2011 February | Coach Train Learn

Archive for February, 2011

Delegation – To Whom? When?

In a recent interview, Ron Dennis of the McLaren Formula 1 team said,

“I’m the executive chairman, but if I delegate a role, I’ll step away & let that person get on with it”.

When we lead and manage teams, we cannot stand alone and do it all by ourselves on our own. Our role is to get the best from the many…

Delegation is all about clearing our own desks of the ‘stuff’ that comes at us and giving the tasks to others. We do this for a number of vital reasons:-

1. We delegate to others strengths

Low confidence is one of the biggest challenges that organizations face. Helping others to see their greatnesses is a big step on the way.

So we give them work they are good at, love to do and can deliver perhaps even better than we can ourselves.

‘Catching others doing things right’, is a great mantra for any manager or leader.

2. We delegate to others weaknesses

Now, where this works it’s a great solution on all sides. When we show confidence in others to develop their weaker skills – as long as we hold their hand on the way – it builds capability and also team capacity.

Care is needed that we acknowledge exactly where these are not weaknesses just because they haven’t had the time to develop – they simply are a weakness.

And we don’t push something that will only reduce confidence and a sense of failure.

3. We delegate our own weaknesses

Why struggle with talents we don’t have? Where we know that we simply aren’t good at some things why keep trying?

Great leaders give their own areas of absolute weakness or ineffectiveness to others who are not only more capable, but also will benefit from showing their capability too.

4. We delegate our own strengths

Of course there are some elements of work where our role requires our personal skills and usually leaders are recruited because they are good at it.

Where succession planning, employee development and motivation would find it valuable, delegation of areas where a leader is very skilled is a worthwhile activity.

It also helps leaders from staying within their own comfort zone too – just doing what they are good at – which can be synonymous with what they ‘like’ to do.

5. We delegate to develop people

We might pick out specific activities that we usually deliver ourselves and pro-actively choose people who would benefit from having these delegated to.

This is part of structured development planning where the delegation is a focused ‘gift’ from the leader to the individual.

6. We delegate for efficiency

As highly paid leaders, we can, of course, choose what we do. Because of this, we need to be fully focused to ensure our organization gets full value from the higher reward the role gives to us individually.

In effect, we delegate everything we possibly can where – very honestly – we decide whether an activity can be delegated with no loss of performance in the organization – sometimes in the longer- rather than the shorter-term.

We can then get on with our own job description and let others get to theirs.

A couple of key points on delegation

As Ron Dennis said this week in the article in the Mail On Sunday Live magazine, delegate and leave them alone to get on with it. There is a rider to this. Be there, at least at first where they might need support.

Delegation is not about closing the door and letting them struggle.

Great leaders keep a watchful, supportive and distant eye on those to whom they have delegated.

How far can you go with delegation? Well, probably much further than you think.

Effective Change Management Comes Fully Inclusive

Change can be a very uncomfortable place to be. Particularly for employees, there are many times where imposed change can make them feel powerless, out of control and ultimately, this causes fear, resentment and lots of other negative emotions.

There is a way to make them feel much better and keep onside the positive asset they already are.

The most annoying element that comes when managing change – especially where you’ve taken the time to build lasting relationships with your people – is to see them suffer with the new challenges they will face.

In fact, it’s even more basic than that. It’s that they struggle with what they don’t yet know and the personal consequences for them as individuals.

Because the nature of change – especially in larger organizations – is to take a step by step communication process, managers usually know more than individuals and yet have to hold back, because of the processes involved. This makes fo even more discomfort, because every employee is anxious for their personal bottom line.

Nebulous and generalized statements regarding impacts will not hold much sway with an individual unless they are able to appreciate exactly how it will affect them personally – and imparting that level of knowledge is not always possible to start with.

Yet there’s a way to enable them to have less time to focus on the unknowns and to constructively contribute to what’s going on. When your people are enageged in valuable activities, they will quickly get absorbed in where they are able to contribute and spend less of their time dwelling on what (only) might be coming their way.

There are many ways employees can become engaged in change.

A key to making this work best is the upfront investment you have personally made to engage your people, well before change has been even hinted at. Do not miss opportunities in your everyday work to create powerful relationships with your people in as many ways as you can – even informallly – because this will be a big lever that will work in your favour in the future, when times might not be quite so simple.

Sometimes, they will be enthusiastically engaged where you have a ‘what’ to deliver as an outcome – or series of outcomes – of changes, by using their skills and experience to come up with some creative – and often unexpected – ‘hows’ of the mechanics of delivery. They will have great ideas – if you involve them openly and honestly.

There will be opportunities for them to collaborate together, to negotiate between them changes they are going to have to deliver which can impact on their personal circumstances.

Where improvements to operational procedures and deliverables are needed, you will be amazed at how varied their approaches can be. After all, even though you’re the boss, you don’t have every answer – and those that you do have will more often than not be the best. (This concept can take a little getting used to for many bosses!).

Where you are able to communicate more fully, their contributions from questions they have will add to the mix for everyone, where you see it as an opportunity to explain and explore answers with a whole group of people. Creating a series of FAQs fromn your teams’ queries will very often prevent you wasting time saying the same thing over and over to many people.

And why stop with change activities utilizing your whole team this way. In a world of wikis and open source solutions, the smart organizations are already leveraging the knowledge, ontribution and ultimately the raw power of the many to solve problems.

One day, imposed change might well be the last way we solve problems. Our people will, in an enlightened business world, have fixed things before they become a problem in a rolling, ultra-inclusive process where all are involved and – deep breath required – bosses simply keep the plates spinning.

