Coaching to Success

Our business is your success

Neil Nutburn

How great are you at making decisions? Here’s a tool to help you out

This is such an easy tool to use yet so frequently we struggle with options, we do our pros and cons lists or we just let things rattle around in our head without being totally happy with our final choice.

This is a logical way of getting to that final decision and allows you to find peace with yourself on the decision you make, giving you the confidence through its rationality and can make you stand out as the decision maker when others around you are struggling.

This tool is simply called ‘GRID ANALYSIS’. To start off with, you need to consider two lists. The first is the OPTIONS shown in the row and FACTORS needing to be considered shown in the columns. Then you give each a score in the matrix which gets totalled at the end. May sound a bit too complex to some but it’s truly easy.

Okay, so here goes…

FIRST List your options as the rows on your table. Along the heading, write the factors needing to be considered as the column headings (these can be anything that matters, like cost, availability, service level, maintenance, reliability, dimensions etc).

SECOND Score against each of these headings against the options, these may be supplier, candidate for promotion, product whatever it may be. The score should range between 0 (Worst) to 5 (Best) and score relevantly not differently! By this I mean that if all score 2, then, so be it. You don’t have to be concerned about whether the score matches or not but that you give it a true reflection of what you believe it to be worth.

THIRD Now ‘Weight’ the importance of the factor in your overall relative importance (eg if the items were cost, practicality, reliability, quality you may rate them cost(4), Practicality(1), Reliability(3) and quality(4)… again, it doesn’t matter if a few have the same ratings). Create a row at the top or bottom of your options and write this value.

FORTH take each of your scores set against each factor/option and multiply this by the weight. So, let’s say we were looking to buy a camera. Supplier ‘A’ scored 4 on reliability so based on the previous weighting, this would equate to 4×3=12, whereas, Supplier ‘B’ may only score 2 on this factor, ergo 2×3=6 etc etc

FIFTH is the final stage where you total all the scores at the end of the row and the highest score represents the strongest option to work with

As an example, we’ll use the camera idea from before. The number before the line goes through it is the initial score, the number next to it is the total having used the weighting factor (hopefully that’s clear enough)

FACTOR

Cost

Practicality

Reliability

Quality

TOTAL
Weighting

3

2

4

4

N/A
Camera 1

4 12

3 6

5 20

4 16

54
Camera 2

5 15

1 2

2 8

5 20

25
Camera 3

2 6

5 10

3 12

5 20

48

From this, it is clear to see that Camera Two was never really in the running but One and Three were close, however, by adopting this approach, a clear winner (Camera One is ‘exposed’ as being the right one to go for – sorry, bad pun but you get the idea)

And there you have it, a Grid Analysis tool that helps you to decide between several options, where there are many different factors needing to be considered.

And you can also use this tool to help select that all important Business coach that you need in your organisation, just remember to add Coaching to Success to the Row and speak to us concerning areas that we can help with, costing, availability, benefit, ‘fun’ (always an important element to learning or striving forward with new goals or objectives) and call Neil on 07761 187238… well, it’s worth a try by us isn’t it?

What are the benefits of ‘Positive Mind Thoughts’ in these times of reported doom and gloom?

On Sunday, the Times headlined ‘High slump hints at a black Christmas’, National Statistics revealing that volumes dropped by 0.8% October month-on-month comparison, whereas, the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) recently commented on ‘Employment outlook remains positive for the rest of the year’ stating that employment is forecast to grow steadily throughout the rest of 2012. This being the third consecutive quarter of projected growth recorded!

Which do you tune into… the negative element of slump in sales or the positive affirmation of improved employment levels? One thing is for certain, Individuals, teams, firms or companies work much more congruently and ‘positively’ when engaged in a positive atmosphere.

So when was the last time you were part of a high-morale, highly-motivated team? You’re in one!, great… if not, when you were, you were probably happy going to work collaborating with work colleagues and/or clients and, together, came up with some great ideas and due to the enthusiasm, created some of your best work. Being happy and highly motivated creates a condition where you accomplish far more than those who are in a state of low morale.

