Leadership Lessons: Improving Work Habits

Work Habits that Sustain Competitive Advantage

The workforce is changing, and depending on what sector your business is in or what part of the country it is located in, you may be feeling the pinch of the growing labor shortage. Recent research from the Boston College Center on Aging and Work indicated what some companies were doing and that was: intensifying recruitment and reorganizing work flow so that they stayed productive with fewer people. In these tougher labor times, organizations will also need to address poor work habits of their current employees to increase retention and to improve quality of service and productivity.

Some Perspective

One of the greatest challenges for your supervisors is in knowing how to deal effectively with employees who have less than desirable work habits. There is even more pressure if the organization is going through change, and you are doing more with fewer people. Typical issues such as absenteeism, dress and grooming habits, and language issues can lead to poor morale for the entire team and become a real management issue.

Do these managers sound familiar to you? -Sheila stays away from dealing with issues such as grooming because they seem too personal in nature. -Jeff treats negative behavior with negative behavior himself. -Rob believes there are just too many larger issues to tackle.

Of course it is. More than you probably know. A chip here, a chip there, and the volume of poor work habits adds up in terms of lost time and money to the organization and the ability to retain employees; however, these issues can be dealt with through appropriate communication so that employee self-esteem can be maintained.

Robert B. Reich, former Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton and now professor of public policy at UC Berkeley, points out in a talent management article that on-the-job-training and on-the-job skill development can help retain your workforce. Your supervisors, managers, and team leaders may not already have the skills they need to help their employees improve their work habits.

A Solution

One of the keys you need in sustaining a competitive advantage is certainly training. Improving Work Habits is a Vital Learning training program for your supervisors to help them clearly and specifically communicate the nature of employee work problems and develop an individual plan for addressing the issue. The program will enable managers to:

• Recognize the difference between job performance and work habits and the skills it takes to bring the situation to a successful resolution.
  
• Understand that unsatisfactory work habits must be dealt with quickly and effectively before they require disciplinary action.
  
• Explain clearly and specifically the nature of the issues with work habits by focusing on behaviors rather than attitude.
  
• Use an action plan and ongoing reviews to help team members improve work habits and demonstrate personal accountability.
  

We can help you implement a solution that is right for your organization. The online, classroom, and blended versions make it easy to deliver the program, saving you time off the job while also training and reinforcing the skills needed to tackle poor employee work habits.

The Leadership Essentials Series is designed to meet your training and budgetary needs. Want to learn more about Improving Work Habits or the complete Vital Learning leadership development curriculum? Available in Classroom, Online, or Blended delivery options, the Vital Learning curriculum includes the following essential topics.

• Coaching Job Skills - understanding why coaching is important and how it supports company goals
• Disciplining - understanding how to discipline others to eliminate problem behavior
• Complaints - being able to effectively manage complaints
  
• Project Management - being able to run projects, both on-time and on-budget Conflict - understanding how to successfully resolve conflict
  
• Hiring Winning Talent- knowing what to do to consistently hire the right talent
  
• Providing Feedback - understanding how to establish performance goals and standards and give feedback
  
• And more...
  

For details go to www.TheLearningEngine.org

Leadership Lessons: Developing and Coaching Others

You're Accountable for Your Employees' Successes

I read an article the other day that was an interview with legendary UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden. It discussed how coaching for sports is similar to coaching people in business. Wooden said, "Every one of us is different. We are similar in so many respects, but we are not identical." The person in leadership must carefully analyze everyone under his supervision to the best of his ability.

Traditionally, many managers have not looked at each of their employees carefully on an individual basis and coached each one appropriately. This is one area that new and even seasoned managers have had very little training: How to effectively coach team members. Motivation, support, and coaching from managers can help an individual to develop, grow, and improve performance.

Some Perspective

Providing employees coaching early helps managers assess employees' bench strength and progress to find out who still needs help. Coaching helps employees develop and improve performance. Even more than that, it helps encourage employee decision-making, creativity, and skill development.

In sports, coaches put emphasis on practice and typically determine who is going to play based on how the individual practices. How you practice usually determines how you will play. Good, consistent practice skills translate into playing and actual performance. The problem is, how do you learn to become a great coach who can consistently reinforce the skills of a team member, while at the same time, help that individual to better grasp new skills?

Coach Wooden said that being accused of "not having much depth" on his team never bothered him. He was more interested in having a team of players working hard on the fundamentals. It was more important to have them well-trained and working together. Similarly, it is important to employees that their manager has a mind-set of developing and coaching. This promotes an increase of the skills and capabilities of every member on the team.

