as a manager you'll play a few different
roles as I go through the five primary
roles think about how you play them over
the course of your work week
the first is producer you must produce
the desired results and achieve the
organization's goals through projects
and tasks
second is administrator you must
administer systems policies and
procedures so that the organization runs
efficiently
third is innovator in order to enact
change that serves the organization's
future you'll need to be creative and
innovative solutions
fourth is mediator not only what you
need to help your employees work your
conflict
you'll also mediate any tensions between
the employees needs and the
organization's and fifth is culture
builder you must build a work
environment and culture that values its
members and supports the organization's
goals each role requires different skill
sets and you may be better at some than
others you want to play to your
strengths and develop the areas in which
you still need to grow also think about
how you can utilize the strengths of
your people to balance you it also
happens that these roles can actually be
in conflict with each other for example
administering a policy might actually
limit innovation or an acting change
might threaten the current culture part
of being a manager is knowing how to
balance these roles and also when to
prioritize one over another this can be
confusing because there's actually two
primary perspectives to consider one is
the employees perspective which focuses
on the experience of the people under
the manager this is the one we're all
most familiar with because we've all
been under a manager at some point in
our careers the other is the
organization's perspective which focuses
on the effective completion of work that
drives the organization's success every
manager must find a way to live at the
intersection of these two different and
sometimes competing perspectives let's
take a deeper look I'm going to start
with the organization's perspective
because it really does come first
everyone is employed to help the
organization accomplish its goals it's
also true that the organization's
perspective is what is driven management
style since the 1800s
the organization's perspective includes
several key questions like are the
assigned projects and tasks completed
does the work get completed on time and
within the allotted budget is the level
of work quality
sufficient to accomplish the goals is
the organization protected from lawsuits
by compliance with state and federal
laws and regulations does any innovation
occur that enhances the organization's
success does the manager hire and
develop employees who make positive
contributions to the organization over
time from this list it becomes obvious
that from the organization's perspective
key management skills include project
management time management resource
management communication decision-making
people skills and performance management
now let's switch to the employees
perspective the people who report to a
manager have several key questions like
are my tasks and responsibilities made
clear am i given the training guidance
and resources to complete the tasks are
my skill sets effectively used and am i
given opportunities to grow am i treated
fairly and with respect can I see that
my contributions make a difference and
are they measured accurately and is my
worth accurately assess and valued is
there a clear career path for me to
advance and grow and from the employees
perspective key management skills
include communication people skills
performance management training and
coaching and fairness or ethics there is
overlap the employee interaction is in
service of the organization's goals and
the organization provides meaningful
work and fair compensation to the
employee to be a successful manager
you'll need to find a way to artfully
navigate the inherent tensions and
opportunities that live between the
needs of your employees and the goals of
your organization
management styles are the patterns of
behavior people use when they hold
management positions these patterns of
behavior include how they communicate
make decisions supervise and motivate
there's a range of management styles and
all are a blend of three key behaviors
task Direction decision-making and
relationship building task Direction is
when the manager tells the employee what
to do as well as when where and how this
may involve teaching and training as
well as directives and instructions
decision-making is the extent which the
manager involves employees in the
decision making process this exists on a
continuum at one end employees have no
involvement at all and at the other end
the manager delegates decision-making
completely to the employees relationship
building is how the manager forms a
relationship with each employee as well
as creates the work environment or
culture for the team as a whole it
includes coaching motivating and
engaging employees open communication
and respect let me walk through the most
common management styles I've coined the
first style the director this manager
wants to be in charge so controls all
aspects of decision-making they provide
a lot of task direction and are often
seen as micro managers directors don't
engage much in relationship building
although they can be cordial
a hallmark phrase is do what I say
this autocratic style is appropriate
when employees have very low levels of
skill or initiative or when the
organization is in a crisis and needs
immediate change however the director
ultimately does harm to the organization
because employees are not motivated and
don't get opportunities to develop the
second style is the consultant this
manager still maintains control of
decision-making but knows that
relationship building is important so it
consults with employees to gain their
input employees can feel more engaged
with style
if the consulting is genuine Consultants
still provide task direction but allow
low levels of autonomy the phrase for
this style is I value your input this
style works well with employees who are
growing in their skills or confidence
but not yet to the level where they can
handle complex tasks on their own third
you have the consensus builder who
manages democratically this manager
genuinely seeks input and feedback from
all
they focus on what's best for the group
as a whole so often make decisions based
on majority preference or consensus the
phrase here is what do you think the
downside of this style is that they may
take too much time seeking input or
ignoring the best decision in favor of
the choice that has the most support
fourth you have the coach this manager
focuses on creating a highly productive
and motivated staff they provide both
training as well as encouragement to
grow they often create a fun and
positive work environment with lots of
team-building and social activities the
hallmark phrases how can I support you
this style is great for mid to high
performers but coaches can stumble if
they have poor performers or difficult
employees who don't respond to their
encouragement the fifth style is the
visionary this manager has an exciting
vision and they're good at inspiring or
persuading others to get on board often
they're great at strategic thinking but
not so good with tactical skills this
manager is exemplified by the phrase
follow me to thrive under this style
employees need to be independent because
they have to figure out the day-to-day
work for themselves the delegator is the
sixth style this manager uses a very
hands-off or laissez-faire approach to
management they turn over almost
complete control to their team stepping
in only when necessary
this style only works well with
high-performing employees the phrase
here is you've got this delegate errs
have to remember that while they may be
able to hand over tasks performance and
decision-making they must continue to
build relationships the last style is
called the narcissist and it's actually
the most harmful style with very few
redeeming qualities the narcissist
maintains control by providing a lot of
tasks direction and no decision-making
the engage in relationship building but
only the garner favors or support
abruptly dropping people when it no
longer suits their needs this person is
very self-centered but they can still be
likeable often even charming but they
rule with an iron fist
using punishments from firing - petty
retaliations to keep people in line
people under them are in fear so they
cannot speak up or seek help often once
this person leaves or is let go a whole
series of shocking information comes to
the surface
to know if you have this most toxic kind
of boss look for high turnover or a boss
that takes all the credit for their team
successes and blames their team for any
failures as you review these Styles
think about which Styles you've
experienced as an employee what impacted
the styles have on your productivity
motivation and loyalty to the
organization also consider which style
is most like you we all tend to have a
