Management Secrets Part II
Hugo Monteiro
PP Manager
Management Secrets Part II
2 Empower your people
2.1 Manage with style
2.2 Know the ‘High Five’ that will motivate
2.3 Training is a chance to grow your own
2.4 Know how to coach
2.5 Keep on track with feedback
2.6 Let others share the load (Delegation)
2.7 Orchestrate a winning performance
2.8 Accentuate the positive in appraisals
2.9 Absence won’t make the heart grow fonder
2.10 Make discipline a quiet word
Now it’s time to turn to the people you are managing. This chapter asks you to think about the individual interactions you have every day. Coaching and training are key managerial behaviors. Keeping your staff motivated is also crucial. Also included are secrets to dealing with tricky situations that, if handled badly, may lead to poor performance from your employees.
2.1 Manage with style
Everybody in your team is different. One might have more ability; another might have a better attitude. Some you can leave to get on with tasks; others you need to oversee more closely. Because each person is an individual, you manage each in an individual way. The managerial approach laid out here is adapted from Ken Blanchard and Paul Hersey’s Situational Leadership model. Say to yourself; what is it my employees need from me? The need direction and they need support. Sometimes I give both, at other times only one, and sometimes neither! What is it that helps me decide?
one minute wonder. How much does your managerial style vary from employee to employee? How much direction and support have you given to each? Does it respect their different needs? Have you ever used the wrong behavior when responding to an employee?
- Assess personal confidence. I first assess how high their confidence is in a situation. If it’s low, then I’ll consider how best I might support them to build their self-belief.
- Assess personal ability. How competent are they in this situation? Have they got the skills? Do I need to think about training or offering advice?
What if I have a person who lacks confidence and is also not yet competent? Then I use a style that gives a clear direction, yet is also supportive and encouraging. A newly promoted person often needs this. Of course, as their competence grows, so will their confidence. Perhaps someone is confident but has done something wrong? Then they only need direction. I might coach them. Work with them to make sure they see where they might have got it wrong. You’ll get people who are great performers but who lack confidence. Here I’m supportive. I remind them of what a great job they’re doing.
Of course you sometimes use all four different approaches with the same person. That’s the skill. Seeing the situation clearly and choosing the right managerial behavior. What does a high flyer need? Not much really, but I’d take the time to let them know I appreciate them. They don’t need more self confidence or direction – they probably need promoting!
“Your management style must respond to each individual’s ability and self confidence”.
2.2 Know the ‘High Five’ that will motivate
A motivated team looks at obstacles as things to be overcome. A demotivated team sees the same obstacles as proof of the pointlessness of their efforts. Here are my ‘High Five’ tips to deliver sky-high levels of motivation.
1. Give recognition and praise for what your people achieve. Catch people doing things right. Give the praise quickly and make sure you say why it was important.
2. Make the work challenging. People who are stretched maintain higher levels of motivation than people who are under-used. Get your people out of their comfort zones!
3. Make the work interesting. We all find different work interesting. The trick is to get to know what work is interesting to each individual in your team.
4. Create development paths. Are your people doing the same things they were doing this time last year? Then they are unlikely to be developing new skills.
5. Encourage real ownership and responsibility. When I own something I have more incentive to make sure I’m doing it to a high standard. Delegate whole tasks where you can.
“Really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great” – Mark Twain, American writer
If you’re a good manager you’ll know that there are some real ‘turn-offs’ that demotivate people. But demotivated people don’t always tell you what it is that’s demotivating them. So you have to make sure you find out. Ask things such as “What is the biggest factor that prevents you from achieving your goals?” My bet is that a big demotivator will soon emerge. Some demotivators you can deal with and some you can’t. Be creative and try and see the situation from the employee’s point of view. Tackle the demotivators together. Sometimes just being listened to is enough to get them fired up again.
“Mastering motivation takes time and insight, but the contribution it unleashes can be amazing”.
2.3 Training is a chance to grow your own
Someone once remarked, “Everyone asks about the cost of training. But have they ever considered the cost of not training?” Nobody’s good at everything. That’s why a manager takes the time to train his or her people. But you must be systematic in the way you train. Even when it’s only one-to-one.
