2010 February | Coach Train Learn

Archive for February, 2010

Management Skills - Quick Steps to Workplace Relationship Building

There are many ways to build relationships with those working in your team. Many managers are very effective with this skill and others, well, less so.

For those finding it a challenge, here are three quick tips.

When we want the best performance with our people, we have to develop smart management skills to get the very best from them.

These can easily be learned, implemented and them practiced to build the level of expertise that will be valuable.

Ask Something Personal

This is easy.

By asking something gentle and loose, yet relevant to them, you will take a big step in making the relationship fast.

You see, most people like people who are interested in the things that are important to them. So as managers it’s vital to build relationship[s that aren’t about the workplace alone, it’s the ability to get to know them as real people that counts.

By asking simple questions that really show an interest and curiosity in them as individuals and not just those horrible corporate ‘numbers’ we so often label our people with, Being as personal as they can let you be, we show we care and are interested.

This in turn build rapport and trust that will grease the wheels when we need to ask more of them to add value to their performance - and our business.

Pay Full Attention

This is as simple as it gets, yet so many managers fail to observe this fundamental relationship building skill.

When you listen to your people, be courteous enough to pay full attention to them, by looking at them, focusing on what they say as well as really understanding what those words that are coming out means.

There’s a little more to this. When we engage in one-to-one interactions with people, this is a contract we have to make and keep. A contract that exists between us to show that we value them and their input.

By blocking out interferences, we can make this a creative contribution to the relationship-building we undertake.

Listen to Them

When you show you are listening, you strengthen a relationship and this can happen really quickly, within minutes even.

This is more than paying full attention, because it asks questions of what they tell you.

By linking what they say to the next level of interaction we have, we generate a far closer relationship with them.

They sense that what we heard from them was useful enough to want to know more; to seek greater clarification and even better to show we understand them fully.

Truly listening is without judgement and is purely to gain information and more. The more being that we really ‘get them’; who they are, what they feel and how they stand personally on the issue in hand.

Listening is bigger than words - it is being at one with them.

Using these three neat little steps will rapidly accelerate your relationship-building skills, such that you blend the need for good people on your team, with the ability to make it work much more effectively.

Building relationships with employees is a vital requirement for managers. These three small steps will make it much easier.

Workplace Relationship Building Win-Wins - Getting The Ball Rolling

We build relationships with our employees by drawing ourselves close to them. Ensuring that there is a win-win in every case with each one of them, is vital.

Sometimes there needs to be a catalyst - and that must be you…

As managers, it’s vital that we demonstrate that there are mutual benefits when we build relationships with our employees.

This sets a stake in the ground for what you will deliver for them and, in turn, what they can expect to get from you (as long as you are prepared to deliver consistently).

After all, asking for extra effort on both sides is a bit unlikely, particularly if there is little for them to gain. Frankly it’s impossible to continue to ask for them to give ‘one for the team’, if each individual sees little value for them personally and individually into the future.

In many organizations and teams, mistrust builds year-on-year as employees get let down. It could be a series of corporate decisions; or a really poor manager who starts it all off (or, sadly, sometimes both).

The bottom line for many employees is that sadly, on repeated occasions in their work experiences and careers, they may have experienced less than they expected from their employer and that causes deep and lasting distrust and pain.

For any manager making the effort to begin again or rekindle a barely flickering glow in their existing team, it can look a rather steep hill indeed when attempting to kick-start the relationships with their team.

The key here is to ensure that you, as their manager, start to put new focus on providing them with actions and other hard evidence that you are not just someone who only proposes changes.

You are the one who will truly deliver for them actions that will work and you have to be able to demonstrate in real terms - and pretty much in real time - that things will happen for the benefit of everyone in the future.

But that’s not enough. The clever managers out there will seek some very personal quick-wins for their people, individually, so that they recognize that effort is not only being promised, but that it is being delivered on a one-to-one basis too.

Managers who want progress that leverages every single one of their people have to make the effort to show them that it’s going to be worthwhile. Actually providing real opportunities that will encourage their team members by the actions they take are critical.

Getting the win-win relationships up and buzzing will work best when managers pro-actively come up with specific and tangible gestures, that will provide real value for the other side of the table and show they walk their talk.

In doing this, the balance of contribution may initially come from the manager’s side, but the rewards for this constructive investment will, over time, be more than worthwhile.

The Philosophy of Responsibilities in Workplace Relationship Building

Relationship building is a vital core activity of anyone who manages or leads others, yet those being managed also have a responsibility to make the interactions work. So, why is understanding about responsibilities so important?