favorite or a natural style that we use
the most
you
to be successful as a manager you must
learn the art of delegating and it
really is an art because when done right
to require some thoughtful analysis and
intentional choices on your part
delegation is a very important
interaction that lies at the
intersection of three things the
delegator you the delegate the person
you're handing a task to and the
organization that the interaction is
housed within delegation is the process
of asking another person to do a task
while still maintaining responsibility
for that task it can range from giving
someone a simple everyday tasks to
appointing someone as the leader of a
complex project appointments can be
short term from minutes to a couple of
weeks or long term from a few weeks to
months but delegation is not just about
handing off tasks it's actually a great
opportunity to further motivate and
engage your employees by creating
opportunities for their professional
development as the manager you're in the
role of the delegator and you're
instrumental in making the process go
smoothly most people think that there's
only one phase you ask the employee to
do a task and they do it
but actually successful delegation is
more complex than that and requires you
to be savvy with both project management
as well as people's skills when I
consult with organizations I teach my
four phase model of delegation the four
phases are the evaluation handover
support and debrief the phases are
linear meaning that you need to complete
one before you go on to the next the
first phase is called evaluation in this
phase you assess aspects of the
organization your workload and your
employees this will help you determine
what can and should be delegated and
whom various projects should be given
the goal here is to match up your
employee strengths and opportunities for
growth with a project that will help
them further develop unfortunately
evaluation is the phase that most
managers skip because they feel pressed
for time this can set up a pattern where
managers try to do too many things
themselves and then when the workload
gets to be too much dumped tasks on
others at the last minute this not only
affects the success of the tasks being
done well but can also harm the
relationship between the manager and
employees so take the time to do this
phase because it will set you and your
team up for success the second phase is
call
the handover in this phase the focus is
to communicate clear expectations about
the goals of the tasks resources that
will be provided and the timeline you
also determine how much autonomy you're
going to give them a crucial part of
this phase is determining and
communicating how much freedom you're
assigning did you know that there's
actually eight levels of autonomy these
levels cover who gathers the information
who makes the decision and who takes the
action by far and away the biggest
source of problems in delegation is lack
of clarity about which level of autonomy
is being given the third phase is called
support in this phase you deliver any
resources or support promised in Phase
two this includes granting access to
Authority providing resources and
coaching your employee is needed
delivering what he promised builds trust
and respect with your employees and
again contributes to the successful
completion of the task during the
support phase you also monitor the
progress of the employee and the ways
you agreed upon during the handover the
final phase in the delegation process is
called the debrief this phase occurs
once the task is completed thus ending
the delegation you and the employee meet
to discuss the outcome of the task as
well as the process of delegation you
discuss things like what issues arose
lessons learned and ideas for improving
for the future as you delegate more
proficiently your team will become more
effective and efficient in completing
tasks you also gain the benefit of
moving some things off your plate which
frees you up to focus time and energy on
the projects that require your knowledge
and experience
as a manager you have a responsibility
to build others up obviously there's a
business case for doing so helping
others achieve their potential yields
all kinds of measurable outcomes that
affect the bottom line like productivity
innovation and customer satisfaction I
think it's important to remember that
building others up also reflects well on
you one sign that top executives look
for is whose team is thriving and
excelling they know that this indicates
a manager that has high potential for
future opportunities as a manager you
want to intentionally motivate and
engage your team recent research has
clearly demonstrated key factors that
inspire people let's first look at
motivation studies in psychology and
human potential show us that all humans
are motivated by three driving forces in
ranking order first need for physical
survival and safety this includes the
most basic necessities from air food and
water to our more modern versions of
being able to buy a home afford health
care and have job security when this
level is tended to we can focus more
energy on the second level which is the
need to belong this includes our social
needs of having friends and loved ones
and being able to spend quality time
with them in addition this level
includes our sense of achievement and
competence in professional settings when
this level is 10 to 2 we can then focus
on the highest level which is the need
to achieve our full potential
humans are drawn to becoming the best
they can be this not only includes
personal excellence but also expressing
and appreciating creativity as well as
making a difference in the lives of
others in fact compelling research has
shown that when the other levels are met
humans are most motivated by having
autonomy developing mastery and
contributing to a meaningful purpose now
let's look at engagement engagement is
the level of positive attachment
employees feel toward their job and
organization which serves as profound
motivator for productivity and growth
studies show that the top causes of
employee disengagement are feeling
invisible because efforts are not
measured or recognized the job or
workplace is not as expected there's
little to no feedback or coaching and
there's no access to professional
development they're overworked and
stressed out and there's
lack of trust or confidence in the
senior leaders so engaging employees
obviously involves tending to these
issues it's not just a one-shot deal
it's how they're treated on a daily
basis this includes hiring people into
the right positions making sure job
descriptions match real work
expectations providing training and
development and having a performance
management process that accurately
measures contributions but the true
spirit of engaging employees lives in
the relationships managers build with
their people here are some specific
strategies to use for building culture
of employee engagement through
individual relationships first get to
know your people individually focus on
the whole person and not just their work
life learn more about their strengths
skills and their styles for work
communication conflict and leadership
learn more about who they are as people
through your observations interactions
and discussions consider what you know
about their values experiences needs and
priorities second use your one-on-one
meetings to not only discuss performance
but aptly support their professional
development plans make sure that their
interests and ultimate career goals are
a regular part of your check-ins
regularly provide coaching and training
to enhance their skills and keep an eye
out for relevant opportunities like
being assigned to a project or committee
third use appreciative inquiry to bring
out their best appreciative inquiry is
based on the idea that instead of
focusing on our flaws or weaknesses you
want to focus on people's strengths and
successes to use appreciative inquiry
you ask a person or a team about their
successes times when they've really
excelled at something or had a peak
performance then you explore what set
that apart the goal is to find ways to
translate that success to other
performances finally celebrate successes
both large and small do this with
individuals and with the group people
are most motivated when they're moving
towards something and have a sense of
their progress rather than having their
failings highlighted when employees feel
respected empowered they can face
challenges with a collaborative spirit
and positive attitude as a manager
consider how you can use these ideas to
motivate and engage your people the
benefits to your organization are
numerous
establishing trust is an ongoing
practice something you do every day in
your words and actions as a manager your
success is dependent on creating an
environment where you're seen as
trustworthy not only by your direct
reports but also your supervisors and
your peers so how do you build trust
let's look at the key practices first
