Nothing New

I have taken on developing a leadership program for a growing company. It is a fun challenge and I find those just starting careers in the workforce anxious to learn. Most importantly they continue to teach me. What I have really learned over the past few years, whether providing seminars to executive leaders or to those just starting their careers, there really is nothing new. We continually struggle to communicate effectively.

I know, you may be thinking, "What is all the training accomplishing?" If you're heart is not into really wanting to connect and make a difference, then likely very little. If you really care about being an effective communicator, then you will be a lifetime learner that will never give up. I can only add one major insight...those who honestly care will find a way to communicate.

There's Always One

The end of the year is a great time to look at yourself and your staff. Are they performing at a high level? Are they happy? Are they not only doing their job but actually improving the work? Or...is there just one person you wish was not there. Why?

It seems during your career you either inherit or hire a person that just does not fit in. They may have all the qualifications and even excel at one thing but overall they hinder the team. They usually eat up most of your attention and don't enhance the productivity or performance of those around them. Why are they still there?

Now is the time to look at the situation closely. Is this person impacting everyone or is it just you? Make sure your preferences are not guiding your judgment. Everyone does not have to be like you. So, if the problem seems only with you and the staff is working well...look closely in the mirror. But, if the person's performance and behaviors are harming the entire staff, then you have to do something.

Doing nothing is common. The excuses are rampant on dealing with a problem employee. "It is too hard." "It takes to long to remove them." Or even worse you start making excuses for them like, "They do a good job most of the time." "They only get upset and shout a few times a year." "We have spent so much money training them." "They have been here so long." Whoa there. Stop! Make no mistake. Doing nothing will undermine your leadership and standing with others and continue to frustrate your staff. You must be willing to protect and enhance the performance of others. If you do not, the performance of the problem employee becomes your work standard. If you allow one individual to drive the situation and require the rest of the staff to "cover" for them you will get resentment. Not resentment toward the problem employee...resentment toward you! You are the boss and should take action. This becomes a measure of your ability to manage and lead your staff.

So what do you do? First, make sure the person is in the right job. In many organizations you may be able to find a better fit in your own workforce. They become happier and your staff is happier. If this is not possible, then I would offer the person the support to find another position. Not just fire them and throw them out the door. Help them find a job or point them in the right direction. You will still not likely make a "best friend" but you do not want your company to be portrayed as cold and uncaring.

Unfortunately, as Paul says above, you will likely in your career have one person that just baffles and frustrates you. The key is not to let it ruin your reputation and your staff. So, think ahead to December 2008. How can your workplace be better than today?

The Tough Job

You are a go getter. A real team player. You are a manager that can get things done. My question, "Are you forgetting the toughest part of your job?" "Are you doing the important work that will make you a long-term success?" Finding and recognizing the best in others is the toughest job you have. You may think I am kidding, right? Not so. How many times today have you noted how well members of your staff are performing? What good behaviors have you seen today and taken the time to tell the person you appreciate it? When was the last time you thanked individuals of your staff for being on time, being prepared for a meeting, or handling a client well? Are you taking your co-workers for granted? When you recognize, even the little things people do well you reinforce that behavior and make your standards known to all.

Think about your last three weeks. Have your comments to co-workers been mostly positive or corrective? Do you mostly "correct" others?

We are programmed to see the negative. The brain is always looking for threats and things that are not right. It is doing this to protect us. In early history, it was to keep us from becoming lunch to a saber-toothed tiger. Today our brain is still programed to see threats but it is more likely from someone who threatens our job, our reputation, or our success. That is why it takes effort to focus on what is being done well because we are programmed to perceive threat.

In one of my courses in the National Weather Service, I had a young woman teaching mediation. Her session was in the second week of training. She placed a card with masking tape on the back of each student, then had all the students go around to each other and write what they liked or appreciated about that person. These students had been together ten days, ate meals together, spent evening together and had a chance to know each other. Yet after all this, it was a struggle for many to write a positive remark on the card. I challenge you to write down the names of those you work with and write down a positive remark, spending only a few seconds on each person. I bet you can quickly recall their last mistake or ill remark they made about you!?!?!?!? Can you just as quickly say what you like about them?

The purpose of the class exercise was to demonstrate that if we really look at the things we appreciate in others, it is easier to come to an agreement in a mediation. I will go even further. If you make an effort to consider all the good behaviors and performance in others, you will find the mistakes they make are pretty insignificant in the total scheme of things. Yes, we may need to improve or correct ourselves and others but we do not need to turn it into the national emergency or life-ending crisis. Looking or the best in others also protects us from showing favoritism. It is important to recognize the worth of all employees, not just our friends. When we look for the best in all our coworkers it is less likely rumors and gossip will arise about our relationships.

