It made me think about the changes in how businesses run today. But it also made me think about some consistencies. What are those things that have actually NOT changed? Where are the foundations of solidity in the way we work? Well, I was thinking about the way we behave in business and how businesss etiquette teaches us a set of ways on how to behave and how to present ourselves.

So here are some ideas of how business, in many ways, stays the same:

With so many people working around you, you have to understand one thing – these are the elements you need to care for. Never underestimate, bad mouth or insult anyone.

Be respectful and courteous and ready to apologize for any mistake that you make.

Be diplomatic where required and try not to let personal biases influence your decisions.

Be respectful of your boss and make sure that you always inform him/her of any changes in your project. Never surprise your boss.

You don’t have to make friends with people and invite them for drinks, but building a cordial relation goes a long way in the business world. Make it a point to interact and ask about them and their families.

Talk with your teammates about how you can all make the workplace easier to cope with. That way, you share ideas and make plans for working together in harmony.
As far as the language is concerned, don’t use language that is considered crass, abusive, coarse or insulting. If you view yourself as professionals, you need to ensure that you use formal language that does not insult or cross the territory into being too personal.

Always be on time for appointments, never late. Etiquette states that time is a major issue. Being late makes for a very bad impression and can affect the image that colleagues and bosses might have about you.

Show the right level of balance when it comes to social media use. Etiquette states that we are at work for business, but 9 or 10 hours a day of hard grind can be demotivating. Have a specific guideline for social media use, but ensure people understand it.

So, although I am talking about the changes in business at the conference, there are still some stabilities that exist, still some areas where consistencies matter, and we musn’t lose sight of the fact that these act as good solid foundations for businesses, which actually support the changes that take place.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
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While most people want to be honest in business, it is true that earning yourself a bad reputation can be detrimental to your success. One terrible mishap could make a lot of people angry. They’ll begin to retaliate against you. They eventually let others know about your bad decisions and you lose business from others as well.

One example of a slightly dishonest and incredibly detrimental business decision is highlighted by the Exxon Valdez oil spill. During the late 80′s, Exxon partnered with 7 other oil companies to convince Valdez to build a tanker terminal. They believed that the likelihood of an oil spill was very low but promised that if there ever was such an incident they would have the necessary cleanup equipment on site within mere hours.

On March 24, 1989, one of the oil tankers left Valdez, headed for California. The ship struck Bligh Reef and more than 10.8 million of the 54.1 million gallons of oil on the ship spilled into Prince William Sound.

And guess what? Exxon had fudged the numbers a bit and really didn’t have the equipment necessary to respond to such a disaster within “mere hours.”

Before long, more than 1,300 square miles of ocean was covered in oil. Sea otters, seabirds, salmon, and seals were covered in oil – most dying before they could be rescued. The actual cleanup cost around $300 million and after several court cases and appeals Exxon ended up paying more than $2.5 billion in punitive damages.

Exxon, believing an oil spill was highly unlikely, cut costs on cleanup equipment. They may have thought it the right thing to do at the time but they misrepresented themselves to the people of Valdez.

And they paid dearly, in both cost and reputation, for that mistake.

Is that the type of reputation you want to build for your organisation?

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

About 20 years ago there was an article in the Harvard Business Review. The article questioned whether or not honesty and integrity were prominent factors when determining if a business will become successful or not. Realistically speaking, building a business upon a dishonest foundation is completely possible. It can be profitable. And the odds of getting caught are – well – slim to none, in most cases.

To start the week off I’d like you to think about your position within your business. Have you, as a manager, ever made an unethical decision? Have you ever told a little white lie just to convince an employee to meet a goal or to make a sale? Do you think that you, as a manager are the only person bending the truth to get things done? How deep into your organisation would you have to dig to uncover something bitter – and perhaps a lot more questionable in terms of ethics?

Over the next couple of days we’ll take a look at a few situations that push the line when it comes to ethics. I hope we’ll prove that you can build a business with 100% honesty and integrity – even if it does take a little more work upfront!

