23Aug/13

Playing the Tape Forward

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How it Started

September 11, 2001 was a day that no one will ever forget. As I watched the newscast of the Twin Towers falling, I actually had something else on my mind.  That day, I and 11 of my peers were about to convict a man of murder. Eventually we got bogged down trying to understand the sequence of one occurrence. One juror said “play the tape forward and see where it takes us”.  For me, a light bulb went on and I finally grasped the hazy concept of “critical thinking”.

Exactly what is critical thinking? Do we learn it or are we born with it?  Is it the higher thinking that we see in philosophy students or can we find it in a 5th grader? I believe the answer is “yes” to these questions. What’s important is to recognize the context in which we ask our team to apply it. In other words, break it down and be specific to your situations.  You say, “Carol, your goal for the year is to improve your critical thinking skills” Before you know it, she has enrolled in a philosophy course and is quoting Kierkegaard. Great for her, not so good for you since all you want is for her to realize that she can handle some things without coming to you, if she only thinks about it. You don’t need her to figure out the meaning of life, you need her to figure out that point A eventually leads to point Z and all points in between. In short – you just want her to play the tape forward.

So Where Do You Start?
  • First things first – does Carol have not only the ability, but the willingness to start the tape?  If not, that’s a different problem.  Solve it or you’ll just be spinning your wheels.
  • Explain the problem, the process, the expectation and the consequences (Hint: make this a part of every coaching plan with every employee)
    • Problem “Carol you continuously come to me with things I know you are capable of handling on your own (give example).
    • Process “By working together, I believe that we can get you to a place where you feel confident enough to recognize and take charge of appropriate situations.  We’ll be doing some one-on-one coaching and feedback sessions based on my personal observations of your work.”
    • Expectation   “My expectation (yes, use these exact words) is that by _____, the number of times you bring me things that you can deal with will show a marked decrease (agree upon a metric to show progress)”.
    • Consequences “Please understand that If there is no improvement or a decrease by _____ your next performance appraisal will show a “needs improvement” in this area. (Important: negotiate a date with Carol. This not only gives her a deadline for improvement; it also gets her commitment for the process).
  • Encourage and assure – By this time poor Carol is probably afraid she’s going to be fired.  That means you have her undivided attention. Now’s the time to take it down a notch.  Let her know that you honestly believe that together the two of you can make progress.  After all, if you didn’t think things would improve you wouldn’t be willing to spend the time and effort.

Once you and Carol have discussed and agreed upon the basics, document the conversation and get to work. As the boss, it’s your obligation to devote serious time and energy to helping Carol improve. Observe her work and take note of how she handles situations. Do it often and make sure she knows you’re doing it. You are not a spy, you are a coach.

Use observations to teach, praise and correct (Note: praise in public, teach and correct in private. You are also building Carol’s confidence to take on more responsibility). Above all, be specific “I noticed that you figured out xyz on your own.  In the past you would have come to me for input and I really appreciate that you thought it through and took ownership – Thanks”.  Teach and correct in private; again be specific.  “When you asked me yesterday how to do xyz, I thought that it was something you could have thought through and handled without me.  Let’s meet for a few minutes to play the tape forward and figure out where you got stuck”.

Don’t let the term “Critical Thinking” scare you.  For most of us it’s just Common Sense 101.  Let me know how it works.

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16Aug/13

Employees Can Make Managers Better

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Helping Your Manager is Helping Yourself

Think of managers you love working for. What makes them stand out? The successful manager value you and make you feel appreciated. They create a workplace culture where people feel respected and valued. You have permission to fail” because at the end of the day if no one has died, everything else can be fixed. Now think about how you go about your workday. Are you enthusiastic? Will you willingly take on more responsibility? Do you like being there? I’m guessing the answer is yes.

But what about that “other” manager? Are you holding back on the work? Do you “dumb down” your efforts because you’re fed up with the way things are handled? Are your “mental health” days on the rise?  Again, I’m guessing the answer is yes. At this point, things start to spiral and you wind up with a bad manager and a bad employee and there’s no way to figure out who’s the chicken and who’s the egg (as in which came first).  How do I know? Been there, done that and the truth of the matter is I did things to make the problem worse. I was not happy to discover that it wasn’t entirely my manager’s fault. After all, I’m the expert here (we’ll save ego for another post).

