Ladder Consulting | Practical people management » management techniques http://www.ladderconsulting.com Step by step with Joan Henshaw Mon, 07 Jun 2010 17:28:30 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4107 How to describe what you want from your staff – ‘assertive behaviour’ http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/576/how-to-describe-what-you-want-from-your-staff-assertive-behaviour-2 http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/576/how-to-describe-what-you-want-from-your-staff-assertive-behaviour-2#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 17:28:30 +0000 Joan Henshaw http://www.ladderconsulting.com/?p=576 Research shows that ‘knowing what’s expected of them’ consistently ranks highly as a motivator in employee surveys. One of the biggest challenges for managers is defining their expectations of behaviours. In this series of articles I’m going to share with you a range of behavioural performance objectives that you can copy, edit, revise, correct and amend to fit your business, your staff and your needs

 

 

‘ASSERTIVE BEHAVIOUR’

 

1. Demonstrates the ability to clearly explain their thoughts and opinions

2. Expresses thoughts and opinions using ‘first person’ language

3. Verbally distinguishes between fact and opinion

4. Articulates the reasoning behind their thoughts and opinions

5. Seeks to understand the thoughts and opinions of others by asking open questions, using

probing questions to achieve clarity

6. Demonstrates understanding of the other persons thoughts and opinions by reflecting

back their understanding and summarising

7. Identifies and expresses what they see as differences of opinion and checks that others

agree

8. Seeks ideas for solutions from others

9. Offers solutions

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

]]> http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/576/how-to-describe-what-you-want-from-your-staff-assertive-behaviour-2/feed 0 HOW TO DESCRIBE WHAT YOU WANT FROM YOUR STAFF – ‘DEALING WITH REQUESTS’ http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/570/how-to-describe-what-you-want-from-your-staff-%e2%80%93-%e2%80%98dealing-with-requests%e2%80%99 http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/570/how-to-describe-what-you-want-from-your-staff-%e2%80%93-%e2%80%98dealing-with-requests%e2%80%99#comments Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:53:32 +0000 Joan Henshaw http://www.ladderconsulting.com/?p=570 Research shows that ‘knowing what’s expected of them’ consistently ranks highly as a motivator in employee surveys. One of the biggest challenges for managers is defining their expectations of behaviours. In this series of articles I’m going to share with you a range of behavioural performance objectives that you can copy, edit, revise, correct and amend to fit your business, your staff and your needs

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

]]> http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/570/how-to-describe-what-you-want-from-your-staff-%e2%80%93-%e2%80%98dealing-with-requests%e2%80%99/feed 0 HOW TO DESCRIBE WHAT YOU WANT FROM YOUR STAFF – ‘CLIENT SERVICING’ http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/564/how-to-describe-what-you-want-from-your-staff-%e2%80%93-%e2%80%98client-servicing%e2%80%99 http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/564/how-to-describe-what-you-want-from-your-staff-%e2%80%93-%e2%80%98client-servicing%e2%80%99#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:51:54 +0000 Joan Henshaw http://www.ladderconsulting.com/?p=564 Research shows that ‘knowing what’s expected of them’ consistently ranks highly as a motivator in employee surveys. One of the biggest challenges for managers is defining their expectations of behaviours. In this series of articles I’m going to share with you a range of behavioural performance objectives that you can copy, edit, revise, correct and amend to fit your business, your staff and your needs

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

]]> http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/564/how-to-describe-what-you-want-from-your-staff-%e2%80%93-%e2%80%98client-servicing%e2%80%99/feed 0 Effective people management – how to use S.W.O.T. questions http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/523/effective-people-management-%e2%80%93-how-to-use-s-w-o-t-questions http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/523/effective-people-management-%e2%80%93-how-to-use-s-w-o-t-questions#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:30:20 +0000 Joan Henshaw http://www.ladderconsulting.com/?p=523 I’ve recently been working with a group of managers who are finding it difficult to encourage their staff to evaluate their working processes in order to generate ideas for improvement (asking the question ‘what improvements can you think of’ was getting them nowhere fast).

My view is that it’s useful for staff to have a more structured approach for evaluating processes and that SWOT can help with that. Here is the outcome of the work I did with those managers (using the example of the evaluation of a new system).

Strengths

What do you think works well with the system?

What have been the benefits of using the system?

What does this system give the customers?

How does it help you reduce waste, increase efficiency, improve quality of service?

How has the system improved the way you work?

Weaknesses

Is there anything that doesn’t work well?

Are there any weaknesses in the system?

Have you encountered any problems or impediments?

Is there anything you don’t think adds value?

Are customers saying there’s a problem?

Opportunities

What needs to be improved?

How could we do that?

What are we missing that could work well?

How can we overcome the weaknesses?

Threats

Is there anything outside the team / unit that is having a negative impact on the effectiveness of the system – that’s threatening its effectiveness?

In what ways could we mitigate that threat?

]]> http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/523/effective-people-management-%e2%80%93-how-to-use-s-w-o-t-questions/feed 0 Getting started on delegation – the what, the who and the how much http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/467/getting-started-on-delegation-the-what-the-who-and-the-how-much http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/467/getting-started-on-delegation-the-what-the-who-and-the-how-much#comments Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:00:48 +0000 Joan Henshaw http://www.ladderconsulting.com/?p=467 Many managers tell me they don’t delegate tasks as often as they’d like because they just don’t know where to start. Here’s a three step process that can help to identify what you could delegate, who you could delegate to and how much of a task you could delegate.

