Just-in-Time Management Advice
Join Jed and Bob as they discuss how manager, Monty Orr should be onboarding his people. Some managers wait for the HR group to get this sorted for them. Other managers, like Monty Orr, take matters into their own hands.
Watch ‘Onboarding Employees’ Video (14 mins 46 sec):
Join Jed and Bob as they introduce the concept of the 9 Box Grid, and discuss how to roll it out in any organization.
Watch ‘The Nine Box’ Video (16 mins 45 sec):
One of the hot topics in Leadership Development is something called Strengths Only Leadership … or some variation thereof.
Personally, “Strengths Only” development planning makes me cringe. Too often I’ve seen it used as an excuse for not working on a weakness that if improved, even just to the point of being “good enough”, would accelerate performance.
In choosing development focus areas, the mistake is made when leaders start the process by analyzing their own strengths and weaknesses. This is the wrong place to begin! Rather you should start by analyzing the key competencies required of your current job or desired future role.
Some of your weaknesses (or strengths) may be immaterial to the current role you have or the future role you want. Spending valuable development efforts on strengths (or weaknesses) could be a waste of time if they don’t directly apply to the job you have or the job you want.
I’m aligned with developing strengths; it should definitely be part of your development planning. But start with key competencies required first … then don’t be a fool and ignore weaknesses that might derail your performance.
Understand what’s important first … then answer the question …
“To build a strength or fix a weakness?”
Members Click Here for Additional Tools
Get Instant Access to 200+ Cheat Sheets, Videos, and Other Immediately Usable Tools for Busy Managers – Try Out a Wily Manager Membership Today!
What is Strengths Based Development?
The position can be summarized as:
Why is Strengths Based Development Flawed?
The position is problematic because:
It starts from the wrong place!
What You Should Do Instead of Strengths Based Development
Analyze the Job
Analyze Yourself
| KSA’s | Impact | Strength or Stretch | Effort | Action |
| 1. | High | Stretch | High | |
| 2. | High | Strength | Low | |
| 3. | High | Competent | Low | |
| 4. | High | Stretch | Medium | |
| 5. | Medium | Strength | Low | |
| 6. | Medium | Competent | Low | |
| 7. | Low | Stretch | High |
Elements of a Development Plan
Three Things to Remember about Strengths Based Development
Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about Strengths Based Development (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):
Looking for the Full-Length Podcast/Video? …
Get Instant Access to 200+ Cheat Sheets, Videos, and Other Immediately Usable Tools for Busy Managers – Try Out a Wily Manager Membership Today!
The whole idea of meeting one on one with their direct reports on a regular basis is scary for many leaders. There are a variety of reasons for this, none of which hold much water.
Excuse #1: I don’t have time. This is the most common excuse managers cite for not meeting regularly with their people. Interestingly, they don’t have time to meet with their people individually on any regular basis, yet they seem to have time for an unlimited series of drop-in (or “drive-by”) meetings every day. Here’s an idea: buy yourself an hourglass that has two-minutes worth of sand. Next time one of your direct reports asks you if you’ve got a minute, reply, “For you… I’ve got two minutes.” Then turn over the hourglass.
Excuse #2: It’s too intimate. When we suggest one on one meetings, we’re not suggesting that you light some candles, dim the lighting, and put on some John Tesh at Redrocks bootleg music. Rather, have your direct reports be responsible for planning, scheduling and running of your one on one meetings. If possible, go to their office or station to have the meeting – it’ll do you good to get out of your office.
Excuse #3: I don’t like my direct reports. If you don’t like your directs, it’s probably a condition of the prejudice you’ve developed about them because you don’t interface with them very often. It makes no sense not to like people, just because you don’t know them. If you take the time to really get to know your people, you’ll find all kinds of legitimate reasons not to like them – and this would make sense. Besides… one of the conditions of sitting at the big-kids table is dealing with the fact you have to deal with people you don’t like.
I would never suggest you have to like all your direct reports – but you do need to communicate with them, and there’s no better way to do so than with highly-structured, highly-focused, regularly scheduled one on one meetings.
Short, highly-structured and focused one on one meetings with each of direct reports on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, can save you time, and drive performance in your organization. Join Jed and Bob as they discuss how and why to do effective one on one meetings.
Watch the ‘One-on-One Meetings’ Video (16 mins 11 sec):
Hit the fast-forward button and quickly turn new employees into positive contributors. Get instant access to the Onboarding Employees Video and Cheat Sheet by becoming a Wily Manager member today.
Some organizations do an outstanding job of integrating new people into the mix. Other organizations let people fend for themselves. My most memorable orientation was literally my first day on the job – any job. I was fifteen years old, and I got a job bagging groceries at the local supermarket. Ron Grant was the manager on duty, and he met me at the door.
Ron toured me through the whole store, stopping along the way to introduce me to everyone on staff that we met, and to point out the things I might need to know for my new career wrapping groceries. He also doled out advice that was very useful and well intentioned, but easily could have been included in the best-seller, “Sh*t My Dad Says.” Needless to say, I learned some new words and expressions that came in very handy when I recycled them back at high school.
