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Regaining Control - Nine Steps for New Managers

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My client had faced the same challenge, which was frustrating as well as intimidating for him as well - yet he was determined to break the mould.

With my background in a similar business, I have faced this several times.

In fact there was almost always an underlying individual who seemed to 'run the place', in spite of there being a manager before me! The challenge was to wrest control back and manage myself. And deliver the results which had been missing on every occasion.

Over time, I found a distinct pattern which went as follows:-

1. Build Relationships

   From day one start building relationships with every one of your team. By getting to know them, showing a keen interest in who they are as real people, you will forge genuine alliances which will help your case (checkout this article to help accelerate this).

2. Agree Business Standards

   By working directly with the people in the business, agree the standards of how your business operates; identify absolute priorities that everyone clearly understands, in order of value to the business and that you authorise them to behave in this way.

3. Deal with Facts

   When you are trying to get control back, you may be faced with a lot of hearsay and a lot of exceptional behaviours of one or more people. So it is vital to have hard factual evidence around performance and non-delivery of objectives. Being woolly will hold your case back here, so take the time to be very SMART about what you expect.

4. Be Transparent and Consistent

   By having standards around people which are rigorously the same for anyone, including yourself, there will be a lot less wriggle room where those trying to undermine you will try to make gain. If everyone is treated fairly and equally, more will come onside with you and make your position far stronger.

5. Stick to Your Guns

   Bullies; those who intimidate and employees who get off on power will push hard to try to break you. After all, where you come in is on what they perceive as their territory And it is territory which they have seized from weak management, even though they themselves are either not up to that responsibility or find it much easier to heckle from the sidelines.

   Personal story? I once worked in a retail business where the amateur leader kept shifting a merchandise display where I quickly decided that I didn't want it.

   Early on, I asked her to move it, which she didn't, so I asked her again and advised her that I wanted it doing immediately. It still didn't happen, so I took her on onside and explained that I was the manager and that I made decisions, was there anything she did not understand about that.

   She did not argue and she moved the piece of fitting. It seemed a tiny thing to be pedantic about, but it was a metaphor for far greater battles, but my stake was in the ground - and step-by-laborious-step, I succeeded and made the business viable. The first step was the most important though.

6. Praise Success

   In everyone, whenever you can. Including anyone who might not seem to be on your side. If you do this consistently and when it is justified, everyone will stick by you. Actually just saying thank you works, it's just that most managers fail to realise the power of it.

7. Tackle Underperformance (and other things)

   Once your standards are clear, many of your people will welcome that clarity. But if these rules are broken, then you need to act to make them stick. By being firm at the start, using whatever disciplinary processes are appropriate, then the message gets home quickly. Do not be afraid if this includes anyone who might have been a problem for previous management.

   Don't pick on them unfairly, just equally.

8. Seek Acceptable Solutions

   When all else fails, it is sometimes necessary to subtly offer solutions that will work for those who don't fit any more. This comes out of them failing to achieve clear standards and objectives and a focused way of reviewing these. Firmly making it clear that this is how it is and that your resolve is consistent, there may be a moment for a discussion around whether they will be able to meet the requirements.

   Yet making sure that they realise that any change in their circumstances will be their decision and you will be happy to help them make it. But be clear, their 'poor fit' is not going to become any easier.

9. Relax and Have Fun

   With your followers. This really will make sure that anyone who is 'off message', gets very clear on the direction of your management. It continues to isolate not them, but the behaviours and attitudes they are expressing. They are choosing to act that way and it is, however hard they may find it, a conscious decision.

So others will soon move on - to someone who is fun, fair, clear, focused and above all capable - whether a disruptive influence decides to step back and join the team or leave is up to them. Whatever their decision, your actions need to be fair and as quick as you can, however unpalatable confrontation is.

If left too long you will suffer, as will your business and in fact so will they.

It's actually quite fun, once you get going! To get you back down to earth, remember, in the challenging business world we live in, it's them or you, because undermined performance of a business reflects on a manager, and not some amateur pretender!

Guest post written by Stuart Ngai, Director of Technology Solutions, VERAX

Having worked in software development in the engineering and financial sectors through several technology eras, one thing strikes me the most is how often top notch IT professionals just get burned out by the fast pace of technology advances. As an educator, development manager, and technology driver for many years, it has been my passion to help our IT staff to keep up in light of global competition. On the previous episode of the AlignIT Manager Tech Talk, I shared with the audience my advice on how IT managers can play an important role in their team’s training. I would like to summarize a few important aspects to keep in mind when it comes to planning and managing training for your staff.

Continued from last Monday. Read Part 1 >>

Enforce a checkpoint schedule

Now that you’ve worked out a set of goals with your staff. Who’s responsible to make sure things are on track? My experience tells me that it’s both of you: your staff needs to take ownership to keep up with skills and you, as their manager, need to be the measuring stick. And if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. So it needs to be instilled as a routine in order to keep the momentum going. By measuring training progress on a periodic basis like once every 3 to 4 months , you’ll know whether your staff is progressing as expected or perhaps he or she is being overloaded. With such a feedback loop, you’ll be able to fine tune the training plan and keep things in focus.

Not one size fits all

Everyone’s different. Some of your IT staff might be more comfortable with structured classroom learning while others prefer to be given time and web resources so they can learn at their own pace. And one of the techniques we have done successfully at VERAX is to provide some of the technology savvy staff with resources and allocated time so that they can put together lunch and learn seminars for their peers. And there are many benefits for that: opportunity to showcase what they’ve learned, efficiency in cross training each other, a chance for the team to gel and discuss innovative ideas for your workplace, and virtually no loss of productivity at a minimal cost to the company. It’s been a win-win training mechanism that has been working well for us. So be creative in your approach to training.

Make use of web resources

With advances in webcasting and e-learning tools, many companies are no longer constrained to sending their staff on expensive offsite training. Virtual training along with virtual machine images would be a great way to learn. And there are tons of resources on the web for that purpose that you should look into (some free resources - Developer Connection, Channel 9)

Make it fun

Be aware of e-learning trends and listen to your staff for innovative and fun ideas to learn. As an example, one thing we have done is to provide tablets to loan to our staff along with e-book subscriptions so that they can read at their own pace anywhere anytime. Our staff love such innovative approaches to learning and they appreciate our willingness to invest in them. So not only did we generated excitement and high level of staff engagement, we know our staff will be able to learn throughout the year on their own pace instead of the standard one to two weeks training for most companies. So make it fun and engaging. After all, it’s a small investment that pays back many folds.

To finish off - You are not alone

Just remember that you are not an island on your own. The best way to avoid missteps is to learn from the lessons and best practices of other managers. And guess what? There are already great resources freely available for you, such as the AlignIT portal and LinkedIn group. They are great places where you can read and interact with other IT practitioners for advice.

Stuart Ngai

Stuart Ngai, Director of Technology Solutions at VERAX, is an IT professional with over 25 years of experience. As a development manager, lead enterprise architect, and a Senior Leadership Member, Stuart has led the delivery of many leading edge systems through several technology eras and guided many IT professionals in enriching and re-energizing their careers. With 7 years teaching software courses at Seneca College of Applied Sciences followed by another 7 years teaching software engineering courses for the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto, personal development through perpetual training has been a theme in which Stuart helped many IT professionals to achieve and sustain their career growth. Stuart is a certified P. Eng. and PMP with a Masters degree in Engineering from McGill University and a management degree from McGill's School of Management. He has been with the software consulting firm VERAX Solutions Corporation in Toronto since 1993 focusing on building strong delivery teams and delivering results to their customers in the financial sector.

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