Archive for the ‘Management support’ Category
Building a mansion or a row of terraces?
Filed under: Management support, Teamwork, communication, problem-solving | Tags: business growth, change, communication, Leadership, resilience
Leave a Comment I was reminded again this week how most businesses grow organically, lopsided and unplanned. It stands to reason that someone with a potential business idea starts small and adds people and premises as their success allows, but ask any business owner today …
My blog has now moved to the Reflection Consulting – East Midlands Teamwork & Management Services – main website and this article can now be read, in full, at Building a mansion or a row of terraces
A new horizon for middle managers
Filed under: HR, Individual Performance, Management support, Management training and development, Team Performance, Teamwork, problem-solving | Tags: performance, team work, motivation, management training, management development, Delegation, change, decision making, Leadership, collaboration, resilience, bullying at work, difficult times, management pressure, behaviour management, communication, team building
Leave a Comment Our middle managers take such a bashing, at work, in the media and in business research (see my CIPD article for more). It’s a wonder anyone aspires to be a manager, and amazing that we have accepted this sorry state of affairs for so long.
No matter how good the technical training…
My blog has now moved to the Reflection Consulting – East Midlands Teamwork & Management Services – main website and this article can now be read, in full, at new horizon for middle managers
Most teams are anything but
Filed under: HR, Management support, Management training and development, Team Performance, Teamwork, communication, problem-solving | Tags: teams, performance, team work, motivation, understanding, management training, management development, Delegation, change, Leadership, collaboration, managing under pressure, behaviour, behaviour management
Leave a Comment How long does it take for a group of strangers to form into an effective, productive team?
Speak to the head of any organisation, and you’d…
My blog has now moved to the East Midlands Management & Teamwork – Reflection Consulting – main website and this article can now be read, in full, at Most teams are anything but
Is HR a proper job?
Filed under: HR, Management support | Tags: commitment, HR, management development, performance, productivity
Leave a Comment You don’t have to look far to find committed, professional HR people in the UK, but for each one of them, there are plenty of reluctant HR managers who are just ticking away the days until they can return to their “proper job”.
I’ve been stunned recently to hear variations on the following from a number of HR managers:
“I’m actually an engineer / project manager / finance assistant but we had this big reshuffle at work and I ended up here. My boss said it was just temporary, while things settled down, then they’d find me a proper job.”
Sounds like HR is the offer you can’t refuse – unless you want to be made redundant.
This tells us two very important things: these employers and many others hold HR so far down the priority list that, as long as there’s a bum on a seat, nothing else really matters (even if the owner of that bum is disinterested and uninformed), and secondly, it’s no wonder the workforce is in the state it’s in when training, performance and development is part of this messy system.
How many times have you heard “there’s no point in talking to HR, they’re worse than useless”?
It must be soul-destroying for those professional, committed types to be awash in a sea of mediocrity. You have my sympathies.
Motivation and communication
Filed under: Management support, Management training and development, Team Performance, communication, difficult people, problem-solving | Tags: behaviour, collaboration, communication, conflict, difficult people, management development, motivation, performance, productivity, team work
Leave a Comment This week I’ve had the opportunity to ask team managers, business leaders and team members how they feel about their teams, and what they would like to see changed.
In every case, top of the list was Motivation and Communication. Poor motivation and communication can really undermine a team, no matter what sector you are in, but there are ways of turning this round. However, it takes consistent work and a real commitment from the top to maintain it.
My free tips for motivating your teams are increasingly popular and I think it’s time to add some more tips on team communication.
Yesterday’s workshop “Difficult People Made Easy” brought together a really interesting mix of people, all of whom had their own challenges at work and were looking for support and solutions. They quickly developed into a peer group and I have no doubt will be sharing news on how they get on back at the office.
Conflict and disagreement saps energy and productivity from an organisaton, so I wish our participants well with their new strategies.
