Delegation – A Critical Management Skill
My personal world works in parallels, Whilst I spend my time coaching, training and writing about my passion – getting the best out of people – like most of us, I have to walk the talk every day!
I have used virtual help for some time now – and for any manager who finds it hard to “let go” – who feels the need to “micro-manage” or try to be too prescriptive, it’s a great opportunity to test out just how well you delegate, how much you are willing to trust the people you hire, and how willing you are to admit you don’t know it all, and can’t do it all! If you can successfully manage and motivate a virtual team, I think you can motivate anyone!
I believe we all become our own bottleneck very quickly. We all should play, I believe, to our own talents and strengths, because it is then that our life becomes interesting; that we have more enthusiasm, that we work harder, and that we achieve more. Read more
Should Management Skill Training Be Ditched in Today’s Climate?
Management Skill Training Today
It seems there’s been some controversy over government funding to support management and leadership skills training recently which I find interesting.
As MD of a business and someone absolutely excited and committed to building businesses where being profitable, highly successful and great places to work co-exist, I find the whole debate fascinating! One post I read recently talked of the outcry in some media that job centres were spending good money on training staff, rather than on channeling that money into finding work for the unemployed which is, of course, their prime objective.
My view?
Well, as with most media stories, there is an element of hype in order to maximise their own profits; but even when you strip away the hype, there is still a risk, (and, I believe, a dangerous one at that) that we become polarised towards abandoning all but the compulsory development of our people (health and safety, practical skills and so on) and drop the so called “soft-skills” training.
Run a quick search on “you tube” for “bad bosses” or “bully bosses” and you’ll be overwhelmed with the sheer volume of video postings, and sometimes shocked at the level of frustration and intense dislike poor people managers can evoke! And whilst ever these employees feel the way they do, their energy, their focus and their performance at work will almost certainly reduce your chances as a business or a manager of hitting or exceeding your targets.
If such frustration and negative energy was going on in my business I’d be concerned.
Ask most managers today what they’re struggling most with – and they’ll tell you it’s trying to motivate people, managing organizational change in the midst of making some redundant, cutting back hours or bonuses, and piling on pressure to hit increasingly overwhelming targets. I bet those managers at the job centre are struggling to keep themselves motivated, never mind their staff, in the face of overwhelming pressures.
Outstanding managers know how to minimise problems, keep people “on-side” and still maintain higher than average levels of staff engagement and commitment – and throwing out all opportunities for them to hone such critical influencing skills only serves to add to their frustration as well as their staff’s.
Management Skill Training: What To Do When Money is Tight?
This isn’t about spending recklessly – or what you don’t have. what it IS about, is, in my view two things:
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Get better at assessing the return on your management skills training investment.
Let’s face it, how “woolly” are we sometimes in terms of assessing the value of most training interventions? Filling in a “happy sheet” shouldn’t cut it at any time – but in this economic climate it’s crazy not to assess your return on investment.
Just because you may not be sure how to, doesn’t mean it’s not possible, or it shouldn’t be done. Get sharper at this.
Ask your managers what they find the most challenging; initiate training to meet their needs, then assess!
Get staff more used to agreeing specific action plans from training they’ve attended and more used to being able to demonstrate how they’ve applied the learning and with what results.In my experience, this is sadly lacking in too many organisations. -
Look for funding support.
There’s a number of ways to access training support from a variety of sources, if you look around. Ask your local Business Link or Chamber; find out more about Train to Gain. Get creative about how you use resources – both external and internal.
Instead of coming from the mindset which says “we have no money for training managers”, which is a “dead end” statement, ask yourself:
How can we continue to support and develop our manager’s people skills, despite the recession and a lack of budget?
Management Skill Training of ANY description is a complete waste of money and time if behaviours or attitudes don’t change, and if you don’t measure its effectiveness.
I wonder if the job centres built any real accountability into the training programme their managers attended?
As MD of my own company, I know I must stay profitable or I go under – but I also know I can’t run my business on my own – and without the support, engagement, creativity and loyalty of my staff I’ll face problems which will will only add to the risk of business failure.
