LEADERS should act with courage and decisiveness to grow their businesses.
Leaders can be likened to tigers
Tigers are strategic. Their home is their stronghold. When they take action, they survey the immediate environment, seeking and listening. They understand their targets and chase their prize with focus, speed, agility, responsiveness, determination, and personal power.
Like a tiger, you too will need strategy, decisiveness, clarity, effective leadership and a mindset fixed on victory.
Harness innovation
Strategic leadership speaker Roger Konopasek says businesses face two key challenges: external convergence and internal resistance.
Convergence is the coming together of technologies, ecologies and sociologies into smaller, cheaper units at a more accelerated pace while addressing increasingly customised needs. Reduced former barriers to entry now allow micro businesses to compete with much larger businesses using online, outsourced economies of scale.
To remain relevant and competitive, leaders must give staff space to innovate by facilitating a spirit of micro-preneurialism within their organisation, and align middle to senior management with such direction.
Managers who are less tech-savvy and nimble than their new recruits can unconsciously resist the pace of such change and innovation. Leaders need to embrace the speed at which new-generation employees are moving or they may become frustrated and resign. Rather than wait to collaborate, these young innovators will take their creativity and enthusiasm to the competition.
Find diamonds within
One of the world’s top-ranked speakers, Simon T. Bailey from the United States, explains that unleashing the brilliance within the organisation is imperative to retain talent, uncover innovations, and develop products, services and new channels through which to grow your business and the loyalty of your people.The art of consulting involves asking frontline workers for their solutions, then presenting a refined version of the answers to management. The diamond mine of solutions is right before you. Connect with your people. Seek. Listen.
The key: leadership development. But how do you help your leaders to embrace such transformation? United Kingdom-based senior leadership and board-level coach Richard Winfield suggests a powerful action to implement.
Address the process of your meetings with questions rather than providing solutions, and watch your relationships and communications improve measurably. Enhancing effective communication, by asking better questions, helps clarify goals, identifies solutions, and develops a culture of communication and empowerment that is more open and inclusive, enabling more purposeful work to get completed faster.
Productivity victory
Productivity speaker Tim Wade says: “The possibility for success is always there. To realise it, leaders must be open, aware, then seek and act. Understand the process bottlenecks and redundancies, the psychological barriers to instruction and communication, the big picture and the impact of self.
“Cultivate a mindset of victory in your team so your direction is received with the excitement of a positive solution, rather than with the resistance of expected failure. Recognise the opportunity for positive change, be open to seek knowledge, and take guided, intelligent action.”
Wade suggests that operational managers who blame a lack of resources during productivity challenges are absolving themselves internally with purely external solutions. But such solutions are expensive. Seek profitable productivity solutions that positively impact the bottom-line.
Cultivating a victor mindset is learnable. Once you are aware that you are often both the problem and the solution, you can eliminate blame and increase personal accountability.
Focus on growth
So focus on local, internal and leadership growth now, and your global, external and operational expansion will occur by a demand that pulls, rather than by you pushing supply. Don’t spread yourself too thin to the point that you’re invisible and irrelevant.
As a practising chartered public accountant (CPA), I help business leaders focus on growth.
Like a forensic CSI (crime scene evidence) investigator, through numbers I see the areas for improvement, the possibilities, the areas to reduce and the areas to grow, because when it all comes down to it, your effectiveness shows in the numbers, and these are the results of a sequence of actions.
Business owners, take action. First invest in developing your leaders. They are your keys to ongoing success. Unlock their potential and reap the rewards. Seek leadership development. Grow, from the inside out, and you will make your year a roaring success.
Article by Margaret Loh CM, CPA International LLC.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Hire the best brains
A friend of mine attributes his success to working with people who are smarter than him. And he is not just making a modest statement — he means it.
He believes that being a good leader does not mean that you have to be smarter than everyone else. A good leader needs to know how to harness the strengths of others towards the success of his business.
Another business leader I know says that all he does is facilitate and provide the environment for smart solutions. He jokes that all his team asks of him is to “get out of the way, let them do what’s required and give him the credit”.
If leading is that easy, why is there such a brain drain in some organisations? And why do so many leaders lament about mediocrity within their organisations?
The solution does not lie with the talent part of the equation. It lies with the leader and the organisation, in particular, the culture of the organisation.
Diversity in work styles
In my experience, leaders who succeed in attracting and retaining smart people have some things in common. They are willing to accept differences, draw upon the strengths of the individuals and, most of all, are able to accept and encourage diversity in work styles.
This means being able to let people do it their way. Smart people cannot accept a one-size-fits-all mentality; they resist being squeezed into a “box” as this is what they have had to encounter most of their lives in school and in the workplace.
When they meet someone who is willing to accept them for who they are instead of expecting them to fall in line, these people give more of themselves. But first they must believe in the cause.
Challenging the norm
In order to believe in the cause, they ask questions and will challenge the norm. In a conservative organisation culture, this may seem threatening. But isn’t this what you are paying them for — their brains?
And if they are using them, they will ask questions. They will ask why and why not, and they will not stop till they get an answer that they believe in.
Telling it like it is
They will not hesitate to tell you if something you say does not make sense. To them, it’s a healthy debate, it is not about looking good and making someone else look bad, and it is certainly not about agreeing with what the boss says.
They feel that they are there to add value and their idea of adding value includes speaking their mind. You cannot employ a smart person and expect them to just accept everything you say just because you are the boss.
Room for expression
Creating a conducive environment is critical for nurturing brilliant ideas and innovation. Smart people need to be able to play and enjoy their work.
Trying to squeeze someone creative into a sterile environment is like putting them in a strait-jacket. Some managers struggle with this and in the process turn their best employees against them.
Routines are boring
One way to send a smart worker out the door is to bully him with routines. Every organisation has corporate tyrants who try to make people conform and follow the “rules”.
A good leader is able to accommodate some exceptions but is also able to show these individuals when they are out of line and need to be more respectful of others.
Driven by inspiration
Instead of threatening your staff, you can get a lot more done by inspiring them. This is a key ingredient that will keep the brains within organisations from leaving.
Keeping people inspired requires the leader to listen to opinions, build a strategy and show a path that is challenging and yet fun.
A good leader will not feel threatened by other people’s good ideas. They may be smart but unsavvy about organisational politics; or they may lack your management experience and leadership skills.
It starts at the top
When you want people to think out of the box, you must also be ready for them to make mistakes. When you want someone to take ownership, you must also be ready for him to tell you to back off.
Leaders are responsible for the type of environment they create. So the next time you hear a leader lamenting that he cannot find good, smart people, ask him: “What have you done to create an attractive environment?” Remember, it always starts at the top!
Article by Lalita Nithiyanandan, Kelly Outsourcing and Consulting Group.
He believes that being a good leader does not mean that you have to be smarter than everyone else. A good leader needs to know how to harness the strengths of others towards the success of his business.
Another business leader I know says that all he does is facilitate and provide the environment for smart solutions. He jokes that all his team asks of him is to “get out of the way, let them do what’s required and give him the credit”.
If leading is that easy, why is there such a brain drain in some organisations? And why do so many leaders lament about mediocrity within their organisations?
The solution does not lie with the talent part of the equation. It lies with the leader and the organisation, in particular, the culture of the organisation.
Diversity in work styles
In my experience, leaders who succeed in attracting and retaining smart people have some things in common. They are willing to accept differences, draw upon the strengths of the individuals and, most of all, are able to accept and encourage diversity in work styles.
This means being able to let people do it their way. Smart people cannot accept a one-size-fits-all mentality; they resist being squeezed into a “box” as this is what they have had to encounter most of their lives in school and in the workplace.
When they meet someone who is willing to accept them for who they are instead of expecting them to fall in line, these people give more of themselves. But first they must believe in the cause.
Challenging the norm
In order to believe in the cause, they ask questions and will challenge the norm. In a conservative organisation culture, this may seem threatening. But isn’t this what you are paying them for — their brains?
And if they are using them, they will ask questions. They will ask why and why not, and they will not stop till they get an answer that they believe in.
Telling it like it is
They will not hesitate to tell you if something you say does not make sense. To them, it’s a healthy debate, it is not about looking good and making someone else look bad, and it is certainly not about agreeing with what the boss says.
They feel that they are there to add value and their idea of adding value includes speaking their mind. You cannot employ a smart person and expect them to just accept everything you say just because you are the boss.
Room for expression
Creating a conducive environment is critical for nurturing brilliant ideas and innovation. Smart people need to be able to play and enjoy their work.
Trying to squeeze someone creative into a sterile environment is like putting them in a strait-jacket. Some managers struggle with this and in the process turn their best employees against them.
Routines are boring
One way to send a smart worker out the door is to bully him with routines. Every organisation has corporate tyrants who try to make people conform and follow the “rules”.
A good leader is able to accommodate some exceptions but is also able to show these individuals when they are out of line and need to be more respectful of others.
Driven by inspiration
Instead of threatening your staff, you can get a lot more done by inspiring them. This is a key ingredient that will keep the brains within organisations from leaving.
Keeping people inspired requires the leader to listen to opinions, build a strategy and show a path that is challenging and yet fun.
A good leader will not feel threatened by other people’s good ideas. They may be smart but unsavvy about organisational politics; or they may lack your management experience and leadership skills.
It starts at the top
When you want people to think out of the box, you must also be ready for them to make mistakes. When you want someone to take ownership, you must also be ready for him to tell you to back off.
Leaders are responsible for the type of environment they create. So the next time you hear a leader lamenting that he cannot find good, smart people, ask him: “What have you done to create an attractive environment?” Remember, it always starts at the top!
Article by Lalita Nithiyanandan, Kelly Outsourcing and Consulting Group.
So what? Who cares? Why me?
Successful ventures provide compelling answers to three basic questions: So what? Who cares? Why me? Answering these questions is difficult, but not answering them could lead to failure.
I run a workshop called “The Art of Entrepreneurship”, where I provide a framework to increase new ventures’ chances of success. This applies to start-ups as well as projects launched within large organisations.
