Coaching to Success

Our business is your success

General

Recognise the inspiration before ‘they’ leave!

Finding ideas, some would say, is the easy part but seeing them through is where it gets tricky!

Who are those ‘hidden’ gems amongst your team(s), whether internal or external? Are you hearing their voices through the other noises of a busy day? Can you spot those individuals, those free thinkers who don’t simply conform to existing processes?

It’s energised individuals with the positive drive. It is these innovators, internal entrepreneurs, that not only have the ideas but the energy to see them through.

So why do these people leave? Up to 70% of successful entrepreneurs, self-employed people, get their ideas whilst in employment but then leave due to the lack of processes that enable them to either pitch their idea or have it heard. Be honest with yourself, do you TRULY welcome new ideas or do you believe what you have established is the best and only way forward?

Here is 5 patterns of successful companies who adopt ‘intrapreneurship’ (inside entrepreneurs following organisational goals)

Freedom and not just Money: Intrapreneurs enjoy the freedom of being able to influence organisational goals. Money is a necessity but is more of a tally or, a reward for how well they are contributing.

Photosynthesis: Intrapreneurs feed the idea and cultivate it before releasing it. They develop it but share it only when they feel it is ready to provide, what in effect will be, the ‘glucose’ to business survival.

Pivoting: The genius within! Intrapreneurs see things the rest of us don’t and aren’t scared to suggest or, when they become their own bosses through entrepreneurialism, turn them into reality. Look at Sir James Dyson, who, in 1993 was ignored by companies such as Hoover and Electrolux for his design of a new vacuum cleaner (now expanded to hand dryers and desk fans) and can now be found in over 50 countries with 3,100+ employees and turnover in excess of £1b in 2011.

Visual conception: Like sponges, intrapreneurs use all forms of visual stimulation from design to mind-mapping and thought-showers (brainstorming to you and I) and will look at all potential parameters without settling on the first idea. Aware that initial emotions may outweigh the logic, they allow time for it to develop symbiotically and to show it’s true benefits.

What’s next?: These people strive to see what’s next. Constantly looking for betterment and positive change. Very clear, highly engaged and always learning new ways so that they are not left watching others make those changes that propel organisations forward.

Maybe it’s time to open your eyes and your ears to those around you and find those lions among your team(s).

Coaching to Success help organisations succeed through change and more often than not, it’s through your own ‘Intrapreneurs’ so contact Neil on 07761 187238 or email info@coachingtosuccess.co.uk to arrange a free, no obligation consultation and discuss what benefits change will bring.

How would you reduce staff levels by 20% and expect voluntary work to increase?

The Army are desperately attempting to recruit people into the ‘Army Reserve’ (formerly the Territorial Army) but appear to be failing!

Earlier in the year (April to June) only 367 soldiers enlisted, seems okay but with the exception that the target was 1,432! That’s a shortfall of 75% with the aim to reach 30,000 by the end of 2018.

In the meantime, coalition government’s defence reviews are looking to reduce regular soldiers from 102k to 82k by 2020.

Defense Secretary Philip Hammond commented that he had hoped some of those leaving regular forces would join the reserve. So you lay someone off full time work then are bemused as to why they don’t volunteer to be a reservist?

Although these jobs are completely different to the regular office or factory work, it has similar reflections within business.

This is just another case to highlight where change management is not effectively being managed. What we do know about, is how to handle the emotional state of such difficult predicaments. Emotional Intelligence, as some would refer to it.

Whenever you are about to make difficult decisions that will ultimately affect those within your organisation, it is necessary to consider the emotional effect that this will have.

John P. Kotter created 8 steps for Successful Large-Scale Change. This is just a summary of which Coaching to Success can help develop within your organisation.

  1. Increase urgency – Generate the impetus of ‘Let’s go, we need to change things!’ Get the positive people around to start spreading the word.
  2. Build a supervisory team – Create a group that’s commanding enough to lead and work together well
  3. Set the vision – Develop the vision/strategy for constructive change
  4. Communicate for buy-in – People begin to buy into the change and this shows in their behaviour
  5. Empower action – More people feel able to act, and do act, on the vision
  6. Create short-term wins – Avoid the big one off movement. Build momentum through short successful objectives to accomplish the vision
  7. Keep it going, don’t let up – Continue to push the smaller changes until the vision is fulfilled
  8. Make change stick – Tradition and habit may be a resisting factor but the new and successful behaviour creates new habits

Don’t presume that what changes you may be making on one or a few people won’t have a knock on effect to everyone else within the organisation. Distrust can easily set in if not managed correctly.

