The senior management team (MD, Chief Exec, Senior Board members, etc) should be spending a large proportion of their time working on strategy and vision. These are the people who drive the organisation, ensuring the plans are in place for the business to go forward. They create the vision for others to follow. They build the strategy for the business to run forward. They develop the values that everyone in the company lives by. They ensure everyone has confidence in the future. And they commit to the mission that will make the business profitable.

The middle management team consist of the people who apply the strategy, vision and values.They link in with the senior team to drive the mission forward, working to ensure the ideas generated from the people who hold the purse-strings are applied effectively. They provide the leadership for the teams working for them to actually carry out the work.

The final layer are the producers, the people who ensure the work is carried out, motivated and driven by the leaders above them who set the guidelines and ensure continuity of business.

Effectively, each layer should be ensuring they make it easy for the layer below them to carry out their jobs. By providing the correct vision, top management provide the tools for middle managers to lead the producers effectively. If the producers (the people actually going out there and selling, giving customer service, answering the phones, building the customer relationships, etc) don’t feel adequately led, they will feel unclear about their roles and responsibilities, and maybe not tap into their full productive capabilities.

If the leaders don’t feel their senior team have set the right vision or direction for the business to follow, they will not have the full commitment and positivity to drive producers forward to achieve.

It’s like a well-oiled machine that gives great performance when maintained properly, and causes alarm and distress when ignored and neglected.

Ask whether the Vision, Leadership and Production within your business is in complete harmony. If so, you have a smooth-running engine. If not, maintenance is needed to ensure its continuity.

Thanks again

Mark Williams

Head of Training

(Image by Renjith Krishnan)

MTD Management Training Course

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The question came from a new manager who had been promoted from among his peers and was now managing people who were much more knowledgeable and experienced than he was. His question was how should he manage such people.

My reply was…”Don’t!”

By that, I meant don’t try to manage them. Managing someone who has more ability, experience or knowledge than you do has its pitfalls and its benefits. By managing them, you stifle their creativity and innovation. I asked the manager why he felt it necessary to actually manage the knowledgeable ex-peer. That opened up a new topic as to how much autonomy and responsibility the person should have, and if he should be managed at all.

The group suggested that he should lead the other person, allowing him to show leadership qualities himself. Trying to ‘manage’ wouldn’t work.

Instead, the leader should:

* Discuss what roles and responsibilities the person should have, and agree on how those should be carried out

* Agree any targets that should be set for the subordinate

* Give them the freedom and authority to achieve those targets themselves, with the manager holding the resource purse strings and the accountability

* Set parameters for the ex-peer to work to, but allow them to control it

* Concentrate on results rather than methods

* Use the experience of the ex-peer to drive things forward, supporting their decisions and allowing them to create further opportunities

* Encourage them to share their experiences and learn from them

* Ensure you, as manager, take full responsibility for their results, and help them achieve higher goals if possible

What you’re trying to do is create the environment for the ex-peer to still contribute to the success of the department without feeling that he has been overlooked or that his experience is of no value. On the contrary, it is of great value and should be seen to be that way by all team members.

So, don’t try and manage this kind of employee…keep their motivation and creativity going by showing excellence in leadership.

Thanks again

Mark

Mark Williams

Head of Training

MTD Management Training Course

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 (Images by Renjith Krishnan)

Of course, the best way to determine where your time is going is to record what’s happening each day. If you find some of these problems are affecting your day-to-day management of your time, think of what could be done to overcome them. Here are some suggestions:

* Work Piling Up – You need to set priorities, and determine the difference between urgent and important. How many times have you gone home from work and realised you’ve been really busy, but not actually accomplished very much? That shows you’ve been working on the urgent at the expense of the important. Set yourself realistic deadlines and see if you can keep to them. And delegate more often!

* Trying to do too much – As stated before, you must set priorities. If it’s impossible to get everything done, ask which deadlines could be changed. Learn to say no, because if you take on more work, everything else will suffer, especially your stress levels.

* Procrastination – Break tasks down into manageable chunks. Approach it from a different angle. If the task will take 3 hours, do 20 minutes now, 30 minutes later, and so on. You need to control it, rather than it controlling you.

