Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Team Motivation Activities.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Team Motivation Activities.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Join Jed & Bob as they discuss moving beyond silly games, to five tangible things you can do to motivate your whole team.

Watch ‘How Do I Motivate My Whole Team?’ Video (16 mins 31 sec):

In the past fifteen years, I’ve been in and out of dozens of organizations, all of which had some process for conducting Performance Reviews.  Of all of them, only one organization did them consistently, and did them well.  The rest of them conducted performance reviews that ranged between ineffective, and highly offensive.

This got me to thinking what all these organizations have in common when it comes to Performance Reviews, so here are the top five (of several dozen) reasons why Performance Reviews usually suck:

1)   Everybody wants more feedback – as long as it’s good. Yep… as much as your Gen Y types tell you they crave feedback, they really only want it if it confirms their worldview that they are beyond fantastic.  Any suggestions for improvement are usually met with a thud.  It is only the most elite of corporate cultures that have overcome this aspect of human nature.  These organizations train and encourage people to constantly seek out feedback that will make them better – which sometimes requires facing up to the fact you don’t do some things well.

2)   Performance Reviews are non-specific. They often contain broad sweeping statements about someone being “good with customers”, or “needing improvement on follow through”.  These observations are about as useful as a chocolate teapot.  If it’s not specific, don’t bother.  Bring data or specific behavioral observations.

3)   People are too polite.  Most supervisors hate performance reviews more than the employees.  So they try to get through them as quickly as possible, without hurting anyone’s feelings.  Great organizations, and great leaders use performance appraisals as catalyst for improvement.  This actually requires giving people feedback on how they can improve – rather than just trying to keep the peace.

4)   Performance reviews are structured too much like report cards. If the performance review is simply “the year in review” without any mention of the future, or developmental opportunities, then it is a waste of time.  Even more of a waste of time is a 4 or 5 point rating system that employees are graded on with little thought or explanation.  No wonder people hate them.

5)   They are disconnected with what people do every day. The big problem with performance reviews is that they are designed by HR people, or external consultants who have absolutely no idea what people in a particular role do everyday.  Hence people are assessed on things they rarely or never do, and the bulk of their efforts are not captured by the criteria or format used.

Employees don’t have any accountability for the Performance Review process.  OK… I said five reasons, so this one is a bonus.  In most organizations, the employee merely shows up for a performance review meeting, having lent no thought or effort to outcome.  Great organizations and great managers insist that employees complete some form of self-assessment in advance of the meeting so that the success of the process is shared.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Conducting a Mid Year Performance Review.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Conducting a Mid Year Performance Review.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Join Jed and Bob as they discuss why you’d bother with a Mid-Year review, and how it’s different than a regular Performance Review.  Also learn how to manage the mid-year performance review discussion to ensure it’s effective.

Watch ‘The Mid Year Performance Review’ Video (15 mins 17 sec):

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about How to Set Goals and Objectives.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about How to Set Goals and Objectives.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Join Jed and Bob as they talk about the Performance Management process, and more specifically about Setting Goals and Objectives.  How do you cascade them up and down the hierarchy?  Find out this week.

Watch the ‘How to Set Goals and Objectives’ Video (15 mins 16 sec):

The fun part about our job is being exposed to a number of different industries and organizations.  One of my favorite things to say is, “I’ve worked in Nuclear Power Stations, and in grocery stores, and 90% of the management issues are the same.”  I usually get significant pushback from the Nuclear Engineers on this one, but it’s true.

Often the response I get from this statement is a question about the most common thread that weaves organizations and their performance together.  The answer, quite simply, is “Focus”.  The great performing organizations define and continually refine the limited number of things they need to do well, and then execute those things.

The reason people lose focus is because they get so busy managing tasks, they forget to look up every now and then and make sure they are doing the right things.  Or, as I like to say, “They are so busy doing their jobs, they forget to do their jobs.”

As a busy manager, the next time you feel more overwhelmed with work than the bartender on the Kennedy Compound, spend a couple of minutes to review what your top 3 to 7 objectives for the year are.  What are you doing to achieve those objectives this week?  Better yet, review your top objectives every day before you start diving into tasks.

If you find yourself involved in meetings and activities that have nothing to do with those 3 to 7 objectives, then you need to question what you’re doing.  Worse yet, if find yourself with 25 or 30 objectives, you need to go back to drawing board, and transform your laundry list into a more manageable, critical action list.

Achieving focus is conceptually very easy, but requires a lot of discipline to do well.

There is so much stuff out there telling managers what they should do to be more effective, and how they can be better leaders of their people.  This week, I thought I’d take a different approach, and suggest to managers how they might make sure that none of their people care.

It seems that many leaders will read an article or attend a seminar and them come back to the office and do the same thing they were doing before.  They then find themselves stressed-out and miserable, as they can never seem to get a grip on their jobs or on leading their people.  It seems something is lost in the transfer between reading or hearing something, and applying it to our own circumstances.

As for the people those managers are leading: they all start out with a different level of giving a crap, and they are then pushed towards the mean (or average) of “giving-a-crap-edness” of the culture around them.  The great managers push that average line up, and inspire people to come along for the ride.  Bad leaders, push the line down, and tacitly encourage people to give a crap about far fewer things, and at far lower a level.

So here are some things bad leaders do to ensure no one cares:

1. Enable unnecessary bureaucracy. This is why many public sector organizations suffer with poor morale.
2. Not dealing with performance issues.  I’m not going to work all that hard for you if I know my peer is doing nothing, and not getting called on it.
3. Not administering consequences.  People need to know that both good and poor performance will be recognized and “rewarded” as such.
4. Micro-managing.  If you are going to redo all my work anyway, I’m not going to put much effort into it.
5. Playing favorites.  OK… maybe a meritocracy only exists in a University Professor’s textbook, but you’ve got to at least try to give the appearance of fairness.
6. Reinforce a blame culture. People’s best work comes from taking risks, which they will not do, if they get crucified every time a small error is made.

There are lots of other ones, too, but leaders should start with these ones, and determine to what degree they do these things.  The further away you are from these things, the more likely you are to be pushing that mean line of discretionary effort upwards.

Last time I wrote about measurement in the workplace, I got quite a bit of hate mail.  I could tell you the exact quantity and relative quality of that hate mail, but suffice it to say, that people seem to have very definite ideas about how things ought to be measured (or not measured) in their workplace.

So I’ve beefed up my security detail, and put on my protective cup, and I’ll tackle business metrics again – this time for service oriented businesses.

Let me describe the two opposite ends of the continuum on this silly debate.  Way over on the far left hand side, are those people who say, “I’m a lawyer (graphic designer, LR negotiator, marketing specialist, etc.), you can’t measure what I do.”  Sorry – I can, and I will.

On the extreme right hand side of the scale are those people (mostly consultants, who’ve never actually worked in any of these jobs), who say, “Measuring service businesses is exactly the same as measuring production-based businesses.”  You should throw such people out of your office quickly, before any more of their ignorance wears off on your people.

As with many things, the truth lies somewhere between these extremes — in the less comfortable grey area.  You can and should measure service business functions, but it often much harder than simply counting widgets.

In some cases, there are very repeatable and transactional things that occur within a service function, that should be counted like widgets.  If you work as a recruiter, you should be prepared to disclose how many resumes were screened, how many people were shortlisted, how many interviewed, and your time to fill the position.

You should also have a quality ranking as to how well those positions were filled that will only become clear after some time has passed.  For example, how many of your new recruits quit or are terminated within the first 18 months is a quality indicator of the recruiting process.  So are the upward mobility of new hires, and their scores on performance appraisals, in the first couple of years after they come onboard

That wasn’t so hard, was it?

So rather than fire-bombing my office, perhaps you could measure the effectiveness of your current measurements – but we’ll leave that for another day.

How do you got about measuring those things that are more elusive than counting the output of your Widget Factory?  Join Jed and Bob as they discuss how to tackle this common problem.

Watch the ‘Service KPIs’ Video (16 mins 06 sec):

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Service KPIs.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Service KPIs.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Join Jed and Bob as they discuss why and how progressive discipline should be undertaken in an organization.

Watch the ‘Progressive Discipline’ Video (15 mins 36 sec):

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Employee Discipline Procedures.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Employee Discipline Procedures.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

It seems to me that Command and Control as a management style has gotten a bum rap.  You’ve heard the disparaging remarks, “She’s a complete command and control style manager” – implying there is something wrong with that.

I think such comments display a startling lack of understanding of what leaders are required to do in organizations.  Command and control is a very useful managerial tool for certain situations.

