Archive for the 'employee expectations' Category
Posted on March 9, 2010
Talk about a communication conundrum. . .
Yesterday I was coaching a young woman (read “half my age”), and we were brainstorming ways to get her staff to take ownership of their work. We were exploring how to create a sense of urgency for them. (I hear this a lot from owners.)
We talked about playing some game with a timer—this is for an off-site retreat. We thought of Pictionary or maybe Charades. These didn’t excite me, but I know my kids liked Pictionary.
I thought back to games where I felt most pressured to win before time ran out. My mind went back to video games like Pac Man and Centipede.
They created that adrenalin rush that you had to move fast and smart or you would get eaten or whatever. (I was always an observer.)
She was aware of Pac Man, but had never heard of some of the others. She did not grow up in this country. Score 1 for “cultural differences.”
Then I got excited, remembering playing pre-video games, sometimes in drinking establishments. “We need a pinball machine!”
She looked at me with that “what are you talking about” look.
“Pinball, you know,” I said, reliving old memories, pantomiming pulling back the launcher and working the flippers. Still a blank look.
“Certainly you know of the rock opera ‘Tommy?’ Blind kid who’s a pinball wizard. . .”
Still a blank look. I was struggling here. Score 2 for “cultural differences.”
“Well, you do know who The Who is, don’t you?” I asked, looking for some shred of a way to relate.
“The Who. Yes, I know them.” Thank heavens!
Needless to say, my case for a pinball machine didn’t land on this young woman. They didn’t have pinball machines in her country. And she hadn’t taken a college course on great rock operas from the 1970s.
Posted on February 26, 2010
Here’s another simple communication tip that’s a lot harder than it seems.
Ban the use of the word “but.”
For example, you’re in a team meeting and people are evaluating whether to open another office location. Paul says, “We’ve got a client in the area. It makes sense to set up an office there to give us a local presence.”
Natalie replies: “But that’s going to cost us for office space and all that.”
The “but” immediately discredits Paul’s idea. What if Natalie had just dropped the “but” and said, “That’s going to cost us for office space and all that.”
See what happens? The critical tone is gone. She is just stating a fact, rather than implying an opinion.
That leaves room for the conversation to continue.
Some people suggest using the word “and” where you would typically say “but.”
For example, “I would really like to see that movie, but tonight isn’t going to work for me.” What happens when you change it to “I would really like to see that movie, and tonight isn’t going to work for me.”
It’s weird and it’s awkward. But (I know) the awkwardness of it will make you realize how often you use the word “but.” Give it a try.
Posted on January 13, 2010
Yesterday I had the privilege of kicking off a Future Leaders program for a professional association. It is such a joy seeing the enthusiasm and openness that the Future Leaders display as they position themselves to grow professionally and personally.
I found this message this morning:
“I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. I truly enjoyed your class last night and have already used the ‘Help me understand’ and ‘How can I help?’ tactics. No surprise, they worked! Thanks.”
For those who weren’t with us yesterday, here are some communication tools to always keep in your back pocket.
“Tell me more“–for when you didn’t understand or quite get what someone said. It keeps them talking and gives you time to listen for more information. Say this instead of asking a slew of questions that show you didn’t understand what the person said. Save yourself the embarrassment.
“Help me understand“–similar purpose. It may prod the other person to give you more in-depth information or to explain the logic behind their ideas or decisions.
“How can I help?” People like to help other people–it is part of what makes us different from other creatures. It gives you a chance to do a small favor for someone, and, in all likelihood, they will return that favor.
Armed with just those tools, you will grow in your ability to keep a conversation going, to understand what others need or want, and to gather the data you need to help your client.
So, how can you help me? Forward this blog post to friends who could also benefit from having these tools. And be sure to let me know how I can help you.
Have a great day.
Posted on October 22, 2009
I just read a very thought-provoking article by Peter Bregman, who writes about how to lead and how to live for Harvard Business Review. The article starts off talking about the number of successful suicides (isn’t that an oxymoron?) at France Telecom–24 in the last year.
There were others who attempted and failed, including the guy who tried to stab himself to death during a meeting at work.
Writes Bregman:
“If we spend all our time working, traveling to work, planning to work, thinking about work, or communicating about work, then we will see ourselves as workers and nothing more. As long as work is going well, we can survive that way.
“But when we lose our jobs or our jobs are threatened — and whose isn’t these days? — then our very existence is put in question.”
Read the complete piece at http://tinyurl.com/DiversifyYourself
Then take some time for serious, life-saving reflection.
Posted on April 15, 2009
During tough times, people tend to hunker down, pray for the best, and expect the worst. That’s where you, as a manager, come in.
People look to you for information and guidance. Therefore, you should be communicating with your people more often and more effectively.
When our brains lack information, such as the status of a project, our brains make the information up. And it’s always negative.
Nobody’s uninformed brain is thinking, “Boy, Tom is on top of things with our project. I will just sit back and relax and not worry.” It’s not going to happen.
Here are some steps you can take to make communication more successful in your projects. These ideas will also help build morale and foster teamwork.
1. Communicate with your team members and clients often and regularly. Address any rumors immediately. Get a grip on the gossip grapevine. Address their fears before they have even voiced them.
2. Communicate face-to-face. Face-to-face is the most effective way to communicate. That allows each participant to read body language, hear vocal inflection, ask questions and get immediate responses. Use free internet services such as Skype to go face-to-face with someone not in your office.
The next option is to call people. Don’t communicate more by sending more emails. You need to use the telephone and hear what their concerns are. Remember that email is the least effective way to communicate.
3. Ask your staff to identify stupid communication practices. In one company I worked with, twice a year we had to fill out a form telling how many miles we lived from the office. No one did it on time, and it was a costly, administrative nightmare.
After some digging, we learned the form was created 30 years earlier to deal with a problem employee. The form was eliminated.
Make this task a game. Get groups to compete to find inefficient communication practices. Reward the winner with gasoline or restaurant cards or some free time off.
4. Collect success stories from your staff. Have people interview individuals about something they accomplished on the job-how they handled an irate client, how they resolved a dispute among fellow employees, how they created a new product or service to satisfy a client.
The idea is to get people talking about the good experiences and to share those experiences so others can learn from them. These success stories can also be used in marketing and recruiting. Play them up in your internal newsletter or intranet.
Next Page »