Always prepare for the training session. Define the training objective in a single sentence. For example: “BY the end of the session you will be able to locate a given file in a server within one minute.” Notice the measurement? It’s vital if you are going to encourage a sense of achievement. Next, decide exactly how you’re going to structure your session. Don’t ignore this. Effective trainers know that time spent on this increases the session’s success. Will you need equipment? Where would be the best place to train?
“What nobler employment…than that of the man who instructs the rising generation” – Marcus Tullius Cicero, Ancient Roman philosopher
On the day itself, make sure you go through the following steps:
- Clarify with the trainee(s) what they are about to learn. Tell them the objective you prepared for the session.
- Demonstrate the skill. Let them see the whole skill. Then repeat it slowly. Explain what you are doing and why it’s important.
- Do the exercise together. This isn’t always possible. But if can go through it at the same time it’s great way to transfer a skill.
- Ask them to do the exercise alone. Also ask them to talk through the process. Listen out for what they say
– and what they miss out!
- Give helpful feedback. Direct your feedback at the skill and not the trainee. Make sure you praise and encourage throughout.
- Follow up after the session. When you see them doing the skill ensure you continue to give encouragement and feedback. Especially for larger, more demanding tasks.
Of course, you don’t always have to give feedback. Sometimes just asking “Why do you think that happened?” or “What do you need to change?” gets the answers you want. Asking good questions gets the trainees to talk through the skill. The more they talk – and think – it through, the more they understand.
“Training builds relationships and demonstrates your commitment to staff.”
2.4 Know how to coach
Responsibility and ownership – if every employee demonstrated these two qualities, how much easier management would be! One way that will really encourage these qualities is coaching. Don’t confuse coaching with training. Training is about putting knowledge into someone. Coaching is drawing knowledge out with questions that inspire the coachee to think through and solve issues from their own experience. One great coaching technique is GROW, pioneered in John Whitmore’s book Coaching for Performance.
“When I want to, I perform better than when I have to” – John Whitmore, racing driver and performance coach
- G = Goal. What is the goal that you want the coachee to achieve? Is it a short-term or long-term goal? Will you share the goal with the employee?
- R = Reality. What is happening now? How aware is your coachee of the behaviors they are currently employing? What are the underlying reasons for their behaviors?
- O = Options. What are the alternative behaviors available to the coachee? What are the merits – or disadvantages – of each option?
- W = Will (or way forward). What option have you chosen and how will you achieve it? What are the obstacles that you must overcome? What help will you need?
Coaching is all about asking questions in a structured, searching way. For instance, during the ‘Reality’ stage, I might ask, “So what’s happening now?” “Why do you think that’s happening?” “What effect is that having on your work?” These questions make the coachee analyze the situation and come up with their own solutions. After all, we all prefer our own solutions to problems!
“Coaching is a powerful way of building accountability in your people”
2.5 Keep on track with feedback
“How am I doing?” This question is so important. People want feedback but they want it to be delivered sensitively and effectively. Sometime we give feedback that’s positive and says: “I love what you’ve done, keep doing it!”
Sometimes we give feedback to make someone even better at what they are doing: “I like this but adjusting this would really help”. Of course it’s the second type of feedback, developmental feedback, which most managers’ struggle with. If you have to give feedback to improve someone’s performance then go with these six simple steps.
1. Clarify why the behavior is happening. “Renu, I noticed that you haven’t started preparing your presentation.”
2. Confirm what your understanding was. “I thought we agreed that you’d have a session plan completed yesterday.”
3. First recap the benefits of the agreed behaviors. “You’ll remember we agreed that it would help you decide how much time to dedicate to each area?”
4. State your concern. “I’m concerned that you might fall behind and have too much to do before the presentation itself.
5. Ask the employee to confirm. “What was your understanding when we last spoke about this point?”
6. Conclude with a positive statement. “It’s your big opportunity Renu, let’s make sure that the senior team realize how great your project went.”
one minute wonder. How often do you seek feedback from those around you? How accurate is that feedback? How well has it been delivered? How receptive are you to development feedback that helps you to grow?
