DEALING WITH REQUESTS

1. Asks questions to fully understand the request to ensure clarity about: 

• The size and complexity of the task i.e. the level of detail / accuracy needed, how much research needs undertaking, what the ‘end product’ should look like e.g. a two page summary or a full report?
• The deadline – when, specifically, the task needs to be completed 
• The  importance of the task and deadline

 2. Uses relevant facts in order to make a decision on whether to accept or decline the request e.g.

• The time needed to complete the work vs. the time available to meet the deadline
• The time needed to complete work on hand of equal importance
• The relative urgency / importance of other work on hand

 3. Assesses the consequence, or cost, of accepting the request as a way of deciding whether to accept or decline e.g.

• The new task would take 2 hours (fact)
• The task I am currently working on will take 4 hours and must be completed by 5pm (fact)
• The task I am currently working on has the highest priority (fact)
• To take on the new task now would mean I would miss the 5pm deadline on the current task (consequence)

 4. When refusing a request, explains that decision to the other party by

• Explaining the difficulty in meeting the request and why – using the objective criteria.
• Explaining what the (negative) consequences would be of accepting the request.
• Explaining that they are unable to accept the request

 5. If appropriate, looks for some compromise solution e.g.

• Offering to accept the work – but with a longer deadline
• Offering to accept part of the work
• Offering ideas on how the work could be completed by someone else

Joan Henshaw is the author and presenter of the video management training series ‘The 10 Minute Management Toolkit’ – the flexible, cost effective and time effective way to help managers learn how to motivate their staff to high performance. Want to learn more about how to motivate staff to high performance? Watch videos and claim your free e-book at http://www.10mmt.com

CLIENT SERVICING

1. Demonstrates a breadth and depth of knowledge of our services / products

2. Applies sound professional practices (as agreed / set down in …)

3. Provides advice which peers / manager would consider appropriate

4. Produces accurate advice / strategic plans that address the client’s needs

5. Gains the confidence of the client by demonstrating that the advice given has been accepted and applied

6. Applies a range of strategies which have contributed to developing long-term relationships with clients

7. Demonstrates a full understanding of the clients business

8. Effectively uses time and resources so that commitments made to the client are achieved and deadlines met

9. Client feedback reflects a high level of satisfaction     

Would you like to see more descriptions of behavioural performance objectives? Then take a look at ‘The Managers Toolkit – 176 Behavioural Performance Objectives’ http://www.10mmt.com/e-books/ A gold mine of information and a quick and easy way to describe what you want from your staff so that you can get what you need from your staff

Joan Henshaw is the author and presenter of the video management training series ‘The 10 Minute Management Toolkit’ – the flexible, cost effective and time effective way to help managers learn how to motivate their staff to high performance. Want to learn more about how to motivate staff to high performance? Watch videos and claim your free e-book at http://www.10mmt.com

My advice is to take control of the ‘coaching process’ – to make it easy for your manager to provide the coaching you need. Here’s some ideas on how to do that.

Define the purpose of the coaching

A start point is to define the purpose of the coaching session i.e.:

• What you need to know or learn
• Why you need to know or learn this

It’s far easier for a manager to respond to a request which specifies what the person needs to know, rather than ‘can you give me some coaching’. It’s also more likely a manager will want to find the time for the coaching when they understand why it’s important.

Here’s an example:

Hi Claire. I wanted to ask you if you would have some time to talk through with me how you have built your network of contacts. I need some help on understanding how to identify contacts and how then to approach those people. I recognise I need to start building a network so that I can promote our business more effectively but I’m not sure where to start. Would you be happy to spend some time talking this through with me? When would be a good time for you?

Use effective questions

What and How questions

Seek to understand what another person does, or would do, in any given situation:

• How did you build your network of contacts?
• What do you do to identify suitable contacts?
• What happens when a person you contact doesn’t seem interested?
• How do you maintain the relationship with contacts you have made?

Why questions

Seek to understand the reasoning or rationale behind the actions the other person has taken or the decisions they have made.

Why questions need to be used with some caution. A questioner who overuses why is running the risk of pushing the other person into being evasive, aggressive or just uncooperative.

A more effective way to access the information or opinion needed is to re-phrase the question using what, how, or when or a statement made in a questioning tone of voice:

Instead of ‘Why did you do that?’ try ‘What’s the main reason you took that approach?’

Instead of ‘Why did you not follow up that contact?’ try ‘What were the reasons for not following up that particular contact?’

Instead of ‘Why do you say that?’ try ‘How does that…?’

