|
|
||||||||||||
|
How do you synchronize work when you can’t talk to each other? What allows people to know who you are and what you are accountable for if you can’t tell them? One way is through the use of “signage” which refers to the use of any kind of visual graphic created to display information to Continue reading What Name Tag Will He Wear? I recently got an email from – let’s call him Paul – a manager updating me on his attempts to interrupt the “high priority” manipulation that is so prevalent in organizations. Turns out he is becoming increasingly successful everywhere except with his boss. Apparently Paul’s boss doesn’t realize how he is undermining himself. Here is what Continue reading Is Demanding “Now” Undermining Leadership? If you want to increase satisfaction at work, talk about the things people like. If you want to increase dissatisfaction, talk about what makes them unhappy. I recently talked to a manager – let’s call him Roy – whose company had completed a series of employee satisfaction surveys. It turns out that although Roy’s unit scored Continue reading Conversations Can Lower Satisfaction Why don’t people perform the way we expect them to? Perhaps you have asked yourself this question, or participated in a discussion with others related to it. Although there are many answers that could be provided, one that has recently caught my attention is the role of common ground. I was recently at a holiday dinner Continue reading Common Ground and Performance Don’t risk being held to account for things you don’t know about. Take the time to find out what people really expect you to do, and what they expect you to deliver. If they don’t tell you, ask. I recently had a conversation with a manager who was disturbed by her inability to meet the Continue reading Convert Expectations into Agreements Laurie and I recently conducted a training program on The Four Conversations for a group of project managers. Since most of the managers were from the same organization, they all encountered the same problem when given an assignment. Rather than being told a due date or deadline by when the assignment was to be completed, Continue reading “High Priority” Isn’t A Deadline I recently read The Things People Say, a column by staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert for The New Yorker in which she reviews Cass R. Sunstein’s book “On Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can Be Done.” In the article, Kolbert talks about how, and why, in the face of the quadrillions of Continue reading Listening to the “Other” Side If you read my earlier post on Incentives Don’t Work, then you know that Dan Pink’s TED video raises some interesting questions about incentives. In particular, he raises questions about the role of external incentives and their impact on non-routine, creative, or innovative work performance. His point is well made. Research has long known that Continue reading Incentives Don’t Work? Part II On September 29, I started my MBA class on Leading and Managing Change in Organizations. Unlike my prior classes, this is a mix of working professional and fulltime students. One of the questions I asked them was “What’s important to you? What do you really want out of this class?” Although there were a variety of Continue reading Motivating Others Is Easy IF You Stop Trying To Do you ever have trouble getting people to give you what you want when you want it? Do you find yourself explaining things over and over to people with the expectation that if they really understood what you wanted and why, they would give it to you? It could be that you are using the Continue reading Stop Explaining and Start Asking |
Great Managing is a newsletter for leaders and managers that is delivered twice monthly FREE to your email. Each issue provides a practical tip or technique that can be immediately put to use. For your free subscription, enter your email below.
|
|||||||||||
|
Copyright © 2010 Professor Ford.com - All Rights Reserved |
||||||||||||
