he loves the department,” she told me. “He’d rather leave the company than move out of the group.”
“If he’s not doing well, then how can he be happy?” I said.
“The guy loves the people he works with - which is part of the problem. He builds great working relationships with his co-workers and his clients, but then spends too much time maintaining them,” she said. “But, that’s the reason everyone likes him. He cares.”
She went on. “And given the nature of our business, his co-workers probably don’t know that his productivity is the lowest in the group and that his errors are the costliest.”
“So, what are you going to do?” I asked.
15 Quotes to Inspire You To Succeed
Editor Note: We thought the perfect way for you to start off your week is with advice from great people that will help you
stand apart from the crowd, be a fish out of water, as it were. Enjoy!
1. Understand that you need to sell you and your ideas in order to advance your career, gain more respect, and increase your success, influence and income. — Jay Abraham
Quotes to Inspire You To Succeed (Part 2)
1. The way to succeed is to double your error rate. — Thomas Watson
11 Tips for Motivating Your Team
Trainer’s Note: Feel free to reproduce and distribute this article to managers.
There is a prevalent myth among many managers that self-motivated employees don’t require much attention or feedback. They feel good about themselves and the hard work they do. What they do drives them. That may be true, but even the most self-motivated employees need to know that what they do matters. Even a cactus needs water to thrive.
The attitude of a self-motivated worker makes it easy to buy into such a myth. They’re usually self-directed. Positive thinking. Results-oriented. And hard working. They’re not just satisfied being there. They want to accomplish something and do it well. (Being self-motivated is different than being satisfied; even poor performers can be satisfied if they can show up, put their hours in, and get away with being unproductive.)
It’s easy to confuse attention with guidance or direction. That’s why it’s so easy to leave self-motivated employees alone. Unless they’re learning something new, they usually don’t need a lot of guidance or direction. They take something and run with it. If they need something, they’ll come to you. They don’t need constant reassurance. But they do need attention.
Here’s an example. A few years ago, a friend of mine was looking to leave her job. I was surprised. She had worked for the company for three years and had been promoted in that time. I knew her to be dedicated, ambitious, and hard working. She had a good relationship with her manager. She also enjoyed her colleagues, the company, and what she did.
What changed? Her boss. Her previous manager had been promoted and the new one hardly noticed her. She told me that he occasionally commented on her work and on his first day had told her he was happy to have her in his group.
“He’s just happy because I’m not a problem,” she told me. “Some days, I don’t even see him. It’s like I don’t exist.” She resigned a few weeks later and her boss never saw it coming. She didn’t quit her job. She quit her boss.
All employees need your attention. That’s how they know you care. Care that they showed up for work. Care that they are putting in an effort. Care that they are part of your team. That is powerful motivation.
I’m not advocating micro-management. I am suggesting that your most self-directed and productive employees need you to notice them and their work too. Assuming your employees know how to perform a given task, your employees decide how, or if, they will commit to that task, and the level of effort they will give. Even self-motivated employees make that decision every day. The question is this: do you motivate them sufficiently to help ensure that their decision is to stay and work hard as part of your group and your company?
Keeping all of your employees motivated is not a once-a-year pep talk tied to a financial incentive. It’s how you treat your employees and it’s what good leaders do every day. Here are 11 tips for keeping your employees - even the self-motivated ones - motivated.
Here are 11 Tips for Motivating your Team… Read the rest of this entry »
Employee Performance: 5 Common Employee Sidetracks and How to Manage Them
Trainer’s Note: Feel free to reproduce and distribute this article to managers.
To this day, I think of a former colleague whenever someone mentions dental work or a needed auto repair. I recall talking with her a few years back about taking my car into the shop for a 30,000-mile check and new brakes. I wondered aloud what else I might need and how much it would cost. She quipped, “Teeth and cars. When’s there’s a problem it’s never any fun. ”
I can think of a few managers who might like to add employee problems to root canals and worn-out brakes. Let’s face it. Dealing with performance issues and poor work habits may come with the job, but it’s never fun. And, it’s even more challenging if we get sidetracked.
What is a sidetrack? It’s an attempt to divert a discussion away from the problem. During a performance improvement discussion an employee’s natural defense mechanism can sabotage a manager’s best efforts. That is, unless the manager is prepared. A manager who anticipates a sidetrack can stay focused on the problem.