Getting the best out of your team
Filed under: Individual Performance, Management support, communication, problem-solving | Tags: collaboration, communication, difficult times, managing under pressure, problem-solving, productivity, team work, understanding
Leave a Comment This was the title of my breakfast seminar with the Institute of Directors yesterday morning. It was heartening to see so many nods, smiles and flashes of recognition among the audience as I outlined my observations on the three most common, and costly, mistakes made by teams across sectors.
The questions afterwards reminded me of just how long managers struggle on with their own problems before they seek help. It’s easy to believe that our problems are unique, and it can be very difficult to find safe, reliable sources of help, so I’m pleased that at least some people had a slightly easier day at work as a result of our chat.
Whatever your problem, and however isolated you are in your role, it’s worth looking for support and asking around – you don’t have to take up other people’s suggestions, but another perspective, particularly from someone you trust, is a sure-fire route to a better night’s sleep.
Matron to mechanic
Filed under: Management support, Management training and development, communication, problem-solving | Tags: communication, problem-solving
Leave a Comment So, deciding to drop the fluffy red rose logo; too soft, too kind and friendly, I’ve been quizzing my friends and support team about an alternative.
Like a flash of the blindingly obvious, we see that my most successful service has been the Teamwork MOT, and that maybe continuing this car maintenance theme will give the right message – that maintaining an efficient, productive team is like maintaining a high-performance car. You wouldn’t wait for your fantastic, purring motor to end up a steaming pile of rusting junk in a ditch, you’d make sure it was serviced, topped up, polished and ready for action.
So, off to the photographer’s I go with some brand new overalls and a set of spanners. See the results for yourself on my website!
toxic emails
Filed under: Management support, Team Performance, difficult people, problem-solving | Tags: anger, behaviour, conflict, performance
Leave a Comment There’s no doubt that tempers are definitely shorter at work these days; people are quicker to anger, far less tolerant and less concerned about who knows it.
Discussing tension at work with a friend yesterday, she told me about a string of aggressive, rude emails had received from a junior colleague after she requested some very mundane, everyday tasks to be completed.
From an outsider’s point of view, we can see that there are some issues of stress, workload and prioritisation to be sorted out. But from my friend’s perspective, this outburst was completely out of order and will affect her contact with this colleague for some time to come. Far from getting any help, the colleague has now singled herself out as irrational, unprofessional and unhinged, and has probably secured her place at the top of the imminent redundancy list for her department.
This kind of scenario is being played out across the country today, with the boss’s response being largely along the lines of “think yourself lucky you’ve got a job”.
If we fail to address rising levels of stress and decreasing levels of tolerance and respect at work, we’ll be seeing far more problems like this to come.
It’s not unusual
Filed under: Management support, Teamwork, problem-solving | Tags: conflict, managing under pressure, problem-solving
Leave a Comment Funny how so many team managers believe that their problems with difficult team members are unique and unsolvable. The number of times people will say “this one will be beyond even you”, when all it really means is that they have given up or are actually quite comfortable with the status quo, no matter how damaging it is to the performance of the team as a whole.
The truth is that most problems are duplicated in different places the world over. Some have found solutions and others have not. The nice thing about being impartial and visiting lots of teams is that you can see the issue with fresh eyes and the all-important level of detachment.
So, if you’re stuck with a teamwork problem, don’t give up. There is a solution and it could be easier than you think.
Same s**t, different people
Filed under: Management support, Team Performance | Tags: conflict, management development, managing under pressure, problem-solving, understanding
Leave a Comment It’s funny how people believe that the stresses and strains of their industry are different from anyone else’s. In almost two years of running my management workshop “Difficult People Made Easy”, I’ve learned several valuable things, the main one being that the problems of managing and motivating people are the same, wherever you go!
If I had to pick a top three, I’d say lack of enthusiasm, personality clashes and inappropriate language or behaviour would be the most common problems. Bit of a downer if that’s your daily experience at work, but at least the good news is that something can be done about it.