Tough decisions in businesses do need to be made. However, responsibility to all those around you is paramount to success. It’s all about Emotional Intelligence (Daniel Goleman is a good author on this!)

If you are about to undergo change or looking to make change for the betterment of the organisation in the near future, consider making the first change by getting Coaching to Success in to insure a smooth transition. Call Neil on 07761 187238 or email info@coachingtosuccess.co.uk to arrange an informal ‘discussion’ around how we can help.

 

You can have your heart set on Dull or Boring but it might not quite seem to be what it sounds like?

How true is it, that we make assumptions by what may be written alone? Professor Albert Mehrabian’s communications model illustrates how we generally communicate … and word’s, such as you are reading now, are only one very small part.

His studies cited the following:

7% of message relating to feelings and attitudes is in the spoken word.

38% of message relating to feelings and attitudes is the way in which the words are said, tonality).

55% of message relating to feelings and attitudes is in expression, body language.

So how does this relate to the earlier paragraph? Newspapers, during early August, wrote articles on how a town called Dull in Perthshire had been twinned with another in Oregon, USA called Boring. So, with just a little further explanation, a different perspective can be seen.

Much as with business, often we lack the true ability to ‘Communicate’ well. All too often we receive blunt texts that can be read in so many different ways.

Try this line for example “I didn’t say you stole my money” , now repeat it 6 times but each time put the stress on each of the words in turn, ie ‘I’ the first time you say it, ‘didn’t’ on the second, and so forth. Now do you get the idea about how tonality plays such an important part? People put the emphasis on whichever word they chose when reading it without experiencing the other elements of communication.

Often, if our only form of communicating important messages, is via email, text or other written methods, the message can be lost. Worse still, if there is an element within that could be taken personally, no matter what mood you were in when you wrote it, the recipient WILL read it in whatever mood they are currently in when it is received.

When making changes within your organisation it is imperative that you try to communicate the message at all levels to insure that there is no ambiguity as to what is meant. If you have a large team, create spokespersons, to pass the message on themselves through personal contact to promote the tonality and body language as well as the words.

Follow up with the written word rather than put the word out first as people will read into it whatever they see to be the case and it’s difficult to correct thereafter.

Not all communication needs to follow these guidelines but when announcing major changes, it is imperative that the same message gets communicated frequently and in as many different ways to insure the intention and information is clear.

Coaching to Success have seen many cases where structured, planned and delivery of important information has been handled poorly even though the best intention was meant and caused grievances that remained for long periods of time.

Should you or your organisation be looking to make changes where clear communication is important, then start by speaking to Coaching to Success by giving Neila shout on 07761 187238 or email info@coachingtosuccess.co.uk to arrange an informal ‘discussion’ around how we can help.

 

Is your business ‘mentality’ much like the 17% of UK homes that DON’T use the internet?

We were reading an ‘Office of National Statistics’ article that stated that 4 million homes in the UK are still not connected to the internet.

Imagine that, in today’s society, people still don’t use the internet when just over half of the adult population accessed web browsing over their mobile phones! Internet access plays such an important part in all our lives both for social and business needs.

To add to this, there are interesting questions being posted on legal LinkedIn groups inquiring the validity of electronic signatures.

So all of this got us thinking. How many businesses out there are still using old fashioned accounting systems, the equivalent of using the abacus when calculators became the latest gadget. Do people still use facsimiles to send documents? Are we locked to the desk with stand-alone PCs rather than laptops or tablets?

Times have rapidly moved on and maybe now is the time to look at how your organisation works. If you’re stuck doing the same thing in the same way but don’t like where it’s taking you, you can be assured, unless you change, your final destination remains set.

