Category: Leadership Skills

(Adapted from my book, The Secrets of Facilitation, 2nd ed.)

Throughout a facilitated session, you use three parking boards to track important information:

• The “decisions list” identified decisions or recommendations made by the group during the session.
• The “issues list” included topics that need to be discussed later in the session or entirely outside the session.
• The “actions list” documented actions to be performed sometime after the completion of the session.

At the end of the meeting, review all three parking boards, starting with the decisions list.

The goal of the decision review is to remind the team of the decisions that have been made. In addition, you can use this review to strengthen the commitment to action, identify potential issues, and develop strategies for overcoming those issues.

Smart Facilitators use four steps of the methods for reviewing decisions list. After completing the first step, you may choose to do one or more of the other steps, depending upon the amount of time you have available, the importance of the decisions, the need for commitment to action, and the level of resistance expected from others outside the meeting.

Method 1: Simple Review of Decisions

The most straight-forward method for reviewing decisions is simply to read through the list of items on the decisions list and asked, “Does this list fairly portray the decisions we made in this meeting? Were there any other decisions that we made?”

Sample Decisions List: 1. If internal candidate identified in advance, allow for fast-track hiring process based on 14-day internal posting 2. Provide interviewing training to all hiring managers and interviewers 3. Scan resumes into computer to permit searching 4. Permit departments to be involved in screening process at their discretion 5. Provide avenue for giving signing bonuses to attract top candidates

Method 2: Document Decision and Benefit

After reviewing the decision list, you can help ensure that the team members understand the value gained by documenting benefits of each decision.

• Make sure your decisions on the decision list are numbered.
• Create a two-column chart, with the first relatively small, about four inches. Label the first column “Decision” and label the second column “Benefit.”
• Place a “1” in the first column and asked the following question.

• Continue until the team has documented benefits for each of the decisions.

By tracking and reviewing the decisions made, every person in the meeting will have a clear understanding of the results of the meeting. By also documenting benefits, the participants will have a common vision of the value gained by the decisions. This common vision can be beneficial as participants communicate to others the reasons for the decisions.

Decision	Benefit
1	Creates a fast-track process for internal candidates, while still making the position available to others in the organization
2	Increases likelihood of identifying stronger candidates and eliminating weaker candidates; reduces risk of legally inappropriate questions by interviewer during the interview process

Method 3: Barriers and Potential Strategies

After documenting decisions and benefits, consider having the group identify potential barriers to implementing the decisions.

Sample Potential Barriers: Lack of management buy-in to the recommendations Lack of participation in the interviewing training Signing bonus budget wasted on people who are not top candidates

• After recording all of the potential barriers, create a four-column chart labeled “Barrier | Strategy | Who | When,” with the first relatively small, about four inches.
• Place a “1” in the first column and asked the following question.

• Document each success strategy identified by the group.
• Once all the success strategies are documented, ask the group to decide who in the room should lead the implementation of each strategy. Have the leader of the strategy commit to a date by when the strategy will be completed.

Our experience suggests that the Barrier/Strategy discussion is most needed with organizations in which there is considerable resistance to change.

If you do document barriers and potential strategies, we believe it is important to first identify the benefits for each of the decisions. By documenting the benefits first, the team will more likely see the value of overcoming the barriers. If barriers are identified without documenting benefits, it is possible that the team can get so discouraged by the barriers they have to overcome, that they begin second guessing the value of the decisions.

Barrier	Strategy	Who	When
1	Hold a management briefing on the recommendations and benefits to gain buy-in for implementation	Robert	Within 3 weeks
2	Hold briefing for supervisors to ask their help in defining what they would want to see in the interviewing training; have supervisors select three to serve as an advisory team for HR in developing the training	Sandra	Within 6 weeks

Method 4: Polling the Jury

In several types of facilitated sessions, it is essential to have a confirmation of agreement from all participants before beginning the implementation of solutions. Sessions related to strategic planning, issue resolution and process reengineering are three types in particular in which it can be helpful to ensure that you have the agreement of all involved.

One method to ensure you have full agreement is to poll the jury.