The workshop explores failures that have happened in the payments industry (my area of expertise) when “So what? Who cares? Why me?” was not asked and looks at successful products and services in comparison.
Take biometric payments, where customers pay by touching their finger on a reader. The marketing promise is that you can shop without your wallet. A Silicon Valley company called Pay By Touch raised RM1.1bil (US$340mil), hired 800 employees and promptly went out of business.
SO WHAT?
It’s as if nobody asked: “So what? How can I leave my wallet at home if most stores don’t use the service? Is it a hassle to carry a wallet? Who cares? The average shopper or a jogger who doesn’t carry a wallet but who still wants to buy a coffee? Is there a big market? Do they care enough to adopt and pay for this service? If not, will retailers pay for it?”
Ask yourself: Does your product resemble vitamins, painkiller or something addictive like caffeine?
With vitamins, people pay for improvements in the future. They think about return on investment (ROI)before buying. Most products are in this category. With painkillers, buyers want immediate relief and will pay more for it. With caffeine or nicotine, those who are addicted can’t get enough. Think iPhones and social networking.
For the question of “Why me?” ask yourself what is your special story that makes this venture specifically adapted to you? Companies with a personal story have a higher ability to stick with it and put in the extra effort. Competitors without a compelling story are less robust and will probably die first.
WHY ME?
As the company grows and develops a corporate culture, “Why me?” becomes “Why us?”
Much of this was learned the hard way. I started my last venture, Welcome Real-time, in 1996. The company is now a global provider of payment and loyalty software to banks in 30 countries.
However, I always felt we could have done better, addressing a larger market and with a faster time to market. Now I understand that many of our difficulties came from the fact that “So what, who cares, why me?” and “Vitamins, painkiller or caffeine?” were addressed long after the company was launched.
My new venture, Taggo, addresses these questions from the beginning. Taggo provides a convenient and affordable way to use a mobile phone to replace loyalty and membership cards.
Customers don’t need to carry as many cards, and can join new programmes with an SMS, without filling out forms. Retailers can sign up new customers more easily, at lower cost, and can achieve higher usage than with plastic cards that are often left at home.
WHO CARES?
So what? Research shows that 93% of retailers that offer loyalty or prepaid cards want to expand membership, while some 60% feel the main reason customers don’t join programmes is that they have too many cards already.
Also, 95% of people with more than three loyalty or member- ship cards are either “interested” (60%) or “very interested” (35%) in Taggo.
Who cares? Any retailer with a membership programme. There is also a large market of smaller retailers that cannot justify having their own card, as people will not carry a card that can only be used in one or two stores.
Why me? I have been in this industry for 26 years, linking payments, loyalty, real-time marketing and point of sale systems. I have launched several startups and published two payment strategy books and numerous articles. Taggo is a personal creation.
Some 50 startups congregated at a web technology event in Singapore last year — all asking these questions and looking for answers. It was interesting to see how each company provided its own answers to “So what, who cares, why me?” and “Vitamins, pain killer or caffeine?”
Article by Aneace Hadded.
I run a workshop called “The Art of Entrepreneurship”, where I provide a framework to increase new ventures’ chances of success. This applies to start-ups as well as projects launched within large organisations.
The workshop explores failures that have happened in the payments industry (my area of expertise) when “So what? Who cares? Why me?” was not asked and looks at successful products and services in comparison.
Take biometric payments, where customers pay by touching their finger on a reader. The marketing promise is that you can shop without your wallet. A Silicon Valley company called Pay By Touch raised RM1.1bil (US$340mil), hired 800 employees and promptly went out of business.
SO WHAT?
It’s as if nobody asked: “So what? How can I leave my wallet at home if most stores don’t use the service? Is it a hassle to carry a wallet? Who cares? The average shopper or a jogger who doesn’t carry a wallet but who still wants to buy a coffee? Is there a big market? Do they care enough to adopt and pay for this service? If not, will retailers pay for it?”
Ask yourself: Does your product resemble vitamins, painkiller or something addictive like caffeine?
With vitamins, people pay for improvements in the future. They think about return on investment (ROI)before buying. Most products are in this category. With painkillers, buyers want immediate relief and will pay more for it. With caffeine or nicotine, those who are addicted can’t get enough. Think iPhones and social networking.
For the question of “Why me?” ask yourself what is your special story that makes this venture specifically adapted to you? Companies with a personal story have a higher ability to stick with it and put in the extra effort. Competitors without a compelling story are less robust and will probably die first.
WHY ME?
As the company grows and develops a corporate culture, “Why me?” becomes “Why us?”
Much of this was learned the hard way. I started my last venture, Welcome Real-time, in 1996. The company is now a global provider of payment and loyalty software to banks in 30 countries.
However, I always felt we could have done better, addressing a larger market and with a faster time to market. Now I understand that many of our difficulties came from the fact that “So what, who cares, why me?” and “Vitamins, painkiller or caffeine?” were addressed long after the company was launched.
My new venture, Taggo, addresses these questions from the beginning. Taggo provides a convenient and affordable way to use a mobile phone to replace loyalty and membership cards.
Customers don’t need to carry as many cards, and can join new programmes with an SMS, without filling out forms. Retailers can sign up new customers more easily, at lower cost, and can achieve higher usage than with plastic cards that are often left at home.
WHO CARES?
So what? Research shows that 93% of retailers that offer loyalty or prepaid cards want to expand membership, while some 60% feel the main reason customers don’t join programmes is that they have too many cards already.
Also, 95% of people with more than three loyalty or member- ship cards are either “interested” (60%) or “very interested” (35%) in Taggo.
Who cares? Any retailer with a membership programme. There is also a large market of smaller retailers that cannot justify having their own card, as people will not carry a card that can only be used in one or two stores.
Why me? I have been in this industry for 26 years, linking payments, loyalty, real-time marketing and point of sale systems. I have launched several startups and published two payment strategy books and numerous articles. Taggo is a personal creation.
Some 50 startups congregated at a web technology event in Singapore last year — all asking these questions and looking for answers. It was interesting to see how each company provided its own answers to “So what, who cares, why me?” and “Vitamins, pain killer or caffeine?”
Article by Aneace Hadded.
Boss, please raise my pay
We all feel the need to make more money than we are currently making, and there are two ways you can achieve this — by shifting to a better-paying company or by asking for a raise in your current job.
For most people, the second option works best, but how do you ask for a pay raise?
Given below are a few tips that can help you in your salary negotiation attempts:
1. Determine your worth
Finding out your worth in the marketplace is the first and the most important thing to do before you step out to ask for a raise.
Get in touch with career counselling agencies, read employment magazines and find out the salary range for your designation and experience in other companies.
There is often a large discrepancy between what you are getting paid and what the market rates are for people with your skill set and experience.
2. Make a performance-based request
If your performance has been consistently great and you have recently got good reviews from your employer, it is perhaps a good time to ask for a raise.
Show how you have always achieved targets or how you have added to the company’s productivity, and talk about your high ratings. Make your performance the basis of your request for a higher salary.
3. Do your homework
Make a list of all your achievements in the past year, such as your cost-saving methods, timely completion of projects, client and customer satisfaction, excellent reviews on your job, how your accomplishments have helped the company and so on.
If you have been putting in extra hours or working on public holidays, mention that also in your list.
Presenting your performance output in a documented form not only justifies your request for a pay raise, it is also a great way to impress your superiors.
4. Negotiate for better perks and other benefits
While your manager or employer may find it difficult to raise your salary at any given time, it is quite possible for him to give you more perks such as higher travel benefits or health and home rent allowances.
You can talk to your boss regarding this kind of arrangement if he feels a direct increase in pay might irk other employees. Remember, such benefits not only save you money on a lot of things, but they are exempted from tax too.
5. Get the timing right
If your company was hit by the economic crisis and has been on a cost-cutting spree, asking for an increase in salary can actually be the worst thing to do.
The best option in recessionary times is to work extra hard to generate more profits and devise cost-saving strategies that will help your company.
When the time is right, ask for a salary raise and show how your efforts helped in saving money and increasing profits for the company.
Article by Daffodil Kelly
For most people, the second option works best, but how do you ask for a pay raise?
Given below are a few tips that can help you in your salary negotiation attempts:
1. Determine your worth
Finding out your worth in the marketplace is the first and the most important thing to do before you step out to ask for a raise.
Get in touch with career counselling agencies, read employment magazines and find out the salary range for your designation and experience in other companies.
There is often a large discrepancy between what you are getting paid and what the market rates are for people with your skill set and experience.
2. Make a performance-based request
If your performance has been consistently great and you have recently got good reviews from your employer, it is perhaps a good time to ask for a raise.
Show how you have always achieved targets or how you have added to the company’s productivity, and talk about your high ratings. Make your performance the basis of your request for a higher salary.
3. Do your homework
Make a list of all your achievements in the past year, such as your cost-saving methods, timely completion of projects, client and customer satisfaction, excellent reviews on your job, how your accomplishments have helped the company and so on.
If you have been putting in extra hours or working on public holidays, mention that also in your list.
Presenting your performance output in a documented form not only justifies your request for a pay raise, it is also a great way to impress your superiors.
4. Negotiate for better perks and other benefits
While your manager or employer may find it difficult to raise your salary at any given time, it is quite possible for him to give you more perks such as higher travel benefits or health and home rent allowances.
You can talk to your boss regarding this kind of arrangement if he feels a direct increase in pay might irk other employees. Remember, such benefits not only save you money on a lot of things, but they are exempted from tax too.
5. Get the timing right
If your company was hit by the economic crisis and has been on a cost-cutting spree, asking for an increase in salary can actually be the worst thing to do.
The best option in recessionary times is to work extra hard to generate more profits and devise cost-saving strategies that will help your company.
When the time is right, ask for a salary raise and show how your efforts helped in saving money and increasing profits for the company.
Article by Daffodil Kelly
Do motivational talks really work?
