Taking Time Off

As a gorgeous Memorial Day weekend comes to a close, it seems only right to discuss the importance of taking time off. Leader/managers tend to be driven and hard working. Given the immense amount of responsibilities and the never-ending to-do list, it’s all too easy to put off your R&R to take care of all the things that require your attention.

Dedicated and hard working as you may be, it’s important to realize that you can’t run on empty, and will have to refuel sooner or later. You know that you’re most effective when you’re at your best – and you can’t be at your best when you’re tired or burned out. If you don’t have a backup person (or team of people) to tend to at least the very basic of your responsibilities during your absence, you’re in trouble (and so is the company). Appoint a person, or put together a team of people to fill in for you if need be. This will not only come in handy when taking some time off to rest, you may need it for an unforeseen personal event. So although today’s topic is about taking time to rest and rejuvenate, a backup is simply part of good planning and an absolute must.

Once you have a plan in place, schedule to take some time off and ENJOY!

Productive Feedback

Chances are that you as a leader/manager take the time to coach and develop others. Although it may not be realistic to have weekly one-on-one meetings with everyone who reports to you, it’s your responsibility to regularly spend time with your key people. If you don’t already do this, you really should start. Take a look at some previous posts that discuss the importance of coaching and developing your employees.

The purpose of these meetings is to coach and develop your employees, to listen and offer feedback, to challenge and give credit, to brainstorm and inspire. Both you and your employees should look forward to these meetings and see them as productive and beneficial. That’s not to say that problems should not be discussed and the meetings ought to be superficial. That’s not the case at all. However, it’s your responsibility to make sure that any problems or issues are addressed in a respectful and non-threatening way, and that no meeting focuses on only the negative. Even if you meet solely to discuss a problem, the meeting must contain positive aspects (such as looking for solutions and recognizing the employee’s ability to succeed) in order for it to be most effective.

If your employees start to dread or avoid such meetings, you absolutely must figure out what’s wrong. Never let your one-on-one time with your employees become known as the “weekly beat-down” (or whatever the frequency). Not only will these be a waste of time, both you and your employees will miss out on serious growth and success opportunities.

Not sure how you’re doing with your one-on-ones? Ask your employees. Get their feedback on how to best maximize your time together. Their involvement can serve as a motivator to both of you.

Celebrating Small Victories

One of your many responsibilities as a leader/manager is to keep track of progress, goals, and projects. You most likely already understand and follow the concept of breaking down large goals/projects into smaller, more achievable ones, but do you take the time to acknowledge the successful completion of those smaller goals? Even further – do you take the time to celebrate them? This is a very simple but powerful idea.

Breaking down large goals/projects to make them more manageable is only half of the story. As your employees complete the smaller steps, take the time to recognize and celebrate their success. In doing so, you will not only highlight the results of their efforts, but also underline the progress that is made towards the larger goal/project. Help your employees to see both the obvious and the not-so-obvious.

There are many ways to recognize the results of your employees’ efforts. Use your imagination and get creative. For example, you can use an existing meeting as an opportunity to note the latest success. Taking a few minutes to personally praise each person’s work is a very positive and personal way to encourage further success (of course the number of employees directly involved with the project will limit your ability to do this). Something as simple as buying bagels or pizza to mark the successful completion of each stage can be very effective. Whatever you do will send a message, so take the opportunity to send the right kind of message. By recognizing your employees for their hard work and underlining the successful completion of each step, you will encourage people to move forward and help them to see the progress brought on by their efforts.

Avoiding potential pitfalls of change

Change is not only inevitable, it’s essential to our success in business. When facing a change one of the most important elements is to have a clear vision. The lack of one can have disastrous effects. A vision must be not only clear but also well defined. It should only take a few minutes to communicate it to others. At the end of the presentation it should indicate their understanding and provoke their interest. Before a vision can inspire and be shared by others, it has to inspire the leader. It must be in harmony with the leader’s own values, and he must be willing to set an example with his own actions. It’s the leader’s task to convey the image of an exciting future to others, appealing to shared values and aspirations, thusly enlisting them to share the vision.

One way for an able leader to avoid the potential pitfalls of change is to always be aware of what’s going on around him. A good way of doing that is to listen. A good leader knows that observing and listening to others can provide valuable information. This information can prove crucial when dealing with change. Another way for a skilled leader to avoid the hazards of change is to look for new opportunities and be willing to take risks for the sake of change. In other words, a good leader knows that change is not only inevitable, but necessary for growth and survival, so he looks for change.

Providing Meaning for Employees

Do you believe that a happy employee is a better employee? It’s true – a happy employee is much more likely to be more productive, more dedicated, and more loyal. It’s your responsibility at the leader/manager to understand what makes your employees happy. Considering that the phrase “happy employee” can be interpreted in different ways, so it’s up to you to figure out what’s true for different individuals. How do you do that? Simple – talk to your employees. Even though ideally this conversation should first take place during the person’s job interview, it’s never too late to start talking.

Although there are many components to a person’s happiness, this week’s blog will address the satisfaction brought on by meaning. Humans have an intrinsic need to find meaning – meaning in the world around us, our lives, what we do, and ultimately ourselves. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that people who see their work as meaningful, will be much more fulfilled (and happy) with what they do.

Your task is to first find out what’s meaningful to an employee, and then to help that employee find meaning in what they do. Daunting as this mission may appear, it can be accomplished fairly easily. Once again, open and ongoing communications are a crucial part of our success (this is an ongoing task, not a one shot deal). Each employee must understand the importance of what they do each and every day that they show up for work, and how that fits into the greater picture of the company as a whole. There is a reason for the existence of every single position within your company (or at least there really should be). You have to make sure that your employee knows that reason and is able to understand how he contributes to the overall success of the company. It’s that kind of ongoing contribution that brings meaning to what we do.