Entries Tagged 'Human Resources' ↓

My partner’s caught up in details. She won’t let go. We don’t have time to work on where the business is going. She ends up working really long hours, and expecting me to do the same. I don’t see this ending up well, and I’m running out of patience.

Thoughts of the Day: It’s important to periodically step back and look at what’s going on. Often it seems easier to “do it myself” versus training someone else. Delegation can be scary. Change will take time to implement.

Draw a map of the company’s functions: sales, finance, marketing, operations, human resources, leadership. Put down on paper the tasks required in each area. Match people to the tasks – as things stand today. Identify several areas where the owners are currently assigned to tasks, and others could be trained to take over.

Start with a list of people inside the company who could pull extra duty. Identify tasks that could be grouped together and turned into a job for someone yet to be hired. Consider which tasks could be handled by professionals who come in to work part time.

Tasks such as bookkeeping, personnel, marketing campaigns, shipping, receiving and inventory management, are all ripe for vending out. Break out big subjects, such as sales and operations, into smaller parts and look for opportunity to hire  part timers. Lead generation, customer service and production assistance are three common areas where part time help can make a big impact.

Many people hesitate to delegate in the mistaken belief that no one can do the task as well. They think it would be faster to just do the task, than it would be to train someone else. That’s usually only true the first time. The second time the task needs to be done, and the third, and the fourth, valuable time is wasted doing a repetitive task that someone else could have learned to handle.

Some people won’t delegate because they fear the person they’re training will make mistakes. That’s true, the person learning the task will make mistakes. And they’ll have to learn how to recover – just like the owner did when he or she first learned how to do the task. It’s okay to make mistakes – that’s how companies learn to innovate.

Helping someone else step in will take time, practice, and oversight. But eventually the partner is freed up to work on higher level tasks. So build a list of activities that the partner could / should get to, but lacks time to do so. Have a vision of where this delegation / training process is headed, that benefits both the partner and the business.

Sometimes partners don’t make time to work on the business because they’re afraid of what they might discover – the business isn’t growing enough, isn’t profitable enough. Other times, the owner sees himself or herself as too essential to the tasks at hand – no one else could do it as well. In some cases, the owners simply lack the skills to pull back and make time to work on the business.

Start out with incremental changes. Insist on a twice weekly 1 hour meeting to discuss the business, where it is, where it’s going. Spend time planning the future of the business, what it will look like, what it will need. Discuss challenges that have come up during the past week / month, and what to do about them. End the meeting at the 1 hour mark, and get back to day-to-day work.

Set goals and build a budget to pay for the additional help you need. Figure out how many more customers it will take  to pay for the help. Keep notes about each meeting, to use the next time you get together. Practice lifting your partners’ sights to a higher point on the horizon – where you both end up out of the day to day, enjoying the business more.

Looking for a good book? The Partnership Charter: How To Start Out Right With Your New Business Partnership (or Fix The One You’re In).

pdf version

The Future Foundation found that managers spend 13% of their time managing poor performers and 14% of their time correcting poor performers mistakes.

It may be time to make some personnel changes. I’m seeing a huge lack of respect, and sensing some divided loyalties. Unfortunately this comes from a couple of my top producers, so I’m really conflicted about what to do. I know that if employees don’t have qualities of allegiance and honesty – they’re not the right fit. But can I afford to put revenue at risk by dealing with this right now?

Top thoughts: A company is only as strong as its weakest links. Addressing the problems may pose some risk, but leaving problems to fester may result in a blow up at an even more inconvenient time. Work on a solution, that strengthens your position. Create opportunity for something better to come along.

I’ve repeatedly seen owners overlook behavior that causes them concern, for fear of making a change. The owner goes through a period of frustration, feeling out of control and lost as to what to do. Eventually the problems come to a head, and usually at a really inconvenient time.

Building a team means everyone has to be pulling in the same direction. As an owner, you build trust with your employees by having an even-handed approach. No special rules.

Underperforming or badmouthing the company, a team member, or supervisor, are behaviors that cannot be tolerated. As a manager, ignoring the situation is worse than the issues caused by the original behavior. Tolerance encourages more of the same, and indicates to team members that kind of behavior is acceptable.

Lack of respect for the company and its employees concerns more than you, the owner. If someone on the team isn’t pulling their weight, or is pulling in a different direction, that can negatively impact the company’s overall performance. Over time it can wear out even the most loyal and committed team members, who may eventually decide to move on out of frustration.

