“You don't get to control any outcome, only every choice you make along the way.” Stephen C. Paul |
Buy the Book
Learn more about Jay Young's latest book Are You Ineffective? and all his other many publications here.
 |
 |
| What Good Managers Do |
 |
 |
 |
Share this post
Thursday December 9, 2010
Topic: Leadership Management Reference: Shedd, David. “14 Management Dos and Don’ts To Motivate Employees. Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/14-management-dos-donts-to-motivate-employees. Even in the best of times it can be difficult to consistently motivate employees to perform. There are always internal challenges, budget limitations, and personality conflicts to address. There are also maturity issues, a lack of supervisory controls, and the fear of failure that causes people to resist change, challenge authority and disrupt operations. When coupled with a tough economic environment, health issues, or job anxiety managers have the very difficult task of keeping employees on track and on schedule. Managers simply do not want to compound these problems by adding to the confusion, sending the wrong signals or undermining team leadership. Thursday December 9, 2010
Topic: Leadership Management Reference: Shedd, David. “14 Management Dos and Don’ts To Motivate Employees. Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/14-management-dos-donts-to-motivate-employees.
Even in the best of times it can be difficult to consistently motivate employees to perform. There are always internal challenges, budget limitations, and personality conflicts to address. There are also maturity issues, a lack of supervisory controls, and the fear of failure that causes people to resist change, challenge authority and disrupt operations. When coupled with a tough economic environment, health issues, or job anxiety managers have the very difficult task of keeping employees on track and on schedule. Managers simply do not want to compound these problems by adding to the confusion, sending the wrong signals or undermining team leadership. My advice is to pay careful attention to reoccurring themes, monitor your own behavior, and seek out training and cultural support for the right way for employees to interact and contribute to the organization. The referenced article addresses this theme in part by showcasing an excellent list of relevant management actions. These include: (1) don’t get angry; (3) don’t send mixed messages to your employees so that they never know where you stand; (5) don’t avoid taking responsibility for your actions; (7) don’t jump to conclusions without first checking facts first; (8) do what you say you are going to do when you are going to do it; and (12) do recognize your team. I particularly like #7 because not surprisingly a lot of managers do jump to conclusions and do bring previous perceptions and actions into current situations. When relied upon too readily, it can produce some fundamentally poor decision-making. I would also add to this list do reward people for production; do fight for the principles of fairness; and do make informed decisions. These things all work to greatly enrich the work environment and to reduce the friction caused by inconsistent and unbalanced actions. If these are things that you either don’t do or need to start doing, the New Year is a good time to start. It is a good time to get your motivation principles properly aligned. Your employees are watching. Are you? |