The 5 big mistakes Managers cannot afford to make in these times!
It’s no longer news to us that things are tough. We are constantly hearing about the economy being in crisis, how redundancies are soaring and how many businesses are finding it difficult to survive let alone thrive!
With all this gloom and doom about what are organisations to do to maintain a positive vision for the future? Of course it’s vital that we keep up-to-date with current developments but we also need to be focusing on economic recovery and ‘getting our own house in order’ so that our organisations can emerge stronger than ever from this economic downturn.
Whilst delivering Management Masterclasses, Coaching and Courses I regularly come into contact with many managers and leaders and whilst many of the issues remain the same there seems to be a few areas which are becoming more problematic.
The feedback I have been getting of late is that Managers and Leaders are observing lower levels of motivation and performance from their people, and these aren’t just the people who are usually low achievers but even usually high flyers are being affected.
When you think about it it’s obvious that the negativity we are constantly bombarded with is going to make people more insecure and uncertain about the future and have a significant effect on performance. But people are also experiencing a lot of change in terms of changes to teams, bosses, colleagues, job roles etc. In some cases this is leading to decreased morale, increased conflict within teams, more stress and lower productivity.
Even people who aren’t experiencing any changes at the moment seem ‘less optimistic and motivated that usual’ as one Manager put it. So how can Managers and Leaders improve motivation and performance of their people in these challenging times without resorting to big pay increases and numerous other benefits?
There are a number of ‘mistakes’ that Managers and Leaders should know about if they are to avoid the dire consequences of people’s low morale, motivation and poor performance. These are the top 5 that I have encountered and are in no particular order.
1) Lack of or bad communication. Communication is key! How many times have you heard that said? But despite everyone appearing to be aware of this fact, people are still being left in the dark about what’s going on in their organisation, department, team. As a lack of this sort of communication breeds uncertainty, insecurity and fear it’s vital that busy Managers and Leaders make even more time to keep the lines of communication open and flowing.
2) Inadequate or destructive feedback. Everyone needs feedback and anyone who says they don’t is either not being entirely honest or unbelievably lacking in self awareness. So this issue is not so much about feedback but more about the type of feedback. Again everyone seems to have heard the expression ‘constructive feedback’ but how many people actually give it? That is, giving feedback which encourages and motivates people rather than the opposite! Managers could improve the performance of their staff almost instantly with the right kind of feedback.
3) Misunderstanding what motivates people. You’ve probably been taught from an early age to treat people as you would like to be treated and whilst this isn’t a bad thing, when applied to motivation it certainly isn’t the best way. You probably already understand that people aren’t motivated by the same things so trying to guess what motivates someone or thinking that what motivates you will work on someone else won’t necessarily get you the best results. So how do you work out how best to motivate your people? Since motivation is a highly individual thing the only way you’ll know is to get to know the individuals, find out what makes them tick and what’s important to them. In short ask them! And perhaps more importantly listen to the response!
4) Expecting your people to be ‘mind readers’. If I had a £1 for every time someone within an organisation had told me that they weren’t clear what their current and future work priorities were I would be a very rich woman! It seems incredible that something so simple, eg: telling people what is required and the standard that is required, could be so often overlooked. Of course, the best way is to mutually agree meaningful and achievable objectives with specific success criteria so people can take ownership and know what ‘great’ looks like.
5) Not developing people in a downturn. Can you afford to keep developing people? Can you afford not to? It’s true that training budgets have been trimmed and L&D professionals are under increasing pressure to keep costs down. But surely only the most foolhardy of companies would take the short term view of putting people development on hold? It is imperative that companies continue to develop their staff and this doesn’t have to mean expensive training courses. Think creatively and source short practical courses which don’t cost the earth but deliver the necessary skills not just loads of concepts and theories.
My intention has been to give you some ‘food for thought’, I hope I’ve achieved that. Avoiding these ‘mistakes’ will ensure that your people remain motivated, positive and performing at their best.
Smart companies know that it is essential to pay attention to these points in order to prepare for economic recovery and emerge stronger than before. Are you in one of those smart companies?
This article was written by Sara Knights, Director, The Leading Edge, which delivers Management & Leadership Development Masterclasses, Courses and Executive Coaching. For more information see :-www.theleadingedge.org.uk, email: info@theleadingedge.org.uk
Sara Knights is an expert in management and leadership development. She delivers leading edge development solutions and runs Masterclasses, courses and delivers executive coaching. Contact her @ info@theleadingedge.org.uk or visit our website www.theleadingedge.org.uk