• At the beginning of the session, define consensus, “I can live with it and support it.” (See Chapter X., “The Secrets to Building Consensus,” for a sample dialogue for defining consensus.)
• Also at the beginning, indicate that at the end of the session you will ask all participants if they can live with and support the solutions created.
• After reviewing the decisions made, and optionally, the benefits, potential barriers and success strategies, go around the room asking each participant,

• If any concerns are raised, you might ask the participant the following.

• Alternatively, if you believe the concerns might be less severe, you might first ask the following.

• If changes are recommended, suggest a time limit for discussing the recommendation and ask the participants if they are willing to enter into the discussion.
• Once resolution is reached, ensure that you still have the consensus of the prior participants before continuing to poll the jury.

Facilitator: We just heard a suggestion of a change to one of the actions. Let’s review it…Any questions or concerns about incorporating the change?

Get more information and training about reviewing decisions and closing a meeting with impact – visit Leadership Strategies’ website.

________________________

Certified Master Facilitator Michael Wilkinson is the CEO and Managing Director of Leadership Strategies, Inc., The Facilitation Company and author of The Secrets of Facilitation 2nd Edition, The Secrets to Masterful Meetings, and The Executive Guide to Facilitating Strategy. Leadership Strategies is a global leader in facilitation services, providing companies with dynamic professional facilitators who lead executive teams and task forces in areas like strategic planning, issue resolution, process improvement and others. The company is also a leading provider of facilitation training in the United States, having trained over 18,000 individuals.

Should I take this offer or wait for a better one? Should we go with the candidate who has the most experience or the one who needs seasoning but has fire in the belly? Do we purchase n a new computer system now or wait until the next fiscal year?

Over the years, as an executive coach, I have worked with many leaders when they had to make major decisions from pulling the plug on a unprofitable program to letting go of someone for poor performance to confronting a key stakeholder on unethical behavior. My role was not to tell them what to do. Rather it was to help them come to the best decision for them and their organization. So here’s what I learned.

As much as we would like to believe that we do not have any prejudices or biases, the fact is that everyone does. The more aware you are of yours, the better off you will be. Below is what I have found that trips up good leaders making good decisions.

Common Decision-Making Mistakes

1. Overvaluing certain information
People have a tendency to overestimate the importance of some individuals or groups we know or belong to. Because we respect them, they have a way of swaying our opinion based simply on the fact that we believe they know more than we do. When you find yourself doing this, ask yourself: Do they know as much about this problem as I do? Are their values the same as mine? Have they had any personal experiences with a problem like mine? In other words, keep their opinions in perspective.

2. Discounting certain information
Whether we realize it or not, we also have a tendency to underestimate the importance of other individuals or groups. This is unfortunate since a lot of times they can paint a good picture of the “other side” of your problem.. The result is a bigger picture perspective of what the issues really are. Just make a note that if you find yourself discounting the information you receive from anyone, make sure you ask yourself “why”.

3. Only hearing what you want to hear or seeing what you want to see.
Try this exercise. Ask a friend to look around them and make note of everything that is green. Now, have them close their eyes and ask them what around them is red. Almost everyone won’t be able to tell you what was red because they were focusing on what was green. Our perceptions work the same way. We focus on what we expect to happen, not what is really happening. The key is to be aware of your own perspectives and expectations that can bias you. Then you can be more open to things that comes your way. What’s your listening IQ?

Management Success Tip:

Decision making can be off the cuff or a deliberate process. It really depends on the circumstances, the time limit and the people involved. In either case, make sure you are aware of your decision making habits. Do you overestimate or underestimate certain people’s input? Do you pretend to hear what others are saying or are you really listening? Can you see the potential of an idea even if it’s not well formed yet?

Realize the outcome of a leader’s decisions can, and usually will, make or break them and their organization. As much as you may wish it wasn’t so, when it comes to being a leader you’re really only as good as the decisions you make. See Make Good Decisions, Avoid Bad Consequences

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

• Build your skills with The Effective Manager.
• Sign up for Quick Wins: 101 Management Tips.
• Find performance boosters in the Smart Moves Blog.
• Listen to The Business Edge Internet Radio for success tips.
• Copyright © 2013 Marcia Zidle business and leadership coach.