* People interrupting you – Make appointments and ask people to stick to them. If people just drop in, tell them you will get back to them when you can give them 100% attention.

* Phone calls interrupting you – Tell them you will call them back. Use voicemail, if practical. Batch phone calls you need to make all together, so you control the timings.

* Too many emails – Divide them into ‘act now, act later’. Have a special file to put the mails you will be dealing with later. Don’t let you inbox pile up, and try not to use it as your ‘pending’ file. Things will drop out of your view and you will forget them. Create rules for emails coming in. Try not to keep your email server open all the time; emails will rule your time. Devote specific times of the day that you control to deal with emails.

* Too many meetings – Ah, the bugbear of many managers! Review all the meetings you attend and eliminate any that are unnecessary. Set limits to the time meetings take and stick to them. Have an agenda and stick to it. Be prepared for each meeting and identify how you can add value to them.

Naturally, there are many other time management situations you will have to deal with, but if you have the correct mindset to how you view time, you will concentrate on the solutions rather than the problems lack of time causes you.

Thanks again

Nick

Nick Hill

Training Director

MTD Management Training Course

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But creativity is never enough on its own, since ideas are only the raw materials for innovation. You need a screening and development mechanism to turn ideas into reality. How, though, so you first develop creative thought processes? Well firstly, you need to identify some barriers to creative thinking:

- You allow your mind to be conditioned into following a dominant pattern of thought, so you become trapped into a fixed way of looking at things

- You fail to identify and examine the assumptions you make, to ensure they aren’t restricting the development of new ideas

- You think sequentially instead of laterally, and are always looking for the best idea, rather than different ideas

- You don’t challenge obvious solutions

- You judge prematurely, not giving yourself enough time to drift over other ways of looking at things

- You tend to conform and give the expected answer

- You fear you’ll look foolish or be put down by others

These rationalisations may inhibit your thought-processes and create barriers to creativity. So what can you do to overcome those barriers?

Firstly, do some self-analysis.

Identify the dominant ideas that influence your thinking.

Then define the boundaries you are operating in and question them. Do policies need re-thinking, or processes re-thought?

Then identify how you will break free from the boundaries, opening up your mind to new ideas

Think, how would a competitor view these ideas? What would a scientist think, or a football manager? By looking from a different perspective, you create different thought patterns and possibly come up with an idea you wouldn’t have considered if you thought the same way as always before.

You may find plausible reasons why something might not work (it didn’t work last time, it’s too risky, it’s too expensive, good in theory but…, the customers won’t buy it, etc.). But it’s the end result that is key here – you shouldn’t worry too much about how you get there.

Incubation is always a good idea. How often have you had really good ideas when in the bath or shower or walking the dog? This is because the mind is working unconsciously on the problem and is able to identify those things that you wouldn’t have thought of on a conscious level.

Lateral thinking is also a good technique. Instead of looking for what is right, concentrating on relevance, moving in a certain direction and leading from one thing to another, Lateral Thinking looks at what is different, makes jumps instead of thinking sequentially, welcomes intrusions and explores many unlikely directions. You need to provocatively challenge the way you’re thinking, and reject thinking that reduces decision-making to a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

When you consider what benefits you gain from thinking creatively, you give yourself the chance to build great ideas and identify various perspectives that you hadn’t seen before. And that’s where innovation and future development really works.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

(Image by Jannoon)

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The model explains performance gaps and identifies improvement directions. I’ve used it a number of times to determine the future direction of my company, and it consists of a few fundamental elements:

• Leadership and consistency of purpose
• Management by processes and facts
• Employee development and involvement
• Continuous learning and improvement
• Partnership development
• Public Responsibility

Results not only reflect how well an organisation is performing, but also measure a company’s performance from perspectives like customer focus and social results.