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Courses

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

What’s the difference between discrimination and favoritism?

Is there a difference?

There is a very fine line between favoritism and discrimination and many of us, especially managers, don’t realize that we dance along that line on a daily basis. Here’s an example.

Let’s just say for the purpose of this example that you are a white manager. You have a white employee who is going through a divorce and she asks you, at the last minute, for an extra day off. Company protocol says you must request time off a week in advance but you are sympathetic to her situation and let her slide.

A black employee also asks you for an extra day off at the last minute. Instead of sympathising with her situation you point out that she really needs to ask for time off based on the guidelines in the employee manual and you deny her request.

Technically, have you discriminated against the black employee? You might want to say no because you simply followed company protocol. But, by allowing the white employee to take an extra day off without following the same protocol you are showing favoritism.

So where do we draw the line? Some of us are automatically discriminatory against religious, ethnic, age, and gender groups not because we’re uncomfortable with them but because we don’t identify with them. We don’t even realize that we’re showing favoritism because we’re simply doing what feels comfortable.

But answer this question.

If your cousin is a mortgage representative at a large bank and your brother in law is having trouble getting a loan, you’d ask your cousin for help. If your next door neighbor had the same problem, would you make the same referral? Why would you only offer to help those you are very close to?

Favouritism.

Today I challenge you to take a few minutes and look at the relationships you’ve been forming with your team members. Are they ethical or are you showing favouritism to one group or another based on your personal likes and dislikes? Is this something you can change?

I hope so. Your success as a manager depends on it.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

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

Not cool.

The problem is that the more authority we have, the more we seem to value ourselves. In reality, though, we may talk more than the contributing members of our team – delegating and organizing – but when it comes to taking actual action we’re really not doing as much as we think.

So then we develop a secondary problem.

The more we think of ourselves, the less we think of the others we are working with.

That’s not good either.

You have an unabashed view of yourself. You think you’re the big cheese. And despite the fact that your team members are doing most of the work on a given project, you feel as though you are better than them and minimize the value of their work.

And their the ones doing it all to begin with.

The next time you delegate a task to your team, take a step back and think about how involve you really are in the project. When the project is finished and goes to the next level, make sure the right people know who participated and to what extent.

It’s fair, and it doesn’t make you any less of a manager. Giving proper credit will actually make you a better, ethical example!

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Leadership Training

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

Simply put, if you are favoring people who you believe will be able to provide you some sort of perk or benefit later on down the line you have a conflict of interest. You are biased towards those people because of what you hope to get from them and instead pass over people who may be better qualified to do the work but less able to throw a perk your way.

How unfair is that?

Here’s an example. Let’s say you’re the office manager in a physician’s office. A pharmaceutical representative comes into your office to try to give you information and samples about a new cholesterol medicine. When he visits he brings you free samples, a huge tray of bagels and fruit for the entire office to share, and a really nice padfolio to thank you for your time. He also tells you that for every new rX for this medication you write your office will receive a bonus or referral fee.

A pharmaceutical representative from another company comes in with a different cholesterol medicine. She brings you some free samples but doesn’t shower you with gifts. Instead she gives you a lot of great information about the drug and the research and studies behind it. The cost for consumers is a bit less than the other drug, too. The pharmaceutical company doesn’t have a referral program so you won’t get any kickbacks for selling what looks like a decent drug.

Which will you choose?

You might, right now, say that you’d pick the second but the truth is that if you were in that situation you might unconsciously choose the first. Why pass up the opportunity for a referral fee, even if the drug isn’t as great as the second, right?

Wrong. That’s comletely unethical.

But do you even realize you’re making decisions like these?

Probably not.

I urge you to take a close look at the decisions you’re making this year. Are they best for your team or are you looking for what’s best for you personally?

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Leadership Development

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

Most of us have some sort of implicit bias, whether we recognize it or not. What is an implicit bias? It is one that, despite you not saying it outright, shows in the way you act. There are a few organisations that have tested managers and individuals to uncover some of their implicit biases, including Harvard and Tolerance.org. Here are a few examples of information about biases they uncovered:

• A large percentage of participants had an implicit bias towards young people.
• A large percentage of participants had an implicit bias towards white people.
• A large percentage of participants had an implicit bias towards rich people.
• Consciously desiring to not be biased will not make you an unbiased person.

