Best Practices_ Managing People_ Secrets to Leading for New Managers - Barry Silverstein [30]
In their book, The Heart of Change, John Kotter and Dan Cohen detail a multi-step process to help leaders better prepare to lead and manage change. They suggest that you establish a sense of urgency; form a guiding coalition of change supporters; create a vision of the future, communicate it, and empower others to act on it; plan for short-term wins so that people can feel progress; maintain momentum over the long haul; and institutionalize the new approaches to “make change stick.”
THE BOTTOM LINE
CREATIVE THINKING
Rosabeth Moss Kanter says leaders need to develop “kaleidoscope thinking.” They should take fragments of data, construct patterns, and then manipulate the data to create different patterns. This challenges their assumptions about how the pieces of their organization fit together. “Looking through a different lens” spawns new ideas. She recommends getting a fresh perspective and offers the following possibilities:
Search for new ideas from outside your own industry.
Work in other parts of your company.
Broaden brainstorming sessions to include outsiders.
SOURCE: “The Enduring Skills of Change Leaders” by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Leader to Leader (Summer 1999).
“How do you know you have won? When the energy is coming the other way and when your people are visibly growing individually and as a group.”
—Sir John Harvey-Jones,
British industrialist and business commentator
If you can convince your people of the ultimate benefits of change, you will transform resistance into acceptance. And the goal-setting and teamwork integral to change will help employees stretch themselves and grow—and will energize your company.
Off and Running
You are now ready to put what you have learned from this book into practice. Use this section as a review guide:
CHAPTER 1. MANAGING 101
The three “C’s”—collaboration, cooperation, and consensus—can help you become a better manager.
Delegation does not mean abdicating your responsibility. Even when you delegate, it’s important to monitor progress on a task.
Praise should be given in public; criticism must be offered in private.
A step-by-step plan of action for accomplishing your goal is crucial.
CHAPTER 2. MANAGING INDIVIDUALS
A strong business starts with the right staff.
Training—new-employee orientations, on-the-job development, and formal training—is key to employees’ success and motivation.
Feedback should be given often, not just during annual performance reviews.
Disciplining an employee is a process that begins with oral and written reprimands and proceeds to probation, when appropriate, and termination as a last resort.
CHAPTER 3. MANAGING TEAMS
Teams can accomplish miracles if properly managed.
Clear steps ensure a team’s success: define the team’s role and goals, choose its members, foster cooperation, and insist on accountability.
Match team members’ skills to their tasks, formalize their roles, and set the course.
Motivational exercises, events, and material rewards can all help build enthusiasm.
A manager provides clear direction, resolves conflicts, and empowers the team to perform on its own.
CHAPTER 4. MANAGING PROJECTS
Managing a project consists of seven steps: define the scope, allocate resources, organize your group, build a schedule, do a reality check, monitor your progress, and analyze the outcome.
Focusing on the project scope helps you assess the resources, money, and time you will need.
It’s important to define precise goals and objectives from the beginning of the project.
Setting and monitoring project milestones helps keep a project on track.
There is a relationship between quality, time, and money. Project goals should note the quality that is desired and allocate the appropriate resources.
Anticipating, assessing, and managing risk is essential.
Managing multiple projects takes strategic