Author Archive
Stress Management 101
Posted by: | CommentsI am going to do a series of articles on stress because stress can have an enormous impact on health, productivity, happiness, and everything to do with managing.
Now I can’t say I was always the perfect example but in almost 20 years I rarely got sick and managed to stay a size 4 or 6. I didn’t exercise everyday but I did it a few times a week and I ate whatever I wanted…….. Okay, within reason. More on that to come.
Also, the impact on our personal lives is HUGE!
So this will be a series of subjects relating to stress. Be sure to submit your comment by clicking on “comments”, or even emailing me or filling out the contact form to let me know any concerns, topics, stories, etc.
Stress Management 101: Learn To Take Care Of Yourself
Stress can really harm our body’s normal function; especially if we don’t pay attention to the warning signs. Often even when we deny the sensations we are feeling on our bodies, we can surely feel that our physical and mental state is in an alarm state. It’s very important for an individual to learn to watch out for the warning signs that stress is already taking control of your system. You need to learn the ways to take care of your body to avoid a total breakdown.
I know first hand this sounds like common sense but often people dealing with overwhelming stress often don’t know what to do to get out of it. Not managing stress can lead to a series of diseases and destructive behaviour.
Look Out For The Danger Signs
Stress often starts out in our minds before it starts to show some signs on our bodies. Keep in mind that both are connected and one will show some effects of the other. A stress-free mind is often linked to an active and healthy body, but a mind riddled with problems will surely result to a deteriorating health.
It is very important for a person to watch out for danger signs your body is nearing the limits of its tolerance to stress. Often times, we will feel some minor aches and pains in various parts of our body when your mind is getting burdened with all the stress and problems it is subjected to. If left unchecked, it might result to sleeping and behavioral problems, lack of breath, or even a potential heart attack when it is already above the danger level.
Mentally Cope With Stress
The mind shows the first signs of stress and will later reveal itself to your emotional and physical state when left unchecked. It is extremely important that we learn how to calm our minds when under the throes of stress and learn to focus our thoughts in order to push the problems further back in our minds and learn to relax when you need to.
This might take some effort if it’s your first time trying to manage your stress. But there are some techniques you can use to simplify the process and help you learn it bit by bit. You can start by listening to your favorite music to help focus your thoughts. Try singing along with the lyrics or hum the tune to yourself to divert your attention away from your problems.
Breathing Exercise
Another method is to focus on your breathing. You can start some exercises which involves breathing in and out in specific intervals. This might take some getting used to on your first try but you will be able to focus on your breathing immediately after some practice.
Also, this exercise will ensure that your body, as well as your mind will get enough oxygen for it to function properly. We usually hyper-ventilate or suffer short breathing when stressed so it’s best to practice some breathing exercise to help you cope with it.
Eat The Right Food To Fight Stress
You need to take care of what we eat if you plan to fight stress head-on. It is essential that our body gets enough nutrients for it to function properly and avoid a breakdown when our mind is getting bombarded with problems. The bad thing is this is often where people go off the tracks.
All of this is easier said than done of course, often when people are under extreme stress they reach for food to make themselves feel better. For me that usually meant chocolate……. Almost every manager that’s worked for me would list chocolate as my main food group, but it wasn’t. I ate it in moderation most of the time.
Avoid eating foods that are high in cholesterol and try to focus more on integrating a healthy lifestyle of fruits and vegetables. You might not know it, but healthy foods can also help you in dealing with stress. After all, if you’re not burdened with body pains then you can focus more in helping your mind cope with it. Mix healthy foods with something that comforts you (that is my opinion really), I was always working long days so when I did cook it needed to be simple.
One of my favorite dinners when I was stressed was a healthy salad, baked salmon and penne noodles with my “special” fettucine sauce. I know purists will disagree with me on this but I think butter is a natural ingredient, so I use real butter because I prefer eating natural ingredients over others. So I would saute a little garlic, then add it to another pan. In the other pan I would melt half a stick of butter, add some non-fat milk, basil, oregano, dash of pepper, and fresh shredded parmesan (okay, I buy my parmesan PRE shredded, but hey, I was busy!). I would put a half the sauce on my noodles, put the salmon fillet on the noodles and pour the rest of my sauce on the top. This meal would satisfy me AND my soul!!!
