Tag Archives: first-time manager

04-Managing a project team, feedback, team dynamics, team roles

Why We Don’t Speak Up at Work

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Why do so many people choose not to speak up at work? Interestingly, it’s not always because we fear retribution or other negative consequences. In fact, the biggest reason people do not speak to their managers concerning feedback or suggestions is that they feel nothing would change even if they did speak up. According to a survey from the Cornel University Survey Research Institute, respondents chose not to speak up to their managers because they think it is “a waste of time.” This feeling of futility can have far reaching effects on employees and the work environment as a whole.

The problem reminds me of the psychological theory of learned helplessness. Learned helplessness is the idea that depression and other negative mental states and illnesses “result from a perceived absence of control over the outcome of the situation.” Although the theory was originally studied in animals, it has applications in people too, particularly in the workplace. When employees feel like they have no control, they begin to feel helpless; and when they feel helpless or like all of their feedback ‘falls on deaf ears,’ why would they speak up at work?

So how do we fix this problem? Claire Lew, the CEO of Know Your Company, provides some suggestions:

  1. Treat people that do speak up with dignity and respect. Ensure that they know they are being heard.
  2. Explain why you are not doing something. If there’s no explanation for not following their suggestions, employees will assume that the new ideas brought to the table are simply being ignored.
  3. Act on your employees’ suggestions. Claire states that the best way to encourage employees to speak up more and create a positive workplace is to act on the feedback offered – no matter how small.

These changes are relatively small and very easy to implement, but they have a huge impact on the company culture and on the employees working there. The next hurdle might be actually getting managers to listen to feedback about feedback…

03-Planning the work of a team, 04-Managing a project team, team dynamics, work plans

Making the Move into a Management Position

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I just read an article that discusses the issue of wanting to transition into a management role, but needing management experience in order to qualify. How do you gain experience if you need experience to get the position. This is a tricky situation that many people face as they try to climb the corporate ladder.

The article suggests some ideas for making yourself more visible at your firm and forming the opinions of your superiors so that they see you as someone with management potential. The author states that your focus should be doing your current job very well. Nobody will consider you for a management position if you cannot perform your current job well. Presumably this is because a management role will have much more responsibilities than your current role as you will now also be responsible for other people.
He then lists 4 steps you should take:
1) Do your homework. He suggests observing managers at your firm and what they do. Another great suggestion that he made was to read books on leadership. These books can give you a great insight into skills that you may need to develop. One book that he suggested that I plan to read is ‘The One Minute Manager’ by Kenneth H. Blanchard and Spencer Johnson.
2) Develop people skills. This may seem as a given, but people skills are truly important to be an effective manager. You need to be able to relate, speak to and influence people. You also need to realize that the same techniques may not work for different people. I think that one good way to enhance your people skills is through group work that you may do at work and school. Pay particular attention to how you handle group dynamics. Pay attention to how you handle situations of disagreement and conflict. These are opportunities for you to learn and grow.
3) Show initiative. Volunteer to do things that may not be specifically required of you. Showing that you are willing to go above and beyond what is required of you puts you in a favorable light with your superiors. Volunteer for planning committees. Again, this shows that you are willing to go above and beyond, but it is also a great opportunity to showcase your planning and people skills. Both of which are very important skills for a manager to possess.
4) Ask. The author suggests asking for a management position if this is what you want. This is something that I find particularly difficult as you do not want to come across as aggressive, especially for a female. However, my career has taught me that you cannot wait for anything to be handed to you. There will be other people willing to stand up and ask for what they want and they will be seen and heard more than the person who quietly sits back, working away. Voicing what I want is out of my comfort zone, but I have some to realize that it is necessary to achieve what you want.
I believe that these simple suggestions could produce a meaningful difference in your career. As someone who wants to move into a management position, these are steps that I can easily implement in my every day work life.

http://management.about.com/cs/begintomanage/a/FirstMgtJob.htm
04-Managing a project team, feedback

First-Time Manager Survival Guide

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One of the motives for me in obtaining my MBA is to learn more about managerial best practices and apply what I learn in the classroom to the workplace. This is why I’m especially looking forward to taking ‘Managing Groups & Teams’ in the fall. Currently, I have only had the opportunity to supervise student workers and have yet to manage other full-time professional staff members. Many of you may be in a similar boat, as you find yourselves only a few years out of college and still trying to establish your place in the office hierarchy. As we continue to move up the chain and are promoted to management positions, we will be entrusted with increased responsibilities, and with this comes its challenges. Our success now is not only dependent upon our own performance, but also of those we oversee.

In order to be a successful manager, I believe you must be a leader first and foremost. Here are some guidelines to becoming an effective leader from Bill Gentry’s article 3 Tips For Surviving As A First-Time Manager:

1) “It’s not me, it’s you”

Schedule an individual meeting with each of your direct reports as soon as you move into the new management role. You need to figure out what motivates them, how they like to be led, and what questions or concerns they may have. Communication is critical in every (work) relationship, so this is the best place to start. Using the Birkman Method Assessment may be a very useful tool to utilize here as well.

2) “Mentor others for a win-win”

Mentorship is also a big factor in a successful supervisor/supervisee relationship.  Research has shown that it not only benefits the person being mentored but also helps the manager doing the mentoring become a more effective and efficient leader. Regular check-ins and providing feedback (both constructive and positive) will help both parties involved.

3) “You are 100% the boss, but only 50% of the relationship”

This is something first-time managers struggle with the most. You must accept the fact that you are only responsible for your own actions, behaviors, thoughts, etc. You cannot control other people’s opinions or feelings about you, so you must learn to let it go. It is impossible to make everyone happy 100% of the time. Just focus on being the best leader and manager you can be, and the rest will fall into place.

From my personal work experience, I feel like I’ve learned what not to do as a manager. I value this Forbes article because it’s provided me with some actionable takeaways or “To Do’s” rather than “Don’ts,” which we too often focus on.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ccl/2013/05/10/3-tips-for-surviving-as-a-first-time-manager/