it's okay to be the boss faq
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These are the most frequently asked questions by managers at the It's Okay to Be the Boss Workshop. After each is a brief response provided by Bruce Tulgan.TRANSCRIPT
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BRUCE TULGAN (New Haven, CT) is internationally recognized as a leading expert on
leadership and management. He is an advisor to business leaders all over the
world, the author or co-author of numerous books, most recently Not Everyone
Gets a Trophy: How to Manage Generation Y (Jossey-Bass, 2009), the classic
Managing Generation X (1995), and the recent best-seller It’s Okay to Be the Boss
(2007). Since founding the management training firm RainmakerThinking in 1993,
he has been a sought-after keynote speaker and seminar leader. Tulgan has
personally trained tens of thousands of managers in a wide range of industries. His
work has been the subject of thousands of news stories around the world, and he
has written for dozens of publications, including The New York Times, USA Today,
Human Resources magazine, and The Harvard Business Review. He also holds a
fourth degree black belt in Okinawan Karate and is married to Debby Applegate,
who won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. Tulgan’s weekly v-log (video news-
letter) is available for free at www.rainmakerthinking.com.
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
Frequently Asked Questions
These are the most frequently asked questions by managers at the It's Okay to Be
the Boss Workshop. After each is a brief response provided by Bruce Tulgan.
WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO START OUT AT THE BEGINNING OF A MANAGEMENT
RELATIONSHIP? IS IT BETTER TO START OUT BEING HANDS-OFF AND THEN GRADUALLY
BECOME MORE HANDS-ON? OR IS IT BETTER TO START OUT BEING MORE HANDS-ON
AND THEN GRADUALLY BECOME MORE HANDS-OFF?
If you start out very hands-on, you’ll figure out just how closely the person needs to
be managed and you can calibrate your approach accordingly. You’ll also make it
clear right at the outset that your expectations are high and that you are willing
and able to manage very closely. So start out very hands-on: Meet with the
employee every day. Break goals down into lists of concrete action steps with lots
of guidelines and very short deadlines. Then, as the employee delivers on those
expectations, you can gradually back off. If the employee keeps delivering, back off
some more. But don’t back off too much. Keep meeting regularly to review
priorities, clarify expectations, and to monitor, measure, and document that
person’s performance.
If the employee’s performance falters in any way, tighten the reins until you
have things under control, until the employee is acting like he is in a strict regime.
Then you can back off again.
AT WHAT POINT CAN I DETERMINE WHETHER AN EMPLOYEE REQUIRES SO MUCH OF MY
MANAGEMENT TIME THAT IT’S JUST NOT WORTH IT?
First, let me promise you this: Most employees require more management time
than you think, and most require much more management time than you might
wish to spend.
Second, here is some good news: Most employees require more of your
management time in the early stages of a job and less over time.
Third, with every individual, you have to figure out just how closely the person
needs to be managed and calibrate your approach accordingly.
So when is it too much? That is a business decision you have to make for
yourself. Is this employee much less able and skilled and motivated than other
employees you could hire for this job from your available labor pool? Are you sure?
If you replace the employee, is the labor pool available to you for this job likely to
yield a similar employee?
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
ISN’T ONE GOAL OF MANAGEMENT TO HELP EMPLOYEES GET BETTER AT MANAGING
THEMSELVES?
In my view, everybody needs to be managed. Even CEOs need to be managed by
boards of directors. But, of course, one of your primary goals should be to help
your employees grow and develop and become more self-managing. How? By
managing them very, very well.
By managing an employee very, very well, you are demonstrating the same
methods she’ll have to apply when it comes to managing herself. You are
demonstrating that self-management involves a constant accounting: What is
expected of me? How is my performance measuring up to those expectations?
What can I do to improve? What do I need to revise and adjust? Constantly clarify
priorities; clarify expectations; clarify plans; clarify action steps; clarify timelines.
Second, by managing the employee very, very well, you should be teaching her
what to do and how to do it. On a whole range of tasks, the employee should be
learning through sheer repetition. She should be learning guidelines, specifications,
and standard operating procedures.
Third, by managing the employee very, very well, you and the employee are
likely to be creating tools (like checklists) that should help her become more self-
managing.
Fourth, by managing the employee very, very well, you should be gradually
expanding the employee’s scope of responsibility. This means bigger goals or bigger
constellations of goals. This means longer deadlines. This means you are stepping
back, meeting every other day instead of daily; meeting once a week instead of
every other day.
Fifth, by managing the employee very, very well, you should be teaching the
employee great work habits.
Sixth, no matter how good your employee gets at managing herself, remember,
she still needs you. If not, then you shouldn’t be her boss anymore.
HOW DO YOU MANAGE A SUPERSTAR?
Even superstars need to be managed. Nobody can be as objective about himself
and his own performance as his boss should be. Nobody can hold herself
accountable—accountability comes from knowing you have to answer to someone
else. Even superstars have bad days, sometimes go in the wrong direction, have
lapses in judgment or integrity, and need guidance, direction, support, and
encouragement. Even superstars need to be challenged and developed. What is
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
more, superstars often want to know that someone is keeping track of their great
work and looking for ways to provide them with special rewards.
I MANAGE TOO MANY PEOPLE. HOW CAN I POSSIBLY BE HANDS-ON WITH
THIRTY-TWO EMPLOYEES?
First, do a reality check. Do you really have thirty-two people who directly report to
you? Or do you have a “chain of command.” Are some of those thirty-two people
actually managers or supervisors or team leads who are supposed to be managing
some of the others?
If you have a chain of command, you have to start using it. You need to focus
like crazy on those managers who answer to you. And a big part of your focus with
each of these managers should be how each manager is managing the employees
who answer directly to him or her.
What if you don’t have a chain of command? What if you really are supposed to
be managing an unmanageable number of employees?
There are no perfect solutions. But you need a strategy. One option is to create
a formal or informal chain of command. Another is to choose your targets every
day. Concentrate on, say, four people each day. At that rate you could get to
twenty people in a week; forty every two weeks, if you must. Of course, some
people need more attention than others. What if you meet with some people every
two weeks, others once a week, and still others every day? Just don’t make the
mistake of choosing the same targets over and over again. Spread out your
management time, and spend time managing every person.
