Last week, when I was working with a group of managers , we got down to the nitty gritty of the difference between good and bad managers. Split into 2 groups the participants wrote down a list of good and bad.
The underlying theme was that good managers communicate well and bad managers don’t.
Obvious isn’t it?
But for something so obvious it is still difficult to get right.
When time is of the essence it is tempting to jump in with solutions at best - instructions at worst. But by taking a wee bit of time to listen to what everybody involved has to say there might be another, better way. And because it has been “co-created” you should be able to expect a better level of buy-in.
Ultimately though my thought for this Friday is….
to listen effectively you must first disengage your mouth.
I posted about about Kim Cameron’s Personal Management Interview Programme last week as the idea seemed simple and full of potential. Following this I read this post from Don Ledingham’s Learning Log. Don is Acting Director of Education and Childrens’ Services for East Lothian - a beautiful area to the east of Edinburgh and where we lived when our children were at primary school age.
Don’s idea of having weekly meetings to which he will invite groups of people within the service he heads to talk to him again sounds like one of those ideas that are so simple that you have to wonder why more people are not working this way.
And then I thought back to opportunities that came up for me in the past to speak with someone who had the overall view, the power to make changes and the ( apparent) desire to listen to me. Personally I took this at face value and contributed when asked. But so many people are wary about saying something that might “come back to haunt them” which means that they either did not take the chance to speak or contributed a diluted version of what they really wanted to say.
OK - that comment must be taken in context. Some leaders are really great listeners who use what they hear to make beneficial changes or to build more on the already good stuff. Much depends on how they are viewed by their people- and that pretty much comes down to trust and rapport. So a leader whom most of the workforce would not recognise if they bumped into them will have a bit more work to do than someone who “walks the talk”.
I know that Don is out and about in his role. How can I know that? Well he has been blogging for a couple of years. What he does, thinks and where he has been is there for anyone to see - including employees for whom he is ultimately responsible.
The new way of “walking the talk” - there must be a Web 2.0 phrase for that! I am looking forward to reading more about how his idea pans out.
“Employees leave bad managers not bad organisations”
Whether you agree or not I was introduced to the work of Professor Kim Cameron from the Department of Positive Organizational Scholarship at the University of Michigan and wanted to share it with you.
Prof Cameron has devised something called the Personal Management Interview Programme. She believes that employee engagement is improved when managers spent regular, one-to-one time with their direct reports. I particularly liked David A Latif’s paper on using PMI .
The bottom line is that all too often the only interaction any employee have with management is when something has gone wrong. The idea that building up a relationship with your boss based on what is happening on a day to day basis - positive as well as negative - might have a positive impact on employee relations, engagement and retention surely is common sense?
And if it is - why is it not the norm?
I would love to hear if your organisation has PMIs or something similar.
I have spent the past few days in Lerwick in the Shetland Islands training young people aged 12 - 15 in speaking skills. They responded wonderfully -as young people we work with on the Speakersbank programme usually do.
Working in an island community has its own challenges though. Some of our participants had to take a ferry to be able to join us and others had to stay overnight for the second day as going home was impractical. The topics in the final speeches ranged from local Shetland issues relating to how the Council was to spend money on public buildings, brideges and tunnels, to eating disorders , to renuable energy , to personal family stories. It is great for the audience to listen to those. The added benefit is that the audience also consists of the other competitors and they hear each other talk about issues that matter to them!
Our welcome in Shetland was fantastic. The Speak Up challenge was even reported on the local radio news giving our winners the chance to use what they learned immediately !
I am writing this in a library in Lerwick where I am catching up on other business while I wait to go to the airport.
Tired but happy.
My son recommended I watch the movie Freedom Writers starring Hilary Swank. It is based on a real story about a newly qualified teacher Erin Gruwell and a class of “unteachable, at risk teenagers” in Long Beach,California. I would recommend the movie so I won’t spoil the story but suffice to say they found a way to work together, learning about themselves along the way. Take a look at the website of the Freedom Writers Foundation for more details.
It is my firm belief that when young people and children find a way to tell their stories the outcome can only benefit us all. Erin and the Freedom Writers did this in the written word. For those who have not mastered writing skills - which happens for all sorts of reasons - then the most obvious other way is by the spoken word.
I was touched to hear the stories of the young people in London on Monday. Any time I have spent with young people and children I have heard something in their own words that makes me think. A young man I was working with last year told me that, although he felt he had a lot to contribute, he did not expect to be listened to - which I think is sad but true.
One particular aspect of telling their stories though is brought out in the film. Whilst it is really important for adults and those in a position to make decisions listen to the young people I also believe that it is important for the young people themselves to listen to each other to recognise the similarities rather than only notice the differences. During the Speak Up Speak Out training one important step is the This is Me section where each participant tells a story about themself for about 1 minute. It is impossible to predict what will come up. All I know is that watching the responses of the others hearing the stories resulted in agreement, laughter, looks of concern …in other words connection with that person in the moment.
Even if they are against what the other person is saying at least they have been in a position to hear their story.
