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Many business people and managers are spending too much time trying to change the underperforming people who work for them. They seem to believe that if they train people - tell them what to do or even threaten them with the sack - then the performance level will go up. The successful manager concentrates on developing the strengths of his team members - not trying to correct their weaknesses. Sometimes you have to manage around a weakness, but you can't make people what they're not. Some years ago I decided to improve my golf by taking some lessons. A friend and I spent some hours with a professional golfer and coach at a local country club. This was really useful to me and I did get better. However my friend Robin hadn't a clue. No matter what the pro told him to do, how to change his stance and his grip, he could hardly hit the ball. If you'd given Robin a hundred lessons and threatened him with a gun, I doubt if he'd ever have completed a round of golf in less than two days. Robin is a successful lawyer and makes a lot of money, however a golfer - he is not. So if you have a sales person on your team who isn't bringing in the sales or a production engineer who isn't making his quota, then you have to make a decision. Is this person not producing because they don't have the ability - because they need more training or - because there's another reason? You can read more about coaching and other reasons for non performance in my book - "How to get more Sales by Motivating your Team" but for the moment it's important to understand that the individual may not be able to do the job. They may tell you they can do the job because they're unwilling to accept defeat; however I've known people in sales jobs who shouldn't be in sales and doctors, plumbers, lawyers and engineers who were also in the wrong job. What you need to do is get people who can't do the job into a job that they can do or get them out of your team. I joined three companies as a manager and in each case I inherited team members who didn't have what it takes to do the job. I'd usually find three categories of people in the teams - The first group were the 'good guys,' the ones I knew could do the job and wouldn't give me any hassle. The second group consisted of people who needed a bit of looking after, watching closely and definitely some coaching. The third group were the ones didn't have either the skills or the characteristics to do the job and no amount of training, or anything I could do, would change that. I would often find that these people, due to their lack of success, weren't exactly happy in the job anyway and were sometimes only too pleased to be transferred to another position. I hear you saying - "easier said than done Alan" and you're right. But the successful manager needs to address these issues for the good of the team and the business. The successful manager concentrates on strengths not weaknesses. It's vital to give your people feedback on their strengths and also on their weaknesses. However these should only be weaknesses that you know the individual can do something about. It's a waste of your time and effort trying to sort weaknesses that can't be sorted. Some people just can't build relationships with customers; others can't work as fast as you need them to and others can't write a report to save their life. Your most productive time as a manager will be spent giving feedback on strengths and how to develop these even further. Many managers spend the majority of their time with team members trying to resolve weaknesses. They then don't have the time or sometimes the capability to give feedback on strengths. How To Be Funny! - Earn 60% of $49.95 per sale! One of a kind niche e-book teaching people how to be funny in just 7 days flat! Government Grants. - 30 million people will receive government money this year. Be one of them. Receive cash grants for any purpose. Aff earn 75%
Jonathan and I had a great time doing this episode with Mary Jo Foley. We did the broadcast live from TechDays Vancouver in front of a live audience as well as our usual online audience. Mary Jo was a great guest and even wrote a follow up blog post based on her experiences with us up here in the Great White North with tips for how IT mangers can keep up to date on the latest happenings in technology and at Microsoft. In this episode, we talk with Mary Jo about her views on what’s new at Microsoft and what’s important for technology managers, strategists, leaders and architects to keep their eyes on when planning for the future. This episode is also available as a audio podcast (download as MP3): Subscribe to the audio podcast series (so you don't miss an episode) :
Mary Jo Foley has been a tech journalist for more than 25 years. She has worked for a variety of tech publications and Web sites, including PCWeek/eWeek, CRN and ZDNet. She is the editor of the "All About Microsoft" blog on ZDNet, and the author of the book "Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post-Gates Era" (John Wiley & Sons). She also is the co-host of the Windows Weekly show on the TWiT network and a frequent commentator and speaker on all things Microsoft-related on TV, radio, podcasts and at industry events. About AlignIT Manager Tech Talk The AlignIT Manager Tech Talk is a monthly live streamed video series hosted by Ruth Morton (LinkedIn) and Jonathan Rozenblit (LinkedIn). Each Tech Talk episode airs on the 2nd Thursday of the month from 12:00pm to 12:30pm ET. The show focuses on a range of topics for both infrastructure and development managers and is interactive, taking questions via a live chat and providing answers on air. About AlignIT The AlignIT program is dedicated to keeping IT leaders informed about what matters in business and technology. We do that through in-person events, web casts, our blog and, of course, this audio and video series. You can find more information about the Align IT program at www.alignit.ca. If you have comments, suggestions, and ideas for future topics please let us know by connecting with us via email, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
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Featured Guest: Mary Jo Foley