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For more information to help you with the people side of management,
including how to improve employee motivation and get the best out of your team, take a look at these great resources:
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Managing Organizational Change Effectively
Part 1 – Managing Organizational Change
What changes are you going through in your organisation at the moment? Re-structuring? Shedding staff? Asking staff to work reduced hours? Changing processes? Changing environments and work spaces? Docking bonuses?
The list of potential changes is endless!
For some, it seems like one never-ending move (or “lurch”, depending on your perspective!) to another.
I can’t remember who said it – but I’m sure someone did – that change is inevitable! If we don’t initiate it ourselves, someone else will do it for us! The problem of course, is change is unsettling and a little uncomfortable at best, and downright upsetting and frightening at its worst; and it’s these emotions which can determine our responses and which will impact on our ability to perform.
Faces of Leadership and Change Management
As a manager, it helps to remember there are two “faces” to change: the “human” or emotional face, and the process itself.
How do you manoeuvre these tricky waters? Let’s look at the human or emotional side first.
Management of Change Definition
Humans are, first and foremost, emotional beings, and, according to psychological theories such as Maslow espoused, (which some of you may be familiar with), we all have some fundamental needs in common.
One perspective is that there are 6 deep-seated, fundamental human needs, which literally drive everyone’s behaviour. More often than not, these 6 operate at a sub-conscious level. In other words, we will often be totally oblivious of the fact these needs are driving us – but in any given situation, one or more of them most certainly are!
Those needs are:
- Security/Certainty (in our environment and in our relationships too)
- Insecurity/Uncertainty (risk, new challenges, or else we get bored)
- Community (belonging to a group/social acceptance)
- Significance (status, respect, recognition, power within a group)
- Growth (a feeling we are learning & developing)
- Contribution (a feeling there is some purpose/meaning to our lives)
So what I hear you say?
Well, when our needs are not met, or we feel they are threatened, we don’t feel good. When they are consistently not met, or frequently threatened we can become very unhappy and resentful; and when we don’t feel good, our behaviour is likely to be affected in a negative way.
The key to managing organizational change and effective team management is to realise change can, and often does, significantly impact some, if not all, of these fundamental needs.
Change threatens people’s need for security first and foremost. For some of your staff, (those who relish changes and new challenges rather than worry about or fear them), it may not be such a problem, but those who feel a little insecure can respond with all sorts of unhelpful behaviours. It represents a roller-coaster of emotions which, if ignored or dismissed can lead to further anxiety, resentment and disengagement. An added dimension is the perception of control: if your staff perceive they have little or no control or input within the situation, this will increase levels of stress significantly.
Three Tips for Managing Organizational Change:
- Understand that people will have a variety of different feelings about what’s happening around them.
Become more observant of how your staff are responding to the suggested changes. Are they showing high levels of anxiety? Are they resistant? Are they excited about potential new opportunities?
Each member of staff will be in a different “place” mentally. It’s your job to know where they are so you can plan how to deal with it! - Find a way of giving people a bit more individual attention at times of change – particularly when the upheaval may be significant. Discuss and acknowledge their feelings and consider ways in which you might be able to support them, and they might be able to help themselves and each other.
Keep communication levels high – and as open as possible throughout. This is not the time to play “ostrich”. - Stress in humans rises when we feel we have little control over what is happening to us.
Look for, and plan ways in which you can engage staff in the process wherever possible.
We cannot stop change from happening. Nor can we stop the fact that every one of us (including us as managers!) will feel at least some discomfort and vulnerability as it happens; but we can manage the process in a way which reveals our humanity and which helps bring people through the changes in a constructive and caring manner.
We can also remind ourselves that it is often the way that whilst the change itself was uncomfortable, many changes we have experienced in the past have actually turned out to be positive for us in the end. (We’ve all heard the stories of people who faced redundancy who said it was the best thing that ever happened to them once the dust had settled.)
If we remind ourselves of those 6 human needs – perhaps it is change which often gives us the most in terms of opportunities for personal growth- if we choose to perceive it that way.
