How to Keep Your Cool During a Performance Review
For the feedback providers among us, there is ample available advice on how best to proffer messages and to ensure their effective delivery. However, there's far less guidance to help us when we are on the receiving end of these "gifts" (after all, aren't we always hearing how feedback is a gift?).
The purpose of this post is to start a conversation among us, to consider how best to take in the feedback messages we receive — not just at this time of year, but all the time.
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/01/how_to_receive_feedback.html?cm_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-management_tip-_-tip041812&referral=00203&utm_source=newsletter_management_tip&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tip041812Written by: ROBERT M. GALFORD
Written by: Robert Galford
Managing Partner of the Center for Leading Organizations, is a Leadership Fellow in Executive Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Posted by Sandra Oliver on April 18, 2012
Business Development, Career Management, Communications, Engagement practice skills, Managing Change, Personal Effectiveness, Learning, Strategy Development & Execution, Workplace Issues
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From Around the Web 
Flip Manifesto
Get rid of your vacation policy. Stop tying compensation to performance. Pay more to your people than the market demands. Drop the self affirmations and doubt yourself instead. Forget about annual performance reviews. And for goodness sake, pay more attention to your “To Don’t” list than your “To Do” list. Daniel Pink’s recently released Flip Manifesto (available gratis here) offers 16 pieces of advice that run counter to what you might have heard elsewhere and will certainly contradict how your own firm/ company is set up. This is precisely why it is worth the 30-45 minutes it will take you to read it. I liked it so much I have printed it out and highlighted it for a VP (R&D) I am coaching right now. I have chosen to use the paper and ink (85 whole pages worth) because I know he will never get to it if I send him the electronic version and I believe it is something he needs to read right now.
How about you? Is it time to flip some of your long held beliefs?
For more Daniel Pink, read his Pink Blog.
Posted by Lisa Chandler on April 13, 2012
Business Development, Engagement practice skills, Leadership, Managing Change, Personal Effectiveness, Goals, Initiative, Time Management, Strategy Development & Execution
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The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time
It's not just the number of hours we're working, but also the fact that we spend too many continuous hours juggling too many things at the same time.
What we've lost, above all, are stopping points, finish lines and boundaries. Technology has blurred them beyond recognition. Wherever we go, our work follows us, on our digital devices, ever insistent and intrusive. It's like an itch we can't resist scratching, even though scratching invariably makes it worse.
Tell the truth: Do you answer email during conference calls (and sometimes even during calls with one other person)? Do you bring your laptop to meetings and then pretend you're taking notes while you surf the net? Do you eat lunch at your desk? Do you make calls while you're driving, and even send the occasional text, even though you know you shouldn't?
The biggest cost — assuming you don't crash — is to your productivity. In part, that's a simple consequence of splitting your attention, so that you're partially engaged in multiple activities but rarely fully engaged in any one. In part, it's because when you switch away from a primary task to do something else, you're increasing the time it takes to finish that task by an average of 25 per cent.
But most insidiously, it's because if you're always doing something, you're relentlessly burning down your available reservoir of energy over the course of every day, so you have less available with every passing hour.
I know this from my own experience. I get two to three times as much writing accomplished when I focus without interruption for a designated period of time and then take a real break, away from my desk. The best way for an organization to fuel higher productivity and more innovative thinking is to strongly encourage finite periods of absorbed focus, as well as shorter periods of real renewal.
If you're a manager, here are three policies worth promoting:
1. Maintain meeting discipline. Schedule meetings for 45 minutes, rather than an hour or longer, so participants can stay focused, take time afterward to reflect on what's been discussed, and recover before the next obligation. Start all meetings at a precise time, end at a precise time, and insist that all digital devices be turned off throughout the meeting.
2. Stop demanding or expecting instant responsiveness at every moment of the day. It forces your people into reactive mode, fractures their attention, and makes it difficult for them to sustain attention on their priorities. Let them turn off their email at certain times. If it's urgent, you can call them — but that won't happen very often.
3. Encourage renewal. Create at least one time during the day when you encourage your people to stop working and take a break. Offer a midafternoon class in yoga, or meditation, organize a group walk or workout, or consider creating a renewal room where people can relax, or take a nap.
It's also up to individuals to set their own boundaries. Consider these three behaviors for yourself:
1. Do the most important thing first in the morning, preferably without interruption, for 60 to 90 minutes, with a clear start and stop time. If possible, work in a private space during this period, or with sound-reducing earphones. Finally, resist every impulse to distraction, knowing that you have a designated stopping point. The more absorbed you can get, the more productive you'll be. When you're done, take at least a few minutes to renew.
