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Communication: Companies need less . . . not more!

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This is the title of a great post on the Slow Leadership blog. Dave Woods says:

‘I work with a large variety of CEOs, senior managers and key employees. If I ask about the needs and issues within the company, I almost always get the same response: “We need more communication.”

My reaction to that is that it is simply, WRONG!

Companies don’t need more communication. They need more clarity.

  • Clarity of the vision of the company.
  • Clarity of where the company is going (long term and short term).
  • Clarity of HOW the company will get there.
  • Clarity of individual roles and how those roles create value toward the vision.
  • Clarity of how roles must intertwine in order to achieve extraordinary results.
  • Clarity of how the company will hold itself and each individual accountable.’

Dave then goes on to argue that if you look at a great sports team they actually need very little communication from the coach. They know all the plays and they know what they have to do. In short they have clarity. Dave argues that it is not communication that we should be increasing – but clarity.

Amen to that!

However clarity only comes with communication that is frequent, 2 way and relevant to both player and coach; employee and manager. Surely there can be no clarity without communication?

When you watch a great team play what you are seeing is the result of dozens of hours of communication, practice, feedback, delegation and coaching. Typically tens of hours of this ‘management’ go into every hour of play.

Life in most businesses is not like that. There is no practice ground. It is always ‘game time’. And most managers find it incredibly difficult to pull players out of the game to them at all whether to clarify, give feedback, coach or delegate. It is all they can do to keep playing the game – never mind improve.

So I disagree with Dave – and agree with his clients. Most organisations do need more communication. But it has to be effective. It has to focus on performance and improvement. It has to be constructive. It has to keep both vision and values in the front of people minds. And it has to be frequent.

Sounds just like a recipe for 121s to me!

Progressive Managers Network partners with YMCA Training

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YMCA Training, Harrogate

I am delighted to say that the PMN has established a new partnership with YMCA Training in Harrogate to add to existing partnerships with the Leeds Jewish Welfare Board and The Goodwin Development Trust in Hull.

PMN events will be available at YMCA Training from October. The first launch event is free of charge. Subsequent events carry a 50% discount for bookings taken before September 1st.

Brilliant One to Ones

  • 19th October 13.30- 16.30 – YMCA Training, Harrogate – FREE Introductory Event

Giving and Getting Great Feedback

  • 26th October 09.30- 13.30 – YMCA Training, Harrogate – Early bird discount of 50% on bookings received before Sept 1st

Practical Coaching for Progressive Managers

  • 2nd November 13.30 – 16.30 – YMCA Training, Harrogate – Early bird discount of 50% on bookings received before Sept 1st

Find out more about PMN events here.

Find out more about the Progressive Managers Network here.

The Truth About Performance Management

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What is performance management about really?

  • Outputs?
  • Outcomes?
  • Impacts?
  • Measurement?

In truth performance management is a communication process that helps individuals learn and grow in their ability to connect with, and contribute to, the organisation’s priorities. This connection between the individual, their values, beliefs, skills and aspirations and the purpose or mission of the business is the real driver for performance improvement.

Just to repeat – performance management is a communication process that helps individuals learn and grow in their ability to connect with, and contribute to, the organisation’s priorities.

Too often I see organisations spending time and money developing processes for providing data on performance without investing in the communication processes (121s, feedback, coaching, delegation, priority management etc.) that turn the data into effective performance management and improvement.

Some More Great Questions for Managers

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First posting for over 2 weeks – courtesy of a family holiday – with no laptop!

I have been reading Drucker, again, and found another really useful set of questions for managers to ask of themselves. They are also the kind of questions that you should be able to answer for each of your team members. You might consider exploring them in your 121s.

  • What is your task?
  • What should it be?
  • What should you be expected to contribute?
  • What hampers you in doing your task and could it be avoided?
  • What are your strengths?
  • How do you work most effectively? (Think about the personal style you bring to the work you’re doing. Are you best with a team or by yourself? Do you like structure or are you better at playing it by ear? Do you work well with the predictable or the chaotic?)
  • What are your values? Are you in the right place to express your values through your work?
  • Where do you belong? – What kind of work environment suits you best?

This is all about clarifying roles, contributions and opportunities for development and improvement.

All meat and drink to the Progressive Manager.

5 Minute Management Breakthroughs

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Exactly how much can you as a manager achieve in 5 minutes? The truth is that for many managers, 5 minutes is more than enough time to create a management breakthrough – to transform (at least temporarily) the nature of their relationship with the people that they manage.

So here are some ideas:

Find Out What Matters

Spend 5 minutes with each member of your team, and ask them about the things that matter most in their life. When you know what really matters to people and provide management that reflects these priorities the working relationship is transformed.

Try this: “I’d like to know a bit more about you. Can you take a few minutes to tell me about the things that are most important to you at the moment?”

The response might be initially work oriented or not. If it is work oriented try a follow up question such as “And what about outside of work? What things are important to you there?”

A small minority of people will not be happy talking to you about non work related stuff. Most will be thrilled that you want to spend a bit of time finding out about them as people rather than employees.  If you are using weekly 121s this is a great theme to explore on a regular basis.

Recognise the Good Stuff

The vast majority of things that happen in the vast majority of organisations are overwhelmingly good.  However as managers we learn to focus on what is not good, what is not expected, what is not under control.  This can make us seem hyper-critical.  Take a minute to think about all the GREAT things that your team has done this week.   Take opportunities to focus on the good stuff, acknowledge it and thank people for their contributions to it.  But mainly just be aware of it.  As you build your awareness of the achievements of your team you will build a more constructive relationship with team members.

Move Into Service Mode

Take 5 minutes to fill up everyone on your team’s coffee (or water) cup. Buy them an ice cream on a hot day.  Serving is a great way to show your team that you care. Especially if you know who drinks coffee and who drinks water before you get started.

Serving people is a great way to strengthen the relationship.

Thank You

Write as many thank you notes as you can to your team in 5 minutes. Be specific, and let them know just how much you appreciate them and their work.  You can send choose to send a quick e-mail,  but a hand written Thank You note works much better.

Most of these things work well if you do them just once.  Most work far better when they are repeated – perhaps daily, weekly or monthly.  We are great at spotting patterns and making meaning.

Set up patterns that show that you care.

Then people will begin to believe that they really are your ‘greatest asset’.