Do you personally think that motivational talks are important? Or are they a kind of high-energy pep talk designed to make people feel good for one day before the buzz dissipates the next?
What do the experts say?
First of all, I’m a certified behavioural consultant, and according to motivational theory, it is believed that one cannot “motivate” another person.
A person can only motivate himself. Therefore, you cannot “change” a person, but you can influence him.
You can influence people to use a set of thinking patterns and help them create more empowering belief systems that will make them more resourceful in life. This leads them to become more successful.
It depends
People have asked me whether motivation talks really work, and my answer to them is: “It depends …”
•It depends on whether the person listening to the talk is open to change.
•It depends on whether he is currently happy with the results that he is getting.
•It depends on whether he is at the stage of his life when he is hungry to learn.
I have given many talks to multinational corporations and government agencies. In my experience, no two people are similar in their appetite for learning and growth.
One person can be fired up and talk about the philosophies that I have just shared while the person next to him just claps his hands and asks when the lunch break is.
But one thing I know is that a motivational speaker can influence a crowd to look at where they are in their lives and how much greater they can be.
A motivational talk can create a desire for change, and it will be up to the listeners to decide how they want to change their lives.
When people understand that they have the power to change and make a difference, they will not want to be the same again.
I have a lot of people coming up to me at the end of a seminar saying that it has changed the way they think and the principles taught are really useful for the workplace.
A word of caution
However, let me offer a word of caution. Motivation is like food. You need to feed yourself with a healthy portion of it every day. After all, can you survive a week just by eating a day?
Some people hold the unrealistic belief that a motivational talk will deliver a one-day solution that will totally change their lives.
I see being motivated as a process where we find out what motivates us first and then do it every day to get the results that we want.
So, coming back to the question, “Do motivational talks really change you and make you successful?”, my answer is still: “It depends”.
It depends on whether you choose to let it happen and then take massive action to achieve your goals.
Article by Kenneth Kwan, an international motivational speaker and trainer.
What do the experts say?
First of all, I’m a certified behavioural consultant, and according to motivational theory, it is believed that one cannot “motivate” another person.
A person can only motivate himself. Therefore, you cannot “change” a person, but you can influence him.
You can influence people to use a set of thinking patterns and help them create more empowering belief systems that will make them more resourceful in life. This leads them to become more successful.
It depends
People have asked me whether motivation talks really work, and my answer to them is: “It depends …”
•It depends on whether the person listening to the talk is open to change.
•It depends on whether he is currently happy with the results that he is getting.
•It depends on whether he is at the stage of his life when he is hungry to learn.
I have given many talks to multinational corporations and government agencies. In my experience, no two people are similar in their appetite for learning and growth.
One person can be fired up and talk about the philosophies that I have just shared while the person next to him just claps his hands and asks when the lunch break is.
But one thing I know is that a motivational speaker can influence a crowd to look at where they are in their lives and how much greater they can be.
A motivational talk can create a desire for change, and it will be up to the listeners to decide how they want to change their lives.
When people understand that they have the power to change and make a difference, they will not want to be the same again.
I have a lot of people coming up to me at the end of a seminar saying that it has changed the way they think and the principles taught are really useful for the workplace.
A word of caution
However, let me offer a word of caution. Motivation is like food. You need to feed yourself with a healthy portion of it every day. After all, can you survive a week just by eating a day?
Some people hold the unrealistic belief that a motivational talk will deliver a one-day solution that will totally change their lives.
I see being motivated as a process where we find out what motivates us first and then do it every day to get the results that we want.
So, coming back to the question, “Do motivational talks really change you and make you successful?”, my answer is still: “It depends”.
It depends on whether you choose to let it happen and then take massive action to achieve your goals.
Article by Kenneth Kwan, an international motivational speaker and trainer.
Rise up, step up, speak up
Why are some organisations able to mobilise their people almost effortlessly while others fail?
What are the key factors that truly separate the good companies from the great ones?
If you want to build the best possible team for your organisation, then you must embody the following three critical factors: levitation, expectations and communication.
Levitation
Levitation is about a company’s vision and mission. Does your organisation have one? Your vision is the destination. Your mission decides how you get there. Let’s assume your organisation has a vision and mission statement. Does everybody in the organisation believe and act in accordance with the vision and mission?
Your vision and mission is not just a statement that gets plastered on the office wall. It is not just something that the founders or top management of the company craft out. It must be a living, breathing organism within the entire organisation. The attitudes, behaviours and actions of every single person in the organisation must resonate with the company’s vision and mission.
Additionally, you have to create an environment where “doing it” is more important than not doing it. This helps to create alignment and focus within the entire team.
Lastly, how often is the vision and mission communicated? Do not expect the vision to be self-sustaining. You have to remind your people constantly about what they are striving for.
Expectations
Expectations deals with two aspects: management’s expectations of the team and the team’s expectations of management.
Management’s expectations
These come in three forms:
1. Roles and responsibilities - Your team members need to be crystal-clear on their tasks and their KPIs (key performance indicators). Do they know what and how their performance will be measured by?
2. Initiative and authority - Once they know their roles and responsibilities, team members need to exercise initiative and authority to carry out their work.
Most people do not like to be micro-managed. The fact of the matter is that once the job is given to them and expectations are clearly communicated, trust your team to turn in a good job. And more often than not, they do.
3.Growth - In today’s fast-paced world, you cannot afford not to grow. Your organisation should foster a positive learning environment where everyone is encouraged to be bigger and better every day. This means upgrading of knowledge and skills. You could have a Book Review Day, for example, where each team member reviews a book he has read.
Team’s Expectations
These are expressed in two forms:
1. Competent leadership - The management has to set the direction, the tone and the steps to achieve the company’s goals.
Have your “game” figured out early on and then get your team to execute the plans. A point to remember is that you should never create a “game” for your team that you are unwilling to play yourself.
2.Recognition - People want to be recognised for the effort they put in and the results they create. Provide incentives for top performers and remember to celebrate victories along the way. This serves to reward and excite the whole team.
Communication
Communication deals with three areas:
1. I to I - This focuses on the “voices in your own head”. Get your team to take notice of these voices and be aware of them.
Some of the voices could be “It’s too hard” or “I can’t do it”. Which ones are they entertaining?
Get them to feed on the positive voice and discard the negative one. This act alone can help to eliminate sluggishness.
2. I to you - This focuses on how people in the organisation relate to one another. Note that anger and gossip kill productivity. Everyone must treat one another with respect and compassion. Any misunderstandings must be addressed immediately. Get a third party to mediate if necessary.
3.I to world. How does your team portray the company to every person outside it? As an ambassador, everyone in your team must project a friendly, pro-active and professional demeanour to clients and customers.
In short, levitation is to rise up, expectations are to step up and communication is to speak up.
Adopt these three keys and the changes in your company will be nothing short of phenomenal.
Article by Mario Singh, co-founder and chief executive officer of FX1 Academy
What are the key factors that truly separate the good companies from the great ones?
If you want to build the best possible team for your organisation, then you must embody the following three critical factors: levitation, expectations and communication.
Levitation
Levitation is about a company’s vision and mission. Does your organisation have one? Your vision is the destination. Your mission decides how you get there. Let’s assume your organisation has a vision and mission statement. Does everybody in the organisation believe and act in accordance with the vision and mission?
Your vision and mission is not just a statement that gets plastered on the office wall. It is not just something that the founders or top management of the company craft out. It must be a living, breathing organism within the entire organisation. The attitudes, behaviours and actions of every single person in the organisation must resonate with the company’s vision and mission.
Additionally, you have to create an environment where “doing it” is more important than not doing it. This helps to create alignment and focus within the entire team.
Lastly, how often is the vision and mission communicated? Do not expect the vision to be self-sustaining. You have to remind your people constantly about what they are striving for.
Expectations
Expectations deals with two aspects: management’s expectations of the team and the team’s expectations of management.
Management’s expectations
These come in three forms:
1. Roles and responsibilities - Your team members need to be crystal-clear on their tasks and their KPIs (key performance indicators). Do they know what and how their performance will be measured by?
2. Initiative and authority - Once they know their roles and responsibilities, team members need to exercise initiative and authority to carry out their work.
Most people do not like to be micro-managed. The fact of the matter is that once the job is given to them and expectations are clearly communicated, trust your team to turn in a good job. And more often than not, they do.
3.Growth - In today’s fast-paced world, you cannot afford not to grow. Your organisation should foster a positive learning environment where everyone is encouraged to be bigger and better every day. This means upgrading of knowledge and skills. You could have a Book Review Day, for example, where each team member reviews a book he has read.
Team’s Expectations
These are expressed in two forms:
1. Competent leadership - The management has to set the direction, the tone and the steps to achieve the company’s goals.
Have your “game” figured out early on and then get your team to execute the plans. A point to remember is that you should never create a “game” for your team that you are unwilling to play yourself.
2.Recognition - People want to be recognised for the effort they put in and the results they create. Provide incentives for top performers and remember to celebrate victories along the way. This serves to reward and excite the whole team.
Communication
Communication deals with three areas:
1. I to I - This focuses on the “voices in your own head”. Get your team to take notice of these voices and be aware of them.
Some of the voices could be “It’s too hard” or “I can’t do it”. Which ones are they entertaining?
Get them to feed on the positive voice and discard the negative one. This act alone can help to eliminate sluggishness.
2. I to you - This focuses on how people in the organisation relate to one another. Note that anger and gossip kill productivity. Everyone must treat one another with respect and compassion. Any misunderstandings must be addressed immediately. Get a third party to mediate if necessary.
3.I to world. How does your team portray the company to every person outside it? As an ambassador, everyone in your team must project a friendly, pro-active and professional demeanour to clients and customers.
In short, levitation is to rise up, expectations are to step up and communication is to speak up.
Adopt these three keys and the changes in your company will be nothing short of phenomenal.