Understanding the relative responsibilities in relationship building in the workplace is important, so that suitable focus can be attached to each side, working towards consistently successful interactions.

Knowing that each side has a part to play and that this will involve deep consideration (especially where relationships have been strained in the past), helps to frame the mindset that will be important to create.

Responsibilities are not to be taken lightly. They are indeed a responsibility in themselves. Of being in a place where behaviors can create or destroy the outcomes that each side might want as well as appreciating that sometimes these may be different.

Holding responsibility is important, yet sometimes gets stuck behind a number of challenging and conflicting attitudes that can make the decisions about how to approach a relationship somewhat blurred.

For example, an individual may well have set ideas about what they want from their job. This needs to be aligned with what the job entails, the conditions within that job is offered and the rewards, some tangible, some not, that are provided.

A manager, on the other hand needs results for their area of responsibility and that is usually their overriding focus and can, on some occasions blinker the expectations and hopes of their team members.

Without understanding that the responsibility for a mutually beneficial relationship lies on both sides equally, it could be easy merely to push for only the respective needs of each side.

Yet, without taking the responsibility to realize that both sides want their needs met, neither side is likely to win. Indeed it is likely that antagonism and mistrust will take over and the relationship founders, which no-one wants and is quite value-less.

The philosophy of responsibility in relationship building is that it is an important ‘gift’ that each holds and this is to be used in a way that enshrines the values of both sides, whilst acknowledging that one side does not have any greater grip on their own outcomes than the other.

When we take up a responsibility, it is not to be taken lightly. Where this relates to the interactions we have with others, taking responsibility means that we have to know and understand what is important to them, as well as what’s in our own interests too.

Ultimately, the responsibility element of relationship building is a critical element of success, with each side being clear on what the best outcome will be, not just for themselves, but for everyone.

Effective Workplace Relationships - External Influences

There is value in ensuring that the interaction between a manager or supervisor is effective. Both sides have much to gain.

Although this would seem to be a relationship between two individuals, who else might be involved?

When managers work closely with team members, the exciting relationship that builds is value-creating on both sides.

Greater productivity and performance being the most likely outcomes for the manager, whilst career development and a much better working experience for an employee - just two examples for each that can come from working well together.

There are challenges enough for those two to get together productively, with both sides needing to have the intention to succeed in how they interact, as well as being able to work to come closer together to create the right environment.

That said, theirs will not be the only influences that will come to bear, despite this seemingly being a one-to-one relationship.

We are all shaped by our whole environment and it’s likely that these ‘external’ influences will need consideration and the working relationship progresses.

So, just who could be implicated in how two people interact, apart from those individuals themselves? Here are some possibilities:-

Family and Friends

This can present some of the most difficult challenges.

In such cases, employees can be influenced into working in certain ways by others who, variously, may not have the full picture; will have had very different work experiences; and ultimately, just be unwilling to go half way to work well with other people, especially managers who are trying hard to make things work better.

Managers need to acknowledge such pressures and ensure that whatever they do to make workplace relationships better, the external influences can be very robust. It’s not to give up on at all, indeed these workplace experiences might be a breath of fresh air to the person they are trying to be creative with. It might take time.

Having a consistent approach with all team members will help, so that those facing this particular issue will be encouraged to overcome other prejudices, to dig in and take the risk of trying on better working relationships with supervisors or managers.

Other Colleagues

When two individuals are working together to build a better working relationship, this can be influenced by the shared perceptions of others in the team.

This is usually caused by fear and other emotions, like jealousy or frustration and more.

Managers need to watch for the reluctance of individuals to get more involved. By ensuring that everyone in the team gets the same treatment, this issue usually resolves itself.

Other Line Managers

Managers are frequently encouraged to work in some bizarre ways by their colleagues, who might have experiences that are set in quite different circumstances and with different people and situations involved.

Managers need to understand that they will create relationships best, when they are being at their most authentic with themselves and not feel obliged to ‘do it their way’.

Being able to stand up and develop their own strategies takes courage and, from time to time, the occasional failure. this is all part of management self-development and is a very worthwhile exercise!

External Business Contacts

There may be times where the impact of other business contacts can affect the way that managers get on with their team.

Sometimes such extraneous influences can be hard to pick up on and adjust in favor of your own activities.

The key here is to be good at creating good working relationships with all of your people, all of the time, so that anyone affected by external influencers can see that the ‘home way’ is best and then they are likely to gradually fall in line.

These are a few of the possibilities - and there may be more. The key element here is to remember that whilst two individuals might wish to create a much more positive working relationship, there will be underlying and sometimes even unconscious thought processes that can take time to overcome.