have integrity with your words and
actions this means that you do what you
said you would you follow through meet
deadlines and keep your promises this is
not occasionally but all the time in the
rare instances where you cannot deliver
you take responsibility explain why and
even apologize when appropriate second
share your values people have to know
what you stand for in order to assess if
you have integrity or not study after
study shows people assess
trustworthiness based on how well you
live in alignment with your values they
can do this faster if they know what
your values are interestingly they don't
have to like or approve your values for
you to establish trust third make
ethical choices ethics are another
important aspect of integrity how they
differ is that each culture or society
has its own laws and norms that
determine what's considered ethical
within that context acting ethically is
about being in alignment with the
agreed-upon standards of that community
certainly the workplace has some
agreed-upon standards like not
discriminating against people sometimes
an industry has a code of ethics like
medicines Hippocratic oath of do no harm
and many organizations have their own
code of ethics that they outline and
shared values or specific policies and
practices forth
sincerely listen to others when you
listen to others without judgement it
makes it easier for them to open up in
the future you want to be a place where
people can bring their honest concerns
needs priorities and hopes and know that
you'll listen this doesn't mean that you
have to give them everything they want
in fact you often won't be able to but
if you listen and respond with respect
you'll build trust with every
conversation fifth be accountable for
your actions part of managing is taking
risks and making decisions sometimes
you'll be successful and sometimes you
won't if you blame others
make excuses you'll damage trust and if
you take credit for other people's work
you harm trust too so be accountable for
your actions both good and bad admit
your mistakes and be proud of your wins
6th be honest in your communication your
word has to mean something this is not
only following through on promises but
also that you can be honest about
anything sometimes honesty is hard it
means that you offer realistic
assessments frank critiques and clear
opinions that can be challenging if you
know the other person won't like what
you have to say or may be hurt by it but
Trust has also built on people knowing
that you'll be honest find ways to
communicate honestly and clearly but
also with kindness and empathy it will
make it easier for them to hear what you
have to say vii respond to feedback
you'll be the recipient of feedback and
how you handle it is part of building
trust if you get defensive or shoot the
messenger
you're gonna harm trust as a manager you
have power in the relationship so you
need to intentionally seek feedback and
then make changes
remember people leave a boss not a
company before they leave they'll try
once or twice to give you feedback if
you don't change they'll start
disengaging as they get ready to leave
so take feedback very seriously in fact
intentionally seek it out don't just
wait for people to bring you feedback or
complaints actively seek out their
opinions both good and bad about how
things are going and reward honesty when
someone has the courage to tell you
challenging news sincerely thank them
they've actually shown you a great sign
of respect this is all part of making it
safe to take risks the last and most
important practice one of the worst
things that can happen in work setting
is if there's a culture of fear when
people are afraid they're obviously not
in trust and even worse you've shut down
the pathway to creativity and innovation
something that all organizations need to
be successful as a manager you need to
create a culture where it's safe to take
risks be open to hearing feedback ideas
that are different from yours
also don't allow your employees to treat
each other poorly and don't tolerate
behavior that undermines safety for
anyone in the organization be clear
about how
norman's issues are handled people feel
safer if they trust that the process
will be fair if you consistently focus
on building trusts you'll be able to do
so but the work doesn't stop there while
it takes time to build trust it can be
destroyed overnight one violation on
your part can undo months of hard work
so make establishing trust one of your
top and ongoing priorities it should be
built on a set of these practices that
you use every day
how do you feel about conflict it's
interesting but a lot of people think
that conflict is a bad thing something
to be avoided or de-escalated as quickly
as possible but conflict is actually a
natural byproduct of both group
development and diversity much of
conflict is healthy and contributes to
the growth of the individual and the
organization as a manager you'll find
that dealing with conflict is a normal
part of your responsibilities one model
that's very helpful to know is Tuchman
five stages of group development
Tuchman did research on groups and his
findings have stood the test of time
this model is still taught in today's
business schools the first stage is
called forming this is the time when the
members are introduced to the group and
they get acquainted the second stage is
called storming because it's when
conflict arises the group is sorting out
their differences as they try to
organize their goals and ideas the third
stage is called norming and this is when
group cohesion gets established members
find effective ways to share ideas and
the Justins performing is the fourth
stage and the group achieves
interdependence members are
self-directed and productive groups can
hang out in this four stage for quite a
while but eventually they move into the
last stage a journey this is when the
project or group is wrapped up members
finish up the task organize reports and
documents and they celebrate their
successes as a manager you need to
expect conflict and be comfortable
handling it the goal is to know the
difference between healthy conflict and
toxic conflict that can do harm you can
identify toxic conflicts by the
following people openly use insulting or
demeaning words and actions like
name-calling shaming and smearing or
people sabotage or undermine the efforts
of another usually behind their back
both of these methods are destructive
they not only kill trust but they also
undermine the efforts and goals of the
group and organization you should have a
zero-tolerance policy for these kinds of
conflict behaviors
however toxic conflict is actually rare
and only shows up when people cannot
resolve their differences through more
open and healthy means to this end you
want to create an environment where
healthy conflict can be embraced here's
some great questions to ask can you
identify what the source of conflict is
for you
what are your needs concerns and goals
in this situation are there any hidden
agendas vested interests or emotional
attachments at play how would you
summarize the other person's perspective
where are your places of agreement and
can you build on those and identify some
possible solutions that would close the
gap between your differences remember
the goal is not to prevent conflict but
embrace it as a way to help your group
grow and thrive
so let's talk about meetings it's
important to remember that meetings are
still part of the bigger picture of how
you manage people projects and
performance so they should align with
your philosophy and style of Management
consider meetings as the time and place
where you motivate and engage people
with opportunities for autonomy mastery
and purpose let's get into some specific
considerations and strategies for
leading productive meetings I call these
the four PS of great meetings first get
clear about the purpose it's important
to know what you hope to achieve by
getting clear on the outcome you'll
avoid scheduling unnecessary meetings
meetings take a lot of forms from
one-on-one discussions to team project
meetings to presentations for large
groups of people the forum should always
support the purpose consider these
questions to help you get clear about
the purpose is this session interactive
or involve one-way communication is the
goal to disseminate information to a
group of people or have people share
information with each other do you need
to work together to identify the source
of a problem and brainstorm solutions
will you be engaging in decision-making
and do you need to gain commitment for a
course of action next choose the people
obviously invite the people that need to
be there to accomplish the purpose not
everyone needs to be in every meeting so
be thoughtful about who you invite in
order to prepare you'll want to think
about these issues will the participants
know each other what are their
personalities are they likely to be
competitive or collaborative what will
distract them and what will they need to
