If this is true, your employees are constantly searching for some sort of motivation while at work. Motivation comes in many forms but the truth is that if they aren’t motivated they won’t be nearly as productive as you wish them to be. Here are a few things you can do to ensure your team stays motivated.

Consider Each Employee Individually

You can’t look at a group and make a plan to keep the “group” motivated. Each person on your team is an individual with his own goals. The new 20-something sales representative may have huge plans for promotion while your seasoned 60-something customer service representative may simply want to plan for retirement. The things you do to motivate each of these individuals will be completely different.

Consider the Culture of Your Organisation

No two organisations are alike and, as such, neither are two groups of employees. Let’s say, for example, you’re working with a group of highly-educated engineers. For them, motivation may be the opportunity to work on a high-end project. Your young salesperson, on the other hand, is probably more motivated by the opportunity to earn an extra bonus for a job well done.

Talk to Your Employees

The best way to find out what motivates your employees is to ask them - but make sure you ask specific questions. Say your engineer wants to work on a prestigious project but finds out once he’s there that it’s not as exciting (or, to him, motivating) as he thought it would be? Perhaps you need to focus on his memories of a project he really enjoyed and find out if you can find something similar to put him back on track.

You can’t simply look at your employees and determine whether or not they’re motivated. You may see a group of happy faces but, in the end, are they really happy to be working for you - or to be moving along the career paths you’ve set? Ask them and find out. You may be surprised to find you need to make some changes!

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Leadership Training

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

For this reason it is important to run an anger management class for your entire workplace. Everyone should participate, whether they have shown signs of anger problems at work or not. Someone might be having problems at home that the course might help while others may have something brewing just under the surface.

Simply put, here are a few reasons you can use to justify running an anger management class at work:

• Human resources might want management to take an anger management course as a preventative measure; so that they can control themselves and understand what their employees are going through.
• Your employees may recognize that they have anger problems but may not have any idea where to turn for help - and, as such, won’t get help unless it is offered.
• You can make participation in an anger management class a condition of employment for employees who have displayed anger problems in the past.
• Taking an anger management class might help someone in your group at home - and people who are happy at home will be happier and less distracted at work.
• Anger management classes might help your employees work better together, especially in groups where there is constantly friction due to personality conflict.

Anger management classes aren’t the end-all-be-all when it comes to solving problems - but they can help. Consider adding one to the schedule in your workplace soon. You might be surprised at how effective the classes really are.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Leadership Development

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

Believe it or not, there are plenty of things you can do to improve your technical skills in the workplace. We’ve talked about a few of these things before - like reading technical books, taking online tutorial classes, and even befriending the IT guys. But what else can you do?

Take a Class

College classes aren’t just for those aiming to earn a degree. Are you having problem learning the ins and outs of a particular program. Check the schedule at your local college and find out if there is a class available. Some colleges offer classes for their degree students while others offer workshops and tutorial programs for people with specific interests.

Experiment with Different Software

Let’s assume you need a software program that will perform xyz function. Chances are there are about a dozen or more programs on the market that claim to do just that. The problem is that some are easier to use than others. Don’t feel bad about using more than one program to get the job done. Eventually you’ll find the one that works best for you, automatically eliminating some of your technical disability.

Build a Website

This sounds a bit silly, doesn’t it? The truth, though, is that the best way to gain technical experience is by doing things that require technical skill. I’m not asking you to build the next great money-making website. Start small by creating something your team can use to stay in touch. As you learn about web design and programming you’ll slowly but surely lose your fear of technology.

Practice makes perfect. The better you are with technology the more valuable you’ll be to your organisation.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Development

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

You’ve already decided who is going to be a mentor and who needs mentoring. Those in need of mentoring have filled out their self assessment forms to help determine what career path is best. Upper management has committed to supporting the program. So what’s next?

Start by letting the entire organisation know that you’re launching a mentoring program. Let everyone know - not just the ones you’ve chosen to receive initial mentoring. The more people who know about the program the more likely they are to support it and they may just become interested in participating later.