Improving the performance of others is an important job. It is easier to have provide effective and safe feedback if we have earned the trust and well-being of others by recognizing them for the things they do right, FIRST! Earn the right to correct and improve the performance of others. If the first real conversation you have with an employee is pointing out faults or providing correction, you will set a negative tone to the relationship for years to come.

Start recognizing others for the things they do right and see if attitudes and productivity improves. It is just more fun to be nice.

Help Others Help You

Over the years I have seen bosses make it nearly impossible to work for them. I have also seen managers that make it so easy to work for them that it almost doesn't feel like work. What is the difference? They make it easy to help them. Are you easy to work for? Do you get the support you need? If not, how can you change the environment?

Let me offer three insights to gaining the most staff support.

1. Help them know your job.
Do you complain about all your work and all the meetings you have to attend? Why not send some of your staff? Are you protecting your job and the organizations performance by training others to fill in when you are gone? I once worked for a station manager that when he was absent would assign his work to the lead managers on his team, not his deputy. He rotated the assignment. Every one of his supervisors knew exactly what it took to run the office. We learned what he needed to be successful and that allowed us to serve him better. We knew what information he needed for reports, knew when critical reports were due, and how to work with managers from other offices.

It paid off big. Unfortunate circumstances left us without a station manager and a deputy for nearly six months. We never missed a beat. When our boss and deputy returned we were more than happy to have them back...but his foresight allowed all of us to be successful and keep the organization running smoothly. What would happen if you were gone six months? Are you protecting your organization by making sure it works efficiently without you?

2. It doesn't have to be your way.
Be easy to work with. It doesn't always have to be your way to get the job done. You must hold standards and require performance in the job, but be careful that you are not substituting your preferences as requirements. Give you people the chance to be creative and do the job.

I witnessed a situation at an office where the manager required people to color a chart and hang it on the wall every day. This was after millions of dollars were spent on computer systems designed to "replace the paper". The staff started partially coloring the chart, using wrong colors, and several other techniques to show their protest of this "personal preference". It became the battle of wills and impacted the entire work environment. It ended when the head of the organization walked through the office and tore down the chart and demanded, "Who spent time creating this chart when we spent millions of dollars on this system to eliminate this work?" No one said a thing. The boss never said anything about the chart again. Bottom line: Allow your staff to do their jobs and do not become so involved in the details and your preferences that you hamper them.

3. Don't be an ogre.
What is wrong with just being nice in the workplace. Don't be a grump, a complainer, always finding fault, showing anger, and just plain disagreeable. We know those people exist and we do not want to be around them. We do not like to work for them. We will not go out of our way to help or support them. You can be fair, hold standards, and do your job and still be a boss people want to work for. Being nice impacts performance. It helps cooperation. It builds teams. Being otherwise can be destructive. Just watch what happens in a meeting when someone gets angry or attacks someone. The entire mood plummets. People go quiet and are anxious to just get away. Difficult people create unneeded tension in the workplace.

The above is written from the perspective of managers (bosses) because they establish the environment of the workplace. It doesn't mean the employees of the hook. It only takes one employee on a team or in the workplace to create tension and decrease overall performance. That is why managers cannot allow poor behavior to persist in the workplace. You cannot expect a happy and productive workplace if you and your staff do not "play well with others".

Try this the next time you walk through your workplace, ask these three questions...

Will my office run well for a week, month or six months without me?

Do I see people doing things (that I require) that are not really necessary to do the job?

Does the staff seem happy and working together or are they working separate and griping?

Got work to do!!! Good Luck!

Communicating at Work

A major challenge for a manager is effectively and frequently providing feedback to employees. If managers rely on organizational processes such as annual or bi-annual evaluations, they will quickly run into trouble. Employees need to know almost daily if they are doing what is expected. Here is an exercise I use to see if employees and managers are on the same page. Have employees write down the three most important things they do in their job. Then have them write down the most important behavior needed to be successful in their job. Next, have the supervisor write down the three most important things in the employees job and the most important behavior they expect from the employee. The results may surprise you. Sometimes you wonder if they are talking about the same job. If there is a great difference between the two, then how can evaluations, job performance, and even job descriptions be successfully used?