A Solution

If you are going to invest time, money, and resources into training and developing employees, it is worthwhile to focus on programs that lead to true behavior change and performance improvement. Teaching managers effective coaching skills is one of the best ways to get a great return on your training investment.

Vital Learning's "Developing and Coaching Others" teaches managers to use coaching to reinforce new skills. Then, employees become comfortable with the new skills; these new skills turn into habits.

"Developing and Coaching Others" teaches managers to effectively recognize and handle coaching moments so that they can make learning decisions themselves. This is a different approach to changing behavior and upping the score on performance by meeting two key objectives:

• First, to provide managers with skills and strategies to guide their people through a learning process, including tactics to help them before, during, and after training. That way you can ensure that behavior change is made.
• And secondly, to provide managers with a coaching moments model to help their teams gain understanding and insight about their actions. This way, self-awareness with opportunities to learn and improve is supported.
  

The Supervision Series is designed to meet your training and budgetary needs. Want to learn more about "Developing and Coaching Others" or the complete Vital Learning leadership development curriculum?
Available in Classroom, Online, or Blended delivery options, the Vital Learning curriculum includes the following essential topics

• Delegating - understanding when to use delegation and how to make it motivating
• Disciplining - understanding how to discipline others to eliminate problem behavior
• Complaints - being able to effectively manage complaints
  
• Coaching - knowing how to productively coach job skills
  
• Project Management - being able to run projects, both on-time and on-budget Conflict - understanding how to successfully resolve conflict
  
• Hiring Winning Talent- knowing what to do to consistently hire the right talent
  
• Providing Feedback - understanding how to establish performance goals and standards and give feedback
  
• And more...
  

For details go to www.TheLearningEngine.org

Leadership Lessons: Essential Skill of Leadership

People Quit Managers... Not Companies!

The number one reason people leave an organization is because of a bad manager, not the company. Often, managers don't have the leadership skills to operate effectively in their position. This can lead to dissatisfied employees, low productivity, and high turnover.

Many organizations make the mistake of promoting a great employee to the management level because he/she performed so well at the task-oriented level. While these employees are thrilled about the new promotion, they find themselves lacking leadership skills, leaving them unable to meet the needs of their direct reports.

Does this scenario sound familiar?

Some Perspective

In many cases, managers do not have the skills to perform at the level that is needed to be an effective leader.

Project managers and supervisors have problems managing people for a lot of reasons. They may have the technical talent to do the job, but when it comes to dealing with other human beings, they often lack these skills:

• They don't communicate clearly
• They don't know how to effectively delegate and coach
• They have a problem resolving conflicts
• They focus on attitudes and not behavior

Let's look at a typical scenario, which is often played out time after time in organizations.

Tom is a member of a six-person software development team. Tom made two critical errors on a project that is quickly approaching its deadline. Jen, a team member, fell behind because of Tom's errors, and the other team members began to feel animosity towards both of them. Sharp emails were exchanged among the team members, and progress on the project was grinding to a halt.

Another team member finally came forward to explain the issue to the team leader, who had not been in communication with the team in the last week. The team leader called a meeting and sharply criticized Tom and Jen and then threatened punitive measures against the entire team if the project did not finish on time.

The situation could have been handled better if the team leader had the skills to better manage this team.

A Solution

Some of the most important skills a team leader can have are the abilities to: give direction, evaluate performance, correct work habits, deal with complaints, resolve conflicts, and maintain a team member's self-esteem.

With the proper training, most managers can be saved by resolving their skill set deficiencies. Then they can lead and manage a group of people so they are productive, effective, and more importantly, produce bottom-line results.

Utilizing the skills learned in the Supervision Series program "Essential Skills of Leadership," leaders and managers become effective and productive while encouraging their team members to work together and produce high-level results.

Do your leaders and managers have the essential skills to...

• Maintain or Enhance Team Member Self-Esteem: supporting the team member's sense of respect and dignity?
• Focus on Behavior - dealing with what people do rather than with their attitudes or personal characteristics?
• Encourage Team Member Participation - involving the team in decision-making and problem-solving as a key motivational tool?

To learn more about " Essential Skill of Leadership " or the complete Vital Learning leadership development curriculum download this 4-page PDF or watch this brief video.

The Vital Learning curriculum is available in Classroom, Online, or Blended delivery options and includes the following essential topics...