The World of Stories

Human history and literature are replete with myths and stories—about the heavens, the earth, planting, the harvest, winter, summer, light, darkness, nations, war, peace, families, and individuals.

All of these stories, our personal ones and our larger myths, are interconnected. Our individual stories are narratives we have told ourselves about our personal experiences. Our cultural myths are narratives we have created about our collective experience. And, in a very real sense, myths are more universal versions of our own stories, and our own stories are personal versions of age-old myths. Coming to know your own story is high leverage for your growth as a leader

Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey

There are remarkable parallels between stories from different cultures and with very different content. These parallels reflect commonalities in the human condition. Joseph Campbell identified a story-type that is particularly applicable to leadership—The Hero’s Journey.Hero’s Journey stories appear in all cultures, but their underlying character, plot, and thematic structure are much the same.

1. The hero begins in a stable place.
2. Something breaks her loose.
3. He goes into a difficult period, the pit, a trauma. He faces the abyss.
4. She emerges from that dark night of the soul and goes on a journey, a quest to accomplish some great thing, meet some great challenge, and/or get to a particular place.
5. The hero experiences several tests along the way
6. If the hero passes his tests and is successful in his journey, he achieves his goal, meets his great challenge, and reaches his desired destination.

Our life story can be seen as a Hero’s journey, and for leaders, your leadership story is your own hero’s journey.

For example, Dave is a highly successful mid level leader in a major corporation (stable place). He is promoted to senior management (promotion breaks him loose). Faced with difficult new challenges, he knows deeply that what got him to this point won’t make him successful there (a trauma) and realizes that his has to change his behavior and thinking as a leader (his journey). He experiences specific leadership challenges that he must overcome (tests) in order to be successful in this new world (his desired destination).

Seeing the story you are experiencing as a leader helps you rise above and master it, rather than letting the story master you.

The Tapestry of Life

Myths and personal stories are the symbolic, liturgical retelling of our core life experiences; of our quests for love, power and meaning; of the deeply experienced themes of our existence as human beings on this planet. Your leadership journey, your overall life journey, and your journey in your current phase of life are intimately intertwined. They are all variations of your own hero’s journey. Such is your life story; such is your hero’s journey; such is your leadership story; and such is the human condition. They are all part of one whole cloth.

Reflection

To see your own present and desired leadership story, ask yourself,

• “Where am I in my leadership journey, right now?
• What was my last plateau? What shook me loose?
• What is my destination, my goal? What are the major challenges I will face in reaching that goal?
• How do I proceed effectively and humanely to achieve my goal?”

Your answers to these questions will begin to paint the picture of your own hero’s journey and help you navigate it more effectively.

This post as a distillation from Chapter III of my upcoming book: Unleashing the Power of Your Story

Smashwords, Fall/Winter, 2013.

 

Steve is a senior executive coach and consultant. He has developed and successfully uses a powerful approach to leadership coaching, Creating your Leadership Story, which enables leaders to make deep, lasting improvements in their leadership effectiveness in short periods of time. He and a group of partners created a breakthrough educational program, Coaching from a Systems Perspective, in which you can significantly enhance your abilities as a systemic leadership coach. See http://SystemsPerspectivesLLC.com

If you would like to learn more about systemic approaches to leadership or story work, feel free to call or email Steve:

Steven P. Ober EdD

President: Chrysalis Executive Coaching & Consulting
Affiliate: Systems Perspectives, LLC
Office: PO Box 278, Oakham, MA 01068
Home: 278 Crocker Nye Rd., Oakham, MA 01068
O: 508.882.1025 M: 978.590.4219
Email: Steve@ChhrysalisCoaching.org
www.ChrysalisCoaching.org

 

 

 

 

All managers aspire to be better leaders — but what is it that makes a leader effective?

The Leadership Code offers five pivotal rules that lay out how the leadership game is played. How well do you apply them to your day–to–day actions?