I learned in the months and years to come, that Ron oriented me to my new workplace completely of his own initiative. The organization really had no process for bringing people on besides the requisite signing of the official paperwork.
At the end of this orientation, he returned me to the front of the store, where I’d spend the next several years bagging groceries.
“Any questions?” asked Ron.
“Nope… I’m ready to go.” I replied.
“Great”, he said, as I turned to get started. “Hey Brad,” he asked, not quite getting my name right.
“Yep?”
“Your fly’s open”, he said without cracking a smile, and turning to walk away.
Presumably, he’d noticed this before he’d toured me through the whole place, but had waited until now to share this news with me. It’s been a while since I’ve been teenage boy, but I’m assuming at the time I would have had checklist of basic hygiene items – such as making sure one’s zipper was properly secured. Apparently, first day job jitters successfully eclipsed basic personal maintenance items.
Walking around in a public place with your fly open — I suppose that’s one way to make a first impression on when starting a new job.
Next week we’ll be talking about introducing yourself as a new leader. You won’t want to miss out – become a Wily Manager member today.
Members Click Here for Additional Tools
Get Instant Access to 200+ Cheat Sheets, Videos, and Other Immediately Usable Tools for Busy Managers – Try Out a Wily Manager Membership Today!
Onboarding Employees is a routine task that is rarely done well. Some organizations have HR groups or other infrastructure to help Onboarding Employees, but individual managers should not allow a lack of such infrastructure stop them from doing so. Below we talk about:
Why All Managers Should Pay Attention to Onboarding Employees
The Three Components of Onboarding Employees
Orientation
Orientation is the first component of Onboarding Employees. As the name implies, this is the stage where we help them become familiar and comfortable with their new surroundings:
Adaptation
The second component of Onboarding Employees is Adaptation. In this phase, we integrate the newcomer into the culture of the organization.
Acceleration
In this phase, an organization can really benefit from a well thought-out process for Onboarding Employees. This is how we get new people to “hit the ground running”, and accelerate their journey to full productivity.
The Minimum Requirements for Onboarding Employees
It may be difficult to implement a comprehensive process for Onboarding Employees all at once. As a minimum, the following elements need to be covered:
3 Things to Remember About Onboarding Employees
Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about Onboarding Employees (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):
Looking for the Full-Length Podcast/Video? …
Get Instant Access to 200+ Cheat Sheets, Videos, and Other Immediately Usable Tools for Busy Managers – Try Out a Wily Manager Membership Today!
The 9-Box is a simple tool that helps you make better talent management decisions (for example, who to assign a special project). Get instant access to the 9-Box for Succession Planning Video and Cheat Sheet by becoming a Wily Manager member today.
There are many who find it distasteful that organizations have big war-rooms full of maps where they move their people around like pawns on a chessboard. It depersonalizes the people, and treats them more like material assets. General Electric pioneered the idea of putting people on a 9-box grid ranking them in their performance and their potential, as an integral part of the talent management process. Now many leading organizations use similar systems.
Even if you find such practices distasteful, it is easy to see their utility when managing a large organization.
Why not have a bit of fun with it? A 9-box grid looks a lot like a tic-tac-toe board, and that has been the foundation of many a game-show. Of course, in a viable organization, you wouldn’t want the over-manicured pretty-boy game show hosts, the mentally impaired contestants, or the “celebrities” desperately using the show as venue to launch their big come-back.
But you could have managers competing to get 3 high-potential, high-performers in a row. You could find a washed up HR guy with a nice haircut to facilitate, and you could over hear a District Manager say, “I’ll take Paul Lynde for the block”! (YouTube the Original Hollywood Squares if you don’t get the reference).
Not every manager would be comfortable managing their talent this way, but for those that either don’t like the idea, or don’t manage to compete well, we have some lovely parting gifts – including a one-year supply of Orville Redenbacher Gourmet Popcorn – most every kernel pops!
Next week we’ll be talking about onboarding new employees. You won’t want to miss out – become a Wily Manager Member today.
Watch the 9-Box For Succession Planning Video.
For instant access, enter your email on the right –>
This 15-minute video is part of our paid membership content… watch it free as our guest. We’ll also send you 5 FREE Cheat Sheets for busy managers.
The 9 Box is part of a talent management system to help organizations manage the capability of their workforce. The Nine Box is in wide use now in many companies, but is generally credited as having been pioneered by General Electric and McKinsey. Below we talk about the following aspects of the 9 Box:
What is the 9 Box?
The 9 Box is a Leadership Talent Management Tool used to assess individuals on two dimensions:
The outcomes of running a 9 Box session include:
The Typical 9 Box
How to Use the 9 Box
The 9 Box system is most often part of a larger Talent Management system. It is also easy to understand and implement, but efforts need to be made to people to explain why it is being done, and how it will impact them.
Common Challenges to Using the 9 Box
Although the 9 Box is conceptually easy to understand, there are some challenges to implementation:
3 Things to Remember About 9 Box Grids
Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about The Nine Box (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):