People love to use fire-fighting as an analogy to describe modern management practice.  I would challenge anyone to go find himself a Fire Chief and ask him/her if command and control is a bad idea.

When a building is burning and lives are at stake, the Fire Chief very much relies on command and control as the appropriate management tool for that situation.  Can you imagine the fire department showing up at an emergency, and the Fire Chief requesting that everyone break up in study groups, to hold hands and sing camp songs?

“OK – everyone brainstorm ideas for how we should tackle this, and I’ll give a special prize to the group that comes up with the best idea.  Make sure everyone participates equally, and remember that everyone’s feedback is valuable.  This is an excellent opportunity to reinforce how much we value each other, and I’ll float between the groups to help facilitate.”

Glad it’s not my house on fire.  I want the Fire Chief standing on top of chair barking out orders as fast as she can to get the situation under control.  I also want the Firefighters to listen carefully to the orders being dispatched, and execute as they’re being instructed to do.

When they are back at the Firehall, and practicing for such emergencies, or doing community outreach, then the Fire Chief would be well advised to pull a different tool out of his box, and to engage his people in a more collaborative style.

The problem for people that disparage command and control is that they confuse this very important managerial style with a lack of respect.  Lack of respect is never appropriate, but many times it is a leaders job to tell her direct reports in no uncertain terms what they are required to do.  Setting clear expectations, holding people to account for those expectations, and administering the appropriate consequences are what we pay managers to do.

Command and control is one legitimate tool to get this done.

Twenty or so years ago, organizations would hire guys like us to come in and help them define metrics and measures.  Often times there were not adequate data collection and storage systems, so we ended up counting a lot of things manually, and then getting our crayons out to hand draw graphs to represent these indicators.

Skip ahead in time a couple of decades, and organizations are still hiring guys like us to help them with the measures and metrics, but now its usually because they have thousands upon thousands of data points, but no ability to turn this data into wisdom, and ultimately better business decisions.

Blame Microsoft.  They made it easy to have powerful spreadsheets and databasing capability on every desktop relatively cheaply.  Now the guy who runs the janitorial service at the office has a PC with more computing power than the Space Shuttle, and 500 indicators he’s tracking.

We also see it in any professional sport.  Did you know that in games that take place on the road, in the Central Time Zone, on odd-numbered days, in the same month as the coach’s birthday, when the starting line-up all had chicken for the dinner the previous night, the team has posted a win 58% of the time?

Now that’s valuable data.

Professional Sports organizations are very fat with cash – they can afford to waste some on useless statistics.  Your organization probably can’t.

You need to figure out what results your organization is trying to produce, and then determine the key drivers of those results.  For many organizations, the goal is to make money while minimizing various forms of risk.  What are the simple key drivers of these things?

When I worked in the Retail Food industry we were very good at making a really simple business far more complicated than it needed to be.  It seems to me there are only two drivers of the business that impacted all of the other things we were tracking:

1. Did we have what the customer wanted on the shelf when s/he wanted it?
2. Once that customer had everything she wanted in the cart, did we make it as easy as possible for her to part with her money?

There were literally hundreds of other things we were tracking, and some of them were actually valuable; but only these two things really mattered.  Only the two things above would impact all the important result indicators.

What are the key drivers in your business?

Join Jed and Bob as they discuss David Parmenter’s work on building good Key Performance Indicators, and how KPIs are different from other measures that are currently in use in many organizations.

Watch the ‘Building Key Performance Measures’ Video (13 mins 10 sec):

Download the  ”Building Key Performance Measures” Cheat Sheet, Video, Audio, and Slides

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Key Performance Measures.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Key Performance Measures.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Several years ago, I became involved in a finance audit with a public sector client.  These things are about as much fun as a boot in the butt with a frozen mukluk in any organization, but public sector organizations are even worse because of their inherent risk aversion.

It turns out the finance clerks were spending a ridiculous amount of time processing expense accounts for the considerable number of employees that were constantly travelling for business purposes.

Without doing the necessary internal investigating first, I got the bright idea to check with the relevant tax authorities as to whether we could simply offer people a per diem and dispense with all the $10 lunch receipts that were clogging up the system.

The federal tax agency did indeed have a provision for this that I thought would solve a considerable problem, and make everyone’s lives easier.

I was incredibly wrong.  I hadn’t been this wrong since I predicted Whitney Houston’s big comeback.

After lobbying hard inside the Finance group for such a change to be implemented, I was told in no uncertain terms, that we couldn’t do this because the people who didn’t spend the entire amount would pocket the difference, and that would be unacceptable.  Never mind that the amount was only about $50/day for a person on the road to pay for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Further, this policy could not be adopted because two senior managers had been caught abusing their expense accounts while travelling for business.

The VP of Finance initiated a root cause analysis of this problem, and concluded they did not have adequate control measures, and poor policy on expenses accounts.

He got it wrong.  He was treating a symptom of a much greater problem.  The root cause of his problem was a corporate culture with zero accountability.  Had a similar expense account abuse taken place in the private sector, the offending employees would have been terminated with cause, and common sense on a per diem expense policy would have prevailed.

Instead the VP of Finance chose to treat a symptom of a far larger problem by adding more bureaucracy.  He also chose to disregard the thousands of hours of labor required to process lunch receipts.  It’s a good thing he didn’t have the burden of worrying about shareholder value.

So instead of addressing the root cause, the Finance Department spent months rewriting the expense account policies, and ultimately came up with a completely ridiculous 75 page document that all employees with expense accounts were expected to adhere to.

Another genius example of your tax dollars hard at work.

Here’s an extreme example of the power of leading versus lagging indicators: plane crashes.  Every now and then, a plane might just fall out of the sky with no advance warning, but most often the cause was entirely predictable, and could have been caught by some leading indicator of trouble.  The tragic lagging indicator is when a plane hurls into the side of a mountain.

Now, to be fair, the airline industry has an outstanding safety record, and their ability to catch problems before they turn into catastrophe is something many other industries would be well-advised to study.

However, a recent news article by the Detroit Free Press got me to thinking about leading indicators of airline disaster.  The article was about an Air Traffic Controller who was caught watching a movie (Cleaner, starring Samuel L. Jackson, if it matters), rather than tending to the airplanes he was supposed to be watching.  I am going to go out on the limb here and say that the number and amount of movies watched while on duty by Air Traffic Controllers is a pretty clear leading indicator of plane crashes.

Once this was made public, the United States Federal Aviation Authority naturally took steps to suspend the Controller in question and his boss (even though they should have fired them both), and has launched an investigation.  And the pundits have all started to weigh in on the impact of goofing off at work.

In November of 2010, Salary.com did a survey that revealed that 36% of us waste two or more hours at work every day.  If you think your organization has any significant number of people making up that 36%, then it should be a pretty clear leading indicator of your pending implosion as a viable organization.

But back to the Air Traffic Controllers.

Jonathan Spira, an analyst that has studied goofing off at work (sounds like a fun job) said about this situation: “Clearly, if someone is watching a movie, they are bored, tired, distracted or somehow unable to perform his job.”

What Mr. Spira missed is that the person goofing off might just be an idiot who needs a kick in the ass.  Such as is the case with this Air Traffic Controller.  If this problem is widespread (which the US FAA is investigating currently), then I am going to suggest another leading indicator for airline safety:

The number of Air Traffic Controllers disciplined or fired is a leading indicator of improved air traffic safety.

Who says Ronald Reagan is dead?

Now if you really want to know what happens in the control tower, click on this week’s video clip, below:

 

Here’s a quiz:  In my organization HR is/are:

a)    A highly professional service provider that partners with managers to maximize shareholder value through effective people management practice.

b)   The people who organize our Christmas parties and picnics

c)    Where people who couldn’t make it in the core business go to be marginalized to the point where they do a minimum of damage.

OK – maybe HR’s an easy target in many organizations, but if beating up HR is a fun way to relieve some tension mid-day at the water cooler, you really won’t like what comes next:

If your HR group truly sucks, then your organization most likely sucks, too.

Yep, that’s right.  I’m suggesting there is a direct correlation between highly effective HR, and a highly effective organization.  Furthermore, I’d suggest that organizational managers get the HR departments they deserve.  If your HR group is solely administrative in nature, and generally not very high performing, then that is exactly the quality of service you as a manager, or an organization has asked for.

