August 8th, 2008
After 20 some years as an individual contributor, one of my friends is taking on his first management job. He came to me and asked what resources I would recommend for someone like him in a new management position. I thought I’d start the resource list with a few of my favorite management books and work my way from there.
First Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman
This is always the first book I recommend all managers read. It’s all about how to lead from strengths instead of weakness, and it debunks some of the more prevalent management ideas. This book shaped the way I lead and the way I work. If you’re a manager or leader and don’t have a copy of this in your leadership library, you are doing your team and yourself a disservice. Pick up a copy of First Break All the Rules.
Crucial Conversations by Patterson, Grenny, et al
If you can’t handle tough conversations, you can’t lead very well. This book will help you deal with the most difficult conversations. It offers tips and tools on how to keep conversations from escalating, and when they do escalate, you have the tools to help you get back in control and out of your own way. Pick up a copy of Crucial Conversations.
QBQ by John G. Miller
The “question behind the question” is one of my favorite management books, because it helps me think about what the REAL question I’m asking is, and why I’m asking it. It’s an incredibly easy read, and yet is one of the most powerful books I’ve ever owned. It’s all about being accountable for your thoughts and your questions, and it’s a must have for your readership library. This book was recommended to me by Kirk Weisler. Pick up a copy of QBQ.
Growing Great Employees by Erika Andersen
Erika takes the time to explain how to be a better gardener for your team, and how to treat each person the way THEY want and need to be treated, instead of how YOU want to be treated, to name just one of her principles. This book is a little longer read than you might want as a first book, but it’s one you can read a chapter at a time, implement the suggestions, and then move on to the next. Pick up a copy of Growing Great Employees.
3 Signs of a Miserable Job by Pat Lencioni
Lencioni’s book is great for helping you understand your role in creating a positive environment for your team. I reviewed 3 Signs of a Miserable Job when it first came out, and I still think about the lessons taught in this fantastic fable. Pick up a copy of 3 Signs of a Miserable Job.
So that’s my 5 books for new managers. I covered leading by strengths, communication, the power of questions, a general management job, and a metrics fable. That should be enough to last at least the first 180 days or so, at least if my friend implements a few of the principles as he learns them.
What books do you recommend for new managers?
Photo credit to Andrei_Z
Share This
By Phil Gerbyshak -- 2 comments
August 7th, 2008
Free Training Advice for Managers from Olympians
by David Zinger
Tomorrow the Olympics will start in China. Do you want to get a “head” start? The Official site of the Olympics is offering 22 short videos by winning Olympians on how to enhance performance. If you go to the official Olympic site the section is called the Olympic Personal Trainer.
I believe that these winning Olympic athletes have much to teach managers get the most out of their performance.
Here are some of the 22 training tips currently posted at this Olympic site:
- How do you handle stress?
- How do you improve concentration?
- How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?
- How do you overcome an obstacle?
Click here to start your own personal training program that can help you be a better manager.
Share This
By David Zinger -- 0 comments
August 6th, 2008
Recently I got a review copy of the audiobook It’s Our Ship by D. Michael Abrashoff. I really enjoyed it, as Mike read his own book, and I always enjoy hearing books read by their author. I got an unabridged copy, which I searched high and low to share a link to but I couldn’t find it. I can’t say how good or bad the abridged version is going to be, so instead I’ll link you to the hardcover book and encourage you to buy it.
I only review books that I really love, and this is another of those books. Mike’s conversational style was easy to learn from, and easy to relate back to my corporate life as a manager. 
If you’ve never been in the Navy, don’t worry, this book just uses the Navy as a metaphor. It’s trust that Mike talks about in abundance, and he teaches us how to build a better, stronger, more trusting culture with his 8 great sections in this book:
1. Ahoy - Welcome aboard our ship
Abrashoff describes one of the techniques he used on the USS Benfold to welcome new sailors and describes learning good and poor leadership in his experiences on the Benfold. He highlights the practices of developing a company “World Tour,” where new employees receive a “passport” with lists of to-do training and customer-service classes.
Leadership lesson: Make your new associates feel welcome from the first time they encounter you, be that in a letter, an e-mail, or however. The sooner you can make them feel like part of your team.
2. Buoy up your people - inspiring everyone to be their best.
Mike states, “A great leader defines excellence and then inspires his team to exceed it through training and staff development.” He then reviews several companies who have developed innovative training programs.