Delegating - understanding when to use delegation and how to make it motivating

Disciplining - understanding how to discipline others to eliminate problem behavior

Complaints - being able to effectively manage complaints

Coaching - knowing how to productively coach job skills

Project Management - being able to run projects, both on-time and on-budget

Conflict - understanding how to successfully resolve conflict

Hiring Winning Talent- knowing what to do to consistently hire the right talent

Providing Feedback - understanding how to establish performance goals and standards and give feedback

And more...

For detail go to www.TheLearningEngine.org

Leadership Lessons: Leading Successful Projects

Lights, Camera, Action... Flop!

You've worked hard, you've closed the deal, you're ready to start your new project, and now the planning begins. What would happen if a project wasn't well defined, tasks were not properly assigned, and results and timelines were not clear to each team member? (I hope you don't have to find out!)

Some Perspective

Welcome to the new world of management. Today's managers have been thrust into the new role of leading project teams that have a direct, significant connection to the bottom line. If each team member isn't doing his or her part, the project starts to unravel over a period of a few weeks or months. Why? It's because day-to-day tasks are now a part of a larger scheme, involving a whole project with a deadline, budget, and deliverables.

Unhinged projects can be avoided if the people aspects of the project are addressed. Let's look at Tony, a new manager of a print shop.

Just six weeks ago, Tony was a lead salesperson. Sure, he had come up through the ranks, operating the small printers and then the big presses. Tony was confident that he knew all the ins and outs of running a print shop. He was a well-liked team player and knew the business. But as Tony would discover, knowing the business isn't enough. Not anymore.

Just recently, Tony sold the largest piece of business the shop ever had. The deal involved a long-term contract for printing a series of catalogs for a major U.S. retailer. Tony felt lucky that he understood both the client perspective and the capabilities of the shop.

Tony plunged the team into setting up for the first catalog according to the typical schedule and workload. After a few weeks, the client came with the work for the second catalog. The shop and its employees were in turmoil between the regular projects and the new project. The team members failed to see how the projects could be integrated and completed. They were melting down, and other clients were beginning to suffer.

These were the first signs that the project was coming unhinged before it really went downhill. What went wrong? Tony had failed to implement any kind of project plan. Ideally, this begins with using interpersonal skills to win and maintain commitment, enthusiasm, and the support of the team.

A Solution

"Leading Successful Projects" is a training program that provides the structure, process, and tools necessary for team leaders to master the art of project management. Managers, like Tony, need to understand the critical four phases every successful project goes through. They also need to examine each phase through the lens of the questions that must be answered to assure project control and progress.

One of the keys to your business is having managers, who can assess the probable impact of a project on overall business goals. Are all your managers able to do this? Are they able to ask the right questions in each phase of the project?

If not, chances are that most of your managers will benefit from project management training. Successful projects are critical to the bottom line of the organization, and your teams must be able to orchestrate success. Keeping the project on track is a direct result of good management each step of the way.

In the "Leading Successful Projects" 2-day workshop, your team leaders and managers will learn skills from 4 modules:

• Getting Started - the big picture, success factors and goals
• Getting Ready - defining resources, roles and responsibilities
• Building an Action Plan - aligning resources, roles and responsibilities
• Executing and Closing - monitoring, controlling and completing

Our experience has shown that a manager's ability to direct projects and participate knowledgeably on a project team has a direct impact on business results.

To learn more about " Leading Successful Projects " or the complete Vital Learning leadership development curriculum download this 4-page PDF or watch this brief video.

The Vital Learning curriculum is available in Classroom, Online, or Blended delivery options and includes the following essential topics...

Disciplining - understanding how to discipline others to eliminate problem behavior
Complaints - being able to effectively manage complaints
Coaching - knowing how to productively coach job skills
Project Management - being able to run projects, both on-time and on-budget
Conflict - understanding how to successfully resolve conflict
Developing Performance Goals and Standards - understanding how to establish performance goals and standards
Providing Feedback - knowing when and how to give feedback
And more...
For detail go to www.TheLearningEngine.org

Leadership Lessons: Supporting Change

It's Not the Strong That Survive, But Those That Adapt Best...

It was Darwin who first explained that the species which best adapted to its environment were the most likely to survive. In today's changing business environment, organizations also need to adapt -- or risk extinction.

Some Perspective

So how do you compete in the face of constant change? As the pressures of change build, the changes can become more complicated and difficult to control. When that occurs, managers often feel they are doing well to cross just one thing off their daily list! But what about your employees... how are they coping with daily changes?

Your managers need to deal with the emotions, fear and anxiety that come with change as they interact with their team members.

