Manager Tools

What do you do when you're in conflict with a peer... and your directs become involved? What's interesting here is that we all ought to know that if we ARE in conflict with a peer, our directs ARE involved. Our directs know who among our peers are our allies, and who we don't align well with. Our directs make choices, perhaps subtle, but choices nonetheless, that can add to our tensions (yes, even if we tell them not to).

Mark recently blogged with our first ever management koan, "What Would An Effective Manager Do?" In this cast, we share the answer.

If you've ever had to deal with two of your directs fighting about something, this is the cast for you. Mark likes to say that "the definition of conflict is two human beings in the same COUNTY." If that's true, then 500 or 1,000 or 5,000 people in the same organization is not just 'a conflict waiting to happen', it's conflict guaranteed to happen.

Time management is a fallacy. Time doesn't need you to "manage" it - it's been getting along just fine without you for billions of years. We can't manage time. What we CAN manage is what we do with that time. And yet, the overwhelming evidence is that professionals and managers do NOT "manage what they do with that time."

Time management is a fallacy. Time doesn't need you to "manage" it - it's been getting along just fine without you for billions of years. We can't manage time. What we CAN manage is what we do with that time. And yet, the overwhelming evidence is that professionals and managers do NOT "manage what they do with that time."

Today, we cover the second in a two-part series of podcasts on Time Management. If you're new to the show or you didn't listen to last week's podcast, it's probably worth while going back and listening to the previous show first. Otherwise, you'll be joining the conversation half-way through and we all know how comfortable that feels. :-( We recommend 4 1/2 steps to analyzing your use of time Roughly Assess Your Time - absolutely *no* materials other than pen and paper allowed! Capture Your Priorities Do a Rough Analysis (part b, only for the truly committed) - Do a "Drucker" Analysis Put Your Number One Priority on Your Calendar That's it! We walked through steps 1 and 2 last week, today we cover the remainder.

Time management is a fallacy, we like to say. Time doesn't need you to "manage" it - it's been getting along just fine without you for billions of years. We can't manage time. But what we CAN manage is what we do with that time. And yet, the overwhelming evidence is that managers do NOT "manage what they do with that time." There's a shocking CHASM between our behavior in this area and our knowledge of what to do. In fact, Mark recently blogged on how busy everyone says they are, which irritates him. He looks at their calendars, and there's no EVIDENCE that they're busy. There are vast swaths of unscheduled time! Peter Drucker, in the first prescriptive chapter of his seminal work, the Effective Executive, says it best (of course): "The output limits of any process are set by the scarcest resource. In the process we call "accomplishment", this is time ... Of the other major resources, money is actually quite plentiful ... People ... one can hire. But one cannot rent, hire, buy or otherwise obtain more time." So, the question is, how can managers start to become more efficient about using the time that each of us has at our disposal? In fact, that's a great way to state it: STOP disposing of your time! It's not only your most precious resource, it's also your most perishable! This cast will get you started doing just that.

It's been quite a while since we talked about feedback. We think one of the reasons for that is that there's some negativity to it. What we mean by that is that one on ones are an easy winner. It's about your team member, they want more time with you, a half hour with you every week seems too good to be true. And, if you've stuck to it, you've noticed improvements in areas that go beyond just employee relationships. Maybe they're kind of hard on your schedule INITIALLY, but they're perceived positively.

We've received a great many questions, comments, and kudos for our show in July on the Feedback Model. Many listeners are discovering the power of feedback, of taking it out of the realm of the rare and into the stream of the every day. Not to sound repetitive, but most managers see feedback as akin to holding their breath - waiting as long as possible, and then creating a lot of sound and often fury. The Feedback Model tells us to see feedback like breathing - so regular as to become unnoticed.Many of you have written asking questions about how to counter some of the typical responses to the feedback you give. "What do I do or say when they tell me they'll 'think about it'? What if they SAY they'll make the change, only to continue in their ineffective behavior patterns? As you might imagine, we've dealt with these issues before, and this show talks about the approach to take, and once again, gives you SPECIFIC things to say and why they work.We do a brief review of the feedback model at the front of the cast, but still encourage you to give a listen to our original cast, in the July Archives.

Our updated guidance on the Manager Tools Delegation Model.

Today we wrap-up our conversation on effective meetings, as well as answer some listener questions on meetings, one-on-ones, and feedback.

Today we cover the second in our series on effective meetings.

How to do you feel about most of the meetings you attend? Are they productive, or generally considered a waste of time? Do you attend too many meetings? How do others value the meetings *you* run? If you are like most managers we know, your experience in running and participating in meetings is less than ideal.

Part 3 of our guidance describing the most effective method of letting your directs know how they are performing: Feedback. Feedback shows someone the impact of their behavior, allowing them to change ineffective actions or continue doing things that help the team achieve its goals.

Part 2 of our guidance describing the most effective method of letting your directs know how they are performing: Feedback. Feedback shows someone the impact of their behavior, allowing them to change ineffective actions or continue doing things that help the team achieve its goals.

Part 1 of our guidance describing the most effective method of letting your directs know how they are performing: Feedback. Feedback shows someone the impact of their behavior, allowing them to change ineffective actions or continue doing things that help the team achieve its goals.

In today's show we continue our conversation on one-on-ones. In addition to a brief review (very brief -- not a substitute for listening to the previous two shows!), we review a number of questions and finer points.

Part 3 of our detailed guidance on how to conduct the most important "manager tool" we've ever known or seen: Manager Tools One On Ones. These meetings help managers build trust, the professional measurement that correlates better than any other with results and retention.

Part 2 of our detailed guidance on how to conduct the most important "manager tool" we've ever known or seen: Manager Tools One On Ones. These meetings help managers build trust, the professional measurement that correlates better than any other with results and retention.

Part 1 of our detailed guidance on how to conduct the most important "manager tool" we've ever known or seen: Manager Tools One On Ones. These meetings help managers build trust, the professional measurement that correlates better than any other with results and retention.