Leadership lesson: Create a great training program, and then keep developing your folks as often as you can.
3. No more aye-aye men (or women) - cultivate truth-telling.
Create a culture where honesty and integrity are encouraged and planted in every associate an your team. If the emperor has no clothes, nobody wins!
Leadership lesson: Reward folks who tell the truth, even if it hurts you.
4. All hands on deck - unifying a crew.
Quoting Mike: “Mindless rivalry leads to backstabbing, an ethos of every man for himself, and probably unit failure when danger threatens.”
Leadership lesson: Forcing folks to compete for no reason is useless. Create a culture of teamwork instead of ripping them apart with meaningless competition.
5. Foul weather doesn’t respect rank - creating a climate of trust. Abrashoff discusses the importance of developing trust, pursuing excellence without arrogance, and treating all with courtesy and respect.
Leadership lesson: Treat folks equitably, not necessarily equally. Give everyone the courtesy and the respect they deserve, even before they’ve earned it, and soon, they will be more trustworthy.
6. Navigate by the stars - Clarifying what it’s all about.
Do you know the mission of your organization? Then you have to communicate, focus on what matters, and teach your organization’s core values.
Leadership lesson: Share the mission of your organization with your team, and tie the mission/vision to what you do every day.
7. Sail close to the wind - taking the right risks.
Good leaders calculate the odds so risks are minimized.
Leadership lesson: Risks for risk’s sake are useless. When you can take a risk that will help someone grow and you can manage the risk, then do it. If you can’t, it may not be worth it to do.
8. Fly your true colors - Lead by example and get results.
Leadership lesson: Know who you are, and who you’re not. Folks can smell a phone. Let your real self shine through, even if it’s not always 100% flattering.
I enjoyed It’s Our Ship because the lessons were relevant, and the stories were not just Navy stories, but also included stories from other companies Abrashoff learned about. I would strongly encourage you to add this book to your leadership library for 3 important takeaways that you can quickly do as a leader:
1) Ahoy – Welcome aboard – Learn about the welcome aboard Mike gave his sailors, and think about how you can implement that for your team.
2) Navigate by the stars – Clarifying what it’s all about – Focus on spreading the vision and connecting that to your day-to-day
3) Fly your true colors – Figure out who you are, what your style is, and then share that with your team. Be willing to be vulnerable and you can be a great leader.
Buy your copy of It’s Our Ship today!
Coming soon…an interview with Mike Abrashoff and me about leadership, management, and lifelong learning.
Tags: Business, leadership, management, Navy, USS BenfoldShare This
By Phil Gerbyshak -- 1 comment
August 5th, 2008
Employee Engagement From Acceptance to Zen
by David Zinger
I invite you to view this 28 slideshare presentation on Employee Engagement from A to Z in pictures and in words.
Click here if this slideshow does not open in this window.
Share This
By David Zinger -- 4 comments
August 4th, 2008
The 35th edition of the World at Work’s annual budget survey found that the 2008 actual average increase in salary budgets was 3.9%, and the survey projects a 3.9% increase again in 2009. After sharing these numbers, Kris Dunn, the HR Capitalist asked “Is a 5% raise enough to protect your superstars?”
I emphatically agree with Kris when he said “NO!” though not because I think 5% is a bad annual raise. To me, whether it’s 5% or 25%, the pay isn’t really the problem for your superstars. If your star employee is leaving, there are any number of reasons why they are leaving, with pay being the easiest one to say that isn’t your fault because money can easily be blamed on the organization.
So why do you keep losing your superstars? Here’s a few reasons that came to my mind right away.
- Boredom with day-to-day responsibilities – If your superstar is doing the same thing, day after day, night after night, she is going to get bored and she is going to leave you for something that is more challenging and more rewarding.
- No career possibilities – If your your superstar sees no way of moving around in your company, then she will leave you for someplace that she can have more opportunities.
- Unsure of companies future – If you just announced you’re thinking about outsourcing your team’s work, or you just announced record losses for the 3rd quarter in a row, your best people are going to leave you for a company that provides more stability.