I've often experienced organizations in which strategies seem to change with the way the wind blows. At least that is how it is perceived by employees. For example, Ralph was a manager of a telemarketing firm a few years ago. Changes in the "No Call" listing as well as a shift from outbound to inbound marketing strategies caused a major disruption in the way the company was doing business. Employees lived in fear of losing their jobs and wondered whether or not they would fit in. Turnover was an immediate problem, and the "survivors" were left with more fear and oppression of re-training and new rules.

Ralph came to me with this fundamental problem: How could he give his team leaders the skills to lead call center teams through the change, with minimal turnover and maximum productivity? I told him that if team leaders could develop their skills to support and manage change, they would have a direct impact on the success of the organization.

A Solution

To make this kind of impact, team leaders need to:

• Understand why change happens and how people react to it.
• Learn how to support the team members as they struggle with change.
• Involve team members in a change initiative by promoting their understanding and ownership of the change and its benefits.
• Plan for individual or group follow-up sessions that support the change process and reinforce personal and organizational goals.

Supporting Change is a Vital Learning program that provides the tools managers need to understand and interpret change to more successfully manage their team through it. By working to support change and address the team's comfort level with that change, the manager can more effectively facilitate acceptance of a new way of doing things.

Change can be good! New initiatives can gain acceptance more quickly. Lost productivity, turnover, and decreased performance can be minimized if managers are trained to "manage change". In this 4-hour workshop, your team leaders and managers will learn skills such as:

• Understand the phases of change
• How to react to organizational changes
• Strategies of supporting change
• How to keep pace with flexibility

To learn more about "Developing Performance Goals and Standards" or the complete Vital Learning leadership development curriculum download this 4-page PDF or watch this brief video.

The Vital Learning curriculum is available in Classroom, Online, or Blended delivery options and includes the following essential topics...

Disciplining - understanding how to discipline others to eliminate problem behavior
Complaints - being able to effectively manage complaints
Coaching - knowing how to productively coach job skills
Project Management - being able to run projects, both on-time and on-budget
Conflict - understanding how to successfully resolve conflict
Developing Performance Goals and Standards - understanding how to establish performance goals and standards
Providing Feedback - knowing when and how to give feedback
And more...
For detail go to www.TheLearningEngine.org

Leadership Lessons: Effective Discipline

Busting the Discipline Myths...

Most managers and team leaders don't like the idea of having to discipline employees. Even when they know it is desperately needed, they often can't bring themselves to do it. They operate in the world of the Five Myths of discipline.

• Myth 1: Ignore it until later; it might go away.
• Myth 2: Focus first on the positive and dance around the real issue. (This is known as the "Criticism Sandwich.")
• Myth 3: Give the bad news quickly, and get them out the door; it will be easier for both of you.
• Myth 4: Don't document the disciplinary action so it won't be on their record - you don't want them to get in trouble.
• Myth 5: Once you've talked to the employee, breathe a sigh of relief as your work is done.

Some Perspective

The truth is that you can't dance around discipline. It is also important to treat employees with respect when it comes to discipline. For discipline to be effective, the manager and employee need to be fully engaged in recognizing the issues and being a part of the solution.

Performance professionals should know that engaged employees can make a dramatic impact on their company's bottom-line. Employees can't do that if concerns about their work behavior are ignored. There is no way that they can be fully involved with the team.

A recent study conducted by ISR, an employee research consulting firm, showed that there was a significant relationship between business results and the extent to which employees (a) stayed committed in company values, (b) felt pride in working for the company, and (c) were motivated to go the extra mile.

Here's an example of where discipline was needed to save a team from falling apart. Lydia and Jeff had been model co-workers in the past. Lydia developed a dislike for the way Jeff started to leave some of his work at the end of the day for her to finish up. They begin to exchange insults with each other every morning, and that led to more heated discussions. The rest of the team was getting distracted and taking sides. Productivity was slipping, and the rest of the employees didn't understand why their manager wasn't doing something to discipline Lydia and Jeff for their behavior. Lydia and Jeff started slacking off because of their distracting quarrel, and the team was not motivated to work hard when others were getting away with poor performance. The team had become disengaged.

A Solution

Having a practice of effective discipline can motivate employees to be engaged with clear and fair expectations of performance. This practice allows you to:

• Prevent continued negative behavior
• Make rules for discipline clear
• Empower yourself and your managers to handle conflict effectively
• Increase company productivity with more engaged employees
• Ensure the company complies with legal requirements

As a manager or training professional in a position to deliver effective training on discipline, you should be looking at the following elements:

• Discipline focusing on behavior
• Teaching self-discipline
• Using positive-discipline to encourage self-discipline
• Documenting the discipline

Find out how to train your managers on discipline with Vital Learning's "Effective Discipline" program. Bring your managers out of the fog. They can learn techniques for effective discipline, such as communicating concerns about behaviors, minimizing defensiveness, reducing conflict avoidance, and focusing on solutions that include employee participation. Improve morale, engagement, and productivity!

