Management Blog

Empowering Your Team - Top 10 Tips

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Top Ten Tips for Empowering Your Team

1. Share the Big Picture
   Making sure that people know and have access to the organization's overall mission, vision, and strategic plans helps them to feel that they are part of, and contributing to, something bigger than themselves and their individual job  - “we are all in this together”.
2. Show You Value People
   Your facial expression, body language, and the words you use continually express what you are thinking and feeling about the people who report to you. Work to show that you value people for who they are rather than just for what they do. This shows a deeper level of appreciation and helps to strengthen relationships.
3. Share Goals and Direction
   Share the most important goals and direction for your team. Ensure that everyone involved has a clear picture of what success will look like.  People who have a clear picture of the desired end point are much more likely to get there -  “start with the end in mind”.
4. Look To Expand The Decisions Members of Your Team Make
   This is probably the crux of empowerment – the more decisions your team can make without you the more empowered the team is but enable success by making certain that you have given people (or made sure that they have access to) all of the information they need to make thoughtful and effective decisions.
5. Fundamentally Trust People
   Trust the intentions of people to do the right thing, make the right decision, and make choices that, while maybe not exactly what you would decide, still work.
6. Delegate Authority and Impact Opportunities, Not Just More Work
   Don't just delegate the drudge work; delegate some of the fun and important stuff, too. Delegate the important meetings, the committee memberships that influence product development and decision making, and the projects that people and customers notice. The employee will grow and develop new skills and you can concentrate on your unique contribution.
7. Provide Frequent Constructive Feedback
   Provide frequent feedback so that people know how they are doing. Sometimes, the purpose of feedback is reward and recognition. People deserve your constructive feedback, too, so they can continue to develop their knowledge and skills.
8. Solve Problems: Don't Pinpoint Problem People
   When things go wrong it is so easy to look around for someone to blame, however a more constructive and empowering approach is to communally identify what in the overall work system allowed the error to occur.
9. Use A Coaching Approach…Listen and Ask Questions
   Provide a space in which people will communicate by listening to them and asking them questions. Give guidance by asking questions, not by telling people what to do. People generally know the right answers if they have the opportunity to produce them. When an employee brings you a problem to solve, ask, "what do you think you should do to solve this problem?" Or, ask, "what action steps do you recommend?" Employees can demonstrate what they know and grow in the process.
10. Help Employees Feel Rewarded and Recognized for Empowered Behaviour
    Because if employees feel under-compensated, under-titled for the responsibilities they take on, under-noticed, under-praised, and under-appreciated, their performance probably won’t be great. They won’t feel motivated to go that extra mile!

For more information on empowerment visit our website.

 

Consensus Problem-Solving

Paper  written by Rick Roskin and taken from our E-learning website. Contact us for a trial free login. Drawn from the research of Virginia Breen, Ronald Fetzer, Linda Howard and Robert Preziosi The One-Liner When a problem is complex and/or potentially controversial, open communication is essential for effectiveness, as is a structured approach to consensus decision making within teams.  This is especially true if the decision warrants implementation. Consensus Problem Solving This research looks at consensus decision making within the context of a particular approach described by Harley and within a particular theory as outlined by Senge.  Essentially, it is argued that when a problem is potentially controversial and/or complex, teams that follow a structured approach and that are more open in their communication are likely to achieve better results. To quote the authors: the purpose of this research was to test whether a consensus problem-solving technique increases communication openness in a team setting when compared to previous problem-solving sessions when team members were left to their own devices. Communication openness in an organizational setting refers to the message sending and receiving behaviors that occur between superiors and subordinates as well as between peers. It is a central variable in organizational communication and is a vehicle for handling non-routine, and possibly negative, information in the form of suggestions, criticisms, new ideas, and bad news. The importance of this approach is emphasized because information often never reaches those who are empowered to implement a decision.  Additionally, the reason for investigating problem solving approaches turns on today’s changing organizational structures and the environment

Manage Your Time - Top Tips

Effective Time Management

Here are some top tips on how to manage your time effectively.

1. Take Control

2. When you say no stick to it

3. Maintain focus in meetings

4. Make the most of dead time

5. Match task to mood

6. Spend time with people who are difficult ot get hold of

7. Imagine your diary is clear

8. Groom People

The "Mind Gym: Wake Your Mind Up" is published by Time Warner

Predictions for Business in Wales 2012

Our Associate, Leadership and Management Wales  Director, Dr Barrie Kennard was among the experts invited by Wales’ national newspaper, The Western Mail, to predict what 2012 will bring for businesses in Wales.

Among his predictions was that 2012 will demonstrate just how important micro-businesses are to the stability of the Welsh economy. Also 2012 will bring a change in the style of management demonstrated by Welsh businesses. There is now a real need for business leaders to think more about the longer-term success of their businesses; taking decisive action now to safeguard their futures and plan for sustainable growth when the end of the recession does finally arrive as it surely will.

He also predicted 2012 will bring a change in the style of management demonstrated by Welsh businesses. He suggested this would be brought about with more of a focus on work-based learning.2012 we will see more work-based learning delivered via a blended-learning approach consisting of e-learning, coaching and mentoring, as well as taught courses and interventions.

David Russ, managing director of the South Wales Chamber of Commerce, and Iestyn Davies, head of external affairs for the Federation of Small Businesses in Wales, also gave their points of view.

For more information on leadership and management development visit our website.

