Posts tagged motivation

Motivating

Aug23
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

image from Flickr via jk_photos

I have been thinking about his topic for awhile, motivating your team. When I was asked in an interview about how I motivate more team, I tried to answer it this way. “Motivating the team is a bit tricky. I don’t think that the manager has the responsibility to motivate their employees. They need to create an environment that is motivating to their team. Motivation is more internal. I like to insure that my team has the work environment that helps them be motivated to do their best.” Okay, before you go and attack that answer – there is more to the answer – just coming a bit later on. When I think of it is the manager’s responsibility to motivate his employee’s – I think of my time as a coach of youth sports and my time as a company commander in a training company.  We all have seen coaches that are in your face – either cheering you on or screaming instructions to help get you to do what you want. I got some up close and personal experience watching drill sergeants motivate their trainees (see picture). Is that motivating? Would you like to have that be your manager’s style at the office? I believe that the successful coaches are the ones that have instilled an outstanding work environment that helps the player to motivate themselves. Much like my answer.

Getting back to my answer.. I really think there are some fundamental items that I like to insure that my team environment has…

  • Open and Direct Communications : How many times have you heard, “I didn’t know that?” Or maybe, “if they would just communicate with us, we could get that done?” Old school management.. Tell your employees just what they need to know, nothing more, nothing less. Well, that does not work! Never really did.. Be very open and direct in your communications. Tell them everything. What harm is there in doing so? This also will help your employees see that they can tell you stuff as well. There have been many times I have learned something from them that I did not think of – just because we had a open and direct communications.
  • Set a Good Example: As the manager, you really are out front and your team is watching and listening to you. It may sound silly, but how you present yourself in the beginning of the day will set the tone for your team the rest of the day. I know that not everyday is going to be perfect.. There will be something that happens (either at home or on the way to work) that will challenge you to be positive. You have to check all that before meeting your team.
  • Saying “Thank-You”: Doesn’t cost a lot to say thanks for a job well done. Times are tough this days, not everyone has a budget to help out with giving away cash, gifts or raises. Saying “thanks” goes a long way. I learned early on, that I truly perked up when I was given a thank you. Hand written notes, email or just hearing the words worked for me. I started insuring that I did the same for my folks (they like it too). When times get better – or when the time is right – step up that thank you to something more (gift cards, cash, lunch).
  • Give your time: What do you really have as a manager – your time. So, give that time to your employees. Work with them to build a solid working relationship. Help to understand what their passions and goals are. Help them develop and grow professionally. Your time will be well spent!
  • Get dirty: I used to really enjoy getting in there and helping out from time to time. When I was in manufacturing, we had a senior manager that made it a priority that all supervisors and managers would work on the manufacturing line at the end of the month. Clear your calendars, get trained and do the work that your teams do! I looked forward to it. Watching the senior managers work along side the team – was a eye opening experience for all. Roll up your sleeves and do what the team does.

When I left the interview, and was driving home, I thought of a couple of more items that I do that just did not come to me.

  • Look for some fun volunteer activities: I had this one time, that really rallied around one cause. We happened to have a team member that had a child with a disability. We wanted to help – so we decided to step away from the day to day work – to help out with the school that this team members child went to. Everyone was excited to help out. We had a great day! You could see your team in a different environment and watch their interactions. It was an eye opening experience for everyone. Plus we helped out a school in need. I am always looking for those opportunities.
  • Tie everything to the big picture (without losing sight of the little picture): Making sure to tie the work that the team is doing to the companies big picture. The little picture is really the team as a whole. We all like to know that we are working on something bigger than ourselves. Make sure to paint those pictures!

There is no silver bullet for motivating your employees. Don’t look for it. Spend time working on your team environment and maybe that will help you to increase the internal motivation of your employees.