You must give feedback as close to the event as you can. I call this ‘fresh feedback’. There’s a time when feedback is ripe and a time when it’s too far past its sell-by date! And sometimes you have to assess how receptive the employee will be. If Renu’s presentation was a disaster then you may want to wait until she is more receptive to receiving feedback.
One last point: make your feedback specific. Talk about behavior that people can change and make sure that you never use feedback as an excuse for a personal attack.
“Well delivered feedback removes blind spots in people’s performance and increases motivation.”
2.6 Let others share the load
You can’t do everything. You’ve got to share your work where you can. Not only does it take the pressure off you, you’ll find staff enjoys the new responsibilities you’ve given them. So show your trust in people – follow these seven ‘must-do’ delegation tips:
1. Think carefully about who you’re going to delegate to. Don’t overload the highest performer. Make sure everyone has the skills to do what you’re asking them to do.
2. Meet quickly with the people you’ve chosen. They’ll need more time than you to prepare for the task. What might take you a day to achieve might take someone else a week!
3. Set aside plenty of time to talk through the task. Others may not be as quick in understanding it as you. Allow plenty of time to make things clear.
4. Be clear about the end result. If you only want a one-page reports then say so. Be precise about what you’re asking someone to do.
5. Agree how often an employee is going to report back. Remember, an inexperienced person will need to report back more often than someone who has done the task before.
6. Ask the employee to summarize what you’ve asked them to do. It’s a great test of how well they’ve understood the task!
7. Let them get on with it. Don’t ‘hover’ over them. Constantly checking up on their progress shows that you don’t really trust them. Stick to the agreed stages of reporting back.
The most important thing about these tips is that they make you think ahead. The worst managers don’t plan their delegation – and because the results are so disappointing, the experience often discourages them from delegating ever again. Whatever time you invest in planning your delegation will soon be repaid. Best of all, you will then have more time to get working on the things that interest you!
“Delegation is one of the most powerful tools you have to develop your people.”
2.7 Orchestrate a winning performance
Your success or failure depends on the ability of your people to deliver high levels of performance. Think of yourself as a musical conductor. The way that you manage your orchestra makes all the difference. Is the performance you’re getting music to your ears?
When you manage people, you need to be clear to them about what an excellent performance actually is – to set objectives in terms of quality or quantity or both. Answer the following questions:
1. What are you aiming for? What are the objectives you’ve agreed with your boss? What are the measures that will tell you whether you’ve been successful or not?
2. What must you do to achieve your targets? What activities must you organize to ensure that the team hits the targets?
3. How are going to measure progress against your targets? What system can you develop that will track how successful the team is against the targets. Will you need reports? Feedback meetings? Presentations?
4. How are you going to deal with problems that arise? What if a key employee is ill? Or other priorities emerge? Think ahead and brainstorm likely problems and solutions with the team.
Managers who get performance management wrong often make two mistakes. The first is that they are not clear enough about what they expect of each individual. The second is they don’t help their people when they are struggling to perform at the required level. Great managers care about what’s important to their employees, which often makes their employees care about what’s important to the manager. They create a culture of openness and honesty: if employees have bad news about performance then the manager needs to know. They don’t want to hear about any problems from their boss first!
“Good managers consistently deliver against their targets.”
2.8 Accentuate the positive in appraisals
A well run appraisal can give a whole new surge of energy to an employee, fire them up to achieve and motivate them to take on new challenges. Is every appraisal like this? No. But they could be if all managers followed these eight easy appraisal tips.
1. Preparation is everything. Prepare evidence of achievement. Prepare evidence where the appraise underperformed. Talk to colleagues and customers. Keep notes of performance between appraisals and refer to them before the big day.
2. Ask the appraisee to prepare for the appraisal. They should come with their own evidence of achievement and disappointments. Give them at least a week to prepare.
3. Open the appraisal by acknowledging their contribution. Positive openings set the tone. Say that it’s also an opportunity to put together a development plan.
4. Review last year’s objective. Go through what was achieved and what wasn’t. What were the highlights? What wasn’t achieved? What were the things that got in the way?
