The article last week was about doing a quick audit of a work place, a group or even your own work, to see what is going on–especially if things have been going wrong.
A reader, Rae T. , sent a comment saying he was going to conduct a quick audit to see why things were in a perpetual state of “SNAFU” at his work. He wrote me a series of emails about it and gave me permission to write an overview here. (With some details changed to avoid identifying anything about the work place.)
Rae said he didn’t discover anything completely brand new, but it reinforced some things he had been told about and was concerned about. He also noticed a couple of things that surprised and disappointed him.
As a result, he is in the process of conducting a more detailed work audit in which he is looking at the behavior and performance of each employee as well as their roles in the group with which he works. An important issue is this: He made a promise to himself and to his own boss that he would do something about his findings. THAT is the crucial part!
Here are the key issues Rae T. noted in his quick audit:
1. Conversations took up large amounts of time. Rae wants employees to enjoy work and to interact with each other during the day. But he noticed that employees would go to someone’s desk to ask a small work question, then segue to a personal conversation, then general talk, then gripes about work, then more talk. An employee who says she has too much to do to get it done on time, spent a total of almost two hours in such conversations, spread out over the day in segments of twenty minutes or longer. (The talking may be an avoidance issue, but it doesn’t help to get the work done and is noticed by other employees.) That matter is being resolved now.
2. Interruptions not only slowed work down, the way they were handled kept work from being completed. Rae noticed that most of the interruptions (phone calls, emails, having someone come over to ask a question, etc.) seemed to frustrate employees. He made this observation, which I thought was very interesting:
“The problem wasn’t only that somone was frustrated at being interrupted, it was how they handled the interruptions. Instead of taking a few notes to work on later and getting back to the work in front of them, they tended to start working right then on everything brought to their attention, even non-emergency things. So, they had a whole bunch of half-finished things going all the time, which was demoralizing to them I could tell. “
Rae added this: “I noticed this interruption problem off and on through the day I was auditing. The next day, when I was doing my own work, I realized I was doing it too. I had fifteen things going and didn’t finish any of them. Several of those things could have waited and I don’t know why I took time away from other things to work on them.”
3. Some people made work less effective for others because of their behavior. Rae said none of the behavioral situations he noticed were surprises and he is determined to do something about them. They range from someone with a sour approach to most coworkers and supervisors, to someone who routinely irritates people with his overall demeanor.
4. There was a recurring complaint about one aspect of work. During the day, Rae heard some of the same comments made by everyone about a specific work problem. Rae said he had complained about the same thing before he became a supervisor. He tends to think it’s a problem that is so ingrained it can’t be fixed–but he’s going to work with other people to find a solution or at least an improvement.
Look closely: Those four issues are probably common to your work place as well. I suggested to Rae that he look even more closely, if there have been serious problems lately, to identify what else might be causing them, rather than assuming he had found the root cause. It’s like the visual you sometimes see of a high-powered microscope starting on the surface and getting down to the molecular level!
However, Rae’s quick audit provided him with the impetus to check the work even more closely–and he is involved with that now. He has his own work to do and can’t devote hours a day to auditing. However, he plans to spend about thirty minutes every day, observing, looking at productivity and effectiveness, interviewing employees and others and thinking. All of those are great ways for him to immerse himself in the work for which he is ultimately responsible. He also is going to help employees audit their own work and encourage them to identify things they can improve on their own.
I hope you will take the time to survey your work place and find out what’s going on around there. It’s a fascinating and worthwhile activity!
March 29th, 2010
Posted by
TLR |
Life and Work, Supervision and Management |
4 comments
On December 21, 2008 I found a blog post with the heading, “I Have Cancer.” It was a stark statement and yet the author, David Wayne, “The Jolly Blogger”, wrote with hope and courage. David is the pastor of Grace Point Presbyterian Church in Severn, Maryland, and seems to be a deeply spiritual and intellectual man. He’s also a loving parent and husband, as his posts over his last year have shown.