Article by Mario Singh, co-founder and chief executive officer of FX1 Academy
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Top 10 Mistakes Managers Make Managing People
Many managers lack fundamental training in managing people. But, even more importantly, managers lack the values, sensitivity, and awareness needed to interact effectively all day long with people. Skills and techniques are easier to teach, but values, beliefs, and attitudes are much harder to teach - and harder for managers to learn. Yet, these are the underlying issues that will most make managers successful - or not.
How important is it to help managers succeed? Beyond description. Managers and how they manage their reporting staff set the tone for your entire business operation. Managers are the front line representation of your business. The majority of communication about the business is funneled through your managers. When employees resign, the top reason for their resignation is their relationship with their manager. People leave managers, not jobs or employers.
Select Managers for Managing People
In a job description for a manager, core job functions, traits, and abilities are listed. With this as a guide, manager selection should focus on both the management skills and the candidates’ cultural fit. Within the cultural fit component of your interview and selection process, a candidate for a manager position must demonstrate that he or she has beliefs, values, and a work style that are congruent with those of your organization.
In a people-oriented, forward looking organization, you’ll want to select managers who exhibit these characteristics.
•Value people
•Believe in two-way, frequent effective communication and listening
•Want to create an environment in which employees are empowered to take charge of their jobs
•Able to hold people accountable and responsible without punitive measures
•Demonstrate leadership and clear direction
•Believe in teamwork
•Place the customer at the center of their reason for existence and regard reporting staff as customers
Mistakes Managers Make Managing
With all of this in mind about managers, preventing management mistakes and dumb decisions is paramount for a successful organization. Do you want to become a better manager? Here are the managing mistakes you most want to notice, prevent, and avoid.
•Fail to get to know employees as people: Developing a relationship with reporting employees is a key factor in managing. You don't want to be your employees' divorce counselor or therapist, but you do want to know what's happening in their lives. When you know where the employee is going on vacation or that his kids play soccer, you are taking a healthy interest in your employees' lives. Knowing that the dog died, expressing sympathy, or that her daughter won a coveted award at school make you an interested, involved boss. Knowing employees will make you a better manager, a manager who is more responsive to employee needs, moods, and life cycle events.
•Fail to provide clear direction: Managers fail to create standards and give people clear expectations so they know what they are supposed to do, and wonder why they fail. If you make every task a priority, people will soon believe that there are no priorities. More importantly, they will never feel as if they have accomplished a complete task or goal.
Within your clear expectations, if you are either too rigid or too flexible, your reporting employees will feel rudderless . You need to achieve an appropriate balance that allows you to lead employees and provide direction without dictating and destroying employee empowerment and employee engagement.
•Fail to trust: When managers don't trust people to do their jobs, this lack of trust plays out in a number of injurious ways. Micromanaging is one example. Constant checking up is another. Treat people as if they are untrustworthy - watch them, track them, admonish them for every slight failing - because a few people are untrustworthy. Are you familiar with the old tenet that people live up to your expectations?
•Fail to listen to and help employees feel that their opinions are valued. Active listening is a critical management skill. You can train managers in listening skills but if the manager believes that listening is a way to demonstrate that he or she values people, training is usually unnecessary. Listening is providing recognition and demonstrating your values in action. When employees feel heard out and listened to, they feel important and respected. You will have much more information when you daily open the flood gates.
•Make decisions and then ask people for their input as if their feedback mattered. You can fool some of the people. but your best employees soon get the nature of your game and drop out. Along the same lines, create hierarchical permission steps and other roadblocks that teach people quickly that their ideas are subject to veto and wonder why no one has any suggestions for improvement. Enabling people to make decisions about their work is the heart of employee empowerment and the soul of employee engagement. Don't throttle them.
•Fail to react to problems and issues that will soon fester if ignored. Managers have a habit of hoping that an uncomfortable issue, employee conflict or disagreement will just go away on its own if they don't provoke it or try to resolve it. Trust me. It won't. Issues, especially among people, just get worse unless something in the mix changes. Proactive intervention from the manager to coach and mentor, or to make sure employees have the skills necessary to resolve the issue, is imperative. Drama and hysteria do interrupt productivity, motivation, and employee engagement.
•Trying to be friends with employees who report to you. You can develop warm and supportive relationships with employees who report to you. But, you will have difficulty separating the reporting relationship in a friendship. Friends gossip, go out together, and complain about work and the boss. There is no room for their manager in these kinds of relationships.
•Fail to communicate effectively and withhold important information. The best communication is transparent communication. Sure, some information is company confidential. You may have been asked to keep certain information under wraps for awhile, but aside from these rare occasions, share what you know.
Being a member of the in-crowd is a goal for most employees and the in-crowd has information - all of the information needed to make good decisions. Ask for feedback, too. Ask people for their opinions, ideas, and continuous improvement suggestions, and if you fail to implement their suggestions, let them know why, or empower them to implement their ideas themselves.
•Not treating all employees equally. You don't necessarily have to treat every employee the same, but they must feel as if they receive equal treatment. The perception that you have pet employees or that you play favorites will undermine your efforts to manage people. This goes hand-in-hand with why befriending reporting employees is a bad idea. Employees who are not in your inner circle will always believe that you favor the employees who are - whether you do or not. This perception destroys teamwork and undermines productivity and success.
•Throw employees under the bus. Rather than taking responsibility for what goes wrong in the areas that you manage, blame particular employees when asked or confronted by executive leadership. When you know the responsibility is ultimately yours if you are the boss, why not act with dignity and protect your employees? When you blame employees, you look like an idiot and your employees will disrespect and hate you.
Trust me. They will find out and they will never trust you again. They'll always be waiting for the other shoe to fall. Worst? They'll tell all of their employee friends about what you did. Your other staff members will then distrust you, too. Your senior managers will not respect you either. They will question whether you are capable of doing the job and leading the team. When you throw your employees under the bus, you jeopardize your career - not theirs. And, it won't remove one iota of the blame from your shoulders.
By Susan M. Heathfield, About.com Guide
How important is it to help managers succeed? Beyond description. Managers and how they manage their reporting staff set the tone for your entire business operation. Managers are the front line representation of your business. The majority of communication about the business is funneled through your managers. When employees resign, the top reason for their resignation is their relationship with their manager. People leave managers, not jobs or employers.
Select Managers for Managing People
In a job description for a manager, core job functions, traits, and abilities are listed. With this as a guide, manager selection should focus on both the management skills and the candidates’ cultural fit. Within the cultural fit component of your interview and selection process, a candidate for a manager position must demonstrate that he or she has beliefs, values, and a work style that are congruent with those of your organization.
In a people-oriented, forward looking organization, you’ll want to select managers who exhibit these characteristics.
•Value people
•Believe in two-way, frequent effective communication and listening
•Want to create an environment in which employees are empowered to take charge of their jobs
•Able to hold people accountable and responsible without punitive measures
•Demonstrate leadership and clear direction
•Believe in teamwork
•Place the customer at the center of their reason for existence and regard reporting staff as customers
Mistakes Managers Make Managing
With all of this in mind about managers, preventing management mistakes and dumb decisions is paramount for a successful organization. Do you want to become a better manager? Here are the managing mistakes you most want to notice, prevent, and avoid.
•Fail to get to know employees as people: Developing a relationship with reporting employees is a key factor in managing. You don't want to be your employees' divorce counselor or therapist, but you do want to know what's happening in their lives. When you know where the employee is going on vacation or that his kids play soccer, you are taking a healthy interest in your employees' lives. Knowing that the dog died, expressing sympathy, or that her daughter won a coveted award at school make you an interested, involved boss. Knowing employees will make you a better manager, a manager who is more responsive to employee needs, moods, and life cycle events.
•Fail to provide clear direction: Managers fail to create standards and give people clear expectations so they know what they are supposed to do, and wonder why they fail. If you make every task a priority, people will soon believe that there are no priorities. More importantly, they will never feel as if they have accomplished a complete task or goal.
Within your clear expectations, if you are either too rigid or too flexible, your reporting employees will feel rudderless . You need to achieve an appropriate balance that allows you to lead employees and provide direction without dictating and destroying employee empowerment and employee engagement.
•Fail to trust: When managers don't trust people to do their jobs, this lack of trust plays out in a number of injurious ways. Micromanaging is one example. Constant checking up is another. Treat people as if they are untrustworthy - watch them, track them, admonish them for every slight failing - because a few people are untrustworthy. Are you familiar with the old tenet that people live up to your expectations?
•Fail to listen to and help employees feel that their opinions are valued. Active listening is a critical management skill. You can train managers in listening skills but if the manager believes that listening is a way to demonstrate that he or she values people, training is usually unnecessary. Listening is providing recognition and demonstrating your values in action. When employees feel heard out and listened to, they feel important and respected. You will have much more information when you daily open the flood gates.
•Make decisions and then ask people for their input as if their feedback mattered. You can fool some of the people. but your best employees soon get the nature of your game and drop out. Along the same lines, create hierarchical permission steps and other roadblocks that teach people quickly that their ideas are subject to veto and wonder why no one has any suggestions for improvement. Enabling people to make decisions about their work is the heart of employee empowerment and the soul of employee engagement. Don't throttle them.
•Fail to react to problems and issues that will soon fester if ignored. Managers have a habit of hoping that an uncomfortable issue, employee conflict or disagreement will just go away on its own if they don't provoke it or try to resolve it. Trust me. It won't. Issues, especially among people, just get worse unless something in the mix changes. Proactive intervention from the manager to coach and mentor, or to make sure employees have the skills necessary to resolve the issue, is imperative. Drama and hysteria do interrupt productivity, motivation, and employee engagement.
•Trying to be friends with employees who report to you. You can develop warm and supportive relationships with employees who report to you. But, you will have difficulty separating the reporting relationship in a friendship. Friends gossip, go out together, and complain about work and the boss. There is no room for their manager in these kinds of relationships.
•Fail to communicate effectively and withhold important information. The best communication is transparent communication. Sure, some information is company confidential. You may have been asked to keep certain information under wraps for awhile, but aside from these rare occasions, share what you know.
