We all have different points of view. That's what makes life interesting, teams dynamic, and solutions creative.
Recognising that diversity is an essential ingredient of success, we often look outside of our immediate group to get a "fresh perspective" when we feel we need some inspiration, reassurance, or simply an alternate view. How often though, do we check our own perspective? Indeed, is it possible to check and, if necessary, freshen up our own perspective from time to time? Who would we go to for a perspective "health check"?
These questions came to mind when I overheard two managers discussing a meeting they had both been invited to. One of them as asking the other why he hadn't attended the meeting, the response to which was "why should I attend a meeting that doesn't add value?" They both had an interesting perspective, and obviously they both felt that theirs was correct, which meant that they didn't necessarily agree with each other.
Interestingly, it could be argued that both were right - but to secure the best outcome, an alignment of perspective was needed. Everyone involved in the meeting should have attended it with the aim of adding value, and if they had achieved that goal then the conversation I overheard would never have happened. In reality though one thought he was right for attending as requested despite the fact that the meeting may have been low on value, and the other thought he was right to stay away because of the lack of value. Nothing had been resolved - but dangerously two opposing mindsets had been forged that will influence their perspectives in future, and hinder productivity.
How can a fresh perspective be achieved in such situations?
Firstly, whenever something feels like it hasn't gone as well as it might have done, we need to reflect on how a better outcome might have been achieved. We should challenge ourselves by assessing our own perspective to see if it needs freshening up. If necessary we can ask others to help by providing feedback, or discussing the situation to identify ways we could handle it differently by gauging their perspective.
It is easy to walk away in the belief that we are right, and justify our actions accordingly. But if we truly want to achieve high performance we will pause and ask ourselves whether our own perspective is fresh enough to make a difference, or create an impact that adds real value.
Sunday 30 January 2011
Sunday 16 January 2011
Twenty-three Minute "Hours"
According to Parkinson's Law, "work expands to fill the time available for its completion". If we are honest we all know this to be true. Whether it's because we don't set a deadline, or we don't put ourselves under enough pressure to meet a stretching deadline, we tend to be less efficient the longer we think we have available to us to complete a task.
Good managers know this to be true too - and that's why they set timescales and deadlines for key actions and projects to ensure that they are delivered efficiently. But maybe good managers could take a step towards becoming great leaders if they went a stage further, and helped those in their team challenge the way they structure their time in everyday activities - not just in meeting key deadlines.
The principle behind Parkinson's Law has also been defined as, "the amount of time in which one has to perform a task is the amount of time it will take to complete said task". I thought about this as I observed managers conducting team meetings, and one to ones. Every session seemed to be booked for an hour - and as a general rule each session took an hour, regardless of the size of the agenda, the type of meeting, the nature of the one to one, or indeed, the individual concerned. So by allowing an arbitrary hour for every session, it appeared that an hour was used. Expanding this method of diary planning to every task in a managers diary would mean that, on average, only 7 or 8 tasks per day can be completed. That may be enough to 'get the job done', but is it enough to achieve truly high performance?
I asked the group of managers how they would plan their diaries if each hour was made up of, not sixty minutes, but twenty-three? And how many tasks per day they would be able to complete if that were the case? (Don't ask why I chose twenty-three - it just seemed a random enough number to get my point across!) Initially they thought it somewhat bizarre that I had dared to challenge the way we measure time - after all we have been doing it that way for such a long time - but they quickly understood that the efficiency with which we complete tasks is entirely up to us and the way we plan, schedule and discipline our use of that most precious of commodities.
So if it feels like high performance is something that can only be achieved if we have the time - just think about how much quicker our performance goals could be achieved if we invested in high quality impact twenty-three minute "hours". Then all we need to do is work out how we will spend the other thirty-seven minutes!
Good managers know this to be true too - and that's why they set timescales and deadlines for key actions and projects to ensure that they are delivered efficiently. But maybe good managers could take a step towards becoming great leaders if they went a stage further, and helped those in their team challenge the way they structure their time in everyday activities - not just in meeting key deadlines.
The principle behind Parkinson's Law has also been defined as, "the amount of time in which one has to perform a task is the amount of time it will take to complete said task". I thought about this as I observed managers conducting team meetings, and one to ones. Every session seemed to be booked for an hour - and as a general rule each session took an hour, regardless of the size of the agenda, the type of meeting, the nature of the one to one, or indeed, the individual concerned. So by allowing an arbitrary hour for every session, it appeared that an hour was used. Expanding this method of diary planning to every task in a managers diary would mean that, on average, only 7 or 8 tasks per day can be completed. That may be enough to 'get the job done', but is it enough to achieve truly high performance?