You may like or hate Jack Welch, but it would pretty hard to argue that GE wasn’t a high performing organization when he was running it.  Just about any time you heard Welch speak, he would talk about what he was doing, and he’d also talk about Bill Conaty – his HR guy.  For GE, the HR portfolio was extremely important.  Some other Jack Welch quotes about HR:

“A high quality senior HR person is as critical as the CFO”

HR should “get out of the picnic business”

And his advice to HR people:  “Don’t be a victim”

Every organization has its version of the “People are our most important asset” speech, but Welch actually lived it.  People will jump all over this, because Welch had an impressive record of firing people.  But valuing people necessarily means that you remove barriers to a team’s success, and sometimes this means removing people.

The strongest organizations I have worked with have highly-competent, business-focused HR people.  They also insist that every manager in the company is an HR manager.  HR is not something that is delegated to a central group – it is actively managed by every leader, every day.  The HR group’s role in these high-performing organizations is to set organizational leaders up to be outstanding managers of the human asset.

Picnics and Christmas parties need to be assigned elsewhere – perhaps the marketing department isn’t busy.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about HR as a Strategic Partner.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

Why Care about HR?

Why should organizations care about having an HR strategic partner?  In many cases HR is viewed a necessary evil in a company, and is simply part of the overhead cost of doing business.  This is the case in poorly run companies that do not have HR as a strategic partner.  There are no world-class companies with weak HR departments.  Excellence requires great HR, or an HR strategic partner.

Here are some other reasons to strive create an organization that has an HR strategic partner:

• Employees are expensive, and good leadership/management maximizes the value of organization’s investment in people.
• Great HR has better firm performance*
  • 63% less unwanted turnover
  • 400% greater sales per employee
  • Over 3 times greater Market Value:Book Value

*Becker, Brian E., Mark A. Huselid and Dave Ulrich, The HR Scorecard – Linking People, Strategy and Performance (Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Mass. 2001)

Top 10 Reasons HR Often Sucks

There are a variety of reasons that people become frustrated with their HR departments.  Here are our Top 10 reasons why organizations end up without an HR Strategic Partner:

1. Organizations don’t know what they want/need from HR. As companies evolve and grow, the focus of HR and what management needs them to do changes.  Often, there is no thought given to what are the key drivers of human performance.  Being an HR strategic partner requires a clear understanding of what the HR group will do, and what they will not do.
2. In the absence of clear direction, HR is reduced to arranging picnics and Christmas parties.  Because there is no direction from the organization, the HR group ends up becoming a “catch-all” where all the administrative jobs fall into.  Once the HR group becomes overwhelmed with useless trivia, they do not have the time or talent to conduct more vital and valuable work.  Being an HR strategic partner requires elevating above mere administration.
3. We make HR the policy-cops. There is no doubt that HR should be involved in the drafting of policy, but their role in enforcement should be that of an advisor, not an enforcer.  It is the job of individual managers to enforce policy.  An HR strategic partner coaches, supports and advises managers through the enforcement of policy issues.
4. There is no HR business plan. HR needs to have clear deliverables and measures just like any other business.  The HR business plan needs roll out of the greater organizations strategic, tactical and action plans.  An HR strategic partner enables the achievement of the overall business plan through superior people practice.
5. Managers like to use HR as a scapegoat. It’s much easier for managers to tell their people unpleasant news if they can pin it on someone else.  Usually the target of such finger-pointing is either higher-level management, or the HR group.  In either case it is inappropriate.  Managers need to take responsibility for the leadership and management of their human assets.  An HR strategic partner is a trusted advisor to getting this done well.
6. HR is not properly staffed.  If your HR group is filled with able administrators, but not people with any real business training or experience, you will not have an HR strategic partner (although your staff picnics will probably be great).
7. HR reports through finance. The practice of having HR report through Finance is far too common.  If you want an HR strategic partner, HR needs to report to the people responsible for executing the strategy.  If HR isn’t at the senior leadership table, then it is highly hypocritical to claim that “employees are our most important asset.”
8. HR people do not know the core business. In order to provide quality, professional advice to managers in the core business, an HR strategic partner needs to understand that core business.  It is not necessary to be expert, but there are many organizations where the HR people do not fully understand how the company operates, or how it manages and measures its success.
9. HR should be a place for high performers, not the company ghetto. If an organization expects outstanding performance from its HR group, it needs to staff it with outstanding people.  If HR becomes the ghetto of the organization where we put people who couldn’t make it in the core business, or a place where we hire less than the best to try to meet diversity requirements, you won’t have an HR strategic partner.
10. HR needs to be better at selling itself, and influencing others in the organization.  An HR strategic partner is an influencer more so that s/he is a decision-maker.  As such HR needs to become much better at “selling” its viewpoint.  Moreover, for organizations that don’t’ know how they should best use HR, it is up to the HR people to define and sell its role in the company.

What’s to be done?

If you find that your organization has an HR department that sucks for any or all of the reasons above then action needs to be taken right away.  As a starter:

1. Have an HR business plan that is attached to the organization’s strategic plan. Without a clear focus, there is no chance of having an HR strategic partner.
2. Get skilled business people into HR. If you staff your HR department like an organizational ghetto, your results will match.  An HR strategic partner is a highly skilled, high-potential human asset.
3. Get HR to the table. An HR strategic partner needs to be included in all important discussions.  If HR’s not at the table when those discussions take place, there is no change of maximizing the value of the human asset, and no change of truly being a high performing organization.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about HR as a Strategic Partner.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Bob and Jed discuss the Top 10 reasons why HR often sucks, and what you can do to begin to fix it.

Watch the ‘Why HR Often Sucks’ Video (14 mins 59 sec):

Download the ‘Why HR Often Sucks’ Video (mp4)

Download the ‘Why HR Often Sucks’ Audio (mp3)

Why HR Often Sucks Podcast Slides (.ppt)

Check out the ‘HR as a Strategic Partner: Why HR Often Sucks’ Cheat Sheet

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Managing Conflict.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

1. Firing people
2. Disciplining people
3. Showdown with the boss
4. Being caught in the middle
5. Peer conflicts
6. Constant Change
7. Baby-sitting
8. Overload
9. Red Tape – Needless Administration
10. Personal fulfillment

• Only the perverse enjoy this part of the job
• Have a solid paper trail.  If you don’t have one – postpone the firing until you do*
• Get good advice – HR or legal
• Make the meeting short and to the point
• Never fire someone in anger or on the spot
• Do not put this off because it’s uncomfortable

Employee Discipline:

• Have a process
• Document every meeting
  • Formal or informal
  • Written or verbal
• Make consequences clear in advance of disciplinary action
• Have all the information at your disposal
• Have a witness – preferably someone from HR or legal

Showdown with the Boss:

• Insist on dealing with it in private
• Never bad-mouth the boss
• Consider whether s/he has a point
• Don’t make idle threats
• Reinforce that s/he is the boss, and you will ultimately do as they ask*
• Choose your battles carefully
• Move to resolution, not to perpetuate conflict

Being Caught in the Middle:

• Tow the party line – even when you don’t agree
• Explain the rationale as best you understand it
• Do not blame by pointing up the hierarchy
• Where appropriate act as a facilitator for a more favourable outcome
• Be very clear with your people as to what is negotiable and what is not

Peer Conflicts:

• Determine how important a peer relationship is to you, your department and your ability to be successful
• Figure out what they need/want from you
• Help them understand what you need/want from them, and why it is important
• Escalate the problem only as a last resort

Learn Even More About ‘Managing Conflict’

Wily Manager members, click here to access the members-only area for this topic (you must be logged in).  In the members-only area, you can:

• Watch the full length ‘Managing Conflict’ Video (15 minutes)
• Download the ‘Managing Conflict’ Video (mp4)
• Download the ‘Managing Conflict’ Audio (mp3)
• Download the ‘Managing Conflict’ Slides (ppt)
• Print or save the ‘Managing Conflict’ Cheat Sheet (pdf)
• Click through to Related Topics:
  • Difficult Conversations: You Smell and People Don’t Like You
  • Handling Emotional Behavior
  • Dealing With Difficult Employees
  • You’re Fired! How to Fire an Employee
  • Effective Interpersonal Communication
  • Top 10 Manager Challenges: Part B (Managing Stress)
  • How to Manage Conflict

Not a member yet? Join us now and get instant access! For more information about the advantages of becoming a Wily Manager member, visit Become a Member.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Managing Conflict.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Of the top 10 things that make managers crazy, the first five all involve some kind of conflict.

Watch the ‘Top 10 Manager Challenges (Part A)’ video (21 mins 9 sec):

Download the ‘Top 10 Manager Challenges (Part A) Video (m4v)

Download the ‘Top 10 Manager Challenges (Part A) Audio (mp3)

Top10ChallengesPartA.ppt

Take a look at the ‘Top 10 Manager Challenges Part A’ Cheat Sheet

What are YOUR Conflict ‘Hot Buttons’? Take the online Conflict Dynamics Profile and get personalized feedback and a development guide.