I’ve talked about skills managers need to succeed, but what about team members? Should the team be held responsible for developing skills and tools that help the manager be better? You bet they should and should is not a word I use lightly.  Should is about setting expectations and both parties “should” expect a civil and respectful culture because ultimately the culture is about the organization and making sure it succeeds. The good news is that the skill set is pretty much the same for both parties.

Skill No. 1 Know Your People

I insist that managers know their people. By this I mean see employees as people first. What are they like, what do they need, What do they want? How do they see their role in the workplace? Guess what? It makes sense for you to do the same with your managers. Remember, s/he is a person first. Boss in a bad mood? Maybe it’s not the job. Care enough not to jump to conclusions.

Skill No.2 Know the Job

Is part of the problem that some people just don’t know what they’re doing? You know those people – everyone is talking about how awful they are and how they drag everyone else down. So what are you doing to help? If someone can’t or won’t pull their weight, find a way to solve the problem. Helping others remove obstacles makes the job easier for everyone involved and promotes a healthy work culture.  If your manager doesn’t see the problem, help them take notice. You don’t have to “snitch”. Try brainstorming with colleagues on ways to strengthen the team. Then find a way to get the information to the people who can make it happen –  even if you just drop a note in the suggestion box. If nothing else, suggest that there be a suggestion box– you have to start someplace.

Skill No 3. Develop Self –Confidence

This isn’t so much a skill as an attribute. Believe that you can make a difference and then act. Once that suggestion box is installed – use it. But here’s the thing, don’t just throw a note in and wait to see what happens. If nothing happens, find out why. Not everything you suggest will be approved but at a minimum find out what happened. As my wife likes to say “nothing changes if nothing changes”.

Skill No. 4 Strengthen Your “Soft Skills”

You already have the “hard skills” necessary to do your job. You’re a great ______ (fill in the job description) but what about those skills that can’t necessarily be quantified? For example, how are you at Critical Thinking, Communication, Leadership, or Stress Management? The good news is if soft skills are not your strong suit they can be taught. Check out local Adult Ed, Community Colleges, Online Learning, and of course Management and Leadership Coaches. The really good news is that if you start to develop these four basic skills you may wind up adding “Manager” to your next job description.[

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09Aug/13

Do You Know What You Don’t Know

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If you ask what makes a good manager, you’ll get a lot of different answers. A good manager communicates well, knows when to delegate, keeps the big picture in mind, etc. This is all true but it also takes something else, a special insight into yourself as well as others – you have to know what you don’t know.

Here’s what I mean by knowing what you don’t know. When I left active duty in the Navy, I joined the Reserves as was assigned as the Division Officer for a particular unit.  The first night, I held a quick division meeting and introduced myself.  As soon as I asked if anyone had questions, a young petty officer said “Yes ma’am, what makes you qualified to run this unit?”  Before I could answer, the Chief Petty Officer standing beside me pointed out the bars on my collar and said “these make her qualified, and I’ll see you after the meeting”.  I knew that the Chief was going to lay into the kid for the way he phrased the question but it was a valid question. Just because I was in charge didn’t mean I knew anything and my first job was to find out what I didn’t know.

Turns out that I not only had to learn about the unit mission and equipment but I also had to learn about the organization. I learned my role and how to partner with my Chief and not be his “boss”.  I learned that if you have to say “that’s an order” and it’s not a safety issue, your people have lost respect for you as a leader. Better to get it right from start.

So how do you do that?  It’s not hard but it means taking a long look at yourself.  Here’s one way. A SWOT analysis can be used to analyze a situation or problem before starting to strategize a solution.  SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.  I see no reason not to do one for yourself.  Take a piece of paper and divide it into four sections.  Label each with a SWOT characteristic. Start with your job description and write down all of things for which you are responsible. Place each duty in the correct box. Is it a threat to success because you don’t know how to do it? Is it strength because you’ve been doing it all your life? Do the same thing with your education, your belief system, or even what you think the job should be.  Add anything you can think of that will help you figure out where you are, what you know and what you don’t know.  When you’re done, examine the grid for things you can do to capitalize on your strengths, shore up your weaknesses, explore your opportunities and neutralize your threats.  Not only will you find out what you don’t know, you’ll be shocked at how much you do.

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