The third option is to rely more on team meetings. Meet with your whole team
when you have information that needs to be shared with the whole team. Meet
with your team in smaller work groups when you have information that needs to
be shared with that smaller group. But remember that team meetings are no
substitute for one-on-ones. So make sure you are making time for one-on-ones
with every person as often as you possibly can, based on what makes sense for
each person. Having one-on-ones with some people every day, others once a week,
and others just once a month isn’t ideal. But it’s a whole lot better than accepting
under-management.
I MANAGE PEOPLE IN A REMOTE LOCATION. HOW CAN I POSSIBLY BE A HANDS-ON
MANAGER WITH EMPLOYEES I RARELY SEE?
The first question is, “How often are you in the same location with your remote
employees?” The answers vary widely. Sometimes managers see their remote
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
employees several times a week, sometimes just once a month, and sometimes
only a few times a year. The less often you see an employee, the more time you
should spend when you are in the same location together. Use that time to really
clarify all the work you’ve done to manage that person remotely, to reinforce the
expectations you’ve been setting, to reinforce the feedback you’ve been providing
based on your monitoring and measuring of the person’s performance, to go over
in person the performance track record you’ve been documenting every step of the
way.
Second, when you are not in the same location, you must create an iron-clad
protocol for doing remotely all the things you would do in person: spelling out
expectations, monitoring, measuring, and documenting performance; dealing with
problems quickly; and doing more for people when they’ve earned more. Use the
telephone, e-mail, videoconferencing, and any other tools at your disposal. That
doesn’t mean scheduling a weekly phone call and then leaving each other
messages saying, “I can’t make the call.”
Before each call or videoconference, send an e-mail saying, “Here’s exactly
what we need to discuss. . . . Please be prepared to discuss a, b, c, and d on our
call.” Then make the call, discuss a, b, c, and d, and send a follow-up e-mail saying,
“We agreed the following about a, b, c, and d,” complete with goals, deadlines,
guidelines, specifications, checklists, to-do lists, and all the other details you would
include if you were meeting with the person face-to-face.
I MANAGE EMPLOYEES WHO WORK DIFFERENT SHIFTS FROM ME. I AM NEVER (OR
RARELY) THERE WHEN THEY ARE. HOW CAN I MANAGE THEM IF I AM NOT THERE?
This is a close corollary of managing employees who are in remote locations. Create
ironclad protocols for communicating expectations clearly, monitoring, measuring,
and documenting performance. Use technology. Use telephone, e-mail, and/or
videoconferencing. Leave each other notes! When you are on site at the same
time, sit down together, face-to-face, and clarify everything you’ve been doing
remotely.
If different shifts are preventing you from ever being in the same place at the
same time with that employee, go out of your way to overlap once in a while. If the
employee works the shift after you, then stick around at the end of your shift or ask
the employee to come in a bit early. Sometimes you’ll have to go the extra mile and
come in during that employee’s shift, even if you are not “supposed to be
working.” Remember, you are the boss. Inconvenience goes with the territory.
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
I MANAGE PEOPLE DOING WORK IN AREAS IN WHICH I DON’T HAVE KNOWLEDGE OR
EXPERIENCE. HOW CAN I MANAGE PEOPLE IF THEY KNOW MUCH MORE ABOUT THEIR
WORK THAN I DO?
You don’t have to become an expert on the work that person is doing. But you do
have to learn enough to manage that person. You can learn by managing that
person closely over time.
Think of yourself as a client and the employee as a professional you’ve hired.
You don’t have to be a lawyer to make sure your lawyer is doing a good job for you;
you don’t have to be a doctor to make sure your doctor is taking good care of you.
It’s okay that you don’t know or understand everything the person is doing. But it’s
not okay to remain in the dark and just trust that the person is doing a good job. Do
your homework so you can ask good probing questions every step of the way. If
you don’t understand the answers, say so. Ask more questions. Don’t allow
yourself to be brushed off. Get a second opinion, and a third.
As you are spelling out expectations, focus first on outcomes. Then ask such
questions as, “Exactly what are you going to do? Why? How are you going to do
that? Why? What are the steps? What is involved in each step? How long will each
step take? Why? What are the guidelines and specifications?” If the answers are
vague, press for details. If the answers are complex, ask for explanations.
As you monitor and measure performance, again focus on outcomes first: Look
at the work product. Then ask questions: “Did you do what you said you were going
to do? Why or why not? How did you do it? Why? What were the steps? What was
involved in each step? How long did each step take? Why?” Again, press for details
and ask for explanations. And don’t forget to ask around: Ask customers, clients,
vendors, co-workers, and other managers. Ask another employee who does similar
work. Get those second and third opinions whenever you can.
Just as you would if you were managing someone whose work you understand
totally, you should be documenting the basics of your conversations. What
expectations were established? How did the performance line up with the
expectations? As you are documenting performance, ask the employee to tell you
what he thinks you should document and why.
Over time, you will get to know the person’s work better and better. You may
never become an expert, but you will certainly learn enough to be the boss. You
will get to know the employee’s work habits and track record. You will be better
able to gauge the employee’s veracity, trustworthiness, and reliability. You will be
able to tell whether the person is on track or off track. You will be able to read the
conversations you are having by the way the person talks and the kinds of things he
says.
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
I DON’T HAVE DIRECT AUTHORITY OVER CERTAIN EMPLOYEES, BUT I STILL HAVE TO
MANAGE THEM. HOW CAN I MANAGE AN EMPLOYEE IF I AM NOT REALLY HER BOSS?
If you don’t have authority over an individual, your only option is to use influence.
First, you can draw on interpersonal influence. This includes the accumulated
weight of your relationship with the person thus far, and the likelihood that your
relationship with the person will continue. Have you had personal rapport in the
past? Will you have personal rapport in the future? Second, you can influence
another person through the persuasiveness of good reasons. Third, you can draw
on transactional influence. If you reach an agreement with the person, then you
have a basis to expect that agreement will be fulfilled. This is especially true of
mutual reciprocal promises. But even if you elicit a one-way promise from another
person, if it has sufficient specificity, there is great pressure on the person to
deliver on that promise. Have you relied on each other in the past? Will you rely on
each other in the future?
WE HAVE A MATRIX STRUCTURE (OR WE WORK INTEGRALLY WITH OUTSIDE VENDORS).
THAT MEANS MY EMPLOYEE(S) OFTEN HAS TO WAIT FOR ANOTHER EMPLOYEE IN
ANOTHER BUSINESS (INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL) TO FINISH SOME PIECE OF THE PUZZLE
BEFORE MY EMPLOYEE(S) CAN CONTINUE HIS WORK. HOW CAN I FAIRLY HOLD MY
EMPLOYEE(S) TO DEADLINES IF HE IS HELD UP BY SOMEONE IN A WHOLE OTHER
BUSINESS?
