I’ve had a couple of chats with some business colleagues and it has surprised me how little thye knew about the new Bribery Act that came into force in April 2011. In fact one of them hadn’t actually heard of it, which may be worrying because it states that companies need to adopt a policy to ensure that bribery does not take place, as doing nothing can mean jail for the directors concerned. If that doesn’t make you sit up and take notice, I don’t know what will!

In business there has always been legislation that could result in fines for doing nothing. Health and Safety legislation tightened the grip and transgression could result in a prison sentence if found guilty of wilful negligence.

The Bribery Act 2010 extended the threat of jail for doing nothing even further as failure to prevent bribery is also an offence under the act.

For example, a commercial organisation could be found guilty of an offence under this act, if a person associated with the company bribes another person intending to obtain or retain business for the firm, or to obtain or retain an advantage in the conduct of business for the company.

So it doesn’t matter whether you as the manager were aware if the offence was being committed or not. What you can do, however, is put in place adequate processes designed to prevent people associated with your company from committing such offences. Only then would you have any form of defence if anything underhand has occurred.

The key areas to cover against are:

1. Bribing another person

4. Failure to prevent bribery

And it’s not just the individual involved who risks going to jail…the company may end up with substantial fines too, with the risk of being blacklisted. So it would be a good idea to get yourself up-to-date with this specific new law.

You can download the government information pack at www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/23/contents

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

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We had beautiful weather in our part of the world during April. May hasn’t been as good, but we still had some sun and it’s definitely warming up.

Before you check to see if you’ve accidentally stumbled on the weather blog(!) can I just say that my purpose isn’t to give you small-talk or just converse about my sun-tan! No, actually, the weather got me out in the garden tending to my plants and the grass, and it reminded me of how we as managers play an important part in the development of our staff.

You see, as a gardener, I plant, nurture, tend and develop my seedlings into wonderful, colourful blooms. Without my help, they will still grow, but maybe not to their full potential. I put some liquid food onto some of my plants and have already seen excellent results, much better than expected.

I also decided this year to use better quality compost than I did last year, and have spent more time feeding and nurturing them.

How does this apply to us as managers?

Well, think of the soil as the environment in which you grow your people. What quality atmosphere do you create at work for them? Do you plant the seeds of doubt in their mind as to the quality of work they’re producing, or do you encourage their growth and achievement with praise and recognition for what they do?

How about as they are growing towards potential? How do you support that growth? The liquid food I referred to is the opportunity they have to expand and create, using initiative and resourcefulness. Whatever you feed and nurture becomes their natural way of working.

As a gardener would tend to their plants, you as a manager should be seen to be tending to the growth of your team members. By delegating responsibility, by coaching their skills, by training their development, by encouraging their achievements, you build their confidence and their willingness to succeed, along with their motivation to progress.

Think of yourself as a gardener and your team as your plants to nurture. Storms may come and go and the quality of the soil may be severely tested at times, but the hardy plants will always survive to fight another day. By creating the foundation for your team to grow, you offer opportunities for them to achieve more and better results. And you’ll receive the accolades of others as they see your team bloom to full potential!

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

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There’s no doubting that these are trying times for every business, as they struggle to achieve the goals that were originally set by them in the good old days before credit crunches, recessions, global downturns and the like.

There’s also no doubt that the way business is conducted has changed forever. Gone are the days when we knew if we lost a customer, another would come along shortly. We only had to produce good quality products at reasonable prices and customers would stampede to our door. If it was ever true, they will never occur again in the same way and type.

I was thinking about how some businesses still are run as if the major global, national and local competitive changes had never occurred. These are my takes on some of the biggest mistakes these companies still make:

1) Wasting resources: Staff are not utilised to the best of their abilities and their potential not tapped into. A conservative estimate of this waste is to the tune of at least 10%, probably much more.

2) Unwilling to take risks. ‘We have done this for many years now. Why change?’ Even market leaders have to change relentlessly to stay ahead. The also-rans will just fall further behind if they don’t take calculated risks.

3) Underestimating the competition. A new product range is introduced, but you feel that it won’t gain any interest and so you carry on regardless without doing your homework on what customer reaction is.

4) Too long to make decisions. “Let’s think about it for a while…” These are the words of the uninitiated and only guarantees they will be left further behind. Companies today have to employ lean thinking methods to achieve changes far quicker than ever before.

5) Failure to do proper market research. If you think the way you did business five years ago is still ok today, you’ll soon be caught up by those who recognise that new ideas are redundant within days/weeks/months.

6) Blaming failure on things that are outside of their control. Everyone is affected by the economy, shortage of funds, government decisions, the weather, etc, etc. The winners are those who react most effectively to them, and control those things they can.

7) Reluctant to change quickly. Moore’s Law (where our knowledge of everything doubles every 18 to 24 months) is now so true in business it cannot be ignored. Resisting change as irrelevant is the death knell for any company.

8 ) Forcing change without getting buy-in. If you accept change must be made but then simply force the workforce into doing it your way, expect motivation to go down and moaning to go up.

