Manage better by doing very simple things

Here is something that a supervisor shared with me the other day. He had taken part in a management training course we conduct and as part of the training I phoned him to provide some coaching around issues he was facing. One of the questions was about what his learning plan objectives would be. He said ‘I plan to be on the floor with the mechanics more.’ I probed a bit to see if there was anything else he was going to try to do, but that was the extent of it.

I thought it was brilliant. He didn’t pick three or four items – his workload would have short-circuited that.  He didn’t pick a new skill to develop – a new skill won’t help him manage his current situation and there isn’t any time for him to go off to a course or a secondment. What he did was this:

1. He looked at his situation and identified all that he had to do and assess what he could realistically take on, by way of changing how he manages.
2. He reviewed the short list and focused on the one possible course of action that – if successfully done – will make the biggest positive impact on his work environment.

By choosing to spend more time on the floor, he reasoned that he would be more accessible to employees, be in a position to better understand the ebb and flow of workload, and be available for immediate consultation by his direct reports for resolving technical situations, all resulting in increased productivity. For him, this will make a huge difference in achieving his objectives.

What’s the lesson?

1. Keep your development goals simple and straightforward.
2. Make the changes to your management style and practice that can be (relatively) easily incorporated into your current approach. Fine time, don’t reconstruct.
3. Look for ways to spend more time managing your staff face to face. All direct reports want more face time with their boss.

Let me know how that works for you.

Social Media = Communicating with Employees

If we accept that leadership – and by extension performance management – is about having a conversation with the people you lead, have you thought about how to use social media to connect with your employees, especially the young ones?

 

1. Twitter could be about sharing short, to the point ideas and inspirational thoughts that keep people focused on the important organizational objectives.

2. Blogs could be used to provide insight into what you are thinking, how you prioritize, or any one of a number of aspects about you, within the context of your leadership that people would find helpful as they do their work.

3. Facebook provides opportunities to promote your organization’s brand.  You can use it to educate both employees, clients and potential customers.

4. LinkedIn is about networking and that is as important inside the organization as outside.  Providing regular updates about what you are working on, where the organization is going, etc can be invaluable to people who are working to make your organization successful.

Each of these tools provides a different approach to communicating with people, but all are immediate, real-time methods of getting information out to the people that need it.  You can be selective and use one or two or combine them.  I write my blog and have notifications go out to LinkedIn and Twitter so that my entire network can access it as soon as I hit the ‘publish’ button.  You can do the same.

I know that all leaders find it difficult to connect with employees in meaningful ways: if you haven’t considered social media as a tool to help close that gap, you need to start.

Let me know how that works out for you.

 

If you want to learn to be a great manager, manage a restaurant

I had one particularly great mentor in the area of management and leadership.  His name is Doug Fowler and we worked together at both Bemeleman’s and The Bellair Cafe in Toronto in the 80’s.  

Doug taught me a number of things that are now my touchstones when I impart advice to people I coach.  Here are a few that you should try.

1. Be visible – managers need to be seen and they need to see.  Be on the floor, let people know you are there and available to assist, give advice, hear a complaint and a compliment.  Doug didn’t micro manage, but you knew he was watching and you wanted to do a good job for him.  

2. Deal with situations as quickly as you can – if it was a problem with a customer, Doug was on it smoothly and quickly.  He would ask a few questions of the customer and of the wait staff and would make a decision quickly and act.  In Doug’s mind, the customer wasn’t always right, but they definitely got the benefit of the doubt.  Once the customer was dealt with, the waiter got feedback.  Doug made it clear what the impact of the waiter’s actions / customer’s actions were, how the situation had been resolved, what the correct thing to do in the future was and most importantly, what his expectations were, going forward.  You always knew where you were with Doug and if you did the right thing, he backed you.  Fully. 

I recall a couple of times that customers were thanked for their patronage and told to find a different place to eat next time. 

3. Be calm and collected – It was important to give off an air of being in control of both yourself and the situation: it rubbed off on everyone else and that provided us the confidence to do a great job.  He didn’t fluster, he didn’t blow up; he kept a very cool demeanour on the floor and it worked, no matter what he was feeling inside.

Bottom line – when you manage a restaurant everything is immediate.  You can’t put things off; deadlines can’t be extended; quality can’t be overlooked; problem employees can’t be ignored; obnoxious customers can’t be accommodated.  If you do any of those things, customers will not come back and you’ll be out of business.

I challenge you to translate Doug’s approach to your workplace.  

Let me know how it goes.

“But I thought you wanted input” … How to know Triangle time from Circle time

What is “Circle” and “Triangle” time?

Circle time is a very inclusive facilitative time when everyone is equal.

• All ideas are accepted and the focus is on personal relationships and process. 
• It is more important to consult and hear all ideas than to find the one right idea.   
• Circle time can be a very creative time and also very time consuming. 
• Circle time can be used to get only INPUT or used as a decision-making technique. 

 Triangle time is quite different from circle time. The hierarchy determines whose ideas will be actioned.  In a Triangle, everyone is to follow the boss, when he or she says ‘This is the one we are going to action.’

When in Triangle time:

• Everyone needs to be aware of who holds the power in the room  
• If the leader says we are going to do “x”, it is time to accept the decision and begin to implement.
• Once the decision is made, the focus shifts to who has the best job skills to get this done. 

 When you are in triangle time, there are unwritten rules that must be followed.  These include:

1. Obey the coach – don’t challenge (especially in public or alone)
2. Know your role
3. Sublimate your personal goal.
4. Deliver.

 How do you know when people are in Triangle time? When items are “for your information” or “for your action”.  If an agenda item or email says, “for you input” or “for your discussion” – you are in Circle time.

So, what’s the problem?

The problem comes when a manager, the boss comes into a meeting and pretends it is Circle time, when actually it is Triangle time.  In short, he is looking for buy-in to his idea, not your input into the best idea.  How do you know when this is happening?  People offer ideas but he doesn’t take notes and / or he keeps coming back to one idea and asks ‘what you think about this one?’

What to do?  As a direct report, know when to offer ideas openly and when to line up with the boss.  As a manager in a meeting, don’t ask for input when you don’t want it.  If you don’t want ideas just implementation, say so.  People will appreciate the transparency.

What is managing and leading?

I am sitting in a workshop listening to people say ‘I don’t spend any time managing and leading because I don’t have direct reports.’. Over half the workshop agreed with that statement.  I was very surprised at such a narrow view of leadership.

 

Managing and leading is when you do such things as:

1. Provide feedback to peers or on something they are doing.

2. Present a different perspective in a meeting, in an attempt to broaden the group’s thinking.

3. Acting in a way that deliberately aligns with the organization’s values, in the hope others will do likewise.

4. Clearly interpret policy for people so that they know what and why they should behave in a certain way.

5. Understand your role in moving the organization forward and then doing it.

 

None of these require direct reports. I challenge you to do these five every week.