© Martin Haworth 2011. This is an expanded version of just one of many change management ideas, from Resilience in Change. For your free – downloadable today – ‘Managing Change’ Super-Simple Success Tips e-book, visit http://www.ResilienceInChange.com

Dealing with Business Changes

Change is all around. It is something that no-one can avoid, especially for those in the corporate world, because business change is always looming around the corner.

Whether it’s your most awaited promotion, being a part of a new team or being sent to work for a branch of your company in another location, it is truly certain that the only thing constant in anyone’s life is change.

So how do you deal with business change and the feelings that accompany it? Do you sulk in a corner and complain about how unfair life is? Or do you stand with your chin up and face it head on?

If your answer is the former, here are a few tips to help make your answer the latter instead.

Given the experience of change people often have, it’s quite understandable for many to feel uncomfortable simply hearing the word ‘change’. However, instead of tending to looking at the negative side of things, it can be much more productive to look for positives instead.

By doing this, changes ahead can be much less daunting and instead of trying to resist, embracing it with open arms can be of great value indeed. Once people know that change is going to happen anyway, it’s not worth wasting time and effort evading it.

The sooner most individuals get familiar with the said change, the sooner they’ll find the exciting new possibilities that come with it.

Even more important, is that whenever business change happens, no-one is ever alone in handling it. Building a support system for one another will strengthen bonds and make professional relationships work in a more collaborative way.

Lastly, be patient when change happens. Yes, it may take quite a while to get used to the new challenges, but over time, yesterdays change becomes today’s norm. So, by taking control and avoiding the seemingly endless and uncertain period take its toll, everyone will gradually be able to adjust and move forward.

When there is little control, business change is feared by many because of the feelings that they encounter when faced with it. Yet, with enough preparation and proper knowledge, all these worries can be found unnecessary.

Following the tips and ideas above can make business change much more interesting – and much more successful too.

The Purpose of Team

‘No man is an island’, or so said John Donne back in the early 17th century. Never more relevant than today. Never more relevant than in the field of business, a team is the vital component to deliver success.

Whilst there is a value in quality management – or we would not need managers at all – their capacity to produce results that are the required outcomes simply cannot be delivered alone, however good any individual is.

The true quality of managers is to leverage the numbers. To produce the synergies of their people where they engineer performance that is more, much more than simply a sum of the parts.

Blending together the varied components of a team is the artform that the best managers have been able to harness. Using the most effective man-management skills to generate collaborative performances by team members that go way beyond individual and isolated capacities.

That’s what managers do.

Groups of individuals, brought together to achieve a common purpose; bring different skills; varied experiences; wider potentials and more, that enable volumes of work to be delivered that individuals simply cannot. Groups do this.

Teams are more.

Teams are enlightened individuals who understand, appreciate and are engaged by the opportunity to work together for the shared outputs and have been able to step aside from personal interest and ego.

Great managers are able to motivate, engage and fulfill the potential that the individuals in their team offer.

And in doing so, they create results that are more than firstly they as one person – and secondly their people as individuals could possibly generate.

They leverage the synergy of the possibilities that teamwork is able to provide.

The purpose of ‘team’ is to be deliver more – be more – than is possible with isolated individuals, however gifted they may be. As inherently social animals, we cannot deliver outstanding results alone.

We need to be more than one. We need to bring together the many to be even more than they could individually contribute. In a place where 1+1 equals more than two.

Sometimes much more.

Change Management – Easy Tactics For Managers

Change has become a source of fear in many people, especially for those in the business sector. It is looked upon as something that signals the coming of difficult times.

If members of the workforce would just view the change without bias, it can be proven to be far from what its reputation stands for.

You see, change is not something to be afraid of, but instead it is something to look forward to, because of the opportunities and adventure it so often provides.

And since change will always happen – no matter what – it is much better to be skilled in taking control of these types of situations, whether you are leading change or a part of those on the receiving end.

For any organization, those with change management skills are vital to bring forth, because managing change is a relatively simple capability that many people may already have within themselves. If not, they can easily be developed through time and a little practice.

The first – and probably most important – change management skill, is being able to connect well with other people. Communication is the key to building trust within teams and the individuals in them, which in turn leads to them treating each other with respect and care.

This makes it easy for everyone involved to cooperate in discovering the best way forward during changing times and situations.

Next, those leading change must also have a clear cut idea of where things are going to go. This enables them to easily discuss and collaborate with others in planning on facing these adjustments as well as seeking their valuable inputs, which in turn develops commitment and inclusion.

Another important change management skill is consistency. With this, everything else done in relation to the change that is happening is executed with fairness and equality in mind. Helping those involved have a framework within which the change will take place and reduces the sense of simply not knowing what’s going on.

Along with consistency comes planning wisely. By doing so, you and your colleagues will be able to prepare for whatever will come your way. By considering (almost!) every possibility and planning every step – usually to agreed timescales – progress will be predictable and you’ll be ready for any surprises.

Last, but not the least in change management, leaders – and their teams too – must always have self-discipline and persistence. With the former, scheduled changes will surely be followed on the dot and through to achieve the outcomes required.

While with the latter, it can be certain that whatever has been decided will push through, no matter the hardships that come along with it. This will add value at the end of the day, which is the whole point of change.

Change and, for leaders, change management, really aren’t anything to be feared, because it is better to be skilled in taking control when change comes along. So instead of running away when you hear about change, get prepared to get going.

It’s the best way to make constructive progress where everyone involved is part of a win-win solution.