know in order to fully participate third
prepare for the meeting as the person
who called the meeting you're
responsible for getting everything ready
this includes several pieces pick the
best day time and place that's most
conducive to accomplishing your goal
next create an agenda it allows you to
outline what the meeting will cover and
how information will flow it's best to
use action verbs like a proof and decide
if people will be leading or speaking at
various parts of the agenda indicate
their names and if you're worried about
staying on time you can even indicate
how many minutes are allotted if your
meeting is part of an ongoing series
build in a small portion of time to
discuss past items and future items
but leave the majority of time for the
current issues at hand also it's a good
idea to think about the workload of the
meeting open the meeting with something
light to get everyone settled and warmed
up then get into the heavy lifting of
the meeting where you accomplish the
bigger tasks and end with a wrap-up
distribute your agenda to people in
advance allowing ample time if they need
to prepare something the fourth P is
designed a process for facilitating the
meeting it should align with the outcome
you hope to achieve and the needs of the
participants you've invited for some of
you your meetings will be governed by
Robert's Rules of Order a formal system
often used in government or board
meetings but if not here are some
general guidelines to consider start and
end on time this shows that you respect
the participants begin the meeting by
reviewing the agenda and doing
introductions if people don't know each
other use some tools to keep the
discussion on track one option is called
the bounce-back
if people go off topic acknowledge it
and say that's a great topic for us to
address at another time but let's
refocus on the current discussion some
people like to use the parking lot where
you place topics and suggestions that
you want to visit later you may also use
the talking clock where you say things
like Lisa will give her report in the
next three minutes or we have two
minutes left to discuss this agenda item
if you have decisions to make consider
how you'll vote on them will you use
majority wins weighted scoring and will
votes be public or private the most
important part of your role is to foster
constructive group participation
consider how you can get people engaged
in the process ask open-ended questions
like the ones from the clarity coaching
model we discussed in an earlier video
throughout the meeting summarize main
points and identify action steps of who
will do what and by when conclude the
meeting by having a closing round for
comments and follow-up by sending out
notes or minutes directly to members
we're posting online in an appropriate
place meetings are a necessary part of
the work world but by using the 4ps
purpose people preparation and process
you can create meetings that are both
productive and engaging
managing Millennials is a hot topic in
today's organizations Millennials are
the largest generation and as they move
through their life they're changing all
of the major institutions a lot of
research has been done on Millennials
more than any previous generation this
is both a good thing and a bad thing all
of this attention has certainly helped
us learn more about the different
generations which is useful as we shift
to models of management based on
engaging and motivating people but it
also brings a false sense of attention
to natural workplace dynamics for
example is it a millennial thing to want
work flexibility or is that more a
function of chronological age and life
stage and sure Millennials have been
shaped by technology in the internet but
is that really much different than when
the phone replaced letter writing or
cars replaced horses today
Millennials make up 25% of the workplace
and this will continue to expand the
front edge you're approaching mid-career
while the back end of the cohort is
entering high school
however Millennials are known for many
positive traits including their optimism
the ability to multitask and their focus
on achieving goals they were raised on
technology and can easily learn new
devices and social media outlets because
of the power of the Internet they have a
global worldview a commitment to
equality they also care deeply about
making a difference in serving their
communities we will also see more and
more Millennials step into leadership
roles in fact they're already there
Millennials hold 1/4 to 1/2 of
managerial positions in the US and many
have become entrepreneurs there are a
few famous Millennials who are CEOs of
today's most successful companies
Millennials differ in their leadership
style from boomers and Gen Xers
Millennials set broad and challenging
targets related to a meaningful purpose
they prefer flat reporting structures
and allow a lot of individual freedom
they build workplaces that are creative
and inclusive and they actively engage
and motivate their people to maximize
the contributions that Millennials can
make to your organization consider using
the following strategies first focus on
how they can make a difference make sure
you communicate the meaningful purpose
your organization serves and how their
role contributes to its success second
teen Millennials up with other bright
creative people this transcends age
Millennials love working collaboratively
and excel in cross functional
relationships they also enjoy being
mentored third give Millennials
opportunities to visualize the role they
could play they're motivated by having a
sense of their potential career path so
you can engage them through professional
development opportunities fourth harness
their focus on goal achievement they
thrive in outcome based environments
where they can set clear goals and
measure progress finally have
Millennials mentor others on technology
social media and diversity they really
shine in these areas and can help
everyone on your team if you make the
right management choices Millennials
will help you maximize a wide range of
opportunities that will benefit your
organization
with today's technology it's likely that
you have employees working remotely
nearly two-thirds of US companies give
employees workplace flexibility this can
range from the colleague who works from
home a few days per year to the employee
who permanently lives and works in
another geographic location you may even
lead virtual teams with members spread
around the globe a lot of wonderful
tools make this all possible
file-sharing and cloud-based tools make
it easy for people to work on projects
and documents together without actually
being together email instant messaging
and video calls have turned our phones
and computers into high-powered
communication devices that can cross
continents and time zones while all of
this leads to enhanced productivity it
can also lead to some challenges for
today's manager let's explore some
methods you can use for maximizing the
benefits while mitigating the risks set
people up for success with the right
technology remote employees can only be
successful if the technology works you
need to outfit your people with the
right tools including internet access
computers or laptops and software make
sure that they have what they need and
develop a schedule for keeping
everything up to date measure work by
deliverables rather than activities
since it will be harder for you to
observe people actually working you need
to shift your focus to the results of
their efforts focus on outcomes or
products this shift should be addressed
in your performance management process
in terms of how goals are set and how
and when you measure success focus on
communication and inclusion one of the
pitfalls of remote employees if they can
miss a lot of the spontaneous
communication that occurs when people
gather near the copier or coffee machine
encourage both the local and remote
employees to use tools like instant
messaging and video calls to include
people in the informal exchanges that
occur every day also consider how you
can include your remote employees in the
culture of the organization whenever you
have something for the local employees
see how you can create a mirror for your
remote people you can certainly include
them in on-site trainings and events by
making remote viewing possible but what
about the birthday celebration for a
colleague consider bringing a laptop so
they can attend via video or what about
the family day at the local zoo send
them tickets to the
in their town help them create a healthy
work-life balance research has shown
that remote employees tend to put in
more hours than their local peers this
is both good and bad news it means that
you don't have to worry about them
goofing off but you do need to worry
that they'll overwork which can lead to
burnout discuss how they'll monitor
their work time so they don't overdo it
and also have them create a dedicated
workspace so they keep work separate
from their home life our home should be
