Susan Scott's Blog, page 51

3 Tips for First Time Managers

So, you got promoted to your first management job. Congrats! Most likely, it was a direct result of you achieving your goals in your last role. And now your responsibilities have increased, and it can be overwhelming for your metrics to be based on others, while also maintaining your own.

A recent study by the Ken Blanchard Companies with over 500 managers revealed only 15% received any training prior to switching into the role of manager, as a result, 49% felt unprepared to succeed. By the six-month mark, 63% of respondents felt less than effective in their new role, and at 12 months 50% still felt somewhat ineffective.

While, organizations do want to make sure first time managers get the help they need, you should not rely on what is given to you to be successful. (And clearly it is not working given the survey results).

You must be diligent about your own development – no one can possibly care about it more than you do. New people leaders, here are three things to keep in mind:

Ask for help. It is tempting as a new manager to feel you need to prove yourself and to not engage with your team for help. Going inward is the worst thing you can do. Ask for help – everywhere. From your team members, from your leaders, from your neighbors and friends. Have a bias towards actions and solutions, and most people will want to help you. If you tend to be a perfectionist and are bad at this, choose an accountability partner to specifically ask you how you can ask for help. I know it sounds crazy, and your success could truly rely in this area.Do not assume. The moment you assume something, you shut down the ability to explore your team members and the circumstances around your business. Obey your instincts. If you sense that something is wrong, ask about it. Preface it by, “This might be completely off, but I am sensing…” Be willing to shift your perspective when someone says you are off. When you ask and really listen to team members, it demonstrates care and respect. Yes, that sounds like common sense, but sometimes that is truly missing.Be transparent. A problem often arises when someone gets promoted and starts to have access to more information. Some people want to keep it to themselves. This is not how you become successful. Do not keep information that can be shared to your team away from them. You can probably rationalize here, there, and everywhere. However, every time you make the choice to not disclose, you are decreasing the opportunity for connection and trust. That is a very big exchange to make – choose it wisely.

If you are a veteran manager, reach out to new managers and share your perspectives. Even if you have led people for years, it is always good to refresh yourself and practice what you know works best.

What other advice do you have for first time managers?

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Fierce tip of the week: Have a Liberating Fourth of July Conversation

A core Fierce philosophy is: “While no single conversations is guaranteed to change the trajectory of a career, a company, a relationship or a life – any single conversation can”. And I would add “the trajectory of a country.”

On this fourth of July holiday in the United States, we celebrate the inception of our nation. As collective citizens, we are where we are today as a direct result of all of the conversations we have had and not had – in our courtrooms, in our schools, in our communities, and in our homes.

While it may seem like an impossible question to answer: How can our current dialogue of blame, fear, and name-calling ever shift in US politics?

Well, it shifts one conversation at a   time. And it starts with the individuals.

Many people in our country seem resistant to get curious, put their egos aside, and start building the relationships needed to make the best decisions for the country. Yet, we know this is attainable.

At Fierce, we have the privilege of seeing this firsthand. We oftentimes see large organizations, in all industries and fields, get fierce, and shift in ways they never thought possible.

This week’s fierce tip is to have a fourth of July conversation that entertains a perspective that you do not necessarily agree with. Get curious but don’t become judgmental. You must model the kind of behaviors you want your peers, your neighbors, and your fellow citizens to embody.

We are the culture of our country. Each one of us. It is time for us all to take that a little more seriously.

The post Fierce tip of the week: Have a Liberating Fourth of July Conversation appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

Have a Liberating Fourth of July Conversation

A core Fierce philosophy is: “While no single conversations is guaranteed to change the trajectory of a career, a company, a relationship or a life – any single conversation can”. And I would add “the trajectory of a country.”

On this fourth of July holiday in the United States, we celebrate the inception of our nation. As collective citizens, we are where we are today as a direct result of all of the conversations we have had and not had – in our courtrooms, in our schools, in our communities, and in our homes.

While it may seem like an impossible question to answer: How can our current dialogue of blame, fear, and name-calling ever shift in US politics?

Well, it shifts one conversation at a   time. And it starts with the individuals.

Many people in our country seem resistant to get curious, put their egos aside, and start building the relationships needed to make the best decisions for the country. Yet, we know this is attainable.

At Fierce, we have the privilege of seeing this firsthand. We oftentimes see large organizations, in all industries and fields, get fierce, and shift in ways they never thought possible.

This week’s fierce tip is to have a fourth of July conversation that entertains a perspective that you do not necessarily agree with. Get curious but don’t become judgmental. You must model the kind of behaviors you want your peers, your neighbors, and your fellow citizens to embody.