5. Look forward to the challenges of the coming appraisal period. What business goals are there? How will the appraisee contribute? What plans must you make together?
6. Review any training. Was it useful? What have they applied? What training will be needed to meet the challenges ahead?
7. Agree the key objectives and milestones. Ask the trainee to summarize what’s been discussed. What will be the first challenges? What are the first obstacles to be dealt with?
8. Finish on a high. Tell them what happens next with the documentation. Say how much you’ve enjoyed the session. Then give them a sincere thank you for the hard work that they do.
What to avoid? Never refer only to recent events. You must appraise for the whole appraisal period. Always be fair – we sometimes can be easier with those we like more. And remember to get the appraisee talking most of the time. Self-appraisal can be powerfully effective.
“Begin appraisals with a positive tone by discussing achievement.”
2.9 Absence won’t make the heart grow fonder
There are days when people are genuinely too ill to go to work. And days when some people just can’t be bothered to go to work. How can you tell the difference? Sometimes you can never know. But I promise you can lower absenteeism by following these steps.
1. Record all absences. You must keep records of attendance. After all, you are probably recording everything else, so why not record the attendance you get from each employee?
2. Calculate the lost time rate. Take the total absence (in hours or days) and multiply by 100. Then divide this figure by the available hours or days to arrive at the lost time rate.
3. Analyze the rate of absence. Is there an area of the business driving high absenteeism? Is there a reason for this? Workload? Working conditions perhaps? Maybe even a bullying manager?
4. Agree an absence policy. If your organization doesn’t have one, develop it yourself (remember local employment legislation, though). Employees will then be clear about what you require them to do when they are absent.
5. Conduct a short ‘return to work interview’. What was the reason for their absence? Is the reason given justified? Are there doubts you need to raise?
What about long-term absence? Well, you have to be careful. Phoning an employee every day at home might look like pressurizing them to return and is not accepted in some countries. But there are valuable things you can still do. Keep in regular contact, and ask relevant questions about their medical condition. Keep them up to date with development at work so that they still feel involved in the team. Lastly, if the absence is very prolonged, explore other areas of employment within the organization where a disability may not such a problem.
In 2008 a number of organization (as part of a study) introduced the above procedures. In 2009 many reported a reduction in absenteeism between 10.2% and 43.4%.
One minute manager. Take a moment to think about how you behave when an employee returns to work. How impartial are you? How well do you listen to the reasons given for absence? How easy does the employee find it to talk to you?
“Absence might be due to other issues besides illness.”
2.10 Make discipline a quiet word
Very few managers like having to do it. But dealing with behavior or performance that isn’t meeting standards is part of our job. So take courage and be positive in how you deal with discipline. Wherever you live in the world you will have guidelines or rules for dealing with underperformance in employees. It’s usually a combination of company rules and national laws.
You might be tempted to think that the easiest solution is to get rid of someone who is underperforming or being difficult, but is that really the best option? People who underperform usually fail to deliver in one of two areas: they lack ability or they lack the right attitude. Make sure you know what you’re dealing with before you act. So ask for a ‘quiet word with them’ and talk in private.
one minute wonder. Think through the likely results of not dealing with discipline issues. Will employees like you more? Will employees thank you for not dealing with people problems? If you don’t deal with it, will any problem get better or worse?
“A culture of discipline is not a principle of business; it is a principle of greatness” – Jim Collins, American business consultant
Use my 1-2-3 of getting people back to their best.
1. Agree that there is a performance gap. What is the difference between what you expect and what the employee is giving you? Are they aware that there is a gap?
2. Agree the reasons why the performance gap exists. What is it that has created the behavior? Why?
3. Agree how you are both going to close the performance gap. What actions can you both commit to and over what timescale? When will you meet again to assess their progress?
Before you meet, decide exactly what it is that you are going to deal with. Have examples ready when they have failed to meet standards. Think carefully about how you and they will react. If you’re new to management then get a friend to role-play with.
“Failing to deal with people issues early will always create bigger people issues in the future.”
Go Back to Part I Click to Part III