As a manager, you should ask yourself these questions daily:
1. Does the person know the critical duties of their job?
2. Do they know what my (the manager) priorities are?
3. Have I let the employee know if they are doing the job correctly?
4. Do the employees know what I look for in successful performance?

If the employees do not know the above, how can they have a chance to do their job correctly and well? It is surprising how many employees do not know they are doing something that provides a poor evaluation of their job. Also things change fast and what seems important one day may be shoved to the back burner the next. How are the employees going to know exactly what you need accomplished in such a changing environment if you do not tell them?

I am not talking about what you as a manager prefer. I am talking about what is needed for the person to be a success and do the job correctly. Be careful that personal preferences don't become your workplace standards.

How do you establish a good base of trust and frequent feedback that will be appreciated by the employees? Earn their respect. Provide more positive feedback than constructive feedback. Most people do nearly all their jobs well. It is usually only a small part of their job they need to improve. Yet, the only feedback they get is about what needs to be improved...which leaves the impression that you only pay attention to mistakes. If that arises, your feedback will not be appreciated. Providing mostly negative feedback will convert an employee who does nearly all their job well into an adversary who becomes unmotivated and may find ways to get even. It is critical to reward and recognize what people do well.

Managing others is not an easy job. It requires time, focus, and energy. Good Luck!

Care Factor

The Care Factor

If there is any power on earth that can move and change our lives...it is the power of caring. When enough people care about something, they can accomplish miracles. Real caring is only demonstrated through action, not words. Which puts a company and person on notice. Companies or individuals may chant the mantra of caring about their employees or customers only to turn around and demonstrate the opposite. What do you believe? The action or the words?

Caring is about people, not things, technology, or money. In fact, when money is chosen over people, the most common remark about the organization is that it doesn't care. So does caring and profitability go together? Absolutely! Do you go back to restaurants that provide poor service or seem not to care whether you are there or not? What do you tell people about rude doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, companies? The care factor multiplies the skills and resources of any organization. The counter...the lack of demonstrated care can undermine any good product, service, or organization.

Walt Disney understood this concept well. When he designed his theme parks he focused on customer service. He cared about what people thought. He cared about their experience. He cared that families could build great memories attending his parks. Last time I looked, they still are successful.

Remember the big Tylenol scare of contamination in 1982? What did they do. They didn't downplay the issue. They didn't just remove containers with certain serial numbers or dates. They pulled everything! Then they designed tamper proof containers and gave away the design to all drug companies. Did it bankrupt them. Absolutely not. In fact, they recovered quickly and by the following spring exceeded the previous sales. Tylenol remains one of the most respected and popular brands to this day. They demonstrated that they cared for their customers more than their bottom line. It paid off big. What they understood is if they did not demonstrate they cared and stood by their company policies of safety, then customers would not trust them in the future. Recovery would be slow if not impossible. Caring is good business.
This applies to government agencies as well. Just because an agency has a monopoly of sorts doesn't get you off the hook. If you want the public to support your programs, vote favorably for bond issues, and participate in keeping your community viable and profitable, then treat them right. When you go to government leaders for funding, if your agency isn't performing you may find the trough empty. If people support you...you will get the funding you need.

Caring is not giving everyone what they want. Caring is developing a relationship of trust. I cared about my children but they did not always get their way. Doctors and medical staff may care about a patient, but that may not mean they can save their life. Actually, caring is the tough part of relationships. When you care, you risk your own feelings and emotions. It brings energy to life. Watch the difference between a person who cares about their job and one that doesn't.

So what can you do to demonstrate caring in your life, job, organization, community? This is a common question in my seminars. I suggest you start where you are. What can you do at home? Spend more time with family, listen better, attend an event with your children or wife. The idea is to do more than you are doing now. What about at work? Listen better, offer to help others, smile, never reply with anger, etc. Again, it is doing the little things first. What I find fascinating is when we do the little things better, how the bigger issues start melting away.

A caution to organizations. Don't institutionalize caring. Be very careful about putting statements about caring in company literature or in advertisements unless your are willing to back it totally. If you just violate any organizational reference or ad about caring just once, it will undermine your credibility and reputation exponentially. Develop a caring organization through the people in the organization. Allow them to come up with the ideas. Organizationally look for ways to improve the lives at work and home for your employees. Celebrate the successes of your employees. Reward employees for caring about others, the company, and the customers. Your first line of caring is how your employees treat each other and your customers.