“My goal now:  to be the all-being ruler of time, space and dimension….  And then, I want to go to Europe.” – Steve Martin

For the low price of about $5000, you can spend the weekend with some screaming hucksters (who you would run far away from in a normal social setting), who will guide you to the perfect collection of personal and professional goals that will change your life, and provide the happiness that has always alluded you.  Your registration also includes a coffee mug, and a handsome leather portfolio for all your hand written notes.

It seems that the SMART acronym (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-phased) is not the stuff of which great goals are based.  You can also dispense with BHAGs (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals) made famous by Jim Collins.  Nope, the only way to achieve greatness is to pay your $5000, and lose a weekend of your time.

I’m thinking about advertising on the same forum a one-hour seminar on how to avoid rip-offs, but only charging $2500.  I would assume I would be marketing to the same clientele.

Don’t get me wrong – I think goals are important.  However, I don’t believe their commodification is necessary.  You can write your goals in whatever format you wish on the back of a napkin, and get everything out of it your would by paying your $5000.  The reason most goals fail to be achieved is because people lack the discipline to follow up on their goals – not because of how they are written.

I do believe everyone should have goals, and I do believe you should write them down.  The SMART acronym can help you write higher quality goals, and Jim Collin’s idea of BHAGs can help you to write something inspired.  If you don’t buy into either of these, write them as you see fit – just write them.

You already know what SMART goals are – find out about HARD goals and how they can help you achieve more.

Listen to the ‘SMART Goals are Dumb’ podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

SMART Goals Podcast Slides

Take a look at the ‘SMART Goals and HARD Goals’ Cheat Sheet

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about SMART Goals and HARD Goals.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

• It forces people to focus on specific things
• It is very clear when goals are achieved
• They are connected with the overall objectives of the organization

What are HARD Goals?

• Heartfelt – My goals will enrich the lives of somebody besides me
• Animated – I can vividly picture how great it will feel when I achieve my goals
• Required – My goals are absolutely necessary to help this organization
• Difficult – I will have to learn new skills and leave my comfort zone to achieve my goals

Why We Like HARD Goals

• It takes people beyond normal performance
• Encourages discretionary effort
• The only way to create a “game-changer”

Learn Even More About ‘SMART Goals and HARD Goals’

Wily Manager members, click here to access the members-only area for this topic (you must be logged in).  In the members-only area, you can:

• Listen to the ‘SMART Goals and HARD Goals’ Podcast
• Download the ‘SMART Goals and HARD Goals’ Audio (mp3)
• Download the ‘SMART Goals and HARD Goals’ Slides (ppt)
• Print or save the ‘SMART Goals and HARD Goals’ Cheat Sheet (pdf)
• Click through to Related Topics:
  • Time and Priority Management
  • Tools to Lead Change
  • The von Manstein Matrix
  • ABC’s of Performance Management
  • Aligning Mission, Vision & Goals

Not a member yet? Join us now and get instant access! For more information about the advantages of becoming a Wily Manager member, visit Become a Member.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about SMART Goals and HARD Goals.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

What can you do if you’re looking to change or strengthen your corporate culture?

Listen to the ‘Corporate Culture’ podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

Corporate Culture Podcast Slides

Take a look at the ‘Corporate Culture’ Cheat Sheet

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about how to Ace Your Annual Performance Review.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Why do things go wrong with Performance Appraisals?  Learn how to manage perceptions all year long, and what to do if discrepancies occur.

Listen to the ‘Ace Your Annual Performance Review’ Podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

Ace Your Performance Review Podcast Slides

Take a look at the ‘Ace Your Annual Performance Review’ Cheat Sheet

Find out all about the Wily Manager Leadership Boot Camp:

• Why bother?
• What it’s about
• Who should participate
• How it works
• What’s covered

Listen to the ‘Leadership Boot Camp’ Podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

Leadership Boot Camp Podcast Slides

Download the Leadership Boot Camp Brochure:

Wily Manager Leadership Boot Camp Brochure

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about The von Manstein Matrix.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

Who Cares About von Manstein?

• Career military man who finished his career advising the West German government
• He assessed top performers on how they got things done
• Provides guidance on how to organize our time

The von Manstein Matrix:

The Pareto Principle:

• 80% of your results will come from 20% of your efforts
• You need to work hard to identify the 20%

How to Get “Lazy”:

• Don’t fall into the activity trap.  Nobody cares how busy you are, they care what you produce
• You need to do more than just work hard
• Decide what NOT to do

Applying the Matrix:

• Don’t try to keep all people happy all the time
• Have a work plan
• Practice saying “no”
• Assess your direct reports on the matrix
• Fire the hardworking, stupid ones

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about The von Manstein Matrix.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Learn how to be “lazy” yet get more done at work.

Listen to ‘The von Manstein Matrix’ podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

von Manstein Matrix Podcast Slides

Take a look at ‘The von Manstein Matrix’ Cheat Sheet

How do you tell someone that they have bad breath or that they didn’t get the promotion?

Listen to the ‘Difficult Conversations’ podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

Tough Talks Podcast Slides

Take a look at the ‘Difficult Conversations’ Cheat Sheet

What is a Business Review Meeting all about?

Listen to the ‘Business Review Meeting’ podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

Business Review Meetings Podcast Slides

Take a look at the ‘Business Review Meeting Cheat Sheet

Many moons ago, I was a teenage university student, paying my tuition by working the graveyard shift at a grocery store.  One of the prime motivators of continuing to study hard year after year was so that I wouldn’t have to continue to work the graveyard shift at a grocery store.

Now that a few decades have elapsed, I have come to realize and appreciate the true value of this experience.  When we have assisted clients to implement high performance teams, I am often asked if I have ever been on one of those very special teams.  Then I tell the story about being on night-crew during university….

Interestingly, people are always trying to draw the connection between high-performing individuals and high performance teams.  When I tell people the link is not as strong as they might like to think, I am often greeted with confusion.

Here’s an ugly little truth:  Your star employees are often high-maintenance, and may do more long term damage than good.  Everyone knows the employee who can crank out the results, but leaves a wake of broken relationships and collateral damage behind.  She may produce a superior level of output for some period of time, but may adversely affect the output of others.

High Performance Teams exist where the interactions between team members are exceptionally functional.  A High Performance Team quite likely doesn’t have any stars, but rather group of competent performers who have found their groove in working together.   The success of your organization depends upon the number and quality of these B-players.

Back in the 1980s, in the middle of the night at a high-volume grocery retailer, our little team had no stars.  It was a group of guys who liked working together, had a very clear idea of what they were supposed to be doing, and relentless peer pressure to get things done properly.  Our output was almost double that of any comparable crew – and we had way more fun too.

The prescription for a High Performance Team is easy to understand.  Filling that prescription is much more difficult.

OK – we’ve all done it.  Decided to do something ourselves because its easier and faster than holding the appropriate person to account.  Maybe you’ve even done it with your children.  Micro-managing – the gift that keeps on destroying.

Every manager has been warned against this, so let’s look at why it happens, given the most common excuses most managers give for doing so:

It’s faster to do it myself.  It probably is faster… the first time.  But if you look at the amount of time it will take you to teach or correct someone else in the execution of a task, versus the amount of time it will take you to do it on an ongoing basis, the answer is clear.

I can do it better. You probably can… for a while.  However, if you insist on doing every individual task yourself, you will become quickly overwhelmed, and will end up doing some (high) proportion of those tasks poorly.

My people aren’t capable. If this is the case for any amount of time, you are clearly not doing your job as a manager.  It is your job to develop people.  Occasionally you truly don’t have the right talent, in which case you have to make changes to your talent bench.

I need to keep close to the details. Actually, you probably don’t.  As a manager, it is not your job to be expert at everything.  It’s your job to create experts, and be able to ask some semi-intelligent questions of them.

If I don’t do all these tasks, I won’t be useful anymore. Listen to yourself.  If you’re that insecure in your role as a leader, you need to examine whether you should be in a management role at all.

The bottom line is that micro-managers sap the productivity out of organizations by failing to capture the discretionary effort of their employees.  They don’t develop people, which is a primary function of a leader.  They also limit their own career mobility by trying to make themselves indispensible in the role they are in.

Micro-management is a self-destructive behaviour, and a great way to get fired.  Then you’ll have lot’s of time.

Apparently the most recent flavour of the month is the Results-Oriented Work Environment or ROWE for those who prefer to only work with acronyms.  It a great name because how could anyone not want a more results-oriented work place?  Some of its detractors call it something different – anarchy.  I would probably call it self-employment.

