Posted: January 9, 2024 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Team Building, Time management

As we approach the middle of January, many businesses and organizations find this to be their slow season. Restaurants, retail, hotels and charitable organizations typically slow down after the holidays while many tighten their wallets to pay their Christmas charges. If you are a business owner or manager, this is a time you may want to use to get closer with your team and more in tune with what is important to them. This can help prevent a dip in morale and possibly impact turnover. Here is an example:

One of my clients has just come off a very busy season. They ended 2023 with strong momentum. When January 1st came business dropped off like a cliff, and it wasn’t long before I noticed the team was getting restless. When business is slow, that means more idle time. You may remember the saying, “Idle hands are the Devil’s workshop” (Proverbs 16:27-28). It is so true. Back to the team…I noticed they began complaining and criticizing their fellow teammates. As we know, such behavior is corrosive to team trust and performance. In this situation, the owner has taken this slow time to focus on training and teamwork. If there are any issues, they are quickly resolved and not allowed to fester. They have kept all their people and when the busy season starts up again in a couple of months, the team will be strong and ready to take on the challenge

Years ago the director of an organization shared an observation with me: He said that when his team was working on a big project with a solid deadline, everyone knew what to do and the team excelled. When the project was over and there was a lull, the team engagement suffered. We need to keep our teams busy in the slow season.  Doing so will help ensure the most profitable season.

Posted: December 19, 2023 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Team Building

We have 13 days left in the year.  Unless you have the rest of the year off, you will still have some work days.  Here’s my suggestion:  Think about the coming year and your strategy to obtain and keep good people.  Turnover is far more costly than we probably think.

In my coaching of owners and managers, I have found that weekly communication with a boss and his or her direct reports makes a huge difference.  It seems that the team members who are most valued know where they stand with the boss, and vice versa.  Conversely, I have noticed that employees that hit their boss broadside with a 2-week notice are usually not in regular productive communication with their immediate supervisor.  There are two specific situations I am thinking of where the individuals tended to do things their own way, and when the boss finally discovered it the gap was too large to bridge.  It these folks had been communicating weekly with their supervisor along the way, there is a good chance the boss could have effectively “re-directed” the employees and get back in alignment with them.

So if you want to increase the probability of keeping good people, follow these steps;

1. Select the right person for the job.
2. Set clear, measureable goals under key categories of their position.
3. Have weekly meetings or conference calls with the person focusing on the following questions:
   1. What did you commit to?
   2. What specific action did you take?
   3. What happened?
   4. What did you learn?
   5. What is your next step?

I encourage you to stay in their with your people.  Think of good team members like they were your teeth.  Remember what they said in the old toothpaste commercial:  Teeth:  Ignore them and they will go away!

Posted: October 24, 2023 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Self-Improvement

“Compared to what we ought to be, we are only half awake”

-William James

Most of us live far within our limits.  We always remember those teachers, parents, coaches, and other special people who took the time to see our potential and push us to our limits.

In 5th grade, I was an under-performing student.  One day at the beginning of the school year our teacher, Mrs. “M”, announced a big project that was upcoming:  A class yearbook!  As she described the details of the endeavor, I thought to myself, “That’s going to be a lot of work for someone.”  I was right, and I soon found out it was me!  Mrs. “M” announced that I was the editor.  I didn’t want the job, and politely and respectfully told her “no thanks”.  She wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.  She said she had seen my writing and communication skills and I was the one for the job.  “You really mean that?”, I asked.  “Yes, I do!”, she replied.

I got to work on the project and gave it my best.  It turned out great, and during the process I was able to develop my natural talents to a much higher level.  The impact of Mrs. “M’s” challenge is still working for me today at age 74.

One of our jobs as a leader is to help build others and make them more successful.  To do this, we need to push our team members out of their comfort zone in the direction they were meant to go.  Mrs. “M” helped me to wake up, see my gifts, and dig in.

Posted: October 17, 2023 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Self-Improvement, Team Building

Many years ago I was working for a company that put a big emphasis on mentoring.  As a senior account rep, I was approached by my supervisor (Bill) to mentor a team member who had just been hired.  With my natural love of coaching, I eagerly agreed to take on the mentor assignment.  The first thing I did was ask Bill, “What are the most important areas of professional development you would like me to focus on?”  Bill replied with a predictable menu that included prospecting, tracking, learning specific terms, and sales language.  Then Bill concluded with, “And I want you to work with him on the weekly forecast sheet we turn in every Monday.”  I looked at Bill and saw a twinkle in his eye.  I thought, “You son of a gun”.  You see, I was not consistent at turning in my weekly forecast sheet.  I knew that was going to change immediately if I wanted to lead by example – and I did.  Bill knew it too.  How sneaky!  He tricked me!  No, he didn’t.  Bill was just being a resourceful leader.  His delegation was well thought out.  He designed it so that both me and person I was mentoring would grow.

Instead of nagging me about doing my report every week, Bill put me in a situation where I would naturally want to do it.  I did become consistent with my reports and I didn’t feel manipulated.  Bill created a “win-win”.
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Posted: May 18, 2023 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Team Building

Turnover is costly. Is that an understatement? How many times have we seen a treasured team member give their surprise two-week notice? In each case it is unlikely that the person leaving decided to do so that day.

Now let me ask you a question: Do you change the oil in your car regularly? Why? Your car is probably working fine.  Why bother? It is called preventive maintenance. We value our car and want to keep it properly maintained for a long life.

How about our team members? What do we do to stay in step with them so they don’t give us a farewell? Here is a recommendation from Richard Finnegan, a consultant specializing in engagement and retention. In his book, “The Stay Interview”, he recommends we conduct one-on-one “stay interviews” at regular intervals with our staff members. Here are the five questions he recommends:

1. When you come to work each day, what things do you look forward to?
2. What are you learning here?
3. Why do you stay here?
4. When was the last time you thought about leaving our team?  What prompted it?
5. What can I do to make your experience at work better for you?

If we can do these interviews we can greatly reduce the frequency of those “surprise” resignations. Let’s practice good, regular, preventive maintenance with our team!