2010 April | Coach Train Learn

Archive for April, 2010

Why Asking For Help Works For Managers

Management can be a tricky role to play. Not only is the work challenging, but sometimes it’s hard to find the help you need.

Yet there are people all around.

The simple act of asking you team for help can be a difficult step for many managers, because it can seem to be that they are not that tough, irreplaceable and fail-proof character they feel they ought to be.

Whilst that might take a little time to overcome, there might be more value in taking the first tentative steps than might seem at first obvious, so it’s a path worth pursuing.

By saying ‘I need your help’, managers open up a whole new ball game, which can have profound effects for those within whom they place this trust.

There are four reasons this works well for managers, not to say their people, who get their share in some positives too…

1. Emotional – the words ‘need’ and ‘help’ dig deep within people, such that they find it hard to refuse. Providing help to someone who needs it can be as compelling as someone who is sick and requires support.

2. Valued – you are asking them for help with something that they feel you believe they can achieve for you, so they feel useful. That is a hugely valuing sense they get of personal validation.

3. Engaged – the help you are asking them for, gets them involved in something that the ‘manager’ has specially asked for help in. Does that focus attention or what?

4. Personal – it’s a one-to-one appeal you are making to some one person (though this can be asked of a whole team too, it’s effective in a different way). This is almost a ‘secret’ pact between you, which has a huge power.

Using this tactic is a valuable tool to have available to you. You can use it in the following circumstances when you choose to:-

•    You can use it to really create space for yourself as others help you.
•    You can use it as a tactic to build someone’s confidence.
•    You can also use it when you think that a stretch and challenge will be a valuable development exercise for someone on your team
•    You can use it when it will help you build, strengthen and enhance a relationship for you
•    You can use it when maybe you didn’t even need to, though you have to be careful that to them, the request is fully authentic and necessary for you.

The value of asking for help cannot be overestimated as long as you are able to get out of your own way in achieving it.

(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.

People Management – Having An Open/Closed Door Policy

It’s important to be accessible to your people. Being available means that you have the opportunities to bond and be willing to create excellent relationships.

And there’s a time to stop as well.

We are sociable animals.

As managers, there is nothing in us that makes us different from the rest of humanity. We like interaction with others and this adds value to the relationships we have, which, in turn, makes us good to have around.

Here’s the rub – we need to be involved with people to make the most of the relationships we need as managers, yet we also need to be able to draw the line as well.

It’s a huge benefit to your relationship building activities to be approachable and available for any of your people who want to drop by. Yet this can be very disruptive when you want to focus on work that you need to do.

Sometimes, you need to close the door on your office and get things done, without being unapproachable. This can seem like quite a paradox, yet it isn’t at all.

By simply having a rule that says, ‘When the door is closed, I’m busy’, you create a message that people understand and will prevent you seeming to be unavailable.

Because, when your door is open, you show you are keen to keep in touch and be there for them as well.

It’s a simple way to set boundaries that your people will ‘get’ when you explain it to them, whilst still retaining the availability that is so vital when you need to be close to them too.

At first your people might find it strange if it has not been your normal practice up to now and, well, they’ll get used to it once you apply it and explain why.

In fact, it might well be a tactic that others adopt, which you will need to honor yourself for them.

Here’s how to make this work for you in the most positive way, whilst setting those boundaries that are all important too.

Just make it clear to all of your people that an open door means you are available and a closed door means that you are only to be disturbed when there’s a fire!

You can apply this to calls and e-mails and virtual contacts as well.

By creating spaces – the right spaces – for your people, they get your attention when you aren’t distracted by the things you have to do and they also learn that there are times when, you know, it’s OK to create space for yourself.

In their own ways of working, they start to integrate this as a discipline for themselves as well.

Slowing Down Does the Trick

It was one of those days where everything wasn’t going right.

I’ll not bore you with the details, but one thing after another had gone wrong and instead of being aware of this accumulation, all I did was get more and more frustrated.

Then I saw the butterfly.

I don’t know what sort it was; I wasn’t actually that close to it.

But I did notice that it was resting as it remained, for almost a minute, wings tight together.

It was in that moment that I myself was prompted to take a deep breath and just relax a little.

It had been a busy week. It had been a week where a number of things I was doing were a little different from normal.

There were new opportunities, new experiences and fresh relationships to make.

In those busy moments, the collaboration of chaos had gained its own momentum.

And I needed the butterfly to help me see it – the value of slowing down for a minute or two, giving a smile and then letting the world – my world – flow a little easier.

Building Workplace Relationships – Being the Model

The value of excellent workplace relationships cannot be over-estimated.

Leveraging the interactions between individuals, be they manager to employee or visa-versa is incredible, so taking responsibility for this has to be progressed by someone.

When a manager recognizes that there is work to do on taking up the responsibility for making better use of workplace relationships, that’s a great start.

Simply noticing that the way they interact with their people is not as productive as it might be, is a huge step, because that awareness so often leads to an understanding of the situations they face.

With awareness comes a decision.

Whilst the responsibility for moving relationships up to a new level does not entirely fall on a manager or supervisor, there is an opportunity for them to make the first step.