What does this mean? Let’s say, for example, you claim not to be biased towards men. You have two similar resumes on your desk and you have interviewed both candidates – one male and one female. They are both highly qualified and it’s a very difficult decision to make but we’ll say for the purpose of this example that there may be one or two areas in which the female candidate might make a better fit. You claim to be reviewing their applications from an objective standpoint but your implicit bias towards men allows you to justify hiring the male candidate instead. You literally dig for a reason not to hire the female candidate and you  may not even realize why.

Being biased can be costly. You can lose great candidates or team members and possibly even be accused of bias and become the victim of a discrimination lawsuit.

I urge you to step back and think about your management ethics and hiring practices. Are you biased? Do you even realize it? Are you treating your employees fairly? Think about it and let me know.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Development

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

So here’s the problem. You have a position available and two candidates have make it through the interview process. One is a young college graduate with plenty of references, great internship experience, and fresh ideas. The other is a middle-aged individual with plenty of working experiernce in the field. When it comes down to it, both are great candidates but you have to wonder which would fit the dynamic of the team better and suddenly you’re weighing your options in terms of age.

Have you just crossed the line into the realm of age discrimination?

We’ll talk more later about the actual rules regarding age discrimination in the UK. Until then, think about how you would make your decision. Would you focus on age or would you try to go back to their resumes and interviews and find more concrete information with which to make your decision?

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Courses

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

So how do you develop that type of self discipline?

5. Understand the Rules

Your organisation probably has an entire manual outlining company rules, regulations, policies, and operating proceedures. You don’t have to memorise them all from the start but you should make it a point to understand how things work and what the rules are before making any decisions. If you check the rules you won’t make an unethical mistake.

4. Accountability

Take responsibility for your actions, behaviour, and – of course- for your mistakes. Trying to cover up your mistakes or blaming them on someone else will only make the situation worse when, in reality, upper management only wants to hear someone say they’re sorry and that they’ll fix the problems.

3. Address Your Bad Habits

Are you someone who usually stretches the truth when its convenient? Are you the type of person who can easily come up with a creative interpretation of any rule in order to justify his behaviour? If so, STOP. There’s no such thing as semi-ethical. You either are or you aren’t.

2. Be Reliable

If you say you’ll finish something within a specified time frame, do so. Keep the promises you make, finish your tasks in their entirety, and set a great example for your team. The art of dependability seems to be lost these days but the most dependable people are usually the most ethical and honest.

1. Avoid Peer Pressure

Just because you are attempting to be an ethical manager doesn’t mean your peers on the same level of management are attempting to do the same things. Don’t let the things they do influence you and try to avoid or minimize ethical conflicts. Know your priniciples and stick to them.

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

In order to do this there are four main principles of ethical management you need to keep in mind at all times. They are as follows:

• Respect for each employee – While it’s difficult at times, it is important to make sure you treat each of your employees or team members respectfully. Everyone you work with will have different religious and cultural beliefs and should be treated fairly.
• Mutual respect – Your role as a manager involves making sure that your employees all treat each other respectfully as well. While they don’t all have to agree with each other, they should show proper respect for each others ideas and opinions. A team that doesn’t get along on a personal level will not work will together and will be less productive.
• Procedural fairness – You may not have control of the procedures your company expects you to follow but you do have control over the procedures you can implement within your team. It is important to make sure the procedures you implement are fair to all of your employees – neither favoring nor neglecting one employee or another.
• Decision making transparency – It’s incredibly important for you to make sure your employees understand why you make the decisions you do. If they realize you aren’t making arbitrary choices based on personal beliefs they’ll be more likely to accept your decisions and work together as a team.

Are you acting as ethically as possible in the workplace? Are there things you could change so that you and your team get along on a better, professional level? Think about it.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

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