One question I like to ask. Does your organization have a critical rating factor for caring in performance plans? I understand that may be difficult, but at least do you look for, recognize, and reward often those people who demonstrate caring in their job? How about an even more basic question? What does caring look like in your working environment? If you are not looking for it, you will not reward it.

The care factor may be the most powerful tool you have to improve performance and profitability in your organization. Shouldn't it deserve the same focus and effort as other workplace behaviors?

Watch for the warning flags in your organizations. Those words of, It's not my job" or "I don't care" are red flags. These employees can cost you more than hours of poor or average performance. They can cost your reputation and repeat customers.

The care factor is a tremendous resource...use it wisely.

What does RPM mean?

After many years of studying how we communicate I developed this simple method of building a conversation that connects with others. We live in a world of overwhelming "communications". But, most does not connect and move people to listen, learn, or act. We create lots of noise. RPM is designed to cut through the noise.

R - Respect is required to communicate with others. That is what brings people into, and keeps people in, a conversation. Sure you can show disdain, make disparaging remarks, or just treat people with disrespect and still talk to them. Make no mistake. There will be no conversation. You may end up with silence, yelling, anger, or even a "get even" attitude. But a real conversation will not happen. How do you feel when someone does not respect you? Respect is powerful. Disrespect can lead to dire consequences. Ask any policemen how disrespect is played out on the street. Gangs thrive on the violence of disrespect.

There are so many ways to show disrespect that we often violate respect and not even know it. What signs of disrespect do you see in the workplace, at home, at school, in the community? In my latest seminars cell phones, e-mails, and body language came across as key players in stopping communications. Do you continue to type at the computer when someone comes into your office? Do you ignore someone? Do you talk at people and not listen, roll your eyes, give that disrespectful sigh, etc? We all are busy...but be careful. Avoid saying, "I only have a few minutes, can you make it quick?" (It sends the message that they are not important.) Why not say, "I only have a few minutes. Could we schedule this a little later so I can give you the time you deserve." Which demonstrates respect? Inviting people into conversations also demonstrates respect. Instead of,"I need to see you in my office now."...try "I need to speak with you. Would you be free to come down to my office in a five minutes?"

Three key elements to understand. One...Do not fake respect. You will be found out and ruin the relationship forever. Two...If you see or feel in the conversation that a person may feel disrespected, stop. Focus on building respect. The rest of the conversation can come later. Finally, build and protect your character. It is the foundation of respect.

P-Purpose is the point of the conversation. The only reason we have a conversation is because WE want something. That is not meant to be cold or harsh. It is just the facts. Since the day we were born we have been communicating to get our way. Crying to get our diaper changed. Asking mom and dad for the car or if we can stay out late. Even having a loving conversation with our spouses is rooted in our needs. We want to have comfort and peace with the one we love.

This concept is foundation to building conversations. If you are in the conversation to get what you want, why is the other person in the conversation? Exactly. It works both ways. The key to the purpose of a conversation is building a conversation where both have a reason to communicate or have something to gain. If our conversations are always focused on what we want, after a while others will know there is no reason to talk to you. They gain nothing.

To build successful conversations you have to frame it where both gain something. This applies at home, work, or in the community. You can accomplish this by making the conversation safe. Listen and try to understand the other persons view. You do not have to agree, but you should at least understand. Do you go back to talk to a boss that doesn't listen? How about one that gets angry or "Doesn't want to hear it"? To successfully manage and operate any organization, you must be willing to listen to the good news and bad news. And...everyone in the organization must know they can discuss anything with you without anger or reprisals.

M - Meaning is assuring clarity in reality. This is the connection force that makes a conversation successful. Are we really understanding what each is saying and will our future actions and behaviors reflect this understanding? This is where our cultures, experiences, preferences, and language clashes. It can be as simple and having the same meaning for words, understanding the same metaphors, or using the same acronyms. It can be as complicated as speaking different languages or a clashing of cultures.

Clarifying meaning is the key to understanding. Look around and you see this fail every day. The classic, "I need it as soon as possible." still is alive and well. Your soon as possible likely is not mine. How about feedback on people's work? Do you provide enough? Is it always negative? Do those around you have a clear idea of what you want? The classic red flag of communication problems in an organization is 360 degree evaluations. Why would these be needed if everyone was communicating?

We have sectors of society such as medicine, technology, law, etc. where those within the sector can carry on a whole conversation and the average person could not understand what was being said. How well do we bridge these gaps when we speak to those outside of our sector? Even if I have respect for you and our conversation is built on sound purpose...if I don't understand, the conversation fails.

Communication is about connection.