Effective Communication Skills Training Course

How Can You Improve Your Communication Skills

"Off with her head, cried the queen at the top of her voice. Nobody moved."

Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland.

Bad communication is worse than no communication at all. So what is communication:-

Communication - The imparting or exchange of information (The Little Oxford Dictionary)

Having the confidence and skills to communicate in the workplace is central to everyones role.  It is probably the most important part of any relationship, and so easy to get wrong.

We have all seen organisations where no-one really knows what is going on, or understands their part in the bigger picture of the business, we all know that is not a good position to be in.

More employees feel and understand that they are a vital part of the business, the more pride they will take in what they do.  This may take the form of training for managers and senior staff to feel they are supported and that they understand the importance of effective communication within the workplace, which will be in turn be passed onto other staff. 

It could be that training is required for all staff in a variety of matters, not just relating to their everyday job role but, for example, customer service training for those dealing with your customers or clients day-to-day.

1. Be clear with your narration's context and content
2. Maintain a balanced tone of voice
3. Use positive body language
4. Consistent pace of delivery
5. Confirm Understanding

Communication Skills Training Course Content

Our one day training course requires the learner to demonstrate:-

• An understanding of the communication process

• Methods of communication

• Why communicating with others may be effective or ineffective

It is usually not what we say but rather how we say it that distinguishes the competent, effective manager/leader. This interactive workshop looks at communication as a tool for effective manager/leaders in the workplace. By taking an overview of Emotional Intelligence and combining it with some aspects of Transactional Analysis participants should gain an insight into not only how to communicate better but also an understanding of why some communication breaks down.

For more information on our effective communication skills training course visit our website. 

 

 

Training Course - An Introduction to Coaching in the Workplace

The Institute of Leadership and Management's  coaching research has investigated the extent to which organisations are embracing the development practice of coaching. The survey of learning and development managers, decision makers at 250 large organisations, revealed a number of important findings.

  95% of organisations believed coaching as a development tool benefited the organisation, and 96% believed it benefited the individual. A broad range of specific benefits were identified including improvements in communication and inter-personal skills, leadership and management, conflict resolution, personal confidence, attitudes and motivation, management performance as well as preparation for a new role or promotion.

Our Next Coaching Course

Price:               £495*
Venue:           Portland Place, London
Date:               15th December, 2011
Duration:    1 day (9.30am – 5.00pm) includes lunch and refreshments
Availability: 3 places left

* All prices exclude VAT

Benefits

The 1  day programme will give managers/leaders the confidence to use their coaching skills to obtain the following benefits:

• Motivate others to be become high performing employees

• Improve performance and productivity through clear goal setting

• Develop team members in line with individual and company objectives to improve your bottom line

• More time to be a leader/manager

• Improved relationships

• Better use of people skills

Coaching Course Content

• Different types of coaching

• When is it  appropriate to use coaching and when other interventions would be more appropriate

•  Examine 1 model of coaching in detail GROW

•  Practising coaching skills

•  Considering opportunities to use coaching back in the workplace

•  Action Planning

•  Effective mechanisms for applying the coaching process in delegates workplace

For more detailed information or to reserve a place on our coaching course entitled An Introduction to Coaching in the Workplace visit the Call of the Wild website.

 

My drive to work this morning passing Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons. Lovely Autumn morning

Alex Ferguson - Does Leadership Have a "Use By Date"?

As a leader one of your key roles is to ensure that your staff are engaged and motivated. Alignment of aims, purpose and values between staff, teams and organization is the most fundamental aspect of motivation. The better the alignment and personal association with organisational aims, the better the platform for motivation.

Where people find it difficult to align and associate with the organizational aims, then most motivational ideas and activities will have a reduced level of success.  Similalrly with aligning organisational aims with the personal needs of staff, as highlighted by Hertzberg and Maslow, is a fundamental objective for leaders. But can the power of a leaders motivational skills wear off over time, does a leader as a result have an expiration date or a finite shelf life? Are there only so many times a leader can use certain tactics or rousing speeches before they become repetitive and loose their impact.

You just have to look the sporting arena and particularly coaches in football and rugby. There seems to a natural cycle whereby they are given a few years to make an impact. Often what seems to happen is that they have a big impact on performance to start with but the impact waines over time as their players become accustomed to their motivational techniques. Obviously there do seem to exceptions to the rule such as the Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson. He has now been manager for 25 years. So how does he do it? If you examine his approach then some of the answers lie with the fact that he rebuilds his teams every 5 years or so. So he brings in new players who are unaccustomed to his motivational techniques. He also changes his backroom staff and assistants regularly and looks to develop people from within.

So how do you avoid becoming stale as a leader. Well it's down to the leaders themselves to keep developing their skills and knowledge. If they don't then there is a real danger that things will stagnate and performance impacted upon. Also taking a leaf about Sir Alex's book then it's not just a case of becoming an effective leader yourself but developing the people who follow you to be effective leaders as well. So it's how you perceive yourself as much as anything. One of the best ways of motivating is to create a network of leaders whom you nurture. It is they who then bring that freshness and innovation in terms of motivating and improving performance.

For more information on leadership visit our leadership development page

 

Will This be the Welsh Fans Tomorrow?

Celebrating or commiserating

Photo of Us Being Presented with a London Welsh Rugby Shirt

This is us last week being presented, along with other sponsors, with a London Welsh Rugby Football Club shirt in our capacity as one of the Club's sponsors. The shirt was presented by Welsh and British Lions rugby legend John Dawes.