Although there are many different types of sidetracks, understanding these five common sidetracks and how to manage them will help you stay focused too… Read the rest of this entry »
Guest Article: Enthusiasm-The Key to Productivity & Innovation
What’s the difference between enthusiasm and gasoline? Maybe, there’s not much difference between the two. They both provide the power to drive us forward.The internal combustion engine of our automobile runs on gasoline. Gasoline vapor enters the cylinder and the spark plug ignites the fumes unleashing the power that can propel our vehicles over one hundred miles an hour.
Enthusiasm in the workplace, properly ignited, can propel your business into success. Motivated employees work harder. They’ll even come with ideas to improve the product or service. Motivated and enthusiastic employees are the best kind of employees to have.
Enthusiasm is rare, however. Most employees want to do a good job, but they feel under appreciated. Generally, bad management is blamed for unmotivated workers, but often, good management can still provide unenthusiastic workers. So, what’s the secret?
Six Things You should Never Say to a Customer
During my years in training, I’ve had many conversations with people about the connection between behaviors and attitudes. Does an employee’s poor attitude cause poor performance? Or does an employee’s poor performance create a poor attitude, a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy?
The answer is yes and yes. But, the reality is like the ongoing question of which came first, the chicken or the egg. It really doesn’t matter. How do you know someone has a poor attitude? It shows. And, if it shows, you’re dealing with behaviors. If it doesn’t show, it’s not a problem.
Although there is a direct correlation between how we think (our attitudes) and what we do (our behaviors), the only way to help your employees change poor performance is to focus on their behaviors. What they do and say. How they are acting.
But it’s not black and white. While you can’t change your employees’ moods or attitudes - they need to do that for themselves - you can influence how they think about and approach their work. Regardless of whether you work in a hospital, a retail store, a restaurant, or a non-profit, when you come to work, you’re on. You need to check your mood and emotions at the door and you need to help your employees do the same. Why? Because your customers don’t care whether you overslept. Or missed the bus. Or had an argument before breakfast. Your patients don’t care if you got a speeding ticket. Or that you didn’t get the day off you requested. Or that you’re tired and cranky.
As a manager, it’s important that your employees understand how their moods and attitudes affect their behaviors and ultimately everyone around them. When you help them understand they can “put on” any disposition they want, they’ll find that they enjoy work more and their customers will have a better experience as well.
What your employees say to your customers is an easy barometer of their attitude, how they are feeling, and what they are thinking about work. There are many things an associate shouldn’t say to - or around - a customer or a patient. Some are driven by a poor attitude and some are driven by lack of knowledge about what is or isn’t appropriate.
Whether you’re dealing with a poor attitude about work or unacceptable customer service behaviors, here’s a good starting point for a discussion: Six Things You Should Never Say to a Customer…
Read the rest of this entry »
Reasons for Poor Performance
Paul Newman from Cool Hand Luke, Picture from Wikipedia |
A manager friend of mine was lamenting recently about the prospect of firing one of her employees.
“Will he be surprised?” I asked.
She looked at me for moment, startled by the question. “I don’t know. I’ve talked to him a couple of times,” she said, her voice trailing off.
The bottom line is this. If you have done your job right, a poor performing employee, given an opportunity to improve, will view termination as the fitting outcome for failure to do so. But, if your employee is surprised, you didn’t do your job well enough. There was a breakdown in communication. Or as Paul Newman quips at the end of Cool Hand Luke,
“Now, what we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.”
Time Management: 11 Tips for Taming Technology
Trainer’s Note: Feel free to reproduce and distribute this article to managers and employees.
Control Technology Before It Controls You
Do you ever feel like you need more hours in your work week to truly accomplish all you’d like? Do you ever feel like the things that are supposed to be helping you work smarter and more efficiently - e-mail, VM, your cell phone, your PDA - are the very same things that take up so much of your time? If so, you’re not alone.
According to Business Week online, one in four executives consider their voice mail, e-mail, and time they spend in meetings unmanageable. A McKinsey survey of 7,800 managers around the world, cited in the same article, found that 40 percent of managers say they spend a half- to a full-day each week - that’s almost 20 percent of their work week - on communications that aren’t valuable. If we conservatively say that managers receive at least as many valuable communications, then nearly half of the managers surveyed spend up to two days a week (at a minimum) dealing with e-mail and voice mail.