Much as technology continues to rapidly move on, so must you engage new ideas (and the hardware if you still use the abacus!) here’s some food for thought to boost that workplace productivity level and change your destiny!

  1. Focus on the ‘Team’ – We once worked with a distribution firm who wanted the sales force to work together to win contracts only then to promote that the highest ‘individual’ achiever of the year would win a family break in Euro Disney!! How contradictive is that? Getting your team to work ‘together’ toward a common goal certainly boosts productivity as well as relationships thus removing the chance of conflict.
  2. Avoid Micromanaging – Yes, you could do it better! (think of it as differently!) but micromanagement leads to stress, despondency, lack of trust, contempt or even fear. Management adds the structure, good leadership lets people thrive. Learn to let go and treat people like adults. Accuracy and retention of good workers will then be gained.
  3. Scramble Monotonous Tasks – make sure you don’t allow those tasks to continually land on the same people’s desks. Share tasks around. This aids communication, keeping fresh ways of achieving them flowing and the tasks, as they’re not always done day in, day out in become less tedious!
  4. Laughter – One of the biggest forms of learning and high productivity is gained from simply having a laugh. If adopted already, loosen the “it’s not the way we do things around here” attitude as when people enjoy what they do, knowing that they can laugh without reprimand, productivity soars.

Still unsure? Well if you are still on that same road, what have you to lose? Be brave, step away from your comfort zone and see what difference will be had from making a difference and believe in what you’re doing.

Should you be looking to change the way you currently do things, Coaching to Success specialise in change management and the affects it has on people, call Neil on 07761 187238 or email info@coachingtosuccess.co.uk to arrange a free, no obligation consultation

Managers, or even Middle-Managers! … Do we ‘Really’ need them?

Having recently read an interesting article (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23462290) by Lucy Kellaway (Author and Financial Times columnist) she addresses how ‘Management’ only really came into existence in the 20th Century.

Now I’m a great believer that management is critical for any organisation to work effectively and efficiently but I have also noted that since the 1980s, the title of manager springs up for all tasks. It then simply becomes a title rather than a position!

As Lucy wrote, “A conductor is a train manager. An administrator is an office manager. A technician is an IT manager” and so the list continues. How many people do you know hold the title of ‘Manager’ but don’t actually manage people under direct government? In turn, it belittles the role of those who are managers while opening floodgates for distrust and even dislike to others in the workplace.

So here are 10 tips to become a ‘Great’ manager with both title and responsibility…

  1. Adaptable style – Communicate according to the style of the people you are addressing without forcing your own preferred management style on them. Understand before being understood!
  2. Unnecessary obstacle removal – Cut back on un-necessary admin or paperwork. For example, do you need a written report for everything?
  3. Pareto principle – Focus mainly on the 20% of your time on what generates 80% results.
  4. Step by step – Rome wasn’t built in a day so neither will your empire! Set small milestone goals for the individuals/teams and celebrate each success.
  5. Delegate – One of the most empowering tools around. Let go of processes that others are capable of doing. Concentrate on what is relevant to your level.
  6. Share facts – And dispel rumours. Frequently inform others any communication that is relevant no matter how trivial you think it is.
  7. Feedback – People expect to know how they are doing, both good and bad. Make sure everyone receives feedback to avoid any misguided thoughts that they or others create for them.
  8. Lead by example – All too often I hear of managers complaining about staff being on Facebook and then just check it themselves! This goes for workload too, don’t ask them to work until 8pm while you leave at 5pm.
  9. Gratitude – A little sign of appreciation goes a very long way. Physically write a ‘Thank you’ note or at least email them while cc the boss or other members in too.
  10. FUN!!! – Introduce an element of fun into the proceedings. A happy person is a lot more productive than an unhappy jobsworth! Think of some innovative ideas, or, better still, get your team to think of some fun activities (some to be carried out in work time) to creative some positive energy

This is just an overview so whether you want to become a better manager yourself

or are looking to improve the management skills of those within your team, Coaching to Success knows how to improve the skillset of existing or recently appointed managers. Simply contact Neil Nutburn on 07761 187238 or send an email to info@coachingtosuccess.co.uk to arrange a free, no obligation consultation to prove that management within your organisation is a necessity and not just a title.