To learn more about "Effective Discipline " or the complete Vital Learning leadership development curriculum download this 4-page PDF or watch this brief video.

The Vital Learning curriculum is available in Classroom, Online, or Blended delivery options and includes the following essential topics...

Delegating - understanding when to use delegation and how to make it motivating

Complaints - being able to effectively manage complaints

Coaching - knowing how to productively coach job skills

Project Management - being able to run projects, both on-time and on-budget

Conflict - understanding how to successfully resolve conflict

Hiring Winning Talent- knowing what to do to consistently hire the right talent

Providing Feedback - understanding how to establish performance goals and standards and give feedback

And more...

For detail go to www.TheLearningEngine.org

Leadership Lessons: Everyone Deserves Feedback

Feedback is a gift that keeps on giving....

Whether constructive or positive, performance feedback lets employees learn what's working and what's not working. In today's competitive market, this is priceless information.

Some Perspective

Have you ever seen a team leader overlook a hard-working employee for a job well done? How many times have you seen a team leader fail to give appropriate feedback in the face of poor performance? Perhaps positive feedback is easier to give, but many managers avoid giving negative performance feedback like the plague. Either way, performance feedback is critical to the development of employees.

Unfortunately, all too often, employees don't get the feedback they need to improve. Here's an example I recently observed...

Jane was an employee in a major manufacturing plant. Jane and her supervisor, Ellen, had worked together for five years. Ellen began to notice Jane's productivity slipping, but she hesitated to discuss the issue with Jane.

Jane was having problems understanding a new procedure. Her lack of clarity was negatively affecting her performance, but she thought she was doing just fine. Three months elapsed, and Jane's productivity continued to suffer.

What was going on here? Ellen was avoiding the discussion, and nothing was getting resolved. Ellen's hesitation was partially about the uncomfortable feeling she would get when talking about poor performance. Ellen felt the feedback conversation would be a personal attack on Jane. The other part of Ellen's concern was that she did not have a clear process to follow to provide the feedback that Jane needed. Ellen did not know how to stay objective and handle the situation effectively, so she hesitated.

That hesitation did not give Jane a chance to explore her difficulty with the new procedure, and this situation led to months of low productivity for Jane and the group. In the end, Ellen was forced to take disciplinary action with Jane, rather than the "corrective action" she could have taken earlier. Ultimately, the issues were properly resolved, but along the way productivity went down, and both Jane's and Ellen's reputations were damaged. At least now, they were on the right track.

Do situations like this occur in your organization?

A Solution

Performance feedback has three basic benefits:

1. Structured regular updates on how well individuals are performing to standards. It's an opportunity to both address potential concerns and praise excellent performance.


2. Ongoing performance feedback leads to more accurate team member self-perceptions, clears up misunderstandings, and gives the team member a chance to ask questions.


3. Ongoing performance feedback provides an information base for later management decisions on human resource issues such as pay, promotions, transfers, assignments, or termination.
   

Think about your organization. Here are two questions you need to ask:

1. How accurate and timely is the current performance feedback?


2. Does it advance the goals of the organization?
   

With the proper skills, your team leaders will be able to provide performance feedback in a timely and high quality manner. This professional environment will increase the number of positively motivated employees who create momentum and productivity in your organization.

Our "Providing Performance Feedback" 4-hour skill building classroom workshop will help your managers effectively learn skills such as:

1. How to identify what maintains or improves performance in your organization


2. How to effectively provide performance feedback


3. How to make performance feedback a job function that managers won't dread

To learn more about "Developing Performance Goals and Standards" or the complete Vital Learning leadership development curriculum download this 4-page PDF or watch this brief video.

The Vital Learning curriculum is available in Classroom, Online, or Blended delivery options and includes the following essential topics...

Disciplining - understanding how to discipline others to eliminate problem behavior
Complaints - being able to effectively manage complaints
Coaching - knowing how to productively coach job skills
Project Management - being able to run projects, both on-time and on-budget
Conflict - understanding how to successfully resolve conflict
Developing Performance Goals and Standards - understanding how to establish performance goals and standards
And more...
For detail go to www.TheLearningEngine.org