Posted in Leadership, New To Management - Tagged , , , , , ,

You’re NOT The Boss – Lead Anyways

Jul21
2011 5 Comments Written by Steve

Are you a project manager? How about a person that leads the a team without the title of manager? I was a very lucky manager to have working for me, some awesome project managers. They did not have a staff of folks that worked for them – they got their resources from Resource Managers. Those project managers would share their concerns, issues and successes with me on a regular basis. How many projects do you think were 100% spot on for complete success? That answer will be coming in a later paragraph – sorry..

How does a project manager really get their team to be successful? How do they make stuff happen without having their team reporting directly to them? There are some initial basics that each team needs to have to be success:

  • Goals are clearly defined and matched with measurable outcomes. Basic project management tools help to make sure that this is written down. How do they really get everyone on board – that is the trick. My best project managers used to pull everyone in for complete understanding and formulation of the project charter, outcomes and deliverable’s - as a collaborative effort. Making sure to really focus on Tuckman’s model of forming and storming… Make sure that you have set realistic expectations..
  • Accurate 2-way communication. Setting up the working norms for the project team. Could be meeting workspaces, social media group or anything that everyone felt comfortable using. The project manager set up regular review meetings that were short and focused. Meetings do not mean work gets done. Regular one on one discussions are scheduled – around the critical milestones. Of course we have the normal communication channels – the hallway, email, phone and cafe – but if you have a dispersed team – those channels need some TLC to work.
  • Cooperation and collaboration. Probably the single hardest thing is getting work done through people. Since you are responsible, as the project manager, you need to move the team from storming to performing as quickly as possible. Getting everyone to be all in. I usually see good project managers – meeting with their team one on one to fully get to know the person. Understanding them and how they work to help move forward. Spending lots of time listening and understanding. Taking that knowledge and applying it to the the team as a whole. Reviews can be a good thing, if structured well, (I like them rapid fire). Focus on encouraging dialog among team members on the time-lines and deliverable’s.
  • Shared identity. I know this seems somewhat cheesy, but having a team name, maybe a logo or something to identify helps. When working with shared resources – the more you can make those resources feel special – the better off you will be.
  • Celebrate and recognize extra effort. Want to keep your folks motivated to keep on keeping on track – when something special happens – celebrate.. Award the team or set of individuals on the above and beyond effort. Praise never hurt anyone.. Just be fair and consistent.
Back to the question on success rate. Not every project manager has achieved 100% spot on project management. It just does not happen. What does happen is leading their team is a lot easier if they focus on the above. 
Posted in Leadership, Observations - Tagged , , , , , ,

Pressure Moments – How Do You Do?

Jun16
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

As a leader of your team – many eyes are on you from many different angles. You have your team, your manager, your support groups and even your customers. How YOU behavior is important. Decisions can be tough.  Everyone can do a pretty effective job of leading their team if there are no pressures. Working with your team can be difficult at times.  Some key contributors are out. The team is just not getting along as well as it should. Overloaded “to do” list can really make meeting your deadlines a bit tough. There are some many more pressures that can hit you that can make anything seem impossible. Your words and actions during these times are what is truly key to your success as a leader. Remember, everyone is watching.

How do you normally react doing those tough times?

  • Maybe a little short with answers to questions?
  • How about frustrated when things are not going right?
  • Start micro-managing your team?
  • Little slow with answers to tough decisions?
  • Take a day off when a key deadline is due?

Hopefully you did not say yes to any of these behaviors. These were not made up examples, I have seen them throughout my working career. I can almost put a face and a name to each of them. As I have written in past blog posts, learning from ours examples (both failure and success) can be very helpful to you in the future. I have taken those bad examples above and changed up how I perform under extremely pressure.