There is more to come with this article series.
Taking Over a Position
Posted by: | CommentsUnless you’re starting a new department with a new team, chances are you will be taking over manager position.
Taking over an existing team after their previous manager leaves has different challenges than getting a team that has never worked together as a team before.
In fact, there are pros and cons to taking over either a team that had a good manager or a team that had a bad manager.
Taking Over for a Good Manager
If you are taking over a team that had an effective supervisor, you could be in luck, and you could be facing some tough challenges.
An effective supervisor knows how to motivate employees. Therefore, you might be inheriting a highly motivated team, already working well together, already producing as expected or better than expected.
The downside of taking over a previously well-managed team is that you naturally want to keep that momentum going, but you, especially if you are a brand new supervisor, have big shoes to fill. The team might hold you to the level of the previous manager. They’re used to things being done a certain way, so when you come in and change things, you might meet with some resistance.
Why change things that are working for your sake? One thing a manager must be able to do, adopt new ways of doing things. It’s more difficult for a group to make a change than for you to make a change. If they don’t like what you do they will most likely make things difficult so if it’s not broke don’t fix it!
It’s really important how you tread. You can set yourself up for a lot of problems right away, especially if you aren’t really a people person in the first place.
Take notes of things the manager did that was effective. Were they promoted? Then it’s a good time to look yourself in the mirror and make some changes to your style if need be.
And there’s more…
Remember, every time you go to a new department, company, etc., it’s a time to re-invent yourself. Just make sure you can pull it off and stay consistent.
Don’t rock the boat too early… (Usually)
Fit in, learn the social hierarchy. In every group there are some dominant personalities and it’s not necessarily the oldest or the supervisor.
You need those people in your corner whether you like it or not. They are a treasure trove of information and suggestions, ask them for theirs. They will typically spout off some things they didn’t like about the previous manager, don’t take the bait. Just let the comments fall and DO NOT repeat them. They are testing you.
Everyone probably has suggestions. Whip up a questionnaire on your computer if your company will allow and give them out. Make sure you ask your new people what their career goals are. Do they know how to get promoted? When did they have their last performance review? What do they feel they need to work on? What do they love about their job? Do they know all the benefits the company offers?
All those questions? You will learn a lot as you gather the information for them, information you need to know anyway! And don’t tell them where to get it. It’s your great opportunity to earn valuable good will with them. They need to talk to the HR manager for some of the answers? Great! Make an appointment with the HR person for them and walk them back there when they are scheduled and say to the HR person the question, etc.
Taking Over for a Poor Manager
Let’s say the team you’re taking over had a poor manager before you were hired. As you might expect, or have already found out, they may be unmotivated, sub-par performers. And they may be looking at you with a suspicious eye, wondering if you’re going to be more of the same poor leadership they’re used to.
On the other hand, a team that had a poor manager might also be very ripe for good leadership skills. Even if you don’t have leadership or management experience, you can still come across as a confident, experienced manager and your team doesn’t have to know any different.
This is a great opportunity for you to shine in your company. People will typically not be willing to welcome you with open arms. You will need to get out there, smile, talk to people, chat, be the nice human you are. Let it show. Carry a small note pad down so you can write things down about people, hobbies, kids, interests, etc. Also write down questions the employee has that may need follow up. Don’t trust your memory, you’re overwhelmed, you will forget things.
Ask your boss for suggestions, they are sure to have many. Ask them what they think some of your first priorities need to be, second, etc.
It will come up…
The elephant in the room… The things the bad manager did that made everyone indignant. Don’t gloat. Try to have private conversations with the vocal people. Don’t commiserate with them. Just tell them you are sorry and hope to move forward and would like them to be on board with you. Then move the conversation forward. Ask them for suggestions about something, anything at that point to turn the conversation forward.
If you are a manager you are not perfect, no one is. For all your strengths that others may appreciate this other manager was most likely good at some things you aren’t. You never know who you may work with again, don’t say anything. Many people have made the mistake and regret it for years.