Being a member of the in-crowd is a goal for most employees and the in-crowd has information - all of the information needed to make good decisions. Ask for feedback, too. Ask people for their opinions, ideas, and continuous improvement suggestions, and if you fail to implement their suggestions, let them know why, or empower them to implement their ideas themselves.
•Not treating all employees equally. You don't necessarily have to treat every employee the same, but they must feel as if they receive equal treatment. The perception that you have pet employees or that you play favorites will undermine your efforts to manage people. This goes hand-in-hand with why befriending reporting employees is a bad idea. Employees who are not in your inner circle will always believe that you favor the employees who are - whether you do or not. This perception destroys teamwork and undermines productivity and success.
•Throw employees under the bus. Rather than taking responsibility for what goes wrong in the areas that you manage, blame particular employees when asked or confronted by executive leadership. When you know the responsibility is ultimately yours if you are the boss, why not act with dignity and protect your employees? When you blame employees, you look like an idiot and your employees will disrespect and hate you.
Trust me. They will find out and they will never trust you again. They'll always be waiting for the other shoe to fall. Worst? They'll tell all of their employee friends about what you did. Your other staff members will then distrust you, too. Your senior managers will not respect you either. They will question whether you are capable of doing the job and leading the team. When you throw your employees under the bus, you jeopardize your career - not theirs. And, it won't remove one iota of the blame from your shoulders.
By Susan M. Heathfield, About.com Guide
What Employees Need From Leaders
The four non-negotiable human needs that the transformational leader knows how to satisfy
In 2000, Cox Communications' Arizona branch hadn't met a budget for three years, their P&L was in shambles and morale was in the cellar. Today, the branch models organizational effectiveness, and is the U.S.-based company's largest and most successful region. A $1.6 billion operation blanketing the state, it is envy of cable systems industry-wide. What caused this dramatic change in success? All it took was a reevaluation of leadership style, and the profits followed.
Steve Rizley took over Cox Arizona at this pivotal time. A caring but tough, naturally gifted leader, Steve immediately went to work focusing on the people in his organization. In wise hands, this transformational style of leadership yielded staggering growth—like growing from $700 million to $1.3 billion, in little more than two years. So what's at the heart of their version of leadership?
The traditional or transactional leader says "I'm the leader—you're the follower; I have something you need (money) and you have something I need (labor). So let's make an exchange." Transformational leaders like Steve understand that there is something bigger at stake. He not only challenged his people to grow professionally, but also personally—emotionally and intellectually.
Within this new paradigm, there are four non-negotiable human needs that the transformational leader recognizes must be satisfied if he and his people are to succeed:
First, and arguably most important, is the need to love and be loved. It sounds touchy-feely, but people who are not both receiving and giving love—and by love I mean focused concern and action directed at another exclusively for that person's good—cannot be fully healthy, biologically and psychologically. We usually think of love as beyond the pale in the work-a-day world, but the transformational leader vividly understands that tough-minded caring is essential to leading and developing a powerful, fully expressed workforce.
Second is the need to grow. The only alternative to growth is death and decay. The transformational leader recognizes that stasis, or maintenance, is a myth that only exists in the human imagination. Nowhere in nature do we find such a thing as stability. Even in a balanced ecosystem, there is either expansive, unfolding growth, or degeneration, decay and ultimately death. By creating a culture that allows our people (and ourselves) to grow, we are expanding our capacities as leaders, as employees, and as human beings.
Third is the need to contribute. Like a battery, this need is best understood when we think of it as having two distinct poles. The negative pole reminds us that that which does not contribute is eliminated. We see it in nature all the time, and at a primal, pre-conscious level we all seem to know this fundamental fact. Failing to contribute in a significant way yields a gnawing, just-beneath-the-surface anxiety of which we are usually only vaguely aware. The other pole, the positive one, answers this anxiety. When we are contributing in a significant way we have an inexplicable peace of mind. We know we belong. The simple principle at work here goes something like this: life works when we forget about ourselves and contribute to others. To feel fulfilled and empowered, employees must know they are contributing to the whole.
The fourth and final need to be met for full leadership, effectiveness and happiness, is the need for meaning. We are meaning-seeking creatures. If our lives lack a clear sense of meaning, if we are not engaged in some larger purpose, we will not be fully satisfied, regardless of whatever else we may have.
The transformational leader understands that satisfying all four of these needs may not be easy, but when they are being met in the day-to-day affairs of his or her people, something magnificent begins to emerge: people instinctively play a bigger game, and show up in a more passionate, creative, engaged and effective way. The consequences are difficult to argue with—hard, measurable, and in many instances, astonishing results.
Have you ever worked for or known a leader who addressed any of these human needs? Did his or her leadership style improve the performance of the organization?
By Dr. Cleve Stevens, provided by Harvard Business Review
In 2000, Cox Communications' Arizona branch hadn't met a budget for three years, their P&L was in shambles and morale was in the cellar. Today, the branch models organizational effectiveness, and is the U.S.-based company's largest and most successful region. A $1.6 billion operation blanketing the state, it is envy of cable systems industry-wide. What caused this dramatic change in success? All it took was a reevaluation of leadership style, and the profits followed.
Steve Rizley took over Cox Arizona at this pivotal time. A caring but tough, naturally gifted leader, Steve immediately went to work focusing on the people in his organization. In wise hands, this transformational style of leadership yielded staggering growth—like growing from $700 million to $1.3 billion, in little more than two years. So what's at the heart of their version of leadership?
The traditional or transactional leader says "I'm the leader—you're the follower; I have something you need (money) and you have something I need (labor). So let's make an exchange." Transformational leaders like Steve understand that there is something bigger at stake. He not only challenged his people to grow professionally, but also personally—emotionally and intellectually.
Within this new paradigm, there are four non-negotiable human needs that the transformational leader recognizes must be satisfied if he and his people are to succeed:
First, and arguably most important, is the need to love and be loved. It sounds touchy-feely, but people who are not both receiving and giving love—and by love I mean focused concern and action directed at another exclusively for that person's good—cannot be fully healthy, biologically and psychologically. We usually think of love as beyond the pale in the work-a-day world, but the transformational leader vividly understands that tough-minded caring is essential to leading and developing a powerful, fully expressed workforce.
Second is the need to grow. The only alternative to growth is death and decay. The transformational leader recognizes that stasis, or maintenance, is a myth that only exists in the human imagination. Nowhere in nature do we find such a thing as stability. Even in a balanced ecosystem, there is either expansive, unfolding growth, or degeneration, decay and ultimately death. By creating a culture that allows our people (and ourselves) to grow, we are expanding our capacities as leaders, as employees, and as human beings.
Third is the need to contribute. Like a battery, this need is best understood when we think of it as having two distinct poles. The negative pole reminds us that that which does not contribute is eliminated. We see it in nature all the time, and at a primal, pre-conscious level we all seem to know this fundamental fact. Failing to contribute in a significant way yields a gnawing, just-beneath-the-surface anxiety of which we are usually only vaguely aware. The other pole, the positive one, answers this anxiety. When we are contributing in a significant way we have an inexplicable peace of mind. We know we belong. The simple principle at work here goes something like this: life works when we forget about ourselves and contribute to others. To feel fulfilled and empowered, employees must know they are contributing to the whole.
The fourth and final need to be met for full leadership, effectiveness and happiness, is the need for meaning. We are meaning-seeking creatures. If our lives lack a clear sense of meaning, if we are not engaged in some larger purpose, we will not be fully satisfied, regardless of whatever else we may have.
The transformational leader understands that satisfying all four of these needs may not be easy, but when they are being met in the day-to-day affairs of his or her people, something magnificent begins to emerge: people instinctively play a bigger game, and show up in a more passionate, creative, engaged and effective way. The consequences are difficult to argue with—hard, measurable, and in many instances, astonishing results.
Have you ever worked for or known a leader who addressed any of these human needs? Did his or her leadership style improve the performance of the organization?
By Dr. Cleve Stevens, provided by Harvard Business Review
Are You the Boss You Need to Be?
Yes, it's time to quiz yourself about your effectiveness as a manager
by Linda Hill and Kent Lineback, Posted on Harvard Business Review
How are you doing as a boss?
As a leader and manager, someone responsible for the results obtained by others, are you the boss you need to be? Are you getting the best from your people, and from those you need but don't control? Are you fully satisfying the ever-rising expectations of your firm and its customers?
Equally important, are you meeting your own expectations? How would you like to work to develop yourself? Are you good enough to achieve your own aspirations? Are you ready for increased responsibility?
These are critical questions all bosses must ask if they want to be fully effective. Why? The two of us have spent nearly 60 years in total studying and practicing management, and again and again we've made a troubling observation: Most managers grow and develop to a certain point, and then they stop. They reach the "Plateau of Good Enough." Perhaps they struggled at first as new managers, but they quickly learned how it's done in their organizations, how to cope with the challenges they typically face every day, and they've come to feel comfortable.
Unfortunately, they mistake comfort for real competence. They only ask, "Am I good enough?" when they should be asking, "Am I as good as I should be and want to be?"
If your answer to the second question is less than an unqualified "Yes!" we hope you'll follow us as we explore here what it means to be a great boss — the boss you want and need to be.
In particular, we're going to explore three critical areas:
What's required to become a great boss. It's a difficult journey that requires years, not weeks or months, of learning and steady personal growth. It's difficult because most of your learning will come from your own experience, and so it will at times be painful.
What effective bosses actually do. You cannot learn if you don't know where you need to go. You need benchmarks to measure yourself against. Here we will focus on what we call the "3 Imperatives": Manage yourself, Manage Your Network, and Manage Your Team. Those are not only the three areas in which we've seen managers again and again fall short, they are also the basic ways bosses do their most fundamental task of influencing others. The 3 Imperatives are the heart of management and leadership, an action-oriented framework that encompass everything essential to being a great boss.
