Archive for May, 2009

Well we reached week 8 of series 5 of The Apprentice last night.  The task for the teams was to re-brand Margate, an English seaside town, which like so many in the UK is struggling to keep attracting visitors.

Empire was led by project manager Debra after a bit of debate with Howard.  Ignite were led by Yasmin.

Empire decided that they would focus on the Gay Community whilst Ignite decided to focus on the Family Market.

On both teams there were some good points that came up:

1. Team working was, on the whole, much better than in previous weeks.
2. Both teams really threw themselves into the task.
3. Both teams took the time to do some research.

The decision on the winning team came from the scores from a major advertising agency and a group of people from Margate.  Ignite won the task convincingly, getting 14 out of 20 points, while the losers Empire got 8 out of 20.

As always there were a number of learning points that arose.

1. The project management of the poster and leaflet production on Empire was poor.  They ended up with a half finished leaflet.
2. If you have not completed something, it is better to say so than come up with some half baked explanation in the hope that the recipient of the presentation will not challenge you.
3. If you are working with models for a photo shoot or in a business situation a team, you need to give clear direction
4. When making a pitch, you need to try and get a good opening.
5. When thinking about promoting something, you need to keep in your mind the overall aim.  It appeared that at times the teams lost sight of this.
6. Both project managers demonstrated once again that the communication skill of listening was not their strong point.

Back in the boardroom, Debra took in James and Mona to face Sir Alan and while it was a close run thing, Mona was the person who was fired.

You can watch The Apprentice every Wednesday on BBC1 or on the web on the BBCiplayer.

A pay freeze or even a pay cut is not unusual in tough economic times.  Given this situation it might seem that it is impossible to motivate people.

Yet study after study tells us that money alone is rarely a motivator in the long term.  So what are the alternatives:

1. Praise people regularly
2. Say thank you when people have gone out of their way to deliver
3. Keep people informed through regular communication
4. Give people challenging and rewarding work

What else would you suggest?

Ask any manager what one of their biggest challenges is and chances are that a lack of time will be pretty high up the list of answers.  Given that the total time available per day, week, month or year is out of your control, it is how you use it that matters.

With lengthy job descriptions and vague objectives being the norm, you need to take control and get clarity on your priorities.

It is pretty easy to do this.

1. List out your understanding of your priorities

2. Arrange to meet with your boss

3. Ask him or her to tell you what they see as priority

4. Come to an agreed list of priorities

5. Plan your time to focus on these priorities

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professionals, teams and organisations develop their management and leadership capability.

e all know that change is happening all of the time.  Yet when it is a change that is related to our career or business, it takes on a whole new perspective.  We might see it as an opportunity, we might see it as a threat and we might even see it as a combination of opportunity and threat.

When faced with a change, it is all too easy to become paralysed by it.  If we are not careful it can lead to illness and stress.  Given this, how can we embrace change?

1. Accept it

This is the first vital step in embracing change.  We all have had times in our life when it was difficult to accept change at the time even though we know it will work out fine in the long run.  I still remember being called into the office of our newly appointed CEO and being advised that I was not part of the plans going forward.  Was I slightly disappointed at the time, yes I was, but at the same time knew resisting it was not going to help the situation.

2. Recognise your successes

I have always found that sitting and writing down all of your achievements is a powerful thing to do when you are facing a change.  For me it does two things.  It allows you to celebrate what you have done and at the same time opens the mind to things you still want to achieve.

3. Look forward

It is the easiest thing in the world to keep looking back and questioning yourself.  While it is useful to reflect on what you have learned, you don’t want to get stuck in the treacle.  Ask yourself what’s next and start moving towards it.

4. See it as a new beginning

We have all probably heard the phrase as one door closes another opens.  In terms of change, I believe that this is a really powerful metaphor.  Change is the next step in the journey, so embrace it and grab the new opportunity.

We reached week 7 of The Apprentice last night.  This week the teams were required to select two products from a choice of 12 and sell them into retailers.

The teams were led by Mona (Empire) and Lorraine (Ignite).  Sir Alan made it crystal clear that he was expecting everybody to sell.  On Ignite only 2 out 5 on the team sold and they generated £1,302 of sales.  They we were convincingly beaten by Empire who clocked up £4,501 of sales.

So what did we learn this week?

1. If you are given a crystal clear goal (in this case to sell) you need to achieve it.
2. If you are a team member who does not rate the team leader it is no use being passive and not pulling your weight.  Philip (who was fired) found this out the hard way.
3. Never lose sight that in any interview situation, the person appointing needs to think about how well or not someone will fit into the organisation as much as their capabilities. 
4. Whenever you go into offer a new product, make sure you have as a minimum some basic information on prices of comparable products.  When asked about how the price of the sleeping bag suit compared to a basic sleeping bag, they could not answer effectively.
5. Calling for appointments to potential retailers is a numbers game.  You need to make a sufficient number of calls to secure appointments.

You can watch The Apprentice every Wednesday evening at 9pm GMT or on the BBCiplayer.

If you are a manager or aspiring manager, sooner or later you will be faced with a member of staff who is not performing.  Here my 10 tips for dealing with this situation effectively and compassionately:

1. Review the individuals objectives and make sure they are clear
2. Identify where performance is falling short
3. Get specific examples to illustrate where performance is falling short
4. Arrange to meet 1 to 1 with the member of staff to discuss the issue
5. Prepare for the meeting
6. Present your case and supporting examples
7. Give the member of staff the opportunity to respond without interrupting
8. Identify clearly the improvements required, timescales, monitoring and consequences if performance does not improve
9. Ask the member of staff what support you or the organisation can provide to help them
10. Confirm everything in writing

We are all unique.  What motivates one person might be a complete turn-off for another.  If you know what motivates you, you can use these motivators to getting you going when you are stuck, lethargic or procrastinating.  Sources of motivation include:

• Deadlines
• Fear
• Rewards
• Appreciation
• Contributing
• Visioning
• Producing outputs
• Connection
• Feedback
• Change
• Progression
• Challenge
• Stability

During the next few days take time to identify:

• Your motivators
• How you use them
• How you could use them more

One of the biggest challenges you will face as a leader is staying motivated and motivating others.  People often believe that there is some magic potion around motivation but the reality is that it can be tough.

Self Motivation

Self motivation is key as a leader, so how might you do it:

1. Set yourself personal goals for each day
2. Stay in a positive frame of mind
3. Try to avoid long discussions with people who are negative
4. Get use to looking at different perspectives
5. Celebrate successes – you could even record these

Being self motivated is not about wandering about with a huge smile on your face but having the determination to keep pushing on even when times are tough.

Motivating Others

If you think that cracking the whip is the way to motivating then you are way off the mark.  Some of the simplest things are the most powerful:

1. Make time to interact with others
2. Listen to their concerns
3. Help them to explore different perspectives
4. Acknowledge a job done well
5. Say thank you!

A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself how you would like to be treated as this will often guide you in difficult times.