Senior managers can apply practical insights from neuroscience to make themselves—and their teams—more creative.
Marla M. Capozzi, Renée Dye, and Amy Howe
Although creativity is often considered a trait of the privileged few, any individual or team can become more creative—better able to generate the breakthroughs that stimulate growth and performance. In fact, our experience with hundreds of corporate teams, ranging from experienced C-level executives to entry-level customer service reps, suggests that companies can use relatively simple techniques to boost the creative output of employees at any level.
The key is to focus on perception, which leading neuroscientists, such as Emory University’s Gregory Berns, find is intrinsically linked to creativity in the human brain. To perceive things differently, Berns maintains, we must bombard our brains with things it has never encountered. This kind of novelty is vital because the brain has evolved for efficiency and routinely takes perceptual shortcuts to save energy; perceiving information in the usual way requires little of it. Only by forcing our brains to recategorize information and move beyond our habitual thinking patterns can we begin to imagine truly novel alternatives.
In this article, we’ll explore four practical ways for executives to apply this thinking to shake up ingrained perceptions and enhance creativity—both personally and with their direct reports and broader work teams. While we don’t claim to have invented the individual techniques, we have seen their collective power to help companies generate new ways of tackling perennial problems—a useful capability for any business on the prowl for potential game-changing growth opportunities.
Read the entire article on McKinsey & Company's site here, or in our article library here. Enjoy!
Earning the Right to Lead
Interesting leadership thoughts from the American Management Association ....
Becoming a leader within your organization is about more than just a title—it’s about earning your right to lead. Leadership has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Leading with authority is no longer an effective way of getting results from your employees. Truly inspired results need to be earned.
Remember, you’re not in charge. In order to build a sense of shared purpose among your employees—many of which come from wildly different backgrounds—you need to earn their trust. Demonstrate transparency, a willingness to listen, and be receptive to new ideas. Look at it this way: in earlier days, it was the employee who needed to earn the approval of his or her manager. Now the roles have been reversed. It’s you, the manager, who needs to earn the approval of your employees.
It’s not easy to put these words into action. Your leadership style is a direct reflection of who you are as an individual. You simply cannot change this with the flick of a switch. Reaching a leadership style that inspires trust among your employees requires practice and awareness. Take the time to learn more about yourself—understand your life experiences, and how they have shaped your leadership style. This simple action will go a long way in changing how you lead your employees.
There are more poignant articles and advice on AMA's Thinking Management Blog.
Becoming a leader within your organization is about more than just a title—it’s about earning your right to lead. Leadership has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Leading with authority is no longer an effective way of getting results from your employees. Truly inspired results need to be earned.
Remember, you’re not in charge. In order to build a sense of shared purpose among your employees—many of which come from wildly different backgrounds—you need to earn their trust. Demonstrate transparency, a willingness to listen, and be receptive to new ideas. Look at it this way: in earlier days, it was the employee who needed to earn the approval of his or her manager. Now the roles have been reversed. It’s you, the manager, who needs to earn the approval of your employees.
It’s not easy to put these words into action. Your leadership style is a direct reflection of who you are as an individual. You simply cannot change this with the flick of a switch. Reaching a leadership style that inspires trust among your employees requires practice and awareness. Take the time to learn more about yourself—understand your life experiences, and how they have shaped your leadership style. This simple action will go a long way in changing how you lead your employees.
There are more poignant articles and advice on AMA's Thinking Management Blog.
Best Practices for Managing Employee Performance
by Eric Britten, Kevin Grossman, Leighanne Levensaler and Chad Rose
Executive Summary
Keeping employees on task and working to peak performance is always a challenge. As Focus Expert Eric Britten writes: “Managing employee performance is one of the most misunderstood and abused processes in organizations today. That’s why employees and managers alike dread the process.” So how do you effectively manage employee performance and make it a positive experience? In this guide, Eric and fellow Focus Experts Kevin Grossman, Leighanne Levensaler and Chad Rose share their top 7 best practices for managing employee performance.
After reading this guide, be sure to check out the entire discussion and join the conversation:
Best Practices Checklist
1. Develop a good process and be sure everyone uses it.
2. Beware of the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.
3. Make your performance plan meaningful and useful to the employee and the organization.
4. Make performance management an ongoing activity.
5. Establish performance expectations.
6. Be honest and direct.
Best Practices for Managing Employee Performance
Focus Research ©2011
Best Practices
1. Develop a good process and be sure everyone uses it.
“One reason performance management is unsuccessful in many organizations is because the process is not well understood, it is not reinforced (particularly by C-suite denizens), and because different managers use it with varying degrees of acuity. The solutions to this point, then, are fairly obvious. If a performance management process is worth having, it is worth making sure everyone, managers and employees alike, understand the process and the reason for it. Training is the key here, not just in using the tool, but in using it properly. Next, everyone in the organization should have a performance plan, including the CEO, who must lead by example and visibly reinforce the process.” (Britten)
2. Beware of the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.
“Avoid the peanut butter approach. Tailor performance management practices to different workforce segments. Your shop floor workers should not have to conform to the same process as your accountants and vice versa.” (Levensaler)
