Leaders, Disconnect and be a better leader

Ahh technology, you can’t live without it.  But how did we ever function before, cell phones, lap tops, text, etc. Do you often find yourself sitting on the couch in the evening with your laptop reading e-mails and your cell phone nearby, just in case.  

It isn’t just happening at home. When was the last time you went to a meeting and found people focused entirely on the topic at hand – with no one ever holding or using their phone to check their email? Kevin Eikenberry writes that in his leadership workshops he challenges people to put their phones down between the breaks. And while these breaks are just 1 hour apart, many people can’t keep the phone in their purse or on the table; they seem compelled to take a quick peek, checking their texts and emails.

Don’t get us wrong we agree that Technology can improve and extend our communication options. These technologies can aid our productivity, especially when we work away from the office or have a virtual team. And, like in many other areas of life, too much of a good thing isn’t necessarily so good.

What problems does technology cause for all of us as professionals and especially for us as leaders?

It starts with our assumptions. Because we have a phone, a laptop and perhaps a tablet computer, it is assumed that we are always connected, always ready to talk, answer a question or make a decision. And the most dangerous assumption is that we need to be constantly connected, that if we aren’t something terrible will happen.

I agree that as leaders do we need to be accessible and available to provide advice, wise counsel and coaching.  We also need to be  flexible in the ways and times we are available, and be open to different communication mediums to accommodate the situation and the other person.  But, does that mean we can never silence our phone or that we can’t go a couple of hours away from email? Not at all.

I realize that there are some jobs where you’d better be available. Being an inbound Customer Service Rep, a police officer or Fire Chief come to mind. If your job truly requires you to be available and on-call 24/7 perhaps not every bit of this article applies to you (but check your assumptions – I believe that is very small percentage of those who will read these words). After all when was the last time you really had to put out a fire?

Have you ever wished you could have some unconnected time to think, to coach, to focus and perhaps get some important work done? Have you ever (or do you always) feel compelled to be connected or have a hard time un-tethering from your electronic devices?

I believe you will become a more effective, productive and valued leader when you re-evaluate your relationship to your beloved electronic devices. How can you do that? How can you, well Kevin has some suggestions on disconnecting and leading better.

Five Ways to Disconnect

Set expectations and boundaries. This is the big one and it cuts straight to the heart of the assumptions above.  If you are going to unplug and disconnect, be it for 45 minutes (sometimes baby steps are needed), four hours or four days, people need to know that.

If you have been wired 24/7 and you suddenly disconnect without talking to people about expectations, you will understandably create chaos and confusion. Let people know when you will be accessible, and the timeline they can expect to hear back from you.

Ever listened to a voice mail message and heard someone say when you can expect to hear back from them? That is the idea! It may take time for you and others to adjust, but would you rather adjust or watch your phone become permanently affixed to your hand?

Manage your interrupt-ability. Have you ever gone into someone’s office and had them turn off their phone, or put the ringer on mute?  Did you feel like your conversation was important to them? That is the point of managing interrupt-ability. You will find what is appropriate for you and when (see expectations above) It could mean turning off the email notification on your computer, putting your phone in silent mode, or any number of other things. Figure yours out and do them.

Schedule time to reply to emails.  Have you ever been travelling for the day and then looked at your email after several hours? If you have, you likely found three things: there was a lot of it, few if any messages required fast attention, and responding in batches took less time.  Let’s be clear. When you are constantly replying to email, you are training people (setting unspoken expectations) that you are always answering emails!  If you choose to set times aside during the day (or even during the hour, if you must) you will be more productive AND you will be taming the expectations that you are “always on.”

Set sacred off-line times. Do you really have to be on the phone in the public restroom? Is your email really the last thing you need to check before bed and the first thing in the morning? If your answer to any of these is “yes” I’d say get a life and get over yourself. The most important, busiest people in the world aren’t doing that, and you don’t need to either.

Change the medium. Pick up the phone. Walk to someone’s office.  All of our technologies are about communication. Not all of them are equally effective in every situation. Stem the email flow with a quick call.  Send a text instead of a call that will become a five-minute conversation. Go synchronous when needed, and take it off-line when possible.