First, focus on all the steps your employee can accomplish on his own, without
depending on other employees in other businesses. What are all the concrete
actions that can be taken leading up to the point where your employee has to rely
on someone else? Break it down. Spell it out.
Second, focus on the concrete steps your employee is taking when it comes
specifically to dealing with the other employee(s) in the other business(es). Spell
out exactly what steps you want your employee to take in order to get what he
needs from that other employee in that other business. Create standard operating
procedures.
You can’t hold the employee accountable for the actions of another person. But
you can provide much more guidance and direction about how to handle this
difficult situation, and doing that puts you in a much better position to help your
employee succeed and also hold your employee accountable.
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
SOME OF THE EMPLOYEES I MANAGE ALSO ANSWER TO OTHER BOSSES. WHEN I GIVE AN
EMPLOYEE AN ASSIGNMENT, IT’S NOT ALWAYS CLEAR HOW MANY OTHER
ASSIGNMENTS THAT EMPLOYEE IS TRYING TO JUGGLE WITH OTHER BOSSES AND
WHETHER THE EMPLOYEE IS TAKING ON TOO MUCH. AND EVEN AFTER I’VE GIVEN AN
ASSIGNMENT TO AN EMPLOYEE, SHE SOMETIMES WILL GET ANOTHER “MORE URGENT”
ASSIGNMENT FROM ANOTHER BOSS.
First, be the boss who attracts the best employees. Be the boss all the stars want to
work for. They will come looking for assignments from you. When you have a
project, everyone wants to be on it.
Second, if you are the boss who is most engaged, you will be the boss to whom
your employees are most responsive. If they know you are always going to be
following up, monitoring, measuring, documenting, and insisting on accountability,
they will always put assignments for you first.
Third, be the boss who sets employees up for success and rewards them
accordingly.
Fourth, whenever you are giving an assignment to an employee, make sure you
understand what other responsibilities she is juggling. Ask lots of questions about
her other tasks, projects, and deadlines. Talk through how your assignment/project
might interfere with her other work and how her other work might interfere with
the work you are assigning. Decide together whether she will be able to meet your
requirements and exactly what she is going to do if anything changes, if another
responsibility comes up that might interfere with meeting your requirements.
WHAT IF OTHER MANAGERS WHO ARE YOUR PEERS HAVE FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT
EXPECTATIONS, STANDARDS, AND REQUIREMENTS FOR EMPLOYEES?
Whether your employees report to these other managers or just hear about them
at the water cooler, don’t be shy. Remind your employees regularly and
enthusiastically that you are different and that your expectations, standards, and
requirements are higher. Make it a point of pride. Let the people on your team
appreciate your especially high standards and make that part of the esprit de corps
you all share.
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
MY PROBLEM IS CONFLICTS AMONG TEAM MEMBERS. OFTEN I AM DEALING WITH “HE
SAID/SHE SAID” SITUATIONS. HOW CAN I REFEREE ARGUMENTS AND PERSONALITY
CLASHES AMONG EMPLOYEES?
Conflicts come from lots of different sources. You cannot keep track of every detail
and referee every argument. Sometimes people just don’t like each other. Other
times there are real gripes, personal and professional.
First, you cannot keep track of everybody and everything all the time. But you
can be that manager who is all over the details, who is spelling out expectations
every step of the way, monitoring, measuring, and documenting performance
every step of the way. You can be the manager who is talking to every employee on
a regular basis, so you know where your people are coming from and where they
are going. You know what you can expect from each person and what you should
expect. You know what’s in character and what’s out of character, what rings true
and what doesn’t. When you are that manager, employees are more likely to level
with you and less likely to worry about each other and more likely to worry about
themselves. You are in a whole lot better position to evaluate conflicts when they
do occur and make better decisions.
Second, try to keep everyone focused on the work. If you keep your employees
very busy with work, they have a lot less time to have conflicts with each other.
And the more focused they all are on the work they have in common, the more
likely they are to cooperate.
Third, if you know that certain employees often clash, do what you can to keep
them apart, working in different areas or on different shifts.
Fourth, if this happens often on your team, figure out why. This kind of conflict
is very rare on a team with a strong hands-on manager. Maybe you are part of the
problem, or maybe there is something about the way your team functions that is
causing the conflicts. Do team members have to rely on each other to a high
degree? Are there good, clear standard operating procedures to ensure that this
interdependence flows smoothly? Maybe you need to examine the way team
members have to work together and rely on each other. Maybe you can eliminate
or improve aspects of your business process to reduce unnecessary conflict.
Fifth, if one or more employees are particularly prone to conflicts with others,
include this issue in your regular coaching dialogue with those individuals. Before
there is another conflict, include reminders about avoiding conflict and interacting
in a positive way with other team members in your regular management
conversations.
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
I MANAGE MANAGERS WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE MANAGING THE NEXT LEVEL OF
EMPLOYEES. BUT MY MANAGERS ARE NOT MANAGING THEIR EMPLOYEES. THAT MEANS
I OFTEN HAVE TO GO AROUND MY MANAGERS AND MANAGE THEIR EMPLOYEES. AS A
RESULT, THESE EMPLOYEES OFTEN GO AROUND THEIR MANAGERS AND COME DIRECTLY
TO ME. HOW CAN I GET MY MANAGERS TO MANAGE?
First, focus on your managers intensely until they are playing the role you need
them to play. Teach them how to be strong hands-on managers. Explain to them
that, just as you are working hard to be a better boss, they need to do the same.
Just as you are learning to talk like a performance coach and trying to customize
your approach to every person, they need to do the same. Just as you are meeting
with the employees who report to you every day, they need to meet regularly with
the employees they supervise. Just as you are spelling out expectations more
clearly, they need to do the same. They need to go over concrete goals, guidelines,
specifications, to-do lists, and deadlines with every person every step of the way.
Just as you are monitoring, measuring, and documenting performance every step
of the way, they need to do the same. They need to start keeping their own
managers’ notebooks. Just as you are dealing with problems immediately before
they are like a ton of bricks, they need to do the same. They need to solve small
problems before they fester and grow into bigger problems. Just as you are trying
to help employees earn what they need, your managers must do the same with
their people. And so on.
