I had a different idea for a blog article this week but – I made the mistake of watching a couple of talking heads tell the world how the federal government should fix the fiscal mess they’ve created and why the other side was completely wrong. If DC doesn’t do what they want the resulting fiscal crisis will be entirely the fault of the other party and people playing politics with the country’s future, etc., etc., etc. Fill in the name of any politician, it doesn’t matter. I’m a problem solver and if you’ve talked with me or visited my website you know that I truly believe that when reasonable people come together and act reasonably, there is no problem that can’t be solved. Well, I think I just found one. Your problems will probably pale in comparison when you think of the mess both political parties have created and now they’re acting like six year olds unwilling to admit that someone else’s idea may have merit. No one is exempt from this mess. So folks in DC, here’s the solution – put the shovels down. Do what every other business person in the country is trying to do – get the best common sense solutions identified and implement the one selected by consensus. Stop the politics until the problem is rectified. If you can’t be part of the solution at least stop being the problem. Get the heck out of the way and let the American people do what they do best – tackle the problem head on, find the solution and implement it.
Communication
Playground or Office?
As a supervisor, leader, or manager, are there times when you feel like you’re more of a playground monitor than a supervisor? Do you get the feeling that you’re spending 90% of your time on 5% of your staff? Is most of your time is spent refereeing employee disputes, almost to the point where you’re working overtime just to get your own work done? And the worst of it is that this isn’t the first time this has happened. Despite your best efforts, it keeps happening time and time again – same stuff, different faces.
We’ve talked before about this issue and the drastic solution of termination. But what if the termination doesn’t have the effect you thought it would? What will it take to solve this problem once and for all so you can go about doing your job?
When the situation gets to this point, it’s time to call in a professional problem solver. He or she brings a fresh perspective to the situation and has no other agenda than working with all the parties to find a realistic and lasting solution. The problem solver can facilitate effective communication that aids the correct identification of the problem, the root causes and viable solutions. You’ve tried everything you and the rest of the management team can think of. Why not try something different? What do you have to lose other than that chronic case of heartburn, bad morale, and Aunt Nellie’s nagging?
But I can’t fail – I’m the boss!
Well, actually you can. Most of us who have been in leadership or management positions have failed at some point in our professional lives. Here’s the good news. If handled properly, failure isn’t all bad. None of us likes to fail but it happens despite our best efforts and intentions. We’re human and we make mistakes which lead to failure moments. What happens then? The real measure of success isn’t what you do when you’re on top. Patton once said that “success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.” From our failures we can gain knowledge and experience. We can then use both to address the issue more appropriately, increasing the likelihood that we’ll succeed. Learning from failure is a good thing. Repeating the failure moments with the hope of a different outcome is, according to some, the definition of insanity.
Failure to resolve the personnel issues that continue to plague your organization is aggravating and frustrating. Recognizing the reasons for that failure and, more importantly, the limitations on your ability to resolve the issues is an important first step. Consulting with a professional problem solver may be the first step on the road to long lasting resolution and eventually success. As we’ve discussed before, the professional problem solver has no other agenda than helping you and your organization find the real causes for the problems and reaching a resolution that actually addresses the issues.
When failure looms its ugly head, and it will, accept the option and possible reality and call for reinforcements in the form of a professional problem solver. Then, when Aunt Nellie demands to know what you’re doing to resolve the problem ( and increase her monthly dividend payment) you’ll have a response which just might take the wind out of her sails. Even in the midst of failure, seeing Aunt Nellie speechless has to be a very satisfactory moment.
One of those days
Did you ever wake up and know the moment your feet hit the floor it was going to be one of those days? Your suspicions are confirmed the moment your assistant comes into your office with the comment, “You’re not going to believe this.” She’s right. You don’t. How is it that supposedly adult professionals can behave like a bunch of five year olds? What didn’t they get the first time you talked with them?
