Then try catching your staff doing something good. Yes, it’s easy, it’s simple and it’s cheap.
Yet many managers overlook the whelming stack of evidence that says the best way to lift performance and productivity is for the boss to appreciate and recognise a job well done.
So take a couple of steps in the right direction and make it easy for you to get your team to perform better.
1. Firstly you need to decide what you want to catch them doing well.
2. When you see it say “Thank you”.
3. Be specific and use the person’s name. A general “thanks very much everyone” is not what we are talking about.
4. Describe the positive impact it has had on the team.
This will increase the chances of them and others around them repeating this behaviour and improving team performance. And the next thing you know you’ll have a high performing team.
Let me know what you caught your staff doing well this week? Did you remember to say “thank you”?
If you haven’t taken the opportunity to sign up to the Every Tuesday Club with MBE (Management & Business Education), then do so today by going to www.buseducation.com.
This week in the every Tuesday Club I discuss how most of us would all like a bit of extra time in our working day. But as you can’t buy more time, we need to do something else.
I talk about how to work smarter not harder.
1. You need to know what your goals are to make sensible prioritising decisions to manage your time.
2. Identify what your time wasters are. Work out if its emails, phone calls or visitors, and put in place strategies to overcome them.
3. Manage your work relationships. Most of us find that the biggest thing that takes up our time is relying and waiting on others. It’s important that others, your boss, team and other key relationships understand what your priorities and objectives are and make sure you agree on these so that you can work effectively together.
It’s worth spending some time doing this as it will save you time in the long run.
Let me know what you have done this week to work smarter not harder.
If you haven’t taken the opportunity to sign up to the Every Tuesday Club with MBE (Management & Business Education), then do so today by going to www.buseducation.com.
This week in the every Tuesday Club Aleen Bayard discusses how self awareness is one of the most important attributes of any good manager.
She refers to Marshall Goldsmith’s book ‘What got you here, won’t get you there’, which talks about self awareness. He calls the things that we do that get in the way, as Behavioural Tics.
See if you can identify any of the following attributes in yourself:
· Making destructive comments
· Speaking when you are angry
· Taking credit that you don’t deserve
· Making excuses
· Playing favourites with your staff
· Failing to express gratitude
· An excessive need to be me.
Aleen suggests that you identify one or more of these Tics and determine how you can get better at behaving differently. You could ask people that you trust around the office, “Have you ever seen me behaving this way? I’d like to improve.” And give them permission to give you honest feedback.
Remember one of the most important attributes of leaders worldwide is to be able to give and receive feedback.
Let me know if you have identified a Tic and what changes you have made to your behaviour.
This week in the every Tuesday Club I talk about how we still need to recognise and reward good performance, even though we might not have as much cash in the bank.
We also need to think about how we can make sure we retain our talented staff throughout the recession.
How can we do that? We need to think more creatively.
We also need to also understand that our employees are looking for more than just dollars.
This is where we can look to research to see what else employees are interested in besides money to keep them happy. Consider the following as alternatives to money as recognition.
· Time – Time is very important to employees and something that is under recognised by managers.
· Discounts – look at what your business already buys in bulk and receives a discount for, is it something you can offer to staff.
· IT needs – is there anything your organisation can do to help staff with their IT needs at home.
· Financial advice – can you arrange services for your employees. This can help with stress and provide staff with a reward.
What are you doing to reward your staff? I look forward to hearing more of your ideas and thoughts.
If you haven’t taken the opportunity to sign up to the Every Tuesday Club with MBE (Management & Business Education), then do so today by going to www.buseducation.com.
In the latest Every Tuesday Club video clip I talk about how we need to be aware of our behaviour as leaders and managers, as what we do and say has an impact on our team and the organisation.
I suggest that you regularly check your behaviour and think about what you are doing. As you need to be constantly aware of the impact your behaviour has as a leader.
Even in tough times you need to display stability and confidence in the workplace and keep a positive spin on what you say and do. And keep your stress to yourself. Remember your behaviour can be contagious and affect the productivity of others.
Think about your behaviour over the next week and share with us any thoughts you have about your behaviour. Or if you would like to find out more about your behaviour characteristics and live in the Bay of Plenty region we have a Transitions to Leadership and Management Development Programme on Thursday 13 August. Contact us to find out more about this programme or other upcoming workshops for you and your business.
If you haven’t taken the opportunity to sign up to the Every Tuesday Club with MBE (Management & Business Education), then do so today by going to www.buseducation.com.
MBE is running level 1 and 2 of the Leadership and Management Development Pathway on 13 August and 3 September in Tauranga. MBE also runs this training in Auckland and in other provincial centres.
