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If you could change one thing...
(November 2009) We asked “If I could change one thing about team meetings, it would be…” And most of you selected “More enthusiasm” as the top of the wish list. The sad truth is most people dread team meetings, even the manager who chairs them. So it’s not surprising that enthusiasm is in short supply, especially when people’s attention is more on the work they could be doing with limited time available to them. I recently heard team meetings referred to as “unpaid time” and that captured everything that’s wrong with team meetings – a necessary trawl through a dreary agenda that hasn’t changed since the dark ages. Here’s what your team meetings should be about. Prepare and manage them as though they were the most valuable investment you were able to make to your team’s success (because they are). Ask for suggestions, invite team members to take turns in the chair, give prizes, ask for research and reports into potential new areas of business – try anything that engages the imagination of everyone in the room and reinforces the fact that time is valuable. Next on the list came “more progress against targets”. I’ve never understood the point of deja vu, and seeing or hearing the same thing in consecutive team meetings is tantamount to torture. When someone agrees to do something, set a deadline, agree a support structure and ensure things happen. Score it as a priority against the rest of the workload on a scale of 1-10. If it scores a 7, don’t expect it to be done. The reason this fails could be: - Lack of clarity of what was expected in the first place
- Lack of interest in the subject
- Lack of confidence in the individual concerned
- Lack of importance in the issue – other, more important things got in the way
- Lack of support from the manager or rest of the team
Identify the real reasons and you have your answer. To add some sparkle to your team meetings, rejuvenate the team and focus on excellent objectives, invite us in to run a meeting for you – you’ll never do it the same way again! 
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Horses for Courses
(April 2009) We asked what you thought the key to excellent teamwork is: you overwhelmingly replied
“The right person in the right job”, which most definitely falls under the category of easier said than done. The reality for many employers is that, in their haste to get the job done, and in the face of a welter of confusing, misleading cvs, references and the dreaded interviews, the focus is really on getting someone who somehow “feels” right, who can just get to work, so that everything can get back to normal as quickly as possible. Sound familiar? Of course, this means that a large percentage of our workforce is, quite clearly, in the wrong job. They don’t enjoy their work, they cause problems and friction in the team, they are low in confidence and monopolise the manager’s time. Fortunately, there are now tools and expertise to cut down on the uncertainty and hassle of recruitment, selection and induction. Talk to Reflection Consulting about Job Profiling and Personal Profiling, use our Top 10 Tips on Recruitment and Selection and take part in a Teamwork MOT to get a better understanding of exactly where your team is holding you back. |
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Managers want to be Motivators. But How?
(September 2008) We asked “What’s the most important skill of a manager?”
You said “Motivation” closely followed by “Communication” Great to see that today’s managers are so committed to getting the best out of their teams, not only by being motivated themselves, but by working with the motivations of those around them. However, for people who’ve tried this, you’ll know that it’s never as easy as it sounds. Results are clearly mixed, as evidenced in our June Quick Poll, where “Enthusiasm” was the one thing most people would change about their team. These two are inextricably linked and if you get the key to one, the other will certainly follow. All this is further complicated by the fact that we are all motivated by different things, one size definitely does not fit all, and finding those keys can be frustrating and time-consuming. The benefits of perseverance and observation, however, can really make the difference between success and failure. As a special treat for any managers wishing to improve motivation among their team, we now have a FREE download of Top 10 Tips. Why not try these and let us know what works for you? To get a better idea of the true motivators in your team, ask us about Behavioural Profiling or a simple Teamwork MOT. |
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Something’s gone horribly wrong…
(July 2008) In July’s quick poll, we asked: If 100% was performance at the full potential of my team, current performance is: 100%
80%
60%
40% Unbelievably, the most-selected option was 40%! I wonder what the real percentage is, given that this was the lowest option. This is incredibly sad for team members everywhere and, hopefully, a wake-up call for their managers. We’d need to ask more questions to find out exactly what was causing this low productivity, but would suggest that the following might have something to do with it: - A demoralised workforce
- Unresolved conflict or personality clashes
- Management not prepared to tackle the issues
- A team exhausted, long overdue for a holiday
- People doing jobs that bore or frustrate them
- Lack of recognition for previous successes
- Poor (or no) motivation for performing well
If the pundits are to be believed, and we are entering an economic recession, then how many businesses will expect to survive if performance festers at 40%? Unwillingness to tackle the issues, identify problems, and invest in solutions will cost businesses and the workforce dear. It is not hard to find ways of helping the same people, working the same hours, to raise productivity and find some degree of joy and fulfilment in their work. If your team is not functioning at 80% or more, call today to find out how we can help you, and maybe even save your business. |
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The managers’ magic wand – if only….
(June 2008) This month, we asked:
If I could change one thing with my team, it would be..
Skills
Enthusiasm
Collaboration
Focus
The Winner of the poll was “enthusiasm”, closely followed by “collaboration”.