Here’s a few guidelines to help yourself or those you are responsible for to be happy and engaged…

  • BE A POSITIVE LEADER… Teams follow the lead! Focus on your own happiness, emotional intelligence and well-being. Change the way you address things from a negative to a positive affirmation (eg from ‘I want to GIVE UP smoking’ to ‘I want to BECOME fitter and live a healthier life’) and we all know about the SWOT analysis (Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats) in business but try carrying one out on yourself! Finally, look at your own state of emotions when becoming a ‘positive’ leader.
  • OBSTACLES TO POSITIVITY – GET RID OF THEM!…  Obstacles block the positive thought process and until this has been accomplished, neither you or your team will become motivated. Look at policies or procedures within the organisation, training needs, clear differentiation of roles, responsibilities or autonomy. Also, be aware of the general demeanour and working environment! Would a lick of new paint brighten the place up, what’s the state of work stations like (cluttered desks = cluttered minds). Do you recognise and reward achievements! Just a few areas to consider.
  • POSITIVE MANAGEMENT… Charters are great in defining people or team roles. With these you can ascertain what the expectations are for individual’s and the team or group’s outcome providing both the necessary focus and consequent direction. From this, you can then establish the objective which helps with the motivation as both teams and individuals know what their worth is through clarity of their role and how this benefits the firm or organisation. Keep people informed about what is happening with regular meetings to discuss how things are progressing, updates, changes etc, this transparency helps with building trust as well as giving opportunity for people to voice their concerns. Finally… Support! This is a crucial element and can be aligned to having the right tools to do the job, the manpower to handle the tasks with training/coaching offered to help those who would benefit from it.
  • NOW LET’S REINFORCE IT!… Now you have great ‘positivity’ or at least the road map to achieving it, don’t slip back into old ‘negative’ ways, let the new positive become the new habit! Celebrating success is a fantastic way of creating this new motivational outlook but this can be expensive… actually, it doesn’t need to cost a penny, it’s amazing how much a simple element of recognition can be. A public ‘Thank You, well done’ gives the recipient a feel and a beacon of light to others that they too could be praised or recognised if they were only to step up or over the mark. On the other hand, a bottle of French Chateau Ausone, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru would also go down well (but then, at around $940 I should hope so). Be aware of the ‘grumps’, one person is all it takes to change the good positive vibes. These people need to be addressed before they bring the rest of the team down, and this needs to be done early and face-to-face. Ascertain what the problem is playing on their mind and don’t just think that they have to change, it may be something you need to look at (google emotional intelligence?). And to wrap up, either coach those around you or employ the services of Coaching to Success or someone like them to use ‘Affirmations’ and for these to be ‘positive’ thus overcoming negative thinking.

Coaching to Success have helped firms/companies and the people therein to develop strength through motivation and pleasure within the workplace so if this is an area you are looking to develop within your working environment to either simply increase the positive atmosphere or to improve performance, take the next step by speaking to someone who can help and call us to arrange a free consultation, contact Neil (07761 187238) or throw us an email at info@coachingtosuccess.co.uk… We’re here to help

Derren Brown – Apocalypse… It’s all about the presentation!

Whether you believe in his abilities, whether you enjoy what he does, the mastery of Mr Brown’s Stage and TV presence is unquestionably all about presentation!

So how are you, your Firm or Company presenting itself or your case to the world?

  1. KNOW THE SUBSTANCE OF YOUR DISCUSSION – So obvious it can sometimes be ignored! Research is key. Don’t make assumptions and now where your weak areas are so you can work on these. A strong presentation given with the confidence knowledge brings is a winner.
  2. KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS – As a business coach, I’m always pushing clients to stretch out of what we refer to as our comfort zone, however, it is still wise to know what our ‘true’ limitations are. Align these with knowing your subject matter and your audience and you’re well on your way to delivering a memorable presentation that befits both parties.
  3. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE – as alluded to, depending on the circumstances, knowing your audience will vary from one situation to another whether you are in court presenting your client’s case or to a board of directors or to a team of like-minded individuals to name but a few scenarios… try to understand their mind-set and play to that strength. Humour, where appropriate helps with the absorption of information (we learn things quicker and more in-depth if we enjoy what we’re taking on board, same thing applies here)
  4. WHAT’S THE PURPOSE – You could be presenting a case, looking to get funding, coming up with new marketing campaigns or quite simply (going back to Derren) to create something that will entertain… keep reminding yourself of the purpose for this presentation.
  5. KNOW WHAT YOU’RE SAYING AND WHAT YOU’RE ABOUT TO SAY – Prepare a script! It doesn’t need to be lengthy or wordy or full of everything you wish to relay and can be as easy as writing some bullet point notes on cards. The most important fact is to make sure you don’t waffle on inanely. Get your message across in a succinct fashion, even if presenting in a formal environment, where a fully transcribed document is required.

