Month: March 2019

What Should You Do?

In order to increase performance and productivity, you need to:

• Realize that you have the right to be the boss. Expecting an excellent level of performance is not micromanagement or harassment. You have every right to expect the level of performance your team needs to be successful.

• Coach, counsel and warn... but if the outlier doesn’t shape up after you’ve engaged in all those steps, don’t hesitate to put them on a PIP. Certainly, you should make sure that you’ve offered them the training and coaching they need to succeed, but they have no right to 1,000 chances.

• Document, document, document. Make sure that you have documented all the steps above.

• Partner with HR so that the PIP is reasonable and drafted appropriately.

• Be positive.  When you deliver the document, tell the employee you hope they do succeed with the requested performance and that this move is not an attempt to push them out the door.

• Remember that old management mantra: it’s not the people you fire who create the most problems, it’s the people you don’t fire.

• For more tips on managing performance, go to check out my Monday Memo on Documentation Hassles and How to End Them.

Did You Know

What Should You Do?

• Never Pretend.  If you don’t know the answer to your team’s puzzle, don’t try to bluff.

• Lead With Passion.  According to Marshall Goldsmith, frequently rated as the #1 executive coach in the world, demonstrating passion will help your crew believe in you as a leader, even if they have more technical knowledge. Most people these days want to work for more than a paycheck and the best way to help people demonstrate passion is to show your own.

• Strengthen Abilities and Support Growth.  Goldsmith asserts that, in addition to strengthening your technical abilities, you should be constantly improving your leadership skills. Demonstrating that you take improvement seriously can also help encourage those you lead to do the same.

• Appreciate Time.  If you manage knowledge workers, it’s likely that they don’t work normal 40 hour weeks. When you ask them to work extra, Goldsmith argues, make sure that you do the same and that you show appreciation for their extra effort. I recently coached an executive whose whole crew mutinied when asked one too many times to work weekends. That may be necessary sometimes, but be sure that you give them as much notice as possible and show how much you value their effort.

• Build Networks.  Networks are mandatory these days, not just for job hunters. You – and your team – need to be constantly connecting with other experts to find potential new hires, clients or customers, says Goldsmith.

• Help encourage meaning.  Goldsmith urges leaders to help their folks find meaning in their work, not just a paycheck. Help them see how they are contributing to the vision and values of the organization, talk about the big picture when you are giving assignments and remind them of how they fit into the whole.

• Develop Your EQ.  Learn more about the most important qualities of an effective leader in my Monday Memo on empathy and EQ.

Did You Know

What Should You Do?

Tell the truth fast: When it’s your job to communicate the correction, do it as fast as possible. Of course you want to be prepared when facing employees or the media, but too many organizations wait too long to come clean. When you do, you then have more questions to answer than the original ones, in addition to being viewed as trying to hide the facts.

Don’t say you know if you don’t. According to Dorie Clark, author of Entrepreneurial You, Reinventing You, and Stand Out, recognized as a “branding expert” by the Associated Press, Adjunct Professor of Business Administration at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, a former presidential campaign spokeswoman and a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review and Forbes, be sure that you don’t say you know what happened if you don’t. Leaders frequently make the mistake of wanting to have all the answers. If you’re still sorting out the facts, say so. If the investigation is still in process, admit that. Otherwise, you may be accused of covering up the main problem. At that point, your critics will cry that “the cover-up is worse than the crime”.

Only three things you can say: According to Clark, you really only have three choices when you are speaking during a disaster.

1)   We didn’t do it. Be sure this is true before you say it;

2)   We did it but it was justified. Prepare this explanation and make sure that it’s believable; and

3)   We did it and we’re sorry. If this is the answer, be sure the apology is fully offered. Don’t say things such as “we apologize if anyone was offended”. Check out my article about how to issue a real apology.

Did You Know

What Should You Do?

Here’s the way out of this conundrum:

Pick Your Time, Place and Tone.  Right before lunch, for example, when most people’s blood sugar is low, is NOT a good time. Similarly, after 5:00 pm, if your staff is used to fleeing when the whistle blows, is also a mistake. If possible, let them know ahead of time that you need to meet and give them the idea of the agenda. If it’s bad news or a complete surprise, they may be so shocked they won’t hear most of what you are saying. Meet in private; follow the classic management mantra: praise in public, criticize in private. Realize that some people may react to your intensity and stop being able to listen. If you are delivering bad news, take a deep breath, lean back, lower your voice and clasp your hands.

State Your Truth and Then Ask for Listening Confirmation. 

• An employee’s first day. Starting from the first day onward, let new people know of your expectations, objectives and find out theirs. Then send them off with instructions to email you back with their understanding of what you said.

• What they hear. Prepare to be depressed. In most situations, you will notice that what you said is not the message received. This gives you a chance to correct their misconceptions, prove you are being fair, and provides a time-sensitive documentation trail.

• Throughout the year. After that first meeting, use regular one-on-ones, perhaps once a week or maybe once a month, depending upon your schedule, and speak in a matter-of-fact way about what is working and what is not working. Again, ask the associate to email back to you their understanding of what you said. Again, you will think human communication is hopeless. But if you do this continually, your communication skills will improve as will their listening skills.

• The performance review advantage. Most managers loathe performance reviews, but this method provides you with a year’s worth of documentation and – hooray! – your staff has done all the work – not legally required, but it will save you a world of hurt.

What Do You Think?

Have you mastered the art of persuading people to listen? Call or write us at: 303-216-1020 or Lynne@workplacesthatwork.com

Did You Know