2. Establish regular, scheduled times to think more long term, creatively, or strategically. If you don't, you'll constantly succumb to the tyranny of the urgent. Also, find a different environment in which to do this activity — preferably one that's relaxed and conducive to open-ended thinking.
3. Take real and regular vacations. Real means that when you're off, you're truly disconnecting from work. Regular means several times a year if possible, even if some are only two or three days added to a weekend. The research strongly suggests that you'll be far healthier if you take all of your vacation time, and more productive overall.
A single principle lies at the heart of all these suggestions. When you're engaged at work, fully engage, for defined periods of time. When you're renewing, truly renew. Make waves. Stop living your life in the gray zone.
TONY SCHWARTZ
Tony Schwartz is the president and CEO of The Energy Project and the author of Be Excellent at Anything.
One at a time? Isn’t that pretty time consuming?
I suggested in my last blog that you focus on moving the middle group when it comes to change. Don’t focus on the people who already do what you want, don’t focus on those who will never do what you want. Focus on the middle – those who want to change and either don’t know how, are lacking confidence or both. Moving each and every one of those people can creat significant change.
How do you move the middle? One person at a time! To move the middle, capture each person's heart and mind. As each individual comes onside, others follow. It is a lot of work at first but it eventually becomes much easier. As momentum builds you suddenly have your change. Jim Collins calls this the "fly wheel effect" and it works. There is no short cut.
Don't try the broad brush. I know it is appealing. It seems more efficient to send everyone on a course or issue an edict from above, but be honest, It never really elicits much change.
Moving the Middle
How do you help large groups of people change their behaviors whether it be coaching, selling, or better customer service?
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Do you stand up and issue an edict in the form of a new strategy?
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Do you build it into their goals?
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Do you change their compensation so they have to make the change in order to make more money?
All those things are what most people do and they have some impact but it is limited.
A better approach is to "move the middle". When you think about the behavior change you want think about the many people who need to change. They will always break down into three groups:
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those who already do what you want and already do it well,
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those who will never do what you want and
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those who would like to but don't know how or need a little nudge. That last group is the "middle" and it is a big group.
Any work you do on the first group will have limited gain – they are already doing all they can. Work on the second group will be time consuming and is unlikely to bear fruit. If you can move everyone in the middle just a little bit, you can make significant change. Move the middle first – but do it one at a time.
Here’s a little reminder of what motivates people from Daniel Pink (hint – not money).
When stake holders really matter in your change
In my last blog, I suggested that leaders not ask for input on a change plan when they are not flexible on that change plan. I suggested a "tell, explain, and gain buy-in to how the stake holder can help implement the change" approach.
Now what if you are the CEO and the stake holder is the Board? Chances are the board gets to veto your decision. If that is your situation -- your stake holder holds veto power -- you need their buy-in. Soooo..... How do you get it?
Do NOT start by building a fancy power point presentation. In my experience many people start here. They feel comfortable when they have a glossy presentation or document ready for presentation. However, glossy presentations rarely get you buy-in. This approach creates an effect similar to my neighbor experience outlined in the last blog. People listen and think about why they don't agree. You have to work hard to get them onside and with this approach, you risk blowing your only shot.
Instead, start by spending some time on stake holder analysis. Answer four questions:
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1. Who matters most to this decision?
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2. Who has the most influence?
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3. What do these people care most about?
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4. How do these people make decisions?
Once you have the answers, develop a plan. Implement that plan. After all this work, you can start your power point presentation.
Are you really REALLY listening?
Or are you just talking? A neighbour came to me a few weeks ago to ask my input on an issue that affected both of us. After speaking for several minutes, it became obvious to me that he was less interested in my opinion than he was in convincing me that his opinion was the right one. As you have probably guessed, our opinions on the matter were different.
So now what? I am annoyed. My feeling is "why ask if you have already decided?" I think less of him now than I would have if he had not asked and gone ahead with what he wanted to do. I see him as insensitive and insincere.
All this got me thinking about leadership. (Something I do a lot!) Leaders today understand that the best way to implement any major change is to get buy- in from key stake holders in the decision.
Here's a little lesson in buy-in courtesy of my neighbour. If you go into a discussion unprepared to change your opinion, you are better off not asking and just going ahead with the decision. When clients ask me about obtaining buy-in around change I usually ask, "Are you OK if they say "No" to your proposed change?" If the answer to that question is "No", then I suggest that they don't ask for opinions on the change. Instead I suggest they tell the stake holder what the change is and why it is important. The leader should ask for the stake holder's support and make it clear that the decision has been made. The leader can obtain input on how the stake holder can help but not on the decision itself. Asking for input when you are not prepared to change your approach reflects poorly on you and creates greater resistance to change. You are better off not asking and going ahead.
One caveat to this..... If the stake holder can quash your decision you need a different approach! If that's the case read my next blog.