1. Strategist–Leaders shape the future
As a strategist, you must answer the question “Where are we going?” for the people you lead. You not only envision the future, but help create it. You also must work with others -your executive team and also your people – to figure out how to effectively move from the present (where we are today) to the desired future (where we want to be).

How much time and attention do you allocate to future planning? How will you inspire your people with vision, purpose, mission and strategies?

2. Executor–Leaders make things happen with others.
As executors, leaders focus on the question, “How can we ensure we’ll reach our goals?” You’ll need to transform plans for change into measurable results by assigning accountability, knowing which decisions to manage and which to delegate, and ensuring that teams work together effectively.

How well do you translate strategy into high-performance results? Do you know when as a leader to step in or, conversely, step back?

3. Talent manager–Leaders engage today’s talent.
As a talent manager, you’re in charge of optimizing team’ performance. You must answer the question, “Who goes with us on our business journey?” You need to know how to identify, build and engage talent for immediate results. See Engaged and Energized Employees.

Do you know which skills you have and where to find talent in your organization? How do you ensure that your top talent turn in their best efforts?

4. Human-capital developer–Leaders build the next generation.
As a human-capital developer, you must answer the question, “Who stays and sustains the organization for the next generation?” Just as talent managers ensure shorter-term results through people, human-capital developers make sure the organization has the longer-term competencies required for future strategic success. See Leverage Your Top Talent.

Do you have a workforce strategy for present positions but also for future needs? Do you have a succession plan for your highly valued leaders and professionals?

5. Learner: Invest in yourself.
Leading others ultimately begins with us. You need to ask the question, “What don’t I know about myself and my behavior that gets in the way of me being a powerful, effective leader? You can’t expect to influence followers unless you invest time and energy on your personal proficiency, individual strengths and emotional and social intelligence.

How do you come across to others? When was the last time you did a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and treats) on yourself? Are you working with a mentor or coach to provide insights into your blind spots as well as build on your strengths?

Management Success Tip:

All leaders must excel at personal proficiency. That’s a given. Without a foundation of competency, credibility and confidence, you cannot ask others to follow you. Most successful leaders excel in at least one of the four core roles: strategist, executor, talent manager, or human capital developer. The higher you rise in an organization, the more you need to develop excellence in the remaining domains.

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

• Build your skills with The Effective Manager.
• Sign up for Quick Wins: 101 Management Tips.
• Find performance boosters in the Smart Moves Blog.
• Listen to The Business Edge Internet Radio for success tips.
• Copyright © 2013 Marcia Zidle business and leadership coach.

The attitude “I don’t give a rip about my job” happens every single day. Is it happening in your company? Did you know that 5o% of workers today would rather be someplace else? And another 20% take out their frustration every day and may be doing more harm than good. What about your people?

I have found that employees get this way when they are bored with their job, or feel like a faceless cog in a big wheel or don’t know how “what they do” specifically contributes to the goals of their department or business unit. How can you, as a manager or business owner prevent “It’s not my job” from happening within your team or department?

Three Strategies to Connect and Engage Employees

1. Communicate the importance of what they do.
Every supervisor should be able to state a meaningful purpose for his department and the work that is being done. Here is a short but powerful statement that was developed by a manager for her five-person benefits group.

“Benefits are about people. It’s not whether you have the forms filled in or whether the checks are written. It’s whether the people are cared for when they’re sick, helped when they’re in trouble.”

It is a statement with the focus on the end result—serving people—rather than on the means or process—completing forms. How well do you communicate the importance of what is being done in your department?

Related: Are You A Pride Builder?

2. Recognize the importance of recognition.
The motto of many supervisors is: Why would I need to thank someone for doing something he’s paid to do? Workers repeatedly tell, with great feeling, how much they appreciate a compliment. They also report how distressed they are when their supervisor is quick to criticize mistakes but not acknowledge good work.

A pat on the back, simply saying “good going,” a dinner for two, a note about them to senior executives, some schedule flexibility, a paid day off, or even a flower on a desk with a thank-you note are a few of the hundreds of ways supervisors can show their appreciation. Money may get people in the door but it doesn’t keep them motivated to go the extra mile.

