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Conflict & Your Future
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Times are getting tough and it would do you well to be able to handle conflict effectively. This is a key leadership skill for times like these and you will be noticed whether you are bad at this or great at it. Hint: Being great at it is better for your career.
It's not that workers are suddenly going to turn on each other like so many rabid chipmunks. But there will be snippiness, surliness, shortness and snapishness. This may build into outright conflict, which cannot be ignored.
You may be surprised that to be ready for conflict, to master this important leadership skill, you have to know yourself. Really, it's not just an overused truism. Specifically, you must know what your initial instincts are.
Take a good look at yourself and your readiness to handle the many conflicts to come. More in future posts.
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Posted on: December 15, 2008 10:01 PM
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Coaching & Chaos
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After layoffs or cuts in project resources, you have to do more with whomever is left. Workers will be placed in new situations to which they have to adapt - and quickly. It might be juggling more tasks. It might be a fast shift to new responsibilities. It might be a smaller team. It might be all of these things. Whatever befalls those who are left working in your project, you will be expected to get results, and the environment may not be all that forgiving if you do not achieve those results.
If you find yourself with fewer project resources, you can improve your lot by coaching. The most difficult part will actually be setting aside enough time to do this, but start adjusting your schedule. Add in formal coaching meetings and additional time to walk around informally to observe and provide feedback. In larger projects, have your best people coach those who need it.
Brush up your coaching skills. Here are some tips. For instance, asking effective questions will keep you from lecturing constantly. Lecturing interferes with coaching. Likewise, you should also be action-oriented. Get away from theoreticals and help the worker with the immediate issues and tasks at hand. Increased coaching can help you get the results you need in this environment.
(In the article, the "coachee" is referred to as the "client.")
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Posted on: December 12, 2008 08:07 AM
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Workforce Downsized? Get Interactive
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Layoff announcements continue in most if not all sectors of the economy. When this happens to your organization, you may have to adjust your role from a project manager controlling your project to an organizational leader guiding your workforce through a drastic change.
During such a change, remember to establish effective two-way communications. Interaction between you and your workforce will go a long way to maintaining performance and focus, but you have to prepare to
If your leadership skills need some beefing up, now is the time to get it done. The silver lining to a dark global economy is your opportunity to be seen responding as a leader.
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Posted on: December 10, 2008 08:04 AM
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How to Leverage Happiness Now - When it is Needed
Categories:
Communications Management
Categories: Communications Management
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Bad news is sweeping across the economic landscape sucking up optimism like a some kind of evil ShamWow. Your workers may be having a hard time staying positive. Findings from a recent sociological study will help you turn up the happiness quotient. Here's a summary:
Your tactic should be to let social groups in your organization "mix it up." You provide regular communication to counter rumors and emphasize good news, and let the social networks at work calm the fears of the workforce.
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Posted on: December 08, 2008 10:09 PM
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Wasting Time at Work - Boredom and Frustration
| My last post introduced some great points from the latest Wasting Time at Work Survey - the survey that sounds goofy, but is surprisingly relevant. This time, it's important to see what the survey says about why the respondents said they wasted time.
Which do you think is the major reason for wasting time according to the survey?
a. They don't have enough challenging work
b. They are underpaid
c. Their hours are too long
d. They don't have enough work to do
What do you think? All of these items make up the top four reasons, so you should know them all. Notice that none of them are that their personal internet use is urgent. They are actively wasting time. The items are listed in reverse alphabetical order again. The percentages of respondents saying d = 17.7, c = 13.9, b = 11.8, and a = 11.1.
Notice how it is important to get a lot right to get the productivity you want. If workers are bored (answers a and d), they waste time. If they are working long hours, they waste time. If they believe they are not getting paid enough, they waste time.
Lesson learned: Spend plenty of time determining the correct amount of resources in your planning phase. If you have to work with a given number of resources, schedule carefully not to overwork those resources to avoid drops in productivity.
Also useful: There have been previous Eye on the Workforce blog entries that deal with problems caused by bored workers, who bring down productivity of other workers in additional ways. Check those entries out. |
Posted on: December 01, 2008 11:44 PM
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