What I typically do is:

  • Insure that the pressures that I am under are not outwardly visible to my team. I try to maintain my positive and cheerful attitude everyday that I in the office.
  • Sometimes this is extremely difficult, at the very least, I communicate to my team what is going on. Letting them know the pressures and how they can help, usually is a good thing.
  • Come in a bit early and stay late if needed. I always like to get in early to help me with quiet time. Helps me focus on what is important. I want my team to understand that I am here, no matter what.
  • Prioritizing and delegating workloads. Work assignments may need to be shifted in order to meet some extreme deadlines. Asking the team their input on how best to accomplish this has been helpful in the past. Sometimes, a team member may have a skill in something that they don’t especially care for doing, but when times are tough – they step up and get it done.
  • Pressure situations need to bring out some creative solutions – more minds working on that creative solution the better.
  • Most importantly – Be myself! At the end of the day, your character and being true to yourself is what matters. If I am not happy with myself for any reason – I am the only person that can fix it.

How best do you handle those pressure moments?

 

Posted in Leadership, New To Management - Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Doing It Too!

Jun08
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

Ever have a supervisor that never walked in your shoes? Ever have a supervisor that loved to tell you have to do something, but did not know how to do it themselves? Over the years, I have had plenty of them. Usually not for long! I just don’t understand how any supervisor can lead his/her team without doing the work too. I have always done exactly what my people have done. Building credibility with your team is extremely important!

It started back in that very first assignment as a new second lieutenant in the US Army. My assignment was motor pool officer in a reserve engineering company. We had plenty of vehicles and a bulldozer. I went out and got certified to operate every one of them. My commander was shocked by this. It sort of chalked it up to brand new reservist. Later on, the commander came to realize that this was a good thing. My platoon was working well – they aced everything that was set in front of them. It was something that had not done in quite sometime. Our Inspector General inspection was that first fall and I was tasked with taking the inspectors through the motor pool paperwork, equipment inspections and whatever they wanted. We aced that too! In fact, the Inspector General called out the fact that I was certified on everything and actually performed operation of the bulldozer perfectly. Having heard that and watching how well my platoon worked together – I learned that this was a good thing. I continued this practice with every other position that I had since.

Sometimes I would get some very strange looks from my managers. Why are you doing that? I would always bring up that very first ever work assignment with the US Army… I would make them a promise that it would work or they could find someone else to do my job. I am still surprised to this day, that many managers do not take them time to learn how, perform the tasks and understand exactly what has to happen to get the work done.

If there is one simple piece of advice to get to any new manager – walk a mile or so in the shoes of your team. Get to know exactly what they are doing. If you company has a certification program for the work – complete it. The time that you spend doing that were be paid back to you ten-fold. Your team will thank you. You will have a better understanding of how all the pieces fit together. You will also be a resource to making the work get done – if needed. All good stuff for a team!

Posted in Leadership, New To Management - Tagged , , ,

Performance Reviews – Keep or Get Rid of?

May09
2011 3 Comments Written by Steve

Over the past 28 years, I have had to write many and receive a performance review. I have heard from many folks inside the company (and some experts outside) that performance reviews do more harm than good. I don’t have much experience of “no” performance review. When going up and going to school – we always got report cards! College was no different – report card. Some job applications still want to know what your GPA was from those days. When I went into the military – I got reviewed every year. As an officer, I had to write and deliver those reviews for my people. Go off to work in Corporate America, Intel, and performance appraisals were in place. I have never not had a review of one form or another… Maybe my opinion is bias, maybe it is just all that I know. I believe that the performance review is a necessary tool for any manager.

Why?

  • Provides a documented assessment of the overall performance that the individual has performed over the past 12 months.
  • Backs up the overall normal performance management that you as a manager should be doing throughout the year.
  • Gives feedback on overall performance relative to their peers (at least everyone that I have been associated with – have). That was the most meaningful piece of feedback to me. I had some understanding of how well (or not) I was doing within the team, but this feedback helped me with an outside set of eyes.
  • Helped build on my strengths.. Let me focus on the areas that need to improve on – that we important to my job.