3. Make your performance plan useful to the employee and the organization.
“If a performance management process is to be useful, it must speak to the individual and the organization. In other words, what is in the plan must be relevant, strategic and be part of the fabric of the organization. The plan must link employees to their organization and its strategy in a real way. Employees need to be able to see how working their plan will make both them and their organization more successful. In order to do that, the plan must link, at least in part, to organizational, departmental and job-specific mission and planning. Other elements must enable the success of the individual.” (Britten)
“Know your culture. Despite all the research on best practices, it is best to develop a set of practices that are consistent with your unique culture and organization readiness.” (Levensaler)
4. Make performance management an ongoing activity.
“Performance management is an everyday activity, not something done two, three or four times a year. Elements of everyone’s plans should be visible in what they do week in, week out. If plans are developed and aligned properly, employees and managers should be able to link what they are doing almost daily to something in their plan. Managers need to connect those dots frequently in group or individual meetings. The periodic performance meetings should be times for managers and employees to summarize that which is mostly already known, not a time for dread and surprises.” (Britten)
“Have one-on-ones with your staff. Schedule them and also have them informally when needed. This is a great way to give each of them your undivided attention, regular performance reviews, reciprocal feedback on your performance as a manager, empathizing on personal issues and advising counsel if necessary, identifying potential workplace issues that need addressing, and much more.” (Grossman)
5. Establish performance expectations.
“Set clear expectations and don’t move them, especially if a salesperson meets or exceeds those expectations. Then darn well deliver on the promises you made around those expectations, 100 percent without any exceptions.” (Rose)
6. Be honest and direct.
“I don’t think anyone performs well, especially in sales, without transparency and honesty. Salespeople are naturally curious and trained to dig out the truth. Good managers give it to them without sugarcoating it. If salespeople are doing well or not, they should know right away. Once they know the truth about, for example, a question on performance, give them a clear path to achieve what you want and a clear picture of what will happen if they do or don’t.” (Rose)
Read the entire discussion, and join the conversation:
Executive Summary
Keeping employees on task and working to peak performance is always a challenge. As Focus Expert Eric Britten writes: “Managing employee performance is one of the most misunderstood and abused processes in organizations today. That’s why employees and managers alike dread the process.” So how do you effectively manage employee performance and make it a positive experience? In this guide, Eric and fellow Focus Experts Kevin Grossman, Leighanne Levensaler and Chad Rose share their top 7 best practices for managing employee performance.
After reading this guide, be sure to check out the entire discussion and join the conversation:
Best Practices Checklist
1. Develop a good process and be sure everyone uses it.
2. Beware of the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.
3. Make your performance plan meaningful and useful to the employee and the organization.
4. Make performance management an ongoing activity.
5. Establish performance expectations.
6. Be honest and direct.
Best Practices for Managing Employee Performance
Focus Research ©2011
Best Practices
1. Develop a good process and be sure everyone uses it.
“One reason performance management is unsuccessful in many organizations is because the process is not well understood, it is not reinforced (particularly by C-suite denizens), and because different managers use it with varying degrees of acuity. The solutions to this point, then, are fairly obvious. If a performance management process is worth having, it is worth making sure everyone, managers and employees alike, understand the process and the reason for it. Training is the key here, not just in using the tool, but in using it properly. Next, everyone in the organization should have a performance plan, including the CEO, who must lead by example and visibly reinforce the process.” (Britten)
2. Beware of the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.
“Avoid the peanut butter approach. Tailor performance management practices to different workforce segments. Your shop floor workers should not have to conform to the same process as your accountants and vice versa.” (Levensaler)
3. Make your performance plan useful to the employee and the organization.
“If a performance management process is to be useful, it must speak to the individual and the organization. In other words, what is in the plan must be relevant, strategic and be part of the fabric of the organization. The plan must link employees to their organization and its strategy in a real way. Employees need to be able to see how working their plan will make both them and their organization more successful. In order to do that, the plan must link, at least in part, to organizational, departmental and job-specific mission and planning. Other elements must enable the success of the individual.” (Britten)
“Know your culture. Despite all the research on best practices, it is best to develop a set of practices that are consistent with your unique culture and organization readiness.” (Levensaler)
4. Make performance management an ongoing activity.
“Performance management is an everyday activity, not something done two, three or four times a year. Elements of everyone’s plans should be visible in what they do week in, week out. If plans are developed and aligned properly, employees and managers should be able to link what they are doing almost daily to something in their plan. Managers need to connect those dots frequently in group or individual meetings. The periodic performance meetings should be times for managers and employees to summarize that which is mostly already known, not a time for dread and surprises.” (Britten)
“Have one-on-ones with your staff. Schedule them and also have them informally when needed. This is a great way to give each of them your undivided attention, regular performance reviews, reciprocal feedback on your performance as a manager, empathizing on personal issues and advising counsel if necessary, identifying potential workplace issues that need addressing, and much more.” (Grossman)
5. Establish performance expectations.
“Set clear expectations and don’t move them, especially if a salesperson meets or exceeds those expectations. Then darn well deliver on the promises you made around those expectations, 100 percent without any exceptions.” (Rose)
6. Be honest and direct.
“I don’t think anyone performs well, especially in sales, without transparency and honesty. Salespeople are naturally curious and trained to dig out the truth. Good managers give it to them without sugarcoating it. If salespeople are doing well or not, they should know right away. Once they know the truth about, for example, a question on performance, give them a clear path to achieve what you want and a clear picture of what will happen if they do or don’t.” (Rose)
Read the entire discussion, and join the conversation:
Join us for four FREE roundtable teleconferences this week featuring Focus Experts. Topics include Business Intelligence, Virtual Events, Email Marketing, and Lead Nurturing.
