As a leader or manager, your ability to solve problems is a key contributor to your success. Trouble is that people, in their desire to get an answer and move on to the next thing, fail to effectively deal with problems.

Often part of the challenge is that people either:

• Fail to explore the problem or
• Jump too quickly to judgement about what will and what won’t work.

So, what’s the answer to this dilemma?

1. Make sure that you and everyone else understands what the problem really is. Keep digging until you get to the heart of the problem.
2. Separate the process of evaluating ideas from generating ideas so that you don’t evaluate too quickly.
3. Don’t discount ideas or put people down who seem to be coming up with what initially seem like off the wall ideas.
4. Encourage people to ask questions to really explore the ideas being put forward.
5. Don’t mock or make fun of people who challenge what’s possible. They might be the people with the breakthrough ideas.
6. Encourage people to build on an idea and add to it to come up with an even better idea.

The truth is many ideas are lost before they have even had a proper airing. So what other tips would you add so that people avoid pouring cold water on good ideas?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

From the outside looking in, management can appear easy. When you are making the transition to management there are 3 common challenges that managers face. What are they and what can you do to overcome them?

Challenge 1: Letting Go

Before you were in a management position, you were probably used to doing a lot on your own. Now you are a manager, you need to be willing to delegate and let go of things. Remember that there was once a time when you could not do all the things you can do now. The only reason you have been successful was because someone was willing to let go and give you a chance to try something new.

Challenge 2: Fear of Being Unpopular

It is natural to want to be liked by everyone. Yet the trouble is you cannot be popular with everyone all of the time. Let go of needing to be popular with everyone and accept whatever decision you take, it will not suit everyone.

Challenge 3: Fear of Making a Decision

If you are a surgeon, a decision that you make in an operating theatre could be life or death. Few management decision fall into that category. Have a bias for taking decisions, recognising that you will get some wrong and most right.

The Bottom Line

Any sort of transition brings challenges. The key is to be willing to embrace these challenges rather than allowing them to keep you stuck.

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

Keeping people motivated is probably one of the biggest challenges that a manager faces. So what are the top tips to be a better and more successful motivator?

Tip 1: Set clear goals

Everyone wants clarity about what they are expected to deliver. Make a point of setting crystal clear goals.

Tip 2: Listen more and speak less

People understand that decisions have to be made. At the same time, they want to feel like they have had the opportunity to contribute. Listening to the ideas of others can be hugely beneficial to motivating others.

Tip 3: Praise regularly

Make a point of praising people, not just for achievements but also for effort. Sometimes just having a go leads to confidence and motivation being lifted.

Tip 4: Encourage others

Managers who take the time to encourage and support others get that time returned in bucket loads.

Tip 5: Show them they can count on you

Sometimes, when things are not going well, the team will find themselves under incredible stress. At these times, you as the manager or leader need to show the team that you can be relied upon to stand up for them.

The bottom line

The truth is motivation is rarely about money but about doing some simple things well.

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

Pick up any of the many textbooks out there on the subject of management and you will find plenty of advice about how to do certain things, how to develop the rights behaviours and get the best from others.

In my experience, less is written about the importance of making the mindset shift when transitioning to management.  So why does this matter anyway?

You probably got promoted because you were great at doing

Look at the way most organisations decide who gets promoted.  In most cases they look for people who are doing a great job at a lower level and consistently delivering.  While this tells you a lot about the individuals personal drive and ability to get things done by themselves it tells you nothing about their ability to get results from others.  A key part of your successful transition is being able to start to get to work on getting results from others.

You might hold on to what you know

The great thing about those things we know how to do and are good at doing is that they help us build our self esteem and self confidence.  The danger you need to be alert to is holding on to things that you really should be letting go of and delegating to others.

You have new expectations

As a manager your performance is measured differently to when you were one of the team.  Being clear on what you are expected to deliver is an important part of your success and so is being able to change how you work so that you deliver on these new expectations.  Where do you need to be focusing your attention?

You probably have a huge portfolio of work

If you are like most folks, you will have to manage and still deliver on significant pieces of work personally.  If you don’t make the mindset shift that time needs to be set aside for managing it will probably never happen.  If the managing piece does not happen how your bosses assess your performance is likely to be less favourable than if you were actually making time for managing.

Bottom Line- Successful transitioning to management requires you to shift mindset.  So what mindset shifts do you need to make to achieve more success?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health profesionals to be highly successful managers and leaders.  For information about services and programmes click here

As a manager you have to deal with all types of people from all walks of life with different, attitudes and motivations.  The challenge therefore is to be as aware as you can be about the people you manage so that you can interact with them appropriately and achieve the best results.

The people that you manage are likely to fall into one of following behavioural zones as a default.  This does not mean they are always in this zone but the default is their natural preference.