Let your mentees know which mentor they’ve been partnered with and then give them their first challenge. The mentors are not allowed to reach out to the mentees to set up their first appointments. The mentees must take control of their futures from the start and must take complete responsibility for setting up that meeting.

Make sure the mentors have copies of the self assessment sheets their mentees completed. The mentors will use those sheets along with the information they gather at the first meeting in order to begin making a plan.

Make sure the mentors and mentees are setting regular meeting schedules to track progress and make changes, if necessary. Don’t let them make excuses about not having time and don’t let them stall after one goal is met. Progress is a lifelong committment.

Setting up and launching a mentoring program is much more work than maintaining it once you have it off the ground. Don’t give up. Remain as committed to your team and their growth as you want each member to be to himself. Eventually you’ll begin to see great results!

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management

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

The first thing you need to do is identify which individuals within your organization would make great mentors. Set up a training program so that they understand their goals as mentors and give them the tools they need to understand their new responsibilities as active mentors. Give them training and ongoing support so that they can meet the company’s mentoring goals.

The next step is to determien which employees need mentoring. You can do this by giving each person a self-assessment form to complete. The assessment form will help them to determine which career paths are actually best for them based on their skillsets and goals.

Finally, you need to get some sort of formal committment from upper management to support the mentoring program. Ask them to ensure there is money in the budget to support the program and ask them to make some sort of formal announcement that lets the employees know that they are supportive.

In many instances, the company HR group will set up a mentoring program but in other instances management is responsible for that task. Don’t panic if you find yourself responsible for setting up a mentoring plan for your group. After surveying the options and making a plan you’ll find the implementation of a good mentoring program is easier than you imagined it to be.

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

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

Once you have commitment and support you can start building a mentoring program for each of your employees. You have a choice. You as a manager can do the mentoring work or you can hire a third party who will focus on mentoring full-time. No matter what you choose to do you must make sure your organisation understands the following points:

• Your employees need to be able to clearly identify the paths they want to take in their own careers.
• Your employees must feel like a valuable part of the overall team.
• Your organisation must be ready to spend time on training your employees so that they can reach their individual career goals.
• Your organisation must be willing to look internally when it is time to hire for new positions rather than immediately looking to hire from the outside.
• Your employees must feel as though the company cares about their futures.

Is your organisation willing to make a few changes in both mindset and procedure in order to help foster the growth of your current employees? They should. After all, it costs less to keep an employee than it does to hire a new one. Keep that in mind.

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Manager Training

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

As a manager, you are responsible for making sure your employees have mentors. The problem you have is that your company may or may not support the mentoring process. It’s a shame, and it’s something you’ll have to deal with.

Last week we spend some time talking about coaching, which is great. But let’s not forget that coaching is completely different from mentoring, which is your ability to help someone grow in their immediate, professional career.

There are several reasons why companies today don’t focus on mentoring:

• Downsizing has increased workloads and people feel as though they simply don’t have the time to devote to mentoring;
• Upper management doesn’t understand that there really is a ROI when it comes to taking the time out to mentor others;
• Managers aren’t properly trained as to how to become good mentors, likely because they haven’t received mentoring themselves; and
• Some employers find mentoring useless because they think their employees will likely move on to another position or company eventually anyway.

I personally think these are terrible reasons to avoid mentoring. They all reflect one problem - a huge lack of committment to your company, to yourself, and to your employees. The same goes for your employees - they lack a committement to themselves. as well.

The truth is that you need to find the time and/or money for mentoring, whether you realize it or not. The benefits far outweigh the risks any day. And not having a mentoring program could prove detrimental to your team and your company as a whole.

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

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

You may think that the fact you work in an office exempts you from workplace safety. You are, after all, simply sitting at a desk all day, right? Wrong. Employees trip and fall, burn themselves in the kitchen, and even suffer from health issues while at work. So what can you do to ensure you workplace is safe for everyone all of the time?

5. Keep Your Work Areas Clean

Whether you work in an office or in a warehouse it’s important to always keep your work area clean. Strewn garbage, unattended wires, and boxes piled floor to ceiling can create dangerous hazards for those who need to move around them.

