The Manager - Edition 37 - from Rob Lambert
Cultivated Management Newsletter
Hi,
Hope you've had a good weekend and are looking forward to the week ahead.
Management is really all about prediction. It's about predicting (and getting rapid feedback about that prediction) around things such as:
Strategies to get work done - "we predict that this strategy will see us compete well in this market"
Putting people in the right team - "we predict that by building a team in this way, with these people working together, we'll create a team that works"
Tactical approaches - "we predict that by jumping on the testing right now, we'll see a decrease in customer issues and a better suited product"
Etc.
But when it comes to people and their behaviours - and you'll know by now I'm a big fan of behaviours being the only way to manage - many managers try not to predict. "People are unpredicatable".
But I don't believe that's true. I believe the best predictor of what people will do in the future, is what they have done in the past in similar situations.
As a manager we can encourage people to change behaviours - and that's what we should do (our organisation's culture is nothing more than group habit - what people do every day), but ultimately people will usually do what they always did in similar situations.
So if what they usually do, is not what you want - you have an opportunity to encourage them to make a change. After all, the change in behaviour must come from them.
How do you do it:
Give feedback about good and bad behaviours
Make it clear what behaviours you expect
Point people in the organisation to people or teams who are doing great work
Explain how people contribute to the success of the business
Tie behaviours to failures - and take people to those failures. So if someone's behaviour causes a live issue - that person should be involved in clearing it up. (It's why nobody ever wants to join a maintenance team - you're clearing up other people's messes).
Prediction is part of our job. And we'll mostly get it wrong. How we react to those failures of prediction show the real ability of a manager.
When it comes to people though, we can often predict how they will behave based on past behaviour. But remember, people can, and do, change. Try to appreciate what their behaviours will be, but try not to bind people to what you think they will do - they may ocassionally suprise you :)
Rob
Stuff To Click On :
1 - Four ways to be a better boss. Pretty obvious stuff, but the basics many managers miss.
2 - Chrome extensions that might help you stay focused and on task.
3 - Ever wondered how binary code works?
4 - Critical hope - the thing students need from their teacher. I can't help but wonder whether this is what people in the workplace need too.
5 - This is brilliant - the inquiring student. Although it's about education systems - it's the same thing in the workplace. I always strive to find people who show this kind if inquiry. Gold.
6 - Build a positive workplace culture. Good advice.
7 - Generalists and specialists and how they can boost creative in your team.
8 - Bad technology dominates our lives. Apparently.
9 - The importance of customer feedback - and 5 ways to get it. I've always tried to build teams that actively seek out customer feedback. We've used bug reports, on-site observations, application monitoring tools and more. Here are 5 ways to get feedback - which can be so crucial for so many roles in an organisation.
10 - 5 simple ways to make your presentations better from Seth Godin.
11 - Couldn't agree more - just being appreciative of others has many many positive effects in the workplace. I always put "thank you" at the ground level of all employee reward schemes. Most leaders focus too much on ski trips and champaigne. Most people just want someone to say thank you.
12 - Many of you know I'm a huge fan of LinkedIn - it feels like the platform is getting better every day. Here are some new features.
Thanks for reading this week's edition of The Manager.
Thanks
Rob..