Coaching to Success have helped firms/companies and the people therein to develop and deliver strong presentations to put there point across in a way that’s befitting the circumstances.

Coaching concentrates on your abilities, the lack of self-conviction and the strength within teams or individuals to allow them to stand shoulders higher than their nearest rivals. If this is an area you are looking to venture into, take the next step by speaking to someone who can help and call us to arrange a free consultation on how we can, contact Neil (07761 187238) or throw us an email at info@coachingtosuccess.co.uk… We’re here to help

DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT! EBAY HAVE MANAGED TO PAY JUST £1.2m IN TAX AGAINST £789m SALES!!… BREAKING THE LAW OR ‘CHANGING’ THE WAY OF DOING THINGS!

Sunday Times reported that eBay had £789m sales in 2010 in the UK alone, using worldwide profit margins in the region of 23%, the return should have been £181m profit with an expected corporation tax around £51m! Morally correct? Ethically correct? No matter where you stand on this, issues will vary immensely but there is one clear process that has driven this and that’s the change of thought process. To coin one of those loved (hmm, or not!) business metaphors… This company have “Stepped out of the box” when it comes to normal route that is expected.

Consequently, they are making vast amounts of money due to the fact that they haven’t followed the norm and ‘Change’ is the critical element here. I’m no expert in the financial market, however, I am when it comes to change/change management and much like the EBay story, some won’t like the outcome but the ‘management’ element of ‘change management’ is what’s important.

If you’re not happy with how your firm or business is going and can only see one direction it’s heading then you will inevitably reach that destination. As a saying by Siddhārtha Gautama goes “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading” so if you desire anything from increased sales, profitability, staff ratio, turnover per head, alternative markets to any other new or improved aspect of your current situation, then ‘Change’ is an absolute MUST!

The draw-back with change is getting others to go along with it harmoniously. I know the hard-line approach of “This is what’s going to happen, deal with it” as I’ve worked in exactly those environments as a director, however, if you want to bring others along with you and make the transition a lot smoother and you also need to establish the benefit of change. Richard Beckhard developed a concept called ‘The Change Equation’ and realised that some countervailing steps were necessary, hence, his equation.

A = An attractive vision of the future

B = Some dissatisfaction with the present

C = Some practical first steps

D = The pain involved in changing

The sum of A + B + C must exceed the value of D

Once you have established that change IS needed, then areas to consider further are:

  • Not only build a rational case but an ‘Emotional’ case for change too – Although ‘Managers’ are great at expressing the rational case, you need people with ‘Leadership’ skills to appeal to people’s emotional nucleus.
  • Ensure this ‘Leader’ or ‘Leadership Team’ are a prime role model for change – It is no good simply telling others to do, you have to have those in the limelight demonstrating the change too.
  • Understanding what impact this will have on those within the company or firm and spell it out – This is a fundamental prerequisite of what you are about to engage in. Let those that will be affected by it have transparent assessment of what the impact will likely to be on them.
  • Embed the change as quick as possible – No one really likes change, we’re creatures of habit so make the change swift and ensure you don’t celebrate too soon… if something’s not right, this will be used as a lever to prove the old way was better. Get people involved with ‘how to implement or improve’.
  • Let the people take the ownership! – Most of the time we ‘tell’ people and make changes ‘to’ them. Implement changes ‘with’ them or, better still ‘by’ them. Allow a sense that they are involved with this change and not a by-product of it.

Coaching to Success have helped firms/companies and the people therein to move through change, to create a new business in these times of austerity and succeed, help teams to bond and increase the output two fold over the sum of the individuals by getting them to work together through change… it’s taking the first step outside of your own confinement that’s the difficult one!

Coaching can bring people together and if this is an area you are looking to venture into, please take note of just a brief over-view of areas to consider and then take the next step by speaking to someone new and pick up the phone to call us to arrange a free consultation on how we can help, contact Neil (07761 187238) or throw us an email at info@coachingtosuccess.co.uk… We’re here to help

I’VE GOT TOO MUCH WORK TO DELEGATE… NOBODY CAN DO IT AS WELL!