Recognizing that relationships are not working as positively as they might is one thing, the next step is the logical progression to appreciating that a responsibility for moving them forward is the first step.

Now, it’s possible that everyone on the team understands that there is more to come, but the management focus needs to be on leading from the front and grasping personally the responsibility for improving relations.

Sometimes, there can be hurdles to overcome. Past history, personal preferences and, yes, prejudices can get in the way. There can even be a bit of ‘Why should I?’ in the pot as well.

Managers need to see past this, because the rewards are clear. By taking the responsibility for moving forward relationships that aren’t working to their best, managers start to model for their people a broadening of attitudes that they will replicate.

When there’s a brick wall, someone needs to be prepared to take the first swing at it, because until someone does, there will be no progress. Once a chink of light is seem, others will become much more able to get involved themselves.

Where managers show that they will take responsibility themselves to improve the working environment by engaging better with their people, the relationships will all start to grow, with gathering pace, so that the value from everyone getting on better, with trust, support and encouragement, begins to be realized.

As you people notice those small changes, they too will embrace the needs for change. they will notice how improved relationships begin to make a positive contribution to their lives as well. They will begin to see that they have some responsibilities in this area themselves.

Where you take responsibility for the first steps and show them they way, your personal modeling at this stage will be the catalyst for significant shifts for each one of your team as well.

The Recipe for Management Success

Sometimes it’s good to find out other perspectives. So often it’s easier to sit with ourselves and believe our management capabilities are adequate enough. Maybe it’s time to wake-up…

As managers, we all want to run teams that bring success to whatever our enterprise is. The component members of those teams will often decide what are likely to be the outcomes we achieve.

When we evolve into our careers, we gradually start to understand that the best way to achieve the results we need, requires an element of discomfort.

When we are comfortable, it often shows that the challenges we accept are simply not tough enough. With an easy time with our people, maybe they are not demanding enough of us, so we are resting up in the comfort-zone we create for ourselves.

Depending on our circumstances, we might have a team ranging from just one other assisting us, to many hundreds (though in cases such as this, there will often be a smaller team we relate to in an in-between position) and that can be a lot of people to get the best from.

The challenge we face is to create a constructive and dynamic team, with just the right amount of ‘edge’. Then we ourselves have to appreciate that to make good progress, we need to slip out of that comfort zone we inhabit to a place where, on any given day, we find others asking questions of us that we need to consider carefully.

To get the best performance, we have to take three – possibly uncomfortable – steps:-

1. Assess our own comfort zone. Is it too ‘easy’ with the team we have? Are there challenges we have to face? Do we receive tricky questions we have to answer?

2. What are the opportunities to shake things up a little? When will that happen? How prepared are we to draft in new people who will make us feel a little uncomfortable?

3. What do we need to change within ourselves to accept that the way it is currently, might not be the best way forward? How easy is it to accept that we might be more of the problem – rather than the solution – and how do we shake ourselves out of that stagnation?

As managers, it’s vital to recognize that sometimes we get stuck in a comfort-zone. And if we aren’t careful, that can easily be to the detriment of our business – and in time, do us few favors for ourselves either.

Starting Small In Taking Responsibility To Build Relationships

Creating excellent workplace relationships is a valuable exercise at any time. The responsibility for developing these, belongs to everyone in the team.

Getting this going needs to start somewhere.

Once we get clear in our minds that there is a significant value in having effective business relationships with our people – and for them with us – it’s vital to understand that the responsibility doesn’t fall simply on someone else.

Managers and their employees share that responsibility, so that everyone benefits from the value that workplace relationships – at their best, of course – provide for all.

After time being unaware that there is work to do, the simple act of understanding that each one has some level of responsibility can be daunting. And, when this happens, it’s possible that those first tiny steps to take that challenge on, becomes less attractive.

So, where to start?

When we realize that we all have to develop tactics to make the best of those we work with, the most important activity is simply recognizing that up to now, perhaps we might not have done as much as we could.

The simple act of noticing that we might have been more proactive; more receptive or even better, taken a look at what we are and aren’t doing, is a great first step to take.

Once that awareness have become apparent, next up is starting to acknowledge that there are steps we can take that will make the start in bring us closer to our people.

Now, whilst everyone has some responsibility for the whole relationship building activity, as a manager, it might well be useful to ensure that you take the lead, at least at first, by acknowledging and taking steps to appreciate that you have a responsibility to get things moving – at least a little.

As you notice where you might have stopped seeing that some of the responsibility for creating valuable relationships lies with you, you will start to see some of the opportunities for you.

These will be small at first, because relationships can only be started at first, then, as they gain momentum, you will find that more and more opportunities come to your attention.

It’s almost as if that small first step is the catalyst. Acknowledging that it is yours to do, at last in part will also trigger others to see the ffort you are making, and then do a little more themselves, every day.

You aren’t going to get everyone on board at first – you are going to be able to show them that you have seen the way forward and are grasping the opportunity.

Relationships only start when those involved start to recognize that they have work to do to make the best of these interactions.

By starting small to each take a shared responsibility, you each have every chance that this will grow – and then everyone will be the beneficiary.