Great working relationships are hugely valuable, not just to a manager who can get more out of their team, but, when working well, to each single individual who is on the other side of the desk, in the personal reward and development, not to mention exciting and motivating work, that they can experience too.

Management Development Secrets - Growing Skills By Maintaining Your Momentum

As you develop and grow your management skills, it’s easy to slacken and ease off when you have a busier week.

The key here is to keep momentum - and only you alone can do this.

Making progress with management development is easy at first. The most obvious changes to your skills and behaviors will be the most apparent and potentially (though not necessarily!) the easiest to change.

Once you are aware, through your own very focused and objective assessment of your performance, where you can make a start and have quick successes, you will find that in itself is quite enough motivation for you - if you really are up to the challenge.

As you find activities that will help you, through an easy to use and simple guided program maybe, or a book that you’ve carefully selected and read, you will carry on along the career-long path of continuous improvement.

This journey is one to be relished, as you see opportunities come that will make you more fulfilled, much more capable and ultimately successful in your role as a manager.

There is always plenty to go at too!

These activities might take a few minutes to set up and then even just a few minutes to do, especially when they are simply part of the day-job.

There is much evidence to show that the most successful managers are able to learn on-the-job at least 70% of the time, whilst a measly 10% get full value from a workshop or training session (the other 20% comes from coaching or mentoring from your boss, one-on-one).

Even if the activities take up to a maximum of an hour, this need not be separated from what you do as part of your job anyway. The best opportunities will always be where you learn in real-life experiences and try new things on to see how they fit.

The only test to see how it’s going is how it works in the real world.

Truth is the biggest mistake any manager can make is to get today’s job confused with what’s needed to make tomorrow better. By working on development as you do the normal work, you will feel that both are being satisfied!

You see, it’s false economy to say that you are ‘too busy’. In that mode, you’ll be way too busy every day of your career.

Investing a little time in simple daily tactics and actions to develop your management skills really will make the difference going forward.

Remember this, in moments of weakness.

Fire-fighting just puts out the fire, it’s the prevention that stops them happening again and again.

So spending just a little time invested each week in making things different for the future, truly will pay off for both your business results and yourself.

In the long-term, whilst not forgetting the importance of the short, management development right there where the workplace action is, will provide ongoing opportunities to grow.

(c) 2010 Martin Haworth. This is a short excerpt from one of 52 lessons in management development at Super Successful Manager!, an easy to use, step-by-step weekly development program for managers of EVERY skill level. Find out more at http://www.SuperSuccessfulManager.com.

Management Development Secrets - Taking Focused Action Is The Key

To build your skills and abilities as a manager, you need to find out those areas where you have a need to grow.

That’s just the start, though, then you have to create actions that will kick-start your management development.

Once you have looked carefully at your own performance as a manager, either alone or with the help of your team and the feedback they give you, you will be a lot clearer in the priority areas that are so vital when you are developing your manager skills.

Frankly folks, that’s not enough.

In the modern world of business, whatever area of management you work in, there are pressures unheard of even 5 years ago.

Organizations of any size have to deliver big-time and at any sort of manager level, the focus for delivery is on you.

Having been dynamic in getting you thinking about how to set about your management development activities, now is the time for taking action by creating some small activities that will help you learn, grow and be much more effective.

Sometimes, you need guidance and help about what to do.

Whilst there are many books out there (well over 100,000 management books at the last count on Amazon!), you can find very focused, inexpensive and easy to use programs and activities that have the potential to literally transform your management performance

By being aware of and seeking out development opportunities that are available, you will be taking the first (always the hardest) steps to grow, because these will continue to shape your focus and enable your progress.

Management skills blur and overlap across each many different disciplines, where one action can actually make a significant difference in other areas of your performance.

By taking in the broader picture and letting the learning experience flow, you will take the learning as it comes - a very satisfying and fun way to learn, whilst benefiting from the improved outcomes you starts to see come through.

The key here is to focus, engage your mind on taking action, making the changes and reflecting on what you learnt as you go.

By targeting yourself and trying our new activities (however small they are, for the biggest wins will come as you ‘tweak’ rather that try to change the world in one go) every week, you are refining your behaviors to add new levels each week.

You will find that the activities you choose to pursue, all fit together.

Although sometimes you might not always find it logical, what you’ll be learning a few months into your ‘project’, is that ideas repeat themselves in different ways, giving opportunities to revisit elements of skills development in different ways which will help a lot.

That’s the essence of some of the great programs out there that you can find. Structured, simple to adopt as well as refined in such a way as to repeatedly link together for your ongoing development in ways that you might have not thought possible.