I recommend his most recent post, My Wife. I read it with misty eyes and a wish that somehow, some way, things will get better for Pastor Wayne. However, it isn’t a sad post. In fact, David (as I think of him, even though I don’t know him) has never written anything purposely sad, even though he has chronicled his medical issues. He has also continued to write about other topics and I have found all of his thoughts interesting.
Take the time to read the most recent post of The Jolly Blogger–you’ll see that term explained on his site. Use his thoughts to inspire you to show love more, every chance you get!
Here is the link to the post. Let me know what you think of it.
March 4th, 2010
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TLR |
Life and Work |
11 comments
Don’t Take Away The Goody From Good Work
I heard this week about a manager who seems to be unable to say “Good job!” or “Thanks!” He always seems compelled to take the positive feeling out of even a compliment by pointing out a flaw or diminishing the good work of employees.
When an employee proudly reported that she finished a project on time, he said, “Yeah? Well, I just hope you didn’t rush to the point that you made mistakes or you’ll have to do it again.”
When someone told him about how well a suggestion was accepted by a group, he said, “That’s just one group. There are a lot more groups to worry about than just one.”
When an employee brought work to him that was creative and essentially flawless, the manager looked at it and said, “This is pretty good. So, how come you don’t do this kind of work all the time?”
It doesn’t hurt you to let others have successes.
Don’t be like that manager! Don’t be like that with anyone–whether it is people you supervise, people who supervise you, people with whom you work, your family or anyone else. Let people have victories–even small victories that don’t seem significant to you. It won’t hurt you and it may be the very thing that gives the other person the incentive to move toward larger accomplishments. It may be exactly what that person needs right at that moment, to give them a reason to keep going with work or with life.
The concept in Ken Blanchard’s books about catch people doing something right, has become a bit hackneyed, but it’s true. It’s especially true when someone has an obvious expectation that they will be praised or that their efforts will be appreciated. How sad when the goody is taken out of good work, for the sake of acting superior, to keep someone from getting a big ego, or for any other reason.
Anyone will notice gigantic achievements, but it takes someone special to recognize the small achievements that indicate attempts to grow, gain new skills, practice, or try to do something that is challenging. Encourage people to be proud of what they have done, even if you must guide toward improvement. The key is to leave the goody in what they have done right, while helping them make the rest of their work match that high quality.
Tomorrow, next week and habitually after that, look for small victories all around you and verbally applaud them. You’ll soon see even greater things to commend.
February 25th, 2010
Posted by
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Challenging and Problematic People, Life and Work, Supervision and Management |
12 comments
Three is a magic number. Well, at least, that’s what they said in the first video short in the Schoolhouse Rock series in the 1970s-1980s. (A cult classic kid’s show for many of that era.) The song on which the video was based was written by Bob Dorough, a jazz musician, at the request of advertising executive David McCall. Mr. McCall thought it and similar songs would be a good way to help youngsters (including his own son) learn multiplication tables and other educational concepts.
The song was given some artwork, animated, and used to help pitch the show to ABC, which produced it for twelve years. (I remember it at the time and wasn’t impressed with the song, because I thought the lines about three in a family didn’t fit with the rest of the song or with most of our society. Obviously my critique had no influence!) Here is the video and you can decide.
Three Items On Your Daily To-Do List
Three is not too many and not too few. Three things can be remembered easily. Three allows for two extremes and a middle ground. Almost anyone can develop three points for a speech or three ideas to present at a meeting. That may be why Lucy Jo Palladino, PhD, suggests writing three priority things to get accomplished as soon as possible every day.
Dr. Palladino says three is doable and won’t overload your to-do list or your mind. (That’s just a short version–her explanation is better, but that is the concept as I have applied it and it works well even with interruptions.) Her book Your Focus Zone is easy to read and gives you some ideas anyone can use right away to improve effectiveness. The subtitle is: An Effective New Plan To Defeat Distraction and Overload, and I think it can help with those issues for many of us.