We are the culture of our country. Each one of us. It is time for us all to take that a little more seriously.

The post Have a Liberating Fourth of July Conversation appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

Why Businesses Should Rethink the Annual Performance Review

This week’s Friday Resource was originally published by Forbes and provides insight into why businesses should ditch the annual performance review in favor of a more agile on-going performance conversation.

The article focuses on Adobe’s need to shift their performance review process in 2011 after having significant changes to their business model by introducing cloud-based software and real-time services. These changes did not translate to how Adobe was evaluating performance, supported employee growth and fostered a team environment. Common pains with the yearly review process were that both managers and employees alike dreaded preparing for and delivering the review, and in the months following, Adobe saw an increase in voluntary attrition.

The antiquated yearly review system was actually hurting the company and hindering their employee’s personal growth more than helping. There were three key areas that needed to be changed:

The annual review processEvaluating past performance Comparing employees against each other

The new performance review approach was coined the “Check-in” and set clear expectations and goals between managers and employees as well as facilitated frequent feedback based on expectations set. The results were higher employee engagement, lower turnover and approximately 80,000 hours of managers’ time saved by ditching the yearly performance review.

Could your annual performance review be hurting your company more than helping?

Read the article

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Fierce Performance Management: Tips & Tools to Unlock Potential

A workplace revolution has begun. The old school performance review processes with ratings and rankings are out the door. And they are being replaced with fresh and agile approaches that make the people the most important factor in the process – not the numbers. Is your workplace  part of this movement?

We just wrapped up the inaugural Human Capital Institute (HCI) Performance Management Innovation Conference in New York yesterday. There were robust conversations about leadership development, growth plans, separating compensation from the performance review process, and many other thought provoking topics.

Earlier this year, our 2016 predictions included the continual revamp of the performance management review. As we partner with our clients, I am continually impressed with how organizations are shifting their processes to be more and more human-centered. While Fierce does not create the technologies or systems for all of the performance process, we focus specifically on the conversation skills necessary to drive top performance. Top performance conversation skill sets are accountability, coaching, delegation, feedback, and confrontation.

For the conference, we launched a new e-book, Fierce Performance Management: Tips & Tools to Unlock Potential. I collaborated with my colleague, Kim Bohr, our EVP of Operations, to explore and highlight a section of the Fierce lens. In this e-book, we focus specifically on two of the skill sets as performance management tools: accountability and delegation. There are tips and tools included as well as a white paper.

Also, if you are interested in digging more into our philosophy and tools with performance management, register for our upcoming HCI webinar, Get Real: 3 Fierce Practices to Build a Culture of strong Performance on July 26th from 12:00-1:00pm PST, with our amazing Master Facilitator, Beth Wagner.

So I must ask our readers, what do you think about your current performance management process?

What skills do you think your colleagues and leaders need when driving high performance?

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Fierce Tip of the Week: Have a Mid-Year Check-In

At the end of this week, July begins. It signifies the middle of the year. A halfway point.  

In our Feedback program, we talk about waypoints. The definition of a waypoint is a reference point in physical space used for purposes of navigation. When you think about the last time you used Google or Apple Maps to navigate, you probably didn’t take one straight line to get from Point A to Point B. There was probably some redirecting involved – traffic you didn’t expect; construction you may not have known about. You needed points along the way to pivot, to turn, and sometimes, U-turn.

Each piece of feedback you receive is a waypoint. It’s an opportunity to check-in and see how you are trending towards your goals; how you are navigating your life, your relationships, and your career.

Sometimes, it’s necessary to pause and give feedback to yourself and check-in. I’ve talked about reflecting quite a few times on this blog. I always love to share the ROI of it as well: Leaders and employees alike who take time to reflect on their successes and their mistakes at work perform 20-25% better than those who do not.

This week’s fierce tip is to have a mid-year check-in with yourself and team members. Here are three core questions to ask yourself:

When you look back on the past six months, what are you proudest of? Least proud of?When you look forward, what is the most important goal for you to accomplish in 2016?What are the conversations most central for achieving that goal?

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Friday Resource: 9 ways to keep employees motivated during the dog days of summer

This week’s Friday Resource was originally published by CIO.com and provides nine ways to keep your team engaged and motivated during those long, hot summer days.

In the article, Schiff provides tips and tricks from HR experts on ways to take advantage of beautiful summer days and re-energize your team at the same time.