Second, in your regular management meetings with each manager, talk through
the manager’s various tasks, projects, and responsibilities and then focus on exactly
how your managers are doing the hard work of managing their people. Ask about
employee number 1. Ask about employee number 2. Ask about employee number
3. Ask: “When did you last meet with employee number 3? What was the purpose
of the meeting? What were you hoping to accomplish? What did you talk about?
What is he or she working on? What did he or she do last week? What guidance
and direction did you give him or her? What are his or her current goals and
deadlines? What guidelines and specifications did you spell out? What notes did
you take down in your manager’s notebook? May I take a look?”
If you want your managers to focus on something in particular with one or
more employees they are managing, you have to spell that out. If you want your
managers to carry a specific message to their employees, hammer away at that
message. If you want your managers to carry specific marching orders, hammer
away at those marching orders. Spell out exactly what you want your managers to
focus on with their employees.
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
Third, you may want to sit in on some of your managers’ one-on-one meetings
with their employees. Let the manager do the managing. Don’t step on the
manager’s toes. Don’t undermine or contradict the manager. You are there to
listen and take notes, so you can give your manager feedback on his or her
management. That feedback needs to come afterward, not during the meeting.
THE CORPORATE CULTURE IN THIS ORGANIZATION DOESN’T SUPPORT HANDS-ON
MANAGEMENT. HOW CAN I BE A HANDS-ON MANAGER WHEN EVERYBODY ELSE IS
HANDS-OFF?
This could be said of the corporate culture in most organizations. Corporate culture
is the combined web of shared meaning and shared social practices that develop
between and among people in an organization. There is an under-management
epidemic throughout the workplace, at all levels in organizations of all shapes and
sizes. So most corporate cultures support a hands-off status quo in which hands-on
managers often feel like ducks out of water.
Be different. And let people know. Be the manager who is not afraid to be the
boss. Be the manager who is strong. Be hands-on. You might find out that the
culture supports good management after all. Indeed, there may be more hands-on
managers in your midst than you realize, doing their thing beneath the radar. Or
you might find that being a strong hands-on manager really makes you a maverick.
That’s okay. Be the maverick. Stand out as that manager who is really serious about
the work and always goes the extra mile when it comes to managing. Being the
maverick can be uncomfortable. Be uncomfortable.
WE ARE UNDERSTAFFED AND EVERYBODY ON OUR TEAM IS OVERWORKED. I CANNOT
FIRE MY LOW PERFORMERS BECAUSE THE REMAINING EMPLOYEES WOULD HAVE TO
WORK EVEN HARDER. ISN’T 50 PERCENT PERFORMANCE FROM A LOW PERFORMER
SOMETIMES BETTER THAN HAVING NO EMPLOYEE IN THAT ROLE AT ALL?
Yes, your team is overworked. And it’s true that firing a low performer might put an
undue burden on the rest of the employees for some short period of time. The
remaining employees (and/or you) will have to pick up the slack and do the extra
work if you fire that low performer. It is true that sometimes you are just so busy
that it would be stupid to fire anyone. For one thing, firing can be a time-
consuming and painful experience for you (not to mention the person being fired).
More to the point, if you are super busy, you might as well squeeze one last day of
grunt work out of the low performer.
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
Choose your timing carefully. But you have to fire the low performers if they
refuse to improve. There are four reasons: First, they get paid. Second, they cause
problems that other employees have to fix. Third, high performers hate to work
with low performers. Fourth, low performers send a terrible message to everybody
else: “Low performance is an option around here.” If your team is overstaffed and
overworked, then high performance really is your only option. You have to be able
to get more work and better work out of everyone. You cannot afford to have the
negative energy and unnecessary problems of a stubborn low performer dragging
down the rest of the team.
PRIORITIES SHIFT AND CHANGE. HOW CAN I MAINTAIN CLEAR EXPECTATIONS FOR MY
EMPLOYEES WHEN EXPECTATIONS CHANGE EVERY DAY?
Managers cringe when they have to tell employees, “I know that yesterday I said
the most important things were a, b, and c. Well, from now on a, b, and c don’t
matter.. Now the most important things are z, q, and s.” And there is always the
strong likelihood that in the not too distant future, the manager will have to come
back and say, “Well. . . . Okay, forget about z, q, and s. . . . Now the most important
things are m, n, and p.”
Of course priorities shift and change, and when priorities change, expectations
change. That is all the more reason why it is so important to be a strong hands-on
boss. After all, who is going to tell each employee which priorities have shifted and
changed today? Who is going to make it clear to each employee what matters most
today? Who is going to tell each employee what to focus on today? Who is going to
spell out expectations for each employee today? That’s going to be you.
The more things shift and change, the more guidance and direction and support
employees need. Guide and direct and support your employees through the
constant change. Every day, tell every person exactly what’s staying the same and
exactly what’s changing. Every day, tell every person what matters today; what to
focus on today. Every day, for every person, spell out expectations for today.
I’VE BEEN ACCEPTING MEDIOCRITY FOR A LONG TIME. HOW CAN I SUDDENLY CHANGE
THE STANDARDS?
Initially you, not the employees you manage, will feel the greatest impact from
changing your management style. You are the one who will have to figure out who
is doing what where, why, when, and how. You will have to start meeting with
every employee regularly. You will have to start monitoring, measuring, and
documenting what every employee is doing every day. You will have to solve
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
problems quickly. You will have to start rewarding employees extra when they go
the extra mile. You will have to customize your approach to every employee and
learn to talk like a coach. You are the boss. You are the one with the tremendous
responsibility to make everything go right all day every day.
The employees you manage will experience big changes, too, but those changes
don’t have to come down suddenly. The biggest change for most employees, at the
outset, will be meeting with you more often. Over time, they’ll have to get used to
talking with you more often and in more detail about their work and keeping closer
track of what they are doing. You (and they) will be trying hard to link real
consequences—positive and negative—to their actual performance. But that will
happen over time. And you should work hard to prepare them in advance and
every step of the way.
Be open and honest. Don’t pretend you are not making a change. Explain, “I’m
making a change. I’m going to be a better manager.” Explain why. And explain what
the changes will entail.
When employees say, “But you’ve always done it this way or that” or “You’ve
always accepted thus and so” or “These standards are much more demanding,”
respond by saying, “You are right.” Admit, “The way I did it before was less
demanding; in the past I accepted a lower standard, and managed in a more lax
manner. Not any more!”