It has several chapters about Attention Deficit Disorder in children and adults. I intended to only skim those chapters, but found them as interesting as the rest. Dr. Palladino, who works with those who have been assessed as having ADD, points out that the name of the disorder is misleading. It’s not that those with ADD give too little attention to the world around them–they are paying attention to an excessive number of things at once. (Many of us have a bit or a lot of that going on!)
Everyone I’ve met who has read the book has had positive things to say about it. One manager, who bought it for everyone on his staff and discussed it in a staff meeting, said it helped him get control over a few nagging tasks he had stalled on for months. He mentioned the concept of having a three item to-do list, which he said replaced his long-standing forty item to-do list and resulted in all of the forty items finally getting done.
While not every aspect of the book is easily applied to every reader, a good part of it is useful. I also didn’t care for calling the key concepts “key chains”. That way of describing them added nothing to the explanations and seemed to be more of a distracting gimmick than anything else. But, that was a quibble compared to my overall feeling that I could learn some helpful techniques, use them myself and share them.
If you find yourself going from one task to another, procrastinating on some things and never getting finished with others, consider reading this book and applying it to your work and home life. I found my copy of Your Focus Zone at a Big Lots store for only three dollars. You might want to check there before you pay full price for it elsewhere. Or, get it at a library (we need to support those more, if we want to keep them.)
Put it on your three item to-do list one day this week!
February 14th, 2010
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TLR |
Life and Work, Personal and Professional Development |
6 comments
Dare to Dream,
Never Give Up,
Don’t Let Others Destroy Your Confidence-
Do You Really Believe Those Things?
One of the enduring positive philosophies of our culture–and of people who want to succeed–is to not be defeated by the sneers and taunts of others and to not consider an initial failure to be a permanent one. Winston Churchill said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.” He also said to never, never, never give up.
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We enjoy hearing about people in history who achieved success even though they were mocked, ridiculed or persecuted because of their dreams.
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We applaud those with the courage to envision a better future, a better life or a better way of doing things.
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We commend those who have the perserverence to keep trying when nay-sayers tell them they have failed and should give it up and get out of the way.
Unfortunately, all of our praise usually stops when the person trying to reach a goal or achieve a dream is an enemy, adversary or competitor. Sophocles said, in about 400 BC, “Isn’t it the sweetest mockery to mock our enemies?”
Has It Happened To You?
You may have tried to change things at work for the better, only to have several people purposely try to block your success. When things didn’t go as well as you had hoped, some of those people chortled behind your back or to your face and you had a difficult time keeping on. You found out quickly why almost everyone with a task to accomplish has had detractors who seemed to enjoy watching problems develop, just so they could laugh with their supporters and say, “I told you so.”
You probably found out that some people enjoy the failures of others more than they enjoy their own successes. More to the point–some people are most happy when they can mock, kick, laugh at and disparage someone else. That is when they are in their element. It’s always been that way. William Paley (1742-1805) said, “Who can defeat a sneer?” Charles Simmons, British lecturer and politician in the 1940s said, “Ridicule is the first and last argument of a fool.”
Do Unto Others……..
Have you ever wished some coworkers or employees you know would work harder at helping make things better than they do at tearing things down and blaming you for all of it? If you have worked around the barriers they placed to prevent you from being successful, you know how it feels and how it can stop forward motion, not only for you but for a group. That doesn’t mean their ideas are all wrong and yours are all right–but you get the sense that no matter what you tried to do they would knock it down.
Don’t do that to anyone else. Not even to those you dislike. Not even to those who you think really messed things up. Certainly not just because you want to seem better than them in comparison. That’s especially true if you had a chance to help make things work but you were too busy tripping them or refusing to lend support just because you couldn’t stand the thought of them succeeding.
Don’t support those who delight in mocking others. When someone’s communication primarily involves ranting, snickering, jeering and heckling, avoid them as though they have the Swine Flu. They probably have something worse–a mean spirit and a cold heart.
