Subtitled "Secrets of Great Management" this book has a condensed set of wisdom to spout to us. I dislike the fictional "Sam the Manager" approach - but so much good advice lies in here that I found it a useful read.[amazon.co.uk]
[amazon.com]
As a new manager I enter situations where I already have a pre-existing team. I need to get to know them quickly. This forms the setting for Chapter One with the suggestion of 1-2-1's with every member of your team. Using open questions, learn their strengths, weaknesses, issues, aims. And remember "you can't spend too much time with people".
Build a portfolio view of the work that everyone has ongoing, the projects your staff currently work on, iterate over this. Walk around and speak to people and build a picture of the environment. Make 'big visible charts' to make workload an priorities obvious and open.
Clarify the goals. Align the 'work' with the goals: department, company, team. If no goals exist then write them yourself and feed them back up the management chain.
A lesson I have learned the hard way, involves preparation for meetings: know what you want to achieve, know what you want to cover, think through objections, think through your arguments. If you try and wing it then you waste your time and other people's time.
When identifying work to do - play to people's strengths and provide feedback. Anytime things don't seem to work out with someone we need to first check: did we make the priorities clear, did they understand the expectations the way you intended? did you make the constraints and boundaries clear? Identify which problems stem from environmental rather than personal issues.
One good point made in the book relates to the distinction between team, and workgroup. In a workgroup they often 'do' similar things, but their work does not really impact or interrelate with other members in the group.
I've worked with managers where they tried to make a 'team' when what they had was a workgroup. Different personal dynamics come into play in this environment. 'Team bonding' exercises often fail.
Essentially people have 'individual' (project related) goals, rather than 'group' goals.
Hints on goals include: develop goals together, create actions for the goals, and follow up on actions.
The book stresses the importance of feedback - people don't know that you have a problem with them, unless you tell them. And you need to make sure that feedback gets presented with specific examples, not vague statements and generalisations:
- Provide feedback as close to the occurrence as possible
- Deliver it in private
- Describe the behaviour or result of a specific action
- Keep notes on what feedback you have given and maintain a paper trail - particularly for 'negative' feedback where you want the person to implement actions to improve
Coaching and Influencing get a quick overview, but not in any great detail.
A general pattern crops up in the book's advice:
- Brainstorm
- Define problems
- Define desired outcome
- Collect data and examples
- Write things down
- Develop action plans
- track progress
The authors apply variants of this to: feedback, coaching, problem solving, delegation.
Some good advice worth noting: "Find something to notice and appreciate about each person each week"
Don't commit your team without consulting with them. Make your default answer "I'll see", or "I'll check". Don't commit without knowing that you can do it.
A fairly small book at 158 pages. The 'fiction' presentation means that you have to sit through some rough dialogue and pull the 'good bits' out yourself. I found many good bits, and it does have a lot of solid advice, so it is a book worth sticking with.
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