How you can assess where you currently are. Understanding the journey and knowing what great bosses do aren't enough. The real question is this: how do you make progress on your own journey? The answer is simple in concept but difficult to do. All progress begins with a good understanding of where you currently stand. To assess yourself not once but continually, you must hone such personal skills and practices as regular reflection, honest self-assessment, the ability to admit and learn from mistakes, and the willingness to seek and absorb candid feedback.
All these areas present daunting challenges for managers at all levels who are determined to make progress on their journey to mastery.
As we explore different facets of becoming a great boss, we hope to hear from all of you who are facing the challenges and making progress. We hope you'll share your reactions, thoughts, experiences, and stories of what has worked for you and what hasn't, lessons you've learned, along with tips and techniques you've found helpful. There is much you can teach us and each other.
We look forward to the journey together
by Linda Hill and Kent Lineback, Posted on Harvard Business Review
How are you doing as a boss?
As a leader and manager, someone responsible for the results obtained by others, are you the boss you need to be? Are you getting the best from your people, and from those you need but don't control? Are you fully satisfying the ever-rising expectations of your firm and its customers?
Equally important, are you meeting your own expectations? How would you like to work to develop yourself? Are you good enough to achieve your own aspirations? Are you ready for increased responsibility?
These are critical questions all bosses must ask if they want to be fully effective. Why? The two of us have spent nearly 60 years in total studying and practicing management, and again and again we've made a troubling observation: Most managers grow and develop to a certain point, and then they stop. They reach the "Plateau of Good Enough." Perhaps they struggled at first as new managers, but they quickly learned how it's done in their organizations, how to cope with the challenges they typically face every day, and they've come to feel comfortable.
Unfortunately, they mistake comfort for real competence. They only ask, "Am I good enough?" when they should be asking, "Am I as good as I should be and want to be?"
If your answer to the second question is less than an unqualified "Yes!" we hope you'll follow us as we explore here what it means to be a great boss — the boss you want and need to be.
In particular, we're going to explore three critical areas:
What's required to become a great boss. It's a difficult journey that requires years, not weeks or months, of learning and steady personal growth. It's difficult because most of your learning will come from your own experience, and so it will at times be painful.
What effective bosses actually do. You cannot learn if you don't know where you need to go. You need benchmarks to measure yourself against. Here we will focus on what we call the "3 Imperatives": Manage yourself, Manage Your Network, and Manage Your Team. Those are not only the three areas in which we've seen managers again and again fall short, they are also the basic ways bosses do their most fundamental task of influencing others. The 3 Imperatives are the heart of management and leadership, an action-oriented framework that encompass everything essential to being a great boss.
How you can assess where you currently are. Understanding the journey and knowing what great bosses do aren't enough. The real question is this: how do you make progress on your own journey? The answer is simple in concept but difficult to do. All progress begins with a good understanding of where you currently stand. To assess yourself not once but continually, you must hone such personal skills and practices as regular reflection, honest self-assessment, the ability to admit and learn from mistakes, and the willingness to seek and absorb candid feedback.
All these areas present daunting challenges for managers at all levels who are determined to make progress on their journey to mastery.
As we explore different facets of becoming a great boss, we hope to hear from all of you who are facing the challenges and making progress. We hope you'll share your reactions, thoughts, experiences, and stories of what has worked for you and what hasn't, lessons you've learned, along with tips and techniques you've found helpful. There is much you can teach us and each other.
We look forward to the journey together
Sunday, July 03, 2011
The ABC’s Of Creating the Life Of Your Dreams
You deserve to live the kind of life you’ve always dreamed about. You can have everything you want in life, if, you are willing to do what it takes.
I have broken the process into three simple steps I call the ABC’s of creating the life of your dreams.
Yes, having the life of your dreams can be as simple as A,B,C, if you follow the steps.
Accept…
Accept the fact that your thoughts and actions have contributed to the circumstances in your life. If you are 25 pounds overweight, you did it by choice. Nobody forced the food into you, did they? If you are in a job you do not love, you’re the one who stays in it.
Take responsibility for your life.
This will empower you to make changes. A good exercise to get you started is to take a personal inventory. This exercise is similar to grocers taking an inventory of their stock.
Take a sheet of paper and list all of the things you like about yourself along with those areas you want to change. It is important you list the good along with the “not so good.” When you have finished, you will have a clearer picture of what you want to change in your life.
Believe…
Believe in yourself. Dare to dream!
And when you dream, dream big!
The late, Norman Vincent Peale said, “If you want a big life, you have to have big dreams.”
However, before you can have what you want, you must know what that is. You need clearly defined, written goals.
Start with a clean sheet of paper. Across the top write “Dream Sheet.” Now list all of the things you want to have, do be, and share.
Don’t worry right now, how you will accomplish this. Simply write. Do this for at least a half an hour.
You will be amazed how easy it will be for about 10 minutes, then you will have to really think about what you want.
Now that you have clearly defined goals, you are ready for the next, and most important, step.
Commit to your success…
Commit to your goals, right now.
On another sheet of paper, write each goal. Next to it, write a short sentence or two about why you will accomplish this.
It has been said many times that you can reach any goal if you have a big enough why.
You are now ready to develop an action plan. Write each goal on a separate sheet of paper. Next to each one, list one or two immediate steps you can take to move toward this goal.
Don’t worry about knowing everything you’ll need to know. As you start moving, the path will reveal itself. It’s much like the headlights on your car. They only light a certain distance in front of you but, as you progress, the road ahead is lighted for you.
What will you need to learn? Whose help will you need?
For example, if you goal is to shed 25 pounds, you may want to consult a health professional. Perhaps you want to join a health club, buy a book on exercise, take a class, etc.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. There are always people, probably right around you, who already know what you need to know or do and would be happy to help, if only they were asked.
You deserve to live a full, healthy, happy, prosperous life. It is up to you.
By Jim Donovan is the author of the International bestsellers, Handbook To A Happier Life and This Is Your Life, Not A Dress Rehearsal.
I have broken the process into three simple steps I call the ABC’s of creating the life of your dreams.
Yes, having the life of your dreams can be as simple as A,B,C, if you follow the steps.
Accept…
Accept the fact that your thoughts and actions have contributed to the circumstances in your life. If you are 25 pounds overweight, you did it by choice. Nobody forced the food into you, did they? If you are in a job you do not love, you’re the one who stays in it.
Take responsibility for your life.
This will empower you to make changes. A good exercise to get you started is to take a personal inventory. This exercise is similar to grocers taking an inventory of their stock.
Take a sheet of paper and list all of the things you like about yourself along with those areas you want to change. It is important you list the good along with the “not so good.” When you have finished, you will have a clearer picture of what you want to change in your life.
Believe…
Believe in yourself. Dare to dream!
And when you dream, dream big!
The late, Norman Vincent Peale said, “If you want a big life, you have to have big dreams.”
However, before you can have what you want, you must know what that is. You need clearly defined, written goals.
Start with a clean sheet of paper. Across the top write “Dream Sheet.” Now list all of the things you want to have, do be, and share.
Don’t worry right now, how you will accomplish this. Simply write. Do this for at least a half an hour.
You will be amazed how easy it will be for about 10 minutes, then you will have to really think about what you want.
Now that you have clearly defined goals, you are ready for the next, and most important, step.
Commit to your success…
Commit to your goals, right now.
On another sheet of paper, write each goal. Next to it, write a short sentence or two about why you will accomplish this.
It has been said many times that you can reach any goal if you have a big enough why.
You are now ready to develop an action plan. Write each goal on a separate sheet of paper. Next to each one, list one or two immediate steps you can take to move toward this goal.
Don’t worry about knowing everything you’ll need to know. As you start moving, the path will reveal itself. It’s much like the headlights on your car. They only light a certain distance in front of you but, as you progress, the road ahead is lighted for you.
What will you need to learn? Whose help will you need?
For example, if you goal is to shed 25 pounds, you may want to consult a health professional. Perhaps you want to join a health club, buy a book on exercise, take a class, etc.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. There are always people, probably right around you, who already know what you need to know or do and would be happy to help, if only they were asked.
You deserve to live a full, healthy, happy, prosperous life. It is up to you.
By Jim Donovan is the author of the International bestsellers, Handbook To A Happier Life and This Is Your Life, Not A Dress Rehearsal.
Believe In Yourself
You begin to believe in yourself when you take the time to applaud yourself. Look back on your life and work and applaud your achievements.
Too often, we look at the lists we have created, the mound of work on one side of the desk that somehow is supposed to get to the other side of the desk and think, “will we ever get it all done?”
When we see our kids, we think “Are they ever going to grow up?” We wonder if we will ever go on that trip, ever learn that skill or do whatever it is that we seem to question ourselves about.
That’s the problem. We focus on all that hasn’t gotten done, the dreams that we never really accomplished, and rarely – if ever – focus on the success we have actually achieved.
It is hard to believe in yourself if you only look at what you haven’t achieved. Start a new tradition and habit – look at what you have achieved, what you have accomplished.
More importantly, applaud yourself for what you did complete, the challenges you did overcome, and then really acknowledge all the steps that it took you to get there.
Sometimes we rush and move to the next project and we don’t stop and acknowledge the steps that it took you to complete your task or accomplishment. It’s okay to pause and appreciate. You did it!
I see where I was, I know how it felt to be on that stage before a certain group. I know how it feels to hear the accolades, but that is the easy part.
What about all the steps it took to get on that stage. The calls and the follow up, the sales skills necessary to secure the invitation to be on stage, the creativity of developing the program, packing and traveling, and then delivering.
Each step along the way was significant and deserved to be acknowledged by me. Being on the stage didn’t just happen. There was a process that I followed and it brought me success.
Your business is the same. You didn’t just close a deal or complete a project. You completed a series of complex processes to achieve the goal. You deserve to applaud and acknowledge yourself for following through. When you take the time to acknowledge your successes in every phase of your complex process, you build confidence in your abilities.
You believe in yourself.
Action Tips:
Review the last two days.
- Write down what you accomplished.
- How did you accomplish the project? What steps did you take?
- Give yourself applause. You did it, no one else could do it the way you did.