Be part of the solution. See if you can find it in your heart, mind and character to help–or at least to not to be a hindrance. If your help is rejected in a way that is demeaning, angry or unappreciative, focus on improving yourself and your area of responsibility and waiting until things change. Or, work in a positive, healing-not-hateful way to bring about change. If your ideas are appreciated and even a few are accepted, you may have forged a link that can help you, the other person and everyone else.
The bottom line: I am not suggesting that everyone who fails to achieve their goals is worthy of your sympathy or full-hearted support. Many times people fail because they are selfish, unskilled, lacking in knowledge or wanting achievement without effort. Sometimes they fail because they were approaching a problem the wrong way, weren’t prepared for contingencies, used poor judgment about the people they picked to get tasks done, or didn’t provide enough oversight. However, until you’ve thoroughly tidied up your own personality, knowledge, skills and effectiveness, don’t snipe at others, backstab them or show nastiness by high-fiving when they fall short of the positive things they were trying to accomplish.
Consider the advice you have probably given someone else: Don’t let others drag you down! Apply that to your actions–don’t drag someone down and don’t smile if you see it happening. Save your smiles for successes.
February 7th, 2010
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TLR |
Life and Work, Personal and Professional Development |
11 comments
The signs are obvious: A coworker or someone you supervise is unhappy with something you’ve done or said. You may have been in the wrong–or not–but this reaction of pouting, sulking, or giving you the evil eye is certainly irritating. Other indicators that he or she is teaching you a lesson: She won’t make eye contact unless forced to; he gets quiet when you walk into the area; she answers questions as briefly as possible; he seems withdrawn in general and the communication level has dropped way off.
What do you want to accomplish? Most of us just want to get over the rough spot and move on. But, you should also work to be an example or a model of how such things should be handled. Which means you can’t add to it with gossip, sarcasm or being even more rude back. (You also shouldn’t whine, beg or give in inappropriately just to restore peace.)
If the problem was caused by misunderstandings that need to be clarified or a situation that needs to be fixed not just moved past, you will need to work toward those improvements as well. The focus of this short article is primarily on less complex situations–the temporary frustrations and irritations of work.
1. Communicate normally with the employee–neither more than usual or less. Most well-adjusted people don’t enjoy sulking, so give them a chance to get back to normal. If you are still focused on work, they will regain their focus as well. Ask for assistance as you normally would. Discuss mutual concerns. Almost always after a few days, things will improve. Just don’t lose track of what caused it in the first place. If you contributed to it, don’t do that thing again!
2. Give the situation a few days to improve. If it hasn’t, approach the employee directly, with a concerned tone not an exasperated one.
”Jan, since Tuesday, you’ve acted different than usual–not talking, not making eye contact, not responding when I talk to you. What’s going on?”
You may want to say that but be even more direct: “Are you angry about my remark during the meeting? I said that because I meant it and I still do, but I don’t see why we can’t work together in spite of our different opinions. I hate it when things are so awkward that we can’t even talk.”
Or, “Jan, I may not have fully apologized for what I said in the meeting. I meant to be funny but I could see it wasn’t taken that way. I hope you’ll forgive me and we can move past it.”
One approach is to act as though you don’t realize it has anything to do with you at all. I only mention this because I know it can work (even though it is more manipulative than I usually would suggest.) “Jan, you’ve acted a little down the last couple of days and that’s not like you. I heard you coughing awhile ago. Are you feeling OK?”
Very often the other person will grab at that reason for their actions. And who knows, maybe it’s true!
3. Be willing to listen–and probably listen more than talk.Someone who would treat you to a sulky spell is probably not as professionally skilled at handling conflict as you are–or as you should be. Focus your talking on moving forward with work, not on a rehash of the thing that started it all–unless you truly do need to apologize for something or clarify an issue or get a commitment to ensure the problem doesn’t happen again.
