UTurn^TV

Yesterday I had lunch with the lovely Justin Turner who is the MD of Carrot Media.  I delivered my Team Building programme to him and his team just over a year ago when they were experiencing some operational and staff challenges.  Over a year later he has done a video for me where he explains that not only did Moments of Clarity resolve their issues in the short term but has had a long lasting effect on the team and the success of the business.

Thank you Justin.

Jules

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If, like me, you are one of the 2.5 million viewers of the Channel 4 programme Undercover Boss I wonder how many of you reflect on this programme in relation to your own workplace?  I’m sure you do.  The comparisons will be really easy to make.

I love the fact that someone deserving gets something nice at the end of the programme.  I usually think  ‘oooh how lovely’ and have a bit of a cry.

However, if every CEO and Managing Director in the country really wanted to know what was happening on the ‘coal face’ in their organisation it’s extremely unlikely that they would be able to disguise themselves sufficiently with a new haircut and a pair of glasses if there were only 20 people in the company.

Good CEO’s and Managing Director’s recognise that without their people not a lot actually happens in their organisation and it’s in their interest to know how staff feel and what it’s really like to work for the company.  However, how do they find out if they can’t get an offer of a TV crew and some plastic surgery?

My experience tells me that the only sure way to know how your people are feeling is to ask them.  I don’t mean staff surveys that give people limited choices in what they’re allowed to answer or suggestion boxes that can be percieved as paying lip service to listening.  What I’m suggesting is that each person in the organisation is given the opportunity to express their views about how they feel and what they would like to see improved and what follows is an active exploration of those views with some clearly owned actions and some resulting activity.

Resulting action is critical to ensure, again, that you haven’t conducted a ‘lip service’ activity.  ‘Actions speak louder than words’ is a great maxim to live by.

There may be things that we don’t want to hear, that make us feel uncomfortable but we all know that a ‘clearing of the air’ is generally a good thing to do.  Obviously this needs to be done with respect, care and compassion but adopting this approach will pay huge dividends.  There may be issues raised where it’s just not possible to effect change but if you know about it you can at least provide an explanation of why it can’t be changed.

As your organisation expands and a few more layers of management structure become necessary it becomes even more essential that you, as the leader of your organisation, have fostered an open, honest and direct culture.

I have been working with a manager recently who told me about his team of ‘complainers and whiners’.  When I asked him to write down what they were complaining about the piece of paper I gave him stayed blank.  He explained that he didn’t know one thing they complained about because he had learned how to cut the conversation short assuming that all they were doing was complaining.  Further exploration revealed that there were actually some real, if fairly minor, business issues that needed to be addressed.  Even if the eventual outcome wasn’t what the individual was looking for they would at least be able to see that a genuine attempt at finding a resolution had been made.  This improved relationships dramatically.

One of the greatest gifts we can give another human being is to listen to them.  Really listen.  How often have you felt that you wanted to get a really important point across but you knew the person that could make a real difference wasn’t listening?  From a human perspective it’s soul destroying.  From business perspective it can build a culture of mistrust, demotivation and stress.

How does your organisation ensure that you know how your staff feel?  I would love to hear your views and hopefully you won’t have to go undercover to know how your people feel about working in your company.

Jules

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This video doesn’t really show Jules at her best because she’s feeling a bit under the weather.  However, she talks about how you treat your staff when they are ill and what you can do to help them feel better sooner.

Yesterday was a lovely sunny day and my friend and I decided to have a day out at the seaside.  However, when I walked out of my front door I noticed rather a lot of cigarette ends lying either side of the front steps.  I live in a big old house that has been converted into 5 apartments and as most of the folks who live there are renting we get to see new faces on a relatively regular basis.

Obviously tenants agreements will state that no smoking is allowed inside the building which means that smokers need to stand outside the building when they want to smoke.

Truthfully my initial reaction to seeing all of these cigarette buts was one of offence.  It makes the approach to the building look awful (in my opinion).  Worse that many of the buts were littered underneath my bedroom window which is on the ground floor.   Fortunately my bedroom window has been closed recently but won’t be from now onwards as the weather improves.

It’s obvious that what I consider to be acceptable standards of behaviour is not the same as for other people.  I do know that if I was a smoker I wouldn’t drop my buts at the front door and take the risk of offending others.  If I want it to stop I’m going to have to do something about it.  I’m not sure what that might be yet as I don’t know who is responsible and what might be a good approach that would not cause offence in return.

Whilst mulling this tiny problem it reminded me of managers that I have worked with who don’t take the time to define acceptable standards and behaviours for their teams.

Too many businesses have publicised their standards of ‘excellent customer service’, and thereby acceptable behaviour, because they have worked out how they can deliver their service cost effectively and within the boundaries of current resources.

The most effective teams I have ever worked with have been those who have defined and communicated what they consider to be acceptable standards and behaviours whilst at work.  Attending to the detail of how a team behaves shows elegant team management.

What is acceptable behaviour?  In my experience acceptable standards and behaviour tend to be driven by customers needs.  For example, some customers like an informal chatty approach on the telephone but others would find this unacceptable and would prefer a more formal approach.  As the manager, if you don’t communicate this to your team and leave them to their ‘best efforts’ it could sour future relationships and have long term repercussions.