I’VE INHERITED ONE OR MORE EMPLOYEES WHOSE MANAGERS HAVE BEEN ACCEPTING
MEDIOCRITY FOR A LONG TIME. HOW CAN I SUDDENLY CHANGE THE STANDARD?
This happens in one of two ways: Either a new employee is joining your team or
else you are joining a team as the new manager.
It’s easier when a new employee joins your team because that individual will
come in expecting to make adjustments. People starting a new job come in with a
bunch of question marks: What is this team like? What is the mission? Where do I
fit? How do they do things? How do I succeed here? How do I get what I need?
How does the boss operate?
If the employee is new to the company altogether, you have an on-boarding
challenge. You have to communicate vividly and relentlessly: “This is the team. This
is our mission. This is where you fit in; this is your role in relation to the mission and
the team. This is the way we do things. This is the way for you to succeed on this
team. This is the way for you to earn what you need. This is the way I manage.” You
need to meet with the new employee at least once a day, maybe more than once,
until the employee is up to speed. And then you can gradually back off to an
appropriate scope of supervision for that person.
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If the employee is new to you and the team, but has already worked in the
company for some time, you have the same on-boarding challenge, but you might
get more resistance. The employee has his own track record in the organization—
his own career, experiences, relationships, and the paper trail to go with it. He or
she is more likely to think, “This is my company too. I’ve done things my way for
some time and I’ve been successful.” The employee is more likely to push back and
hope you will be the one to adjust, thinking that his paper trail in the organization
will protect him from any adverse consequences you might try to impose. And he
might be right, at least for some time.
In that case, you need to communicate vividly and relentlessly. Start creating
the next chapter in that employee’s track record—and the paper trail to go with it.
Usually the employee will adjust to you and your way. Sometimes he will realize
that he’s made a terrible mistake coming to work for a manager as hands-on as you
are and will start looking for another manager. Otherwise, you’ll have to deal with
this employee as you would any other stubborn low performer.
WHAT IF I AM THE NEW PERSON ON A TEAM? I’M THE BOSS, BUT I’M COMING IN FROM
THE OUTSIDE.
First, get to know the team and its circumstances. Is the team successful? Or is it
underperforming? What’s working? What’s not working? What should not be
changed? What needs to change? Who are these people? Who are the stars? Who
is posing as a star and who is really a star? What role does each person play? What
tasks and responsibilities belong to each person? Who gets along with whom? Who
is immediately courting your favor? Who is hiding from you?
Do your homework. Interview the prior boss. Talk with other managers. Talk
with vendors. Talk with customers. Review every report.
On day one, hold a team meeting. Introduce yourself briefly—long enough to
answer the question, “Why are you the new boss?” Then ask lots of questions and
listen to the answers you get. Then interview every member of the team and listen.
Start creating your manager’s landscape.
When you are ready, hold another team meeting. This time, let the team know
what kind of boss you will be: “This is the way I manage. This is the way to succeed,
working for me. This is how to earn what you need, working for me. . . .”
Start meeting with every employee often, until you get up to speed with each
employee. Then you can gradually back off to an appropriate scope of supervision
for each person.
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
I’M MANAGING PEOPLE WHO WERE MY PEERS BEFORE I WAS THEIR MANAGER. IT’S
REALLY HARD TO GET THEM TO RESPECT MY AUTHORITY AND ACCEPT ME AS THE
“BOSS.” WHAT SHOULD I DO?
First, remember that you are the one who received the promotion. Live up to it. As
tempting as it might be to remain “one of the guys,” you are in a different role
now. You have new responsibilities. You are in charge. That doesn’t mean you have
license to act like a jerk. It means you need to be the boss and you need to be good
at it.
Second, communicate vividly and relentlessly exactly what kind of manager you
intend to be. Do not try to justify why you were given the promotion instead of
someone else or explain why you “should” be the boss. Simply explain how you are
going to behave as the boss. Explain what your standard operating procedures will
be and follow those standard operating procedures consistently.
Third, don’t let your former peers use your former role to put you on the
defensive. When they say, “Come on, you know how it is. . . ,” you need to say,
“Yes, I do know how it is and so I know that my expectations are reasonable.”
Fourth, use your former role to make you a better boss. Remember what it’s
like to do the job. What kind of guidance, direction, and support could you have
used? Can you provide that kind of guidance, direction, and support? Use your
experience when it comes to spelling out goals and deadlines and specifications.
Use your experience when it comes to monitoring and measuring and documenting
performance. Use your experience when it comes to problem solving. Use your
experience to recognize performance above and beyond—performance deserving
of extra rewards.
SOME OF THE PEOPLE I MANAGE ARE MY FRIENDS. HOW DO I SEPARATE MY ROLE AS
BOSS FROM MY ROLE AS FRIEND?
First, decide which is more important to you. If it’s the friendship, maybe you
shouldn’t be the boss. You have to accept the fact that your role as boss might
compromise or damage the friendship.
Second, protect the friendship by establishing ground rules with your friend
about keeping the roles separate. Say, “Our friendship is very important to me. My
job is also very important to me, and around here I am the boss. When we are here
at work, I need to be the boss.” Then make it very clear exactly what kind of boss
you are going to be, exactly how you are going to manage, and what your standard
operating procedures will be. When you are outside work, try to leave your
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
authority behind. That will probably be harder for your friend than it is for you. You
both have power in the realm of each other’s livelihood, but you have more.
Third, protect the friendship by being a really good boss. Make sure things go
really well at work. Minimize the number of problems and you will minimize the
number of potential conflicts.
Fourth, recognize and embrace the fact that the work you and your friend have
in common will become more and more the terrain of your friendship. Perhaps this
gives your friend the opportunity to have undue influence on your thinking about
work. So be it.
As much as you try to keep work separate from your friendship and your
friendship separate from your work, there will always be overlap. You cannot help
but feel close to each other, even at work. You cannot help but be aware of your
work relationship, even when you are spending time together as friends. The best
you can do is honor your friendship by being a great boss and hope that your friend
will honor your friendship by letting you do that to the best of your ability.
MY PROBLEMS ARE LAWS, REGULATIONS, POLICIES, PROCEDURES, EEO, UNIONS,
CONTRACTS . . . AND THE HR POLICE. HOW CAN I BE A STRONG MANAGER WHEN I HAVE
TO PRACTICALLY BECOME AN EMPLOYMENT LAWYER IN ORDER TO DEAL WITH ALL THE
RULES AND RED TAPE?