where we go and relax at the end of the
work day not a place that reminds us of
work let's turn our attention to virtual
teams where you have several employees
working together from different
locations this is also known as
dispersion and there are actually
different types of dispersion each type
requires different kinds of guidance or
support and some teams are combinations
of several types first you have people
that are geographically dispersed this
can be as close as different buildings
on a campus two offices scattered around
the world the amount of distance matters
as far their distances make it
impossible to just pop by for a
face-to-face discussion second you have
temporarily separated teams meaning that
people are in different time zones this
often means that work can not occurred
synchronously but is always offset by
several hours this can create challenges
because all communication is mediated
through written words like email losing
valuable nonverbal cues another level of
dispersion is inequality in the
configuration for example if you have
four people in one location working with
two people in another this can start to
create a clique if you will of the
people who work near each other because
they share experiences communication and
even culture and of course you have
cultural diversity people from different
regions countries cultures and languages
may not produce or perceive work in the
same ways the behaviors that indicate
trust and respect in one culture can be
offensive than another add to this the
additional barriers of language and then
communication mediated through email and
you have a situation that's right for
misunderstandings and conflict the
solution to all of these challenges is
communication and training as a manager
you need to provide tools for
communication and even set standards for
how and when it should be done dispersed
teams benefit from training on
to work in a dispersed environment this
should include an opportunity for
members to get to know each other and
build trust this goes a long way to
mediating conflict when it does arise
also consider appointing someone as the
facilitator of the group process this is
separate from the task they're
accomplishing together this person would
keep an eye on the issues we've
discussed helping the group successfully
navigate the challenges as a manager be
open to learning from your experiences
with remote employees and dispersed
teams this will help you make
adjustments over time that will improve
the experience for everyone involved
you
every day you'll be making business
decisions some of which can have major
implications for your organization not
every day has make-it-or-break-it
moments but collectively all of your
choices either contribute to or detract
from the success of your people and the
organization this is actually the
exciting part of Management you get to
have more responsibility and along with
it comes more influence as well
decision-making is the ability to
identify and analyze information draw
conclusions identify appropriate
solutions and choose a course of action
it often requires you to take the
initiative and also innovate new
possibilities and opportunities managers
who make good business decisions often
have a few key things in common first
they tend to be emotionally intelligent
emotional intelligence is how
effectively we manage ourselves and our
relationships it's comprised of 20
competencies including self-control
achievement Drive communication and
managing conflict all skills that are
needed to make successful decisions
second they actively develop their
business acumen all decisions are made
within the context of the organization
so being able to accurately read and
navigate the nuances of power and
politics are key to successful decisions
business acumen is also knowing the
forces that shape your organization and
industry including trends policies
technology and people
third they actively seek opportunities
to provide leadership as you learned in
the first chapter management and
leadership are two different skill sets
while you can keep your focus on the
immediate demands of management good
business decisions often require looking
forward finally managers who make good
business decisions find the right
balance between caution and taking risks
sometimes good decisions are all about
timing
you want to take enough time to gather
good information and think through
potential consequences but not so long
that you miss important opportunities
unfortunately there's no magic formula
for how to do this it's a judgment call
that's completely in textual to your
organization in the situation at hand
however if you develop the skills and
competencies we've covered in this video
you'll be armed with what you need to be
successful by taking your time to assess
the situation and think your potential
consequences you'll set yourself up for
success and by collaborating with others
in your organization
you can harness their wisdom and gain
their support
being a manager means you manage a lot
of things we've already covered all the
ways you'll manage people in their
performance now we're going to look at
how you manage the business this
includes making decisions overseeing
projects complying with key policies and
regulations and also managing the budget
the first place we need to start is how
you manage your time being a manager is
really a juggling act you must keep a
lot of balls in the air at the same time
your first priority is having a method
for managing your time so that you can
attend to each of the important things
you oversee without exhausting yourself
or burning out I'd like to add the
following tips first really focus on
what is true about you managing your
time starts with you and how you and
only you interact with time this
includes when you're at your best for
certain types of tasks for example my
mind is sharpest in the morning from 8
to noon that's the best time for me to
do activities that require a lot of
thinking like writing or designing
training sessions another thing to
consider is how long you can focus
without a break and how long of a break
you need before you're fresh again there
are no right answers but there are the
answers that are true for you second
explore the different components of time
management people often think that time
management is just about clocks and
calendars but it's really about managing
all the things that take your time this
means that you need to look at managing
your email scheduling your calendar and
even files papers and notes third create
a system that supports how you really
work once you know more about yourself
choose or design a system that supports
you the only criteria is that it helps
you be more focused and effective
finally and perhaps the most importantly
learn how to say no or at least not now
a big part of managing your time
includes protecting it all the wonderful
intentions and systems will go out the
door if you continue to pile things on
you're already full plate so one of your
key strategies is to control the flow of
things that you take on this can be
especially challenging if you have a
hard time disappointing people I
encourage you to create your own list
and practice them out loud until you get
more comfortable saying them that way
you'll be ready when someone is
standing in front of you with a request
together all of these strategies will
help you be at your best so you can
manage others with style and grace
another part of your role as manager is
keeping track of projects both your own
and your teams just like managing your
time you'll want to establish a system
for tracking the progress of your
projects because projects involve a lot
of people use the strategies we've
covered in previous chapters about
managing team performance addressing
conflict and having productive meetings
again there are a lot of systems and
strategies you can choose from and
you'll want to find something that
supports how you work and meets the
needs of your organization there are
some industry standards that may govern
your choices such as the scrum model
used with software development and some
organizations have invested in certain
procedures or systems thereby
determining what you'll be doing if
that's the case you'll want to get up to
speed as quickly as you can and make
sure that your team has the training and
support they need to use the system
effectively to ultimately project
management relies heavily on your
ability to plan and organize work you'll
be orchestrating multiple activities and
establishing courses of action to ensure
that work is completed efficiently
project management is also a group
effort so you need to find a system that
will meet your team's needs and that you
can all use correctly and consistently
here are key things for you to consider
first how are you tracking your projects
you'll need to quickly and easily
identify where any project stands this
includes timing and whether it's on
track to meet milestones and deadlines
second how will you assess the quality