Does this describe some of the moments you’ve had recently? As we’ve discussed, when the parties involved don’t buy into the solution the problem may persist and worsen. So now what do you do? Look at the options you have. Have you correctly identified all of them? The range of options could help frame the approach you may want to take. You can choose to ignore the issue and hope it goes away or – –
Today, we’re going to look at one extreme option. Obviously, the quickest and harshest solution is to fire one, both or all of the players. Before giving this option serious consideration you need to look at all the consequences, intended and unintended. Are you acting out of frustration or in the best interests of your organization? Can the organization afford to lose one or more of the individuals? Do you have the personnel in place to immediately take over the duties and responsibilities? Or will you have to go through the hiring process? How will that affect productivity? How will firing these individuals affect the morale of the specific work unit and the overall organization? What message do you want to send? What message will be received? As you contemplate this extreme solution you can’t help thinking that the day can’t get any worse. Want to bet?
Cheerleader or Saboteur?
When it comes to problem solving, as the leader of your organization are you a cheerleader or a saboteur? Do you sit on the sidelines while others work to find practical and realistic solutions, supporting them and encouraging them in their work? Or are you sabotaging their efforts by second guessing their decisions and trying to force your choices on them? When someone brings a creative solution to a problem do you give them lip service and then undermine any effort to achieve a consensus?
Does this really matter? Yes, it does, if you’re serious about resolving problems within your organization. Being a cheerleader reflects your confidence not only in your skills to lead but in the skills and talents of the people working for you. Think back to a time when someone supported you and how motivated you were to achieve the goal or complete the task. That same approach will motivate your employees to work as hard as they can to complete the tasks and achieve the goals.
What do you think happens when your employees figure out that you’re a saboteur? How motivated do you think they will be to work as hard as they can to make the organization a smooth running operation, profitable and successful? As the saboteur, how much support will you get for the solutions you support?
Put in these terms, which role have you played? Honest answers may just help you begin the process of engaging in problem solving that is finally effective. Bringing a professional problem solver into the mix can help you be even more effective.
Are You a Control Freak?
Are you the type of leader who’s in charge – or are you the control freak who drives all your subordinates crazy?
A good leader will create a work environment where subordinates feel that they can trust the leader to have their backs because he or she trusts them to do their work. Good managers will insure that standards and policies are followed while also encouraging creativity and innovation. As the leader you are responsible for insuring the success of the organization. (Let’s not forget Aunt Nellie and the other stockholders.) How you go about achieving that success will reflect on the organization. Are you comfortable with being in charge or do you have to control every single detail of virtually every task of the organization? When someone describes a problem that was resolved, is your first reaction to say something to the effect of, “What you should have done was . . . “ What message did you just give the other person? (By the way, it’s easy being the Monday morning quarterback.) When someone shows you a written communication do you immediately start to re-write it? Do you say something to the effect of, “Well, I suppose you could say it that way but it’s better if you say this…(my way).”
As a leader who’s in charge, when a subordinate describes a problem area and resolution, LISTEN FIRST. Compliment the effort. If there were areas of improvement noted, ask how the leadership or management team can work together to implement new approaches to resolving the problem. End the discussion with another compliment. It can be something as simple as thanking folks for their hard work and dedication. If you stop the “I’m in control and everyone had better realize it” nonsense you just may discover how much easier it is to hire and retain quality individuals who are dedicated to the long term success of the organization. You and your stockholders will be amazed at the success of the organization if you stay in charge. If you remain the Control Freak, you’re going to become overly familiar with the same old problems and Aunt Nellie will have more than enough ammunition to ruin a lifetime of lunches with you.
Why do I have to keep fixing this same old mess?
If you’re the leader or manager of an organization, you get the nomination to solve the problems because, as a dear friend has said told me, “you’re the head Fred what’s in charge” – and don’t forget Aunt Nellie and her monthly dividend payment.
If you find yourself having to revisit old problems you thought were solved, you need to remember a couple of things. First, you were promoted or hired for the position because of your abilities and your dedication to insuring the success of the organization, no matter how large or small. Taking on these responsibilities has to mean something more than getting a key to the executive bathroom. You’re supposed to have the intelligence and abilities to address whatever problems develop. Part of your skill set needs to be the ability to recognize when something is outside your ability to handle. Second, when you find yourself addressing the same old problem time and time again, that’s when you need to acknowledge that intervention by a professional problem solving consultant is needed. When the same problem continues to rear its ugly head, it may be that you’ve not yet discovered the root cause of the problem. If that’s the case, no solution you implement will be permanently effective. But a permanent fix can be developed when you hire a professional problem solving consultant.