In other words, nothing to do with skills or ability to do the job, but everything to do with commitment, energy and motivation. If a team manager’s job isn’t hard enough, with daily niggles, personality clashes, hormones, family issues, appraisals – add your own favourite “time-bandits” here, now they have to find ways to keep their people happy and energised. Fortunately, as participants at our latest management workshop “Difficult People Made Easy” discovered, behaviour is predictable, and therefore so is the key to motivating people (along with their stress triggers). To find out how to get the best out of your team, keeping heads up and performance high, talk to the Teamwork Specialist. If you’re not sure what’s dragging your team down, take part in our Team MOT – free throughout July, to identify the source and activate solutions. |
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The cost of NOT training your managers
(July 09) We asked about the practical value of your management training to date, and by far the greatest response was 26-50%. In other words, of all the time, money and energy spent on management training, less than half of it was any use. This certainly bears out more scientific research into the kinds of training undertaken by managers across all the sectors. Most will have had some kind of introduction into the structures, processes and technical side of their management responsibilities, but very few are actually prepared or provided with the skills to manage people and perform to targets. The cost to the UK economy of under-performing middle managers was estimated by the Hay Group to be £220 billion in 2007. The drop in investment in training over the past 12-18 months would strongly suggest that, far from improving since 2007, this figure could actually be worse. If you feel that your ability to perform, and to get the best out of your team, is being held back by lack of support and relevant team management skills, then you are not alone. Talk to us about practical workshops, troubleshooting for under-performing teams and finding simple ways to really make a difference to your team’s productivity. |
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All Change
(June 09) In response to the Quick Poll statement: “My team’s response to change can best be described as…” The overwhelming majority voted for “Excitement”. Very encouraging, especially given the scale and frequency of change most organisations are facing at the moment. The obvious question is: how do we channel that excitement into meaningful, long-term performance, and how do we ensure that the excitement isn’t just about change for the sake of change? The key is all in how change is presented to the team, whether it’s driven internally or externally. So, if you spot excitement, you’re probably doing something right, then it’s just a case of seeing things through to completion. For the significant minority that selected “inertia”, “reluctance” or “confusion”: take a good look at your team. - Are they exhausted by the number of changes, or too set in their ways?
- Are they paralysed by the very word CHANGE, or do they feel excluded by lack of consultation?
Take a look at our Top 10 Tips to Motivate your Team and Raise Performance or call us on 01509 416 936 for advice and suggestions. |
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Finding the right person for the job
(January 2009) Believe it or not, some organisations are still recruiting people and the landslide winner in our poll “Things I hate most about recruitment” was weeding out time wasters. If you are looking for the perfect person for your vacancy, here are Reflection Consulting’s top tips for simplifying and speeding up your least favourite task: - Forget the selection process and operate a DE-selection process. In other words, allow those time wasters to opt out of the process long before it starts to impact on your workload. Create a simple task, relevant to the vacancy, that they have to undertake before or during the application stage:
For example:
- Text, email or phone in with a snappy phrase of no more than 20 words why you want an application pack
- complete a short online questionnaire
- run a telephone Q & A,
- inform candidates that they will be expected to prepare and deliver a short presentation or complete a relevant task at the interview.
Ensure that these comply with disability and access rules and use your imagination!
- Cut out waffle by completing a job profile. Talk to Reflection Consulting about the PRISM job profiling tool. It’s simple, accurate and very effective in
- clarifying the key requirements of the role
- identifying words and phrases to ensure you attract the right applicants
- providing excellent, relevant interview questions
- measuring the success and professional development of the successful candidate
- Meet the Team. Invite each of your short-listed candidates to spend some time with their intended team, chatting at their desks, having a coffee break, or on a short tour of the offices. Your team members will pick up lots of essential snippets about them; how they communicate, their interests, experience and demeanour outside of the formal interview environment. It’s not exactly scientific, but it’s a great way to see more of the true individual and predict how they’ll impact on the team dynamics.
If you have any questions about recruitment, selection or the endless search for the perfect employee, do feel free to call, Reflection Consulting has the answers, the contacts and a fresh approach to building your team. |
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Holiday? What Holiday?
(August 2008) The Chartered Management Institute reported in July that one in four UK Executives were not using their holiday entitlement, and many had cancelled or postponed holidays this year – recession, redundancy fears and workload being the main reasons. If you were one of the lucky few who did manage to take a holiday – did your Blackberry or laptop come with you? According to August’s Quick Poll, your return to work was probably greeted with the backlog of emails, issues, pressing deadlines and messages that built up in your absence. How long into your first day did you manage to retain those feelings of relaxation, revival and refreshment that a holiday is supposed to create? Next time (let’s hope there is a next time), you take a holiday, here are some tips to help you enjoy the break, return to work without busting a blood vessel and maybe even give your colleagues a chance to develop their skills: - Let everyone know at least 2 weeks before you go that you will be away.
- Manage expectations of colleagues and clients, ensure deadlines don’t fall during or directly after your holiday.
- Take a look at your workload – prioritise activity and be brutal about what can wait and what must be covered at all costs
- Consider which tasks could be covered by members of your team, thinking about their natural strengths, their potential for the future and their interest in particular issues. Coach them prior to your departure, leave plenty of guidance notes, allow them to do things their own way and reward their commitment on your return. *
- Swap responsibilities with a colleague for the duration of your respective holidays – you’ll learn more about each other’s work and build a sense of community in your team.
- Make use of “auto-response” on your emails to tell people how long you will be away and who to contact in an emergency.
- If possible, give yourself half of your first day back to catch up with news, screen emails and post and prepare a plan for the week ahead. In other words, don’t spend your first morning back in a meeting for which you are ill-prepared and out of touch.
If nothing else, holidays with people you love, doing things you enjoy, should remind you that, for most of us, things are rarely so important that taking time to plan, prepare and breathe are out of the question. * Looking in my dictionary, I see that “Delegate” means “to entrust a task, power or responsibility to an agent”. Not “to dump everything on an unsuspecting sap, destroying their confidence and making you feel important”. Just a thought… |
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