Coaching to Success

Our business is your success

Management

Let’s start to build morale now we’re on the turn!

Sociologist Alexander Leighton stated “Morale is the capacity of a group of people to pull together persistently and consistently in pursuit of a common purpose” so it’s critical to invest time in developing good morale for your organisation to flourish, those that do experience much higher productivity, profitability and staff retention, decreased level of absenteeism and turnover of employee numbers as well as producing an amazing place to ‘want’ to come and work in!

With all the positive talk about the economic climate, let’s insure or teams also buy into this lift in morale while avoiding the common factors I often see causing it to dip:

  • Difficult co-workers.
  • Heavy workloads and/or stress.
  • No recognition or reward/gratitude.
  • Restructure or Layoffs
  • Deplorable leadership.
  • Inflexible working conditions.
  • Cancellation of team benefits.
  • Lack of enablement or autonomy. opposite

How frequently do you see managers turning a blind eye, or not even realising the state of morale by blaming workload pressure? Don’t wait for others, lead from the front and build your own positive attitude or outlook. ‘Positive’ thinking encourages positivity around you (negative has the same contrasting effect).

So I’ve put together some tips for you to consider:

  1. CONNECT WITH YOUR TEAM – Avoid hiding behind a desk or closed doors. Get out there, speak to the team, find out about personal as well as work subjects and show interest. Show presence by walking around and being approachable. Remember my earlier comment ‘No recognition’? Reward your team and this doesn’t have to cost a penny, simply making an announcement to all how well a member/team have done builds positive feelings but physical rewards work well when they’re due.
  2. CLARITY OF DIRECTION – Set ‘Clear’ goals. This way members ‘know’ what they should be doing or aiming for. SMART goals, yeah, I know, business spiel but it works!
  3. COMMUNICATION –Without clarity, rumours start, so it’s imperative that timely and accurate information is given. If there are changes being made, keep those around up to date so they can’t make their own ‘assumptions’. Remember to ‘Receive’ as well… after all, communication means “the activity of conveying information through the exchange of information”
  4. MAINTAIN MOTIVATION – All too often there’s a positive ‘get up and go’ approach and the following month, life’s back to normal! Know what makes your team members tick! (look into Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs). Keep up with SMART goals and stay ‘Connected’ with your team(s).

Coaching to Success understands how to help those leaders develop a positive environment and keep motivated to succeed through these times as well as supporting you along this path. If this is an area you feel you, your team or firm/company would benefit from, take that first step by speaking to someone who can help you improve morale whilst keeping you on track to reach them, 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.

Eeek! Even less daylight hours to do all those things!

Although daylight doesn’t make a great deal of difference to most of us in the working environment, it’s a great analogy on how to squeeze even more into the precious time that we have. So using that as a comparison, how come we’re finding even less time to get on and do the important things? Even as a mentor in such subject, I have to constantly be aware of the signs myself.

As an avid fan, I’d like to share Stephen Covey tool’s called the ‘Time-Matrix’  which looks at taking control of your time and realising where you’re spending it.

To start, grab an A4 sheet of paper and divide into quarters. Along the top, write ‘URGENT’ in the left and ‘NOT URGENT’ in the right. Along the side, against the uppermost squares, write ‘IMPORTANT, and the lower, write ‘NOT IMPORTANT…

Your quarters will be Top Left (No.1) ‘Urgent/Important’, Top Right (No.2) ‘Not Urgent/Important’, Bottom Left (No.3) ‘Urgent/Not Important’, Bottom Right (No.4) ‘Not Urgent/Not Important’, viola, your matrix.

So what are we to put into these quadrants?

I= MANAGE: These are the un-expected things that land on our laps. The things that we couldn’t or don’t have control over when they arrive. Crisis, Medical emergencies, Pressing problems, Deadline driven projects etc.

II= FOCUS: This is where your time should ideally be spent. Preparation & Planning, Prevention, Exercise, Relationship building etc.

III= AVOID: These are the things that may not affect you directly but may have a bearing on what’s happening in work. The sort of things you really you could keep your nose out of and let the responsible parties take control. Texts, Calls, Interruptions, Some emails etc. and the dreaded FaceBook are also mingled into this area.

IV= AVOID: You’ll be surprised at how long you actually spend in here! Trivia, procrastination, Junk Mail, idle telephone call when things need to be done etc.

Now look at where you ‘honestly’ spend your time. Ideally No.2 is where you will be most productive. Planning ahead so that items don’t suddenly find themselves in box 1!! Look at your own activities during the day or week and see what takes up your time and see where you can plan things in more efficiently. This is the place I desperately try my best to work on yet, I’m human too!

Hopefully that will help to a certain degree but we know how difficult it is to see the wood for the trees, especially when you’re operating at 115%. If that’s the case, then time management is an area that either you or someone in your team could possibly do with gaining some clarity. Coaching to Success has a variety of ways to help with ‘Time Management’ so contact me for a FREE Introductory chat or send me an email at neil@coachingtosuccess.co.uk where you’ll be assured a friendly and positive greeting.

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.