Clear as Mud

Sometimes what your boss expects of you is as clear as mud. What do you do?

Usually, you roll right along doing what you think you understood or what you think your boss really wants. And guess what? You bring the finished product and after reviewing it, your boss looks at you through beady eyes and shouts, “What is wrong with you? Don’t you listen? Are you stupid or something?” (Yes, there are actually bosses out there who talk like that.)

So how do you solve this problem? Well, here’s one way. Look your boss square in the eyes with your beady eyes and say, “Don’t you ever talk to me that way again. I am not stupid. You're stupid for not giving me clear instructions in the first place. You talk to me that way again and you will truly regret it.” 

 If you don’t like that way, here is a another way. Your boss has just told you what is expected and it is clear as mud. Just before leaving the office, say to your boss, “Let me get this straight. You want me to do A, B, C. Right?” The boss answers, “No, I want you to do D, E, and F.” You say, “I will get on it right away and give you D, E, and F by next Thursday at 10:00 AM."

So what do you think? Which of these responses would you use? Do you have other suggestions?

Three Secret Steps To Motivate Employees

Cal, I have several employees who are slackers.  They waste precious time every day being nonproductive.  It has gotten so bad that I now have a morale problem.  The productive employees are starting to complain.  I’m afraid if I don’t do something, the productive employees will slow down and my organization will suffer as a result.  What can I do to get my nonproductive employees to stop wasting time and get their work done?”

This is a question I get in every supervisory class I teach.  It is a great question.  Sometimes I ask them a question before I answer. “What's the first step you would take to motivate them?” I get answers like praise them more often, give them more money, let them participate in my decision-making, help them with their personal problems, etc.  All these answers are great but the employees remain unmotivated.

Motivational experts have been doing research and publishing books on this subject since the early 1900s.  By reading these books, you can get excellent theoretical approaches to motivating employees.  That is what many contemporary managers do.  They read the book, find a motivational scheme that sounds great, put it into place and six months later, the scheme dies.  Then they try something else and that dies.  Why?  In my view, the reason these schemes die is they don’t address the root cause of the lack of motivation.  Before I proceed further, let’s define what I think motivation is.  After a observing employee behavior for over 50 years, I believe motivation is stimulation of an internal drive or impulse to do more good things and less bad things.  The internal drive or impulse is already there in most people.  For many people it is just lying there dormant, waiting for someone to wake it up.  That's the supervisor’s job.

Motivating employees can be done easily in three steps.  The first step is to get to know the employee like the back of your hand.  Know what their habits are.  Know their likes and dislikes.  Understand their attitude toward the work and the workplace and the people.  You find this information through daily communication and observation.  The reason you are taking this first step is to determine the internal drive or impulse that might be lying dormant.  Don’t stop until you know the employee so well that you clearly understand what turns them on and what turns them off.  In the unlikely event you don’t find an internal drive or impulse, work with the employee and place one there.  Then nurture it with some water, sunshine and fertilizer, and it will grow.  Once it is grown enough, stimulate it and the employee will respond in a positive way.  That leads to the second step.

Once you understand every employee’s internal drive or impulse, you should act.  You should, each day, find an employee doing something right and stimulate that employee’s internal drive or impulse.  It might be praise for a job well done, some time off, some additional responsibility, a special choice project, a letter of appreciation.  Each employee is different.  Therefore, the items you select will be different for each employee.  Just make sure that the employees understand your motivational methods so you will not be accused of favoritism.  Employees like nothing better than the personal attention they get from their supervisors.

If supervisors would follow these three simple steps they might find that motivating employees to do more productive work is a very easy task and, in fact, can be fun. 