The best and easiest way to identify what your customers want in terms of behaviour is to ask them.  It seems fairly obvious but not many team managers I know have gone to these lengths.  What is ‘excellent customer service’ to you isn’t necessarily ‘excellent’ to me.  One of my customers was quite happy to be kept informed of updates and progress via email with minimal words and was happy with just facts and figures.  I found this out by calling him and being told, in a very straighforward manner, that he didn’t have time for ‘chatting’.  Other customers felt happier if phone calls were made so that a nice, ‘get to know you’ conversation could take place.

Taking the step of asking your customers how they would like the service delivered to them would ensure several things:

1. You would have a vehicle for discussing acceptable standards with your team
2. You will be able to communicate clearly with and to your team about what is acceptable and thereby, what is not
3. More than likely, you will have impressed your customers by the fact that you have taken the time to ask them what they want
4. You will have created the potential for discussions about increasing business or selling other services with your customer

In approaching team management in this way you are doing everything you can to improve the image of you and your team.  For those team members who don’t want to play the game, you also have a vehicle for managing performance or managing them out of the business if need be.

With the increase in internet/social media marketing it’s never been easier for your customers to find an alternative supplier so it’s critical that you create great relationships with them that secures their loyalty for the long term.  Taking the time to understand what they consider acceptable in your team’s behaviour may take a bit of time but will ultimately reap the greatest rewards.

I would love to hear your views and thoughts on the above so please take the time to comment.  It would be greatly appreciated.

Jules

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The following management tips will help improve your managment style and take it to a higher and more human level:

Be More Compassionate

The next time you feel a flash of irritation at something one of your team has done incorrectly try to stop yourself from reacting and imagine that the person in question is a very dear friend or family member.  Imagine how you would deal with the issue if they were someone that you cared about deeply.  By adopting a more compassionate attitude towards them you will begin to build bridges and better relationships.

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.  If you want to be happy, practice compassion.  Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

Separate the Issue from the Emotion

When things go wrong and teams are not functioning, too much time is spent dealing with the emotional effects of a business issue that needs to be resolved.  Phone slamming, crying in the toilets, bitching about the boss (you!) are all symptomatic of underlying issues that are not being addressed.  Try asking your team members why they are behaving that way instead of telling them their behaviour is inappropriate.  Whilst it is important to acknowledge the emotion and accept that it is valid it is wasteful management spending time trying to train someone not to behave inappropriately – you are not their parent.  Understand the cause and a solution can very quickly be found.

“In the last decade or so, science has discovered a tremendous amount about the role emotions play in our lives. Researchers have found that even more than IQ, your emotional awareness and abilities to handle feelings will determine your success and happiness in all walks of life, including family relationships.” – John Gottman, Ph.D.

Empathise

Make it part of your management strategy to spend time truly understanding the stresses and strains of your teams’ work.  I’ve never believed that you should be able to do everyone’s job in your team to be a good manager but I do know that being able to empathise with their perspective will instantly make you a better manager.  Ask them how they feel about their job, their environment, their colleagues, the team as a whole and as they answer your questions imagine you’re in front of a mirror and it’s you saying it.  Spend time afterwards checking in on how you felt.

Empathy is full presence to what’s alive in the other person at this moment. John Cunningham

Be Authentic

When you are operating every day as the authentic you it allows you to show your team (and your senior managers) the best of you.  The real you will make decisions that are for the benefit of all: you, your team, your senior managment and your organisation.  If you hide the real you with  a mask of insecurity or artifice I believe that those you work with will see it, even if it’s not consciously understood, they will always have that niggling feeling that ‘something isn’t right’ and will never trust you.

“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” – William Shakespeare

Be Straight and Honest – Always

You always know when someone is lying to you, or being nice rather than hurt your feelings.  Even if you are never 100% sure what the lie was, something in you will walk away from the conversation with a ‘feeling’ that something wasn’t quite right.  If you acknowledge this to be true then it follows that it will be the same for the people you work with.  We often fear the consequences of giving someone a piece of news that we feel would hurt or anger them.  This does not give the person you are talking to any credit for being able to deal with the absolute truth.  Practice in front of a mirror a difficult conversation you need to have without dressing it up, masking it or adding your personal view and edge to it.  Then practice it on a trusted friend who will give you feedback on how you came across.  Even if you need to deliver distressing news, human beings all deserve to be respected by giving them the truth so that they can have an opportunity to react appropriately.  To deny them this opportunity is wasteful and creates unnecessary emotional reactions which make your job twice as difficult.

Where is there dignity unless there is honesty? Cicero (106 BC – 43 BC)

Be Genuinely Kind

A genuine act of kindness will always be seen as just that.  Your ability to be genuinely kind will dramatically improve your relationships with your staff.  Perhaps one of your team would really appreciate the chance to leave 10 minutes earlier this week to help with a particular childcare problem, or perhaps you can offer a non-judgemental listening ear to someone who is having relationship problems?  Even the smallest act of kindness such as making the tea will be appreciated, even by the most cynical.  If you can do this without any expectation of compensation or return your team will be loyal to you and go the extra mile when you need them to.

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.  ~ Samuel Johnson

Challenge your perceptions

Always remember that even if you are all in the same room, everyone will have a different view of it.  We all have our own particular viewpoint on any issue presented to us but rarely take the time to check what others see or feel.  When you ask someone their perspective you can often be surprised by their take on an issue.  Remember that no-one’s view is right or wrong we all just have different perspectives on things.  Asking your team their views and, wherever possible, incorporating them into your solutions will make your team feel valued and respected.

Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our point of view. – Obi-Wan Kenobi

Many thanks to Brian Johnson at www.philosophersnotes.com for providing a wonderful quotes resource.

Jules poses the question – Do you love your staff? Please leave your comments below.