What does it require from a management and leadership point of view? Well, here’s a list of management requirements:

• Develop mission, vision and values
• Be role models of excellence
• Be involved in developing, implementing and improving systems
• Be involved with customers and partners
• Recognise, support, coach and motivate people within the business
• Identify, develop and sustain people’s competencies
• Involve and empower teams
• Reward, recognise and care for individuals

There are many other ways that the model recognises the professionalism of a company, and I would suggest you take a look at how your position could benefit from looking at this recognised tool for development. The EFQM Excellence Model provides core elements for the effective analysis, assessment, structure, improvement and management of a business, and I would recommend you find out more about it to determine how your strategies could be improved in the future.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

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

She said she worked in a positive environment, where she was often getting positive reinforcement for what she was doing. Her boss was continuously praising her for being on time with her attendance or project inputs or meeting minutes. Yet, this lady didn’t feel as great as she thought she should. Something she said in her email hit home to me: “I feel that I am being manipulated, as if my manager had been on a course that told him to keep on praising people and this would motivate everyone. But I don’t feel good when he does it all the time. Am I wrong to feel this way, Sean?”

Interesting, eh? This lady was in a positive environment, but not feeling positive. Why?

Well, it may have something to do with our third myth of management; the fact that positive reinforcement practices often fail because they are dealing with behaviours, not performance optimisation.

Behaviour modification was popularised by psychologist B.F. Skinner in the 1930′s. His basic ideas revolved around the facts that when employees received positive reinforcement, they are more likely to repeat the behaviour that gained the praise in the first place. And negative reinforcement would force the employee to engage in that particular behaviour less often.

However, this often feels fake and manipulative. The lady quoted above could subconsciously see that the praise wasn’t really genuine. If it was, she would have accepted it for what it was. Positive reinforcement often affects the employee’s extrinsic motivation, but rarely their intrinsic motivation.

Coming to work on time because you know that if you don’t you will be reprimanded is an example of extrinsic motivation – you are motivated to do something because of what will result at the end of it.

Intrinsic motivation comes from within and is based on a personally-held belief.

Extrinsic motivation is compliance-based; intrinsic motivation is interest-based. Positive reinforcement systems encourage and improve extrinsic motivation, but not intrinsic.

As a manager, you need to find ways to create environments that improve people’s intrinsic motivation, things that will drive them from the inside, so their passion, drive, ingenuity, creativity and energy are tapped into. Manipulating by continuous praise won’t accomplish this.

Remember to mix the two, and you should get better results.

Thanks again

Sean

Why so many? Surely there must be a limit to how many books someone needs to carry out their job, mustn’t there?

Well, the truth is, people will always see things from different perspectives, and even though much that is written has been written before, there will always be something that can be said differently. But how much of what is written is actually true, accurate, correct? How much of it is myth?

In this series, I’m looking at some of the myths of management and why they exist. Remember, there are just a few managerial habits that will have the biggest impact on individual performance. So let’s kick off with a myth that has perpetuated throughout time and needs to be addressed:

• People don’t like to be managed

Well, I suppose to a certain degree this could be a justified statement, but only because they see management as a control mechanism. Micromanagement can cause frustration and pressure on their teams. But most employees want and expect their managers to display leadership, good planning skills, ensure their team is working on the right tasks in the right way, and is driving change in the right direction.

Employees would like to know if they are performing well, whether their work is satisfactory. They want to know when they go wrong, and they want managers to deal with people who are not pulling their weight.

Actually, most employees tell us they lack respect for those managers who don’t manage.

So, you need to manage in a way that people want. They don’t want to be managed in a controlled, directive or autocratic way, but in a way that creates the atmosphere and environment for them to thrive and grow. Manage in the way they see is necessary for that growth.

Next, we’ll take a look at another myth, this time surrounding Performance Management.

Thanks again

Sean

Try these tips and see if they work for you:

* Agree on mutual expectations, responsibilities, standards of performance and success measurements. By doing this, you lay the foundation for all future dealings with them.

* Ask them to share their own goals and objectives. This way, you can offer help in them achieving what they want within the organisation, hence making you someone of necessity to them.

* Determine how you can help the most. Which areas that you have skills in would make their jobs easier?

* Deliver results in the way your manager wants them. Keep them informed at all times on how progress is going.

* Be dependable. If you make a promise, please keep it. Your boss doesn’t want to be made to look a fool if they’ve promised and you don’t deliver.

* Be open and receptive to feedback and advice. Don’t always look at defending yourself; it may be that they are right and you are wrong on this occasion.