Bring It On--8 Requirements for Great Leaders and Supervisors

So you have worked hard for ten long years doing everything you were required to do and more besides. It has paid dividends. The people you have worked with to get things done now work for you. Yes, you got promoted to supervisor. And you ask yourself, now what? Well, let me tell you what. You have to bring it. No, not bring it, bring them, eight of them. As a new supervisor, there are eight things you have to bring to the table: Expectations, X-RAY vision, Communication, Empowerment, Leadership, Energy, Nudging, and Teamwork.

The first morning you come to work as the new supervisor and face your employees, you will have Expectations of them and they will have expectations of you. In some cases, the employees will not be able to meet all the expectations you have of them. Likewise, you might not be able to meet all the expectations they have of you. In the event either of these situations exist, it will be your responsibility to bring the employees to the table and negotiate a mutually agreeable solution.

It is your responsibility to map out where you want your organization to go—what you want the employees to achieve. In order to do this, you have to bring X-RAY vision to the table. You have to be able to look into the future, see what the future holds, establish a vision and plan how you’re going to achieve the vision.

You must become a Communication expert as soon as possible. You have to Communicate up the organization with your managers, down the organization with your employees, across the organization with other departments, and outside the organization with your customers.

Great supervisors have the ability to bring Empowerment to their employees. This means giving them a task to do and along with the task giving them the tools, the resources, and the authority to carry out the task.

You must become a great Leader. Great leaders have the ability to bring a vision, communicate that vision to the employees, and motivate the employees to a high level of achievement thus accomplishing the organization’s mission.

You must bring a high level of Energy to your new supervisory job so that you can motivate your employees to a high level of energy. You motivate your employees by first finding out what it takes to motivate them and then do that. At the same time find out what turns them off and don’t do that. I'll talk more about how to motivate employees in an upcoming post.

You must bring the ability to Nudge your employees back on track when they go off the rails. Sometimes employees will do what is forbidden or fail to do what is required. When this happens, you have to do what is necessary to set them back on the right path.

There is a saying that working Together Everyone Accomplishes More—TEAM. As the supervisor, you have to bring Teamwork to your organization. This means getting every person to contribute their fair share to the workload.

If you do these eight things, you will be an "EXCELENT" supervisor.

Your Resume is not About “You,” It’s About “Them.”

     I read so many comments about the lack of response to resume submissions.  In one case I read that the applicant submitted 250 resumes and did not get a single response.  In another case, a person submitted a resume and did not get a response only to discover the hiring organization had the wrong e-mail address.  After providing the correct e-mail address, still no response.  So there must be something wrong with this picture. 
     My thought is that we are now in the “me” generation.  This is “my” resume and it states what “I’ve” done and what “I” can do.  I’m going to throw it out there and see if someone is interested in hiring “me”.  To me, it’s like shooting at a target in pitch blackness and hoping to hit the bull’s eye.  Let’s face it.  The reality is it’s not about “you,” it’s about “them.”  In this economy, businesses never want to make a hiring mistake.  It doesn’t matter if the applicant is a veteran or not, it’s too costly to hire someone, find out it was a mistake, and start all over again.  So where does that leave us? 
     Well, look at it this way.  Businesses have two major issues: they have goals, like increasing the bottom line, they are trying to achieve and problems and challenges that get in the way.  So, when they hire somebody to fill a position, they are looking for someone who can help them achieve their goals or solve their problems.  If the resume is not written to show how the applicant can help, it’s just another shot in the dark that will never get a response.  It just doesn’t right to expect the recruiter to read between the lines to see what the applicant can really do.  That is the applicant’s job.
     So what’s the solution?  I think the solution is very simple.  If you want a job at the ABC Corporation, you should do your homework and study the ABC Corporation in as much depth as possible.  Visit their website.  Study their brochures if available.  Read about them.  If physically possible, visit their offices to see what the atmosphere is like, what the people are like, and how they dress for work.  Talk with people who already work there.  If the company has its own cafeteria, eat lunch there and listen to the conversations around you.  All of this homework is for the purpose of discovering the company’s goals and challenges.  Then write a resume that shows how you can help achieve their goals and resolve issues. 
     A resume written in this fashion may not get you a job, but it stands a strong chance of getting you an interview.  And that’s what you want your resume to do – get you an interview.  Once you get the interview, you demonstrate verbally how you can help the organization reach its goals and solve its problems.  It doesn’t matter if you are applying at the entry level, the executive level, or somewhere in between, this process stands a much better chance of landing you a job.  So what’s the bottom line?  Getting a job should not be a shot in the dark process.  It is shooting in the bright sunlight at a target you can see—showing how you’ll contribute to reaching the goals and objectives of the company and demonstrating that you’re the one who can help solve its problems.