Roundtable #1 Business Intelligence: Measuring What Matters
March 15th, 2011 at 11am PT/ 2pm ET
Rick Cadman, Ron Dimon, Mark Kramer and Dawna MacLean will discuss the keys to unlocking the next wave of business innovation and growth. Topics include:
1. How Shared Value focuses companies on the right kind of profits
2. How the latest thinking on Shared Value and Enterprise Performance Management are converging to enhance long-term competitiveness
3. How to build a roadmap to measure and manage results across disciplines and throughout your value cycle
Visit for details.
Roundtable #2 Virtual Events: The Next Generation of Virtual Events and Digital Communities.
March 16th, 2011 at 1 pm PT / 4 pm ET
Dannette Veale, Dennis Shiao, Michael Doyle, Paul Salinger and Shannon Ryan will provide valuable insight on how virtual events and digital communities are evolving to support the marketing portfolio. Topics include:
1. Must-know 2011 trends in virtual events and digital communities
2. How to garner corporate support and leverage virtual/digital environments to address objectives across the organization
3. Essential tips for transforming your environment into an "always-on" brand experience
Visit for details.
Roundtable #3 Email Marketing: Integrating Email Marketing and Social Media.
March 17th, 2011 at 11 am PT / 2 pm ET
Andrew Kordek, DJ Waldow and Jeff Rohrs will discuss the many tactics for integrating email marketing and social media. Topics include:
1. Using email marketing to grow/strengthen your social networks.
2. Using social media to grow/strengthen you email marketing efforts.
3. The future of email marketing and social media integration.
Visit for details.
Roundtable #4 Lead Nurturing: 7 Must-Have Lead Nurturing Recipes for B2B Marketers.
March 18th, 2011 at 1 pm PT / 4 pm ET
Ardath Albee, Brian Hansford, Craig Rosenberg, Emily Mayfield, Jeff Erramouspe, Michael Damphousse, and Tibor Shanto will discuss ingredients, techniques and timing b2b marketers need to effectively execute lead nurturing programs. Based on Manticore Technology's Lead Nurturing Cookbook, the aforementioned experts will share their "recipes" for creating proven-effective nurturing programs that B2B marketers can implement in real-world scenarios. Topics Include:
1. What 3 basic ingredients you need to successfully build and implement a lead nurturing process
2. The optimal number and timing of touches for different types of lead nurturing processes
3. How to integrate human touch points into lead nurturing and maximize call-connect rates
Visit for details.
Roundtable #1 Business Intelligence: Measuring What Matters
March 15th, 2011 at 11am PT/ 2pm ET
Rick Cadman, Ron Dimon, Mark Kramer and Dawna MacLean will discuss the keys to unlocking the next wave of business innovation and growth. Topics include:
1. How Shared Value focuses companies on the right kind of profits
2. How the latest thinking on Shared Value and Enterprise Performance Management are converging to enhance long-term competitiveness
3. How to build a roadmap to measure and manage results across disciplines and throughout your value cycle
Visit for details.
Roundtable #2 Virtual Events: The Next Generation of Virtual Events and Digital Communities.
March 16th, 2011 at 1 pm PT / 4 pm ET
Dannette Veale, Dennis Shiao, Michael Doyle, Paul Salinger and Shannon Ryan will provide valuable insight on how virtual events and digital communities are evolving to support the marketing portfolio. Topics include:
1. Must-know 2011 trends in virtual events and digital communities
2. How to garner corporate support and leverage virtual/digital environments to address objectives across the organization
3. Essential tips for transforming your environment into an "always-on" brand experience
Visit for details.
Roundtable #3 Email Marketing: Integrating Email Marketing and Social Media.
March 17th, 2011 at 11 am PT / 2 pm ET
Andrew Kordek, DJ Waldow and Jeff Rohrs will discuss the many tactics for integrating email marketing and social media. Topics include:
1. Using email marketing to grow/strengthen your social networks.
2. Using social media to grow/strengthen you email marketing efforts.
3. The future of email marketing and social media integration.
Visit for details.
Roundtable #4 Lead Nurturing: 7 Must-Have Lead Nurturing Recipes for B2B Marketers.
March 18th, 2011 at 1 pm PT / 4 pm ET
Ardath Albee, Brian Hansford, Craig Rosenberg, Emily Mayfield, Jeff Erramouspe, Michael Damphousse, and Tibor Shanto will discuss ingredients, techniques and timing b2b marketers need to effectively execute lead nurturing programs. Based on Manticore Technology's Lead Nurturing Cookbook, the aforementioned experts will share their "recipes" for creating proven-effective nurturing programs that B2B marketers can implement in real-world scenarios. Topics Include:
1. What 3 basic ingredients you need to successfully build and implement a lead nurturing process
2. The optimal number and timing of touches for different types of lead nurturing processes
3. How to integrate human touch points into lead nurturing and maximize call-connect rates
Visit for details.