ROWE, in its most current incarnation, was pioneered at Best Buy, and is in use at other high profile companies such as IBM and Netflix.  The theory is a simple one:  employees set their own time, schedules, and work methods, and are instead measured on the output of what they produce.  In theory, it sounds like an excellent idea, and in certain cases it could probably work very well.

I can think of a two situations where it really wouldn’t work:

1. It can’t work where there’s a high degree of inter-dependence with other stakeholders.  As a refugee of the Retail Food Industry, I can say without reservation that it would be a disaster if employees wrote their own schedule.  As great as it would be for the bulk of employees to work banker’s hours, it would get pretty frustrating for customers who predominantly shop at nights and on weekends.
2. It can’t work in situations where it is difficult to measure the output of employee effort.  If there is any degree of variation in work processes, then the measurement thereby becomes very difficult.  For example, any profession with case-work (lawyers, social workers, insurance etc.) are inherently difficult to measure.  Some cases may be easily wrapped up in a few minutes, while others may require weeks of research and follow up.

I know we’re all supposed to buy-in to the myth that any and all things are measurable, but the luxury of believing that falls only to academics who have never had to actually measure anything.  Ask a professor how to measure teaching effectiveness, and watch her face as she looks like your dog when you pretend to throw the ball and then hide it behind your back.

The second group of people who insist that all things are measureable are management consultants – who, (for the low cost of $5000/day plus expenses) are more than willing to help you measure everything in your business.  Unlike the professors, these folks don’t believe it, but they make good money convincing organizations to try it.

Should you try to better focus your organization on results?  Yes – that’s your job as a manager.

Should you impose measurement systems on everything?  Maybe – it depends on your business, and how meaningful you can make your metrics.  Where possible, you should measure and evaluate people mostly on their output.

Should you set people loose and tell them as long as they produce X widgets in a given week, they can do whatever they want?  I think that’s a recipe for disaster for employee morale, risk management, and true accountability.

Of course, that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong (with thanks to Dennis Miller).

At the risk of coming across like The Cranky Middle-Manager, I have a couple of grievances to air on how people interact with each other in the workplace.  It seems that people claiming that they work in a “toxic environment” is all the rage as of late.  In a minimum of cases, this may be truth, but in far more circumstances, it seems as though anytime someone doesn’t smile at you at the water cooler, you’re entitled to claim a horrible work situation.

The truth is that anytime you are in a workplace of more than one person, there are going to be disagreements and compromises.  And contrary to much of the hype you read in the popular media, sometimes work will be a drag.  To quote Jed’s dad, “If it was supposed to be fun, they wouldn’t call it work.”

I believe the root cause of this problem, is most people’s incompetence in dealing with conflict.  Many people believe that conflict is bad, when in fact it is neither good nor bad, but merely exists.  People’s response to conflict can make the situation bad.

Some people respond to conflict by becoming aggressive and overbearing.  Others choose to avoid conflict like it was a toilet seat at the bus station.  Both responses are destructive and will not improve or resolve whatever situation has caused the conflict to emerge.

Interestingly, in my experience I see the most common response to conflict to be one of either avoiding or yielding.  Both are poor responses to conflict in almost all cases.  If you are inclined to respond to conflict in this way, it is time to grow a pair and act like an adult.  Issues need to be confronted and dealt with.

It doesn’t mean you are always going to get your way, but at the very least you will have some confidence that you have attempted to constructively resolve workplace conflict, rather than letting it get pushed underground to fester.

I found this clip on YouTube that is a hilarious/sad commentary on many workplaces.  Happy Viewing.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about You’re Fired! How to Fire an Employee.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

Before You Fire

• Have you done everything reasonably possible to have the employee succeed?
• Has the employee been warned that their poor behavior or performance will lead to termination if not corrected?  Are these warnings in writing?
• Consult with your legal council and HR to determine whether the termination is ‘with just cause’ or ‘without just cause’
• In cases of ‘with cause’ have you completed an investigation and got the employees side of the story?
• With the help of Legal or HR prepare the letter or ‘separation agreement’

Be Respectful

• Have the conversation as soon as possible after making the decision to terminate
• Select neutral territory, preferably where you can be as discreet as possible
• Plan to allow the employee to depart with as much dignity as possible
• Provide appropriate transitional support

Doing the Deed

• Have someone with you to witness the conversation, preferably HR or another manager
• Keep the discussion quick and to the point
• Don’t defend or debate the decision

Learn Even More About ‘You’re Fired! How to Fire an Employee’

Wily Manager members, click here to access the members-only area for this topic (you must be logged in).  In the members-only area, you can:

• Listen to the ‘You’re Fired’ Podcast (15 minutes)
• Download the ‘You’re Fired’ Audio (mp3)
• Download the ‘You’re Fired’ Slides (ppt)
• Print or save the ‘You’re Fired’ Cheat Sheet (pdf)
• Click through to Related Topics:
  • Dealing With Difficult Employees
  • Difficult Conversations: You Smell and People Don’t Like You
  • ABC’s of Performance Management
  • Handling Emotional Behavior
  • Top 10 Manager Challenges: Part A (Managing Conflict)
  • How to Manage Conflict

Not a member yet? Join us now and get instant access! For more information about the advantages of becoming a Wily Manager member, visit Become a Member.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about You’re Fired! How to Fire an Employee.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Learn how to fire an employee in a way that preserves the dignity of everyone involved.  Find out what to do to get ready, and exactly how to do the deed.

Listen to the ‘You’re Fired!’ Podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

You're Fired Podcast Slides

Take a look at the ‘You’re Fired‘ Cheat Sheet

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Performance Management.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

People do what gets reinforced (this is both a good news and a bad news story)!  Here’s how you can use consequences to manage performance.

The ABC’s of Performance Management

For more information, take a look at ‘Bringing Out the Best in People: How to Apply the Astonishing Power of Positive Reinforcement’, by Aubrey C. Daniels

Activator (or antecedent)

• Something that comes before a behaviour or activity which sets the occasion for that behaviour
• Most often over-used by managers
• Have only short-term effects
• Cause a behaviour to happen a limited number of times
• Must be paired with a consequence to be effective

Behavior

• What a person does
• Performance
• Action
• Event
• Decision

Consequences

• The result of a behavior
• A response to an action
• What is said or done about someone’s work or an activity
• An event that occurs after a given behavior
• What happens to the performer as a result of the given behavior

Leaders often overuse activators and underuse consequences.

Types of Consequences

There are four types of consequences:

• Positive reinforcement – Makes me feel good about something I’ve done
• Negative reinforcement – I do something because it will allow me to avoid something negative
• Punishment – Makes me feel bad about something I’ve done
• Extinction – Being ignored for something I’ve done

Positive and negative reinforcement are consequences that will increase behavior, while punishment and extinction are consequences that will decrease behavior.

Consequences That Drive Performance

Consequences can be:

• Positive  OR Negative
• Immediate  OR Future
• Certain  OR Uncertain

The consequences that will drive performance are positive, immediate, and certain.

Learn Even More About ‘ABC’s of Performance Management’

Wily Manager members, click here to access the members-only area for this topic (you must be logged in).  In the members-only area, you can:

• Listen to the ‘ABC’s of Performance Management’ Podcast (15 minutes)
• Download the ‘ABC’s of Performance Management’ Audio (mp3)
• Download the ‘ABC’s of Performance Management’ Slides (ppt)
• Print or save the ‘ABC’s of Performance Management’ Cheat Sheet (pdf)
• Click through to Related Topics:
  • How to Coach When You’re Not the Expert
  • Good Boss, Bad Boss: Be a Better Boss
  • Difficult Conversations: You Smell and People Don’t Like You
  • The One on One Meeting
  • Dealing With Difficult Employees
  • The Performance Pie
  • Giving Quality Feedback
  • You’re Fired! How to Fire an Employee
  • The Situational Leadership Model

Not a member yet? Join us now and get instant access! For more information about the advantages of becoming a Wily Manager member, visit Become a Member.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Performance Management.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Learn the 5 steps to delivering quality feedback.

Listen to the ‘Giving Quality Feedback’ podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

'Giving Quality Feedback' Podcast Slides

Take a look at the ‘Giving Quality Feedback‘ Cheat Sheet

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Giving Quality Feedback.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

Why should you give feedback?