Some First Steps…
No matter how you’re coming into your new manager position, one of your first priorities should be to hold a “one-on-one” meeting with each team member. Use this one-on-one time to get to know your team members individually. Ask them questions about their take on the team as a whole, how they fit in, the effectiveness of the team, what they like and dislike about their job, what they’d like from you, etc. Use the questionnaire idea mentioned above if need be.
But, be careful not to come across like you’re looking for “dirt” on other team members or their previous manager.
A one-on-one session might also be a good time to establish your expectations for them and the team. Of course, you should follow up your expectations with the team as a whole, in a team meeting. But a one-on-one meeting lets you get to know each other and can give you valuable information as to what the team expects. This information can go a long way to making your transition as their new supervisor a seamless transition.
Motivating Employees
Posted by: | CommentsYou need to know how to motivate employees–Unmotivated employees cost you a lot of money! 
Their production is lower than motivated employees, so you’re paying them the same money to do less work. Turnover is higher, costing you more to hire and train replacements. Unmotivated employees call in sick more and they also have more workplace injuries, they are also more likely to steal from you or be careless handling merchandise causing more damages. Not the mention the sheer drain they are on the motivated employees both in morale and workload.
Keeping your employees motivated will be one of your larger, constant issues as a manager.
It’s not enough to think, “They should be happy enough that they even have a job.” Sure, getting a paycheck should be motivation to come to work, but is it enough to motivate them to do good work, to strive to learn more, to go the extra mile in their customer service, to stay with your company longer, even if there are comparable jobs out there that would pay more than you pay? I can tell you for a fact the answer is “NO”, research consistently points to the fact people leave supervisors, they don’t leave companies.
Just because a paycheck should be enough motivation doesn’t mean it is enough motivation.
Employee productivity statistics can be very enlightening when you’re deciding whether or not to put the time, effort, and money into an employee motivation program. You can hire a company to do the statistics for you, but that’s probably only going to be cost-effective if you’re working for a large company.
Or, you can do a quick and dirty calculation by estimating how much time employees spend not working while they’re at work. Even if they spend an hour a day chatting with coworkers, checking personal email, updating Facebook or MySpace, or just general web surfing, that works out to about 250 hours per year. If they only make $10 per hour, during a 50-week you’re losing $2500 a year – and that’s just one employee!
There’s more to pay than just the dollars…..
There are hundreds of ways to implement an employee incentive program, but one major key before you do that is to be sure you’re paying adequate wages. If your people feel underpaid, an incentive program won’t bridge that gap. Maybe you need a “career day” so everyone can understand all their benefits and training programs, most companies offer competitive wages, the employees are often not aware of all the benefits and what those benefits add up to.
It’s important to ensure you have consistent pay for equivalent work and experience. Sometimes there are discrepancies here due to one employee being an excellent negotiator. For the most part most employees should be in a range that matches their position. I did take over a building once that did not have proper pay and the previous manager had indeed paid certain managers more and certain managers less…… It was so alarming I immediately called my boss and told him what I needed to do and he agreed.
Performance Reviews
An employee performance review is another place to motivate employees. People like to know how they’re doing, especially if a raise is tied to the employee evaluations. Have a program that is consistent (monthly, quarterly, annually, etc) and has achievable, structured goals for improvements.
Performance reviews can be counterproductive if they don’t have clear goals for the individuals. Everyone needs to know what they need to do to be “great”. People know when they aren’t getting honest feedback and it’s very de-motivating. People really do want to know when they have been less than adequate, you need to be honest and always approach your feedback from the perspective of helping the person. It has to be genuine!!! If you can’t care about people you need to find a different career.
Fear of Confrontation
Fear of confrontation is often a reason supervisors and managers avoid the difficult conversations. I can recall being a rookie at giving bad feedback to others and feeling terrified and tongue tied. Ask a mentor for help, practice in the mirror, ask a supervisor to sit in with you until you feel confident. It is critical that you master this. You will never amount to anything as a manager if you spend your time avoiding honest conversations. If you do it with a genuinely caring attitude you will be appreciated and well regarded for years, you will earn a name for yourself!
Often the best way to avoid a difficult conversation is be honest up front. Why wait for a review to tell someone they need to do better? That is really short changing that person and setting them up to feel frustrated. Maybe 6 months from a person’s performance review say, “Jane, I just wanted to take a moment to talk about your mid-year performance….”