When and how have you been successful leading behavior change with your people?
Posted by Eric Britten
This question was posted on FOCUS by Chad Cook, President of Bright Side. My response was selected as the best response. Here's what I posted:
2. Make the change relevant to the people who need to embrace it. I have found that one of the key elements to achieving buy in is connecting the dots for the folks who are involved in the change. Help them understand why the change is necessary, how it fits into organizational strategy, what the anticipated benefits from it will be, and how it will affect them. Often this works best when you can get them to look at the change from an organizational perspective, not from their own position in the organization. Fear is often the hallmark of ignorance - help employees understand why the change is necessary.
3. Be honest about the change. Be open and and candid about why the change is necessary and what effects it will have on the organization. Nothing derails change more than suspicion that leadership has a motive they are not sharing.
4. Leadership must be committed to the change. If the change is worthwhile, leadership must be visibly and actively supportive of the change. They must deliver a consistent message about the need for the change, their support for it, and resolute that nobody wavers.
5. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Consistently sharing who, what, when, where and why about the change in meetings, on bulletin boards, in newsletters, etc. is an important strategy. Good communications eliminates any surprises, keeps everyone up to date on what is going on, and is a good training tool.
6. Celebrate success. Change is hard! Once success is achieved, celebrate it and those who made it possible.
7. Follow up. Every change implementation is not inherently 100% successful. Once the change is implemented, be alert for flaws, problems or issues. Address them in an open structured review and improvement process.
Check out my FOCUS profile.
This question was posted on FOCUS by Chad Cook, President of Bright Side. My response was selected as the best response. Here's what I posted:
Hi, Chad: For many years, professionals involved in improving processes or implementing new ones believed that all they needed were process mapping tools, a collection of workshop exercises and a fiat from above. After years of failed or unsustainable implementations or changes, it became patiently obvious that change was more about behavior than tools. Here are some of the concepts that have worked well for me:
1. Empower the people who do the work to lead the process. People change behavior because they want to, not because someone tells them they must. Engaging those who do the work that needs to be changed in the change process allows them to be involved in the change and the way it is going to be implemented. Nobody knows better how the work is done that those who do it, so allowing them to participate in the change process increases the probability that the steps that need to be implemented will really work.
2. Make the change relevant to the people who need to embrace it. I have found that one of the key elements to achieving buy in is connecting the dots for the folks who are involved in the change. Help them understand why the change is necessary, how it fits into organizational strategy, what the anticipated benefits from it will be, and how it will affect them. Often this works best when you can get them to look at the change from an organizational perspective, not from their own position in the organization. Fear is often the hallmark of ignorance - help employees understand why the change is necessary.
3. Be honest about the change. Be open and and candid about why the change is necessary and what effects it will have on the organization. Nothing derails change more than suspicion that leadership has a motive they are not sharing.
4. Leadership must be committed to the change. If the change is worthwhile, leadership must be visibly and actively supportive of the change. They must deliver a consistent message about the need for the change, their support for it, and resolute that nobody wavers.
5. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Consistently sharing who, what, when, where and why about the change in meetings, on bulletin boards, in newsletters, etc. is an important strategy. Good communications eliminates any surprises, keeps everyone up to date on what is going on, and is a good training tool.
6. Celebrate success. Change is hard! Once success is achieved, celebrate it and those who made it possible.
7. Follow up. Every change implementation is not inherently 100% successful. Once the change is implemented, be alert for flaws, problems or issues. Address them in an open structured review and improvement process.
Check out my FOCUS profile.
Recovering from information overload
Always-on, multitasking work environments are killing productivity, dampening creativity, and making us unhappy.
In this article posted in the McKinsey Quarterly, the authors recognize that "for all the benefits of the information technology and communications revolution, it has a well-known dark side: information overload and its close cousin, attention fragmentation. These scourges hit CEOs and their colleagues in the C-suite particularly hard because senior executives so badly need uninterrupted time to synthesize information from many different sources, reflect on its implications for the organization, apply judgment, make trade-offs, and arrive at good decisions."
The article discusses the perils of multitasking and how to regain control of your workday by creating solo time, deciding what you will and won't read in your inbox, ensuring you get down time every day, and rethinking about how you work.
The article, Recovering from information overload, is posted in our business article library. Click here to go there.
The authors are Derek Dean and Caroline Webb. Derek Dean is an alumnus of McKinsey’s San Francisco office, where he was a director; Caroline Webb is a principal in the London office.
Worn Out at Work?
In the AMA's Leader's Edge BLOG, Jon Gordon discusses "Twelve Common Workplace Behaviors That Drain Everyone's Energy" and how to counteract them. It's a good post and worth reading. The 12 behaviors are listed below. The full article is available in our business article library.
1. The Energy Vampire Attack : DON’T: Let negativity become your go-to response. There’s nothing more draining than a boss or coworker who is constantly negative. I call these folks “energy vampires.” They are never happy, rarely supportive, and constantly nay-saying any and all ideas and suggestions that aren’t their own. According to them, you might as well give up before you start.
