Archive for January, 2010

1. Commitment

If anything is going to change, there must be commitment at all levels. The top team need to be clear on the need for the change, buy into it and be committed to helping others achieve it.

2. Communication

When employees are not clear what is happening, they start to speculate, make their own judgements and choices. A clear and effective communication strategy is one of the essential cornerstones of any change.

3. Realism

Successful change is grounded in realism. Take for example two organisations that are facing significant financial challenges. The CEO of A PLC states that it will take three years to turn things round. The CEO of B PLC states that everything will be fixed in 9 months. If you are a shareholder, analyst, employee, supplier or customer, which organisation are you most likely to get behind?

4. Defined Outcome

Any organisation that wants to make a successful change needs to be clear on where it is heading and what it will be like when the change has been completed.

5. Clear Accountability

The fifth essential ingredient in successful change is make sure that everyone know what they are responsible for and that there is a clear process that holds people to account for what they have achieved.

What else would you add to the list?

Change is a major challenge for most organisations.  Research suggests that 70% of change projects are not sustained.  In a period of change, communication is key.  If we are honest, most of us are uncomfortable with uncertainty.  In times of change, people become frightened, resistant, go into denial and may even be angry.  There is no magic formula for getting rid of these feelings, but open communication can go a long way to reducing the impact.  So what are 7 things you can do to improve communication in a period of change?

 

1.                  Communicate the case for change

 

Individuals need to fully understand:

 

• Why change is needed

 

• What the benefits are for them

 

• What the benefits are for the organisation

 

• How it might impact on them personally

 

People will have without doubt given a lot of commitment to the organisation, so make sure that you make the time to get across the case for change.

 

2.                  Communicate regularly

 

Once the case for change is communicated and it clear that is going to happen, make regular communication a priority.  This can be something as simple as a weekly e-mail or even audio e-mail which:

 

• Outlines what has happened so far

 

• Sets out what will be happening next

 

• Acknowledges challenges or problems that have been encountered and what is being done about them

 

3.                  Provide opportunities to ask questions

 

Traditionally this might have been through open meetings or focus groups and these are still appropriate.  Using technology to allow people to submit questions to a central point is another excellent way of addressing concerns and getting insights into what is worrying people.   These questions can even provide the focus of the weekly communications, as it is likely that common themes will arise.

 

 

4.                  Provide opportunities to submit ideas

 

There is a wealth of talent in the organisation who have numerous ideas that can help make change projects a success.  Make it easy for people to submit those ideas online or in traditional forms such as suggestion boxes.

 

5.                  Feedback on questions and ideas

 

It is clearly not possible to feedback on every question or idea submitted, but it is easy to group them and feedback on themes.

 

6.                  Be honest

 

People may not like bad news but will appreciate it more than someone being less than 100% honest with them.  Make a decision at the outset to be honest in your communications.

 

7.                  Train your managers

 

If people have concerns, their manager will usually be the first person they will speak to.  Make sure that you have provided some basic training to managers on how best to handle these communications.

 

Change is a major challenge and should not be underestimated.  Good communication can however go a long way towards making change as smooth as possible.

If you are a professional, continuing professional development is not just desirable but an essential part of your membership.  After all would you like to have an out of date surgeon perform your operation, gas fitter install your central heating or mechanic service your car? 

 

When people think of CPD they often get stuck in the old way of thinking of attending a course. Truth is there are huge range of options which are low or no cost, such as:

 

1. Subscribing to podcasts
2. Signing up for newsletter updates
3. Subscribing to a professional journal
4. Listening to audio CD programmes
5. Attending teleseminars
6. Participating in webinars
7. Signing up for free or low cost e-courses
8. Attending professional association local events
9. Reading books which you buy or borrow from the library
10. Taking on additional responsibilities at work
11. Shadowing a more senior member of the organisation
12. Taking a secondment

 

At the end of the day, even if you have little or no budget available there are still many CPD opportunities available to you.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps highly rated professionals become great leaders and managers.  For more information click here 

One of the most important things that you can get as a leader or manager is feedback.  When you get regular feedback you know how you are progressing and where you need to develop.  On the other hand if you are getting no feedback, you are just going along hoping for the best.

