Team building
To to handle interruptions at work
With the economic realities we have been living with since 2008, companies are forcing employees to do more with less. Not only are companies asking employees to be more creative and use less resources, they are also asking less employees to do more work. An interruption is anything that distracts you from the primary task at hand. Common workplace distractions are emails, phone calls, drop-in meetings, etc This means that most people you talk to, working in a corporate environment, have too much to do and not enough time.
Research shows that Nice Guys DO Finish Last
If you have read any self-help books, you have undoubtedly read the adage “Nice guys finish last”. Now research from Notre Dame and Cornell Universities show how being too agreeable negatively impacts your earnings. More recent research from Stanford, Northwestern and Carnegie Mellon) continued on the same path showing that people who are overly caring, for overs, generally tend to make bad leaders. In particular, being overly nice generally means that you will likely fail in 2 important leadership domains: prestige and dominance.
When group decision making goes wrong
Every time I am asked about decision making, I remember a mantra one of my earlier bosses use to chant all the time A company is not a democracy . Many modern managers have taken the completely opposing position of managing by consensus. Personally, I believe that there must a be balance in all things and this is no different. For those times when a group decision is required, when is the group too big? Marcia W Blenko, Michael C Mankins and Paul Rogers wrote an interesting piece called Decide & Deliver: 5 steps to Breakthrough Performance in Your organization .
Your project teams may be hiding problems and negative information
An interesting article was published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology Volume 41, Issue 2, pages 401 428, February 2011. It is clearly demonstrated that as a project get's closer to completion, decision makers are more likely to conceale problems that may jeapordize it. This interesting work was undertaken at George Washington University using undergraduate students. The crux of the analysis is that a 90% complete project meant that 81% of decision makers were likely to hide nagative information or problems.
The steps to achieving greatness
Regardless of your chosen field of expertise, you most likely want to be great at it. When coaching individuals, I am often asked “What takes someone from average to good to great?”. Putting aside your field-specific characteristics, there are some immutable laws of success that I want to share with you. The first golden rule comes from Stephen Covey’s book “7 habits of highly effective people” and is “start with the end in mind”. Regardless of how YOU define great, spend some time to think about it.
Empower your people to perform
Over the last couple of month, I have written many articles extolling the benefits of empowering your employees. In case you have not read them, the Coles Notes version of the concept is that you are no longer a manager but a coach. Your job is to train and support your people. Your success is determined by their success. So what should you do to ensure their success? Growth Most of your employees should be knowledge workers and they want a clear path for growth.
When should you confront a co-worker?
The Rule of 3 Over the years, I have had the opportunity to participate in many interesting activities, from parachuting and bungee jumping to traveling and trying new exotic cuisines. A long time ago, I learned a simple trick called the rule of three. The basic breakdown is: First time Just do the activity Second time Learn how to do it properly Third time Do it again to determine if you like or enjoy it In a professional setting This has served me well, and over the years I have started to use this for other aspects of my life.
Rule 2 of delegation
QuickTip - Setting the right expectations Early on in my career, I was committed to perfection. Everything had to be done perfectly and methodically. Although the idea of perfection is admirable, you quickly realize that waiting for perfection often means you miss incredible opportunities. It is often better to get started on the right foot and get it done rather than aim for perfection and miss the bus. How does this apply to delegation? Simple, if you expect perfection from yourself, you will expect it from others.
Rule 1 of delegation
An important tenet of efficient and effective time management is the art of delegation. Anytime I talk about delegation with an executive, they either support it or avoid it like the plague. Their reaction is predicated on past experience. When delegating a task, executives often forget the first golden rule of delegation: training and communication. In order for the work to be performed to your satisfaction, you need to ensure that you communicate your requirements and expectations to the other person clearly and concisely.
How to build a top performing team
As a manager, you will be judged on the performance of your team so it is in your best interest to build the best, highest performing team possible. You have undoubtedly heard the aphorism “Nice guys finish last” coined by Leo Durocher in 1939. This is a golden truth that you should recite every morning while enjoying your morning cup of coffee. I had the privilege of working for a GE company under a CEO who had been indoctrinated in the Jack Welch system of management.