* Anticipate and be proactive with problems on a timely basis. You don’t want it turning into a crisis before you let you manager know.

* Don’t waste your manager’s time. If it’s trivial, leave it till an appropriate time. If it’s important, let them know. But don’t become known for being a time-waster.

* Identify how your manager wants information given to them. Are they big-picture thinkers or do they sweat the small stuff? Identify this and give them information in the way they need it.

By understanding how your manager acts and reacts, you develop your relationship with them and identify the pressures they face. You need to become the kind of person your manager respects and can trust.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

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

On the other hand, you are concerned with how your ex-peers with whom you worked so well in the past will view you. Will there be jealousies because of the new position? How should you interact and communicate with them, now that you have further responsibilities? Your ex-peers may expect you to be the same as you were before, only now you have the power to fix things that you all were complaining about as a team. So when are you going to start to fix them?

Before, you were saying ‘Why don’t they…? or ‘If only they would…’. Now, of course, you are one of the general crowd they called ‘they’!

Although it might be tempting to jump in and fix everything, hold back a bit until you can see what it all looks like from the viewpoint that ‘they’ have got.

Can you still be a friend with your old team-mates? I believe you can, only there are now a few more boundaries around you because of your increased responsibilities. Firstly, have a start-up team meeting with your ‘new’ team. Work on what values you as a team are now going to work to. Resist the temptation to try to prove you’re the ‘boss’. They won’t value your contribution if you start ‘lording it over them’, as it were.

Openly discuss your new role with them. Agree how you will communicate with them. Let them know that you are responsible for their performance and discipline, so agree how you will work together to get the results the team needs in order to still maintain an impact within the business. Discuss what changes you anticipate bringing in, including how you will interact with them.If you feel you can still be friends, discuss the boundaries that will obviously have to be set. You don’t want a situation where your discipline and performance management is affected by your close friendship.

Make sure all your ex-peers understand the difference between your friend-role and your manager-role. Ensure they understand the reasons why you will have to talk about performance issues, especially if discipline is involved. You must be seen as being fair and unbiased. Your manager will not look upon it kindly if your results start to suffer because you have favoured some of your friends and their performance is not good enough.

It is obviously a challenge that you want to deal with professionally. And there’s no reason why you can’t succeed in your new role if you have the backing of your old team-mates.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

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

People often say that, if there was one skill they would like their manager to show more of, it would be consistency.

I read an interesting quote by Manfred Kets de Vries, of INSEAD, who stated:

“The best managers have the ability to go beyond narrow definitions of what management should be. They don’t fall into a pigeon-hole. Instead, they have the ability to excite people to achieve goals. They lead by example and are extremely resistant to stress. Leaders like Branson are very aware fo their failings and they find good people who can fill these areas”

So what style would you like to consistently choose? Remember that style IS a choice…you are not born that way, and your conditioning can be over-ridden by your conscious awareness.

Most managers do not know what their weaknesses really are. Because their staff rarely share their REAL feelings with their boss, they think everything is ok and never hear the back-biting and sniding comments when they are out of earshot.

Consistency is the main skill that many managers fail to adopt. One person said on one of our courses that he never knows what mood his boss is going to be in when he comes in. Everyone in his departments holds their breath when they hear his footsteps in the morning. If he says hello to everyone, they breathe a sigh and know it’s not going to be a too-bad day. If he storms in and goes straight into his office without saying a word, they all know they will be walking on eggshells all day. He stated that the morale is through the floor and everyone spends most of their day when not working surfing the job websites.

What a dreadfully disheartening situation to be in. This person stated that if the boss would only be consistent, they could deal with it. But his style is so haphazard that they don’t know what to do.

As a manager, you need to identify the best way to get the best out of your team. Just because no-one says anything to you about their mood or how they feel about your style, doesn’t mean everything is ok. Silence often speaks louder than shouted words.

Remember, your role as a manager is to “adapt, modify, adjust and rearrange the complex task and function interfaces that often slip out of alignment” (Leonard Sayles).

If you don’t know what these slippages are, you are in trouble. Keep close to your team, open the lines of communication and, above all, be consistent in your approach to everything you do. That way, you have a fighting chance of getting everyone to communicate back.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

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