 

While it is great to get feedback, the true value comes from:

 

• Taking stock of what you are being told
• Deciding what action you are going to take based on the feedback
• Taking the action you decided to take
• Reflecting on the difference it has made to the results or performance
• Refining your approach so that you continue to get better results

 

At the end of the day, the value from feedback comes from using it to move you forward.  So what’s your best tip for making feedback count?

Set a few key goals

 

Like to do lists we are all tempted to come up with a long list of goals.  But remember that achieving a goal requires investment of time, energy, effort and maybe money.  In a 52 week year you can only achieve so much, so choose wisely when it comes to goals.

 

List all of the things you need to do to achieve your goals

 

The goal is the outcome you want, for example, get promoted, complete a professional qualification, deliver a major business project to time and budget to name just a few. 

 

Achievement of the goal or outcome requires you to do many things.  Let’s illustrate this by looking at getting promoted.  You might need to:

 

 

• Do some form assessment of your strengths and weaknesses
• Start searching for opportunities
• Update your CV
• Get some feedback
• Work on a personal development plan
• Take some training

 

As you can see the list can become very large very quickly hence the suggestion that you focus on a few key goals.

 

Measure your progress regularly

 

Ever heard the phrase what gets measured gets done?  When you start actively tracking progress you will be amazed at the progress you make.

 

Set up some accountability

 

There is something really powerful about having to report back on your progress to someone else.  Some view it as a negative thing but it definitely does not need to be.  Simply let someone know what you plan to do and get them to ask you for a regular update in the progress you are making.

 

 

 

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to become highly effective leaders and managers.  For more information click here

Action 1: Do an honest self assessment

 

It might be tough to do but if you are serious about moving forward, you need to take a long hard look at where you are right now in terms of mindset, skill set, experience and personal attributes.

 

Action 2: Get some feedback

 

Feedback is hugely valuable to you.  Getting some insights from others helps you to understand where your strengths are and what you need to work on.

 

 

 

Action 3: Get clear on your priorities

 

The biggest concern I hear from professional people is that they are running at speed but still struggling to get things done.  We can all fill up our week or month with activities but you need to be focusing on the priorities.

 

Action 4: Set a few key goals

 

We are all (me included) inclined to be far too ambitious when it comes to setting goals for the year ahead.  When setting your goals focus on a few major goals that will have a significant impact on what you and your team deliver.  It might be process automation, updating a system, a new product launch, a new way of running meetings or a new way of reporting to name just a few.

 

Action 5:  Set aside time for leading and managing

 

A huge part of leading and managing is about making time for your staff.  Sadly many leaders and managers fill their calendar with lots of activities and forget about making time for staff.  You can be sure that there will be staffing issues during the year so plan with this in mind.

 

Action 6: Think about how you can add more value

 

Many organisations are currently facing or are likely to face real challenges in the coming year.  The people who step up to the plate and focus on adding value are likely to get noticed. Ask yourself how you could add value to the organisation.

 

Action 7: Think about your contribution to the wider organisational agenda

 

We all to a greater or lesser extent can get stuck in a silo mentality where we only think about our own function or department.  Those that aspire to be a leader know that they need to be able to contribute to the overall success of the organisation, not just within their functional area.

 

Action 8: Take on a new challenge

 

I don’t know about you but I often found that I delivered better performance when I took on a new challenge.  We all can to some extent become complacent and go with the flow if we don’t have a new stimulus.  Taking on a new challenge not only stretches you but builds your skills, experience and provides renewed motivation.

 

Action 9: Make more use of your team

 

As a leader or manager you have responsibility for a team.  If you want to get the best from that team you need to help each and every team member grow and develop.  This might mean delegating and empowering individuals more or even setting up a small action learning set to resolve a particular problem or challenge.