Related: Rock For Employee Recognition

3. Tap into the importance of involvement.
There may be no single motivational tactic more powerful than asking for people’s input. An accounting manager presented a list of customer complaints at a staff meeting. She then broke the group into teams to find ways to eliminate these service glitches.

Getting every one involved in problem-solving accomplished three goals. It brought the customers to the center of the department’s day-to-day operations; it lead to greater ‘buy-in” when changes had to be made in a process, policy or procedures; and finally it said to everyone that they and their ideas are valued.

Related: Talk Less Listen More

As one very proud production line worker in an automotive plant said to me: “They only looked at what we could do from our neck down…now it’s for what we can do from our neck up.”

Smart Moves Tip:

It is true that most people must work to survive and money is certainly a motivator — but up to a point. For your employees to commit to and achieve great things, they need to experience purpose, recognition and involvement. As a manager you can provide that. It costs you nothing. And you will gain engaged employees who are working together to increase productivity and profitability.

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

• Build your skills with The Effective Manager.
• Sign up for Quick Wins: 101 Management Tips.
• Find performance boosters in the Smart Moves Blog.
• Listen to The Business Edge Internet Radio for success tips.
• Copyright © 2013 Marcia Zidle business and leadership coach.

As a manager, you know it’s important to recognize contributions individual team members make toward the success of the team.

However, many times in our efforts to recognize and reward successes, we may overlook “behind the scene” contributions which were necessary to achieve that success.

Consider this:
As Joe was watching Diane receive her achievement award from the team leader, he was feeling very uncomfortable. Diane’s objective was to decrease the amount of time required for processing between billing cycles. She had coordinated the efforts of many people and had exceeded the expectations of the team. Joe agreed that Diane deserved to be recognized for her outstanding leadership ability.

Related: Rock for Employee Recognition

At the same time, however, Joe was aware that Diane’s objective could not have been met without his significant contribution to the work effort. He had spent the last three months pulling double duty, doing his work as well as covering Diane’s regular assignments. It would have been nice for someone to at least say “Thank You “for his additional effort.

Have you ever been where Joe is standing?
How did it feel? No matter how strongly we identify with the team or how proud we are to be a member of the team, we still need to be recognized as an individual.

Individual recognition in a team environment also helps build a sense of involvement, ownership, and commitment. This encourages team members to help each other whenever possible. And this type of commitment will make your business more successful.

Take a look at your current procedures for rewards and recognition. Use the following questions to help you improve.

• What types of achievements do you recognize and reward?
• Are you, aware of the many ways to recognize folks besides money?
• What action have you taken to ensure all team or department members feel valued?
• How can you ensure that contributions of the people like Joe are recognized and rewarded?

Management Success Tip:
Create a reward and recognition plan that is easy to use and spontaneous. Rewards don’t have to be expensive, but they should be timely. Make a big deal out of them. Demonstrate to your team members that each and every one of them is important to your business success. Here are 50 ways to reward your people and not break the bank. Which ones would work best for you? Also see Employee Recognition: A Unique Way to Show It

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

• Build your skills with The Effective Manager.
• Sign up for Quick Wins: 101 Management Tips.
• Find performance boosters in the Smart Moves Blog.
• Need a speaker? Get the Edge keynotes-webinars-workshops.
• Copyright © 2013 Marcia Zidle business and leadership coach.

If only this were a fairy tale, it would begin “Once upon a time…” but it is not and has to begin and end differently. Hopefully, with some proactive training we can help employees to not get into this situation, and provide help if they do.

Keep in mind that no matter how dreary this sounds, there is hope. Of course, timing is everything, I know, and I’ll get to that.

I have recounted this view in other blogs, probably in snippets, most likely incognito, but let’s look at leadership (and its antithesis) and the training of an outgoing employing. It’s impossible to know, no matter how much human resources and leadership on this end know what lies in the position ahead.

Leadership may even know the other leadership where the transfer is taking place and are personal friends; he or she may trust the other implicitly. Even if it is a shift from headquarters to a regional office or vice versa, regional to another regional office or to another company, it may not matter. Why?