Managers often say that, despite their best efforts, they are held back by rules and
red tape and contracts. Some managers hide behind this challenge as an excuse to
not manage. Yet in the very same organization, with the very same rules and red
tape and contracts, there are lots and lots of managers who find a way to work
within and around the rules and red tape and contracts. It’s difficult and they do it
anyway because that is their job.
The question is, How do you work within and around the rules, red tape, and
contracts? Think about what lawyers do when confronted with rules and red tape.
They learn the rules and red tape and contracts backward and forward. And then
they work the rules and red tape and contracts. Learn it and work it.
Some managers worry about being sued. There are many impermissible
reasons for distinguishing between and among employees, but performance is not
one of them. As long as you can demonstrate that any rewards or detriments to
employees are based solely on their work performance, there is no basis for a claim
of unlawful discrimination.
Remember this: There are many things you can do, even if there are a lot of
things you can’t do. Of course, there will be things you can’t do. Don’t do them. If
you do you’ll get in trouble. But often you can do things you didn’t realize you
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
could do, once you learn how do them. Find an ally who can help you learn the
rules and work the rules: Someone in HR. Someone in legal. Someone in EEO.
Someone in the union. Your boss.
THE PROBLEMS I HAVE WITH CERTAIN EMPLOYEES ARE INTANGIBLE, SUCH AS BAD
ATTITUDE. HOW DO I DEAL WITH INTANGIBLE PERFORMANCE ISSUES?
Often some of the most important elements of employee performance seem
intangible and therefore very hard to manage. Bad attitude and/or bad temper are
classic examples.
First, if you want to see a bad attitude get much worse, try telling someone
with a bad attitude that she has a bad attitude. It is rarely much help to “name” a
behavior if you are trying to get someone to change it.
Second, make the intangible more tangible by describing the behavior in as
much detail as you can. Break it down. Spell it out. Instead of saying, “You are in a
very bad mood this morning and that’s really disruptive,” try saying something like
this: “At 9:13 a.m., you walked through the door. Instead of closing it gently, you
pushed the doorknob swiftly and rather hard so that the door slammed shut,
making a loud noise. Then you wrinkled up your forehead, turned the corners of
your mouth down, and said in a very loud voice, ‘This place sucks!’ After that, you
walked quickly to your desk, in such a way that every step you took made a loud
thud.” Maybe that’s exaggerating. But you have to really spell it out. Describe the
behavior. Don’t name it.
Third, it’s not enough to describe the intangible behavior that you want to end
and therefore make it more tangible. You also have to describe the intangible
behavior you want to see instead and therefore make it more tangible as well. This
is just another way of saying, “Spell out expectations.”
Fourth, it often helps a lot if you have a simple and clear way of connecting the
behavior with concrete work outcomes. You want to be able to say, “Please stop
doing that because that has the following negative effect. Please start doing this
instead because this will have the following positive effect.”
WHAT IF AN EMPLOYEE IS VERY GOOD AT HER JOB, BUT SHE JUST DOESN’T GET ENOUGH
WORK DONE?
The problem is productivity; output per labor unit; speed. First, you have to do a
little time/motion analysis. Exactly what is the person doing? Break it down. How
long does each component actually take? Where is the delay occurring? Break
down each task into its component parts, determine how much time each
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
component part should take, and figure out how long it should take to complete
the task. Then look at pauses, breaks, distractions, and other downtime. Talk all
this through with the employee. Based on all that, you should work together to
agree on an hourly quota of tasks. Provide a tool for the employee to monitor
productivity per hour. If this doesn’t work, ask the employee to keep a minute-by-
minute diary of pauses, breaks, distractions, and other downtime so you can see
where the time is going.
WHAT IF THE EMPLOYEE IS VERY GOOD AT HER JOB, BUT SHE JUST MISSES TOO MANY
POINTS OF QUALITY, DETAILS, AND SPECIFICATIONS?
First, look for patterns. Are there particular errors that recur? If so, hammer away
at those points, details, and specifications. Whether or not there are patterns, offer
reminders in every management conversation. Create checklists and other tools.
Repeat training. Repeat training again. Provide more reminders and checklists.
WHAT IF THE EMPLOYEE IS VERY GOOD, BUT LACKS INITIATIVE?
You have two choices. First, try to convince the employee that he should take
initiative and then hold on to your hat. If an employee is not disposed to take
initiative, that’s probably because he is not sure what to do or how to do it,
especially when his basic tasks are done. Provide a list of “extra to-do items” for
such employees. Explain that when their normal work is done, they should move
on to these “extra to-do items.”
WHAT IF THE EMPLOYEE IS VERY GOOD, BUT SEEMS NEITHER WILLING NOR ABLE TO
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY, MAKE TOUGH DECISIONS, OR SOLVE PROBLEMS WHEN THEY
ARISE?
Again, you have two choices. First, try to convince the employee that she should
take responsibility, make tough decisions, and solve problems when they arise. If
the situation continues, the employee may not be sure what to do or how to do it,
especially when unforeseen circumstances arise. Work with the employee very
closely to develop decision/action tools. Talk through every unforeseen
circumstance you can think of. For each one, provide very simple and clear
marching orders to the employee: “If a happens, do z. If b happens, do q. If c
happens, do t.” And so on.
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
WHAT IF THE EMPLOYEE IS VERY GOOD, BUT NEVER SEEMS WILLING TO GO THE EXTRA
MILE?
Explain exactly what “going the extra mile” looks like. You have to explain it in the
big picture. Explain it every month. Explain it every week. Explain it every day. And
make sure the employee knows what’s in it for her. “If you go the extra mile today
by doing z, q, and t, then here’s what I can do for you in return. . . .”
WHAT IF THE EMPLOYEE LACKS PASSION OR ENTHUSIASM FOR THE WORK?
It’s hard to make someone feel passionate or enthusiastic. But this point is worth
remembering: Very few people start out passionate or enthusiastic about anything.
Most people need to become involved in something and learn about it and do it for
a while before they feel any passion or enthusiasm. Also remember that it’s usually
not what you are doing that makes you feel passion and enthusiasm but, rather,
how you are doing it. When you do something with purpose and precision, it is
possible to unlock the joy in that work. It also helps a lot if you are doing it,
whatever it is, with other people who care a lot about it, whatever it is.
WHAT ABOUT AN EMPLOYEE WHO CAN DO THE WORK, BUT JUST DOESN’T FIT IN?
