Wednesday, March 25, 2015

The One Minute Manager - Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

This one is slim and packed with common sense. There are three rules - if one even gets it half right, the organisation can step up 50%.
Harper, Rs. 175, 108 p

The purpose of organisation is efficiency. By being organised we are a great deal more productive.
I'm results oriented - but how can I get results if not through people. Results oriented means people oriented. You need to care about both.

The key idea then is this

"People who feel good about themselves, produce good results."

(One can hear alarm bells going off - these fellows are goofing off enough and not working at all. Why should I make them happy? It's not about making them happy, its about making them feel good through their work and that is your job as a manager - to make them reach beyond.)

Productivity is about both quality and quantity. And that can only be done through people.
One thing the one minute manager does is that he does not make decisions for other people.
Then he tells the other person not to make him repeat himself.

First up, three one minute principles.

One minute goal setting
The first is one minute goal setting.

This is important because in most organisations the job responsibilities that the boss thinks and that the sub thinks are completely different. And then they get into trouble for not doing what they didn't even think was their job.

How to do it?
The manager tells his sub what has to be done and they agree on it. Then each goal is recorded on no more than a single page. A goal and its performance standard should be read within a minute. Each goal is recorded on a sheet of paper, 250 words or so for one goal and performance standard, 3 to 6 key goals (those that form the 20% of the 80-20 rule).

Once responsibilities are clear, performance standards are made clear. A copy of both sheets are kept with both manager and sub.

Both know what the responsibilities are and what performance standards are. Everyone knows what to expect - there are no surprises.

Identify a problem, put it in behavioral terms i.e. in observable, measurable terms (not in attitudes and feelings), fix what you would like to happen (outcome) in observable, measurable terms, and find solutions to cover the gap. In other words fix the ideal, articulate clearly the current status and then find clear solutions. The problem is the difference between what is actually happening and what you want to happen.

One minute goal setting
1) Agree on your goals
2) See what good behavior is like
3) Write out each of your goals on a single sheet of paper using less than 250 words
4) Read and re-read each goal, which requires only a minute to do
5) Take a minute every once in a while to look at your performance
6) See whether or not your behavior matches your goal

Then,
One minute praisings.

Feedback is essential - good and bad. After goal setting, the manager would be in close contact. The purpose - he would try to catch the sub doing something right.

"Help people reach their full potential. Catch them doing something right."

Don't keep looking for them to do something wrong - go positive.

One minute praisings
1) Tell people at the beginning about the importance of your feedback
 2) Praise immediately after the job is done
3) Tell them specifically what they did right
4) Tell them how god you feel about what they did right, how it helps others, how the organisations benefits
5) Stop for a moment and allow them to feel how god you feel
6) Encourage them to do the same
7) Shake hands or touch people to integrate

This is done at the beginning - just enough till the sub gets confident that he has got it under control. Once he starts doing it right and knows the process, the manager can step back. Then praise becomes more difficult to earn and the sub understands that.

Those who have been long enough to understand the goal setting and praising process, can then set their own goals and are also now self-worthy enough to catch themselves doing the right things. They send their own goals and are at it until they do something wrong.

One minute reprimand
But if they make a significant mistake, then they get a one minute reprimand. A significant mistake is that which you commit on a  job you know well and are doing it for some time, then a goof up earns you a reprimand.

The One minute manager reprimands even when things are going otherwise well for him.

One minute reprimand
1) Tell people beforehand that you are going to let them know

1st half of the reprimand
2) Reprimand immediately
3) Tell specifically what they did wrong
4) Tell how you feel about it
5) Stop, be silent, let it sink in

2nd half of reprimand
6) Shake hands, touch
7) Remind them how much you value them
8) Reaffirm that you think well of them but not their performance
9) When the reprimand is over, it is over

The reprimand is about the behavior only and not the person.

"We are not just our behavior. We are the people managing that behavior."

"The best minute I spend is the one I invest in people." 
Companies spend 50-70% on salaries. Yet they spend less than 1 percent of their budget to train their people.

Make them see the goal, allow them to hit it on their own.

"Feedback is the breakfast of champions." Feedback keeps us going.

"Everyone is a potential winner. Some are disguised as losers. Don't let their appearances fool you."

Hire winners. Or hire potential winners and train them. Or pray. With winners, do the one minute goal setting and let them run with the ball.

Goal monitoring process
"Take a minute. Look at your goals. Look at your performance. See if your behavior matches your goals."

Incremental approach to goals. Like children, whales. If you only catch them doing things wrong they stop producing - doing any work.
"Goals begin behaviors. Consequences manage behaviors."

Behavior and worth are two different things.
Share it with others.

I just did. Thanks Ken and Spencer.

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