I asked the group of managers how they would plan their diaries if each hour was made up of, not sixty minutes, but twenty-three? And how many tasks per day they would be able to complete if that were the case? (Don't ask why I chose twenty-three - it just seemed a random enough number to get my point across!) Initially they thought it somewhat bizarre that I had dared to challenge the way we measure time - after all we have been doing it that way for such a long time - but they quickly understood that the efficiency with which we complete tasks is entirely up to us and the way we plan, schedule and discipline our use of that most precious of commodities.
So if it feels like high performance is something that can only be achieved if we have the time - just think about how much quicker our performance goals could be achieved if we invested in high quality impact twenty-three minute "hours". Then all we need to do is work out how we will spend the other thirty-seven minutes!
Wednesday 12 January 2011
Performance "Super Heroes"
Wouldn't it be fantastic if you had a team of super heroes!
Imagine how much work would get done if one member of your team could move at the speed of light, how effective planning would be if someone had the gift of time-travel, and how strong engagement would be if somebody else had supersonic hearing. By now your imagination will be running wild - invisibility, flight, x-ray vision...with powers like these high performance would be guaranteed.
I discussed this concept with a leadership group recently. I asked them how they would use their chosen super-power to improve the performance in their team. The results were very interesting.
For example, a manager with the ability to travel through time said he would go back to the beginning of the day and provide a slightly different focus - but the response to him was "what is stopping you going straight back to your team now with that message?" True, he couldn't travel through time - but neither should another second be wasted once he realised action is required.
Another with the power to move at the speed of light wanted to get all her e-mails out of the way so that she could focus on the more important things. This was met with a challenge to go and prioritise the really important work anyway - the e-mails would still be there afterwards, and if anything in her inbox was truly urgent then the sender would probably call her to get a quicker response.
Invisibility created an interesting discussion. The ability to "spy" on staff to see what they were really doing seemed very appealing! But why would they not be doing the right things anyway? Any manager who doubts that their team carry out the instructions they pass on the minute their back is turned must have serious communication shortcomings, and must not spend enough time observing their team and following up actions. If people genuinely do 'switch off' when the boss isn't looking then maybe they are in the wrong job and with some honest reflection the manager will admit that they know this to be the case and they should act immediately. Whatever the issues are, a 'cloak of invisibility' is not really necessary to manage and lead people to deliver the right results. A manager can find out all they need to know in an open, and very visible, way.
And so it went on. As each "super-power" was discussed, the managers in the group realised that they already possess the powers and abilities they need to achieve their desired outcome. And they don't need to be an imaginary comic-strip character to have a super-powered impact on performance.
So why not take a closer look at your team - you may find that you already have a team of "super-heroes"!
Imagine how much work would get done if one member of your team could move at the speed of light, how effective planning would be if someone had the gift of time-travel, and how strong engagement would be if somebody else had supersonic hearing. By now your imagination will be running wild - invisibility, flight, x-ray vision...with powers like these high performance would be guaranteed.
I discussed this concept with a leadership group recently. I asked them how they would use their chosen super-power to improve the performance in their team. The results were very interesting.
For example, a manager with the ability to travel through time said he would go back to the beginning of the day and provide a slightly different focus - but the response to him was "what is stopping you going straight back to your team now with that message?" True, he couldn't travel through time - but neither should another second be wasted once he realised action is required.
Another with the power to move at the speed of light wanted to get all her e-mails out of the way so that she could focus on the more important things. This was met with a challenge to go and prioritise the really important work anyway - the e-mails would still be there afterwards, and if anything in her inbox was truly urgent then the sender would probably call her to get a quicker response.
Invisibility created an interesting discussion. The ability to "spy" on staff to see what they were really doing seemed very appealing! But why would they not be doing the right things anyway? Any manager who doubts that their team carry out the instructions they pass on the minute their back is turned must have serious communication shortcomings, and must not spend enough time observing their team and following up actions. If people genuinely do 'switch off' when the boss isn't looking then maybe they are in the wrong job and with some honest reflection the manager will admit that they know this to be the case and they should act immediately. Whatever the issues are, a 'cloak of invisibility' is not really necessary to manage and lead people to deliver the right results. A manager can find out all they need to know in an open, and very visible, way.