- Start with them…… Let them ask you questions, vent, whatever they need.
- Ask them what you can do for them. How can you be a better manager for them? What do they wish you did more? Less?
- Talk about successes. When did they take the position and what have they done? What has changed? Improved?
- When the dust settles then you tell them you have a few concerns…. Talk about them. Depending on what it is make sure you take the responsibility if it was something that wasn’t addressed with them before.
- Set goals, discuss resources, additional training, whatever it is. Take notes. This conversation needs to include SMART goals.
- Set a date for follow up. Make sure the employee knows they can come to you if they have a concern, question, etc.
- End on the positives. Thank them for their time and honesty. Touch lightly again on the short term follow up issues you agreed on.
- Express your confidence in the person, in their career, performance, whatever.
- Smile, shake hands, walk with them to the office door is always a nice gesture.
Then be sure to follow up, they will remember every word you say! Guess what? If you follow these steps you will almost never have an uncomfortable meeting, your employees will improve and have a stronger sense of accomplishment and commitment to YOU. Will they improve 100% of the time to exactly the level you wanted? No. I wish it was that easy. I can tell from the questions I get I will be covering this topic a LOT more because there is a lot to it.
How are you doing?
This same method works for yourself. How are you doing? Are you getting good feedback from your boss? What do you need to improve?
Often a bad mark on a performance review isn’t necessarily a reflection of your complete performance, maybe you didn’t have your priorities aligned with your boss. Maybe your boss judges your productivity by how clean your desk is, or some other thing you weren’t aware of. Do you want to wait for your review to be told? No. So ask your boss for a time you can go over your performance. Be prompt. Take notes. Don’t get upset. It’s not personal.
After a few months touch base with your boss again. Have an outline for what was discussed along with notes of actions or things you did to improve, etc. Give them a copy. Ask how you are doing. What can you do better? Your boss has some other things they notice this time? Don’t be surprised. Priorities change. Also, in order for you to develop there will always be things you need to work on.
Training improves performance
Another way to increase motivation, morale, and productivity is through employee training development. You might think training is an unnecessary expense to the company, but the better trained an employee is, the better they will be at their jobs. And the more job functions they’re cross-trained in means they’re more valuable to you – they can fill in when someone calls in sick or if a heavy load hits a certain department all of a sudden.
It also breaks down walls in departments to have employees comfortable going to other areas. It may seem odd but people are creatures of habit, they will stay in an area they are comfortable in and that is all they will do. Is it because they are lazy or don’t care about customers? Rarely is that the case, it’s usually fear or discomfort of the unknown, or fear of feeling inadequate.
Typically people will stay where they are comfortable for comfort’s sake often to the detriment of other people and things. The best thing to do is build some sort of incentive for people to learn other departments. Have a party with various departments present, but ensure they all walk into each other’s areas. Have one group demonstrate things to the other and vice versa. It’s best to do something that is hands on and interactive since many people learn best that way.
Whether you use a monetary reward system or a different type of reward system for your employee motivation, be sure it’s implemented properly (so that everyone knows the requirements up front) and that it’s consistent. If you’re inconsistent with the incentive program, you’ll lose all the time, effort and money put into it.
Managing Change
Posted by: | CommentsManaging change in the workplace is a constant job function for a supervisor. The change might be as simple as a new customer service
policy, or it might be as impactful as merging with another company where job layoffs are inevitable.
What makes change easy or difficult to deal with is how your team adapts to it. And how your team adapts to it has a lot to do with how you as a supervisor manages the change.
Some people are exhilarated by change, and even need regular changes in their job duties to be happy, but many others hate change, and are even terrified by it. Rolling out a big change might even turn your best team member in to a difficult employee due to their fears. You’re not just managing the change itself, but helping everyone adjust to it and, ideally, even embrace it.
There are a couple things that you absolutely need to do in order for it all to work…….
- Be consistent….. Sounds simple but often overlooked. Keep your message and behavior consistent.
- Keep is simple…. The more complicated you make something the more your people will resist it.
- Communicate….. Often and clearly!