9) Inability to learn from mistakes. Whatever challenges you faced in the past, you must learn lessons from them that can be applied in everyday situations now and in the future. Trying to do the same as before and hoping for the best is a recipe for failure.

10) Ignoring the niche markets. Your USP should be the main driver for your business, as if you try to compete in a saturated market, you had better be better than the rest at something or you’ll be dead in the water.

Doubtless you can think of more, but these are key points that I see happening in businesses that I deal with every day of the year. The warnings are clear for businesses that unless they change and stay ahead of their competition, prepare for failure. It’s that simple.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

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What Makes An Ideal Manager?

I’ve asked that question of many people on courses and they all come out with different answers, which is what should be expected. There are so many opinions about this subject, simply because it is so subjective!

However, the truth is when we ask managers and then ask the people who work for them, we get differing answers. But there are some traits that crop up continuously, no matter who you ask, and I discuss some of them here:

• The ideal manager leads by example. They recognise that simply directing or telling will only get short term results at best.

• The ideal manager sets goals with the team in mind. Forcing team members to achieve the unachievable will only cause demotivation and negativity.

• The ideal manager chooses the best style to adopt in the right situation. They choose to direct when in crises, coach when they want to add a challenge, support when necessary and delegate when the right person needs it.

• The ideal manager creates the environment for his team to motivate themselves. They recognise it is impossible to motivate another person if that person chooses not to be motivated

• The ideal manager chooses the best time, place and manner for feedback, recognising that not only is the quality of feedback instrumental in driving performance, but also the feedback is a necessary and influential part of the whole communication process between themselves and their team members

• The ideal manager knows the best way to communicate with their team members. They don’t treat all team members the same but recognise that each one is influenced by the style the manager chooses to adopt in dealings with them

• The ideal manager is inspirational in the way they deal with clients, suppliers, colleagues and their boss. They identify how to deal with every situation in the most effective way and create examples for everyone else to follow.

• The ideal manager knows specifically how to reward and recognise every team members’ contribution to the team effort, and uses every chance to use those reward mechanisms to inspire their team to greater achievements.

• The ideal manager knows that personal development is the key to improving their managerial opportunities, so they consistently and continually look out for ways to improve themselves. At the same time, they model the way they feel their team members can drive their careers forward, sharing examples of how others have inspired them.

This list is only the tip of the iceberg, but it will set you on the path to becoming that ideal manager that every team member would love to work for.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

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

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So, you’ve been promoted to a managerial position for the first time, your name badge is squeaky-clean and everything is bright and new.

Well, that’s the image when you start a new position, isn’t it. Truth is, things don’t always appear as rosy as you’d like them to be. So here are my tips to make an impression as quickly and as early as possible in the new role:

1) Be absolutely clear on what your role is and what it isn’t. This is paramount, especially if you’ve been promoted from within the company. You might feel that you still want to be involved in the old role that you had, and you might be tempted because you are highly-proficient at it. Don’t just rely on your job description to tell you what to do. Get it clear from your boss exactly what the expectations are and how you will be measured.

2) Take responsibility for learning everything you can about being a manager. Don’t expect the company to send you on endless training courses and seminars to get you up to speed with 21st century management techniques. Seek out books, articles, websites, CDs and DVDs that will give you knowledge and ideas about the style of management you need to adopt today and in the future. Don’t rely on other managers to tell you how it is…learn yourself by proactively searching for it.

3) Set your priorities early on. Decide what you will pay attention to most, whether it’s the technical aspects of the role or how your new team need to be communicated with or how to run meetings. Be aware that people will look to you for an example of how things should be done, so ensure you set your priorities early on.

4) Find out what managerial style is most effective for your team. Some team members will be testing you out to see what they can achieve with you. Others may try to get more one-to-one time. Adjust your style accordingly so that you understand how each team member ticks.

5) Balance your managerial responsibilities with your leadership requirements. We manage tasks but we lead people. People don’t want to be managed, though they want to be inspired and motivated so they can achieve and grow. Create the environment so that people can look to you for inspiration and ideas.

6) Don’t be a ‘new broom’ before you’ve determined what is already successful. Some new managers throw everything out and start again, trying to make a personal impression on the company. Instead, learn from what has worked, get your team’s opinions on what needs changing and get them on your side before attempting any changes.

7) Set standards for feedback and feedforward. Tell people exactly how you are going to feed information back to them, so they understand what to expect. If you hide behind memo-heaven, or communicate with everyone only via email, you are in danger of alienating everyone. Be aware of the quality, amount and style of communication that everyone requires from you. Also, practice something called feedforward. This means identifying what results you want from people before it happens, so they understand what their responsibilities are and how it’s going to be measured. They then have the chance to measure their own success at the project before they present it to you. This gives them more opportunities to grow and become accountable for their own work.

Practice these 7 ways when you take your first baby steps as a new manager and you should see your learning curve straighten out in front of you as you make great impressions early on.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

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

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