 

Action 10: Make a commitment to developing yourself

 

None of us know everything and we all need to continually work on our professional development.  Make a plan, set aside the time and take the action to develop yourself in 2010.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to become highly effective leaders and managers.  For more information click here

Often when I am contacting by someone to work with me on a one to one basis, they say to me that they are really well rated professionally but are really finding it a struggle to progress their career.

Sadly this is all too common.  When I was working in Finance Departments in a range of organisations I had the opportunity to work with people who have since gone on to very senior level roles.  However, there were far more who quite simply got stuck at a very junior or middle management level.

So why do professional people who are clearly bright and capable find it a struggle to progress their careers?

1. They don’t work on the wider skill set that is essential at the more senior levels.  The reality is that at the more senior levels everyone being interviewed can do the technical part of the job.  It is the ability to be part of a team and contribute outside of your area of expertise that makes the difference.
2. They don’t have a plan that sets out what they want to achieve and the skills, experience and attributes that are necessary to achieve what they want.
3. They don’t evaluate opportunities as effectively as they could so end up taking jobs that offer short term benefits like salary.
4. They don’t invest sufficiently in their CPD even though the professional bodies of which they are members offer a range of CPD events most of which are low or no cost.
5. They fail to understand the fundamental differences about leading.  I once heard someone say that leadership is all about influence, impact and human interaction which in my book describes it in a nutshell.

So if you want to progress your career in 2010, take some time to stand back and get clear on what you want to achieve and put some plans in place to move forward.  You might also want to check out my Career Accelerator Workbook

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to become highly effective leaders and managers so that they realise their real professional potential.

As your career starts to gain momentum and you start to demonstrate what you can deliver personally, chances are you will find yourself in a position where you are given your own team to lead. Leading a team brings with it a number of challenges and can feel like no matter what you do someone will be unhappy. So if you are to succeed as a team leader, what 5 qualities are essential to your success?

Quality 1: An effective listener

One of the most important and yet most challenging things for team leaders is effectively listening to others. It can be hugely tempting to try and rely on your position power to make things happen and while this might get some results in the short term it is unlikely to work in the long term. Make listening more effectively and actively a priority if you want to make an immediate improvement in your team leadership competency.

Quality 2: Treating everyone fairly

Just as in life, there will be some people that you connect with more than others. This in itself is not a problem as such unless it starts to compromise how you treat others. Treat everyone fairly and you will gain the respect and support of those that you lead in most cases.

Quality 3: Providing clear direction

As the leader of the team you need to provide direction to others. This includes giving a clear message of the overall direction of the team or function as well as clearly setting the expectations of the team of people that you lead. If you fail to do this, chances are that the results that you deliver will be less than they could potentially be.

Quality 4: Making decisions

You might not always have 100% support for every decision that you make but people will value the fact that you take decisions. Being led by someone who procrastinates over every decision is a huge de-motivator and hugely frustrating for those that you lead.

Quality 5: A genuine interest in others

If you don’t show any interest in helping others to achieve results and success in their careers why should they be interested in helping you get results? Team leaders who make the time to take a genuine interest in helping others achieve results will get benefits well in excess of the investment of time and energy that that they make.

Bottom Line – Team leadership is challenging and rewarding. Doing some simple things exceptionally can make a huge difference to the results and success that you achieve.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professionals and organisations to achieve better results through improved team working.  Click here for my free audio masterclass Leading and Managing Highly Productive and Highly Positive Teams

I don’t know about you but have you ever come across a team where there is perfect harmony and agreement all of the time?  Conflict on teams from time to time is unavoidable in my experience.

 

When thinking about conflict, it is useful to make a distinction between productive and unproductive conflict.  Productive conflict usually comes from a desire to move things forward.  Unproductive conflict by comparison is generally about stalling or preventing progress.

 

So if you are a team leader, how can you turn conflict into opportunity?

 

Set boundaries

 

Just like children, adults in the work place will try to push the boundaries at times.  If you are the leader make a point of setting boundaries around what is acceptable and unacceptable when it comes to dealing with tensions on the team.