• Because dyads aren’t always successful.
• Because personal agendas exist.
• Because the leader’s vision has become disrupted.
• Because the newcomer is perceived as a spy.
• Because the newcomer doesn’t fit exactly now as the leader’s “opposite” thinks he or she should be.

This is a tale of the anti-leader, and as horrible as it sounds, he or she is the worst a leader can be to this one employee, assuming the leader is fair and reasonable to the other employees and doesn’t set them up to fail, but rather to succeed.

All fairy tales begin once upon on a time, but how do nightmares begin. With a leader in charge, your heart soars and you feel like you can do anything. In business and military terms: “someone has your back.” With the anti-leader, the opposite is true. You feel that the person who should be supporting you, even mentoring you, grooming you for better things, is undermining you. So, it’s once upon a horror–a long harrowing tale–especially if you aren’t independently wealthy with a family and you need the job.

Unfortunately, there may be nothing you can do unless you have made friends and in-roads in other agencies. So, the best bet is to find another job where the leadership does see you as part of his or her vision, but that, too, is harder than you think. At first thought, you would think the anti-leader would want to get rid of you. The anti-leader is in your eyes–not his or hers. The anti-leader may feel in all honesty that you do not fit in, that you are incompetent based on his or her preconceived notions (the vision or future hiring plans), but as a leader refuses to dump you on some other agency by saying you have “a personality conflict, but that you are capable.”

No, remember the anti-leader sees him or herself as a real leader who would tell the “truth” as he or she sees it, insisting on working it out in his or her unit, per HR and Union directions. Pardon the cliche: you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Essentially, if you have not made those earlier in-roads I talked about earlier, you will face re-training, demotion, humiliation and any other form of redress the anti-leader can do, consciously or subconsciously, to force you to leave on your own, but at no expense to his or her own reputation.

Sometimes, private calls or office visits, become very personal with no witnesses present, where his or her fears of your reaction to her actions or his or her sentiments about not wanting to supervise you become blatantly clear only to you. You become ostracized in the unit. Either intentionally or not, the word leaks out that you are persona non grata. No one will talk to you–at least no one you can trust. You continue down the road to despair. If you stay too long your health suffers–depression, psychosomatic illness, a weakened immune system, predisposition to other illnesses, etc. It’s the same with any stressful situation over time. If you’re young enough, you quit and take your chances; it may be too late for your family anyway. If you’re old enough or have resources enough, you retire. For employee health reasons, it is a serious problem.

It may not be a great move for the transferred employees financially (the employee already has questionable side), but the right of return to the previous station upon request would remove a tremendous burden from the employees. Initially, they won’t feel the need for a return and they’ll fight to fit it, but it is oftentimes a losing battle, and that employee could be an asset elsewhere, and by no means should that be not an option to save the company money. The idea of preventing an employee going “postal” aside, the company is better served offering an escape plan to the employee; keeping a disgruntled employee in a place that only magnifies an issue of alienation and distrust is not good for the company or organization, its mission or the people involved. For both parties, antagonist and protagonist.

What can we as trainers do?

1. Educate Human Resources on this issue. Then HR can help during the checkout process. There should be an escape hatch.
2. Include in the exit instructions or training, information about this particular phenomenon, emphasizing, of course, that the escape clause isn’t always needed, but to ensure unity and human dignity is necessary. It seems to happen more often when the employee is reassigned rather than recruited. How rare is the phenomenon? I don’t have statistics. They would be difficult to compile with any accuracy, but it seems to me even one employee caught in this phenomenon is bad enough.
3. We need, of course, to make our leaders aware of this so they don’t become so wrapped up in their vision or possibly their egos that they fall into this category with even one employee. Not all employees are stellar, but there is a place for everyone. Leaders help employees succeed, and when they get off-track they get them back on. Great leaders don’t assume at the beginning their workforce is flawed.