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For more information to help you with the people side of management,
including how to improve employee motivation and get the best out of your team, take a look at these great resources:
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Management Skill Training – Can You Not Afford To?
OK, so I have a vested interest. Yes, I am a trainer and coach – and yes, I increasingly find myself helping managers hone their people and management skills. But when I started out in coaching and providing management skill training I hadn’t particularly decided that was to be my focus.
My focus on people skills developed because the problems, issues and challenges which people presented me with were all challenges caused by lack of confidence or skill in dealing with people. I found managers struggling with apathetic staff; with “difficult” staff; with de-motivated staff; with underperforming staff; with appraising staff, with recruiting the right staff; with how best to develop their staff and even with unsupportive line managers of their own!
I could go on! I guess you get the picture?
I conduct surveys with all the managers I work with, whether they attend workshops, or as part of a 1-1 coaching and training programme for managers; and what’s clear is a huge proportion feel they would appreciate more help with the people side of management – and they are only too aware of the implications of poor people management. After all, most of them can tell you a story of a “nightmare” line manager they’ve had in the past and what the results of that were!
People and Management Skill Training - CIPD Report
A recent CIPD/ACAS report in June this year simply reinforced what I am finding in my own practice. As we find ourselves in the rather quiet period over the summer break, I’d like to share some of their findings because this is I think, quite a good time to reflect on and plan your strategy for the final quarter of 2009.
You’re busy, so for ease, I’ll bullet some of the main points from the report which particularly struck a chord with me.
- 80% of UK managers have been asked to do things at work for which they feel they should have been given some training beforehand. (Skillsoft survey, 2008)
- 78% of UK employees identified line management as the job function in most need of additional training (Skillsoft)
- The UK spends less per manager on management development than any other European country (Leitch review 2006)
- Half of training and development at work is now initiated by line managers, as opposed to HR or training departments. (CIPD – Who learns at work? 2008)
- 44% of employees say their line manager rarely or never coaches them (CIPD 2009)
- 33% of employees say their line manager never discusses their management skill training and development needs (CIPD 2009)
What are the implications of all this? Does it really matter? Does it make a difference to the outcome if a line manager is feeling uncertain how best to tackle some of the most common people issues?
Ruth Spellman, CEO of the Chartered Management Institute says this about management training:
“If you think it’s expensive to have really competent people, try incompetent.”
How much does it cost you in wasted time dealing with conflict? (OPP Research , 2008, shows an average of 12 days a year are spent dealing with conflict in the workplace – more than time lost to absence).
How much does it cost you in time and money dealing with disciplinary or grievance procedures?
How much does it cost you to find, hire and re-train new staff because valuable, experienced staff are leaving?
Study after study shows a huge proportion of employees leave bosses, not companies.
What’s heartening for me is that in my experience, as with all employees, managers want to do a good job. They want to be able to encourage a culture where people communicate well, where they give of their discretionary effort, where they are committed, loyal and enthusiastic, and where they have fun, learn and produce good results.
But with the exception of a very few, naturally talented and skilled communicators (and even these will tell you there is always room for improvement!), most managers come to the role with little or no understanding of basic human psychology and how to successfully and consistently apply techniques which will ensure they get the best out of themselves and others.
So as we head for the final quarter of 2009, what are you doing to support and develop the most critical roles in your organisation?
Money may be tight – but rather than simply take the simplest, and least creative route of putting all management skill training and management training resources development “on hold”, why not take the time in these quieter summer weeks to ask a more creative question:
“How can we still support and develop our managers despite financial pressures?”
You may not be able to justify the “bells and whistles” programme you had planned – but that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways you can still give some support. There’s a book called “Guerrilla Marketing” by Jay Conrad Levinson, which gives brilliant ways of marketing on a shoestring. Perhaps it’s time to write a book called “Guerrilla training for managers!”
As a coach, I know it’s more about asking the right questions, to help you come up with better answers! So ask yourself what you can do to support your managers in the next 3 months and see what you come up with!
After all – you might actually find you save a bob or two!
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For more information to help you with the people side of management,
including how to improve employee motivation and get the best out of your team, take a look at these great resources:
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