of work a project completed on time is
not really an accomplishment if the work
is substandard
how can you assess the quality of work
and make necessary adjustments third how
do you stay within budget
I'll cover managing budgets in an
upcoming video but part of project
management is making sure that your
project is completed within its budget
one of the tensions that many managers
face with project management is known as
the quality triangle this essentially
states that the quality of a project is
a function of three things one how big
the project is or its scope two how much
time you have to complete the project
and three the budget you've been given
or the costs of the project which
includes staffing also known as the
triple constraint this triangle
illustrates that most organizations want
their teams to produce stuff that is
good fast
and sheep the theory of the quality
triangle is that you can only get two of
the three if you want it fast and good
it will cost more if you want it fast
and cheap then the quality will not be
as good or if you want it cheap and good
then it will take longer there's an
ongoing discussion about the validity of
this model between project managers and
the leaders of organizations you may
find yourself in the middle of this
discussion so part of project management
will require you to not only understand
these elements but communicate
effectively about them and that brings
us to communication skills at the heart
of project management is your ability to
communicate up and down the organization
you'll need to be able to accurately and
quickly share information to those above
and below you often acting as a
translator and mediator as a result you
need to become well-versed in speaking
and writing clearly you'll also need
system for tracking communication
knowing when information has been sent
and received as well as identifying when
people are not on the same page take the
time to learn and hone your project
management and communication skills this
will not only set you up for success but
will set you apart from your peers
another key aspect of managing the
business includes understanding your
role in the budgetary process whether
you work for a small business or a large
corporation learning to manage your
budget is a vital skill that you'll
wanna master as early as possible and
here's why if your team is successful in
achieving its goals but always goes over
budget you create financial problems for
your organization but your career will
thrive if you're the manager who stays
within their budget and even looks for
ways to reduce costs and drive
efficiencies managing the budget means
that you authorize expenses in
accordance with the budget that was
submitted and approved and you
continually monitor the amount of
spending to ensure that you do not
exceed the budget to successfully manage
your budget I recommend using the
following strategies first be informed
about financial matters you want to
learn about business budgets in general
in your organization in particular
there's some common terms and practices
that are widely used and then there are
things that are specific to your
situation for example there are
generally two types of budgets for
expenses or money that's spent capital
expenditures are any costs related to
the physical space like rent and
electricity and equipment such as
copiers desks and computers these are
generally items that are used for more
than a year and the operating budget are
the expenses affiliated with the
day-to-day running of the organization
such as payroll supplies travel and
professional development organizations
also track income or revenue this is the
money that comes in through sales grants
and other sources revenue is continually
analyzed comparing predicted income to
what actually comes in and adjusting the
budget accordingly this means that in
some organizations budgets are very
fluid and can be augmented or cut as the
Year unfolds while others are firm and
don't adjust at all once they're set
most organizations have an annual budget
that is broken down into quarters and
then further into months and sometimes
weeks obviously you'll want to know what
is true for the budget you manage and
this is why it's so important to
understand the specifics of your budget
the second strategy you'll want to ask
questions like how much is the budget
what expenses have been predicted and
what data was used to predict them is
the budget firm or will it be adjusted
if so when and
when do I submit my budget for next year
third have a system for tracking your
budget this may already be set up and
you just need to learn how to log in and
use the system but if you work at a
smaller organization you may be working
from spreadsheets entering receipts as
you go the most important thing is to
have a way to know where your budget
stands on a month-to-month basis this
might be something that you maintain
yourself or delegate to an employee just
remember that you are ultimately
responsible for the budget so you still
need to review their work in case
they've make a mistake believe me it
happens fourth adhere to the policies
and procedures at your organization
generally the larger of the organization
the more formal and complex the budget
process is there can be a range of
approval processes forms to file and
supporting documents to submit in
addition if your organization works with
any public funding there will be very
specific stipulations about how money
can be spent for example entertainment
and travel expenses often have an
elaborate pre-approval process that can
take weeks or you may be required to
seek bids from several suppliers through
a formal purchasing process when you
manage a budget it's expected that you
adhere to these policies and procedures
whether or not you're provided training
it's assumed that you will seek out the
guidance you need to be in compliance
which brings us to our fifth and perhaps
most important strategy actively seek
out training opportunities your
organization might offer formal training
on the budget process and if so you
definitely want to take advantage of
that if not you can also support your
own success by asking your supervisor or
a colleague in the finance department to
walk you through what you need to know
there's some great books on business
management and many community colleges
also have business courses available to
the public
managing the budget may seem daunting at
first but these strategies will help you
become more comfortable and you'll reap
a side benefit of being a better manager
of your own personal funds at home
it is vital that you know and understand
various laws and regulations that apply
to employment as the manager you play a
very important role in protecting the
rights of your employees and mitigating
risk for the organization over the years
employment laws have gotten more and
more complex at both state and federal
levels and they cover a wide range of
employment related topics including
wages hours worked safety and health
standards health benefits retirement and
non-discrimination based on a range of
identities such as race sexual
orientation national origin and service
in the military and that's just a few
you've probably heard of some of the
laws like the Fair Labor Standards Act
or the Family and Medical Leave Act but
what about the employing Retirement
Income Security Act it governs employee
benefit plans or did you know that
whistleblower laws are actually
administered by the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration or OSHA and
protects seventeen different employment
statuses if you want to blow your mind
just take a stroll through the
Department of Labor's website additional
laws and regulations fall under the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
or EEOC for example laws governing the
prevention of sexual harassment mandate
that employers must provide training and
have a clear policy for processing
complaints and the Americans with
Disabilities Act governs all kinds of
employment issues from recruiting to
hiring through training and movement
through the organization if you're
feeling overwhelmed at this point your
normal it can all be very daunting
luckily you're not expected to know all
of this on your own you'll be helped by
your colleagues and Human Resources
depending on the size of your
organization this may be one person or
it could be an entire department of
professionals well often your HR team
will be internal employees companies
also utilize contracted experts to
support HR processes either way you want
to pay attention to any information you
receive from HR and also adhere to any
requests they make as soon as you can
and thank them too they actually work
very hard to make sure that your
organization is not exposed to risks and
that you're not exposed to lawsuits
yourself throughout the year you'll get
many different requests from HR this is
because key legal cases continually
affect
compliance means and how and when it