Maybe it was me, maybe it is my competitive spirit or maybe I have to “see” how well I am doing! I ran across a this study – This paper examines the impact of performance reviews on productivity, and finds that feedback delivered on a regular basis, whether positive or negative, tends to result in improved performance. On a short-term basis, though, the impact varies, sometimes in ways that are counter-intuitive: Positive reviews, for example, do little to boost productivity, and negative reviews that are somewhat vague and indirect cause performance to fall off, but reviews that are directly negative cause productivity to leap. The research offers guidance to managers concerning the pitfalls and potential benefits in framing their messages in reviews, and suggests there is a need to provide feedback on a frequent basis.

For me, I still believe that performance reviews are necessary.. If done right are a powerful tool in your manager toolbox. What say you?

Posted in Leadership, New To Management, Observations - Tagged , ,

Teacher Appreciation Week! What I have learned…

May02
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve
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Today kicks off Teacher Appreciation Week! I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you the lessons I have learned from teachers that apply to leadership. My wife has been teaching for awhile now.. She has been an outstanding teacher for many years (I am not bias in anyway). This feedback comes straight from the parents, other teachers, her administration and the fact that year after year her students come back to say hi or update her on their progress. Looking at what she does and how she does it is amazing. It got me thinking about some of the teachers I had when I was growing up and in college. So, here is a list of the things that I think leaders could learn from teachers:

  • Believe in their students. When did you do your best work? Most of the time you did your best work when you knew that your teacher, your boss or coach believed in you. Knowing that the person of influence believes in you makes it special to you. Your potential is tapped! My wife has high expectations of her students and she knows that they can do it (even if others don’t think so).
  • Care about their students success. Completely vested in the students success. I watch and listen to how much my wife cares about each student making progress or better yet exceeding standards. When the test scores come in – she is really excited to see their success. She also is a little disappointed (well, more than a little) when success is only at standard. She has to be reminded that look at the overall progress.
  • Love what they teach. The passion for teaching does not come from the money that is made! The passion comes from teaching subjects that they love. Sharing their passion for what they are doing to those that are in the classroom. Ever just sit in the back of a classroom and observe? Let me tell you the great teachers really excel are sharing their passion of that subject.
  • Make learning fun. I look at the creative ways that my wife takes lessons and makes them fun for the students. Learning can be fun! It does not have to be drill or ground and pound. Getting the lesson to be fun for the students sets up the learning experience better. For me, the best working environment is a fun environment. I want to come to that place…
  • Make learning very partical and useful. One small disclaimer – some subjects are much easier to do this with. The best teachers really explain what they are teaching in a way that the students understand. Once that lightbulb comes on – then that teacher knows they have a student hooked.

Watching my wife and other great teachers over the years, has helped me be better at leading my teams. I look at her classroom from the beginning of the year and thoughout the year til the end – look at the progress of the students, look at the maturity improvements and teamwork that is demonstrated – and say well done! Really, well done!

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New Managers – Where to Focus?

Apr04
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

I read a survey the other day that just hit home with me! It was CareerBuilder’s survey that says 26% of managers feel untrained in their new position. Am I surprised? Maybe a little. Why? I wonder if the sample size really reflects the true percentage. I would think it maybe higher… I have to think back to my days as a new manager or supervisor (that is how long ago it was for me). We had no formal training program. See if this sounds familiar with anyone. I spent my time working during my shift - getting to know my people, helping to make sure that we were meeting expectations and learning the culture of the organization. I was spending my free time reading how to be a good manager from books and magazines. Today, I bet many new managers are using the Internet to get their additional information to get them up to speed. Look at all of the blogs and material that is out there…

So, what are the areas that new managers are struggling with? From the survey:

  • Dealing with issues between co-workers on my team – 25%. I have written about that one already, in fact the titel was New Managers -Learn this one Early! - see more here!
  • Motivating team members – 22%. Read more here!
  • Performance reviews – 15%. Read more here!
  • Finding the resources needed for the team – 15%. Read more here!
  • Creating career path for my team – 12%. Read more here!

