Archive for the ‘Management’ Category

Three DON’TS when you become a manager

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
  1. Don’t be a part of the office gossip anymore. I know the temptation is too high but refrain from participating in such conversations. Moreover, your role now is to support everyone on the team.
  2. Don’t fall into the usual “boss bashing” activity that goes on in most offices in the coffee room. You lose credibility, you lose control and above all you lose reputation. You are a part of the management now.
  3. Don’t take your new role to the extreme. In other words don’t project the attitude of one-upmanship that you’re better than your former coworkers. The biggest disadvantage of such an attitude is — you lose all the home court advantages that promotion from within can give you. In the bargain you create distance, distrust and greater challenges in managing the same group.

Next Step: Sign up for the First Level Leadership E-zine and get access to good information without any fluff right into your mail box. When You Subscribe to our audio e-zine, you’ll receive a FREE Audio Learning Program: “Seeds of Leadership.” Get your copy now. 8BJBEND7B9M5

Management Meetings or Time Management …or Wasted Hours

Sunday, June 20th, 2010

Of all the woes that curse our race there is management meeting in the case.

If you want to save time, you need to ask yourself:

  1. Do I need to be present in the meeting?
  2. Do I need to be present for all the meetings?
  3. Is it possible to delegate to some one else?
  4. As a chairperson, before I begin a meeting do I have an idea how long will it take?
  5. Do I know how much time I plan to allocate on each item on the agenda?

I am assuming you have an agenda for the meeting.

Here is an eye opener

The time spent on any item on the agenda will be inversely proportional to its value.  In other words, there is a huge tendency to spend a disproportionate time on the trivial issues.

How do you ensure you don’t devote more time on trivial issues?

By prioritizing the items and then allocating appropriate time in relation to their importance. This is a very important consideration and often ignored by most managers.

It is not a test of intelligence that

The length of a meeting increases in proportion to the number of people invited.  Therefore, as a chairperson of the meeting, it is your responsibility to keep everyone’s contribution on target without offending them.

Next Step: Sign up for the First Level Leadership E-zine and get access to good information without any fluff right into your mail box. When You Subscribe to our audio e-zine, you’ll receive a FREE Audio Learning Program: “Seeds of Leadership.” Get your copy now.

Leadership, Leadership Development, Motivation, Team Work – All sounds too Mumbo Jumbo? (Part 2)

Monday, March 29th, 2010

The Individual – How can you modify your managerial/leadership approach to employee motivation?

Each of us is a complex bundle of wants and needs when it comes to motivation.

To give you every opportunity of meeting these wants and needs you have to modify your managerial approach in three particular areas:

  • Challenge: Unless you offer your team members a challenge they will never attain their true potential. By setting targets that will stretch them but are achievable, individuals will feel stimulated and involved in the team performance. This can be the further enhanced by asking them to develop special skills.

  • Praise: It is not uncommon for someone receiving praise to reject with “I’m only doing my job’. The end result of this is that, as managers, we only give praise when and where we feel it is deserved and do not take into account the feelings of the individual who feels he requires some recognition for his efforts. Giving acceptance and appreciation for effort, stops people wasting their enthusiasm. You may know the team’s abilities and they most probably know themselves. But do they know you know?

Concern: Showing concern to individuals is a way a leader gives confidence to individuals. Management by walking about (MBWA) is one way we can find time for individuals, and make them feel wanted. Their response will be a desire to show concern for the job and the organization.

Managing Change

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Leadership Coaching is also of great significance in an ever-changing business environment. The issue faced by many managers is how to minimize resistance to new working practices? For many individuals fear of failing or fear of the unknown are the barriers to change. Coaching is a practical way to overcome these problems-by providing individuals with knowledge and guidance which enables them to achieves difficult objectives. It is a method which delivers quick and often impressive results, where recipients of the coaching get instant feedback on performance. Through coaching, individuals share experiences with others, thereby dramatically improving the others’ learning curve and the time it takes to achieve competence.

Do you use Reasons or Emotions?

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Do you use reason or emotions?

When making decisions, people believe that they use reason rather than emotions.

Most people think that the statements they make and the acts they perform are based on logic and forethought. However, studies convey that 80% of decisions are based on emotions and 20% on reasons. People often take decisions with emotions, and then use logic to justify their actions.

If that is true, then, as a leader, what does it mean to you? – You need to connect emotionally with people to influence them. They will then align with you and lean towards you as plants lean towards the sun.

Something to think about?

The Secret of Anger Management – Ability to Manage Anger is an act of Bravery of the Stoics

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

When the surge of temper subsides, you will have regrets; then, you will be in a position to see your own signature

Do you have a personal anger management policy in place? How many times did you lose your temper recently? Can you retrace your steps and identify the underlying reasons for your behavior?

