If
your people are your greatest asset, the nurturing, development and management of that crucial group should be a #1 priority! Doesn’t it make sense then to invest time and resource in helping your managers and supervisors to be good at getting the best from their team members?
What sort of things do your managers do each day? They probably do most of these things…
- Direct
- Delegate
- Motivate
- Develop others
- Deal with conflict
- Communicate
Equipping our managers with the best tools to help them do these things seems to make sense, don’t you agree?
I was thinking about 2 managers that I worked with a few years ago – 2 people with very different management styles!
The first, let’s call him Brian, lead a team of capable sales and marketing professionals. He had massive experience and prided himself in knowing everything there was to be known about the product and market. He was also a fiend for detail! His managers could never understand why the information they gave him was never sufficient… They assumed he was just being awkward. His 2 supervisors (both experienced and competent marketing professionals) rarely had their views supported without question… and question… and more question. They found it wearing, undermining… and took it personally!
Brian thought they were brilliant – he had total respect for them and sung their praises wherever he went… but never to their faces!
The second was Debbie – our Customer Service Manager – she was the opposite! She delegated by omission, loved to socialise with her team, never criticised anyone… ever! Her team were very loyal and had all been in the business for many years (most of them longer than Debbie), but felt that their hard work and contribution was not fully appreciated. Add to that the impact of Eric, the team slacker – who would do as little as possible but never got pulled up for it… and they became quite disillusioned.
It wasn’t that they didn’t like Debbie; just that she felt she was far too hands off, letting individuals in the team take control rather than lead the team.
Debbie rated most of her team, but there were a few who she was unhappy with their performance and attitude to their peers… but she never told them!
I’m sure you can think of similar examples in your organisation!
Imagine if these capable and skilled team members were working in an environment where their needs and preferences were understood… and where they also understood wheat was important to their manager?
How much more effective could the whole team be?
It really isn’t rocket science – if these people could Understand their own behavioural styles, Recognise the behavioural styles of others and Adapt to create more effective – win-win – relationships, then the levels of performance and motivation would improve dramatically.
In reality the only thing we can be certain of is that we are all different!
Working with a Behavioural Coach you too can gain the insight needed to get the best from each of your team members.