Use “networks” and not just hierarchy to run organizations and drive change
By John Kotter one of the masters on change:
http://goo.gl/rmNPh
Authentic Leadership Can Be Bad Leadership
Some good tips on changing behaviour. The most important part is to ask for the feedback, examine it unemotionally and decide to act upon it. The consequence could make it fun for some people.
http://bit.ly/fDd85w
Get your spine tingling. Put on your “game face”.
I thought I would share a really happy little story. I was inspired by one of my clients yesterday. I was meeting him for the first time. I usually spend the first meeting asking a lot of questions and getting to know the client. As I was listening, my spine started to tingle. (It always does when I meet someone really talented). This guy was really inspirational and he didn’t even think about it. He just made things happen. Nothing fancy. Just effective. Let me give you a little snippet of our conversation and see if I can get your spine tingling. Here’s what he said:
“We turned this facility into the best facility in the company over the past three years. We were OK before, but now we are so efficient we can run close to the double the material through here with very little change in manpower.”
So of course I am curious as to how he did that. “How did you manage that?’
He said, “There were days I wondered if I could really do it. There were days I wondered if the team could do it. One thing never changed, I always walked in with my “game face”. I just took each problem one at a time worked through it. Somehow they all got dealt with. I tried not to look at the big picture too much and one day we were just there.”
“What else did you do?”
“It wasn’t so much me. My team was really important for me. It brought them together to work through a really tough time. We met every day for thirty minutes and we tackled all of the issues – big and small. We worked on the big things together.”
“Didn’t your team complain about all of the meetings?”
“Probably, but not to me. I don’t know how you get work done without meetings. It was harder sometimes to work on things together but when we did the implementation was easier. There were fewer mistakes. Everyone knew what to do and just did it. There was no rocket science. We all worked hard. We talked a lot.”
“Sounds like rocket science to me.”
Your pillows can be almost any colour of blue
I was in a meeting with a client and we were discussing his plans to make some changes in his organization. He knew exactly the steps that needed to be taken and he had been working through his plan. He was stalled. His boss had just said “no” to a key part of his plan. He was angry. He was discouraged. He looked at me and asked for my thoughts. I said “blue pillows”. He sat back in his chair and pushed away from the desk. “Blue pillows?!” He said.
I said, “Yes. I like to decorate. I know from years of decorating that if you need blue pillows, there are many, many different colors and patterns of blue that will work. If you can’t get your favorite, you will eventually find another one that works. It is like that with work. If one approach isn’t available to you, there are many, many other approaches that will also work. Your job is to pick another color of blue.”
My client had just finished a renovation and he completely got it. He went back to the drawing board and started looking for other options for his plan. It took some work but he eventually found that other option and he learned something. The war is far more important than each individual battle. You can lose a lot of battles over blue pillows before your run out of different colors of blue.
How to thrive in change
A number of my clients are experiencing big changes. The belt tightening of 2009 has given way to restructuring in 2010. People are tired. Here’s the quick advice I provide to my clients to help them maintain their personal energy levels:
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Change creates opportunity. Use the change as an opportunity to put in place some things you have always felt were important (new products, a change in strategy)
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Reach out. Solidify old relationships and build new ones. It always feels better to talk to people. Talk about the opportunities not the complaints.
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Be a leader. Help others who are stuck. Communicate more. Do more coaching.
Do all these things and you will feel better, be better and help others.
Posted by Sandra Oliver on April 12, 2010
Managing Change
What helps you, and what pushes against you in executing your plan
An outline of Lewin’s force field analysis (what helps you and what pushes against you in executing your plan).
http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_lewin_force_field_analysis.html
There is no short cut to creating change
A very few leaders I know really know how to create lasting change in their organizations. I can think of only two or three who have really been successful at completely transforming their organizations. When I think about these leaders, there are two things that they all do.
One, they get the right people on the team.
Results speak and they put people on their team who have proven in the past that get where the organization needs to go in future and that they can inspire a large number of people to get there. The people they choose are not always the popular choices.
Why is this important? Change is complex and change is about leverage. These leaders know they need a team to help them think through the change and to “spread the word” through the organization.
Two, they persevere. In the middle of change, results dip, the team becomes unfocused and the whole organization can become disheartened. The leaders who are successful at change persevere through this malaise.
They work with the individuals on their team. They work with their whole team. They work with the whole organization. The pressure to “change back” is often immense. Through this, they persevere.
Once change happens, people look back and think it was easy. It wasn’t.
Positioning for M&A Success: Putting People Into the Equation
This article from Towers Watson shows how actively addressing people issues during a merger can greatly increase the chance for success.
http://www.towerswatson.com/canada-english/research/978