Summarising and closing

It is useful at the end of the coaching session to summarise what you have heard, to check that you have fully understood, and to describe what you will now do as a result of the session. And, of course, you will also want to thank the person for their time and input.

Most managers are long on work and short on time. Though most would like to coach their staff more often they find it difficult to make this a priority. This technique is all about making it easy for your manager, or anybody else, to give you the coaching you need.

I was recently talking to a manager who was complaining that some of her staff had a tendency to accept work from her which, it later transpired, they did not have the time to do (or at least to the deadline she had set). She just couldn’t understand why her staff didn’t seem to have the ability to say to her ‘no’ or ‘not now’, and she was frustrated by the problems this was causing.

This conversation reminded me of a piece of work a client asked me to undertake, for many of the same reasons as our unhappy manager, which was to train his staff in how to assertively deal with requests.

The following is a summary of the step process I taught his staff and their managers, which they then took on as ‘the way we say no around here’.

Step 1: Ensure you fully understand the request

Ask questions, listen, ask more questions until you are crystal clear on:

• The size and complexity of the task i.e. the level of detail or accuracy needed, how much research needs undertaking, what the ‘end product’ should look like e.g. a two page summary or a full report?
• The deadline – when, specifically, the task needs to be completed (and challenging any ‘asap’ type responses)
• The  importance of the task and deadline

Step 2: Use relevant facts in order to make a decision on whether to accept or decline the request

Such as:

• The time needed to complete the work vs. the time available to meet the deadline
• The time needed to complete work on hand of equal importance
• The relative urgency or importance of other work on hand

Step 3: Assesses the consequence, or cost, of accepting the request as a way of deciding whether to accept or decline

Example:

• The new task would take 2 hours (fact)
• The task I am currently working on will take 4 hours and must be completed by 5pm (fact)
• The task I am currently working on has the highest priority (fact)
• To take on the new task now would mean I would miss the 5pm deadline on the current task (consequence)

Step 4: If you decide to refuse the request, explain that decision to the other party

• Explain that you have a difficulty in meeting the request and why – using the fact
• Explain what the (negative) consequences would be of you accepting the request
• Explain that, therefore, you are unable to accept the request

Step 5: If appropriate, look for some compromise solution

Such as:

• Offering to accept the work – but with a longer deadline
• Offering to accept part of the work
• Offering ideas on how the work could be completed by someone else

Benefits of using the 5 step process

1. With the staff who find it difficult to say ‘no’ or ‘not now’

Sharing this process with your staff gives those who need it both the tools and the permission to say ‘no’ or ‘not now’.

2. With the staff who don’t find it difficult

Of course some staff members have no issue at all with saying ‘no’, and sometimes quite the opposite. The usefulness of sharing the process with these people is that it clearly describes your expectations around how they make the decision to accept or refuse work – based on fact and consequence rather than, say, inflexibility or just not liking the look of the task.

3. When you need the answer to be ‘yes’

Of course it’s all about the dialogue. You, as the manager, may have knowledge of facts and consequences that your staff are unaware of. It could be that their ‘no’ really does need to be a ‘yes’.

The usefulness of the 5 steps, and the dialogue they generate, is the clarity achieved.

The staff member is much less likely to feel ‘dumped on’ or coerced into accepting a task if they have had the opportunity to explain their facts and consequences and if they have had explained to them, in detail, why the new task is a higher priority – based on facts.

As an example, a client has recently asked me to develop a ‘Leadership Skills’ training programme and to outline a plan for ensuring that the learning from the programme would lead to the delegates improving their leadership behaviours.

This is a summary of the plan I have designed for them:

The Plan

Step 1: Define what ‘Leadership Skills’ means at Agency A.

Step 2: Develop performance standards that describe what leadership skills look like in practice.

Step 3: Assess the delegates’ current skills and competency against the performance standards.

Step 4: Prioritise and define as learning objectives the outcomes from the assessment.

Step 5: Design and deliver the training. Introduce the leadership skills performance standards as part of the training. Deliver the training in three sessions with the delegates implementing the skills learnt in each session as workplace projects.

Step 6: Provide coaching to delegates as they implement the skills in the workplace projects.

Step 7: Deliver a review workshop that includes:

1. The identification of any ongoing learning needs and how these will be met.
2. Communicating how the performance standards will be integrated into the performance review system.

Step 8: Ongoing coaching of the delegates by their line manager and management of performance against the leadership performance standards.

Summary

The key is in anchoring the training and learning to performance standards which are then integrated into the performance review system. This means the application of the learning from the training into the workplace is a ‘must do’ rather than, as is sometimes the case, an optional activity. Supporting the delegates in their practice of the skills is, of course, vital.