#134: Moody at work
Research shows that people who are in a good mood tend to view their jobs more favorably than people in a bad mood. Furthermore, people who experience good moods at work tend to be absent from work less than those who tend to experience bad moods at work. It thus makes sense to get people to have positive feelings at work.
Here are a few ideas supported by research findings:
(1) Improve the physical environment. Use pleasant artificial scents and fragrances. Research shows that good moods induced by pleasant smells can lead to increased self-confidence, higher self-set goals and greater willingness to cooperate with others.(2) Allow people to participate in decision making – people feel better when they know that their opinions and ideas can make a difference.(3) Reduce unnecessary stress. One sure way to do this is to improve communication and feedback.
Now put on a happy face.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#133: Delegating to the boss
Picture this: Your department has a deadline to get something done. You know you can do it faster than any one on your team. You can even do it better than any of them. What do you do – do you do it yourself or do you delegate?
As a manager, you face this dilemma daily – do you choose short-term efficiency or longer term effectiveness?
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that it is more efficient to take on employees' problems, just because you can do it faster and better. If you do, then you are not teaching them how to solve problems and manage on their own. Instead, you are teaching them two bad habits:
(1) they will learn that they don’t have to deliver excellent work, because you will always improve on it; and
(2) they will learn to delegate their work upwards – to you.
The outcome? You’ll be the stressed-out busy one at work, not them.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#132: Celebrating too soon
Why do we do things? We do things because we hope to get a reward of some sort for doing it. In other words, we are ‘willing-to-do’ because we are ‘hoping-to-get’.
When you set goals for others, it helps to distinguish between goal-directed activity and goal activity. Goal-directed activity is what we do to reach a goal. Goal activity is what we do when we reach the goal. Goal-directed activity increases our need or desire; goal activity reduces need-strength.
Here is a good example. Preparing dinner is goal-directed activity. The closer you get to the end of making dinner, the hungrier you become. Eating dinner is goal activity; the more you eat, the less hungry you become.
Why does this distinction matter? If you celebrate the end of a project before it is totally done, you will struggle to get your people to wrap up the loose ends and finish it completely.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#131: The management dilemma
Why did you join your current employer? Did you need the job, any job? Or did you believe in what the organization stood for? Whatever your reason, your employer had only one objective: to use you in a way that would help the organization achieve its goals.
Now, what do you look for when you hire people? You look for the skills that will help you to achieve your goals. Yet, people don’t always live up to the promise of the interview, now do they?Often the reason can be found in the management dilemma – how to balance the goals of the organization with the needs of the individual.As a manager of resources, you must focus on achieving the organization’s goals. But as a manager of people, you must pay attention to the aspirations and the needs of the people who are the organization.Your role is to balance their needs with the demands of the organization. That will always be your dilemma.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#130: Don’t leave-alone-zap
You really only have three options when managing people at work. The first is the most common, so you’re not alone if this is your approach. Here it is: You hire someone, tell her what to do, then leave her alone and assume that good performance will follow. If she performs poorly, you revert back to telling her what to do. Sound familiar? It’s called leave alone, zap.
Your second option is to hire a winner, someone who is already a top performer. This person is normally scarce and therefore expensive. The third option takes the most effort, but is the most enduring – hire a potential winner and train her yourself.Kenneth Blanchard has written many books on the subject. He recommends five simple steps to train a potential winner:
(1) tell them what you want;
(2) show them what you want;
(3) let them try;
(4) observe their performance; and
(5) manage the consequences.
No more leave alone, zap.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#129: Leave your old job behind
Why do many people who earn a promotion fail at the higher-level job? One reason, no doubt, is the Peter Principle, namely that we are promoted to our level of incompetence, where we flounder.I have witnessed another reason. We tend to take our old job with us instead of leaving it behind.
This is an easy trap to fall into — You are promoted mainly because of your track record to date, not because of your latent potential to be a future success. And so you tend to assume that if you continue doing what made you successful enough to be noticed by the powers who make promotions, then you will be successful in your new role as well.Yet, your new position requires new behaviors and what got you promoted can now stop you performing at your new job. By not leaving your old job behind, you run the risk that your past success will trigger your future failure.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#128: Empathy
Most of you have probably heard about the German who threw his computer out of his window. To remind you, here are the basic facts:The man became so frustrated at his computer that hurled it out of his window in the middle of a Saturday night. The noise woke his neighbors who called the police to report the man for disturbing the peace.Here’s the really interesting part. When the police heard what had happened, they instructed the man to clean up the mess, but refused to press charges. A spokesperson for the German police explained their decision as follows, "Who hasn't felt like doing that?"What is my point? Empathy. The ability to project yourself into a situation so that you can fully understand it, and then to act appropriately. Without empathy you will never be a good manager. Without empathy, you will never be a leader.
All it takes is to wear someone else’s shoes now and then.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#127: Work less to produce more
Here’s a topic for Labor Day. People often ask me why I stress effectiveness over efficiency. Am I playing with words? No, because one is about working smart, the other is about working hard.It now appears that although Americans are very hard workers, they don’t deliver as much as they could if they mellowed a little. And by mellowing I mean taking more time off, as the Europeans do.Let me explain. According to the figures of the Bureau of Labour Statistics, the average American worker produced $90,000 of output in 2006. Only Norwegians did better, boosted by their oil-rig workers.
But what if we look at output per hour? Americans produced at the rate of $50 per hour. Not bad, except that employees in Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands and France all produced more per hour.There you have it - shorter hours and more holidays can boost your output per hour.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#126: Co-operating to compete
Last week I suggested that it does not always pay to compete with the river you are trying to cross. It is often easier to co-operate with it, to go with its flow.The same applies to business and to work. Don’t assume that in business you must always compete. It’s often easier to co-operate, to give-and-take, as you compete indirectly to achieve your goal.Today, many big companies do this. Microsoft and IBM collaborate on operating systems, but compete in intranet software. Dell Computers once sold HP printers, while competing directly with HP’s computers. GE Aircraft Engines works with Rolls-Royce to make the engine for a new fighter jet, and works with Pratt & Whitney on engines for Airbus’ super jumbo.If these companies can do it, then so can you. The trick, of course, is to stay focused on your goals as you co-operate with anyone who can help you get there.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