These ways will certainly improve your productivity – allowing you more focused time for the task at hand.  But if you think of these as only time management suggestions you will miss an important part of my point. They will also allow you to be a more effective leader when used in a balanced way– showing your trust by engaging and encouraging people to operate without your input at a moment’s notice, every time.

If you are thinking you can’t change the culture in your organization in regards to these technologies, I urge you to reconsider. If things are aren’t working perfectly, someone must raise the question, change the conversation and adjust the behaviors.

If you agree with even a small part of what I’ve suggested, tell people about your new decisions. Try one or more of the suggestions above. That’s what leaders do – work to make things better.

Not just once a year – Performance Coaching

A critical part of the manager/employee relationship is open communication between the two.  What is  expected from the employee and how well are they accomplishing their responsibilities.  How should they expect you to lead them. Most Companies have a formal Performance Management Program used to evaluate performance on an annual basis, but informal, on-going performance coaching is critically important.  Reviewing performance should not just be an annual event, but rather a continuous cycle.

More specifically, performance management:

• is a shared responsibility between you and each individual who reports to you; some of us forget this
• provides mutual understanding between the manager and employee regarding what is expected of the employee and how well the employee is meeting those performance standards;  Employees can’t meet expectations, if they don’t know what they are.
• empowers the employee to perform a variety of tasks, and face new challenges for growth;
• sets and monitors progress against clear goals;
• includes regular documentation of performance;
• includes timely feedback on performance between the manager and employee;
• includes discussion on professional development;
• recognizes hard work and success; not just areas for improvement!

An effective performance management program provides many benefits to the organization and to its managers and employees.  Good performance management results in:

• focused movement towards organizational goals;
• informed employees;
• more successful and productive employees;
• more meaningful work for employees;
• better working relationships between managers and employees;  Mutual respect
• increased communication;
• legally defensible management decisions;
• all around better quality of interaction.

Remember regular communication and feedback doesn’t need to be complicated or a long process, it just needs to be regular. Some simple steps and commitment is all you really need.

Managing the holiday rush

The holiday season can be tough when managing your business and your employee needs.  Some businesses may slow down until after the New Year. However, others pick up because as year-end approaches there are numerous internal tasks that need to be completed and the clock’s ticking. It can make even the calmest of managers a little crazy.

It starts around Thanksgiving and goes for the next 6 weeks give or take a few days.  Assorted parties, kid’s pageants and other school festivities, shopping, and other family commitments can make it hard to maintain a level of staffing and service that your customers expect. How do you keep your employees happy and still get everything done?

When I managed a very busy call center, I asked my managers to do certain things to make things a little less hectic during this time as well as allow them to truly take their time off when they were not in the office.  It takes some discipline, but it does work.  Here are some tips for maintaining productivity and focus when the holiday season is in full swing.

• Alternate vacations and time off so everyone has an opportunity to have a holiday off.  This is especially important when you have a 24 hour operation.  A manager typically needs to be on call, if not in the office and it helps to have different people take the responsibility.
• Let people announce their personal schedules in a central place, and make sure everyone can access it.
• People should be clear about when they’ll be available for contact, when they’ll be away, and vitally important is how to best reach them if it’s critical.
• Make sure everyone has a back up in the event one manager can’t be reached there is a back-up.  It’s really frustrating for those that must be at work not to have someone to contact in an emergency.
• Everyone needs to be clear about what has to be accomplished by which deadlines. When they get done early and you have the flexibility allow people to leave early. It’s a small gift of time that is appreciated.
• Let everyone know what the official holiday office schedule is and who to contact if a particular office is closed. This is especially important when you have employees in different locations, with different time zones.  If an employee is trying to manage a difficult situation, they need to know who they can call for help.

For some people this time of year is a time to relax, enjoy themselves and recharge their batteries. For others it’s stressful and hard to be productive. It’s up to the leader to set the goals, set the tone and help people be their best.