Hmm, and therein lies the egotism or even the lack of confidence of those who need to share the workload. Many years ago, I too foolishly believed that only I knew everything, others simply couldn’t do it as well or to the same standard as me, surprising how much better the company grew once I started to delegate, trust those around me and act like the director that I’d been employed to be.

Delegating is a critical skill and not an easy one to manage. Often we feel like we should be seen to be under stress with massive workloads, however, efficiency is all about insuring the operation runs smoothly and with direction, if you don’t delegate tasks that others can do, it builds distrust, feeling of reduced worth and despondency.

Here are some simple steps to help you along the path of delegation:

  1. DUMP THE EGO! – No, you’re not the only person in the whole world that can do that job. Ok, it may not be done to the standard YOU BELIEVE to be correct or the way that you would do it but we’re all different and with guidance, training and some support someone else can do specific roles and possibly even have the ability to do it faster or even better than you… there’s a thought!
  2. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED, ANYONE? – You may end up waiting some time for someone to offer to help. If they don’t realise you need assistance, they’ll get on with their own jobs. Think about if someone asked you for YOUR help, would you? More than likely you would so put it out there. Don’t wait for someone to come to you whilst building up your frustration of why no-one’s offering
  3. WEAKNESS – It is not a sign of weakness to delegate but strength, know your people and show your trust. Maybe there’s feeling of shame, guilt or wanting your own badge of honour showing what a martyr you are by letting everyone see how you manage to continue handling everything yourself. Be truthful with yourself as to the reason why you don’t delegate, it IS NOT a weakness to delegate but shows signs of trust and responsibility… ok, stick by your thoughts there’s no one responsible enough to hand it to!! Been there, seen it, got the badge and proved totally wrong.
  4. BE OBJECTIVE NOT PROCEDURAL – Two forms of management, Micro and hands off, both equally incorrect in their opposites! Insure you delegate the task and what the outcome is that you’re looking to achieve and show them how to do this and that they can come to you. Indicate that they can do it as they wish but the outcome, the objective is what is at stake here and set SMART goals. Allow sufficient time for them to be innovative in what they are doing or to learn their own way, we do, after all have a prefrontal cortex that allows us to think for ourselves.
  5. PATIENCE – Are they likely to get it right first time without making a single error? If yes, why didn’t you delegate it ages ago, if not, well, this is the learning curve. Mistakes will likely to be incurred, a line I used in the last blog… Thomas Edison commented when he eventually found how to create electric light “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”, don’t assume it will be carried out perfectly first time round as if they already have a track record of success, this isn’t their fault it’s yours for assuming too much without giving the FULL guidance and support needed in the first instance.
  6. BACK-UP PLAN – If handing tasks that have a deadline, support your delegate with that given task. Remember, they too will probably have other tasks to perform within their day-to-day workload, systems to deal with that aren’t infallible (don’t you just love technology when it goes foul?) and uncertainties that creep in. Approachability is key, let them know that if there is a problem, come to you immediately so between you, you can resolve it but without the fear of reprimand or belittling and certainly without the fear that if it’s not accomplished on time… over to you Jack, it’s ALL yours! Remove this sense of potential fear before it even crops up, if they feel they have your support, they won’t be looking for excuses as to why it failed.
  7. RECOGNITION – When everything goes well, don’t take all the credit! Bestow credit where it’s due. Your superiors (if there are any) will see how well you manage your team/staff and your delegate will see their worth in not only your eyes but the firm/company’s too and will be more likely to be more confident with handling other such like tasks. Notoriety is a reward in its own right. Also, on this, show your own recognition and gratitude for the work completed, say Thank You and truly show your gratitude, this feeling of appreciation will certainly do you well when the next task comes along.

Coaching to Success understands the complexities that directors/associates/partners and managers undergo, we’re here to help you understand how to let tasks go and the great freedom this allows those who delegate to concentrate on what they should be doing, ie direct or manage the workload. If this is an area you feel you or members of your team would benefit from, take that first step by speaking to someone who can help you improve the power of delegation and thus becoming even more productive, after all, that’s what coaching is all about so pick up the phone to arrange a free consultation on how we can help, contact Neil (07761 187238) or throw us an email at info@coachingtosuccess.co.uk… We’re here to help.