9/12/09

Reinvent Your Team

George a friend of mine works for a company where you recently got involved in reinventing their organization. He did share with me some of your philosophies, but I would appreciate you providing me/us with a few salient points that I can share in the process of strengthening with my team.


My mantra hardly changes much from company to company. I say this because I have always contended that in most any company, it is PRIMARILY about people. All of the people, customers included. So here is the short version of this concept:

1. ACCOUNTABILITY; Every employee must take ownership and accountability of their actions. No excuses, YOU MUST BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR YOUR ACTIONS. I don’t accept finger pointing and my method of resolving issues is simple. I get both or all parties of conflict in the room immediately upon being aware and then it starts something like this…..”….He said that you said XXX. Is that true?” Then I turn it around. Believe me once the word gets spread that people can’t pass the buck, the buck passing stops.
2. PROPRIETARY SPACE: We have to be very careful here as people who are insecure seem to take invasion of their space, very personal. But on the other hand there are employees who just want to have their nose stuck in everybody else’s business. The later reminds me of the great big arm at the waste treatment plant…..continuingly stirring the matter! Spend your concentration and effort in YOU doing a good job and if one of your fellow employees is in some difficulty, offer to help don’t just impose yourself upon them. You can get more bees with honey than you can with vinegar.
3. YOUR REPLACEMENT; I am a firm believer that we should always be training our replacement. And when I state that, I inevitably hear, “well if I train her to do my job then they won’t need me here.” This of course is ridiculous and counterproductive to any professional team. What happens if someone experiences a catastrophic event in their lives and can’t work? Why not have the replacement trained and ready. Or what if a promotion comes along and you don’t get it because there is no one to take your place? In this day and age, it is very common and pretty much expected that loyal employees are willing and able to function in multiple roles. The more you know and the more you contribute, the more valuable you become.
4. COMMUNICATION; In most companies, communication is at an all time low. One almost has to pry or extract in some way, needed information. Communicate via Email, written notes, telephonically or in person, but communicate with each other. Don’t believe that just because you’ve been employed at your company for a long period of time, you can come and go as you please. Communicate with each other. Learn about each other. Have healthy open discussions to help each other understand the goals, paths and/or expectations. And did I mention, “communicate with each other?”

There are 3½ months left in 2009 and this is arguably, the most important 100 days of the year. This is the time people and companies make decisions to spend before the year comes to an end or what they are going to buy in the first quarter. Be sure to set yourself in position to get your piece of the sales pie as well.

Have a tremendous week. I know those are my plans as well. Call or write if I can assist you in any way.

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, CPC

9/6/09

Follow Up To Last Week's Newsletter

September 6, 2009

Last week I presented 7 not so nice Emails and asked you to vote on the worst one. Email #5
was the winner with #3 being a close second. I did receive 57 responses with comments and
decided to share two of those as they seemed to echo what most of the Emails to me were saying.
Next week we will get on to another subject, but I do hope you have enjoyed the last couple of weeks of this newsletter.

George,
“I think my favorite one is number 5 for two reasons. First of all, it starts with the classic “It has come to my attention…”, secondly it assumes that communication with customers and suppliers is bad and not even worthy of qualifying as a “daily task.”
I can see the point that needed to be made behind most of the messages though, and each one strikes at the same general failure – addressing the entire population when one or two people might really need direction or assistance. I’ve seen this over the years in managers who are conflict averse – it’s easier for them to address the entire population and hope peer pressure or anonymous embarrassment will take care of the issue instead of having to speak to anyone directly”.
Good stuff 
Allen

“Hi George, I find most of these, offensive because in our work place, our employees are all of the caliber of top notch, work ethic driven people with good minds and trust-worthy work habits. We treat our people like adult, responsible and caring persons.

When I hear about managers or business owners who treat their employees like children or slaves, (which I thought most of these notices did) I think that they have only the profit motive in mind and forget that people all have minds and desires that aren't all that different from themselves. So I rely heavily on the Golden Rule, and I don't mean the rule which says, “He who has the gold rules"! Thanks for your sharing”.

Galen

Have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day, not to mention a tremendous week!

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, CPC
Gman Business Resources