2. The Out-of-Control Complain Train: DON’T: Give in to the temptation to whine. It’s a well-known phenomenon that can have catastrophic consequences: One person’s complaint resonates with someone else, who then proceeds to add grievances to the pile, which prompts yet another individual to throw in her two (negative) cents…and so on. Before you know it, everyone is complaining, and any work that gets done thereafter is marred by a bad attitude.
3. The Vicious Voicemail (or Email): DON’T: Leave critical or harsh messages on voicemail or send them to an email inbox. Nine times out of ten, these critiques seem much more vehement and condemnatory than they actually are. Plus, any communication you send via electronic methods can potentially last forever. Not only could your words come back to haunt you, they’ll also be a constant reminder to your coworker or employee of his or her supposed shortcomings.
4. The Loaded Monday Morning Inbox : DON’T: Overwhelm your team with a mountain of e-mails before the week is under way. If you’re finishing up your own to-do list late on a Friday night, or if you’re simply trying to get a jumpstart on the week ahead, it can be tempting to dish out the details and to-dos as you think of them. After all, if you wait ’til Monday morning, you might forget to tell those who need to know! However, coming in to an inbox of fifty-seven new messages is draining and makes folks feel like they’re fighting an uphill battle from the start.
5. The Busy Bee Bamboozle: DON’T: Confuse activity with progress. You know the person. She’s always soooo busy but doesn’t ever seem to meet deadlines or get anything done. When teams are being formed, people secretly hope she isn’t assigned to theirs. She’s living proof of the fact that just because your day is full of things to do doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re getting them done.
7. The Unclear Communiqué: DON’T: Assume others have all the information they need, or that something you know isn’t really all that important. These hastily drawn conclusions that result from chronic poor communication can lead to serious mistakes and major missed opportunities. Plus, lack of clarity is incredibly frustrating to those who must work with you. When employees, coworkers, or supervisors have to spend their time tracking you down for clarification, rather than getting the communication from you that they need, productivity falls and creativity is stifled.
8. The Disorganization Drag-Down: DON’T: Allow disorganization to impede productivity. If you’re managing or leading a company, heading up a big project, or traveling nonstop, it’s likely you’ve lost an e-mail, important paper, phone number, or pie chart or two (or three or four) in your day. You’re busy, and that’s understandable. Constant disorganization can drain your employees and coworkers if they always have to cover your tracks. It may not always be possible, and accidents do happen—but not being able to find the quarterly report for the third meeting in a row sets a bad example, and it depletes others of the energy they could be putting towards other, more productive work.
10. The Chronic Deadline Dodge: DON’T: Allow unmet deadlines to throw everything and everyone off-track. With all the unexpected obstacles you face in a workday, it’s not always easy to meet deadlines. And yes, sometimes it’s impossible—but those times should be few and far between. When people chronically miss deadlines, it’s a sure sign of a cultural issue. Either people aren’t giving it their all—or they’re truly overburdened. Either way, your company’s productivity will suffer.
11. The Unattainable Atta-Boy (or Atta-Girl!): DON’T: Get so caught up in what’s coming down the pike that you forget to acknowledge what’s happening now. Most managers and business leaders would agree that they feel a lot of pressure. It can be hard for them to constantly be the ones catching the heat from the higher-ups while the rest of the employees have only their own goals to meet and worry about. However, when responsibilities give you to-do tunnel vision and cause you to skimp on the “job well dones,” employees can get discouraged in a hurry—especially if you immediately ask about another goal that’s gone unmet or push more work at them to try and make up for losses in other areas.
12. The Blame Game : DON’T: Point fingers at others in order to take the heat off of yourself. A mistake is made, the boss is mad, a deadline is missed. If all eyes are on your team and you start pointing fingers, you could be making a huge mistake. If your employees or your coworkers don’t think you shoulder your share of the blame or are unapproachable when it comes to constructive criticism, they’ll start to shut down toward you.
1. The Energy Vampire Attack : DON’T: Let negativity become your go-to response. There’s nothing more draining than a boss or coworker who is constantly negative. I call these folks “energy vampires.” They are never happy, rarely supportive, and constantly nay-saying any and all ideas and suggestions that aren’t their own. According to them, you might as well give up before you start.
2. The Out-of-Control Complain Train: DON’T: Give in to the temptation to whine. It’s a well-known phenomenon that can have catastrophic consequences: One person’s complaint resonates with someone else, who then proceeds to add grievances to the pile, which prompts yet another individual to throw in her two (negative) cents…and so on. Before you know it, everyone is complaining, and any work that gets done thereafter is marred by a bad attitude.
6. The Low Performer Look-Away: DON’T: Let subpar work slide. Simply put, low performers drag the rest of the team down. They are like a cancer inside your organization, creating resentment and generating more work for everyone else. Moreover, if you allow them to linger and thrive for too long, your best employees will move on to a more productive environment.
9. The Hasty Plate Clear-Off: DON’T: Sacrifice quality on the altar of expediency. There’s a lot of work to do, and you (understandably) want to get your own tasks done so you don’t hold up others. However, moving through assignments quickly in order to get them off your own plate can also mean that you’re piling the work on someone else. If you’ve rushed, you’re more likely to have made mistakes and been sloppy, which isn’t fair to the person who gets the assignment after you.
See what Jon writes about the ways to combat these 12 energy draining situations. The full article is available in our business article library.