Guidelines for resolving intergenerational conflict

I’ve heard from many employers and employees lately about the conflict diversity places in the work force today.  However, they are not talking about gender or race, they are speaking of different generations working side by side in todays workforce.

For the first time in history, there are five generations working side by side: the Traditional Generation (born pre-1945), Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), Generation X (born 1965-1980), Generation Y (1981-1995), and the Linkster Generation (born after 1995). Since conflicts often arise in a multigenerational environment, it’s helpful to have some understanding of the differences between employees of distinct generations.

Each has been influenced by the major historical events, social trends, and cultural phenomena of their time, shaping their ideas about expectations and perceptions about what the working environment will provide, as well as company loyalty and work ethic.  All generations bring different values to an organization and those leaders who cultivate those differences will place themselves ahead of the crowd when it comes to recruiting and retention in the coming years.

Here are some guidelines for resolving intergenerational conflict:

• Look at the generational factor. Is this conflict generational, or is there something else going on? For example, Traditionals and Baby Boomers don’t like to be micromanaged, while Gen Yers and Linksters crave specific, detailed instructions about how to do things and are used to hovering authorities. There is almost always a generational component to conflict; recognizing this offers new ways to resolve it.

• Consider the generational values at stake. Each generation is protecting a distinct set of values, and conflict may threaten these values. For example, Baby Boomers value teamwork, cooperation, and buy-in, while Gen Xers prefer to make a unilateral decision and move on — preferably solo.

• Air different generations’ perceptions. When employees of two or more generations are involved in a workplace conflict, they can learn a great deal by sharing their perceptions. For instance, a Traditional may find a Gen Yer’s lack of formality and manners offensive, while a Gen Yer may feel dissed when this older employee fails to respect her opinions and input. Have each party use “I” statements to avoid potentially negative confrontations.

• Find a generationally appropriate fix. You can’t change people’s life experience. But you can work with the set of workplace attitudes and expectations that come from it. So, for instance, if you have a knowledgeable Boomer who is frustrated by a Gen Yer’s lack of experience coupled with his sense of entitlement, turn the Boomer into a mentor. Or you may have a Gen Xer who is slacking off and phoning it in. Instead of punishing him, give him a challenging assignment, the fulfillment of which is linked to a tangible reward.

• Find commonality and complements. When we study generations, some common and complementary characteristics emerge — and these can be exploited when dealing with conflict between them. For instance, Traditionals and Generation Y employees both tend to value security and stability. Traditionals and Boomers tend to resist change–but both crave training and development. Gen X and Gen Y employees place a high value on workplace flexibility and work-life balance. Boomers and Linksters are most comfortable with diversity and alternative lifestyles. Gen Y and Linksters are technologically adept and committed to socially responsible policies.

• Learn from each other. Each generation has valuable lessons to teach the next. For example, Traditionals and Boomers have a wealth of knowledge and tricks of the trade that younger workers need. Generation X employees are widely known for their fairness and mediation abilities. Generation Y workers are technology wizards. And Linksters hold clues to future workplace, marketing, and business trends.

How do you manage generational differences in the workplace?

This was posted in Smart Briefs by Mary Ellen Slayter.   Larry and Meagan Johnson, the father-daughter team behind John Training Group, co-authored “Generations, Inc.: From Boomers to Linksters — Managing the Friction Between Generations at Work.”

Coaching vs. Counseling

When you think about the word coach, many of us get the image of a sports coach leading a team to improve and win the game. This is not unlike how the term is used in the business world. A manager becomes a coach when they not only lead their team but provide an environment that supports constant learning, development, and performance improvement. A coach is interested in the performance of their business and understands that to continue to achieve great results, the development of his/her employees is key.  While a coach is always striving to obtain consistent performance improvement from each employee on their team, there are situations where coaching the right behaviors is not the right approach.  Not all employees are equally skilled or equally motivated. For those employees who choose not to perform a different approach is needed. The key word is choice, because these employees are making a choice not to perform within expectations, our approach also needs to be adjusted to target the behavior that is being seen. This situation is when a manager needs to change their approach from one of a coach to one of a counselor.