I was lucky enough my last year of working at Intel, to spend it training new managers. I can definitely say that this list is pretty spot on with all of the topics that the new managers brought up during the training. What I was happy about, was that I got to share my experiences to over 200 new managers. I am no longer working at Intel, but I still get an email a week from students with questions. New managers are looking to do well, but just need to have the tools to help them.

Are you a new manager? Are these familiar? I hope that my information is valuable to you!

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Book Review: The Art of Non-Conformity

Feb24
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

Not sure where all my time is going. I thought I would be better at reading more books, since my retirement. One that has been waiting for me to read is The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau. Maybe my slowness to get through the book, has been that I have been using the book to help me navigate the book with my personal life today. I have been very slowly and methodically going over each chapter and apply most of his concepts to my current situation.

For those that don’t know.. I am retired from corporate America. I used Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pam Slim (see my book review) to get me started down the path of getting out of the cube farm. Apply many of her steps to helping make that jump. I am now, using Chris’ book to help me jump forward. The Art of Non-Conformity is based on his popular blog with the underlying message of “You don’t have to live your life the way other people expect you to.” I am working on my second life or second career and I am not going to follow the path of others or what is expected of me. I am doing this my way!  His book, walks you through some very common sense approaches to getting what “you” want out of life.

I found that while reading his book, I would stop and take notes and work on some of my own ideas. I quickly learned that I was just not going to sit down and read this book. I actually was applying his concepts or answering his questions while I was reading. Got me thinking and writing… Which I guess, made my time reading the book – longer. For me, I highly recommend that you read this book. You don’t have to be retired to go out after your unconventional  path. In fact, I wish I would have read this back 10+ years ago, hell maybe 20+. I think stuff would be much different today.

Thanks Chris for writing this book!

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Coaching Youth Sports – Debate…

Jan19
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

Ever just watch a high school football, basketball or baseball game? What were you first impressions?  Ever go to one of those games and see a complete whitewash or blow out? You know, where one team is far superior in every way over the other. What were your emotions? I have coached for many years in youth sports, all the way up to high school level. I have been involved on both sides of winning big and losing big. When I see scores that are so far apart, I just wonder, “what are the coaches doing?” In this area there are two schools of thought. You have those that say, you should never run the score up on an opponent; or sorry, maybe they should practice hard or work harder not to have that happen. For me, it just depends on the situation…

I for one am not a proponent of running up the score on a less-talented team. Nor am I in favor of going after individual or team scoring records. I believe that once the game has started, I as the coach, have to evaluate the game and where this is heading. If I know, I have an opponent completely out matched, I do change how I approach the rest of the game. It does not mean that I tell my players not to give 100%. It means that I may change up my player combinations or demand the team to involve more of the lesser skilled players in the game. Does that hurt the overall team? I don’t believe that it does. I would argue that expanding your playing time to those that normally get less (and having them work with higher skilled players) makes your overall team stronger. What really frosts my cookies, is when a coach is not attempting to use all of his players - his/her first team gets all the playing time. When we do score, we don’t go over-the-top with a celebration, we act like you have done it before. I have definitely had a few of those games where I was on the losing end. I again have to re-evaluate my approach to the game. I will try to motivate my players to keep them working hard, keep them focus on their performance and everything that they control. Win one play at a time, so to speak. Build on those successes for next time. Afterwards, my practice planning and focus will be on where we really need to get better based on past performances. Some of the best learning situations come from failure.

Coaching sports is something that I have loved to do over the years. I have heard from many of my players parents that we could have easily have doubled that score if we did not let up on the opponents throat. I usually answer that with, we did not let up, we just changed our approach. I also add, “what benefit would it be to the team to do that? We won and we won be a lot, doubling it who benefits?”  The simple answer I normally got was, our scoring leaders would have more points, which could get them a scholarship. My answer to that is, “maybe, maybe not; I don’t think it matters that much to him/her as they were helping their team mates be better.”

