Posts

Managing top-down messages

Image
As a leader, there are times when you’ll need to communicate messages which you receive from above, down to your team. Sometimes these will be messages which you support, and sometimes you might not. It’s important to remember that you’re not there to openly disagree with the message, but to communicate the message onwards in a way which helps people to accept what’s been said. In order to be sincere when you communicate your message, you need to ensure that you have all the information you need from above. If you have to keep going back and checking things, it undermines your own belief in the message, and weakens the impact of your communication. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to ensure you have the full information… What’s the topic? What timescale does it relate to? Which areas of the business does it impact? What flexibility do I have when communicating it? What should I do if it’s badly received? What suppo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Resolving conflict using Nonviolent Communication

Image
Using Nonviolent Communication to defuse conflict Nonviolent Communication was developed in the 1970s by Marshall Rosenberg as a way to get beyond the typical elements of conflict, and to encourage empathy by both parties. It requires you to adopt the mindset that the other person isn’t trying to annoy you on purpose, and then works to overcome differences and expand understanding of each other. It works like this: Observation: A neutral statement of what’s going on. “When you give me a large piece of work at 4 o’clock on a Friday…” Feelings: An accurate statement of how you feel. Avoid saying “you make me feel” and concentrate on the feelings themselves. “I feel stressed because I want to do a good job, and concerned that I’ll miss a personal appointment after work.” Needs: A statement of your internal needs. Avoid phrases which begin with “I need you to… (XYZ)”. “I need to know that I can deliver work to my usual high quality, and that I will be able to see my friends after work. ” ...
Post a Comment
Location: Oxford, Royaume-Uni
Read more

Recognising and resolving conflict

Image
There are many definitions of “conflict” in the business world. It’s important to remember that conflict isn’t always visible. Some people might be “in conflict” with others, but instead of raising their voices and arguing, they withdraw inside themselves and go quiet. I like the following definition of conflict: Conflict is when someone is forced by someone else to operate in a way which makes them uncomfortable. If you take this definition, then the topic captures quite a wide range of situations. How does conflict start? Conflict comes about when an event happens which makes someone uncomfortable, and when it then spirals unchecked into a breakdown in the relationship. It goes through 4 steps: Situation: Something happens. One person does something the other person doesn’t like. Example:     Your manager gives you a big piece of work at 3pm on a Friday and tell...
Post a Comment
Location: Oxford, Royaume-Uni
Read more

Improving internal relationships

Image
As a leader, there are a number of internal relationships you should be aware of. It’s not just relationships with your team and your boss which are important – you now have impact and input across other teams and the organisation as a whole. Here’s an image to illustrate: Although to begin with, some of these relationships might be challenging or outside of your comfort zone, it's important to work on your skills to build these relationships to increase your confidence and the way you’re perceived in the organisation. Rights & responsibilities As you grow in your relationships with others in the organisation, it’s important to remember that you have rights in any working relationship, and also responsibilities. And, of course, the other person also has their own rights and responsibilities. If you find a relationship challenging, then it’s worth remember the rights that you have. These are things like: The right to be treated with respect. The right...
Post a Comment
Location: Oxford, Royaume-Uni
Read more

Motivating your team

Image
Although people are motivated by different things, there are 4 which apply to most people, although different people will attach different importance to these. Daniel Pink explains it as follows: Autonomy: People are happy to be given a goal, but would prefer to work towards it in their own way rather than being micro-managed. Mastery: People want the opportunity to become an expert at something, and to have that expertise recognised by others. Purpose: People want to understand the point behind their work, and what higher purpose they are contributing to. I also think money is in the mix as well. People need enough money to live a reasonable lifestyle. They might have different financial needs at different points in their life. As a leader, you need to motivate your team members. Although people have individual motivational needs, they are likely to respond to these generalisations. Good practice is to ask people what motivates them. Some leaders are uncomfortable asking that as t...
Post a Comment
Location: Reading, Royaume-Uni
Read more

Understanding where problems (and opportunities) have come from

Image
If you can understand the conditions which caused a problem to develop or an opportunity to come along, then you’ll be able to think about how you can replicate those conditions (for opportunities), or change them (for problems). For example, if you realise that an opportunity presented itself which you were only able to take advantage of because of your proactive recruitment strategy, you’ll want to continue that strategy in the future. 5 Whys The 5 Whys technique encourages you to look not at superficial causes, but to look deeper for root causes. For example, imagine you’re waiting for a train and an announcement comes over the loudspeaker saying: “Your train is delayed due to the late arrival of a preceding service.” You likely find this frustrating because it’s not a real reason for the delay – you want to know why the preceding service was running late. The idea with 5 Whys is that you keep asking “why?” until it feels like a daft question. This is likely to be around 5 times. Th...
Post a Comment
Location: Bath, Royaume-Uni
Read more

Critical thinking - scanning the environment

Image
The first place to look for opportunities and problems is within the organisation. For this, you can use a STACK analysis to get a good understanding of the current situation in the business. Strategy Tolerance for risk & change Available resources Configuration Knowledge & skills A STACK analysis helps us to do a few things: Get a good understanding of the current state of the organisation and its readiness to implement change Understand how well-aligned the organisation is from the top, where strategy is developed, down to individual contributors Consider whether there are sufficient resources to take actions you need Identify whether the way the organisation is set up would be helpful to grasping opportunities or addressing problems Understand whether additional expertise might need to be brought in from outside. Once you’ve understood the internal situation in the organisation, it’s time to look at whats going on externally which could affect your strategy. For this...
Post a Comment
Location: Bath, Royaume-Uni
Read more