E-mail, voice mail, PDAs, and cell phones are supposed to make work life easier and they do. We are no longer slaves to our desktop computers and office telephones. But, here’s the interesting part, if you don’t manage these technological timesaving wonders, they may take over your days, as quickly as weeds choke out healthy grass.
The Problem
I appreciate the way technology enables me to work more efficiently and I’m sure you do too. I remember when I had to go to the FedEx office to overnight a draft to my employer. Now, I just attach it to an e-mail and it’s there in minutes. I love the way I can work out of my home office and connect with my colleagues in another time zone through voice mail, the phone, or e-mail. There’s no question these technologies make my job easier and for that I am grateful.
The problem is when you allow them to take over. And if you’re like me, it may be tough to admit it’s a problem. I multi-task well and I manage my email, voice mail, and phone use just fine. Thankyouverymuch.
That is, until I hear the beep that tells me I just received an e-mail. Hmm. I wonder who sent me a message. And, when the phone rings. I should let it go to voice mail and keep writing. On second thought, I’m at a good stopping point. Let me grab it. Or, if I let the call go to voice mail and the message light blinks and blinks and blinks and blinks. Okay. Okay. I’ll check messages!
According to a study conducted in England last year, the constant interruptions of e-mail and phone calls hurts more than just productivity.
A British study of 1,100 workers showed that employees distracted by phone calls and e-mail suffer a loss of IQ. According to the clinical trials, which monitored the workers’ IQ throughout the workday, employees who juggled their regular work and their influx of messages experienced a loss of 10 IQ points, the equivalent of missing a whole night’s sleep. Men in the tests experienced an even higher drop in IQ.
The study results didn’t surprise me. It’s common sense that multitasking divides one’s focus. Have you ever talked with someone on the phone who is also banging away on the keyboard? Or, seen a driver chatting on a cell phone, oblivious to the traffic demands? It also makes sense that the drop in IQ is temporary. As soon as the employee stops juggling, focus returns and so does IQ.
But, what did surprise me was the amount of time workers spend juggling their inbox, voice mail box, and regular work, thereby performing below their potential because of their obsession with unchecked messages. A Clear Context 2006 Email Usage Survey, across industries, reports that 40% of respondents say they check e-mail constantly. That means almost half of the employees surveyed are working regularly as if they didn’t sleep the night before.
Consider these statistics:
- 25% of respondents say they check e-mail a few times each hour
- 40% say they check e-mail constantly
- 42% say they also use a mobile device to check e-mail
- 59% say they agree or strongly agree that they spend too much time keeping up with their e-mail
- 25% of respondents say they receive between 100 and 250 e-mails a day (7% receive up to 500 per day)
A Solution
There is a solution. The answer lies in managing your day, managing the technology - and managing yourself. So, check out the tips below, free up some time in your day, and achieve your potential this year. You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain. Your IQ for starters…
Guest Article: Respect - Five Secrets to Handling the “Don Imuses” on Your Team
Don Imus, a shock jock (someone who shocks their listening audience by saying outrageous statements), was fired from his jobs on WFAN Radio and MSNBC television for crossing the line of decency and making racist and sexist remarks regarding the Rutgers University women’s basketball team. From a team building and employee motivational point of view, there are tidbits of motivational wisdom to be learned from this situation.
First, let me ask you, how many “Don “Imuses” do you have in your organization, your team, or your department? You know what I mean, the employees, whether they are women or male employees, who continuously cross the line when it comes to behavior; perhaps being overbearing or the bully at work. They make insensitive comments without respect for other people’s feelings, and then say the following when you discuss their conduct:
“I’m just being me.” “That’s just the way I am.” “I was just playing.” “I didn’t hurt anybody.” “Oh, you’re just too sensitive.” “Can’t you take a joke?” “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Yet, they proceed to exhibit this inappropriate behavior. Because of this “Don Imus” behavior, productivity decreases, employees are less motivated, transfers and personnel issues increase, and soon you stop accomplishing your goals. Bottom line is that these kinds of people can tear apart your organization and team with their words or behavior.
The following are five secrets to handling the “Don Imuses” on your team so that you keep employee motivation high, build a strong, self-directed team, and achieve a higher level of organizational success… Read the rest of this entry »
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