• A staff person refusing to do a particular job?
• Someone quitting out of frustration?
• Staff discouraged or dissatisfied?
• Major changes in your business—what you do, the way you do it, or  people with whom you must work?
• People going over your head to your boss?

I used to joke that the job would be great if it weren’t for the people!

It’s easy to lose production because of misunderstandings on the job or because people don’t fully understand the vital part they play in a company’s success.

I can have the best “tools and materials”  in the industry, but without the necessary individual skills and the cooperation among team members, I can never turn out the work my customers need from me.

The events taking place in our lives outside the office also have a huge impact on the way we behave at work. Family illness, marriage issues, children issues, financial issues, and so on can reduce a person’s productivity.

But you can’t construct the building or develop the software or create the marketing copy. It’s your job to supervise the individuals who can produce the results.

Results come through people!

Job-related problems don’t all surface at once, but they always occur. As a supervisor or coach, you will be held responsible for handling those challenges.

One of the key skills you must acquire is a strong foundation for creating good relationships with your co-workers.

While you could apply many principles to get more effective results, let’s concentrate on just four.

1.  Let each worker know how he or she is doing

It is critical to let people know how they measure against expectations. The “everything is all right unless I tell you so” philosophy does not work.

The person who is doing well should be told so. It’s also important to check on the individual whose work is starting to slide. If you say, “You’ve been slipping for quite awhile,” you know the response will be, “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

2.  Give credit when it’s due

The worker needs to know when his or her efforts have contributed to an accomplishment. Recognition for good work or faithful performance makes it easier to achieve extra effort the next time it’s needed. Getting the proper credit for work well done feels terrific!

3.  Tell people in advance about changes that will affect them

It’s not always possible for you to let workers “in” on all the decisions that will affect them, but they can and should always be given a chance to have their say. If you give reasons for the changes beforehand, you will avoid many misunderstandings.

4.  Make the best use of each person’s ability

People like to feel they are working at their highest level of skill and ability. Take advantage of the special interest that people show in various kinds of work and give each person as much work and responsibility as he or she can handle.

Those four building blocks apply to all people, however you cannot treat everyone the same.  Remember these caveats:

• Each of us is unique. We want to be known for our distinct personal characteristics. No one wants to be a faceless number.
• Certain things are important to you as an individual. You must remember that other people feel that way, too.
• The various influences at play in the personal life of a staff member can and do affect work performance.

Neal J. Diamond

Business Improvement Strategist

www.maximumimpact.ca

Last evening I shared a few thoughts with an exciting group of leaders – all serving at their own time and expense for a wonderful Vancouver charity.

I suggested that they can really take this organization to a higher level of contribution and fulfillment.  What can keep these professionals from making the most of this opportunity to serve?  There are seven rules for the internal strengthening and success of their team.

And whatever team you are a part of – you want it to be a high performing team. No one wants to give heart and soul to a mediocre team – in fact no one will.  This is why so many organizations fail to live up to their mission, fail to accomplish their unique reason for existence.

According to performance guru Blair Singer there are certain “rules” for playing and winning on a championship team.

Here are 7 of Singer’s rules for the internal strengthening and success of their team:

1. Be willing to support our purpose, our goals, our rules. You’d think this was obvious, but no – not everyone on your team is really on board with the purpose and goals – they are acting for themselves not the team and they need to find another team.

2. Speak supportively to one another and always speak with good purpose. Words are tools, and can build or tear apart.  Watch the tone when speaking to your team – no one signed on to be disrespected by you! No ethnic jokes, no gender jokes, no swearing – always speak health, life and abundance, not blame, lack and excuses.

3. Acknowledge that what is being said is true for the speaker at that moment. Take a deep breath.  Stay engaged – don’t dismiss others’ comments in your mind as “the dumbest thing I ever heard.” You may discover that some points of view are equally valid to your own!

4. Complete my agreements – 100%. You are on time. You are ready to go with your commitments met.  This builds trust and raises everyone’s commitment to the team.

5. Clean up a mess at the earliest possible moment. Sure sometimes things happen – you book two meetings at one time, or you just plain forget something.  Don’t sweep this under the rug as if it didn’t happen – take responsibility and apologize.  Explain what you’ve done to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

6. Commit to win, as a group.  Allow others to win on the team too. It’s a team – the whole team either wins or loses – there is no half-win – no win for me and a loss for the team.  So commit to play ALL IN.  And ensure others on the team feel they are winning too.

7. Agree to agree. This does not mean giving up your position to keep the peace – no it is the opposite of that!  It means committing to talk things through and discuss until everyone can agree, without anyone “losing” the discussion, or their ground. Compromise is not always a good thing.  There must be a commitment to agree, so everyone can win together.

The potential they have in their hands is incredible.  The potential you have on your team is awesome.

Make these rules the rules for engagement and see what can be done!

Jamie MacDonald

Principal / Facilitator

Maximum Impact Training & Development

604.839.8051