It’s all about making that start!

Step one: identify the tasks

The first step is to identify the tasks that would be suitable for delegation.

  1. Make a list of all the tasks you currently perform.
  2. Delete from the list the tasks you must do yourself. These may be tasks which:
    • Are a requirement of your job which no one else can do
    • You are ‘legally’ responsible for carrying out
    • Only you have the expertise and experience for and it would be impossible or impractical to help your team members gain that expertise and experience.
  3. The tasks that have not been deleted from the list are those that you potentially could delegate totally or partially.
  4. Ask the question – which of these tasks, if delegated, will free up the most time, so that I can concentrate on those tasks only I can do?

Step two: identify the individual

The second step is to identify the individual who would be best suited to undertake the delegated task.

In identifying the individual you may want to use some of the following selection criteria:

  • Spare capacity (i.e. they’ve got the time)
  • Best fit – in job terms
  • The team member has a special interest in the task
  • The delegated task may help to meet a development need
  • The team member already has the skills or knowledge to complete the task

Step three: identify the appropriate degree of delegation

At this step you should consider the aptitude and potential of the team member and decide upon the ‘degree’ of delegation:

Degree 1: full delegation

The team member takes over the task fully.

Degree 2: shared delegation

You and the team member share the task and agree who will be responsible for which parts. This is useful when the person is not ready to take full responsibility but can do elements of it now and learn others later.

Degree 3: contributory delegation

At this stage the team member is not ready to take on a large part of the task but may contribute to some part of the task.

Now you’ve got the what, the who, and how much in place – is it time to delegate?

]]> http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/467/getting-started-on-delegation-the-what-the-who-and-the-how-much/feed 0 5 ways to give praise http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/370/5-ways-to-give-praise http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/370/5-ways-to-give-praise#comments Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:00:04 +0000 Joan Henshaw http://www.ladderconsulting.com/?p=370 Figure giving thumbs up sign and stood next to a green tickResearch shows that ‘appreciation for a job well done’ consistently ranks highly as a motivator in employee surveys. Yet research also shows that most people don’t feel they get enough praise.

So what’s going on?

Putting aside the fact that it’s likely that some of our survey participants feel they should be praised for turning up every morning, my view is that managers are sometimes reluctant to give praise because they’ve had experiences of being praised themselves in ways that, frankly, haven’t motivated them at all.

And, of course, they’re not over keen on having the same effect on their staff.

It’s actually quite easy to deliver praise badly – praise that is seen as patronising or manipulative by the recipient. But done well, it’s dynamite.

Here are five ways to do it well.

1. Prepare the praise

It’s interesting that many of the managers I know will spend literally hours preparing to give criticism, but only a matter of minutes (if at all) preparing to give praise.

The result? A passing comment (literally) on the lines of ‘nice job Doug, keep it up.’

Say what? Which job? The whole job? Keep what up? Not only is this type of praise confusing but, by and large, it’s not wildly motivating. Top tip: spend as much time preparing to give praise as you would to give criticism.

2. Be specific

Describe exactly what you are praising and why. Try the following method:

  • When you…
  • What happened was…
  • And the result is…

For example:

“When I showed the client the research you had done on their business she said she was really impressed by the insights you had provided. The result is she wants us to make a proposal for a further piece of business. That’s a really good outcome for us so thank you and well done.”

3. Show genuine interest

Ask questions to better understand what the staff member did. For example, what preparation they did for a successful presentation, how they managed to design such effective visual aids.

Describe how you feel about what they’ve done e.g. pleased, impressed, excited (the hug and kiss might be slightly over doing it).

4. Let the praise stand alone

Don’t be tempted to mix the praise with criticism, for example:

“That was a great presentation. If only your written work was as good.”

Deal with the written work issue at a different time unless, of course, you’re a fan of the tall poppy syndrome.

5. Do it quickly and time it well

Give your praise as soon after the event as possible – it has far more impact.

Be careful not to give the praise at a time when it will appear conditional or a ‘softening up’ process, such as just before you delegate a task or ask for the person to work late.

Public or private?

There’s an old saying ‘praise in public, criticise in private’.

Though I wholeheartedly agree with the latter I’m not totally convinced by the former.

Of course the principle is sound. We want other staff to hear the praise and understand what we are praising because we hope that they will want to emulate those behaviours or achievements. But not everyone is comfortable being singled out in this way and some people find accepting praise in front of their colleagues embarrassing.

My advice would be to deliver the praise in private. You can then ask the staff member if they are happy for you to share the praise with their colleagues – say in the next team meeting – and take it from there.

And a few final tips

If the performance you are praising is exceptional, you will probably want to bring this to the attention of your boss and possibly higher.

If you have a reward system which is credible you may want to utilise this.

In any event, it’s a good idea to follow up your conversation with the staff member in writing (a note will do) and to copy that note to your performance files.

]]> http://www.ladderconsulting.com/blog/370/5-ways-to-give-praise/feed 3