Analytical

The people who are in the analytical zone as their default will be motivated and really keen on quality.  The analytical types tend to work best when dealing with facts.

Drivers

As the name suggests the people whose default zone is driver tend to be action orientated folks.  They get their spark not by getting into action and getting things done.

Amiables

The big focus for the amiables is on relationships.  They are motivated by co-operating and working with others.

Expressives 

The expressives tend to be at the other of the scale from the analytical folks in that they are very much interested in the big picture.

Chances are that you will be able to recognise some people that you manage that fit really neatly into one category or another and some that flit a bit more between more than one category.  The value of understanding which zone people tend to operate in is that as a manager:

1. You can choose strategies for motivating that are really going to motivate.  For example, asking a driver to reflect is probably just going to leave them confused. 
2. You can adapt your management style to the person you are interacting with so that it fits and hits a chord with the other person. 
3. You get better at seeing and appreciating different perspectives or ways of looking at things. 
4. You are open to taking on board and understanding different takes on issues which helps you deliver better results.

Bottom Line – Success as a manager is as much about understanding others as it is what you do personally.  So what do you need to do to create more success as a manager?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professional people to become highly effective managers and leaders.  For more information about services and programme click here

Ask the vast majority of managers what their biggest challenges are and you can be certain that having enough time will come pretty high up on their list.

At the same time ask them what they are like when it comes to delegating and chances are they may well be avoiding delegating or just not making the time to do it properly.

As a manager, I am guessing that you want to be successful and delegating is just part of the process of being successful.  So what are the dangers of not delegating?

Danger 1: You become swamped

If you are someone who is not willing to delegate you will sooner or later become completely swamped or overwhelmed.  You no doubt are highly capable otherwise you would not be a manager in the first place.  Yet at the same time you cannot be great at everything.  So if you want to avoid being swamped and do what you do best delegate more.

Danger 2: You alienate your team

Those that you manage probably thrive on having the opportunity to do new things, learn and be challenged.  If you are the manager who just holds on to everything and never gives anyone else the opportunity, sooner or later your team will stop engaging and supporting you.

Danger 3: You miss out on the lowest cost development around

When you delegate you create space to take on new challenges which help you to grow and develop.  The work that you delegate presents an opportunity to those that you manage to grow and develop.  If you don’t delegate you miss out on this low cost development opportunity for both you and your team.

Danger 4: You don’t deliver

Whether you like it or not your success as a manager is measured by the results that you deliver.  If you are trying to do it all by yourself you ultimately won’t deliver results.  The non delivery puts pressure on you which can result in your performance deteriorating even more.

Bottom Line- Delegating is an important element of your management success toolbox.  So what’s stopping you from delegating and what is it costing you in terms of results?

The number one challenge that many managers face is insufficient time to do all of the things that need to get done.  Yet sometimes there are opportunities for managers to delegate work to others to free up time and grow and develop others. So what are 5 golden rules when it comes to effective delegation?

Rule 1: Plan it

If you are going to have any chance of effectively delegating you need to plan it.  Delegation is not about passing on something to the fist person who comes over to your desk just to get rid of it.  It is about identifying who would be best equipped to deal with a particular piece of work, ensuring that they have they have the capacity and the skills to do it. A little bit of thought can go a long way towards effective delegation.

Rule 2: Invest the time to train

I chose the word invest deliberately as a decision to delegate is really an investment decision.  Think about it you assign a period of time once to train someone else to do something and get the benefit over and over again.  Don’t see the time that you take to train as a waste of time but as a real log term investment.

Rule 3:  Set the boundaries and get out of the way

There is nothing more de-moralising than having a situation where a piece of work is delegated to you but the person delegating is checking up on progress every five minutes.  The answer to this is to set out boundaries or things that need referring back to you and then leave the person to get on with it.

Rule 4: Establish review points

As the manager you do obviously have to have some form of reviewing progress.  When delegating set some milestones and diarise meetings where you and the person to whom you have delegated since down and discuss progress and problems.

Rule 5: Create a buffer

Things rarely run perfectly to plan so it is important to recognise this and build in some buffer or contingency so that slippage or delay does not create havoc.  Make a point of leaving some space between the time when you need something and the deadline you set for those that you delegate to.

Bottom Line – Effective delegation can help you deliver better results.  So what do you need to start doing to be a more effective delegator?

As a manager, major part of your role is to get the best from the people that you manage.  You know that a motivated employee will go that extra step to deliver or help you to deliver results.  So what are the 5 golden rules when it comes to motivating?