Keep in mind that criticism can cut both ways. One employee chooses to critique another, or complains to a supervisor. Maybe the criticism is justified, maybe not. It is the manager’s responsibility to take note. The complaining employee is not owed an explanation. But the manager would be wise to look into the complaints, to see if there is a problem brewing.

Perhaps both employees need feedback and direction. The complaining employee may need counseling on how to work more cooperatively with peers, taking up issues in a productive manner, and working to get team members to follow their lead. The employee about whom the complaints have been lodged, deserves to be talked to in private, made aware there are concerns, and given a chance to correct them.

Own any feedback, by saying to the employee, “I have some concerns that I want you to be aware of.” and “Here’s what I’ve observed . . . ” Or, “There’s something that’s bothering me about how things have been going lately.”

Always be honest. ” I’m not satisfied with how things are going. If things continue this way, I’ll have no option but to rate your performance sub-par. That could affect your opportunity for advancement, raises, and ultimately jeopardize your continued employment. That’s not where I want this to go, but things cannot continue as is.”

Looking for alternate solutions will help you figure out the potential outside the company. Start to consider your options. Place an ad. Give yourself time to think through who else might step up to do the job. Line up 2 or 3 qualified candidates to fill the job. Keep their names in your rolodex in case of need.

If the employee doesn’t want to deal with the problem, maybe this isn’t the right job, or the right company for them. No matter how valuable this employee has been in the past, if their behavior is unacceptable for any reason, and the employee can’t, or won’t, step up, it’s your responsibility to make changes.

Looking for a good book? 101 Tough Conversations to Have with Employees: A Manager’s Guide to Addressing Performance, Conduct, and Discipline Challenges, by Paul Falcone.

pdf version

I didn’t realize what a black hole training is. It’s becoming more challenging for me as we add people. The repetitiveness drains me. And I wonder, how can I impart knowledge I don’t have?

The transition, from being at the center of everything to training others to take over, is a 180 degree turn. People don’t make transitions that big on their own. However, unless the owner makes the change from doer to manager, the business will eventually stall. Read on, and consider getting help.

It is essential that employees and managers build skills in order to grow the company. The owner, as head of the organization, has to lead the way. Taking a page from sports, it’s worth noting that not every coach is an expert player. The best coaches, however, are outstanding at getting their players and team to build skill and capacity to perform.

First employees have to learn the job. Then they have to learn how to do the job better than it’s ever been done before. Why? Because as employees improve skills, the company profits from increased efficiency and ability to perform.

Most privately held businesses start out with the owner as expert at, and doer of, just about everything. Everyone pitches in to help. Everyone looks to the owner for direction and advice about how to do their jobs.

As the company grows, tasks become more specialized. People concentrate in areas matched to their skills and ability. Experts are trained, or brought in, to add scope. For example, a bookkeeper takes over accounting tasks. A new sales person brings on more business. A production manager oversees operations.

The business owner, former doer of just about everything, steps back, lets people take over. The owner’s focus shifts to managing and orchestrating. The owner gets all of the moving parts of the company to work together smoothly, while insuring that the company is adding profitable clients, products and services year in and year out.

No longer is the owner the expert at how tasks are done within the company. Individuals working for the owner become the experts. And their ability to contribute is limited by what they know, what they experience, and by the amount they can handle – just as used to be the case for the owner.

The owner now has four key human resource development tasks to deal with. Identify when individuals are maxed out. Help individuals figure out what they need to learn next. Prioritize the list of tasks that need to be learned. Line up money for learning.

As owner, you might assess an individual’s ability to learn by saying, “Let’s practice together. You teach me what you know. Show me what you’re learning.” Instead of competing to be “best”, the owner becomes a coach, holds people accountable for growing, guides progress, lets employees have the “win”, builds employees’ confidence.

If certain tasks have to be taught over and over again, assign people as skill experts, to be the go-to people when employees need to master specific jobs. Often the skilled go-to people are not the people managers – as teaching tasks is much different from managing people. However, the experts’ contribution to the whole of the company is just as great, and they should be recognized as just as important as people managers.

You, as owner have to get freed up to plan out how the company will grow. You step back and observe what parts of the business are working well, what parts need help, and what parts will need help in the future. Then you build an overall plan, and budget to insure all parts of the organization are improving at the pace needed to hit short and long term goals profitably. You oversee the plan’s roll out, and make adjustments along the way. Not sure how to do that? Get someone to teach you, before you become an obstacle to your business’ progress!

Looking for a good book? The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning: How to Turn Training and Development into Business Results by Calhoun W. Wick, Roy V. H. Pollock, Andy Jefferson.

pdf version

This year’s vacation was better than expected. Given how some of my peers are doing, I’m just glad I could afford to get some time off. But I still had to take calls while I was away, and handle problems that the office could have taken care of. What should I do, so that next year I can truly be away.

