Become More Productive and Successful, Rough Guider [ebook reader wifi .TXT] 📗

some information on a couple of sheets of paper so that they could establish the company requirements and available budget and they put together some pretty impressive plans.  Later on, they presented the plans - so presentation skills were finely honed as well.  It was a cracking day.

 

There are two sides to every story - part 1 (for Part 2 see ‘Chairing (running) meetings’).  It is really important to educate staff that others within the business, particularly those in other departments, have different personalities, different goals, objects and priorities along with different day-to-day pressures.  For example, someone in the finance department may feel frustrated that a salesperson delivers their expense claim form one day late.  They are also irritated by the fact that the salesperson’s boss will not take steps to reprimand them.  When you look at the situation from the salesperson’s lens things can be very different.  They wonder why the finance person is being so hard on them when they are the top performer in their department (smashing through their quarterly sales goals), when they are always courteous and polite to the guys in Finance, and when they have been on the road for 2 weeks in back-to-back sales meetings so have not had time to complete the travel and entertaining expenses claim form.  Would the Finance person rather they put in the claim on time but missed out on a high value sale (perhaps yes?).  The thing to remember here is that different factors drive the day-to-day actions of individuals throughout the organization.  If your staff can get their heads around this, it can take away a whole load of internal stress.  It doesn’t necessarily make things easier for them from a process point of view (although perhaps when they understand the issues they may look to change the process in order to ‘buy in’ the Sales department) but it will ensure that they can manage their frustrations by understanding the issue from the culprit’s point of view.

 

Don’t’ forget to listen to new ideas.  You are the chief of your team, department or business, which means you should know that most great ideas (although not all) come from the front-line.  Ignore your staff at your peril.  One analogy that remains firmly rooted in my mind is the situation where a Captain in the army is fighting off the enemy one by one using his sword.  As they run towards him he is just about able to fight them off.  However, at the same time, one of his men is tapping him on the shoulder trying to get his attention.  “Get off me” he keeps saying, “Can’t you see that I’m really tied up at the moment”.  The Private groans and tries to grab his superior’s attention a few minutes later, but to no avail.  The Captain worked really hard that day and, along with his men, just about managed to keep the enemy at bay.  At the end of the day the Captain turned around to the Private and asked “So what was so important that you kept trying to interrupt me when you could see that I had my hands full?”  The Private turned round to his Captain and showed him a box that had arrived that day.  On the outside of the package was written the words ‘Sub-machine gun’.  If only the Captain had taken the time to listen to his team he would have performed far more effectively for the army that day.

 

Crossing the divide.  Some advice I received very early on in my managerial career related to the ‘us and them’ syndrome.  Once I had made the jump from the front line to a management position my boss called me in and explained that I was now part of the management team and shouldn’t fraternize with the troops.  Now, to be clear, he was not suggesting anything other than a new approach to managing my relationships with staff.  My boss stated that I should treat staff with respect, dignity, fairness and so on (he was explicit that this was extremely important) but I should become slightly more remote or aloof so that I didn’t get in a tangle with my priorities or create conflicts of interest.  If I was to spend a couple of evenings a week down the pub with my staff and perhaps include myself in conversations that were in conflict with the views that were expressed by the management team I would lose their respect when it came to dealing with disciplinary situations, annual appraisals, pay reviews and so on.  The ‘take-away’ is to jump across the divide and become a strong, supportive and effective manager and recognize that to be one you may need to create some ‘distance’ between you and your staff.  

 

Be the boss you want your boss to be.  We’re all pretty good at identifying the areas where our bosses could improve in terms of their management style and capabilities.  Does that mean we are ourselves perfect managers?  I’d like to say yes, but when I write down all the characteristics I expect my boss to possess, and all the skills I am sure he should have acquired, I’m left with quite a formidable list.  When I use this list to assess my own performance and qualities (perhaps rate each out of 10) I don’t score anywhere near maximum points.  Hmm, I’ve still got a lot to learn and am now aware of the improvements I need to make.  Why not try this for yourself.  It is a great way of prioritizing some of your management capability objectives for the following year.Leading

There is much debate on the differences between ‘leading’ and ‘managing’ or on how one progresses from a manager to a leader.  From my point of view great managers are also greater leaders.  They may not set the strategy for the firm but they certainly lead their staff making them into more polished, experienced and developed staff.

 

Therefore, this chapter highlights a number of leadership qualities that all managers should aspire to.  Hopefully you will find that you have many of these qualities already.