Rule 1:  Get to know your people

Yes you probably know who all of your staff are, their job title and what they do.  On the other hand do you really know what it is that motivates the people you manage.  While everyone needs to earn a wage, each of us has different things that motivate us.  For some it will be being supported, for others it will be about having autonomy and others might thrive on challenge.  If you don’t know what motivates people you could easily end up de-motivating people by using inappropriate strategies.

Rule 2: Make time for those that you manage

Most managers are busy people and no doubt you are to.  When you have your deadlines to meet and results to deliver it is all too easy to forget about the people that you manage.  If you fail to set aside time for interacting with the people that you manage it simply will not happen.  If your boss never made any time for you, how motivated would you be?

Rule 3:  Make a point of noticing effort and achievement

The best mangers realise that time spent letting people know that you are aware of the effort they are making or the result that they have delivered is time well spent.  All of us to a greater or lesser extent thrive on getting feedback so don’t lose out on the opportunity.

Rule 4: Create a sense of excitement

All jobs after a while become more routine and less fresh and exciting.  As the manager you need to try and keep that sense of excitement in roles.  This might be by challenging people to find new or better ways of doing something or giving them more freedom to do things their way.

Rule 5: Remember it is rarely about money

Yes everyone needs to earn what they view is a reasonable rate of pay for the time, expertise and effort that they have given.  On the other hand study after study into what matters to employees reveal that the source of dissatisfaction is rarely just about money.  Make a point of keeping the things that make people tick at the forefront of your mind.

Bottom Line – A happy, motivated team of people who you manage can help you deliver great results.  So what do you need to give more attention to in order to be a more successful manager?

As a manager you know that to deliver great results consistently you need to get the best from those that you manage.  So what steps can you take to bring out the best from your team?

1.                  Set crystal clear objectives

The start point of getting the best from people that you manage is to make it clear to them what they are expected to deliver.  Often managers become stuck in the long list of activities that are contained in a job description.  While this provides some important content, make a point of spelling out the 5 key results that you expect individuals in the team you manage to deliver.

2.                  Help them solve their own problems

As a busy manager it is sometimes highly tempting to solve problems for people so that you get them away from your desk as quickly as possible.  The trouble is that if you always do this, people will stop thinking for themselves and just come to you for the answers.  Use questions to coach people to find their own solutions to problems and challenges.

3.                  Take the time to praise

Few people (if any) turn up for work with the intention of doing a bad job.  Yet managers often forget this and fail to recognise the efforts and achievements of their people.  Make a point of praising achievement and acknowledging efforts as it will motivate.

4.                  Delegate whenever you can

There are few managers who could be accused of over delegating.  In fact it is generally the complete opposite.  Delegating does not just provide benefits to you in terms of freeing up time but also provides scope for those that you manage to take on new challenges.

5.                  Treat people fairly

Treat people well and chances are that the majority will go to exceptional lengths to deliver for you. A good rule of thumb to check this out is to ask whether you are treating others the way you would like to be treated in the given situation.

Bottom Line – Managing is tough at times but by bringing out the best in others you can achieve greater success. 

It is often said that people are an organisation’s greatest asset and in many organisations this is certainly true.  One thing that is certain is that recruiting someone is a major investment decision.  If you are a manager, are you viewing it this way?  Think about it, imagine you hire someone on a modest salary of £20,000 and the average time in post is 3 years.   You are in effect making a £60,000 investment decision.  Given the scale of the investment, how can you start making great recruitment decisions?

Tip 1: Know what you have 

Chances are you already have people in post.  What skills, experience, knowledge and attributes do they have?  Truth is few organisations take the time to even consider this.  Instead they jump straight into what they need.  Take the time to review what you currently have as the first step of the process.

Tip 2: Know what you need

In determining what you need, think about what you already have.  You also need to consider what the organisation or team is going to need over the coming years.  You should also be thinking about the overall business strategy and think about recruiting people who will contribute to achieving the strategy.

Tip 3: Provide good candidate briefings

Too often organisations dust down an old job description and send candidate’s one sheet of A4 with company information.  While this is better than nothing ask yourself what would you want to know if you were a potential applicant for the job?

Tip 4: Plan the selection process

Interviews are still by far the most common way of selecting people.  However, it might be worth adding extra activities especially if you are looking for particular skills.  This might be for example a presentation, writing a report, creating a spreadsheet or even a group role play.  Consider the role and the things that the successful candidate will need and use this to inform the best selection process.

Tip 5: If in doubt don’t recruit

This is what I would say is the golden rule of recruitment.  If your intuition is telling you that for some reason a candidate is just not right, then don’t recruit.  It is better to take a little longer to find the right person than appoint someone who only stays a few months.

Bottom Line – Recruiting a member of staff is a major recruitment decision. So what changes do you need to make to achieve more success as a manager when it comes to recruiting?