That Moment When You Still Need Productivity to Increase

Last week we started with some tips on what to do when you really need productivity to increase for you and your team.

Did you have a chance to try out any of the tips?

This week, we’ve got Caroline back with some more suggestions.

Build Relationships – As a manager, you are building the bridges with other groups that will enable your directs to get things done.

Building trusted relationships within your group, and outside of your group.

What are some ways to do this?

• Spend time with your peers
• Find out what is important to them
• Build strong relationships so you can reach out via email, text, etc., and gain a quick response

A lot of times, the slow down in productivity is due to a lack of response from another group.

Well, you are all in an environment where you receive a huge number of emails and texts, and are in meetings everyday…so how can your asks stand out? Is it a situation where you need to actually make a call? If you have a trusted relationship built, you will gain a quicker response because you are known and they trust that the request is actually needed and important.

Manage the energy – …yes, you are responsible for keeping up your energy and the energy of your group.

For creating a positive work environment.

When you are working in a really fast paced, intense environment, it’s hard to perform at your maximum and maintain composure when your energy is low. This is really important for managers when you are often moving from one meeting to another.

So I use my calendar. Keep it simple.

Your calendar is not just about scheduling meetings. That’s the least it can do. I usually recommend on a Sunday evening or Monday morning taking a look at your calendar for the week – 10 minutes of calendar planning.

So where are you really tight? Which meetings do you really need to be at your best? Which ones do you need to be in and for how long? How can you insert a short amount of time to regenerate a bit when you are a key player?

• What can you delegate?
• What are the top priorities?
• What do you have to get done that day?

If you are stressed and performing at a lower level, this will make it difficult for your employees to perform well.

If you are introverted, then ensure you have enough quiet time here and there to regroup.

If you are extroverted, roam around – take the long way to the coffee room and interact along the way.

It takes only a few minutes and can make a huge difference if you purposefully build in “energizers” into your work day.

It’s not rocket science. It is less complex than all the technical issues you have solved so far in your career, and it will result in you accomplishing more in less time.

Lastly – Be inclusive.

When you are stuck on a challenge or need to be in too many places at once – involve your team. Discuss openly the challenges and have them get involved.

This will create greater trust, ownership, and buy-in so your team will work together more effectively – AND productivity will be higher with greater ownership and buy in.

A great leader once said to me … “even if you know the answer, ask for input”.

Input is not just for when you don’t know – it is to seek other views, to create involvement, and to create energy around a project.

A golden rule of mine is always err on the side on inclusion, not exclusion.

Interaction, inclusion, discussion…create those in your group.

They invite creativity and raise the energy of the group.”

That Moment When You Really Need Productivity to Increase and It’s Not

If you are a Manager then you’ve got ‘em … direct reports!

These guys make you, and sometimes it can feel like they break you too. The success of your team lies within you and each of your direct reports.

So, for the next few weeks we will have some more of our expert Coaches here to share with you some of their best tips and tricks when it comes to managing direct reports.

To kick us off this week (and next!), we’ve got Coach Caroline Paoletti sharing some of her best tips on how to motivate your team when you HAVE to increase productivity.

Let’s jump in!

 

“My approach as a leader was always to learn and work with each direct report in a way that was meaningful for them. This shows caring, builds trust, and allows you to learn the details of what helps them be their highest performing self. This will automatically create high productivity. So let’s talk about some practical things you can do, starting now!

Step 1: Define the Goal (what the team needs to accomplish).

Now what?

Think about:

• What can you do to contribute positively to the goal?
• What do you need to know to enable your employees to perform to their full potential and achieve their goal?
• Have you clearly articulated what they need to achieve so that they understand?

The answers to these questions will create your roadmap.

Some of the answers may be different for different managers, and different for each of your direct reports.

That’s a good thing.

Step 2: Know what motivates your directs.

My favorite question for this conversation is “What is a great day at work for you?”. It sets you up to get a descriptive answer with tons of information.

As an example, if they say “analyzing reports and finding the common thread”, they are probably introverted, prefer to work quietly, and enjoy finding a complex solution.

So if you want them to be more productive, it’s probably not good to give them 8 hours of presentations, Knowing what motivates them can increase their energy and ability to be really productive.

Giving them assignments contrary to their motivators will zap their energy and lead to a lower level of productivity.

Knowing your directs and how to (and what!) to delegate to each is essential.

Step 3: Find out what is hard for your directs (and work with them to actively develop that area).