This commentary is my opinion alone and The Free Management Library is not in anyway responsible for its content. I have written several articles of a similar nature. I tend to look at training, the workforce, business management, leadership and communication from a slightly different perspective than you might expect. I published an ebook called The Cave Man Guide to Training and Development in which I explain my reasons for looking at training and development in a different way. I look at it from the outside looking in, from the worker side, from the management side, from the trainer’s, and sometimes from the psychological side. I encourage others to talk about what they think about certain aspects of training on this website as long as they keep it generic. We’ll link to their site, and I hope you will comment here.

Take a peek at my site and you’ll find out more. By the way, I have an e-novel, In Makr’s Shadow, published by Amazon. It’s a scary look at what the future could be like if we stopped talking to one another and let the devices take over.

For more resources about training, see the Training library.

 

 

 

 

High energy does three important things:

1. It energizes the topic.
2. It engages the participants.
3. It elevates the facilitator.

How does High Energy Energize a Topic?

When a facilitator leads a session with energy, the energy transfers to the topic. By being passionate about the topic, you are implicitly saying to the participants, “This is important to me, and it should be important to you.” Your actions and your energy around the topic help energize the topic for the participants. And, just as high energy can make a topic more interesting, likewise, low energy can make a topic less interesting.

How does High Energy Engage the Participants?

For most people, high energy is just more appealing to listen to than low energy. In essence, high energy is just more fun. Of course there is a point where high energy goes “over the top” and becomes less interesting and more irritating. But, short of being over done, high energy invites participants to listen and stay alert. Unfortunately, low energy can invite participants to check out or fall asleep. I’m sure you, like me, have experienced this many times with speakers in a variety of circumstances.

How does High Energy Elevate the Facilitator?

Energy can have a significant impact on the participants’ perception of the facilitator. As a consultant, when I spoke with clients, I used a low-key consulting voice, which was intended to project sincerity and concern. I wanted to let my clients know that I was concerned about their needs and wanted to be as helpful to them as possible.

Unfortunately, when I facilitated, I would speak with the same, low-key voice. While it was an effective consulting voice, it was a lousy facilitation voice. Why? When a facilitator drops his/her energy, the session drags. When a facilitator keeps his/her energy up, the participants follow. One participant said he followed a facilitator because “he seemed to know what he was doing.”

The critical point here is that the facilitator’s high energy projected confidence. High energy gave the impression that he knew what he was doing. Let’s reverse the point. If high energy can project high confidence, then low energy can project low confidence. So, during my consulting days, my low energy during facilitation was projecting to the participants that I had low confidence. In other words, I was giving up power when I facilitated.

So, keep up your energy high and remember the impact those 3 “Es” have in your meetings. Want to learn how to start a virtual meeting with high energy (and keep it that way)? Read more here.

________________________

Certified Master Facilitator Michael Wilkinson is the CEO and Managing Director of Leadership Strategies, Inc., The Facilitation Company and author of The Secrets of Facilitation 2nd Edition, The Secrets to Masterful Meetings, and The Executive Guide to Facilitating Strategy. Leadership Strategies is a global leader in facilitation services, providing companies with dynamic professional facilitators who lead executive teams and task forces in areas like strategic planning, issue resolution, process improvement and others. The company is also a leading provider of facilitation training in the United States, having trained over 18,000 individuals.

A recent encounter got me thinking about inter-generational interactions and communication in the workplace.

As a volunteer usher at a performing arts organization, I was given the wrong sign in sheet by young millennial who was chatting away with another staff member.

Later, it was brought to my attention, by the same person, who said to me, “You signed the wrong sheet.” There was no apology or taking of responsibility.

My first reaction was annoyance thinking, “It was your mistake, not mine. Don’t you know I’ve been working much longer than you…you should show some respect….where’s your work ethic?”

Once I got out of my righteous indignation, I looked back and realized that maybe I need to take some responsibility for not paying more attention in the first place. Also in the past, when I’ve observed her in action as she dealt with patrons, she was professional. So that got me thinking!

Generational Differences
For the first time we now have four generations in the workplace (traditionalists – baby boomers -X ‘ers – millennials) which presents interesting challenges and opportunities to leaders, managers, and their teams. So much has been written about the differences in traits, expectations, styles, preferences. But I’m wondering if we should also be looking at what are the similarities.