4. Recognize when your efforts aren’t being successful. This is the tricky part in some situations! If you are a supervisor or manager you shouldn’t allow an employee to be rude or to refuse to talk to you about resolving a conflict. At the point the employee is not communicating but only being angry, you should draw the conversation to a close and say you will talk to them again later. Go to your own manager or to HR or other resources to discuss the matter.
If it is a coworker who is not wanting to resolve the conflict and only wanting to argue more, bring the conversation to a close by saying you’re sorry the two of you can’t find common ground about work, but you hope soon the employee will be able to feel better about it. Walk away and give it another day. After that, talk to your supervisor about it and get some advice.
5. Once it’s over, let it be over. Whether you talk to the coworker or employee or the situation fades on its own–or you have to get assistance that forces the employee to behave appropriately–you be the one who never falters in professionalism and mature behavior. It’s over, move on. (I imagine you will have learned some lessons from the situation, either about your own conduct or about the conduct of others.)
Keep your goal in mind: To get back to work and, if it’s possible, get back to a comfortable relationship. Live your life at work in such a way that when situations like these emerge no one thinks of you as the cause, because they know you are above petty behavior.
January 31st, 2010
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TLR |
Challenging and Problematic People, Life and Work, Supervision and Management |
10 comments
Keeping my promise!
Last year I said I would make a point of reminding people to tidy their work areas now and then. Many people commented that it would help them to be goaded a bit about cleaning up their desks, cubicles and offices. So, I’ve decided to follow through on that half-joking promise.
Limit your time for this. It shouldn’t be a leisurely, all morning task that everyone sees you doing, as though you have nothing else to do. Sprint through it and get it done quickly.
1. Pick up and remove stuff and things: Get a box, box lid or big envelope and collect everything in your work area that could be redistributed. The most common items that junk up desk tops and drawers:
*Extra pads of sticky notes (you don’t need more than one or two.); Extra legal pads; Extra everything else you have grabbed from the supply area because it was there. For example, do you need five hundred paper clips? Could you get by with a hundred or less in a smaller container tucked in a drawer? Do you use them at all?
*Items you borrowed and didn’t return.
*Books and magazines that should be on shelves, tossed or given to others.
2. Do something purposeful with paper. Pick up every piece of paper and decide it if you must save it or if it can be thrown away. If you think you must save it, find a place for it right now. Don’t put it back on your desk with the idea that you’ll do something with it later. (The one exception: If you think you will have many things to scan or file you can put those in an envelope for handing in a batch.)
3. Wash off don’t just dust off. Remove everything that is left and wash off your desk top and all the solid items on it. Consider keeping a container of antibacterial wipes for this purpose, so you don’t have to get a cloth and go to a sink.
4. Wipe off electronic items. Wipe off your computer, especially the part that visitors see (often the back or sides of the monitor). Wipe off other technological items–Phone, printer, etc.
5. Tidy up. Straighten up things on shelves and wipe off objects you display there. Do you still want those items on display? At least once every couple of months (more often if needed) wipe off the tops of books. If you really want a nice looking area, use furniture spray or cloths to polish and shine even laminated surfaces. Smells good too!
6. Remove posted items. Take a look at everything you have posted or stuck to walls or magnetic boards and remove outdated or unnecessary things. Does that motivational quote still catch your attention often or have you stopped seeing it mentally? Is that faded reminder still needed or do you have the procedure memorized now?
7. Clean everything else that is left, even if it looks basically OK. There is bound to be dust on items and the extra cleaning will make things look and smell fresh.
8. Stand at the edge of your work space and look at it with the eyes of a visitor. Does it look as though you could do good quality work? Does anything look out of place, inappropriate or discordant with your work and the professional image you want to portray?