- Say “I believe in my abilities to complete projects.”
- Hear yourself and accept your applause.
- You don’t need anyone to tell you how great you are. You just told yourself how great you are.
ariticle by :
Pegine Echevarria is a motivational speaker and author – a nationally recognized expert on success, leadership, and team building
Too often, we look at the lists we have created, the mound of work on one side of the desk that somehow is supposed to get to the other side of the desk and think, “will we ever get it all done?”
When we see our kids, we think “Are they ever going to grow up?” We wonder if we will ever go on that trip, ever learn that skill or do whatever it is that we seem to question ourselves about.
That’s the problem. We focus on all that hasn’t gotten done, the dreams that we never really accomplished, and rarely – if ever – focus on the success we have actually achieved.
It is hard to believe in yourself if you only look at what you haven’t achieved. Start a new tradition and habit – look at what you have achieved, what you have accomplished.
More importantly, applaud yourself for what you did complete, the challenges you did overcome, and then really acknowledge all the steps that it took you to get there.
Sometimes we rush and move to the next project and we don’t stop and acknowledge the steps that it took you to complete your task or accomplishment. It’s okay to pause and appreciate. You did it!
I see where I was, I know how it felt to be on that stage before a certain group. I know how it feels to hear the accolades, but that is the easy part.
What about all the steps it took to get on that stage. The calls and the follow up, the sales skills necessary to secure the invitation to be on stage, the creativity of developing the program, packing and traveling, and then delivering.
Each step along the way was significant and deserved to be acknowledged by me. Being on the stage didn’t just happen. There was a process that I followed and it brought me success.
Your business is the same. You didn’t just close a deal or complete a project. You completed a series of complex processes to achieve the goal. You deserve to applaud and acknowledge yourself for following through. When you take the time to acknowledge your successes in every phase of your complex process, you build confidence in your abilities.
You believe in yourself.
Action Tips:
Review the last two days.
- Write down what you accomplished.
- How did you accomplish the project? What steps did you take?
- Give yourself applause. You did it, no one else could do it the way you did.
- Say “I believe in my abilities to complete projects.”
- Hear yourself and accept your applause.
- You don’t need anyone to tell you how great you are. You just told yourself how great you are.
ariticle by :
Pegine Echevarria is a motivational speaker and author – a nationally recognized expert on success, leadership, and team building
Three Simple Steps to Finding Passion in your Life
“If you don’t really know where you want to go, it makes no difference which road you take.”
How many of us are walking down roads that are leading nowhere? How many of us have a feeling that our lives could be happier and more prosperous but our current circumstances are holding us back and making it impossible for us to succeed?
I think many of us are so busy moving through our lives, that we don’t stop long enough to ask whether there is a purpose behind all of this activity.
We wake up, go to work, pay the bills, and simply exist—doing the same thing day in and day out because we think it’s what we should be doing.
Often we don’t bother dreaming about what we want in life because we’re stuck in the rut of thinking we need this job, this relationship, this life. It’s comfortable, and change is—well, scary.
Are you stuck in a rut? Are you afraid of change?
If you fit the “stuck in a rut” description, I want to reassure you that there is something better for you and for every person who feels they are missing out on something. You really can have so much more:
- Happiness
- Peace
- Joy
- Success
- Self-satisfaction
It all starts by following these three simple steps to determine what you want and then living on purpose.
Step 1 – Define Your Goals
A lot of people don’t have purpose, direction or even motivation to move toward what they want, because they haven’t defined what “that” is. They don’t have goals.
How many times have you heard someone say, “I don’t know,” when asked, “What do you want to do in life?” or, “Where do you see yourself five years from now?”
Ask that same question to preschoolers and they’ll rattle off a whole list of things they want to be or do when they grow up. They know exactly what they want. No one has shattered their dreams or stomped on their hopes.
“Wise adults” will shake their heads and smile knowingly. “Wait until you grow up and meet the real world,” they’re thinking. It’s sad but true that many adults give up on their dreams because they let them get crushed by the realities of bills, mortgages, raising a family, and all the other pressures of being an adult.
If you reach into your deepest memory pockets, I bet you’ll still find those same dreams tucked away, just waiting for you to pull them out and dust them off.
It all starts with deciding:
- what you want
- where you want to go
- what you want to have, and
- how you want to live.
In other words, it starts with deciding to live on purpose.
Step 2 – Find your Passion
What do you want to be, do, and have?
My mentor, Zig Ziglar, says, “You’ve got to be before you can do, and do before you can have.” In other words, having what you want is not as easy as snapping your fingers.
First you have to do the work (e.g., learn how to play the saxophone or go through the necessary training to become a nurse / dancer / lawyer / fireman / professor, etc.).
We transform the “being” into “becoming” by turning our work into accomplishments.
Questions to ask yourself:
- What are you doing today to be that person you want to be?
- Are the actions you’re taking today leading you toward or away from your goals?
- How much time do you spend reading about successful people versus watching television?
The fact that you are reading this article tells me that you want more for your life and you are willing to do what it takes to make it happen.
Step 3 – Go After Your Goals
Keep it simple!
- Take an afternoon away from work or the kids, and spend some time alone really thinking about your life.
- Look at where your life is today and where you want it to be.
- Write down dreams for yourself with no worry about whether they will come true or not. Just get them on paper.
My friend Tina Downey, creator of the MySuccessBox® system, recommends writing one hundred dreams for your life. Here’s how to do this:
1) Think only about what you want, and not about how you will get there.
2) Narrow those dreams down to your number one current dream.
3) Focus only on the steps you can take that will move you in the direction of achieving it.
Colossians 3:2, in the Bible, says, “Set your mind on things above.” If you set your mind on what you desire in life, you will move toward those desires.
If you focus on what you don’t want in life, that’s exactly what you will get. It’s all about deciding what you want and then living a life of purpose to make it happen.
Have you ever heard someone describe a person who is walking really fast, “as if they’re on a mission”? That’s you!
Live like you’re on a mission.
Live like you know where you’re going. Live the life you know you were born to live. Get started today by:
- Writing down what you want in life
- Deciding when you want to achieve each of these desires
- Believing you will achieve everything on your list
Amazing things happen when you believe.
article by: Michelle Prince is the Best-Selling Author of the book “Winning in Life Now… How to Break Through to a Happier You!”.
How many of us are walking down roads that are leading nowhere? How many of us have a feeling that our lives could be happier and more prosperous but our current circumstances are holding us back and making it impossible for us to succeed?
I think many of us are so busy moving through our lives, that we don’t stop long enough to ask whether there is a purpose behind all of this activity.
We wake up, go to work, pay the bills, and simply exist—doing the same thing day in and day out because we think it’s what we should be doing.
Often we don’t bother dreaming about what we want in life because we’re stuck in the rut of thinking we need this job, this relationship, this life. It’s comfortable, and change is—well, scary.
Are you stuck in a rut? Are you afraid of change?
If you fit the “stuck in a rut” description, I want to reassure you that there is something better for you and for every person who feels they are missing out on something. You really can have so much more:
- Happiness
- Peace
- Joy
- Success
- Self-satisfaction
It all starts by following these three simple steps to determine what you want and then living on purpose.
Step 1 – Define Your Goals
A lot of people don’t have purpose, direction or even motivation to move toward what they want, because they haven’t defined what “that” is. They don’t have goals.
How many times have you heard someone say, “I don’t know,” when asked, “What do you want to do in life?” or, “Where do you see yourself five years from now?”
Ask that same question to preschoolers and they’ll rattle off a whole list of things they want to be or do when they grow up. They know exactly what they want. No one has shattered their dreams or stomped on their hopes.
“Wise adults” will shake their heads and smile knowingly. “Wait until you grow up and meet the real world,” they’re thinking. It’s sad but true that many adults give up on their dreams because they let them get crushed by the realities of bills, mortgages, raising a family, and all the other pressures of being an adult.
If you reach into your deepest memory pockets, I bet you’ll still find those same dreams tucked away, just waiting for you to pull them out and dust them off.
It all starts with deciding:
- what you want
- where you want to go
- what you want to have, and
- how you want to live.
In other words, it starts with deciding to live on purpose.
Step 2 – Find your Passion
What do you want to be, do, and have?
My mentor, Zig Ziglar, says, “You’ve got to be before you can do, and do before you can have.” In other words, having what you want is not as easy as snapping your fingers.
First you have to do the work (e.g., learn how to play the saxophone or go through the necessary training to become a nurse / dancer / lawyer / fireman / professor, etc.).
We transform the “being” into “becoming” by turning our work into accomplishments.
Questions to ask yourself:
- What are you doing today to be that person you want to be?
- Are the actions you’re taking today leading you toward or away from your goals?
- How much time do you spend reading about successful people versus watching television?
The fact that you are reading this article tells me that you want more for your life and you are willing to do what it takes to make it happen.
Step 3 – Go After Your Goals
Keep it simple!
- Take an afternoon away from work or the kids, and spend some time alone really thinking about your life.
- Look at where your life is today and where you want it to be.
- Write down dreams for yourself with no worry about whether they will come true or not. Just get them on paper.
My friend Tina Downey, creator of the MySuccessBox® system, recommends writing one hundred dreams for your life. Here’s how to do this:
1) Think only about what you want, and not about how you will get there.
2) Narrow those dreams down to your number one current dream.
3) Focus only on the steps you can take that will move you in the direction of achieving it.
Colossians 3:2, in the Bible, says, “Set your mind on things above.” If you set your mind on what you desire in life, you will move toward those desires.
If you focus on what you don’t want in life, that’s exactly what you will get. It’s all about deciding what you want and then living a life of purpose to make it happen.
Have you ever heard someone describe a person who is walking really fast, “as if they’re on a mission”? That’s you!
Live like you’re on a mission.
Live like you know where you’re going. Live the life you know you were born to live. Get started today by:
- Writing down what you want in life
- Deciding when you want to achieve each of these desires
- Believing you will achieve everything on your list
Amazing things happen when you believe.
article by: Michelle Prince is the Best-Selling Author of the book “Winning in Life Now… How to Break Through to a Happier You!”.