• To confirm a course of action, performance or behavior
• To correct specific behavior or performance
• To have a behavior or performance carry on
• Use as a performance management tool to enhance performance

There are 5 steps for giving quality feedback:

Step 1: Context Tell them what you’re going to tell them

• Tell them what’s coming – don’t leave them guessing
• Don’t just start talking, and leave them to figure it out on their own
• “I’d like to offer some feedback on…”

Step 2: Clarify Describe in specific, measurable and observable terms and tell them why it’s important

• Generalities don’t work
• Have your facts straight
• Describe observable behaviors
• Use measures wherever possible
• Tell them why this is important
• What is the impact on you and on others?
• How does it relate to high level goals and objectives

Step 3: Create Ask for feedback on the feedback and brainstorm actions to improve or do better

• Ask lots of questions
• Guide them through the feedback
• Give an opportunity to respond
• Brainstorm actions to improve or do better

Step 4: Confirm Agree on action steps forward, and determine exactly what will happen next

• Make sure you agree on what will happen next, even if it is to maintain the status quo
• Reinforce continued good performance
• Describe what future outcomes you’d like to see

Step 5: Close Express confidence and support

• Everyone should leave the meeting with a clear idea of what they need to do next
• Reinforce your confidence in the recipients ability to be successful
• Describe how you will support them in their efforts to improve

Learn Even More About ‘Giving Quality Feedback’

Wily Manager members, click here to access the members-only area for this topic (you must be logged in).  In the members-only area, you can:

• Listen to the ‘Giving Quality Feedback’ Podcast (15 minutes)
• Download the ‘Giving Quality Feedback’ Audio (mp3)
• Download the ‘Giving Quality Feedback’ Slides (ppt)
• Print or save the ‘Giving Quality Feedback’ Cheat Sheet (pdf)
• Click through to Related Topics:
  • How to Coach When You’re Not the Expert
  • Dealing With Difficult Employees
  • Difficult Conversations: You Smell and People Don’t Like You
  • ABC’s of Performance Management
  • Good Boss, Bad Boss: Be a Better Boss
  • Effective Interpersonal Communication

Not a member yet? Join us now and get instant access! For more information about the advantages of becoming a Wily Manager member, visit Become a Member.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Giving Quality Feedback.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

One of my favourite work assignments was a project based in Philadelphia that was a joint venture between an American Company and a British one.  One would think the similarities between these two countries would keep cross-cultural issues to a minimum, but as anyone who has worked in both countries will tell you, the differences are more than merely adjusting to funny accents.

One of the first wrinkles that needed to ironed out was the fact that Americans take about 3 weeks vacation a year in increments of no longer than 5 days, and their British counterparts have two or three times that holiday entitlement.

While the Brits would jet off to Southern Europe for 3 weeks at a time during the summer, the Americans would be at the office working the same excessive hours as always.  Interestingly, the productivity of the two groups was about the same.

This got me to thinking about how we work in North America, and how much of the time we are pretending to work.  Lots of people will take offence to the notion that they are not really working, but in reality the bulk of the work at many organizations takes place in just a few weeks per year.

January through May are good production months, except for a few days around Easter and Spring Break.  June through August, many people are not at work at all, and those that are working show up, but really have one eye to the outdoors and their next BBQ.  September and October are usually about budgeting and planning, and while some will argue they are critical to the business, it distracts from the actual running of the business, and often adds far less value than it costs in time and effort.  Finally November and December work gets done, but with the distractions of Christmas and (for the Americans) Thanksgiving.

So as a manager, how do you reconcile that the few people that do show up in July and August are probably just pretending to work?  You don’t.  It’s part of the deal, and most organizations don’t fall apart as a result.  The real question to ask is whether the work being done the rest of the year, when the entire staff complement is in place and working at capacity has any value.

Anyway, I better take a quick lap around the office floor (holding a piece of paper, and walking quickly) so as to maintain the appearance of work, before someone figures out I’m part of the masses pretending to work during the summer months.

Something happens in an airport or on an airplane every few months that makes us collectively lose our minds.  In the past year, restrictions have been put on air travelers that are only slightly less obtrusive than being bound in straight-jacket while in transit.

At any given time there are literally hundreds of thousands of people in the air.  Of all of those people, some tiny fraction of one percent want to do harm.  Regardless of how small that deviant population is, all air travelers are subject to slow, invasive, and somewhat ineffective security measures.

Many workplaces manage their employees the same way.  They put restrictive policies in place to thwart the occasional employee that may abuse a corporate directive.  One example was a client of ours who had a proposal to put people on a per diem expense when they were travelling, and thus eliminating the need for the collection and auditing of hundreds of $10 lunch receipts.

Ultimately the proposal was turned down because there was some history of one or two employees abusing their expense accounts.  Rather than properly discipline the offending employees, it was decided to stack policy on top of policy to eliminate any chance anyone could abuse their expense account.

In the process, they created an abundance of unnecessary work for countless employees, cost the shareholders more in compliance-related costs, damaged any atmosphere of trust in the organization, and ultimately didn’t stop dishonest employees from taking advantage of the situation.  Not a very smart decision.

In the airports, we don’t have much choice; in the workplace we do.  Managers need to be accountable for managing.  If an employee behaves poorly, then address the behavior – don’t write a policy.  In the example above, the offending employees should have been fired.  They then could have instituted an expense allowance that is easier to administer and saves everyone time and money.

I can already hear the HR and Finance people objecting, but at some point pragmatic common sense must prevail.

It seems to me that Command and Control as a management style has gotten a bum rap.  You’ve heard the disparaging remarks, “She’s a complete command and control style manager” – implying there is something wrong with that.

I think such comments display a startling lack of understanding of what leaders are required to do in organizations.  Command and control is a very useful managerial tool for certain situations.

People love to use fire-fighting as an analogy to describe modern management practice.  I would challenge anyone to go find himself a Fire Chief and ask him/her if command and control is a bad idea.

When a building is burning and lives are at stake, the Fire Chief very much relies on command and control as the appropriate management tool for that situation.  Can you imagine the fire department showing up at an emergency, and the Fire Chief requesting that everyone break up in study groups, to hold hands and sing camp songs?

“OK – everyone brainstorm ideas for how we should tackle this, and I’ll give a special prize to the group that comes up with the best idea.  Make sure everyone participates equally, and remember that everyone’s feedback is valuable.  This is an excellent opportunity to reinforce how much we value each other, and I’ll float between the groups to help facilitate.”

Glad it’s not my house on fire.  I want the Fire Chief standing on top of chair barking out orders as fast as she can to get the situation under control.  I also want the Firefighters to listen carefully to the orders being dispatched, and execute as they’re being instructed to do.

When they are back at the Firehall, and practicing for such emergencies, or doing community outreach, then the Fire Chief would be well advised to pull a different tool out of his box, and to engage his people in a more collaborative style.

The problem for people that disparage command and control is that they confuse this very important managerial style with a lack of respect.  Lack of respect is never appropriate, but many times it is a leaders job to tell her direct reports in no uncertain terms what they are required to do.  Setting clear expectations, holding people to account for those expectations, and administering the appropriate consequences are what we pay managers to do.

Command and control is one legitimate tool to get this done.

Tell me your experiences – both good and bad – with command and control as a management style.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about The Performance Pie.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

What is the Performance Pie?

The Performance Pie is a diagnostic tool that can help you analyze why a performance problem may exist. It does not offer specific solutions to performance problems but it does help you zero in on some of the more common reasons as to why performance may be suffering on a particular task, duty or responsibility.  Then you can target your solutions in the areas most likely to impact performance.

How Does it Work?

The performance analysis design primarily emphasized the individual, the job or process, the work environment and incentives or consequences. In other words, the design of the Performance Pie focuses on the following seven factors of performance:

• Knowledge and Skill
• Capacity
• Standards
• Measurement
• Feedback
• Conditions
• Incentives

The Seven Factors of Performance

1. Knowledge and Skill

This means that the individuals performing the task must have the knowledge and skills necessary

2. Capacity

The right persons are to be selected for the right jobs and tasks. This means, for example, that the individuals are capable—physically, intellectually, socially, and emotionally.

3. Standards

Individuals must be clearly informed about what is expected of them. Supervisors, job descriptions, and performance appraisal objectives should clearly dictate the standards of performance, and these standards ought to be congruent with the expectations of the, supervisors, department and organization.

4. Measurement

Measurement clarifies standards, initiates goal orientation, provides data or information with which to give feedback and signals opportunities for rewards and recognition.  What gets measured gets done is not only a cliché but a truism as well.

5. Feedback

Individuals need to know how well they are doing in accordance with the standards and measures and how they can improve their performance. They must receive regular feedback on their performance from supervisors.

6. Conditions

Individuals need the resources necessary to perform their jobs according to expectation, standard, and measure.  They require the right facilities, equipment, tools, materials, supplies, time, and organizational climate—unhindered by conflicting goals or obstacles in work procedures—to perform effectively and efficiently.