Expecting the business to run without you is always a good goal. It means that at least some of the time you’re no longer the tent pole, with the business sitting squarely on your shoulders. As a result, the business is stronger, safer, and more valuable.

Taking a vacation is a good way to test the readiness of the business to run without you. And it’s a good first step towards preparing the business to be saleable – even if that might be years down the road. Think of it this way. Who wants to pay you money for a business that can’t run without you. Instead, test the readiness of the business to operate without you, by getting away to do something else, as you recharge your batteries in the process.

Now that you’re back from vacation it’s time to take stock of how things went. What calls did you take? What was on your desk when you got back? What should’ve happened but didn’t while you were away? What are your goals for your next vacation?

Start by making a list of everything that you handled while away, as well as things that waited for your return. Focus here, as you start to prepare for your next vacation and even more independence from the business. Decide who should handle items next time, and lay out a training program for them to take over. Try not to hold back anything.

Here are some questions you can ask, to get your freedom-from-the-business plan started. What calls and issues were referred to me, and why? Who else could have taken the calls? What additional information would they have needed to handle the calls? What decision making authority needs to be delegated in order to deal with those calls? Is there someone who needs training to be my backup in one or more areas? What is the training plan to get people up to speed?

Check what’s on your desk. Everything from opening mail, to writing checks, placing orders, confirming client proposals, approving payroll, and doing reviews, may be waiting for you to check back in. Ask yourself, what’s it doing on my desk?

The third area to consider is a little less obvious. What should or could have happened, but didn’t, while you were away? What plans, development work, longer term commitments, etc. got put on hold pending your return?

Think about setting up teams to handle the bigger items. Balance out decision making by having a group of people be responsible. Insure that projects with more complex implementation needs don’t get hung up, by having 2 or 3 key players assigned to oversee progress.

Finally, think about your goals for your next vacation. Try to get away again in another quarter. Even if you stay home, stay away from the business. Let it run without you. Plan to take fewer, or no calls. Expect your desk to be clear when you get back. Seek to have projects and plans humming along, regardless of whether you’re around or absent.

Keep in mind that most businesses rely on their owners. And no matter how much owners complain about that, they also set it up that way. They like being important, central to decisions, in control of what’s going on. But if owners are to achieve a valuable end goal of having a sale-able business, they have to remove themselves. The next owner wants a business that can run itself. So build the business to run without you now and enjoy the time off!

Looking for a good book? Don’t Miss Your Life: Find More Joy and Fulfillment Now, by Joe Robinson.

pdf version

We’re finding that it’s really hard to change habits. We’re implementing some new ways of doing things, and our people seem to be really resistant. We have good employees, it just seems like they’re stuck in a rut. How do we get things moving?

This reader is right. Change is hard. People form habits, and then they stick with them. That’s both the bad news and the good news. Once you build a new set of habits, things will go much more smoothly.

Get people involved in the changes you’re hoping to implement. Make sure everyone understands what’s expected, and why. Training is essential until new habits are formed. Look at where things get stuck, and figure out why. Encourage people to talk about what’s going on, how it impacts them, and what they’d like to have happen. Be sure to allow time for practice, discussion and follow up.

Until people understand what you’re trying to accomplish, it will be hard for them to follow your lead. Take time to explain what’s going to happen and discuss the benefits of doing things the new way.

Recognize that for some people, the new way may seem more complicated, more time consuming, less friendly. They may very well be right so, encourage people to talk about their concerns. Don’t bury problems, get them out in the open.

Ask people to try, and be firm about your intention to implement the new way of doing things. Just because things seem difficult, don’t blink and allow people to go backwards. Keep up the training, discussion, follow up, and pressure to stick with it, until you’ve fully implemented the changes you want.

Set realistic goals that reflect the outcomes you want to achieve. Set interim progress measures to show that things are heading in the right direction. For example, if you’re trying to implement a CRM system, set an overall goal: everyone using the system 100% to log phone calls, emails, appointments and new contacts, within 90 days.

Interim progress measures might include training different departments over time, For example – train the sales department week 1, customer service people week 2, accounting staff week 3, field people week 4. Use of the system 50% of the time within a week of training. By week 5, people voluntarily opening and using the system 90% or better. Then check back in to find out who’s hitting the interim progress measures and who’s stuck.

Build a plan to get through the training, practice and follow up required. Make sure that people have enough time and guidance, so that they learn how to do things the new way correctly. Expect that productivity levels may dip as people focus on practicing new skills.

