|
Recently, I was discussing a situation with a friend. It concerned how to motivate an employee who was reporting to my friend. It was an interesting discussion. The person concerned had been given a certain amount of telephone calls to make (about 30-odd) but failed to get anywhere close to that figure; apparently making only 2 calls in an entire day.
What my friend wanted to say to the person concerned was something like, ‘you need to get off your butt and start making a contribution around here or things will be the worse for you.” However, such an approach is never usually wise; and even if you feel like doing something similar – and even if it is, in your opinion, warranted – it is unlikely to produce the desired effect. The only positive likely to come out of such an exchange is that you might feel a little better for a short time. But the other person is highly unlikely to engage in any kind of behavioural change.
So how do you go about addressing this sort of thing? How do we give feedback about the performance of others in such a manner as to get them to recognise the errors of their ways and pull their finger out – so to speak? It’s a good question; and one that was very well-answered, in my opinion, in the One Minute Manager – a management classic by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson.
In that book, there are basically three principles that are proposed to get the best out of your staff. Here they are …
1. Make sure they know what you want
2. If they do anything wrong, just ignore it
3. Catch them doing something right and praise them for it
When you come to think of it, most managers do exactly the reverse don’t they? This is what they do instead …
1. They do not make their requirements crystal clear
2. If you do anything wrong, you are in trouble
3. If you do anything right, they ignore you
By constantly praising the good and ignoring the bad, you will be amazed at what can be achieved. Oh, and your boss will be amazed too. A word of warning here: using these principles could get you promoted!
Well, it is amazing what can be achieved through the simple method outlined in their book. You may have seen animals and/or children being trained to change their behaviour using these principles; and that’s because they do work. It’s counter-intuitive for many people, of course, but these principles do actually work. If you are in a management/supervisory role, perhaps you should give them a try. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Get further motivation tips here ...
Download 101 Motivation Tips |