Great Employees

Do you want to be a great employee?  If the answer is yes, you can become a great employee by doing four things.  First, get a good watch.  Set your watch 5 minutes ahead of the actual time.  This simple step will help you ensure that you are never late.  You get to work on time, you get to meetings on time, and you get your work done on time.  Secondly, buy a tennis racket.  Actually, it does not have to be a tennis racket.  It could be a basketball, a set of exercise weights, or a treadmill.  Any item of your choice that can help you keep your body in shape will suffice.  Don't use your treadmill for a place to hang clothes, actually use it for its intended purpose.  By keeping in good shape you will be ready to take on whatever challenge comes your way.  Thirdly, every organization has goals and objectives.  You must be constantly aware of your organization's achievement goals and seize every opportunity to contribute in a positive way to making them a reality.  Finally, every organization has problems.  You must always be on the alert to recognize these problems even before they occur if possible.  Do your homework on these problems and provide recommended solutions to your managers.  Be prepared to do the work if your recommendation is in your area of responsibility.  By doing these four things, you can be a great employee.  Not only will you keep your job but other good things could happen: awards, more money, promotion.

Stinky Feet

      What should a supervisor do if an employee's personal hygiene is so bad that other employees are complaining? How does a supervisor handle the situation without insulting the employee?
     Since the employees are complaining, this situation is probably affecting work productivity.  Therefore, the supervisor is duty bound to deal with it.  Sometimes a medical condition can cause an unpleasant body odor.  According to the Huffington Post, there are 7 surprising body odor causes:  stinky feet, too much broccoli, stress, dirty bras, a rare genetic disorder, drinking too much alcohol, and diabetes.  The supervisor should first have a serious discussion with the employee to determine whether a medical condition is the cause.  Always start the discussion by highlighting the negative impact the body odor is having on productivity.  If a medical condition is not the cause, then try to get the employee to identify the problem and the solution.  "Pride of ownership" means that employees are more likely to correct problems if they own the solutions.  If the employee fails to identify a solution, the supervisor should offer some alternatives.  If the employee fails to cooperate with this approach, the supervisor would have no choice but to pursue progressive discipline.

Resisting Change

Change is sure to come.  It doesn't matter where we live, where we work, where we socialize, or where we eat, change will come.  Despite the fact that people know change is coming, they will still resist it.  When people get settled into a comfortable routine, they don't like it when someone changes what they are doing and they have a tendency to dig in their heels.  This is particularly true in the workplace when people get used to doing something a certain way, they don't want anybody to upset the apple cart as the saying goes.  If a supervisor in the workplace wants to change the way things are done, the employees will get upset.  There are two possible reasons for their reaction, one technical and one social.  From the technical perspective, people will have to learn something new-a new way of doing it.  That probably means stopping everything an attending training.  For some employees this feels like starting over.  From the social perspective, reorganization probably takes place and the employees will have to move to a new desk, in a new location, and work with new people they have not worked with before.  They were very happy with the previous team arrangement.  Jack sat in the same cubicle with Jill.  Now he's in the cubicle with Rebecca.  Jack and never got along with Rebecca but now he has to work with her.  What a bummer!  If any managers want to manage change, they should recognize the two reasons people resist and take steps to minimize the negative aspect.  Good luck managing change.