Conflict Management

It is easy to become bogged down in the non-essentials of life and business. Mission statements are designed to keep us on track and focused on what we are trying to achieve.

It is easy to become distracted from what we are meant to be doing. My point in case is the feud occurring between two of today's best musical people around (depending on taste) - in this case it is Eminem and Mariah Carey.

There are a couple of ways to look at this situation.

1. Who cares? Not I.
2. What can we learn from this? Quite a bit.

Don't sweat the small stuff. Do any of their arguments matter or make any difference?

Got a gripe? Sort out your issues in private before they become public. Keep it between you and the other party involved. Discuss the issue in a closed forum before leaking your laundry to your friends, your workmates and ultimately to the world.

Focus on what you are good at. Anytime spent worrying about what another thinks of you or what they are up to is time you are not spending constructively.

Governance Restructures - NZ ITP's

The Minister of Education, Hon Anne Tolley, wants to reduce the number of members of Councils for Polytechnics and Universitys in New Zealand.

See - http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/2674805/Polytechs-top-brass-to-be-axed-leaked-memo

What are the possible effects of such action? It depends upon which side the arguement you wish to take. Under the previous government Councils were allowed to grow to numbers up to a maximum of 20. This includes all sorts of representatives from different stakeholder divisions.

In order to work out how these changes may affect the ITP sector, one must first have a clear understanding of what Governance's role is. By determining the role then we can decide what the best way of achieving those desired outcomes are.

A very simplistic way of defining governance's role is - Steer, Strategy, Stability. Management also provide these factors but at an operations level c.f. the strategy and governence level.

Governance can be effective with a few or many members. Likewise governance body's can be ineffective with a few or many members.

It is the quality of the members not the number of the members that counts.

Mentors

It pays to have a mentor. Mentoring is defined as - "a developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person " (see Wikipedia)

Here are some tips about mentors -

• They find you. Someone will will see your performance and will offer to help you.


• Stay in touch. You may only speak 3 or 4 times a year - but that is enough. Sometimes you may meet more often, it depends on the needs of the relationship.


• Plan - what you want to talk about. You don't have long sop make sure you know what you want to talk about before you get there. There aren't many seers in the business world with the time to sit and talk.


• Ideas - take your ideas and allow your mentor to re-direct or reshape what you already have. Never go in cold - unless they ask to see you (even then ask what they want to discuss)


• Keep an open mind. Always be open to possibilities and a different point of view.

I have a couple of mentors whom I meet with irregularly, and it's great!

Social Media for Customer Engagement

Shut up and listen.

Customers ultimately determine the success or failure of your business.

If the customers aren't buying - maybe you're wrong.

The link posted below goes to a study done on companies engaging with their customers through the social media medium. What it attempts to do is find a link between revenues and customer involvement.

Are the two linked? Yes. Strongly? Not so much.

http://www.engagementdb.com/Report

One social media forum I have been musing on is the success of the website - http://www.throng.co.nz/. This is a social community/tribe (see Seth Godin) based on something that most people do - watch TV.

Throng.co.nz fills a gap in the market - people want to discuss, learn about and give feedback to the TV channels in a forum that is not commercially linked (?) to the TV stations.

Does it work? Yes.
Why? People can engage and speak their minds.
Do the TV people listen? I sincerely hope so.

The company or organisation that listens will ultimately succeed!

Why we have HR departments...

Presentations that Work

The ability to present ideas is a skill that can be learnt. There isn't a lot of difference between a good presentation and a killer presentation.

Just observe a few simple rules and you too can improve -

1. Know your content!
2. Get early wins with your audience.
3. Have a laugh! Don't be so serious or nervous
4. Stay on track.
5. Practice.
   

Powerpoint is an excellent tool for producing eye catching graphics and creating slides that people enjoy. This website is a library of excellent powerpoint slide shows - http://www.slideshare.net/.

Some can be downloaded, but the main point is to draw inspiration from other people's work to enable you to be creative also.

Governance

Governance = to steer; Governance is the process of deciding what an organisation shall do, and ensuring that it happens. Governance is separate from the management of staff and programmes, even where they are carried out by much the same group of people (NZICA, 2009).

It is not the role of a governance body to manage the everyday affairs of the entity but rather to steer the future objectives and strategies of the organisation as a whole.

Boards need to ensure that they are relevant to the businesses and organisations that they oversee.

A lack of good governance leads to such problems as the Global Credit Crunch.

Good governance can lead to progressive, quick reacting, strategic thinking companies and organisations that are well able to navigate the way ahead for them.

Really good governance thoughts and resources can be found -

http://www.nzica.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Governance
http://www.sparc.org.nz/sport/business-improvement/governance-templates

Issues I'm Dealing With

I have two distinct issues when it comes to the line management of my team -

1. A high performing team - when to step in/step up?


2. Staff working at a remote site.

The second issue of having to deal with the remote office has been easier than the high performance team. The high performing people need far less help and looking after but this creates a tension for me not knowing if I am fulfilling my role as line manager or not.

The remote office has tensions around task delegation and completion. There are other persons whom my staff members are there to support who provide tasks and work loads for my staff.

How do I deal with these situations?

1. The team - I leave the team to do it's work effectively. I don't need to know all the in's and out's of the actual tasks being completed (the how), as long I keep tabs on which staff member is doing the work (the who) and the completion times (the when). I don't need to be 'Big Brother' watching their every move. I trust them and they me. Also they have a far deeper technical knowledge than I do. But when issues arise around timing and external issues - then I come alongside to develop strategies on what the best course of action will be.
2. The remote office - I also take a similar approach. I don't need to know every task that is being done. The staff members are able to decide for themselves what tasks are important and which tasks aren't.

Fortunately for me so far the big issue of - non-performance hasn't arisen. Sure people have down times and flat periods but as a team we get on with the tasks required and achieve effective results.

I give all my staff higher levels of autonomy and the ability to make their own decisions.

Ambiguity

Often times there is a lack of certainty around decision making and the direction of an organisation.

For the middle manager there is no real method of being able to accept change upwards.

So what do you do? Change yourself.

• Attitude - your attitude determines your altitude.
• Goals - define who you want to be, and where you want to go.
• Direction - think for yourself, understand the bigger organisation and consider where you fit in and if you can make incremental changes at your level.
• Communication - be honest and open. Let those above you know that you would like more openness and a knowledge of where things are going.
• Patience - don't be in a rush. Good things take time.

There are no silver bullet remedies for work situations that you have no control over. But you can control your attitude and your responses!

Performance Measurement

What do you measure and how?

The acid test for an individuals individual performance is whether or not their work is contributing to the goals and values of the organisation.

There are a range of key areas that can be assessed and reviewed over time -

• Expectations for the agreed time periods. Quarterly/ Half yearly/ Annual.
• Achievement of job description goals.
• How the person is carrying out their role.
• What behaviors and values does the person demonstrate (both verbal and non-verbal).
• What professional development goals has the person attained.

Some areas are easier to measure than others. There are differences between the 'soft' targets and the 'hard' targets.

One of the key measures I like to use is 360 degree feedback. That is what do others apart from the manager think of the individuals performance/teams performance.

Often times personal judgements can be slanted and not entirely accurate. However where a number of people agree on the big areas you can feel more confident about the feedback you will give.