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New Manager Fundamentals

by | Nov 30, 2016 | Team Management | 0 comments

Leadership

  • Leadership is a set of skills.
  • Expertise does not equal leadership.
  • People related skills that facilitate the work of others.
  • Add value and help others
  • Facilitate others greatness
  • Inspires visions

Chapter 1: Surviving the First Month

I. Establishing your Identity as a Leader

  1. Look like a Leader
  2. Goal to have “Positive Professional Relationships” not making friends. For the mere reason that it’s hard to give a tough feedback.
  3. Stay Visible – the higher your visibility, the more people connected to you and experience more motivation to work effectively.
  4. Allocate 5-10% to talk casually to them.

II. Clarify Performance expectations

  1. Boss expectation of you
  2. Bigger picture(Goal, performance of your team)
  3. Request needed resources
  4. Meet with your team
    • Discuss performance
    • Recognize accomplishments
    • Goals
  5. Clarify Team Goals
    • Set Milestones
    • Assign Responsibilities
    • One on one
  6. Define team norms – informal rules about group behaviour
    • Be positive
    • Show respect
    • Be on time
    • Be prepared

III. Feed your Learning Curve
Leadership role are very demanding and can put a strain on your personal and family time. Demands on the roles. Schedule Personal Time – Focus on quality of personal time

  1. Identify Learning Resources
  2. Commit to Leadership-Related Training
  3. Build your Professional Network
  4. Learn your business

Chapter 2: Connect with the team
I. Building initial rapport
Compatible positive interactions that support the production of quality work.

  • Understand
  • Appreciate

Establishing Rapport

  1. Connect on a Personal Level
    • Not work issues 100% of the time.
    • Discuss Personal Issues
  2. Avoid Projecting
  3. Get to know the team personally – See your team as individuals, not just resources
  4. Show Respect – Thank you, Great Job, Well done.
  5. Give employees opportunities to show their expertise

II. Making Decisions

  • Autocratic – you decide
  • Collaborative – collaboration, then decide
  • Democratic – They decide

No matter which path. All great decisions should be followed by great explanations. Offer honest and specific clarification for the decision you make.

  • Be clear
  • Be honest
  • Avoid blame

Good explanation make the decision just at acceptable.

III. Breaking the Status Bubble

  1. Attack the status bubble
    • Openly discuss your status with the team
    • Seek feedback about your performance
    • Laugh at yourself
  2. Encourage Positive Debate
  3. Show Genuine Gratitude

Chapter 3: Building Trust
I. Signaling fairness and Integrity
Integrity/Fairness – impacts trust and creates deep commitment

  1. Trust is hard to build but can be lost in an instant.
  2. Demonstrate trust with your actions – Walk the talk
    • Talk about integrity
    • Be clear about standards
  3. Share Credit widely
  4. Share Challenges and Difficulties
  5. Make merit-based decisions
  6. Avoid favoritism
  7. Take on the difficult task
  8. Be a team player
  9. Be the first to volunteer

When the team trust you, they’ll listen better and perform at a higher level.

II. Becoming a servant leader
Recognize them as colleagues, collaborators and partners

Servant Leadership

  • Serving the people you lead in order to build and develop them
  • Help them succeed – their success is your success

Guide on developing your team

  1. Commit to employee development
    • Support Professional
    • and Personal Growth
  2. Develop Self Awareness
    • Strengths
    • Weakness
  3. Listen effectively
  4. Feel empathy
  5. Promote healing
    • Laugh at yourself
    • Apologize when needed
    • Be selfless
    • Be positive
    • Admit mistakes

III. Increasing your authenticity
Competence and Confidence

Authentic

  1. Be open
  2. Show humanity – Share your failures
  3. Maintain flexibility
  4. Be humble
    • Ask question
    • Promote others
    • Share authority
  5. Be a role model

Chapter 4: Communicating Effectively
I. Communicating proactively
Ways to help your audience hear you and make sure you hear them

  1. Look for important nonverbal cues
  2. Ask Questions
  3. Clarify
  4. Predicting Challenges

Candor vs. Civility
Straightforward/Candid vs Nice and Positive

Be clear about the topic and everyone’s perspective

II. Understanding Communication
How important is this message?
Choose the best communication option.(Written, email, IM, Face to face)

III. Making Performance feedback
No to: Poor delivery and avoid conflict

Helpful Feedback

  1. Be specific
  2. Deliver Positively
  3. Give the right amount of feedback(Too little, Too much)
  4. Feedback is 2 way. Make it a conversation
  5. How will you deliver?
    • Give feedback in Person
    • Give feedback quickly
    • Take ownership
  6. Find an Appropriate Location

Chapter 5: Creating Productive Meetings
I. Knowing when to have a meeting
When in doubt, do not call a meeting

Reasons to call a meeting

  1. Important Team Decisions
  2. Major Announcements
  3. Kick-off Meeting
    • Explain new initiatives
    • Set goals and expectations
    • Clarify
  4. Premortem
    • What could go wrong?
    • What challenges we might face?
  5. Postmortem
    • Problems that are solved
    • Solutions applied
    • Resources used
    • Can be used to say thanks

II. Deciding who should attend a meeting

  1. Invite the fewes to get the job done
    • Easy to add
    • Removing is impossible
  2. Who to invite
    • Experts
    • Affected
    • Sponsors
  3. Not to invite
    • Too many experts
    • Former associates
    • Political appointees

III. Effective Meeting Rules

  1. Arrive on time and prepared
  2. Clarify meeting goal and agenda
  3. Be critical but be positive
  4. No interrupting others
  5. No unnecessary electronics

Making Decisions
Consensus through discussion

Penalties – Behaviour have consequences

IV. Meeting tools and Roles
Tools

  1. Agenda – must be clear
    • Who is responsible?
    • What is the schedule?
    • Have clear deadlines
    • Stick to the list of issues
    • Follow the order of the items
  2. Parking lot – A place to capture important work related topics
  3. Homework

Roles

  1. Facilitator
    • Process Observer
    • Monitors Behaviours
    • Protects Agenda
  2. Scribe
    • Note taker
    • Distributes Notes
  3. Devil’s advocate
    • Questions assumptions
    • Presents alternatives
    • May be appointed

Ending the Meeting

  • What is accomplished
  • Incomplete tasks
  • Responsible parties
  • Future Meetings

Chapter 6: Using Authority Successfully
I. Asserting your authority
Authority – the legitimate right to exercise influence and make decisions

  1. Start Small
  2. Co-opt Key Players
  3. Make a Pro-employee change
    • Work attire policy
    • Vacation policy

II. Looking back to move forward
What is the Team’s History?

  1. Team Culture – shared attitude and behavior
  2. Key Players
  3. Key Leaders
  4. Key Incidents

The more you learn from the past, the quicker you move forward.

III. Developing a lieutenant
Great second in command, a lieutenant, a reliable collaborator and go-to person.

  1. They can stand in for you
  2. Mobilizing support – can be a catalyst
  3. Getting Team Feedback
  4. Presenting Opposing Views

Lieutenant

  • Is not a clone of you
  • Not a Yes man
  • Not an Enforcer

Develop them by:

  • Build their confidence
  • Offering stretch roles
  • Delegating tasks

Conclusion
Standing alone and Stress

  1. Seek support from your Network
    • From Family
    • From Peers
    • From Professional Mentor
  2. Schedule vacation time
  3. Get Organized
  4. Diet and Exercise and Adequate Sleep

Consider your leadership journey as a marathon not a sprint. Take one step at a time. You will grow into a very capable leader.