 

Get people to actively listen

 

You might have heard the phrase that we have two ears and one mouth for a reason.  We are often much more interested in getting our point of view across rather than properly listening to others.  As the leader make a point of ensuring people pay attention and really actively listen to what others are saying.

 

Be the role model

 

As the leader you set the tone for the team.  If you show people through your behaviours and actions how to deal with conflict they will start to put some of that into practice.  Show people how to turn conflict into opportunity.

 

Teach people how to give constructive feedback

 

Picking holes in other folk’s ideas is easy to do but achieves very little.  While giving constructive feedback is more difficult it can really help to create new possibilities and options.  Invest the time in getting your team good at giving and receiving constructive feedback.

 

Bottom Line – You can’t eliminate conflict but you can use it in a way that it contributes to rather than hinders success.

 

 

 

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to become highly effective leaders and managers and improve team working.  Find out more by clicking here

A new year presents a golden opportunity to take stock and set out plans for great success in the year ahead.  For many, achieving the results that they want as a leader or manager is an important area, not least because of the personal rewards it brings.  In reality, success as a leader or manager does not happen by chance, so what are the x key questions you need to answer to achieving greater success as a leader or manager in 2010?

 

What do you want to achieve by the end of 2010?

 

Seems like a really easy question but in truth it is one of the most challenging to answer.  When people sit down to formulate their response they often fall into the trap of coming up with vague statements that are meaningless.  To overcome this, take the time to write out in some detail what you want to achieve by the end of 2010.  Remember that your career does not operate in isolation from the rest of your life so think broadly.

 

Why do you want to achieve more success in 2010?

 

Mark Fritz the author of a number of books talks about the importance of the why being bigger than the what.  In essence what he is saying is that unless the reasons for wanting to achieve something compelling are crystal clear they will never become more than aspirations.  The why is what provides the drive and motivation to keep going no matter what the barriers are.  For each thing that you want to achieve keep asking and answering why you want to achieve that particular goal.

 

What detailed plans do you have?

 

Knowing what you want to achieve and why you want to achieve something is great but unless it is supported by a detailed plan or action steps the chances of success are greatly reduced.  For each goal that you want to achieve list out the series of steps that you need to take to achieve it.  This does not need to be 100% complete at the start and you can add to it as new ideas for actions come to mind.

 

What sacrifices are you ready to make?

 

In life and in our careers everything is about choices.  By saying yes to something we are saying no to something else.  To achieve anything of significance is likely to require you to make some tough choices.  For example, you might need to take a short term secondment to get specific experience that requires you to spend time apart from the family.  This may or may not be a sacrifice you are willing to make.  Being clear about the sacrifices you are willing to make improves decision making.

 

What sacrifices are you unwilling to make?

 

We all have our boundaries or things that we are not willing to do.  Don’t see this as a weakness but instead see it as a strength.  If there are certain things that you know that you are unwilling to do, be clear about them and use them and stick to your guns.

 

What changes do you need to make?

 

They say that insanity is keeping doing the same things and expecting different results.  If you have taken the time to reflect on the last 12 months you will more than likely have identified some changes that you need to make in 2010. These changes might be about the environment in which you work, the staff you lead or manage or project.  They could just as easily be changes that you personally need to make in say your attitude, outlook or skill set.

 

What support do you have?

 

Trying to doing it all alone is tough even if you are the most motivated person around.  Successful people know that it is important to have some form of support in place.  This can take many forms, including working with a coach, finding a mentor, forming a mastermind group or a professional network to name just a few.

 

What follow up do you have in place?

 

One of the most important things to have in place if you are going to achieve more success as a leader or manager in 2010 is a system of follow up or accountability.  This simply involves letting someone else know what you are aiming to achieve by the end of 2010 and having some sort of way of regular reporting on progress.   

 

Bottom Line – Achieving greater success as a leader and manager does to happen by chance.  What questions do you need to answer to achieve more success in 2010?

 

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve results as leader and managers.  For more information click here