7. Incentives/Consequences

Individuals do the things they are rewarded for doing and avoid negative consequences. Also, they must value the rewards and incentives.

Learn Even More About ‘The Performance Pie’

Wily Manager members, click here to access the members-only area for this topic (you must be logged in).  In the members-only area, you can:

• Listen to the ‘The Performance Pie’ Podcast (15 minutes)
• Download the ‘The Performance Pie’ Audio (mp3)
• Download the ‘The Performance Pie’ Slides (ppt)
• Print or save the ‘The Performance Pie’ Cheat Sheet (pdf)
• Click through to Related Topics:
  • How to Coach When You’re Not the Expert
  • Dealing With Difficult Employees
  • High Impact Development
  • ABC’s of Performance Management
  • The Situational Leadership Model
  • Millennials in the Workplace: How to Lead and Motivate Generation Y

Not a member yet? Join us now and get instant access! For more information about the advantages of becoming a Wily Manager member, visit Become a Member.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about The Performance Pie.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

In the ‘One with One Meetings’ podcast we talk about:

• Why conduct one on one meetings?
• Ground rules for one on one meetings
• How to prepare for a one on one meeting
• Sample agenda for a one on one meeting

Listen to the ‘One with One Meetings’ podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

One with One Meetings Podcast Slides

Take a look at ‘The One on One Meeting’ Cheat Sheet

Why do people act the way they do?  What are the consequences that drive performance?

Listen to the ‘ABC’s of Performance Management’ Podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

ABC's of Performance Management Podcast Slides

Take a look at the ‘ABC’s of Performance Management‘ Cheat Sheet

Get our Management Cheat Sheet Collection. Of course, it’s FREE.

Want to spend less time in meetings?  Then try meeting regularly with your direct reports one on one.  Believe it or not, these are not conflicting statements!

Managers who invest in regular, well structured one on one meetings report spending less overall time in meetings on a weekly basis.  These meetings save a manager time in the long run, as they cut back on the amount of re-work, and also on the number of ‘drive-by’ meetings.  In addition, one on one meetings are a key method by which managers can deliver results through others.

Why Have a One on One Meeting?

A well structured one on one meeting effectively addresses two critical types of needs:

• Personal needs (the basic human needs of those reporting to you, including the need to be treated with respect, and the need to trust those they work for).  To address the personal needs of your direct reports, you must build professional but authentic relationships with them, and you must establish credibility.
• Organizational needs (the actions required to advance the practical goals of the organization).  To address organizational needs, you need to do things like develop action plans to get work done; set expectations; follow up and hold others accountable.

A One on One Meeting: The Basics

• Conduct a one on one meeting weekly with each of your direct reports
• A one on one meeting should be highly focused.  Try not to exceed 30 minutes
• These must be the meetings you never miss; set them up as recurring appointments, and reschedule if necessary
• Document each one on one meeting - take notes, and track agreed upon action items
• There should be two way dialogue in a one on one meeting; as a manager, you should try to listen at least as much as you speak

How to Prepare for a One on One Meeting

Prepare for a one on one meeting by considering the following:

• Have I completed any actions that I agreed to at the previous one on one meeting?
• Review results.  Are the key objectives on track to being met?  What help or support is required to meet the objectives?  What coaching can be provided?
• What positive feedback can I give?
• What feedback for improvement should I be delivering?
• What can I delegate?

Get the Complete ‘One on One Meeting’ Topic Bundle

Get the One on One Meeting files here

The One on One Meeting topic bundle includes:

• One on One Meeting Cheat Sheet (pdf)
• One on One Meeting Booklet (pdf) containing:
  • In-Depth Topic Overview
  • How to Prepare for a One on One Meeting
  • Conducting a One on One Meeting
  • Suggested One on One Meeting Agenda
  • One on One Meeting Tracking Sheet
  • Recommended Resources – where to find out even more about One on One Meetings

• Easy-print versions of the tools contained in the One on One Meeting Booklet (pdf)
• One on One Meeting Podcast (mp3)
• One on One Meeting Podcast Slides (Powerpoint)

Get the complete ‘One on One Meeting’ topic bundle now – IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD!

What is a skip level meeting? Find out why Skip Level Meetings are important, and exactly how to conduct one.

Listen to the Skip Level Meetings podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

Skip Level Meetings Podcast Slides

Take a look at ‘The Skip Level Meeting’ Cheat Sheet

Get our Management Cheat Sheet Collection. Of course, it’s FREE.  Become a member and learn even more about the Business Review Meeting!

A business review meeting is a specific type of recurring meeting that is held to discuss individual or team scorecards and progress toward objectives.  During the business review meeting, teams apply problem-solving tools to issues that are impacting their performance.  Team leaders, managers and senior leadership assume coaching roles which emphasize positive feedback and recognition.

• Reinforce the accountability and action plans of each team or individual
• Share ideas and learn about interrelationships in the business
• Celebrate success
• Identify and remove barriers

Roles of leaders in the business review meeting process:

• Articulating the organization’s vision
• Involving people in deciding how to achieve the organization’s vision
• Supporting employee efforts to realize vision by providing coaching, feedback, and role modeling
• Recognizing and rewarding success

The business review meeting process:

Business review meetings are scheduled on a regular basis (monthly or quarterly) and include a presentation of key performance measures (individual and/or team).  Baselines (historical performance), current data and projected trends are presented for each goal or critical success factor.  Key successes are shared with the group as well as required interventions and actions to overcome barriers.  Working together, the team develops action plans to improve performance - steps to reach objectives are identified; individuals are assigned responsibility for each step; target completion dates are established for each step and expected results are communicated.

Why have a business review meeting?

• Opportunity to assess the current performance status of each team or individual
• Opportunity to highlight and recognize good performance
• Opportunity to gain input from peers and management on ideas, scorecards and action plans for the next time period
• Opportunity for leaders to focus the team on critical issues, goals and objectives
• Opportunity to make decisions as a team
• Opportunity to give and receive feedback

Get the Complete ‘Business Review Meeting’ Topic Bundle

Get the Business Review Meeting files here

The Business Review Meeting topic bundle includes:

• Business Review Meeting Cheat Sheet (pdf)
• Business Review Meeting Booklet (pdf) containing:
  • In-Depth Topic Overview
  • How to Make a Successful Presentation at a Business Review Meeting
  • How to Lead the Business Review Meeting Process
  • Recommended Resources – where to find out even more about business review meetings
• Business Review Meeting Podcast (mp3)
• Business Review Meeting Podcast Slides (Powerpoint)

Get the complete ‘Business Review Meeting’ topic bundle now – IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD!

What is a performance pie? Learn how to analyze and diagnose performance issues.

Listen to the ‘Performance Pie’ podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

Performance Pie Podcast Slides

Take a look at the Peformance Pie Cheat Sheet

Learn how to deal with ANY type of diffult behavior…as well as 6 specific types of bad behavior you are likely to encounter.

Listen to the ‘Dealing With Difficult Behavior’ podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

Dealing with Difficult Behavior Podcast Slides

Take a look at the ‘Dealing With Difficult Employees’ Cheat Sheet

Learn our 5-step model that allows you to be an effective coach…even if you’re not the expert.

Listen to ‘The Wily Manager Coaching Model’ podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

The Wily Manager Coaching Model Podcast Slides

Take a look at the ‘How to Coach When You’re Not the Expert’ Cheat Sheet

Get our Management Cheat Sheet Collection. Of course, it’s FREE.

For most managers, ‘people issues’ consume the largest portion of time and effort.  No employee is more time consuming than one exhibiting difficult behaviour.  For this reason, building skills to cope with difficult people has an immediate and measureable return.

Everyone displays difficult behaviour at one time or another.  People often engage in difficult behavior because such action has worked for them in the past.  There are very specific techniques that managers can use to address difficult behaviour.  Some specific behaviours require certain responses, but for all difficult behaviours:

• Focus on the specific behaviour, not the person or personalities
• Identify the type of behaviour, and strategize a response before reacting
• Attempt to understand the root cause of the behavior
• Avoid public showdowns
• Determine if the conversation can continue at that time, and postpone it if emotions are running high
• Be aware of the impact of the behavior is having on you
• Don’t make excuses for the person
• Choose to do something about the behavior

Not all the Turtles make it to the Sea

In some cases a difficult person will not respond to reasonable attempts to assist them in correcting their behavior, and organizational health can be at stake.  In such a case, high integrity leaders must make the unpleasant choice to part company with that person.