The Center for Creative Leadership asked this question:

Is it possible to work with and manage people from all generations effectively without pulling your hair out?

Absolutely! The following ten truths about generational conflict can help you look past the stereotypes and become a more effective leader to people of all ages.

1. All generations have similar values. In fact, they all value family, the most. They also attach importance to integrity, achievement, love and competence
2. Everyone wants respect – they just define it in the same way.
3. Trust matters especially with the people you work directly with. Everyone wants to trust and want to be trusted.
4. People of all generations want leaders who are credible and trustworthy. They also want them to listen well and be farsighted and encouraging.
5. Office politics is an issue – no matter what your age. Most realize that political skills are a critical component in being able to move up and be effective.
6. No one really likes change. Resistance to change has nothing to do with age; it is all about how much one has to gain or lose with the change.
7. Loyalty depends on the context not on the generation. People stay or leave a company based on their boss, opportunities, stage of life and other factors.
8. It’s as easy to retain a young person as it is to retain an older one. It depends on what’s important to them. Age defines a demographic not a person
9. People of all generations want to make sure they have the skills and resources necessary to do their jobs well. The ability and desire to learn continues throughout life.
10. Everyone wants to know how they’re doing. Feedback is desired but no one likes only negative feedback; they also want positive as well.

Smart Management Tip:
Use these ten principles to help you work with and lead people of all ages. When generations fail to communicate and interact effectively in the workplace, we may see a negative impact on the bottom line – performance , productivity and profitability are trending downward. . So the next time to start thinking negatively about a specific age group , stop and ask yourself, what do we have in common that I can tap into? How can I see them and the situation differently?

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

• Build your skills with The Effective Manager.
• Sign up for Quick Wins: 101 Management Tips.
• Find performance boosters in the Smart Moves Blog.
• Listen to The Business Edge Internet Radio for success tips.
• Copyright © 2013 Marcia Zidle business and leadership coach.

“By and large, executives make poor hiring decision. By all accounts, their batting average is no better than .333. That means one-third of such decisions turn out right, one-third minimally effective and one-third outright failures. In no other area of management would we put up with such miserable performance” – Peter Drucker, leadership icon.

Every new employee you bring in to the organization either raises the performance of the business as a whole (enabling you to grow and prosper) or lowers it (slowing the business down and imperceptibly dragging it toward decline and failure).

For a small growing company or agency, getting the right people with the right skills is critical. Every hire has an impact but when you are 1 of 10 people versus 1 of 500 people the impacts are as different as the requirements of the position.

Is Your Hiring Like Flipping a Coin?
Several surveys have indicated a national average of hiring accuracy – that’s the measure of how many recruits remain with the company a year after they are hired – is somewhere between 42% and 58%. This means that the average organization is flipping a coin on every hire.

Related: 40 Great Interview Questions For Hiring the Right Person

Imagine if your organization could increase that to 80%, 85% or even more than 90%. This would create a major competitive advantage regardless of the size of your organization.

How Can YOU Hire Better?
Here are four suggestions:

• First the focus has to be on defining what is necessary to be successful in a particular position. Especially the critical positions.
• Once the positions are selected it is time to “listen” to the job and take its measurements. You can create a multi-dimensional model or Job DNA of what the position requires.
• Use assessments to look under the hood of a potential candidate or employee. People are like icebergs: 90% or more of their mass is under the surface. Assessments allow you to get a glimpse of what lies beneath.
• Provide interview skills training to hiring managers and human resource staff. Interviewees go to classes to better understand how to answer the questions that interviewers are going to ask them.

Related: 40 Great Interview Questions For Hiring the Right Person

Management Success Tip:

Jack Welch, the former CEO of GE, said, “All we can do is bet on the people we pick. So my whole job is picking the right people.” How well are you picking the right people? Make sure you get the right people with the right skills on the right bus who are all going in the right direction.

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

• Build your skills with The Effective Manager.
• Sign up for Quick Wins: 101 Management Tips.
• Find performance boosters in the Smart Moves Blog.
• Listen to The Business Edge Internet Radio for success tips.
• Copyright © 2013 Marcia Zidle business and leadership coach.