While a coach strives to provide tools and resources to help already motivated employees to improve upon their skills and achieve a performance improvement, when a manager must provide counseling there isn’t a skill issue but a will issue. Counseling an employee reflects that the employee is making a choice not to perform or to meet the set expectations and is a more directive conversation in regards to the immediate need for a course correction. In these performance Counseling discussions the manager doesn’t provide resources for the employee to focus on performance improvement, he/she outlines the issue and the expectation of immediate behavior change. For example:

The manager meets with a team member who just finished working on a presentation for a new customer.  Having met with this employee several times the manager recognizes the improvements made with each new presentation.  The manager acknowledges the hard work and improvements.  The manager also asks questions and/or provides thought-provoking comments and suggestions to continue to improve upon a good quality presentation, but also to continue coaching this employee becoming better each time. 

The manager meets with a team member who just finished working on a presentation for a new customer.  Having met with this employee several times the manager recognizes this employee uses the same template each time and during several past meetings the manager has had to address spelling errors and obvious customer related information not changed from the last presentation.  At this point it becomes a counseling session.  The manager must clearly define the expectations related to presentations going forward.  The manager must also detail what happens if the expectations are not met within a specific timeframe.

Creating a Culture of Engagement: The Human Resource Leader’s New Strategic Role

Tom Roth, President of Global Solutions Group, Wilson Learning, Edina, Minn. was the presenter at this year’s SHRM annual conference.  His session was titled Creating a Culture of Engagement: The Human Resources Leader’s New Strategic Role.   He focused on the intimate connection between employee satisfaction and engagement and customer satisfaction and retention.   For all Company’s and especially in tough times it’s critical to acquire new customers while keeping the old ones coming back. But to build loyalty, companies need to engage their customers with great experiences. This requires a high level of employee commitment to customers and the company.

 Quick hits from the session

• There are five keys to employee engagement. They include the quality of the relationship with your manager, meaningful work, development opportunities, cooperation with coworkers, and the level of trust at work. Speaking of trust…
• High levels of distrust are causing a rift between employer/employee. Mr. Roth quoted some research showing the high level of distrust/disconnect between employees and employers. The gist of it? A high percentage of people don’t think leaders laid off workers due to economy, but they did to it due to ulterior motives.
• The real definition of culture. The stock definition of culture involves the shared beliefs and behaviors of a group. The business application of that is the set of behavioral patterns in the workplace that is encouraged by leadership. That gets us around to corporate values statements and places a strong responsibility on leaders to encourage the behaviors that support their value system.
• What problems do executives see with engagement? Mr. Roth said that a major issue for the C-suite is the lack of consistency in how organizational leaders are approaching engagement. Another problem is that they want to work on engaging employees, but they don’t know how to make it happen.
• Tell your own story. One of the exercises in the session required participants to think of the person in their lives who embodies the “ideal” leader. Participants shared some of the qualities about that person that makes them such a powerful figure to them.
• What sort of culture do effective leaders create? Leaders establish a culture that places emphasis on the elements of opportunity, personal accountability, validation, inclusion, and community.

The Service Profit Chain is a simple proven philosophy that sets businesses apart.  If you take care of your employees they in turn will be good to your customers, which will drive customer satisfaction, retention and new business.

More on Coaching vs. Management

This article was written for the Atlanta Society of Human Resources by Jules Ciotta, Motivation Communications Associates

Since it goes along with my philosophy I thought I would share it with my readers.

“Be a coach, not a manager” may sound like good advice, but what does it mean in terms of your day-to-day interactions with people? Take a look at this checklist of coaching behaviors to see which technique you already practice, and which you can add to your coaching skills toolbox:

