Archive for April, 2010

When Times Get Tough, Get Up and Get Around

April 26th, 2010

It is always worth­while to get out of your office and spend time talk­ing one-on-one with the peo­ple you are count­ing on to perform.

This is espe­cially true in chal­leng­ing times. Engage those that make things hap­pen day in and day out, and take the pulse of your team.

When times are tough, you may tend to believe that you have to do it all. This mind­set can get you so bogged down that you become less able to inspire oth­ers and build con­fi­dence. You can’t do it all by your­self, but with proper direc­tion, sup­port and encour­age­ment, your team can really step up.

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Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

April 20th, 2010

Fully informed employ­ees make a huge dif­fer­ence in your company’s per­for­mance. They are your com­pet­i­tive edge. Engage them as a vital part of the team, using every tool at your dis­posal to com­mu­ni­cate what’s work­ing and what can be improved.

This is espe­cially true dur­ing chal­leng­ing times that test the orga­ni­za­tion. The more man­agers and employ­ees know, the bet­ter they can respond to cus­tomers and con­front com­peti­tor chal­lenges. Fre­quent and straight­for­ward com­mu­ni­ca­tion — whether through e-mail, town hall meet­ings, or face-to-face meet­ings – will help you attract and retain the right people.

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Employees Can Improve Productivity

April 12th, 2010

I don’t believe peo­ple come to work hop­ing to be mediocre. Most employ­ees want to do well and to be rec­og­nized and rewarded for their contributions.

In order to excel, your employ­ees must be engaged, encour­aged, and empow­ered to make a dif­fer­ence. Employ­ees see the good and the dumb ideas passed down from man­age­ment. They know first­hand what doesn’t work, or hin­ders their effec­tive­ness. That is why you should involve employ­ees in improv­ing your business.

There may be a busi­ness whose prod­uct, process, or mar­ket hasn’t changed in twenty years. It’s pos­si­ble, but for the vast major­ity of busi­nesses these things evolve reg­u­larly. What worked ten years ago (or even five) would prob­a­bly yield dif­fer­ent results today.

If you want to improve pro­duc­tiv­ity, lis­ten care­fully to what you hear from the trenches, from the peo­ple doing the work every day.

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The Forest and the Trees

April 5th, 2010

How many times have we heard the expres­sion “you can’t see the for­est for the trees?”

I have worked with man­agers, includ­ing chief exec­u­tives, who stug­gle to see the big pic­ture and keep con­sis­tent focus on their over­all goals and busi­ness strat­egy. They become so immersed in day-to-day oper­a­tions that they don’t take time to sit back and view the landscape.

Most man­agers like the details; it’s what they know best. But when they don’t mon­i­tor how indi­vid­ual actions are fit­ting into the accom­plish­ment of their over­all goals, they may lose sight of their strate­gic vision.

As with so many things in life, bal­ance is important.

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