should occur there are stipulations
about how and when employees are
notified and as the manager you play a
role in that
sometimes HR will send you information
via email with an action for you to take
that has a deadline sometimes you'll be
required to attend mandatory training
sessions and there'll be lots of
stipulations around documentation like
how you submit payroll or vacation
requests and how you document employee
performance issues while these requests
may feel like they detract from your
busy work schedule they're actually some
of the most important work that you do
so please take it seriously failure to
respond or act on your part can not only
put the organization in jeopardy of
fines and lawsuits it can also affect
your career as a manager you're
responsible for making sure that you and
your employees adhere to these various
policies and procedures so take the time
to form a positive working relationship
with your colleagues in HR and be the
manager they know they can count on
I believe that managing performance is
at the heart of the manager's role so
I've put the section first because it
will frame the rest of the material in
this course we're first going to explore
what performance management is and then
I'll share some strategies you can use
with your employees performance
management is the entire series of
practices policies and procedures that
guide and support an employee successful
completion of their work ultimately
you're managing people and completing
work that's necessary to your
organization's success all of this is
done within the structure of the
performance management process you use
and I'm not just talking about the
software or system you use for
completing annual reviews although
that's certainly part of it this means
that effective performance management
includes and aligns many different
aspects such as the organization's goals
and objectives the organizational values
and culture job descriptions
competencies assessment of employee
performance process for developing and
motivating employees compensation like
salary and bonuses and making employment
decisions such as promotion and
termination ideally all these elements
should align to create a cohesive system
that's clear to all involved and it
should provide you the manager with
clear strategies and practices to use
during your interactions with your
employees from one-on-one discussions to
project meetings to formal annual
reviews no matter your organization's
size or industry today's work
environment is dramatically different
than it was a few years ago more work
straddles multiple departments or
customer bases this in turn requires
more collaboration which then
necessitates better communication and
more employees are now working remotely
or with colleagues and other states or
countries because of the changing nature
of today's business environment many
organizations are realizing that need to
revise their performance management
systems so you'll likely experience a
range of models and systems over the
course of your career as a manager
you'll need to utilize the current
system in place at your organization but
I think it's always a good idea for you
to stay informed about best practices in
performance management
because it can guide how you implement
your
system or even how you advocate for
needed change some of my favorite
sources of information are the Human
Resources Leadership Council the Society
for Human Resource Management Harvard
Business Review and Burson by Deloitte
to be an effective manager I recommend
that you use the following strategies
first become informed about your
organization's process for performance
management and do so as early as you can
if they offer training attend it right
away many managers wait until they must
complete an annual review but that's
actually 12 months too late
performance management is something you
should be doing every week with all of
your employees if they don't offer a
training or if you still have questions
make an appointment with the appropriate
person in HR ultimately the performance
process offers legal protection to both
employees and the organization the
manager is the person responsible for
implementing it appropriately and
accurately no pressure or anything
second create your own method for
organizing key information consider how
you'll track and measure each employees
progress throughout the year perhaps
design your own forum for one-on-one
meetings or agendas for team meetings
that helps you align the day-to-day work
with performance management be sure to
explore the features that an online
system might offer you or other online
tools that can help you third be
transparent with your employees share
with them all you can about the process
discuss how and when their performance
will be assessed how you'll support them
in being successful and how it relates
to compensation and career opportunities
no employee should ever be surprised
during their annual review I recommend
doing this in a group setting so that
everyone hears the same thing at the
same time it not only saves you from
repeating yourself it also helps the
team know that they're all held to the
same process and standards in the rest
of this chapter we're going to look at
more parts of the performance management
process and how you can use various
tools to maximize your success as a
manager
true or false your role is someone's
manager starts their first day of work
actually it's false it begins the minute
you post a position for hire the part
that says reports - identifies you as
their supervisor and the person who is
responsible for the performance
management process the Job Description
outlines important aspects of their
duties and responsibilities and usually
includes other key elements of the
performance process such as expected
quotations and compensation and it's
likely that you'll ultimately
participate in interviewing the top
candidates assessing their skills and
abilities which will lead to a hiring
decision and a formal offer of
employment hiring and onboarding your
employees is the beginning of your
professional relationship and you want
to start off strong let's look at how
first make sure you use best practices
in hiring ultimately you want to hire
the right person for the job someone who
has the skills to be successful and will
grow from the opportunity the hiring
process should be designed to help you
assess key aspects of each candidate's
competence as well as how they'll
contribute to the daily work environment
of your team second follow established
procedures and practices if you have an
HR department they'll likely guide and
oversee some aspects of the hiring
process so be sure you attend any
training available to you employee laws
have gotten very complex over the years
and your colleagues in HR work hard to
help you and other managers be
successful but you have to listen to
their guidance one inappropriate
question during an interview like are
you married not only opens your
organization up to a lawsuit but it can
often cost you a good candidate who
might question your competency since you
didn't know better third put in the time
and energy to lead a great hiring
process hiring is a two-way street
you're evaluating the candidate but the
candidate is also seeing if they want to
work for your organization
and specifically you take this process
seriously I know that you might be busy
but don't make the mistakes that many
managers do which is to treat interviews
as an interruption in their day schedule
time to review applications create
thoughtful questions and assess the
candidates make sure you come to the
meeting with an attitude of
respect and openness after all first
impressions matter on both sides of the
desk the hiring process takes time and
energy but consider it an investment in
building a great team the more care and
thought you put into the hiring process
the more it will pay off down the road
in productive employees and
collaborative teams
a vital part of any performance
management process is setting goals and
tracking progress towards accomplishing
them let's first talk about choices you
have with a performance management
system one best practice and performance
management is to have the system
organized around cascading goals at the
top they begin with the organization's
goals or objectives and then waterfall
down to the department goals followed by
team and employee goals this allows each
person's individual task performance and
each team's performance to be measured
against how it contributes to the
organization's success another option is
to have two tracks one that focuses on
task performance and one that focuses on
career or professional development tasks
performance is about the actions
behaviors and competencies needed to
complete the task goal set for the year
these are directly tied to the employees
current position and job description and
they're not just to-do lists either they
can include key people skills like
communication and collaboration as well
