17Oct/14

Managing Friends; Avoiding the Pitfalls

Managing friends

 

 

Managing friends can be like walking a tightrope. You just got promoted and now you’re responsible for your best friend’s productivity.  After the cake and champagne, reality sets in. Which relationship has priority and how do you both handle the change? Let’s be honest, if the two of you are close enough that you are spending time together outside of work, a transfer might be the best answer. No matter how much you reassure each other nothing has changed between you, the truth is everything has changed.

You are now responsible for your friend’s productivity and she is now accountable to you. Your responsibility gives you the authority to question your friend’s actions and her accountability requires that she answer you.  Still think nothing has changed? To put it another way, you are no longer equals at work and that can create problems. Oftentimes, it is not always possible or practical to move one of you, so what are the some of the pitfalls and how do you (and your friend) avoid them?

 For You:

  • Pitfall – You have to correct your friend but you don’t want to get her in trouble
  •  Reality – Letting matters slide can get  you in trouble
  1. If you choose to ignore your friend’s poor performance, you’re not doing the job you were hired to do. In short – your performance is also lacking. It takes not only managerial but moral courage to address the situation. Your employers have placed their trust in you to do the right thing.  A wrong decision can erode that trust and damage your career and your friendship.
  2. One employee’s performance problem can erode morale and productivity for an entire team.  Once that happens, the team starts to break down which leads to further performance issues. Deal with the situation ASAP so that you don’t have to do damage control later.  It is more difficult to re-earn an entire team’s trust and respect than to address a problem that started the break.

For Her:

  • Pitfall – Thinking you don’t have to work as hard as before because you’re connected to the boss
  •  Reality – You now have to be above reproach for a couple of reasons:
  1. Your boss is under pressure to perform and is probably on a trial period (translations: able to be fired at any time for any reason) and your slacking off will jeopardize her chance for success.
  2.  People know that you are friends and will watch to see if you are treated differently.  If your relationship makes you look like the “teacher’s pet”, it can affect team morale and unity.  The best way to avoid it is to be on your best behavior.
  3. Your boss is trying to win the trust and respect of the team – don’t sabotage her efforts. Believe it or not, things will not be easy for your boss as she tries to keep her professional and personal life separate.  You can help by doing the same.

Work is a place of social interaction.  Getting work done successfully relies on building relationships and forming bonds with our colleagues.  To expect supervisors and managers not to cultivate friendships among their direct reports is unrealistic.  The trick to making it work is for both parties to understand the boundaries of each relationship and to keep them as separate as possible.  When in doubt keep it professional in the workplace.

 

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19Sep/14

Are You Observing the Things that You See?

Yogi Berra on observing vs. seeing

 

The great Yogi Berra was quoted as saying “You can see a lot by observing”. I’ve heard this many times over the years and like others, thought it was pretty funny.  As I got older though, I started to understand that there really is wisdom behind these simple words.  I don’t know if Yogi realized it or not, but seeing is indeed different than observing.

We see things every day.  We see terrible drivers during our commute; we see our poor performers at work and people behaving badly in general.   The question is – even though we see these people, do we take the time to really observe them?  What’s the difference? If you think about it, seeing is primarily passive. It requires no action on our part; things pass before our eyes and simply exist.   Observation, on the other hand requires action.  It leads to questions which require us to draw conclusions. In turn, we get involved at a deeper level. This doesn’t mean that we spend hours trying to figure out what’s going on – it simply means we are forced to make an attempt, which can take mere seconds. Think about that terrible driver during your commute.  You “see” the car cutting in and out of traffic at a high rate of speed, you think “That idiot is going to hurt somebody” and you move on to deciding between a latte and a cappuccino.  But what if instead of just seeing the car, you observe it? Do you start to wonder why the car is moving so fast?  What’s happening that makes it necessary to drive like that?  Now you’re involved. Probably not to a great degree – but enough to see the driver as fellow human who may have a reason for driving the way he does. At that moment your thoughts and subsequent actions shift from the negative (idiot) to positive (concern).  It’s easier to accept things as negative if we don’t look too closely under the hood. When observations lead to questions, the process itself facilitates understanding. Passive seeing doesn’t do this.  It accepts what is which can lead to the wrong course of action

Case in point: Years ago, during a regular morning meeting one of my direct reports lost his temper and began yelling at me.  What did I see?  I saw a man who had lost his temper and someone who was behaving very unprofessionally.  As a manager, I saw a situation that was rapidly getting out of control and realized that I had to take immediate action. I also saw the rest of my staff looking at me for resolution.  If I didn’t handle it correctly the resulting loss of confidence in me from the rest of the staff, would make my job that much harder in the future.  There was no doubt that my employee’s behavior warranted disciplinary action. What I saw that morning in fact, was not what I observed.  I observed someone acting so far out of character that it caused me concern.  I observed a man that was going through something so intense that it caused him to be very angry and I quickly realized that the reason for his outburst didn’t have a thing to do with me or whatever I was talking about that morning.

After the meeting, we went into the office and I simply said “This is so unlike you that I’m concerned.  Are you OK?” Of course the answer was “no”. He finally told me that a close friend had died the night before and the effect it was having on him. At that point, I did not act on what I had seen (the yelling, the anger) but I acted on what I had observed (the pain).  I sent him home and asked him to call me if there was anything I could do for him. Just because his actions warranted discipline didn’t mean it was the right way to handle the situation.  I think Yogi would have understood.

 

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06Sep/14

Courage and Confidence

 

microphone symbolizing courage and confidence

As a new manager, it can take courage to find your voice. First of all, you’re in a situation where you are trying to learn your job. You don’t even know what you don’t know. On top of that, as the new kid in the room, you’re not only sure about what you should say but even if you should say it because you’re sure that no one will listen to you. After all, you’re green. So how do you find your voice? Two words: Courage & Confidence .

Courage

Gaining courage means making yourself vulnerable and no one wants to put themselves out there when they might get hurt. When trying to muster up the courage to speak, act, direct etc., take a minute to sharpen your critical thinking skills and play the tape forward. Think about the possible outcomes depending on your decision. Looking at both sides of the problem will help give you the confidence of your convictions and that confidence will give you the courage to do what it takes to get the job done.

 Confidence

The road from new manager to seasoned professional can be a long one that will often have you convinced that you have no clue what you’re doing. You may also be convinced that everyone around you knows that you’re an imposter too. Don’t worry, your thoughts are normal; so much to the fact that not having them may be a sign that you’re in over your head. Here’s the thing; the further you go, the more confidence you’ll gain. The experience (and screw-ups) along the way create develop your analytical and management. It’s all part of the process. Take your time, learn your job and seek out the advice and help from those that have been there before you.

Courage and  confidence go hand-in-hand. Find ways to bolster one and the other will naturally develop. You can do it. All you have to do is take that first step.

 

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