How Management is Changing

Rene Carayol in Corporate Voodoo says that "Speed will be the legacy of our age" and I think that this is true. Speed is a fact of life and business/life needs you to think on your feet.

We used to be told to Plan, Do, Review - I believe that is changing and is now Act, Review, Learn, Act, Review, Learn etc

That doesn't mean that risks should not be assessed but that you shouldn't be paralysed by the need for analysis. It is easy to amend, or tweak a product or service the key thing is doing something.......

Creating a Mental Map

The biggest problem most employees face is just not understanding what is expected of them, not understanding what the company is trying to achieve.

You need to create a mental map for each person through the managers, supervisors, team leaders etc

One question that I have used is asking each person to finish this sentence..."I dream about..."

I then work with them to understand how we can make that dream a reality, linking it to the business. It is a great way of showing rather than telling, and consulting rather than informing.

Blog Carnival of Management Tips

Welcome to the November 19, 2006 edition of carnival of management tips. I will hold this fortnightly to try and share as many ideas as possible

Anna Farmery presents 8 Free Ways to Help People Learn at Work at The Engaging Brand

Jane Chin presents Most Important Quality in a Coach posted at On Careers and Life.

Mike Murray presents The Importance of Empathy posted at Episteme - Belief. Knowledge. Wisdom.

Daniel Scocco presents What do Google, Apple and Harley Davidson have in common? posted at Innovation Zen.

David Maister presents We'll Follow the Old Man Wherever He Wants to Go posted at Passion, People and Principles, saying, "Real leaders go first, hold themselves accountable, and resign if they fail."

rudolph d. bachraty III presents Hold My Calls, I?m Too Busy Blogging posted at sellsius real estate blog.

Brandon Peele presents What the Media Industry Tells Us About Business Strategy and Our Lives posted at GT.

Brandon Peele presents 21st Century Enterprise: For-Benefit Business 101 posted at GT.

Sagar Satapathy presents Management Strategies: 18 Tips to Manage Your Blog Network posted at Management Strategies: 18 Tips to Manage Your Blog Network,

My Bubble Life presents Unleash Your Potential: Transactional Communication posted at My Bubble Life, saying, "In order to be effective as a manager, you must communicate with people on their level."

David presents Corporate Career Success - How to Become CEO posted at Worldwide Success,

David Maister presents Wise Words posted at Passion, People and Principles, saying, "Don't just manage the goals, manage the process!"

Anna Farmery presents CARS leadership fro great business and leadership on The Engaging Brand

David Maister presents Are We ON The Same Side? posted at Passion, People and Principles.

Patricia presents Dream Your Dreams to Achieve Greatness and Inspire the World posted at Patricia.

Debra Moorhead presents Put Yourself First posted at Debra Moorhead.com,

TrustedAdvisor presents Legacies, Left Tackles and Investment Banking posted at Trust Matters, saying Building trust in business relationships.

Tracy Coenen presents Top ten ways to prevent employee theft posted at FRAUDfiles.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
carnival of management tips using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Thanksgiving for the year

It always amazes me that we all love certain holidays and love the feeling of community and family. Maybe we could learn some lessons from these holidays and take aspects for the whole year.

Recognise that decorating the workspace with family photos is important to people.
How can you recreate the family feel at work - team photos, team names etc
Can you build targets into decorations for the department... eg a Xmas tree with each branch a progress target towards the top.
Can you think of a way of connecting more with the family. Have an open day for parents to bring their children to work?

Decorations are a visual stimulus - maybe there are lessons for how to decorate an office.

Know thyself!

To understand others you first have to understand yourself. I often say that a mirror is an important tool - so that you can reflect on the impact that you are having , and what areas that you need to build and develop.

Self awareness is a key skill in both personal and work life. One thing that I have learned over the years is often the very thing that annoys you in others is something that you are not good at....if you are annoyed by the way that others are acting ask yourself why, ask yourself is it because it reminds you of something about yourself?

Being honest with yourself is so important.

Are the winter blues affecting your motivation?

If you are feeling low and wondering "Is this all I have to look forward to?" - Don't worry it is the winter blues grabbing hold of that mind....the lack of sunshine is a huge factor on motivation.

But it is also a chance to think about what is important to you. Often we are trying to define ourselves or measure our happiness from what we do or achieve......it is not wrong, but don't forget to think about measuring your day to day life against who you are.

Often depression hits because you are not doing something that is core to your values...you may be achieving a lot and yet it doesn't seem to make you happy. If that is the case take a few minutes to think about your values, who you are and make sure that your day to day life is fulfilling these needs. No money will ever compensate for you working or living against your desires or values.

What is your role as a manager of talent?

We keep hearing that our focus should be to bring out the talent in others - but what does that mean?

Well for me it is not about "creating talent" that is not possible, it is about how to match the person and their talents to a role that will allow them to thrive.

That mean as you get to know people better, you may move them. Every person has strengths - it is your role to find them and match them to a role that will allow them to fill their potential. Talented people need a great manager, talent needs someone who wants to - and finds the time to match the talents to the role.

Lessons from an Elephant trainer on management!

I read this story and thought it was a great metaphor for managers and their teams. Vivek Paul, CEO of Wipro Technologies said that he saw an elephant trainer outside Bangalore.

The trainer had 3 elephants tied to 3 small stakes, and he asked him "How do you keep such large elephants tied to such small stakes?" The trainer looked and said "When they were young and they tried to break free they couldn't pull the stakes over. When they grow older they don't try anymore."

How often has this approach affected us, at work or at home. We need to shake off the shackles of the past and keep our minds pushing new boundaries. We know what we are capable of now so why limit ourselves today on past limitations. We have changed, times have changed. Don't be afraid to try something because it failed in the past - you are now a different person, you have new skills, you have new experiences - this time it may succeed.

Think also about how you may have affected others - have you blocked something in the past, which prevents them from trying in the future or blocked ideas?

Andrew Carnegie - Excellent Advice

Andrew Carnegie says that there are 2 types of people who don't achieve very much

1. One who won't do as they are told
2. One who does no more than they are told to do

If you want to achieve success, then you need to be the third kind - Someone who not only performs the role but then adds a little more....turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Be a Bullfighter! Cut the jargon....

Jargon really does turn people off, it also confuses people so here are my list of jargon words that you must avoid

Strategy
Vision
Mission
KPI's
Strategic imperatives
ROI
Strategic Direction

You need to replace all these with everyday terms so most of the above can be replaced with the following 2 sentences

What are we trying to acheive, what are our goals for this week, month, quarter?

What targets shall we set ourselves?