Some of the tips require little to no organization and can be fun, spontaneous outings like conducting your sales meeting outside. As long as you do not need a projector, technology allows us to work outside seamlessly. If the office is getting stuffy and employees are butting heads, hold a friendly team-building competition. There is no better way to get some work angst out than a lively game of ping-pong or an office soccer game on the pitch. Another common approach is allowing employees to have flex schedules on Fridays – as long as deadlines are met, allow your team to leave at 3:00PM and start their weekend on a high note.

Living and working in the Pacific Northwest, Fierce tries to take advantage of the nice weather when we get it throughout the summer months – to kick-off our 2016 summer, Fierce took a field-trip to a high ropes course that challenged us physically and mentally.

Whatever approach you take, it is important to take advantage of the nice weather and mix things up, your employees will thank you for it, and their work will reflect their gratitude.

Read the article

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3 Hacks for Your Summer Work Routine

Yesterday was the first official day of summer. And let’s be honest, sometimes the summer work routine can really drag you down. You are at the office grinding, while you longingly stalk your colleagues on social media – sailing in the Mediterranean or camping in the Grand Canyon. Summer vacation jealousy can rear its ugly head quickly.

So…how do you deal?  

Use the summer as a reason and time to explore different ways you can work. It is a great time to take advantage of more daylight, and other people’s vacation time to get ahead.

Here are three routine shifts to try:

Change your hours.Experiment with when you work. Perhaps the sunshine in the morning makes it easier for you to wake up. Go to the office early, so you can leave and enjoy more of the afternoon sunshine. If you can’t change your hours, run errands or pay bills early in the morning, so you can play after work.Regulate your Facebook and Instagram use. During your work hours, restrict your social media use to only work and business. The jealousy factor will continue to go off the charts if you keep living vicariously through others. Focus on being present with your colleagues and current work.Take mini-vacations. If you can’t take two weeks off in the summer, make sure to take a day or two. The benefits of truly disconnecting are profound. Make plans to explore or do something that will make your mini-vacation memorable. In fact, a Twitter study found that 94% found traveling during the vacation to be more meaningful than a “staycation.”

 

How will you switch up your routine this summer?

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Fierce Tip of the Week: Use the Power of Change

Last week, I was in New York at the Conference Board’s 14th Annual Change and Transformation Conference. There was a common theme: Constant change is the new normal. We have many beliefs about change, and at the end of the day, we as humans don’t particularly like change. It’s uncomfortable.

The issue is that we don’t truly understand change and how we react. Warren Parry, Managing Director at Accenture Strategy, shared research that was completed over the last 15 years about 250 change initiatives in more than 150 organizations. What struck me was two particular myths that he debunked about change.

The first myth is that too much change, too fast, is destructive. According to their research, the highest-performing organizations really excel in change. Typically, high-performing companies have more frequent change taking place.The second myth is that change causes organizations to go off track. Many people assume that change causes dysfunction. However, the Accenture research shows that 85% of teams with failed change initiatives already had issues. So change doesn’t cause dysfunction, it simply exposes what already exists.

When I step back with that knowledge, I realize that change enlightens and stretches us. It makes us better leaders and better teams. So rather than fear it, we really need to embrace change. Secondly, when something is not going well within our teams and organizations, change exacerbates it. Continue to have the conversations that are most important to the people around you, so that when change happens, you know the team is equipped and already dealing with any underlying issues that may affect the outcomes.

This week’s fierce tip is to use the power of change this week. If there is something you have been avoiding, do it now. Don’t fear the unknown. Embrace change with all its curliness.

Know that if something doesn’t go as planned, you can navigate it – one conversation at a time.

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Friday Resource: Smart Leadership – Delegate, Prioritize and Simplify

This week’s Friday Resource was originally published by Business News Daily and discusses why it pays to work smarter, not harder, by prioritizing and delegating tasks successfully. 

In the article, Fallon deflates the myth that a leader’s success is measured by how late they stay in the office or how many emails they answer over the weekend. While it is important to work hard and lead by example, it is not healthy to create a culture of workaholics that feel late nights and early mornings in the office are the only way they will be recognized.

“The job of a leader is exactly that: to lead. As a leader, your primary responsibility is to guide and supervise your employees as they get their work done, not to do everything yourself.”

The truly effective leaders know how to work smarter, not harder. A huge part of this is having trust in your coworkers and delegating tasks to them in order to effectively prioritize and manage your time, focusing on responsibilities that are solely yours. A strong leader has no qualms with letting someone else take the credit where it is due because ultimately, it makes their team stronger. A caveat of this approach is having a deep understanding of your colleagues’ strengths and weaknesses in order to set your team up for success.

It is important to remember, the path of least resistance is usually the best option. Finding the shortest, simplest way to accomplish something effectively doesn’t mean you aren’t working hard –
it means you’re working smart.

Read the article

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