And so it went on. As each "super-power" was discussed, the managers in the group realised that they already possess the powers and abilities they need to achieve their desired outcome. And they don't need to be an imaginary comic-strip character to have a super-powered impact on performance.
So why not take a closer look at your team - you may find that you already have a team of "super-heroes"!
Sunday 9 January 2011
Will Last Years Top Performers Be This Years Top Performers?
Does this question ever really get debated in any real depth - or do managers tend to presume that the answer is yes, and move on to what they perceive to be bigger priorities? However, those priorities could change swiftly and dramatically if last years top performers were to go "off the boil" this year!
Whilst those who performed well last year may be naturally gifted and motivated people, they still need to be managed, encouraged and coached in order to sustain a high performance over the longer term. It would be a mistake to treat them as 'nailed on' performers for the coming year - in fact we may need to support them as much as our weaker performers over the next few weeks. We should pay particular attention to the subtle changes that may be needed to ensure we get a repeat of 2010 performance in 2011.
Most business plans will change, albeit slightly in many cases, from one year to the next. Emphasis may switch to different products, markets or delivery channels - and as the game changes so does the way we need to play it to maintain high performance. The transition of our top performers through this period of subtle change can prove to be 'blind spot' if we simply leave them to it.
Top performers work out their success formula and are able to apply it consistently week after week and month after month. They can find it tough to achieve this year after year though because of the game changes made in business focus - and they find to their cost that doing things that have worked really well in the past don’t always work as well in the future. They can easily get frustrated, wondering why the results are not coming in when they haven't changed their approach which has always been successful in the past. But that could be the issue - not changing may have been the only mistake they made.
Genuine top performers are very capable of working out what the subtle changes are that will help them to sustain their high performance in 2011. But just in case they need our help, it is still worth us spending some time pondering the question - will last years top performers be this years top performers in my team?
Whilst those who performed well last year may be naturally gifted and motivated people, they still need to be managed, encouraged and coached in order to sustain a high performance over the longer term. It would be a mistake to treat them as 'nailed on' performers for the coming year - in fact we may need to support them as much as our weaker performers over the next few weeks. We should pay particular attention to the subtle changes that may be needed to ensure we get a repeat of 2010 performance in 2011.
Most business plans will change, albeit slightly in many cases, from one year to the next. Emphasis may switch to different products, markets or delivery channels - and as the game changes so does the way we need to play it to maintain high performance. The transition of our top performers through this period of subtle change can prove to be 'blind spot' if we simply leave them to it.
Top performers work out their success formula and are able to apply it consistently week after week and month after month. They can find it tough to achieve this year after year though because of the game changes made in business focus - and they find to their cost that doing things that have worked really well in the past don’t always work as well in the future. They can easily get frustrated, wondering why the results are not coming in when they haven't changed their approach which has always been successful in the past. But that could be the issue - not changing may have been the only mistake they made.
Genuine top performers are very capable of working out what the subtle changes are that will help them to sustain their high performance in 2011. But just in case they need our help, it is still worth us spending some time pondering the question - will last years top performers be this years top performers in my team?
It's Easier to Follow an Example
It is well documented that all great leaders have vision. The stronger and clearer it is, the easier it is for others to follow. It must be said though, that however clear a vision is, people will always find it easier to follow the example that is set for them.
So if we are responsible for leading others we must accept that the example we set is absolutely critical to getting the right response from our people. Continually setting the best example to create the biggest impact must be our focus.
High profile political or religious leaders may well be able to sustain their leadership on a vision - but day-to-day leadership is a different matter. People may buy into our vision for the business, or the team they are a part of - but on a daily basis they are much more likely to follow our example first & our vision second. That puts the onus on us to "practice what we preach".
There are many ways we can do this - but here are just a few of the things we must do to set the right example as a leader and take people with us on our performance journey.
Setting & communicating clear goals. All leaders talk about the importance of goals - but how good is our example? Goals are very important to motivation, and creating a strong group environment. Having the right goals in place will drive customer service, regulatory compliance, financial performance, staff engagement, and loyalty to the team and its business. Are we a goal-oriented leader? Do we outline clear goals for our people that they can easily understand and buy into? Are they goal-oriented as a result?
Spend time establishing and explaining the targets of the group. Whilst the goals may capture the "why" - why the team exists, why the team is important, why we all want to be part of it... The specific targets and milestones we set are more focused on the "what" and the "how". By working through these as a team, the planning process begins immediately and potential solutions to any problems, challenges or issues that are identified can be identified more readily and with the buy in of the whole group. Do we communicate targets with a "don't shoot the messenger" approach? Or do we set the right example by providing a facilitative, collaborative approach?