I always look for life lessons in sports. Winning big or losing big happens in sports and in life. How we do that is more important than the actually outcome. People says that we are getting to be a nation of wussies. We care too much about people’s feelings. Well, maybe that is true. I believe that as a coach it is my responsibility to have my team prepared to play well and get the job done. Putting a little bit more emphasis on how we accomplish getting the job done when adversity happens or when it is too easy – helps. For the players that have played for me, over those many years, I bet they would not argue that fact. Some would have wished that I let them accomplish some scoring titles or stuff like that, but I hope that they learned how to win with grace and sportsmanship.

I would like your take on it!

Posted in Hockey, Observations - Tagged , , , , ,

Last Internal Blog Post

Dec14
2010 2 Comments Written by Steve

Many people outside of Intel, heard or read the tweet about my last internal blog post. Looking at that post, I can not see why I would not share this with everyone. I hope you enjoy reading it!

Well, the time has come and this is my last blog post in Planet Blue. I have looked back on my career, time at Intel, time blogging and the relationships that I have formed. Many of my posts have already covered some of that. I have thought for awhile, “what would be my last post.” Many of you have sent me emails – wondering what that last post will be about. It has been a struggle to decide. I can honestly say, I have written and rewritten this post 10 to 15 times. Sounds silly, doesn’t it?  What do you say to a bunch of folks that you have spent many hours, weeks, months and years with? What last words of wisdom could I share? Here goes…

  • Thank-you’s: Check – I have said my thanks to many key folks in my career – either in a blog post, email, hallway, cafe and on the phone.
  • A glance back upon my 28 years: Check – many blog posts have shared stories. Many teambuilding dinners, happy hours, tweet-ups, 1:1, I have shared my stories.
  • What I like about having worked at Intel: Check – have many blog posts that bring up the very best of my likes. Over the past month, many of you have asked that question directly. I have given you my honest opinion. I truly have enjoyed myself. Sure, there were tough times – times that I had to do things that I really did not like, but I had to them anyways. I believe that the good far outweighed any of the bad.
  • Shared my knowledge: Check – I have been blogging to put down forever my thoughts and knowledge – so that when I have completely left the building – I have left a piece of me digitally. I also have spent a lot of my time as a manager coaching my people. I hope that my coaching will be passed on by them to others.
  • Given my all: Check – I don’t know what more I could have given. I was blessed with working in the factories and doing some amazing things. Accomplishing milestones that no one thought possible. Working around the clock on first silicon to insure that nothing was slipped in my area. Attempting to be a role-model for whatever I was doing. I truly believe that I have given my heart and soul to every task that I was assigned.
  • Had Fun: Check – without a doubt, I have had fun. Even in the toughest of situations, I have tried my best to make sure that we had fun at work. Maybe sometimes folks thought it was a bit too much – well, it can never be too much.

My old team in Oregon got together one last time to hold Last Supper with Steve. They opened up the Wellington house and brought food, drinks and fun – one last time for me.  We did many of the mentioned above that evening. We thanked each other, we shared stories, they asked me my best times at Intel, I shared my knowledge or opinion on anything asked and we had fun. Goes back to my previous post – all about the people.  I was completely humbled by their gesture. Dedicated bunch of Intel employees, but most of all great people.

Coming up soon is my official retirement party! I have been thinking about that moment and how it will be for me and my family. It is hard to really put into words. Of the 28 years, 25 of them have been wondering the Chandler Campus. I have had a cubicle in all buildings but CH6. I wonder how I missed that one? Anyways, I want to end my last post with a clear message… It is something that I have lived with and communicated out to my teams as my simple philosophy.

  • Be knowledgeable in your field. Stay on top of your skills. Be the Subject Matter Expert!
  • Do what you say you will do; everything. Your words and actions are the only things that you totally control.
  • Have fun doing it!

I wish each and everyone of you nothing but success and happiness in the future! I know Intel will remain successful, due to the people that work there!

What do you think?

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