Just about every business has some seasonality to it. Pick a time to practice when the business isn’t running at full steam ahead. If necessary, bring in some temporary help to handle routine tasks, to free people up to go through training and practice.

Check on why some people are struggling. Chances are they aren’t getting to payoff quickly enough. In other words, for this group it’s simpler, easier, and more rewarding to stick with the old habits. Take people aside and find out what obstacles they’re dealing with. If possible, consider developing customized solutions to deal with their challenges. Whatever you do, don’t let up on insistence that change take place.

Look for people who are doing well with the new habits. Ask them what value they get from implementing changes. Ask them to share their positive experiences with others who are struggling.

Insist on change, with respect and support. Consider rewards as motivators. First department to get on board 100% gets treated to dinner. Once a department demonstrates mastery, they get a bonus. Consider what your people would find motivating, and be prepared to supply that as they work hard to achieve what you want.

Looking for a good book? The Change Leader’s Roadmap: How to Navigate Your Organization’s Transformation, by Linda Ackerman Anderson, Dean Anderson.

pdf version

Do you have any information on delegating work? What should or should not be delegated by a manager? I’m a student, and I’d like to know more about the subject of delegating.

Some managers struggle with delegation. They try to hang on to every task. They are unclear about what they want to accomplish. They pick the wrong people to delegate to. Some delegate too much, or too soon. Or they fail to acknowledge the people who are pitching in to make them look great. When it comes time for you to delegate, make sure you don’t get caught in any of those traps.

One person can’t do it all. The load has to get spread out. Delegating is about asking other people to carry part of the load, being responsible for completion, quality and reporting back on results.

A manager can delegate any task. It’s best to consider the skills and attributes required for success. For example, a task that takes an outgoing personality and experience talking to people, can be very different from a task that calls for detail management and working in a quiet, isolated setting. Match task and people attributes to increase the chance of success.

When preparing to delegate, have manager and recipient discuss how to tackle the assignment. Play it out verbally. See what knowledge gaps exist. Discuss where training might come into play.

Reach agreement on timing and what a successful outcome might look like. Vague timeframes can result in a comment later on, along the lines of, “I didn’t know you needed it by then!” Clear objectives can make it much easier for both parties to know how success will be measured.

In the beginning check on progress regularly. Periodically overview the entire process to observe how the task is being handled. Allow for innovation, so long as the outcome is at the desired standard.

If you’re the manager and things are progressing properly, back out of the way. No one wants someone constantly hanging over their shoulder telling them what to do. If you’re the recipient, ask for feedback along the way. Check that you’re on track, and then keep going.

Allow for mistakes and time to make corrections. Double or triple your estimate of the time and resources needed to complete a task. That allows for errors, without putting your schedule and budget out of whack.

Check if the recipient’s plate is overflowing. Delegation might add to a host of problems. Increased error rate, lack of cooperation, missed deadlines, incorrect shortcuts are all symptoms that the recipient isn’t ready to take on additional tasks.

As a recipient, consider how taking on additional tasks can increase your skills and visibility within the organization. Be ready, willing and able to help out. Execute in top notch form so you look like a superstar. Be aware that to continue taking on tasks, you may have to build your own delegation team and skills.

Make a list of all the tasks you do over a week. Highlight those that are repetitive, that could easily be taught to someone else. Look around for someone to train.

Be sure to share recognition with people who are getting things done on your behalf. It’s not fair to ask someone else to do your work and then take all the credit. More importantly, by sharing the cudos, you’ll encourage people to help you again next time.

If you find you work for a manager who doesn’t delegate, you have a couple options. Ask for a meeting to discuss your readiness to take on additional work. Ask for feedback on what might get in the way of receiving new assignments. Ask for assignment to another manager, who might have more experience at delegating and mentoring.

If you feel you’re overloaded with too many tasks, discuss what kind of help you might need, in order to relieve the stress you’re feeling. Look around to see if there’s anyone you can delegate to. Make suggestions on how to get through the workload in a different way.

Looking for a good book? The Busy Manager’s Guide to Delegation, by Richard A. Luecke, Perry McIntosh.

______________________________________

Andi Gray is president of Strategy Leaders Inc., www.StrategyLeaders.com, a business consulting firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurial firms grow. She can be reached by phone at 877-238-3535. Do you have a question for Andi?  Please send it to her, via e-mail at AskAndi@StrategyLeaders.com  or by mail to Andi Gray, Strategy Leaders Inc., 5 Crossways, Chappaqua, NY 10514. Visit www.AskAndi.com for an entire library of Ask Andi articles.

pdf version