I am sure you must be going through your periodic cycles of visible or invisible outbursts of frustration

How do you resist the urge to explode? Well these are simple questions but difficult to answer. Today, I am going to give you to overcome the challenges posed by loss of temper.

 

Before learning anger management, lets find out – What is loss of temper?

It is an emotional disturbance, which seeks vindication and retaliation. It takes an immense toll on your confidence, friendship and peace of mind. Loss of temper is an indication of weakness, which conveys that you are incapable of containing yourself.

Loss of temper or a lack of anger management is an announcement of your inadequacy and feelings of inferiority. It results in a temporary derangement that sweeps everything else aside.

 

What are the losses that you might overlook?

Research has shown that there is a direct impact upon your nervous system, endocrine glands, heart and liver when you get angry.

But how does anger impact these organs?

 

When you get angry, your body produces excess acids and adrenalin, which is poured into the blood stream. This puts extra strain on your vital organs.

What else happens during anger?

There is an emotional disturbance, which results in an uncontrollable urge to strike back or to retaliate at any cost.

This is usually followed by

a sense of guilt or self-condemnation when the surge of temper has subsided.

 

Finally,

there is a rift between you and the other party. It is usually very hard to mend such a rift.

So how can you overcome these challenges?

If you are plagued by this habit and wish to get rid of it, then here are some guidelines:

¨      Know the root cause of your outburst; do not try to justify yourself or find excuses for your reaction.

¨      Put yourself on test and work consciously to disperse every provocation of anger.

¨      Ask your friends/spouse to raise the danger signal when you fail to notice the signs yourself.

¨      Visualize and repeat to yourself that loss of temper is a sign of weakness, is a condition of immaturity, and is the mark of irresponsibility.

¨      Look for extenuating circumstances whenever you want to accuse, to condemn, or to speak your mind freely.

There is an another technique

When you are in the grip of anger, try to clamp your lips tight, sit down and lean back in your seat, anchor your hands in your pockets and your feet to the floor and let the waves of temper pass over you.

No doubt, the wish to assert yourself may be strong, but a display of bad temper is not a good idea.

Remember: You are more likely to get angry when you are feeling sad or dejected. Similarly, you are less likely to take offence when you are happy and in high spirits.

Do not let your temper rule you. Retain control over your emotions, and you will surely add to your happiness and productivity.

What is the Difference Between Coaching and…

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

1.    Managing?
2.    Instructing?
3.    Training?
4.    Mentoring?
5.    Counseling?

An appreciation of differences helps us to position coaching as an appropriate intervention as and when required. Here is a snapshot of all the workplace development in their elementary form:

Managing: ‘Do this’
Instructing: ‘Here’s how to do this.’
Training: ‘Try doing doing this’
Mentoring: My advice is…
Counseling: What feelings does this invoke?
Coaching: How do you think you could…?

What Should We do to Break the Pavlovian Email Response?

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Pavlov used a bell to make dogs salivate in the hopeful anticipation of a meal. The emails and the incoming chimes have made us no different from the Pavlov’s dog. Every incoming mail has conditioned many of us to drop what we are doing and run after it. This habit creates discontinuity in the process of work and thought, thereby making us less efficient.

Simply turn off the chime and check your mails at appropriate intervals. Doing this will considerably cut down on your self-created interruptions, and hence increase your productivity.

Litmus Test – Do They Respect You or Fear You?

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

The next time you go away from work, try to get an insight into the amount of work accomplished in your absence.

An important test of respected leader is to gauge if there has been progress in the work during absence.

A leader who gets things done through fear has virtually no control when he is absent from the scene. Such a leader is never respected-only feared. With fear comes hate, since it is human to hate those you fear.

Remember: No body works willingly for someone he fears. When a subordinate respects his leader, he plans and discusses problems with him. He does not look for ways to betray or defeat him in his efforts.

People respect those who treat them as equals, and who are fair and true in their actions.

Don’t Delegate Problems to Your Boss

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

The last thing you should allow your subordinates to do is to delegate their problems to you. If you do, they will be in your office every 15 minutes saying, “I can’t figure out how to do this. Can you do this for me?”

Do you make your subordinate’s action points as your action points?

Ineffective managers make their subordinates’ problems their problems. Such managers eventually realize that they are being overloaded while their subordinates fail to develop themselves.

Helping subordinates is a part of any manager’s job

An effective manager redirects the subordinates to appropriate resources in order to help them to solve their own problems.

Now examine your behavior. Do you delegate upward, transferring your problems onto your boss’s back?