Get the Complete ‘Dealing with Difficult Employees’ Topic Bundle

Get the Dealing with Difficult Employees files here

The Dealing with Difficult Employees topic bundle includes:

• Dealing with Difficult Employees Cheat Sheet (pdf)
• Dealing with Difficult Employees Booklet (pdf) containing:
  • In-Depth Topic Overview
  • How to Deal with People Who Love to ARGUE
  • How to Deal with People Who Feel Unreasonably ENTITLED
  • How to Deal with People Who Think They KNOW IT ALL
  • How to Deal with Chronic PESSIMISTS or BLAMERS
  • How to Deal with People Who DON’T WANT TO WORK
  • How to Deal with the UNMOTIVATED
  • How to Deal with a BULLY
  • How to Deal with People Who ALWAYS ARGUE and people Who Can NEVER MAKE A DECISION
  • Recommended Resources – where to find out even more about Dealing with Difficult Employees

• Dealing with Difficult Employees Podcast (mp3)
• Dealing with Difficult Employees Podcast slides (Powerpoint)

Get the complete ‘Dealing with Difficult Employees’ topic bundle now – IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD!

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Difficult Conversations.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection.

Unless you’ve been living alone in a cave most of your life, you will have had to conduct a difficult conversation with someone. If you’re a leader of people, tough talks are a job requirement. You can avoid them, but it will be at your own peril. Sooner or later you’ll need to address that difficult situation.

How to conduct a Difficult Conversation:

Step 1 – Prepare and Anticipate

• Prepare in advance – anticipate responses. Make sure you are dealing with complete information
• Explain but don’t defend
• Make sure any issue you are dealing with does not have legal ramifications (termination, harassment, violence in the workplace etc.)
• Don’t think it’s not going to be uncomfortable. Mentally prepare for the discomfort the situation may cause you.

Step 2 – Focus on Facts and Observable Behaviors

• Focus on observable behaviors and facts, not the person. “People don’t like you”, is much different than “People don’t like it when talk loud on the phone.”
• Focus on the issue at hand – don’t get dragged into irrelevant parallel issues.

Step 3 – Showtime: Manage the Confrontation

• Get to the point – eliminate the small talk, and move to your point quickly. Often the best course of action is to make it clear in your first sentence what the other person should expect.
• Do not engage in any tough talk if you are emotionally compromised at the moment. Adjourning the conversation is a legitimate course of action if either party is excessively emotional, but keep in mind that by deferring the conversation you are prolonging an unpleasant event.
• Stick to your guns unless emergent facts cause you to want to reconsider. If the recipient is feeling badly, that does not count as an emergent fact.
• If there are specific behaviors required of the other person, ensure those are well understood.

Learn Even More About ‘Difficult Conversations’

Wily Manager members, click here to access the members-only area for this topic (you must be logged in).  In the members-only area, you can:

• Listen to the ‘Difficult Conversations’ Podcast (15 minutes)
• Download the ‘Difficult Conversations’ Audio (mp3)
• Download the ‘Difficult Conversations’ Slides (ppt)
• Print or save the ‘Difficult Conversations’ Cheat Sheet (pdf)
• Click through to Related Topics:
  • The One on One Meeting
  • Handling Emotional Behavior
  • Dealing With Difficult Employees
  • Top 10 Manager Challenges: Part A (Managing Conflict)
  • Giving Quality Feedback
  • Good Boss, Bad Boss: Be a Better Boss
  • How to Manage Conflict

Not a member yet? Join us now and get instant access! For more information about the advantages of becoming a Wily Manager member, visit Become a Member.

Become a Wily Manager member and get instant access to even more information about Difficult Conversations.  And don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Management Cheat Sheet Collection

Get our Management Cheat Sheet Collection. Of course, it’s FREE.  Become a member and learn even more about the Skip Level Meeting!

A Skip-Level Meeting is a meeting between managers and team members who are one or more levels below them. The purpose of a skip-level meeting is for managers to get to know their team members, build trust with them, and understand their problems. Skip-level meetings can never take the place of direct communications within teams, but it can be a powerful adjunct to these efforts.

Skip Level Meeting Key Concepts:

• Group round-table meetings are more efficient than one-on-one meetings for skip-level meetings.
• Leading organizations plan a skip-level meeting with every team or workgroup at least once per year.
• Don’t wait for your boss or the HR department to arrange skip-level meetings for your direct reports.
• There are five key steps to conducting an effective skip-level meeting:

1. Plan the skip level meeting
2. Conduct the skip level meeting and record the feedback
3. Analyze the information collected at the skip level meeting
4. Create an action plan based on the feedback
5. Follow up and report progress

Skip Level Meeting Planning Questions:

• When is the last time a skip-level meeting was conducted with this group?
• Has the feedback from last skip level meeting been acted upon?
• Have skip-level meetings been conducted in parallel business areas?
• Will the skip level meeting be used to ‘build a file’ for disciplinary action on the leader of the group?
• Have I followed the five-point planning process for skip-level meetings?
• Do I need to improve my skills in any of the related areas, for which information is available?

Skip Level Meeting Potential Pitfalls:

• Do not use skip-level meetings to ‘build a file’ on a leader you want to fire.
• Tell all managers what you are doing and why.
• Don’t include the manager in the skip level meeting if your goal is to get back honest feedback.
• Don’t ask about topics about which you are unable or unwilling to do anything.
• Provide some level of feedback to the manager about the feedback received from his/her direct reports during the skip level meeting.
• It is more damaging to do a skip-level meeting poorly than it is to not do it at all.

Get the Complete ‘Skip-Level Meeting’ Topic Bundle

Get the Skip Level Meeting files here

The Skip Level Meeting topic bundle includes:

• Skip Level Meeting Cheat Sheet (pdf)
• Skip Level Meeting Booklet (pdf) containing:
  • In-Depth Topic Overview
  • Skip-Level Meeting Readiness Self-Assessment
  • Skip-Level Meeting Communication Timeline
  • Sample Skip-Level Meeting Invitation Letter
  • Sample Skip-Level Meeting Follow-up Letters
  • Skip-Level Meeting Discussion Guide
  • Suggested Skip-Level Meeting Questions
  • Recommended Resources – where to find out even more about skip-level meetings

• Easy-print versions of the tools contained in the Skip Level Meeting Booklet (pdf)
• Skip Level Meeting Podcast (mp3)
• Skip Level Meeting Podcast slides (Powerpoint)

Get the complete ‘Skip Level Meeting’ topic bundle now – IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD!

Get our Management Cheat Sheet Collection. Of course, it’s FREE.

Coaching has become a very popular business trend in the past several years. As organizations get flatter and as you progress in your career to take on roles of increasing responsibility you will more often find yourself in a leadership or coaching role where you are not the ‘expert’.

How Coaching Conversations are Different:

• There is an articulated focus and purpose for coaching conversations
• Accountability mechanisms are built in to the coaching conversation
• Feedback and reinforcement are part of the conversation structure

A Brief Introduction to the Wily Manager Five Step Coaching Model:

Step 1 – Context: Decide what is to be worked on, and why it is important. Also identify the conditions and constraints.

Step 2 – Clarify: Articulate the desired outcomes and goals of the coaching. Contrast these against the current reality.

Step 3 – Create: The coach and a team member now explore potential avenues forward, taking into account what has been learned in the first two steps. Decide upon a preferred path.

Step 4 – Commit: Agree upon specific action plans to reach the desired destination. Write down and agree upon ‘who does what by when’. Where possible, include measures of success as well.

Step 5 – Close: Ensure all commitments are understood and the desired behaviours are reinforced. Periodically, debrief the coaching session at this point.

Get the Complete ‘How to Coach When You’re Not The Expert’ Topic Bundle

Get the ‘How to Coach When You’re Not The Expert’ files here

The ‘How to Coach When You’re Not The Expert’ Topic Bundle includes:

• ‘How to Coach When You’re Not The Expert’ Cheat Sheet (pdf)
• ‘How to Coach When You’re Not the Expert’ Booklet (pdf) containing:
  • In-Depth Topic Overview
  • Benefits of Coaching
  • How Coaching Conversations are Different
  • The Coaching Process
  • Wily Manager’s 5-Step Coaching Model
  • Recommended Resources – where to find out even more about Coaching

• Easy-print versions of the tools contained in the ‘How to Coach When You’re Not The Expert’ Booklet (pdf)
• ‘The Wily Manager Coaching Model’ Podcast (mp3)
• ‘The Wily Manager Coaching Model’ Podcast Slides (Powerpoint)

Get the complete ‘How to Coach When You’re Not The Expert’ topic bundle now – IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD!