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Top 10 mistakes of well-meaning managers

Posted by Tom Terez on Dec 30, 2012 in Archive, Leadership, Management

It’s not easy being a manager, especially when the road of good intentions is pitted with potential potholes. Here are ten of the biggest along with advice on how to steer clear:

1. Straining a person’s strength. If Kim is great with numbers and there’s plenty of quant-related work to go around, it’s tempting to have her work with numbers every day, all the time, ad nauseam. Kim might be fine with this — but then again, she might be sick and tired of all things numeric. Ask her.

2. Keeping your style on autopilot. Each of us has a default style for how we interact with others and go about our work. Your own style probably works fine, but is it optimal all the time? Get to know how you are, and watch for situations when a different approach will give you greater results.

3. Putting too much gloss on reality. It’s a good thing, wanting to be liked. But sometimes our quest for affection prompts us to say what employees want to hear and not what they need to hear. Strive to be a forthright communicator who gives people a full set of facts.

4. Seeing employees in one dimension. It’s convenient to apply labels: Jen is the worrier. John is the pessimist. Sam is detail-oriented. Chris is the creative one. Jane is eternally happy. There’s truth to these depictions, but there’s a lot more to every person. Do your best to do nuance.

5. Doing the survey without using the survey. All too often, the data from employee surveys is discussed, filed, and forgotten. Good surveys are a process, not an instrument. Share the survey results with all employees, and engage them as equal partners in using the data to develop improvement plans.

6. Ignoring the elephant in the room. Perhaps there’s one in your work area — a big problem or issue that everyone thinks about but no one talks about. Its continued presence will further foul your workplace, so call it out, start a dialogue among employees, and deal with it once and for all.

7. Doing alone what’s best done by a group. Perhaps you’ve heard the quip that a camel is a horse designed by a committee. It’s true that groups can be wildly imperfect, but they’re our best forum for bringing empowerment and trust to life. If you’re a do-it-yourself manager, let go and let others make some decisions — even if you end up with a few camels.

8. Relying on efficient communication. If you’re all about efficiency, be careful when communicating with employees about matters that affect their lives. Mass e-mails are quick, but they can raise questions and activate the grapevine. Combine efficient measures (like e-mails and intranet posts) with high-touch approaches that take more time (such as meetings and visits).

9. Assuming that people feel valued. Maybe the people in your work area feel appreciated, but then again, maybe they don’t. Genuine gratitude is a great form of emotional compensation, and it doesn’t cost a thing. Make a habit of expressing your thanks and respect for what people do.

10. Working without end. If you want to work excessively, you certainly can. There are always new problems, projects, calls, e-mails, meetings, and more. The treadmill never stops, but you know what? You can occasionally hop off. Find your own way to disengage from work so you can routinely recharge and renew.

What snow shoveling teaches us about job satisfaction

Posted by Tom Terez on Feb 9, 2010 in Archive, Engagement, Performance

As I write this, my hands are shaky, my back is achy, and my rotator cuff on the right side is downright cranky. The rest of me — surprise! — is enjoying a great feeling of accomplishment.

What gives?

Snow shoveling, that’s what.

I spent the last hour working like a maniac to clear my driveway and walkways of snow. It was back-bending work, but I was reminded all over again that snow shoveling is the worst job I’ve ever loved.

Why do I find it so satisfying?

For starters, it’s challenging but not impossible. You have all the skills and the tools you need. You know you’ll have to work hard, but in most cases, heart permitting, you know you’ll get the job done.

You start with a clear goal. You can see in your mind that snow-free driveway, perhaps flanked by a few envious neighbors whose own driveways remain covered.

There are no rules or procedures. Nor is there a hovering boss to tell you how it’s done. Heck, you can shovel in figure eights if you want. I favor the two-shovel approach, which might be why my lumbar region hates me right now. Chances are you’ll figure out the most efficient path pretty quickly.

You get results as you go. You can see them accruing with every push and heave of the shovel. At the halfway point, you can lean on your shovel, admire your progress, and take in a few deep breaths of ego-inflating satisfaction.

There are meaningful perks. You get some serious exercise, you spend time in the great outdoors, and (in my case) you make your wife very happy because she can pull into a newly cleared driveway when she arrives home from work.

Come to think of it, snow shoveling has all the ingredients of an ideal job: a positive tension between challenge and doability, an easy-to-picture goal, complete freedom in deciding how to get the job done, the chance to see incremental results followed by big results at the end, and a few nontrivial perks.

I’m not saying I want to shovel snow all the time. Nor am I saying that I hope we set new snowfall records tonight. Nor am I offering my services as a freelance snow remover.

But it’s worth asking: Are there ways we can reshape our work and workplaces to make our everyday jobs so satisfying?

Lessons in engagement from Walmart

Posted by Tom Terez on Jan 31, 2010 in Archive, Uncategorized

Want to learn how to engage people in ten seconds or less? Then head to Walmart and go through Jason Stone’s checkout line.

He’ll smile as you approach. He’ll say hello as he begins scanning your items. Then you’ll hear something different: “May I ask you the question of the day?”

It might be this: What weakness do you want to turn into a strength?

Or this: What has been your greatest adventure?

Or this: What do you miss most from when you were younger?

Jason arrives at work each day with a new question. He keeps it simple, brief, and relevant to all. As customers pass through his line, he kindly asks — and always gets a response.

Some people look up in surprise. Sometimes they ask him to repeat the question. Nearly everyone gives a thoughtful answer and ends up chatting with the world’s most inquisitive cashier.

Many of the Walmart customers are Jason Stone fans who look for him when they’re ready to check out. They want the question along with the friendly conversation that goes with it.

“It’s amazing what a question can do,” Jason says. “Questions are a great way to break the ice and to build relationships. People want to connect. They get excited.”

Jason is 25 years old, with a wiry build, long sideburns, and a free-form hairstyle that defies gravity. When he talks, it’s always with passion, and his hands fly around as if they’re trying to grab extra words.

He began his Walmart job at age 17, working his way through an associate’s degree from Columbus State Community College in Ohio. Now he’s half a year away from earning bachelor’s degrees in special education and psychology from Ohio State University.

Working the register can be “mundane,” Jason says, but he admits to loving the job. He sees it as more than just ringing up purchases. “I get paid to talk with people. It’s amazing.”

Jason has made countless friends in the process. One time, a group of curious young adults came through his line, eager to meet the question guy. They got to talking, they exchanged contact information, and one thing led to another. Jason ended up joining them on a house-building mission trip to Mexico.

Another time, two women came through his line speaking a foreign language. The younger one knew English, so Jason directed his question to her: “If you were meeting someone new, and you could instantly have them know one thing about you, what would it be?”

She translated the question for her friend, then she translated the response for Jason. The older woman wanted him to know that she had arrived from Iraq just two days earlier. Her husband had died in the war. Jason listened and nodded, offering his sympathy and welcoming her to the United States.

Jason’s co-workers know all about his question of the day. When he arrives at work, they ask him what he’ll be asking as his shift unfolds. Some of the cashiers at other stores are following his lead and asking their own conversation-starting questions.

Come to think of it, we can all follow his lead.

So let me ask you a question: What question will you be asking today to engage the people who pass through your life?