Have You Tested Your Strategy Lately?
That's the question asked by three consultants who work for McKinsey & Company, Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, and Sven Smit in a white paper with the same title.
Their ten tests ..........
Their ten tests ..........
- Will your strategy beat the market?
- Does your strategy tap a true source of advantage?
- Is your strategy granular about where to compete?
- Does your strategy pout you ahead of trends?
- Does your strategy rest on privileged insights?
- Does your strategy embrace uncertainty?
- Does your strategy balance commitment and flexibility?
- Is your strategy contaminated by bias?
- Is there conviction to act on your strategy?
- Have you translated your strategy into an action plan?
Read Have You Tested Your Strategy Lately. It's available in our business resource library. Click here to go there. In the library you will also find a follow up article that analyzes what 2,135 global executives replied when surveyed with those questions. That article is titled "Putting Strategies To The Test".
Micromanagement—Not So Bad?
In the January 10, 2011 edition of Thinking Management, the American Management Association's management BLOG, they posted the following thoughts about micromanagement:
Micromanagement has garnered an increasingly bad reputation as a management style over the past twenty or so years. Managers are favoring a more "hands off" approach, designed to inspire employees, and give them ownership over their work. There is a fine line, however, between "hands off" and disengagement. Many managers fear the micromanagement taboo so much that employees view them as disinterested in their work...and when employees believes their work doesn?t matter the consequences can be disastrous. The solution? Situational micromanagement.
Independence can be daunting—especially for those just entering the work force or those employees who lack the experience their task requires. Much of the time, the "hands off" management approach works, because the inexperienced employee can learn from those around him or her and gain some excellent skills in the process (balancing teamwork with self-reliance, for one). Sometimes, however, their situation will not afford them this luxury, and that's when you should work with your employee on a task-to-task basis?when their performance is suffering because of inexperience.
Never jump right into micromanagement. The wrong thing to do is immediately draw a conclusion of your employee based solely on his or her experience and micromanage them from the start. If your employee's performance doesn't improve, micromanagement could be to blame.
Remember, the goal of micromanagement is to help your employee reach the point where they no longer need to be micromanaged. If you find that when you give them more freedom and their performance still suffers, you should seriously reconsider their role within the company.
What do you think? Perhaps I am just stuck on their definition of micromanagement. I do not necessarily believe that the opposite of hands off is micromanagement. I think it is probably something like "management". After all isn't that what managers do - manage? Let's not confuse micromanagement or even situational micromanagement with coaching and development - or even directing, all things that managers do and should do. To me, micromanagement is to manage, direct, or control a person, group, or system to an unnecessary level of detail or precision. The operative word in my definition is unnecessary, regardless of the motivation. To add the word situational in front of it doesn't make it any more necessary. So, I'm still fine with the old words and terms.
Read Our Management Series in Alaska Business Monthly
- Do You Know What Your Customers are thinking?
- The Most Abused Business Process
- Measure Your Way to Success
- Plan Your Way to Success
- Should You Fire Yourself?
New FOCUS Customer Service Best Practices
Are you familiar with FOCUS? Focus provides millions of professionals with the expertise they need to make better business decisions. At the heart of Focus is a network of world class business and technology experts. These experts power the real time Q&A, world class research, and personalized support that so many businesses now depend on. Best of all, Focus is free and available to anyone who wants to make better business decisions, faster.
I am a frequent contributor to discussions on FOCUS. My comments are featured in two recent customer service best practice white papers. Check them out:
1. Best Practices for Customer Service Recovery
2. Best Practices for Delivering a Great Customer Experience
I am a frequent contributor to discussions on FOCUS. My comments are featured in two recent customer service best practice white papers. Check them out:
1. Best Practices for Customer Service Recovery
2. Best Practices for Delivering a Great Customer Experience
Measure What Matters
by Eric Britten
It’s 2010 and most organizations have begun to enter the 21st Century. They understand that metrics are the cornerstone (or foundation) of a well managed operation. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), when properly developed and managed, measure both strategic and operational performance. Many managers understand the concept of cascading metrics and keep their eye on the key operating metrics day-to-day and week-to-week and key strategic metrics month-to-month or quarter-to-quarter. They monitor their KPIs regularly, using secondary and tertiary indicators (not KPIs) to help them identify where irregularities are occurring when the key indicator moves outside of acceptable parameters.
There’s an art to developing KPIs. It’s important that organizations understand how to identify or develop key performance indicators. The saying, “what gets measured gets managed”, is quite true, so organizations need to be sure their key indicators are the right ones.
Here are some pointers about KPIs:
1. KPIs are like the dashboard in your car. They provide essential information required to control the vehicle safely and efficiently. They do not provide all of the information on all of the aspects of the vehicle that could be measured.
2. A KPI is most effective when it tells a story. In other words, a good KPI should be a ratio, percentage, or a balanced combination indicating effectiveness or efficiency rather than just a raw number.
3. A KPI should be accurately defined so that others can understand what it measures, what data feed it, and how it is calculated.