First, how does she “not fit in”? Is it the work or the workplace or the team? What
about the employee doesn’t fit the work or the workplace or the team? Are you
sure? Be very sensitive to the fact that someone might be very different from the
other employees and still be a great addition to the team. Second, ask the
employee what she thinks. How does she like the work, the workplace, and the
team? Does she feel things are going well? Maybe she is feeling the bad fit and
wants a graceful exit. Third, if you are convinced that she doesn’t fit and she does
not see things this way, focus on expectations. What is it you want her to do
differently? If you consistently break down and spell out expectations, the
employee might start to behave the way you want. If not, then you’ll both have a
shared dialogue over time about how the employee’s behavior is out of sync with
the expectations. If you can’t demonstrate that the employee’s behavior is out of
sync with clearly spelled out expectations, then what you perceive as a problem is
too intangible to deal with as a manager. You should probably rethink it.
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
IN OUR COMPANY, IT’S VERY HARD TO FIRE PEOPLE. HOW DO I LOSE THE LOSERS?
In most organizations, you have to jump through a bunch of hoops, usually, before
you can fire someone. There are a lot of reasons for that. One reason is fairness;
we all want to make sure that people are not fired for reasons that have nothing to
do with their job performance. Another reason is cost; when you lose an employee,
you lose your investment in recruiting and training the person, you have down
time, and you have to invest in recruiting and training another person. On top of
that, employers want to make sure they don’t get sued by a fired employee, and
they want to make sure that, if they are sued, they have done what’s necessary to
be able to successfully defend against the lawsuit.
Most managers are so hands-off that the following scenario often plays out:
The manager does not spell out expectations clearly. The manager does not
monitor, measure, and document performance. The manager does not deal with
small problems when they occur. As a result, small problems fester and grow. The
manager intervenes. The manager gets frustrated. The manager calls HR and says,
“I’ve got to fire Mr. Blue.” And HR says, “Have you been documenting Mr. Blue’s
performance? Have you been letting Mr. Blue know all along that there was a
problem? Have you been clarifying expectations?” And the manager says, “No, no,
no. . . .” And HR says, “Well, you have to do those things before we can fire Mr.
Blue.”
Good news: If you practice hands-on management, you will be able to answer
“yes, yes, yes” to HR. You’ll be able to say, “Of course, I’ve been spelling out
expectations every step of the way; monitoring, measuring, and documenting
performance every step of the way. I’ll send down the file.” By the way, if you
practice hands-on management, most of the time, Mr. Blue will not need to be
fired at all because you will help Mr. Blue succeed.
But it’s not always easy, even if you do your part. Some organizations are so
worried about being sued that there is almost an unwritten rule against firing
under any circumstances. In other cases, the process for firing is so time-consuming
and burdensome that managers feel that firing is just not a real option. And in
some countries, the law actually makes it virtually impossible to fire an employee
or even demote an employee.
In those situations, keep in mind that you don’t have to fire an employee to get
him off the team. Take advantage of the fact that low performers don’t like to be
managed closely. They don’t like scrutiny. They don’t like to incur consequences for
their low performance. So manage that person very, very closely. Put that person
under a huge amount of scrutiny. Do everything in your power to impose
consequences (however slight) for the person’s low performance, every step of the
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
way. If you shine a bright light on a low performer, he will usually start looking
around for a way out. He’ll go shopping for a manager who will leave him alone.
IN OUR COMPANY, IT’S VERY HARD TO GET CLEARANCE AND RESOURCES FOR ANY KIND
OF SPECIAL REWARDS. SO HOW DO I REWARD THE HIGH PERFORMERS?
Every organization is resource constrained. But in every organization there are
managers who find ways to do more for their employees. They jump through
hoops, dot i’s, cross t’s, bend over backwards, and they are always on the phone
with someone trying to get their hands on more. You should be one of those
managers. Your employees are working hard. They are trying to take care of
themselves and their families. They are trying to balance their working lives with
their non-working lives. You are the boss. Part of your job is to help your
employees meet their needs.
First, you can’t do everything for everybody. And why would you? The more
selective you are with special rewards, the more likely you will be to succeed. The
more limited your resources, the more important it is to save those resources for
the employees who really go the extra mile.
Second, if you are practicing hands-on management, you’ll be in a much better
position to reward people because you’ll be able to make accurate and fair
distinctions about who should receive extra rewards and who should not. And
you’ll be able to justify those distinctions with your boss, with your team, and with
HR.
Third, remember the logic of “the unique value proposition” (the “needle in a
haystack”), One person’s unique want or need is more valuable to that person (by
definition) than its overall value in the marketplace. So talk to your high performers
when they go the extra mile and find out what they really want or need. If you can
fulfill a unique need or want, you will be doing something especially valuable for
that person.
Fourth, look at the discretionary resources that are within your disposal. Do you
really use the evaluation/ranking system fully? Do you really use the full latitude
available to you when it comes to allocating raises and bonuses? Do you really use
your full discretion with non-financial rewards to reward high performers specially?
It turns out that a lot of the non-financial rewards people want the most (like
scheduling flexibility and good task assignments) are the work conditions for which
managers usually have a lot of discretion.
Fifth, get on the phone and beg for more resources. Brainstorm, scavenge, and
hoard. Use whatever resources you can get your hands on as bargaining chips to
drive performance and to reward people when they go the extra mile.
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Of course, you won’t always be able to reward people as much as you’d like.
That’s why you should always make clear what is within your sphere of authority
and influence and what may not be. Sometimes you can say, “I can do that.”
Sometimes you must say, “I’ll try to do that.” Sometimes you have to say, “I can’t
do that, but I can do this. . . .” Sometimes you have to say, “I don’t know if I can do
that. But I will promise you this: I will go to bat for you.” Even if you cannot make
something happen for an employee, sometimes it can be a valuable reward just
knowing that you—the supervisor—are willing to go to bat for your people when
they work hard for you.
SHOULD I SINGLE PEOPLE OUT FOR PRAISE AND REWARD IN SECRET SO OTHER
EMPLOYEES ARE NOT DEMORALIZED?
First, you must respect every employee’s privacy when it comes to his or her work
conditions and rewards. That means you don’t need to, nor should you, publish
every employee’s salary, bonus, and other rewards.
Second, the first point is in tension with your need to create transparency. You
have to create a certain amount of transparency when it comes to rewards. Ask
yourself, “How much secrecy is feasible in today’s information environment?”
