Have you ever been in a meeting where the topic of conversation turned controversial? It seems as though most people agree with one viewpoint, while only a few have voiced a contradictory opinion, if they’ve said anything at all. These people are keeping silent not because they do not believe in their own point of view, but because they fear the stigma of social rejection. This is known as the “Spiral of Silence.”

Most people, especially if they are in the minority, are reluctant to voice their opinions or concerns for just this reason. Unfortunately, they’re also the ones that are most likely to go home feeling disgruntled, unappreciated, and unheard.

So how do you, as a manager, remedy this type of situation or prevent the spiral from occurring? Taking a leadership role in meetings where this may happen is essential. You’ll be able to guide the meeting back on track, or encourage the opinions of those who don’t seem to have much to say. If all else fails, encourage your employees to participate in anonymous surveys when important decisions need to be made. They may be more willing to put their ideas in writing if they can do so anonymously.

The ability to recognise the Spiral of Silence and stop it from occurring is an incredible communication skill. Silence in the workplace can be detrimental, so keep your ears open and make sure no one feels bullied, intentionally or not, into keeping quiet.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

Not you personally, but you as an organisation. Do they respect you; do they love their jobs? Or do they go home at night and complain about their days and put down the company when they speak to their friends?

There are three main concerns you have when it comes to your employees and they way they regard your organisation:

1. The disgruntled employee. An unhappy person is likely to tell more people about his bad experiences than his happy ones. You’ve likely heard this concept in terms of sales, but it applies to employee management as well. Are you sure your team members are happy with their jobs?

2. Conflicts of interest. It’s not unusual for an employee to have a second job in order to support his hobbies or pay his bills, but you will have problems if that second job is within the same industry or with a competitor. You risk having your company secrets disclosed to others or possibly even having your team members steal clients.

3. General dishonesty. Are your employees coming to work on time and, if not, are they filling out their time cards accordingly? Are they making personal, long-distance telephone calls on company time? Are they going home with office supplies tucked into their purses or brief cases?

It’s usually easy to tell if an employee is unhappy, and most workers are honest more often than not. Are you prepared, however, to deal with the conflicts and issues created by those who simply can’t help themselves?

Having an employee publicly degrade your business can be difficult to deal with. Do your best to communicate with your employees regularly, staying abreast of the changes in their lives and assessing whether or not they’re happy in their work. If not, you may be able to make changes; but knowing is half the battle.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

The other day we approached the idea of ethics in the workplace, breaking the concept down into three main categories. Today I’d like to take a look at how you, or your organisation, treat your employees.

When you consider whether or not you are treating employees in an ethical manner, you have to take a look at your main managerial roles. They are to hire and/or fire employees, make sure they are given fair wages and safe working conditions, to protect their rights to privacy, and to treat them with respect.

Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?

What happens when you hire an employee with a bad attitude or with a different set of religious values that make you or other employees uncomfortable? Can you fire him? Most people might agree that if an employee doesn’t “fit in” with the work group, he or she will not be successful. The problem is in the fact that whether or not you all get along with each other has nothing to do with whether or not your employee is doing his job effectively. What if that same employee was the best research assistant in the entire department, working at twice the rate of your other employees? Is it fair to discriminate against him just because he has follows a different religious path or has a surly attitude?

Another example of poor ethics is displayed when one demographic group is paid less for the same job as another. Women and immigrants, for example, may find they are making much less than men in the exact same roles with the exact same job duties. In some countries, the difference in pay ranges from anywhere from an astounding 25 to 50 percent.

What if, as a manager, your employee discloses some information about his medical history or personal life? He may need to give you this information so that you can work with him on a schedule or work load change, but should the information go any further than your office? In most cases it should not, but in many instances that information makes it to the water cooler, where mangers swap stories about their employees. One person vows the next person to secrecy, and so on – until the entire office knows someone else’s personal information. Not only was the sharing of information unethical, but it was a blatant breach of privacy.

Neither of these situations is fair to the employees who are being judged. If your employees feel as though they can’t trust their manager or company, they’ll begin to develop an attitude of discontent. No one wants to work in an unethical environment.

Make sure that proper ethics courses are included in your new hire and management training programs. Acting properly will save you and your company a lot of time and aggravation.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

Originally created by a fellow named John Adair, the Action Centered Leadership model focuses simply on the actions that leaders need to take in order to ensure their effectiveness. The model focuses on three main activities that, when viewed as a whole and given proper attention, guarantee results.

The three main activities include:
1. Understanding and achieving any given task.
2. Building and maintaining a solid team.
3. Developing each member of the team individually.

It seems a bit like a pyramid, doesn’t it? Of course, each activity has a series of sub-activities, and the success of each task hinges upon the others.

For example, you can’t build a solid team if you haven’t properly trained the individual members. The individual members won’t ever gain the right level of experience if they don’t have a strong team to support them. You’ll never see a project or task come to successful completion unless each of your teams or individual employees is trained to meet the deadlines and quality expectations you have set.

Each piece of the Action Centered Leadership model depends on the others. Not one part can stand alone. In order to be an effective manager, you’ll have to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your team members. Perhaps, for example, one of your employees has a time management problem. The solution is to get him extra training or guidance when it comes to organizing his workflow. If left untreated, the problem may grow until it eventually has a negative impact on an important project.

I find Action Centered Leadership to be a proactive management model. It involves actively evaluating and reevaluating your tasks and team in order to identify issues and make changes before they turn into real problems. Avoiding problems will make your job much easier in the long run.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

We’re going to spend a bit of time this week discussing ethics in the workplace. As a manager, the ethics you portray, or the way you behave, has a direct impact on the reputation of your company and your ability to build a team.

There are three main things you need to keep in mind when it comes to ethics and the way they impact the workplace:

1. How does the company treat its employees?
2. How do the employees treat the company?
3. How do the company and its employees treat the rest of the world?

As a manager, you represent the company. The actions and displays of morality you personally make are going to play a significant role in the way the company is perceived by both other employees and the outside world.

Over then coming days we’ll take a closer look at different facets of managerial ethics. Hopefully you’ll be able to identify changes you need to make in your workplace before they ruin your business or team.

Let me know if you have any current ethics concerns within your workplace. Leave a note in the comments or click the box on your right to ask me a question. We’ll do our best to help.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”