Often people procrastinate around tasks that are uncomfortable.

Ask the question, how can you help them come up with a plan that enables them to move forward quickly?

One of your key roles is removing the roadblocks.

Your group is going to handle the 80 or 90% that fits in the routines of the organizations systems. Your job as a manager is in dealing with the other % that does not fit the normal routines of the organization.

Reducing the roadblocks saves your team tons of time and is one of your key contributions to higher productivity.

So, this week try it out: set a clear goal, begin to ask what motivates your team, and learn one that task that is more challenging for them in their current role.

And come back next week to learn a couple more tips from Caroline!

Communicating for Results

Have you ever talked to someone and thought you all walked away clear on what needed to happen … and then it didn’t happen?

We can all probably think of a time like this.

As you are working to hit your yearly goals, we have Coach Steve Schmitt with us sharing some tips on how to communicate more clearly with your team!

Thanks, Steve!

“The key to achieving performance personally and professionally is repetition.

I think the best quote to illustrate what we all know to be true but sometimes don’t full acknowledge is by George Bernard Shaw that says, “the biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has happened.”

Just because we said something does not mean that they heard, understood, or agreed specifically. What’s the solution? I have three tips for you:

1) Communicate your messages many times through different methods. This can be through different mediums, in different venues, or with different words. This is where Leaders really get a chance to make a difference.

When you communicate your messages about your goals and results, be sure to be very specific, succinct, and simple.

2) Make sure to lead with what’s in it for them (why should they care or want to listen?). It’s extremely common to lead our conversations with what we want and the fact is – people take action when they know how they will benefit from it!

A helpful lens to use when we communicate our goals and desired results is that we are actually marketing. The essence of marketing is getting people to take the action we desire, and good marketing communicates the benefits to the buyer. Another way of looking at this is we’re getting buy-in. Let’s motivate our Team to produce the best results they are capable of by getting them to want to.

3) Our biggest and best communication medium is our actions, Your Team is listening to your actions (many times more so than your words), so let’s act in congruence with our marketing messages (oops, I mean business communications). To modify a saying from Ghandi, “be the action you wish to see in the organization”. Your actions are your words, your appearance, your expressions, your mannerisms, your behaviors, and oh yeah, your actions.

Let’s think of it this way, three simple words caused shampoo sales to skyrocket – “wash, rinse, repeat”. Do you think maybe we can cause performance to skyrocket if we “communicate, act and repeat”?”

This week, try out some of Steve’s tips and let us know what worked for you!

Accountability Doesn’t Happen by Coincidence Either

So, did you get to try out some of the accountability tips from last week?

We’ve got Kristin back this week to share the 4 more tips on our delegation checklist – where you assign tasks to your team members and hold them accountable to quality standards and deadlines!

Take it away, Kristin!

After you’ve had the chance to communicate the purpose of the project/task,  state the mission and core values the task supports, and explain the results you expect there are a couple additional tips you can try!

• Identify checkpoints

Assign a date for an interim checkpoint or two and enter it into your calendar.   Depending on the person you are delegating to, the checkpoints you identify could be several one-on-one meetings to discuss progress to-date, a formal progress report, or a simple email from the team member describing progress. You might ask for a checkpoint report that covers three topics:

• Successes and progress
• Challenges or roadblocks
• Help needed, if any

Some managers like to state a “no surprises” policy at this point. “No surprises” means that the team member is expected to communicate issues in meeting a deadline well BEFORE the deadline. I always tell my team members, “Bad news early is good news,” meaning, if I know that you can’t meet a deadline well in advance, we can do something about it. Don’t tell me on or after the deadline about problems – then it’s too late to save it.

• Set a deadline and consequences for not meeting it

Clearly state the deadline for this task and why it is important. “Susie, we are not putting our best foot forward with the lousy copier we have, and it’s not sending the right message to our employees when we expect them to work with unreliable equipment. It’s vitally important that you have a new copier installed by April 15. I’m counting on you to do that, ok?”

The good news is that this process can expand or contract depending on the trustworthiness of the team member. If you are delegating to someone you already trust, you quickly hit on these steps. However, if you are delegating to a new person or a poor performer, you will want to follow this process to the letter. 

Let us know which tips you tried and like best!

And, if you want to learn more about accountability processes, check out Kristin Robertson’s book, Your Company Culture Ecosystem: Growing a Vibrant Business.