• Don’t give answers. Ask questions that encourage creative thinking but don’t do your employees’ thinking for them by telling them what to do.
• Focus on great performance. Don’t let employees stay satisfied with average results. Help them get to know what great performance looks like and feels like through personal examples and experience.
• Focus on customers. Talk to customers (internal or external) to find out what great performance looks like from their point of view.
• Raise expectations. When someone achieves a victory, celebrate it. Then raise the bar a little higher. Always look ahead to how much better the person can perform.
• Link the present with the future. Help your people see the connection between their current tasks and their long-term personal and professional goals.
• Create internal measures. Don’t be the sole judge of success or failure. Work with employees to develop standards that will help them measure and recognize their own success.
• Identify areas for improvement. Help employees target and strengthen skills they need to improve.
• Remember the human factor. Help employees identify and strive for their own personal and professional goals. Your goal isn’t to turn employees into efficient machines, but to help them realize their potential.
• Go through the process yourself. Work with a coach of your own to get a full understanding of what good coaching feels like.

Be alongside, in front of, or close behind…..But never absent.

One of the benefits experienced by new managers is having a group of people to call on to get things done.

One of the challenges experienced by new managers is having a group of people to call on to get things done.

There is no role that is more challenging than managing people, at any level. One of the traps, though, is a mistaken sense of what delegation is all about.

Helping people perform means you have to spend time focusing on the people who do the task, not just the task.

• Who needs help?
• How much?
• How much is too much?
• How often do you need to follow up to see how things are going?
• When you follow up, what do you really need to do to be helpful? (It may be to get out of the way, explain how to do something in detail, or something in between).

Invest in your people, don’t just use them.

We agonize over how to invest our earnings so that we reap personal financial growth.

When we delegate are we asking, “How can I invest in this person during this task in order to benefit all of us over the long run?”

Or is the question “What can this person do for me?”

Each question leads to very different outcomes. One is personal and organizational growth. The other is a sense of using and being used.

Be alongside, in front of, or close behind…..But never absent.

No one is successful alone. However, it’s really easy and incredibly common to fail by thinking we can do it alone.

So the best managers I know live out a model that clearly shares responsibility. They provide direction and support; their people ask questions easily as a result of the “we’re in this together” atmosphere.

Exit interview downside, What to do?

Exit interviews are a helpful tool to understand more about why employees leave your company.  However, too often employees are not candid during the exit interview.  The major reason is they do not trust that the information will not get back to their direct boss, especially if the boss is the reason they are leaving.  Employees enjoy good benefits, and competitive wages, but often give that up to get away from an overbearing or ineffective manager.   Exit Interviews become mini survey’s and employees only provide the information they need to.

Senior leaders should consider two processes.  The first is to have exit interviews conducted by an impartial entity.  Your HR person may be the best in the industry, but if poor management goes unnoticed or excuses have been made for a certain managers style or approach,  employees lose confidence in HR, management and the process.  Separating employees may view an outsider more trust worthy and provide information they otherwise wouldn’t.  If provided with specific information and suggestions senior managers can begin to look into issues that may be unseen in a busy daily operation.  This process may also identify areas where management training is needed. 

The second recommendation and to me the more important one is for senior managers to engage employees through “skip level” one on one’s or roundtable meetings.  These are performed on a regular basis and not just when someone is resigning or there is an issue.  If designed and executed properly these types of communication processes can offer a wealth of knowledge about your organization as well as alert you to possible issues and training needs, before they become a problem.  Warning: These types of meetings can  never become  a form of punishment for employees or managers.  It also can’t be a session for the CEO or senior leader to become defensive.  This is about gathering information and determining what the needs of the organization are from someone other than your direct reports.  As you gather this information on a regular basis and act upon those areas you can, the process gains credibility and positive ideas become the focus.

Boss or Leader?

Although your position as a manager, supervisor, team lead, etc. gives you the authority to accomplish certain tasks and objectives in the organization, this power does not make you a leader, it simply makes you the boss. Leadership differs in that it makes the followers want to achieve high goals.  Thus you get Assigned Leadership by your position or role and you develop Leadership by influencing people to do great things.

Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. This definition of Leadership is stated as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task.”  Definitions more inclusive of followers have also emerged. Alan Keith stated that, “Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen.”

Leadership words to live by:

• “I admit I made a mistake.”
•  ”You did a good job.”
•  ”What is your opinion.”
•  ”If you please.”
• “Thank you,”
• “We”