9. Put supplies away. Put away your clean-up items and, if possible, empty the trash can into a larger one away from your area–or at least put the plastic liner bag where it isn’t visible and replace it with a clean one. You want your area to look as though you keep it tidy, not as though you just finished a Herculean task and are left with a trash can that is stuffed and overflowing
10. Get back to work. Now your mind should be a bit more clear and you can know your work area represents you more positively to others. (And no, you won’t have trouble finding anything. Your work space isn’t that big!)
Have a good work day!
January 22nd, 2010
Posted by
TLR |
Life and Work |
3 comments
In 1980 IBM started a project in Boca Raton, Florida, to develop a personal computer (a PC) that could be used by regular people in their homes. The story is complex, but you can read some interesting background about it here.
David Bradley was one of the engineers on the project, and–in spite of a tremendously accomplished career–is best known in some circles as the developer of the three fingered salute: Control, Alternate, Delete (or Control, Alt, Delete as we usually say it.) That combination of keys is a way to end a program or process that has frozen up on you or to look at what is going on in the contraption right now. I’ll bet you have been grateful for it a zillion times!
Now and then you may want to consider what you need to Ctrl-Alt-Del in your life. What has become frozen and no matter how long you sit and wait, you know it isn’t going anywhere? What is using up energy and overloading your mind unnecessarily? How many processes do you have going? Could some of them be halted to allow you to better focus on others? What about just taking a break for a few minutes?
The first thing you see when you hit Ctrl-Alt-Del on most computers (Vista has a different approach to it, but gets there eventually) is a list of applications–what you have open and active right now. You can also see processes–what is going on behind the scenes. The same concept applies to evaluating your life. Right now, list the things that are on your mind almost all the time, with few interruptions. Those are in addition to the immediate issues with which you are dealing at work or home. You probably have ten to twenty things that rarely leave your mind and don’t change no matter how much you think about them! Some of them are nice feeling, but most are probably either negative or at least worrisome. No wonder you stay mentally exhausted!
There are several ways to Ctrl-Alt-Del our lives:
1. Exercise physically. One great advantage of walking, running, lifting weights, or doing calisthenics, Pilates or Yoga, is that you almost inevitably rest your mind. Sure, you might think of work, family or what’s for dinner, but it’s different feeling. Have you noticed that you sometimes find solutions or think of something creative or new while you’re working out? You’ve shut down some other processes and unfrozen your brain a bit!
2. Sleep. No matter how messed up things seem as you get ready for bed or when you close your eyes for a nap, your sad or negative emotions will be reduced at least somewhat when you awaken. You may think of the problem or concern almost immediately, but your mind will be better able to deal with it. “Sleep on it” is good advice, not only to be creative but also to reboot mentally and emotionally.
3. Reduce mental processes. You cannot control every aspect of your active life–but you often can do something to make it more manageable. Sometimes getting rid of mental (and actual) clutter can help. Sometimes you may need to completely stop something that is taking away from the quality of your life. You may find you need to stop volunteering so quickly or packing your life full of activity that isn’t necessary or fulfilling. You may need to reduce time with someone who is dragging you down.
You may have found other positive things: A hobby, a pasttime that is fun, sports, music, art or something else that is a Crtl-Alt-Del process for you. We all need something to stop the negative processes and defragment our minds! But make sure the things you do are positive and worthwhile and that they don’t create more problems. Which, using the computer analogy would mean: When you need to get unfrozen, don’t try to do it by downloading more free screensavers just because they look pretty.
Today and for the next few days, hit Ctrl-Alt-Del occasionally and list the common themes of your recurring, unpleasant thoughts. Are there some you could eliminate by simply tackling a task you’ve been procrastinating about? Could you replace some repeatedly negative thoughts with some positive affirmations? Could you stop feeling guilty or badly or sadly, by purposely finding better things that require your concentration? Do your mind and your life a favor and end those negative programs so you can free your mind for something better. You deserve the break!
