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Motivate Your Staff To Go The Extra Mile

25% of your staff do not know what is expected of them, while at work. Are you shocked at that figure - 25%. I was, so I did something about it. Read the tips and techniques I used to reduce that figure. To be an Effective Manager and tell them to have a successful career in any company you must know how to build relationships.

The most important relationship is between the manager and their direct reports. The strength of this relationship can have a direct result on the success of a team. Yes the relationship between the manager and their staff must be open and trustworthy, that's a given but what else should you expect from your staff as their manager? During my 20 years plus management career, I've observed and experienced that certain behaviors, on the part of both the staff and the manager, are conducive to productive and rewarding relationships. I share my views below and I hope that I can help other managers, leaders, staff and teams to improve their relationships and as a consequence, their performance. What I Expect from My Direct Reports Get involved Successful managers know how to delegate. But even more important, they know when a situation calls for their immediate involvement, whether it's in redirecting resources to a major crisis or visiting their staff at a remote site. If you see a problem rising, there is no excuse for not taking responsibility. I expect my reports to take the blame for things that go wrong and give credit for positive developments to their employees. That is part of being a manager take the blame but praise the staff/team when things work out well. It is the manager's judgment call to know when your involvement is necessary and will have the most impact on the business. I have found that effective managers generally get involved when one of these three types of circumstances arise: when somebody is falling behind in their commitments; when important personnel matters arise and in a crisis.

Generate ideas A person who is innovative and creative is rare. I actually encourage individuals to come up with ideas. I listen to what they suggest and say. Together we decide which ideas are taken forward and implemented. Be willing to collaborate and share The number of people I come across who resist collaboration or sharing credit amazes me. Individuals think by keeping things to themselves' they will become infallible or irreplaceable. The team, department, company can achieve improved results if individuals share their good ideas, practice, ways of working. As a manager, you have to take this very seriously and I do. Several years ago, I was hired to improve the turnaround time of customer orders for a large blue-chip company. Two of my direct reports just did not get on; they didn't talk to each other; they didnt turn up to each other's meetings; they argued in front of customers. All this meant they didn't and couldn't work together and because they didn't work together well, neither did their teams. As a result, service was not improving. The three of us met and I told them that it didnt matter whether they liked each other or not, but the way they worked together had to change. They left the meeting with the agreement they would overcome their differences. I don't know if they ever learned to like each other, but they learned to work well together and more important, so did their teams. Our overall performance improved considerably. Be willing to lead initiatives I love change and as a manager, I am always impressed when someone volunteers to lead new initiatives. It shows courage, confidence and flexibility. New initiatives often means new skills, new relationships and new environments, for the individual who volunteers. Most individuals won't put their hand up to volunteer because of the unknown. All I can say, it that those that do, it will be their careers they will accelerate and their profile will increase tremendously. Develop your staff as you develop You need to manage your own development. However, even more important is the development of your staff. Early in my career, I worked for a great manager. He told me one day, he was going to do everything he could to help me reach my potential. From that moment on, he was more interested in my development than in his own. He went out of his way to criticise or praise me when I needed it. I'll never forget him; he played a very meaningful role in my career. Drive your own development Keep your own skills up-to-date. Your company may not offer all the development you need. You may have to do your own research. In my career I have read many, many management/leadership/business books (some bad, some good, some excellent). I have also had many mentors. Remember your own development is your responsibility.

A last word..

25% of all staff don't know what their boss expects of them. As a manager, make sure 100% of your staff know what you expect of them. It's easy to do the

behaviors I expect are listed above. You may have different ones. It doesn't matter just make sure your staff know. If they do, you will see an improvement in your team's service.

by: Andrew Rondeau

Conformity: Agreeing with someone elses opinion in order to gain his or her approval. Example: A manager tells his boss, You are absolutely right on your reorganizations plan for the western regional office. I couldnt agree with you more. Excuses: Explanations of a predicament creating event aimed at minimizing the apparent severity to the predicament. Examples: Sales manager to boss. We failed to get the ad in the paper on time, but no one responds to those ads anyway. Apologies: Admitting responsibility for an undesirable event and simultaneously seeking to get a pardon for the section Example: Employee to boss, Im sorry I made a mistake on the report Please forgive me. Self-Promotion: Highlighting ones best qualities downplaying ones deficits and calling attention to ones achievements. Example: A salesperson tells his boss: Matt worked unsuccessfully for three years to try to get that account I sewed it up in six weeks. Im the best closer this company has. Flattery: Complementing others about their virtues in an effort to make one self appear perceptive and likeable. Example: New sales trainee to peer. You handled that clients complaint so tactfully! I could never have handled that as well as you did. Favors: Doing nice for someone to gain that persons approval. Example: Sales person to prospective client, Ive got two tickets to the theater tonight that I cant use. Take them. Consider it a thank you for taking the time to talk with me.

Association: Enhancing or protecting ones image by managing information about people and things with which one is associated. Example: A job applicant says to an interviewer, What a coincidence. Your boss and I were roommates in college. In terms of performance ratings, the picture is quite different. Ingratiation is positively related to performance rations, meaning that those who ingratiate with their supervisors get higher performance evaluations. However, self promotion appears to backfire those who self promote actually seem to receive lower performance evaluations. What explains these results? If you think about them, they make sense. Ingratiating always works because everyone likes to be treated nicely, whether it is the interviewer or the supervisor. However, self promotion may work only in interviews and backfire on the job because whereas the interviewer has little idea whether you are blowing smoke about your accomplishments, the supervisor knows because it is his or her job to observe you. Thus, if you are going to self promote, remember that what works in the interview will not always work once you are on the job. The Ethics of Behaving Politically: We conclude our discussion of politics by providing some ethical guidelines for political behavior. Although there are no clear cut ways to differentiate ethical from unethical politicking, there are some questions you should consider. Ask yourself: what is the utility of engaging in the behavior? Sometimes we engage in political behaviors for little good reason. For example, Major League Baseball player Al Martin claimed he played football at USC when in fact he never did. Because Martin was playing baseball there was little to be gained buy his lie. Outright lies like this may be a rather extreme example of impression management, but many of us have distorted information to make a favorable impression. The point is that before we do so, one thing to keep in mind is whether it is really worth the risk. Another question to ask is an ethical one how does the utility of engaging in the political behavior balance out any harm (or potential harm) it will do to others? For example, complementing a supervisor on his or her appearance to curry favor is probably much less harmful than grabbing credit for a project that is deserved by others. Our point is that immoral people can justify almost any behavior. Those who are powerful, articulate and persuasive are most vulnerable because they are likely to be able to get away with unethical practices successfully. When faced with an ethical dilemma regarding organizational politics try to consider the preceding issues (is playing politics worth the risk and will others be harmed in the process). If you have a strong power base, recognize the ability of power to corrupt. Remember, its a lot easier for the powerless to act ethically, if for no to her reason than they radically have very little political discretion to exploit.

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