as other competencies needed to do their
job effectively these discussions hi
directly to the annual review process
career and professional development is
about helping the employee move up to
other positions or opportunities in the
future this may include preparing the
person for management roles or helping
them develop new skills that position
them for parallel careers one of the key
ways to motivate and engage your people
is to support their professional
development many organizations build
these discussions into the performance
process although they're separated from
the annual review process and
compensation decisions no matter how
your performance management process is
organized you'll use goal-setting as a
way to focus and direct actions and
behaviors let's look at some strategies
you can use as a manager to help your
employees with goal-setting
first I recommend using the SMART goal
technique where each goal has the
following five qualities its specific
meaning that you get clear about the
details of who what where and how its
measureable meaning that there's a clear
way to see progress
it's action-oriented meaning that the
employee has the ability to do something
as opposed to it being in someone else's
hands
it's realistic meaning that it can be
accomplished with the time and resources
available and finally it's timely
meaning that it has a clearly stated
deadline possibly with smaller
milestones leading up to that deadline
using the SMART goal technique will help
you and your employee clearly identify
measurable behaviors that will make it
so much easier for you to track progress
you can also break the larger goal into
smaller steps aplomb the smart technique
to each one this allows you to take a
larger goal and see how it should move
along over weeks or even months
second Institute quarterly progress
checks one of the mistakes that managers
and employees often make is to set goals
at the beginning of the year and only
assess them when it's time to do the
annual review this not only makes the
review process difficult as you wade
back through 12 months it also
eliminates the opportunity to make
course corrections if you use the SMART
goal technique you should be able to map
goals across time shorter milestones
should build to the completion of the
goal when you check in every quarter it
gives you and the employee the
opportunity to see which goals are on
track and which may be falling behind
then you can strategize solutions for
getting back on track before it's too
late to fix it
third when progress stalls identify and
remove the obstacles it's very likely
that progress will stall for each of
your employees in some way when that
happens it's important to take a closer
look at what's happening because if
won't do much good if you set a new
deadline without addressing the source
of the roadblock for example if your
employee has too much on their plate or
competing priorities just putting this
gold back on their plate will likely
lead to another missed milestone down
the road or perhaps the employee needs
something to accomplish the goal such as
information or authority or training you
need to provide it if you want to see
progress or it could even be emotional
in nature when people procrastinate it's
often because there's something about
the task that's not compelling or
motivating you may need to help your
employee explore what's underneath their
resistance so you can address it as a
manager you'll often find that
supporting your employees in achieving
their goals also acquires some coaching
skills on your part I certainly have
we're going to cover that in the next
video
in the meantime can
how you can utilize these strategies to
help your employee set and achieve both
their performance and professional
development goals
as a manager I have found that coaching
is one of my primary tools for helping
employees be at their best however
there's a lot of confusion about what
employee coaching is and how it works
that's because there's actually
different styles of coaching and
different types of coaching
conversations that you can use in a
professional setting so let's clear that
up coaching has evolved from two
important but very different fields and
this essentially creates two primary
styles of coaching the first is skill
coaching where the coaches expertise is
in the skill and they teach that skill
to another person this mode evolved from
athletic coaching where the coach is
someone who has extensive experience
with a skill say baseball or swimming
and then coaches another on how to
improve that skill it's a model based on
teaching observation and offering advice
tips and strategies it's intentionally
directive and it's what we naturally
default to as managers the benefits of
skill coaching is that it's often faster
and easier to direct people and it
offers the manager a lot of control
about how work is completed the second
style is clarity coaching the coach's
expertise is in the clarity process and
they facilitate the other person and
accessing their own answers this mode
evolved from the field of life coaching
where the coach is trained in formal
coaching skills the coach facilitates
the other person and becoming clear
about an issue and uses powerful
questions to help them tap into their
own knowledge and expertise the coach
then supports the person's progress with
action plans and accountability this
aisle is intentionally non-directive and
the coach must be well-versed in the
techniques of clarity coaching there are
three primary benefits of clarity
coaching one it's a process that's
proven to motivate and engage employees
to behavior change is more likely to
stick when they arrive at it on their
own because they become more invested
and accountable and three over time you
build employee confidence because
they're more likely to initiate solving
their own problems in the future
obviously these two Styles can be at
odds with each other yet both are very
powerful tools for employee coaching it
becomes a question of which to use when
generally you want to use skill coaching
with new employees who need a lot of guy
or employees who are new to a complex
task but as your employees grow and
develop you'll want to shift more and
more often to clarity coaching now let's
look at the four types of coaching
conversations people can have in a
professional setting the first is
problem solving this is when the
employees have hit a roadblock with a
project or situation and they need help
thinking through the issue and possible
solutions second is performance this is
used when employees need to improve or
develop a professional skill to do their
current job well third is development
this is used with a high-performing
employee and is about preparing them for
the next level of skill or
responsibility
finally there's Career Planning this is
used to help an employee identify their
long-term career goals and plan for
achieving them as a manager you should
be having all four types of
conversations with your employees in all
of these conversations skill coaching
might take less time but if you want to
build the competence and motivation of
your employees you need to be using
clarity coaching more and more of the
time like any skill clarity coaching
will get easier if you keep practicing
it I'm a big fan of creating a coaching
culture in an organization many studies
have been done on the benefits with
return on investment paying off an
increased productivity employee
engagement and the effectiveness of
leaders you'll find that employees are
most happy with and loyal to managers
who use clarity coaching because they
feel valued heard and empowered so
develop your skills today and start
reaping the many benefits that coaching
your employees will bring
in today's collaborative work
environments more and more work is being
done in teams as a result an important
aspect of performance management
includes team performance ultimately you
need to find a way to assess and measure
how collaborative work reflects on each
individual employees performance as well
as the group as a whole a team is
different from a group of individuals
who may form a department or a
cross-functional group specifically to
be a team the group must have the
following four qualities number one a
common purpose this would be the clear
goal there to achieve number two their
efforts must be interdependent otherwise
it's just coordinated efforts of
individual contributors and that's not a
team number three they must share
accountability everyone is held
responsible for the group success or
failure and number four the members must
believe that the outcome will be better
working together than alone managing a
high-performing team takes effort so
plan to spend some time energy on
implementing these strategies this will
also help you address the most common
reasons teams fail which are unclear
purpose or goals lack of clear plan or
commitment to the plan inability to deal
with conflict lack of shared
accountability for results insufficient
resources and lack of trust
you