January 17th, 2010
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TLR |
Life and Work, Personal and Professional Development, Training, Technology, Blogs, A/V etc. |
4 comments
You may have heard the thought that there is no end to what we could accomplish if we didn’t care who got the credit. (Ironically, that has been credited to President Ronald Reagan, Walt Disney, writer Laing Burns, Jr. and several others.) It is sometimes stated with a slightly corrective tone when an employee is frustrated over not receiving recognition for work or when someone else incorrectly receives recognition for it. Then, we wonder why good people lose enthusiasm!
Giving credit or acknowledgement is a form of praise and it should be done correctly. If–as is often the case–raises, bonuses, promotions and perks are given on the basis of contribution, it is critical that credit is given to the right people and in the right way.
Giving credit where credit is due.
* If everyone in a group contributed close to equally on a project, don’t single out individuals for public praise. Supervisors and managers should express appreciation to individuals privately and refer to each person’s contributions when preparing formal commendations and performance evaluations. However, if everyone did their jobs effectively, keep the credit focused on the group and on the value of working together. (Also remember that a manager’s job is to monitor work–including work of ad hoc groups–to see to it that everyone does contribute effectively. )
*If individuals are given credit in public or private for specific work on a group project, make sure it is well-deserved. Especially make sure someone else who rightfully deserves the credit isn’t overlooked. It’s extremely demotivating for the wrong person to get credit for work. What makes it worse is that most good employees don’t want to sound as though they are looking for praise or taking credit, so they’ll keep quiet about it but feel deeply wounded.This is why it is so crucial that supervisors and managers are aware of the quality and quantity of work being done on a daily basis by each employee, as well as what they are contributing to group work.
*Do not give special praise just because someone is perpetually needy or is a squeaky wheel. Especially do not do so at the expense of the real contributors who quietly but effectively do the bulk of the work or who repeatedly save the day in a crisis. All employees have a strong sense of what is fair and what is not. Even those who are not involved can become demotivated over unfairness.
*A group coordinator may not deserve accolades for work the team has done. Often the person put in charge of a project receives most of the credit, whether or not they displayed leadership, made assignments and guided work, or even participated at all. Managers should praise the team as a whole or recognize each person for specific contributions, rather than automatically giving most of the credit to the person who was “in charge”, unless that person clearly was the guiding light for the work.
*The fact that someone says they are outstanding doesn’t make it so. It’s amazing how many otherwise savvy supervisors, managers and executives believe the self-aggrandizing stories of some employees–especially when the employees downplay the work of others who may not habitually seek bragging time with the boss. The next thing you know, the stories are repeated as truth and a positive reputation is built on nothing but self-reporting.
*Letting higher level managers know about the good work of individuals is a way to show loyalty to employees. If an employee works faithfully to make a group, section or project successful, the least the supervisor or manager can do is make sure higher level people know how dependable that person is–and how dependable they are in comparison to others. Otherwise, when it’s time for personnel decisions, the wrong choices are made and injustices are done. This is especially true when the manager with the knowledge is no longer there to report the facts. Documentation in a performance evaluation is good (and necessary), but nothing is as effective as using an employee’s name positively in a discussion about a project. Never make the mistake of thinking an employee doesn’t care who gets the credit–they almost always do!
*Giving credit when it is not deserved encourages mediocrity. Why should someone who is not being effective change their performance or behavior if they get as much or more credit as everyone else? Why should someone give 150% when the person who gave 50% receives the credit for the work?
*Internal motivators have to be nurtured. Much is said in management books about internal motivators being more compelling than external motivators. However, like the thought about not caring who gets credit, it doesn’t always stand up to scrutiny in real life.
External motivators (job titles, increased authority and responsibility, perks, bonuses, pay for performance, commendations, public praise and receiving credit) are important to almost everyone who works. Those are the things that nurture internal motivators in-between the praising. When someone deserves credit for work but they don’t receive it, or someone else receives it instead, internal motivators start drying up.