- Be optimistic….. Look at the positives for anything, it’s you JOB and responsibility to sell the program, that’s what your company pays you for! The trick is to listen to your team, be sincere, and keep it positive.
- Lead by Example! Do NOT let yourself breath a word of negativity about the change, not even to your support staff!
Communicate Frequently
The biggest key to effectively managing change in the workplace is communication. Just as you want to know what changes are coming and what they mean for you, so does your team.
With changes come rumors. One way to stop, or at least reduce rumors, is to keep information flowing both ways. As soon as it’s feasible to start communicating the changes, do so, even if you don’t have all the information yet. Give information to your team and take viable team concerns to your supervisors.
Communicate Honestly
People appreciate honesty, even if it’s bad news they’re receiving. For instance, if jobs will be lost during the change, let them know some jobs will be eliminated and why. Let them know when this will happen so every day they’re not wondering “is today the day.”
One thing that can hurt your credibility is if you give them a “sales job” and they can tell. You need to focus on the positives. If there are some negatives it’s okay to acknowledge them, a good way to move the conversation forward is to have a brainstorming session as a group some effective ways to overcome whatever negatives.
This doesn’t mean there will be no hard feelings. But it will go smoother.
Engage Others
Some on your team may embrace the changes coming. Use them to help allay fears with the others on your team.
Empower those on your team to help with the changes if possible. Even better, engage them in the decision making process if at all possible – even if it’s a small part of it. When people have a say in the change, they will embrace it quicker.
If you have group meetings use a dry erase board or maybe a giant piece of paper. Brainstorm benefits and difficulties, everything anyone can think of. Then systematically go through each item and ask the group which things they control. Most things on the list are usually controllable and as a group it helps eliminate mental road blocks.
Plan, plan, then plan some more.
Good planning before the change is essential to a smooth change transition. Make sure your plan includes in-depth communication to the employees, has contingencies for issues that might arise during the change, and is clear on who is responsible for which parts of a change.
Even the smoothest change may still ruffle feathers. A change that is undeniably for the best is likely to meet with resistance, as odd as it may sound. Some people just hate change. You’re more likely to see this among the older generations and among employees who have been around a long time, doing the same thing year after year. They tend to like the predictability. They do what they do, how they do it, because “that’s what we’ve always done”.
The key with that group is make sure you don’t minimize them, if you do you risk alienating them. Some of the most tenured employees can be your strongest allies, you can’t afford undermining your leadership by mishandling them. I always had to be aware of this tendancy in myself because I love change and new things, but I learned to always be aware of political capital and use it. Use it or lose it.
If you have a group meeting you can also use it as a productive way to do some planning. Involve the group, get some ideas, you will usually be happy you did and it will make your job easier.
But you, armed with a plan and strong communication, can win them over.
Management Topics
Posted by: | CommentsAhhhh…………. Being a manager………….. 
I can’t count how many times over the years I’ve had managers tell me they are “tired of baby-sitting”, “why should I have to tell them over and over”, and add your own……..
But managing is essential and doing well can be a more rewarding experience than you can imagine, from “thank you” cards, seeing subordinates get promoted and be successful, to getting your own promotions.
I can remember a couple years ago telling an Assistant Manager how impressed I was with him and I bet he would go far. He said, “You know, you are to thank for where I am.” I looked at him, not knowing what he meant, so I asked him what he meant. “You interviewed me a couple years ago, you were leaving that building the next day because you were promoted and you told me I could go as far as I wanted with this company”, he said, “Don’t you remember that?”
Sadly, no I didn’t….. Why? Because I did hundreds of interviews and in almost every one I could see potential in those people.
The same thing happened with another manager, I had worked with her when she was a department supervisor, she was promoted and in passing one day I congratulated her for her promotion. She said, “It’s all thanks to you because you always told me I could be anything I wanted.” Of course I didn’t remember because I said that to many people over the years, but I smiled to myself, glad I had taken the time back when I did to encourage her.
The power of words….. The power to help people move up and move on…..
How will you use your power?
I can tell you there is NOTHING more rewarding than helping others be successful.
Management Topics is such a large clump of topics that don’t really fit in my other categories, but I want you to know, they are all related.
What kind of influence are you going to be? You have complete power over the answer to that question.