Remember our last conversation? The professional problem solving consultant comes in with only one agenda and that’s to discover the root cause of the problems and develop an effective, permanent solution. So when problems don’t ever seem to get resolved, consider hiring a problem solving consultant. It will certainly make your life as the leader/manager a whole lot easier and you can devote more time to listening to Aunt Nellie’s ideas on how to run the business.
Problem Solving and Communication
Common sense tells us that problem resolution is heavily dependent upon communication. The communication structure used to address and resolve the problem is important. Here are a few points you may want to consider.
Leaders will often use a centralized communication structure in order to establish group norms. This is particularly true for newly formed groups. Researchers have described centralized communication as either a chain or a “Y” with the leader exerting strict control over which group members get what information. In contrast, a decentralized communication structure has been described as a circle which gives every individual in the group access to all other group members.
Both centralized and decentralized communication structures are well suited to resolving a specific type of problem. Centralized communication structures allow the group to spend less time initially on preliminary organization processes and decisions are usually reached quickly. On the other hand, groups utilizing a decentralized communication structure will often take more time to get organized. Once a group using a decentralized structure gets organized, it can usually work as efficiently as a group in a centralized structure.
Research has shown that there are important differences between centralized and decentralized communication structures. Within centralized structures, the individual occupying the center position tends to become the leader regardless of whether or not that person has the necessary qualifications. That individual is in the position of receiving all the communications and has all the information needed to make decisions. Leadership in decentralized structures, on the contrary, usually is bestowed upon the member with the best qualifications. Information is shared with the group members so that all the information needed to make the decision is known.
Centralized structured groups have been found to be less flexible than decentralized structured groups and are best suited to solving simple problems, especially when time is of the essence and the quality of the decision is not of prime importance. Groups utilizing a decentralized communication structure tend to rely upon the expertise of all its members so the quality of their decisions tends to be higher.
Researchers have also found a difference in the group morale between groups using a centralized communication structure and those utilizing a decentralized structure. Research has shown that a member’s morale is directly related to how valuable that member feels. The farther from the center point in a centralized structure a member is, the lower the member’s morale. In contrast, the members of a group using a decentralized structure tend to have the same morale. The morale in the latter group is dependent more on the nature of the assigned task and its importance, rather than the individual’s position within the group.
Depending upon the urgency of the problem and the need for quality decisions, leaders will need to weigh the pros and cons of both communication structures. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Weigh them both and select the style best suited to the particular problem being addressed.
Performance Appraisals for Difficult Employees – Part I
There may be nothing more a supervisor dreads that having to do a performance appraisal for a difficult employee. You can’t stick your head in the sand, that’s for sure. But there are some key actions you may consider taking to prepare for the meeting.
The most important thing to remember in dealing with any employee, difficult or not, is that as the supervisor you must focus on the issue or the behavior. Be sure that you’ve taken notes during the review period to recall good job performances and problem issues. If meetings were held to discuss the issues, use your notes to discuss performance issues. Those notes should include the date and time of the meeting, who was present and what was discussed. If memos were sent to the employee addressing a specific issue, have a copy of those memos available during the review meeting.
Call the meeting for a time that will allow both you and the employee to engage in conversation without distractions. If you can’t get away from the telephone or interruptions in your office, move the meeting to a neutral location such as a conference room. The key here is to insure that both you and the employee can devote full attention to the performance appraisal without having an audience.
Provide a copy of the written performance appraisal to the employee in time to allow the employee to review it before the meeting. Remember when writing the review that your focus must be on specific issues or behaviors. For example, if the employee’s job requires the production of reports within a specific time period, make sure you’ve checked the disclosure rate to determine whether the employee has met the standard. Check the submission dates and times and note the number which were on time and the number which were late.
Stay tuned for Part II – Holding the actual meeting.