There are plenty of people who are actually in the know about rewards. Are you
sure they are going to keep quiet?
Even if the waters are muddy instead of transparent, you will have plenty of
speculation about rewards. Truth is usually far preferable to rumor. Sometimes the
best thing to do is make it clear exactly whom you are rewarding, how, and why.
Maybe others will work hard to earn special rewards too. That’s why it’s so
important to make sure every person knows exactly what she needs to do to get
the rewards she needs. Every step of the way, clearly define deliverables for every
contributor and tie concrete rewards directly to those deliverables. When every
person is managed this way, an employee is much less likely to wonder why
another person is receiving special rewards. They know what they have to do to
earn special rewards. They know that if Mary is receiving some special reward from
you, she must have earned it fair and square. After all, that’s the kind of manager
you are.
The most important transparency factor is not whether employees know what
others are earning, but rather that every person knows exactly why she is earning
her pay, and exactly what she needs to do in order to earn more (or less).
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AN EMPLOYEE GETS SOME SPECIAL REWARD AND THEN HIS
PERFORMANCE STARTS TO SLIP? LET’S SAY THE EMPLOYEE WANTS A FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE
AND HIS PERFORMANCE HAS BEEN GREAT. I GIVE HIM A FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE AND ALL OF
A SUDDEN HIS PERFORMANCE IS NOT SO GREAT. DO I TAKE AWAY THAT SPECIAL
REWARD?
In an ideal world, all rewards should be contingent on performance all the time.
You get exactly what you earn every step of the way. When you are positioning
special rewards for extra performance, the best approach is the one-time reward.
People can earn one-time rewards over and over again. But they have to earn it
every time by meeting a concrete set of expectations: Clear goals and specifications
with a concrete deadline.
If you are talking about an ongoing accommodation, like a special schedule,
then the best approach is a sort of permanent probation. Treat it like a very special
case that has to be reviewed continually: Take it one day at a time, or one week at
a time, or one month at a time. For example, if the employee needs Thursdays off,
take it one Thursday at a time. Every week, you can say, “Let’s take this Thursday:
Here’s what I need from you by Wednesday at midnight. . . . Otherwise, I’ll see you
here on Thursday.” This approach sidesteps the need to “take away” a special
reward.
WHAT IF, DUE TO YOUR ORGANIZATION’S INTERNAL PROCESS OR SOME OTHER REASON,
THERE IS NO WAY TO “OFFICIALLY” MAKE THE SPECIAL REWARD/ACCOMMODATION A
ONE-TIME REWARD SERIALLY EARNED? WHAT IF THE ONLY WAY TO GIVE SOMEONE A
SPECIAL REWARD IS TO JUMP THROUGH A BUNCH OF HOOPS AND MAKE WHAT IS
ESSENTIALLY A FIXED REWARD?
If you really have no other way to establish a special reward, then go for the fixed
deal, but make it very clear to the employee that you don’t consider it a fixed deal;
that you consider the deal to be contingent on specific performance requirements.
Spell out those requirements. Make sure the employee understands: This is
permanent probation. Then monitor, measure, and document every step of the
way.
If the employee fails to meet the established performance requirements, come
down on that problem like a ton of bricks. Let the employee know in vivid terms
that you consider the deal is being broken and the special reward is in jeopardy. Set
the wheels in motion for taking the special reward away. Give the employee a
chance to fix the problem immediately. If not, then by all mean, take that special
reward away. It’s only fair.
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WHAT IF THE NATURE OF THE EMPLOYEE’S JOB IS TO BE CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE?
THIS REQUIRES THAT AN EMPLOYEE BE WILLING TO TAKE RISKS AND MAKE MISTAKES.
SHOULD YOU STILL MANAGE THAT EMPLOYEE CLOSELY? WON’T THAT INHIBIT THE
EMPLOYEE’S CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION? WON’T THAT MAKE THE EMPLOYEE LESS
LIKELY TO TAKE THE NECESSARY RISKS AND MAKE THE NECESSARY MISTAKES?
First, don’t conflate reinventing the wheel with innovation. The wheel has already
been invented. Real innovation builds on what has already been invented. Real
innovation takes the next step. So if you want to promote innovation, you need to
make sure the employee understands the state of the art. Spell out all that has
already been invented, so the employee has real stepping stones from which to
launch.
Second, if the employee’s job is to be creative, the biggest favor you can do for
that employee is be very clear about what is not within the employee’s discretion.
Spell out all the guidelines and specifications. Make it clear that any creativity must
occur within those parameters.
What if you want the employee to be creative in the most free-form way? You
don’t want to hold the employee back in any way. No guidelines. No parameters.
That’s a very rare assignment. But maybe you have that very rare assignment. Is
there a time limit? Or will you pay the employee to brainstorm ad infinitum? How
will you know when the employee is “done”? How will you recognize a finished
“result”?
Third, if you want an employee to feel free to take risks and make mistakes,
then what you need to do is spell that out as a concrete assignment: “I want you to
go take risks and make mistakes.” Maybe you need to tell the employee how many
risks to take and how many mistakes. Maybe not. But you have to find a way to
create a space in which risk taking and mistakes are safe. You have to find a way to
create a timeframe. If you want to be kind, you should find a way to define some
parameters.
I KNOW THAT CONSISTENCY IS REALLY IMPORTANT WHEN IT COMES TO MANAGING.
BUT AS HARD AS I TRY, I SOMETIMES DROP THE BALL. I KNOW MY EMPLOYEES NOTICE.
AND IT MAKES IT REALLY HARD TO COME BACK IN AND START MANAGING AGAIN, AFTER
I’VE BEEN DISENGAGED FOR SOME PERIOD OF TIME. ONCE I DROP THE BALL, HOW DO I
BOUNCE BACK AND TAKE CHARGE AGAIN?
You are human. Therefore, you will surely have bad moments, days, weeks, even
months. First, try to bounce back sooner rather than later. One mistake managers
make is that they feel guilty and sheepish after going through a rough patch, so
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It’s OK to Be the Boss: A Management Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Tulgan. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
they remain disengaged much longer than the duration of the bad moment. If
you’ve been disengaged and gotten out of your hands-on routine, if you are off
schedule, then the only thing to do is get back on schedule and into your routine as
fast as you possibly can. Acknowledge your failure in your discussions with your
employees. Promise to do better. And do better!!