4. A KPI should be capable of being influenced by the person monitoring it.
5. There should be a manageable number of KPIs at any level of the organization.
6. KPIs should have a base, a plan and a target.
7. The trend line of a KPI should also tell a story.
8. KPI targets should be S-M-A-R-T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time Related)
9. KPIs are a tool that should be used to improve performance, not to punish poor performance.
10. Organizational KPIs should be displayed on a common dashboard.
11. Managers and supervisors should be trained in the use of various tools used to analyze and improve KPI performance.
What tactics foster collaboration and cooperation?”
by Eric Britten
From a Q&A on FOCUS.
The original question had specifically to do with issues between the sales and marketing functions within an organization. But, sales and marketing are not the only two functions that suffer from a lack of understanding, teamwork and cooperation. My response is applicable to any areas in an organization where these issues exist. Here's the post and my response:
"Sales and Marketing Alignment: What tactics foster collaboration and cooperation? What do you do or have you seen done that works?"
There are two activities that have been successful for me in situations like this.
First, a strategy planning session composed primarily of sales and marketing staff (but including other stakeholders also) serves to get both groups focused on the same corporate goals. Once the common goals and vision are established, the group can then begin to discuss strategies. Often the discussion unveils the dysfunction between the groups. But, good facilitation can help the group work through their divergent perspectives and begin building a collaborative environment. Once the groups are working together, ongoing effective communications and teamwork toward executing the plan can keep the synergies in place.
From a Q&A on FOCUS.
The original question had specifically to do with issues between the sales and marketing functions within an organization. But, sales and marketing are not the only two functions that suffer from a lack of understanding, teamwork and cooperation. My response is applicable to any areas in an organization where these issues exist. Here's the post and my response:
"Sales and Marketing Alignment: What tactics foster collaboration and cooperation? What do you do or have you seen done that works?"
There are two activities that have been successful for me in situations like this.
First, a strategy planning session composed primarily of sales and marketing staff (but including other stakeholders also) serves to get both groups focused on the same corporate goals. Once the common goals and vision are established, the group can then begin to discuss strategies. Often the discussion unveils the dysfunction between the groups. But, good facilitation can help the group work through their divergent perspectives and begin building a collaborative environment. Once the groups are working together, ongoing effective communications and teamwork toward executing the plan can keep the synergies in place.
A second effective activity that I have used is process improvement. Engaging either the sales or marketing group in process improvement requires that their internal stakeholders/customers be involved in the activity, so you can start with either group. Mapping out the sales and/or marketing process will lead to the identification of pain points and problems within the process, which will point to the dysfunction between the functions/departments. Employing normal process improvement procedures will get the groups engaged in working together to resolve the issues.
I have found both of these practices effective in starting a collaboration, but the key to sustainability is in not letting procedures revert to the old ways. Collaboration is everyone's responsibility, so everyone from the exec's on down need clear direction that retreat is not an option. Adding a couple of items in everyone's annual performance plan that addresses this is also helpful in motivating the groups to keep working together and working to resolve problems, issues or conflicts when they occur.
Some Q&As from FOCUS
If you're not familiar with it, FOCUS (www.focus.com) is a business social media site where owners, entrepreneurs, managers, executives and others share their experience with each other. Here are a few of the recent Q&As that I have participated in:
Adam asked: "How can you train employee empowerment? It is important for employees to feel ownership and empowerment in their jobs, but can you train those traits? If a new employee is meek, can I train them to be a confident salesperson?:
My response: Empowerment isn't something you train an employee to do. It is something their boss, organization and organizational culture allows and encourages. As others have pointed out, there are activities that can encourage and enhance it.
Elements in an organizational culture that help instill and reinforce empowerment are things such as rewarding risk taking, leadership development, openness, encouragement, rewards, recognition, teamwork, incentives, and continuous process improvement. The list goes on.
You digressed a bit from empowerment when you asked, "If a new employee is meek, can I train them to be a confident salesperson?" Confidence is one of the things that can come from empowerment, but empowerment is not what makes a good salesperson. Empowerment is a state that, if in place, allows a salesperson to be successful.
Craig asked: How can I effectively drive people to myblog?” In addition to search engine traffic, how can I effectively drive people to my blog/content in my day to day marketing activities?"
My response:
1. Be sure there is a link to your blog from your website
2. Include your blog URL as well as your website URL in your email signature.
3. Make your blog, website and electronic newsletter interactive and share content.
4. Put your blog URL on your business card and other POS material
5. Advertise your blog on the back of your business card
6. Refer to items you have posted in your blog when using social media (and give the URL for it)
Bill asked: “What are some of your strategies for retaining customer loyalty?” Customer loyalty is definitely a necessity in order to get a competitive advantage. What are some things that you do to retain customers?
My response: Your profile doesn't tell us what business you are in, so I can't target my response to your particular situation. But, I'd like to point out a few things that many folks might not consider under the heading of "building a relationship".
2. Include your blog URL as well as your website URL in your email signature.
3. Make your blog, website and electronic newsletter interactive and share content.
4. Put your blog URL on your business card and other POS material
5. Advertise your blog on the back of your business card
6. Refer to items you have posted in your blog when using social media (and give the URL for it)
Bill asked: “What are some of your strategies for retaining customer loyalty?” Customer loyalty is definitely a necessity in order to get a competitive advantage. What are some things that you do to retain customers?