4. Give Clear Instructions

Workplace safety is, as a manager, partly your responsibility. If you don’t give your employees clear instructions about what they need to do they may do the wrong thing, or put together an incorrect set of pieces of information - causing danger to themselves and others.

3. Show You Care

So you’re running on a deadline but the printer is smoking or an important machine is making a terrible grinding noise. Do you push through and hope the machines last or do you shut them down to avoid a potential safety hazard? Hopefully you show your employees that you care about them more than deadlines by shutting the machines down.

2. Ensure Everyone is Properly Trained

One of the best ways to avoid an accident is to ensure everyone on your team is properly trained. A new or inexperienced employee can easily make a mistake that a seasoned veteran might take for granted. Offer the right amount of training and then make sure new employees are supervised properly until they gain enough experience to ensure total safety.

1. Ditch Workplace Safety Incentives

Workplace safety incentives are some of the silliest things I’ve ever seen. Offering employees incentives to be safe is like saying you expect them to do stupid things and need to bribe them not to. I’m not saying you should punish them for being unsafe but I don’t think they should behonored for doing what they should be doing naturally to begin with.

Are you ready to start the week on a safe note? Good luck!

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Courses

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

Today I want to talk about what I consider the four fundamental priniciples of knowledge management. They include capturing knowledge, validating knowledge, accessing knowledge, and then scaling that knowledge down. What do I mean?

The idea of capturing knowledge is pretty simple - in theory, anyway. Capturing knowledge is the process by which you determine what knowledge is available and then bring it together into some form of documentation. Knowledge that isn’t documented can’t be shared or used.

After you capture knowledge you have to validate it. Validating knowledge is about ensuring that the information you have is accurate and relevant. It won’t do you any good to have incorrect facts in your database and it’s just as bad to have completely outdated information as well.

After you capture and validate the knowledge within your organisation you have to create a way that makes it easy for everyone to access the pieces they need at any given time. They shouldn’t have to sort through an entire database. It needst to be indexed so that it can be easily found and used.

Scaling information is the process of making the information you have into something usable regardless of the geographic location of your business. If you are part of an international business, for example, your employees in New York City and Tokyo may need to access the same database. An employee in NYC can’t use one method of capturing, validating, and accessing if an employee in Tokyo is doing something different. If that happens, you’ll end up with a database of jumbled information.

How do your knowledge databases look right now. Could they use some improvement?

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

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

5. I don’t need more feedback.

We all get feedback from our managers, peers, and even subordinates. The problem is that they aren’t giving you neutral feedback. They’re giving you feedback based on their personal expereriences with you and they can’t take a step back and look at you objectively. They’re also less likely to let you know if they think your behaviours or attitudes are inappropriate. A coach will give you honest feedback, whether you like it or not.

4. Coaching relationships are short term experiences.

On the contrary, if you seek a professional coach you should seek to build a long-term relationship. The cycle of growth and development never really ends and, as such, you’ll always need a coach to help you reevaluate your goals and objectives and make changes to your plans. Your goals will determine how long you need a coach.

3. I have a mentor. I don’t need another one.

Having a mentor is great but mentors and coaches aren’t the same thing. Mentors are usually people within the same industry you are in - with a focus on helping you learn the specific ropes of that industry so that you can build your career. Coaches, on the other hand, may have skills that complement yours - skills you need to learn that have nothing to do with your industry in general. Mentors focus on work. Coaches focus on you.

2. I’m not coachable.

Everyone who wants to be coached is coachable. It’s true that there are a few people who simply can’t be coached but it’s not for lack of trying. Their attitudes and behaviours simply make it impossible. You can’t expect a coach to do all of the work for you. Your coach won’t even be able to motivate you if you don’t want to be motivated. There are even days when the most coachable people simply can’t be coached. You’ll get over it - and you will learn.

1. Coaching forces people to form dependencies.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Working with a coach will not make you dependent upon him. Your coach is more likely to help you learn to be self-confident than he is to allow you to form a dependancy.

Stop making excuses about why coaching won’t work for you and start reconsidering your options. Having a coach in your life is likely to help you foster your career - and before you know it you’ll be a better manager with a promising future!

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Leadership Training

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