The bottom line: No doubt about it, if we didn’t care who got credit for our work, we’d probably approach it differently. Roll credits! wouldn’t matter to actors; politicians wouldn’t care whose name was on the legislation; athletes wouldn’t care who got credited with the game-saving play; writers wouldn’t care whose name was on the byline; researchers wouldn’t care who was credited with the lab or library work. As long as something good was being done for society, the team or the organization, it wouldn’t matter.
Life isn’t like that.
Give credit where credit is due and only where it is due.
January 13th, 2010
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TLR |
Life and Work, Supervision and Management |
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I’ve sometimes wondered if the person who is driving me crazy is only that way in a specific setting (the one I’m in at the time) or if he or she is always that way. Fortunately for my peace of mind, I don’t consider the idea that I might be annoying as well. Highly improbable!
My friend Jeff Adams wrote a post last month about annoying airplane travelers. I could relate to all of his descriptions–especially the passengers who hold up everyone else while stuffing their over-sized bags into the overhead bins. Then it’s slam, slam, SLAM, while they try to close the door.
My neighbor, Larry Homenick, has a list of annoyances he encounters at casinos. (I don’t go to those places, so I’m taking his word on these). They include the Button Pounder, the Slot Machine Expert, the Slot Machine Hog, the Over-Your-Shoulder Starer, and the Childishly Excited. (Oh my gosh. Oh my GOSH! OH MY GOSH!!!!!!! I won two dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Last week I was checking out at an Office Max and the guy in front of me was so preoccupied talking on his cell phone, he couldn’t respond to anything the sales clerk was asking–the sales clerk was visibly annoyed and so were those of us standing and waiting. We all have stories like that nowadays. They are as common as the annoyances of having someone scrolling through email while you’re teaching or conversing; talking on the phone loudly, as though others want to hear or won’t notice, or forwarding silly emails or urban legends to you and fifty others.
There are traffic annoyances; personal habits that are annoying; repetitious words and phrases that were charming, witty or interesting the first thousand times the person said them, but aren’t anymore; inside jargon; annoying children, annoying sounds (whistling, humming, snorting, etc.) and a myriad of other things. (And saying we should overlook those things is annoying too. It’s always easier to tell someone to ignore an annoyance than it is to ignore the thing that annoys you.)
More ways to be annoying: In case you don’t have enough ways to be annoying, I’ll give you an excerpt from the list you may have already seen. I haven’t found out the correct attribution–the source listed by some sites hasn’t proven to be correct. Very annoying!
- Learn Morse Code and have conversations with friends in public consisting entirely of “Beeeeep, Bip, Bip, Beep, Bip, Beeeep…”
- Specify that your drive-through order is “to go.”
- Sniffle incessantly. (Note: Or cough, pick your noise, scratch your arm, neck or face, etc.)
- Insist on keeping your windshield wipers running in all weather conditions to keep them “tuned up.”
- Reply to everything someone says with, “That’s what YOU think.”
- Follow a few paces behind someone spraying everything they touch with Lysol.
- Finish all your sentences with the words, “in accordance with prophecy.”
- ONLY TYPE IN UPPERCASE.
- Repeat everything someone says, in the form of a question. (Note: That’s why “active listening” techniques can be annoying.)
- Demand that everyone address you as “Conquistador”. (Note: I knew a guy who wanted me to call him Tarzan, but it might not be the same concept.)
- Stand over someones shoulder mumbling as they read. (Note: That’s still not as bad as standing behind a stranger and watching while they play a slot machine.)
- Deliberately hum songs that will remain lodged in co-worker’s minds. (Note: Like Mike O’Neill and Art Hutchison used to do to Gary Gosage with “Sh-boom, sh-boom. Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta, sh-boom, sh-boom…”)
I saw a sign the other day that undoubtedly is appropriate for all of us:
Sh-boom, sh-boom. Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta, sh-boom, sh-boom……
January 3rd, 2010
Posted by
TLR |
Challenging and Problematic People, Life and Work, Personal and Professional Development, Service to Customers, Clients and Coworkers |
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