My response: Your profile doesn't tell us what business you are in, so I can't target my response to your particular situation. But, I'd like to point out a few things that many folks might not consider under the heading of "building a relationship".
When you place an online order with a company you have not done business with before, how does that company build a relationship with you? Well, you're not talking with anyone, so there's no relationship building going on there. You haven't asked any questions, so it's not that they're building a relationship there. But they are building a relationship with you. How?
They build a relationship with you in a number of ways:
1. They make your online experience pleasant. By that, I mean it's a user-friendly experience.
2. They make it easy to find the information you're looking for quickly.
3. The price is probably reasonable.
4. They tell you if what you want is in stock or if it's on back order.
5. They make the checkout experience as fast and efficient as they can.
6. They probably don't gouge you with their shipping & handling costs.
7. You receive a prompt order confirmation and a thank you note for ordering.
8. You are notified when your order will ship and when you can expect it to arrive.
8. You are notified when your order actually does ship.
1. They make your online experience pleasant. By that, I mean it's a user-friendly experience.
2. They make it easy to find the information you're looking for quickly.
3. The price is probably reasonable.
4. They tell you if what you want is in stock or if it's on back order.
5. They make the checkout experience as fast and efficient as they can.
6. They probably don't gouge you with their shipping & handling costs.
7. You receive a prompt order confirmation and a thank you note for ordering.
8. You are notified when your order will ship and when you can expect it to arrive.
8. You are notified when your order actually does ship.
..... and all this without anybody talking with anyone else or even exchanging email messages. But, your experience can make you a loyal customer - or send you to another company the next time you want the same item.
Now think about these same type of attributes in a situation where the customer is physically in your place of business. All of the points are not applicable, but most of them are - and you can build customer loyalty by just running a "heads up" business. John (the previous poster) has a good point, too - know what "heads up" means to your customers.
Making Cost Cuts Stick
I have previously posted some perspectives about the ineffectiveness of many cost cutting programs. Many organizations fail to realize that, in order to be sustainable, cost reductions need to be planned and they need to be aligned with company strategy. Willy-nilly cost cuts will not last and they threaten the very core of an organization.
In a recent white paper, three McKinsey & Company associates take a hard look at what it takes to make meaningful and sustainable cost reductions. In part, they write, "Why is it so difficult to make cost cuts stick? In most cases, it’s because reduction programs don’t address the true drivers of costs or are simply too difficult to maintain over time. Sometimes, managers lack deep enough insight into their own operations to set useful cost reduction targets. In the midst of a crisis, they look for easily available benchmarks, such as what similar companies have accomplished, rather than taking the time to conduct a bottom-up examination of which costs can—and should—be cut. In other cases, individual business unit heads try to meet targets with draconian measures that are unrealistic over the long term, such as across-the-board cuts that don’t differentiate between those that add value or destroy it. In still others, managers use inaccurate or incomplete data to track costs, thus missing important opportunities and confounding efforts to ensure accountability."
The entire white paper, "Five Ways CFOs Can Make Cost Cuts Stick", is available in our resource library. Click here to go there.
In a recent white paper, three McKinsey & Company associates take a hard look at what it takes to make meaningful and sustainable cost reductions. In part, they write, "Why is it so difficult to make cost cuts stick? In most cases, it’s because reduction programs don’t address the true drivers of costs or are simply too difficult to maintain over time. Sometimes, managers lack deep enough insight into their own operations to set useful cost reduction targets. In the midst of a crisis, they look for easily available benchmarks, such as what similar companies have accomplished, rather than taking the time to conduct a bottom-up examination of which costs can—and should—be cut. In other cases, individual business unit heads try to meet targets with draconian measures that are unrealistic over the long term, such as across-the-board cuts that don’t differentiate between those that add value or destroy it. In still others, managers use inaccurate or incomplete data to track costs, thus missing important opportunities and confounding efforts to ensure accountability."
The entire white paper, "Five Ways CFOs Can Make Cost Cuts Stick", is available in our resource library. Click here to go there.
Taking Advantage of "Good Conflict"
In an October 25, 2010 post on AMA's Thinking Management Blog, there's a short blurb about good conflict:
What Is "Good" Conflict? How Can I Take Advantage of It?
Conflict is natural. However, a lot of the time when individuals clash, they can become so concerned with defending their turf that mutual distrust replaces basic communication techniques like “listening”.
Many people don’t realize that conflict can be an excellent way to find effective, efficient solutions. Here are some quick and easy ways to turn a potentially volatile situation into a “good conflict”:
Identify common goals. As differences arise, remind the parties of their common goal or mission. Ask them to review their goals to focus solely on shared or compatible ones. Once the goals have been identified, the group can move on to discuss how these goals can be shared. Make sure to keep the conflict away from personal issues.
Clarify, sort, and value differences. While contrasting viewpoints will surface, so will evidence that the participants have much in common. This commonality should be emphasized.
Gain commitment to change. Goals may be shared but the means of reaching them may vary. You want to reach consensus on the best way to reach a shared goal. Reconciling conflicting visions forces people to think creatively and put everyone in a position to move forward.
Your goal as a manager is to prevent a conflict from becoming a disruptive force, not to prevent conflicts. Whereas positive conflict can come up with new solutions to existing problems, disruptive conflict can create problems.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)