 

Practise what you preach.  As a manager (or leader) you should ensure that conduct yourself in the same manner as you would expect your staff to do so.  If you want the team to arrive on time in the mornings, not to take extended lunch hours and show respect for one another, you should do the same.  If you don’t follow the values and principles that you set out for your team, they won’t take them seriously and almost certainly won’t adhere to them and incorporate them into their daily working lives.  In other words, be a great role model.

 

Integrity.  A good leader will possess a high level of integrity and will be a trusted advisor to their teams and peers.  Ensure that this quality is apparent in your ways of working.

 

Gain and retain trust.  Be honest with your staff, gain and then retain their trust.  Don’t bluff.  Don’t lie.  If you break the trust of your staff you will lose their respect.  This may not manifest itself in day to day conversations and catch-ups but the relationships you have will be weakened and your ability to lead the team when times are tough will be that much harder. Why should they work late that night or give up a weekend for you if they don’t trust that you have their best intentions at heart?

 

Trust them.  You will benefit as a leader if you can clearly demonstrate that you trust your staff.  When you set a task or project trust them to complete it correctly and on time.  Give them the space to grow as individuals by allowing them to ‘mature’ in the workplace.

 

Communicate effectively.  When communication lines break down or where directions given are unclear or incoherent staff will lose both trust and respect for you.  Don’t let all the good work of developing relationships go to waste by sitting in your ivory tower and assuming all is well on the front-line.  The best communicators are often the best leaders and in many cases they progress high up the career ladder.  Use this skill regularly and check in with staff that the frequency of communications along with the clarity and content within them is right to meet their needs as a team within the business.

 

Show interest in front-line work.  Great leaders ensure that they take time out of their hectic daily schedules to experience and learn about (in some detail) the pressures, issues and concerns of their teams.  By shadowing a team member for a few hours or by reviewing with them one or two of the processes that they see as most ineffective you will very quickly begin to understand some of the issues facing them.  By the virtue of the fact that you have a ‘helicopter view’ of their area, and how their role and the function interrelates to other areas of the business, you are more than likely able to propose some solutions to their problems.  At the very least you should be able to demonstrate understanding and empathy.  So get out there, spend some time with your team and show an interest in their everyday working lives.  They are sure to respond well.  [Caution:  if you are going to review some of their tasks and processes communicate clearly the reason for doing so.  Without an upfront briefing staff may misinterpret your actions as being a review of their personal effectiveness and capabilities or they may even think that whole or part of their role is at risk of redundancy.] 

 

Use your emotional intelligence.  Different people need to be led in different ways and the same person needs to be led different ways at different times.  If you can determine how to effectively lead your staff, taking into account the personalities of the individuals you are leading, the mood of the office, and the current business environment, you will perform to a much higher level than someone who treats everyone the same way all of the time.

Building joy into your work

I love my job.  I can’t wait to get up in the morning, get on the train and sit at my desk all day adding value and consciously acknowledging (and being acknowledged for) the terrific contribution I make to the business.  My job is really my hobby which I love with a passion and I’m so fortunate to be paid for what I enjoy doing.

 

Does this sound like your job?  No?  Well it doesn’t sound like mine either.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy my role.  I do, very much.  It’s just that 99% of us are not in jobs that are all about fun, adventure or about using some amazing inherent talent that we possess and get to exercise every day.

 

This is why I am a great believer in thinking through the aspects of my role that I really enjoy and focus at least some attention on how I can introduce things I like doing.

 

Examples of what you may (or may not) enjoy are as follows:

 

Developing your team and seeing them prosper and progress through the organization (with all the acknowledgments that come your way)

 

Specifically, running your own bespoke short training sessions and encouraging your team members to get actively involved, enjoying the thankful and supportive feedback they provided

 

Building great relationships both within and outside your organization (see ‘Networking’).

 

Applying the skills you learn to support voluntary work you perform outside business hours. Perhaps you provide management support, finance training or support, mentoring or something else from your talent base.

 

Improving productivity within your team and also assisting other teams with your process re-engineering experience

 

Managing large scale assignments making use of your project management and diplomatic skills.

 

Learning more about the marketplace.  Perhaps understanding more about the cultures across different geographical regions.

 

Traveling and seeing the sites, beyond airport lounges and hotel lobbies.  If you organize things correctly can you perhaps see more of the world at no cost to the company?

 

Would you enjoy