Mastering Your Mind
Mastering Our Mind
We all know that deeply and strongly held beliefs affect not only our thoughts and actions but can even in some indescribable ways also affect the reality that surrounds us.
How or why this happens no one truly knows, but happen it does. Most times imperceptibly but on some occasions with blinding obviousness.
However, most of us are conditioned to ignore it and even if we do sometimes stop and wonder why certain things happen the way they do we quickly forget these 'coincidences' and put them down to pure luck or the opposite.
We hear about the law of attraction and sometimes we even believe it for a while but then force of habit takes over and the pressures of life soon make us 'wake up’ and get on with our lives.
But somewhere deep inside we know that there is something to all this. If only we could live with this consciousness then perhaps we could direct our lives more like a director directs a movie.
If we could just stick to the simple principles involved we too could unleash the true inner power we know we all possess.
Why is it that some people just seem to do this effortlessly whilst others like us are prone to slip back into negative and self-limiting thoughts, actions and behaviours? Why, with all the hype, books and even videos, does nothing seem to change for us?
Because, mastering your mind is perhaps one of the hardest things in life to do successfully. Simple to understand, simple to try but not so easy to implement especially continuously.
Most of us can’t even imagine for a few seconds some success in any given field, let alone hold it as a vision throughout our day until it becomes part of us and internalised.
It takes too much effort. And the rewards are not immediate or concrete enough for us to expend this mental energy to fight our inner negative belief patterns.
None of the books, videos or instruction manuals tell us how to 'really' do this, only that we must be more positive in our thoughts and constantly strive to manifest 'good' things instead of ‘bad’ things.
They have no problem telling us how easy it is and how successful we are at manifesting bad things. How, this is in reality our own fault.
But they never seem to be able to give us the 'magic' key to unlock the other side. To enable us to release ourselves from all the negative beliefs, thinking and manifestation and liberate our true positive self.
Until now!
Armed with the information available here will give you a much better understanding about how our beliefs translate into the surrounding reality and more importantly how we can for the first time take charge of our own minds and begin re-programming them using the latest technologies to bring about profound and lasting change.
source:routes-to-self-improvement.com
We all know that deeply and strongly held beliefs affect not only our thoughts and actions but can even in some indescribable ways also affect the reality that surrounds us.
How or why this happens no one truly knows, but happen it does. Most times imperceptibly but on some occasions with blinding obviousness.
However, most of us are conditioned to ignore it and even if we do sometimes stop and wonder why certain things happen the way they do we quickly forget these 'coincidences' and put them down to pure luck or the opposite.
We hear about the law of attraction and sometimes we even believe it for a while but then force of habit takes over and the pressures of life soon make us 'wake up’ and get on with our lives.
But somewhere deep inside we know that there is something to all this. If only we could live with this consciousness then perhaps we could direct our lives more like a director directs a movie.
If we could just stick to the simple principles involved we too could unleash the true inner power we know we all possess.
Why is it that some people just seem to do this effortlessly whilst others like us are prone to slip back into negative and self-limiting thoughts, actions and behaviours? Why, with all the hype, books and even videos, does nothing seem to change for us?
Because, mastering your mind is perhaps one of the hardest things in life to do successfully. Simple to understand, simple to try but not so easy to implement especially continuously.
Most of us can’t even imagine for a few seconds some success in any given field, let alone hold it as a vision throughout our day until it becomes part of us and internalised.
It takes too much effort. And the rewards are not immediate or concrete enough for us to expend this mental energy to fight our inner negative belief patterns.
None of the books, videos or instruction manuals tell us how to 'really' do this, only that we must be more positive in our thoughts and constantly strive to manifest 'good' things instead of ‘bad’ things.
They have no problem telling us how easy it is and how successful we are at manifesting bad things. How, this is in reality our own fault.
But they never seem to be able to give us the 'magic' key to unlock the other side. To enable us to release ourselves from all the negative beliefs, thinking and manifestation and liberate our true positive self.
Until now!
Armed with the information available here will give you a much better understanding about how our beliefs translate into the surrounding reality and more importantly how we can for the first time take charge of our own minds and begin re-programming them using the latest technologies to bring about profound and lasting change.
source:routes-to-self-improvement.com
Productivity Measures - Getting More Out Your Team
Every smart entrepreneur wonders "what sort of productivity measures can I use to get the maximum out of my existing resources?" Maybe you want to speed things up a little bit, or maybe incur lower expenses every month? Reducing staff strength was and continues to be seen as a solution to substandard performance and wage appreciation. But Frank Gilbreth, a visionary in the field of Time and Motion study, thought otherwise.
Breaking each physical activity into little components, which he called “therbligs” (reverse spelling of 'Gilbreth'), he offered a great productivity measuring system that improves the efficiency of each worker in a group to collectively save time and money, rather than reducing headcount.
Gilbreth observed 18 elements of the movements performed by bricklayers and the time spent performing each, down to the millisecond, and identified those that could be circumvented to improve efficiency. They were:
Search
Find
Select
Grasp
Hold
Position
Assemble
Use
Disassemble
Inspect
Transport loaded
Transport unloaded
Pre-position for next operation
Release load
Unavoidable delay
Avoidable delay
Plan
Rest to overcome fatigue
You can take a leaf out of his book. To implement productivity measures at your workplace, follow a few simple steps.
Gather the details: Observe processes performed at your workplace by your staff and record the time spent in each. Do not go into lengthy details; simply stick to the significant ones. Do this for at least a week so you have a clear idea of what consumes how much time. Try not to judge any action during the course of your investigation; concentrate only on who, what, when and how.
Get employees involved: You don’t want your people to get the wrong idea. It will only breed tension and nervousness. Inform them about why you are performing the experiment and assure them that there will be no job losses. This is the best way to ensure an honest response from them. Do not point out possible improvements immediately as you may alienate your people.
Prepare process charts: A picture is worth a thousand words. Transfer your observations into a flowchart. Starting with what, jot down when, where, by whom and how much time till the end of the process.
Analyze: Take a good look at your diagram and analyze it. Look for steps that can be eliminated, combine steps wherever necessary, change functions and improve individual activities. This is where you decide what changes and what stays. So, scrutinize well before you communicate the final changes to your staff. Take their suggestions into consideration as well, especially if they are experienced.
As you would already have figured, these productivity measures will help you simplify your process and thus help you economize on the time and money spent. The implementation, however, could vary from one organization to another, depending upon the process under scrutiny.
”Motion and Time Study: Design and Measurement of Work” by Ralph M. Barnes has plenty more to offer on Time and Motion study. Also check out “Motion and Time Study: Improving Work Methods and Management” by Fred E. Meyers.
Frank Gilbreth’s life inspired the book and movie, “Cheaper by the Dozen” , which give a valuable insight into the life of the Gilbreths and their 12 children. Mr Gilbreth insisted on doing things efficiently and often used his army of children to test new ideas. Watch the DVD of “Historic Time & Motion Films ~ Frank Gilbreth Study” available at www.amazon.com to learn more about his work.
Many large firms of corporate America, like Procter and Gamble vouch for the effectiveness of Gilbreth's productivity measures in rationalizing cost. Keen on making it work for you? Let Frank show you how!
Source: smartentrepreneur.net
Breaking each physical activity into little components, which he called “therbligs” (reverse spelling of 'Gilbreth'), he offered a great productivity measuring system that improves the efficiency of each worker in a group to collectively save time and money, rather than reducing headcount.
Gilbreth observed 18 elements of the movements performed by bricklayers and the time spent performing each, down to the millisecond, and identified those that could be circumvented to improve efficiency. They were:
Search
Find
Select
Grasp
Hold
Position
Assemble
Use
Disassemble
Inspect
Transport loaded
Transport unloaded
Pre-position for next operation
Release load
Unavoidable delay
Avoidable delay
Plan
Rest to overcome fatigue
You can take a leaf out of his book. To implement productivity measures at your workplace, follow a few simple steps.
Gather the details: Observe processes performed at your workplace by your staff and record the time spent in each. Do not go into lengthy details; simply stick to the significant ones. Do this for at least a week so you have a clear idea of what consumes how much time. Try not to judge any action during the course of your investigation; concentrate only on who, what, when and how.
Get employees involved: You don’t want your people to get the wrong idea. It will only breed tension and nervousness. Inform them about why you are performing the experiment and assure them that there will be no job losses. This is the best way to ensure an honest response from them. Do not point out possible improvements immediately as you may alienate your people.
Prepare process charts: A picture is worth a thousand words. Transfer your observations into a flowchart. Starting with what, jot down when, where, by whom and how much time till the end of the process.
Analyze: Take a good look at your diagram and analyze it. Look for steps that can be eliminated, combine steps wherever necessary, change functions and improve individual activities. This is where you decide what changes and what stays. So, scrutinize well before you communicate the final changes to your staff. Take their suggestions into consideration as well, especially if they are experienced.
As you would already have figured, these productivity measures will help you simplify your process and thus help you economize on the time and money spent. The implementation, however, could vary from one organization to another, depending upon the process under scrutiny.
”Motion and Time Study: Design and Measurement of Work” by Ralph M. Barnes has plenty more to offer on Time and Motion study. Also check out “Motion and Time Study: Improving Work Methods and Management” by Fred E. Meyers.
Frank Gilbreth’s life inspired the book and movie, “Cheaper by the Dozen” , which give a valuable insight into the life of the Gilbreths and their 12 children. Mr Gilbreth insisted on doing things efficiently and often used his army of children to test new ideas. Watch the DVD of “Historic Time & Motion Films ~ Frank Gilbreth Study” available at www.amazon.com to learn more about his work.
Many large firms of corporate America, like Procter and Gamble vouch for the effectiveness of Gilbreth's productivity measures in rationalizing cost. Keen on making it work for you? Let Frank show you how!
Source: smartentrepreneur.net
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