Develop an effective network. However strong a leader is they will seldom have all the answers themselves. In fact some leaders deliberately surround themselves with people who they view as better than them so that the quality of 'answers' is better than they would have provided personally. It is important to set the right example in developing a network of people we can learn from to give us a performance 'edge'. The more people who follow that example in our team the greater the combined impact on business performance will be. How good an example are we setting? Do we claim to have all the answers? Or do we just claim to know where to look to find all the answers?
Having a great vision is a perfect start point - but we do well to remember that people will always find our example easier to follow.
So if we are responsible for leading others we must accept that the example we set is absolutely critical to getting the right response from our people. Continually setting the best example to create the biggest impact must be our focus.
High profile political or religious leaders may well be able to sustain their leadership on a vision - but day-to-day leadership is a different matter. People may buy into our vision for the business, or the team they are a part of - but on a daily basis they are much more likely to follow our example first & our vision second. That puts the onus on us to "practice what we preach".
There are many ways we can do this - but here are just a few of the things we must do to set the right example as a leader and take people with us on our performance journey.
Setting & communicating clear goals. All leaders talk about the importance of goals - but how good is our example? Goals are very important to motivation, and creating a strong group environment. Having the right goals in place will drive customer service, regulatory compliance, financial performance, staff engagement, and loyalty to the team and its business. Are we a goal-oriented leader? Do we outline clear goals for our people that they can easily understand and buy into? Are they goal-oriented as a result?
Spend time establishing and explaining the targets of the group. Whilst the goals may capture the "why" - why the team exists, why the team is important, why we all want to be part of it... The specific targets and milestones we set are more focused on the "what" and the "how". By working through these as a team, the planning process begins immediately and potential solutions to any problems, challenges or issues that are identified can be identified more readily and with the buy in of the whole group. Do we communicate targets with a "don't shoot the messenger" approach? Or do we set the right example by providing a facilitative, collaborative approach?
Develop an effective network. However strong a leader is they will seldom have all the answers themselves. In fact some leaders deliberately surround themselves with people who they view as better than them so that the quality of 'answers' is better than they would have provided personally. It is important to set the right example in developing a network of people we can learn from to give us a performance 'edge'. The more people who follow that example in our team the greater the combined impact on business performance will be. How good an example are we setting? Do we claim to have all the answers? Or do we just claim to know where to look to find all the answers?
Having a great vision is a perfect start point - but we do well to remember that people will always find our example easier to follow.
Tuesday 4 January 2011
Leadership Do's and Dont's
Over the past few days I am sure that you have heard a number of people begin sentences with phrases like, "I've been reflecting over the holidays" or "Having thought about last year..." often followed by their new year resolutions, their master plan for success in 2011, or maybe just some simple common sense observations on what they intend to be better at throughout the coming year. The turn of a new year is a common time for self reflection and affords an opportunity to look forward at ways we can improve ourselves, our skills, our relationships and our performance.
Those of us who are leaders of others especially need to reflect on whether the way we lead our team through the coming weeks and months will be effective in delivering our performance goals as a group. To that end here are a few do's and dont's to stimulate our reflection process and help to set a successful leadership course for 2011.
Leadership Do's
- Lead by example
- Demonstrate high integrity, trust and honesty
- Stay focused on the bigger picture
- Set clear goals and monitor progress
- Be accountable
- Take control without being controlling
- Treat people as individuals
- Recognise strengths in others and use them accordingly
- Listen and empathise
- Be proactive - take ownership to make a difference
- Believe in change - be an agent for change
- Seek feedback from and learn from others
- Be adaptable
- Accept challenge
- Create a team of “leaders” not “followers”
Leadership Dont's
- Don’t say one thing and do another
- Don’t get bogged down in day to day issues
- Don’t make or tolerate excuses
- Don’t focus on task over culture
- Don’t just count the ‘widgets’
- Don’t criticise
- Don’t mock or disregard any ideas or suggestions
- Don’t forget the power of a great team
- Don’t avoid the difficult conversations
- Don’t settle into a “comfort zone”
- Don’t get distracted
- Don’t react negatively under pressure
- Don't always accept things the way they are – challenge the status quo
- Don’t tolerate destructive comments or behaviours
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