- Lack of communication from you about good (or bad) things – You might think ignoring your best employee sends the signal that “no news is good news” but most superstars think if you’re not talking to them you’re mad at them, or worse, that they’re doing something wrong so they change from good behavior to bad. Invest some extra time caring and feeding your superstars or they will leave you for someone who will.
- You suck as a manager – If you’re not the manager your superstar employee needs you to be, she/he will leave you for someone she/he thinks is. In my experience, people don’t leave companies, they leave their managers! Yes, you can’t be everything to everybody, but as a manager, you need to give your superstars what they want and need.
If you’re a superstar, what would make you leave your job?
- Would money do it?
- What about one of the 5 reasons I mentioned?
- Something else?
Feel free to be anonymous in the comments if it’ll help get this conversation going.
Flickr photo credit to Scarequotes
Share This
By Phil Gerbyshak -- 12 comments
August 2nd, 2008
A Guide to Reading Blog Posts
by David Zinger
This post is from August of 2007. I will highlight about one from each month of the last year. I think we often consume blog posts and have no idea was we just took in. I encourage you to scan many posts but when you latch on to a good post to follow the steps below.
Have you had the experience of “reading” 10 or 20 blog posts in a row and upon finishing the last one wondering to yourself in total bafflement, what did I just read?
This guide is primarily for self-management, management and leadership blogs when you are looking for content to assist you in your personal or professional development.
Follow these 13 steps to get the most out of your blog reading time:
- Focus on the title
- Scan the article
- Determine if this post is of interest or value to you - if not, carry on elsewhere.
- Analyze who wrote the post. What are their qualifications for this topic?
- Ask yourself 1 or 2 questions about the post before reading the actual post. This will transform you from a passive consumer of information into an active reader.
- Read the actual post.
- Reflect on the questions you asked yourself before you read the post. Were your questions answered?
- Take mental or written notes about the post.
- Summarize the post in your own words
- Clip or Tag the blog to save it or be social with it. If it is of further value save the blog post or share it.
- Add value to the post: Go the extra mile and post a comment or question to the writer.
- Act: Do something based on the material, take action.
- Subscribe: If this blog post is interesting and you don’t subscribe to the blog subscribe to it now so you can easily keep following this blog.
Many times you will just scan or scroll through multiple blog posts but when the material is interesting or useful this method will help you maximize your personal benefit from the blog.
You might find that you won’t read as many blog posts overall but the blog posts you read will be more meaningful and enriching. Less volume, more filling!
Photo Credit: On the platform, reading by http://flickr.com/photos/moriza/96724309/
Share This
By David Zinger -- 3 comments
August 1st, 2008
I never thought posting free leadership wallpapers could really motivate someone to take action, but it did. Frequently insightful and never bashful commenter CSBMonkey shared his insights on motivation from an employee’s point of view. If you’re a manager, or you want to be a manager, please keep reading this and make it your own so you can really inspire your team. The emphasis in the article is mine, not from CSBMonkey, but the words are all his.
An Employee’s View on Motivation
I have often wondered why managers go for pre-built “programs” that are being sold as team building inspiration silver bullets instead of looking at truly inspirational films and historical figures. In the same vein, if it inspires YOU as a manager it might not inspire an employee at all. Which brings up the question (it doesn’t “beg the question”, btw, since that isn’t what begs the question means), do managers ever ask their employees “Who is an inspiration for you?” Or “What inspires you in your life?” I can honestly say that these are questions that I have never been asked by anyone I have worked for but which if asked would truly pique my interest in what exactly my manager wanted to know about me.
I am sure that my managers know about me that I am a big film buff and love a wide swath of films and movies ranging from silent films to horror movies, but discussions about it are never about what I find inspiring about a particular film or movie (yes, I distinguish the two) or why a particular filmmaker or screenwriter or actor is an inspiration for me. And I will say, I have many of them. I keep a catalog of inspiration and note great moments of particular people’s creative lives that seem to stand out as to me as particular examples of what the person was trying to DO with their craft, be it film or music or writing or a novel.
Do I do this with managers or business figures myself? Honestly, no. I can only name a single business person that might make that list, and I know from enough stories on him that as a person he’s probably not someone I would like. :) *heh* I just mentioned “creative” and “business person” and “inspiration” in a single sentence, so I suspect most people can guess that person.
Do you, as managers, know whom inspired and continues to inspire your employees? And conversely, have you ever communicated to THEM who your OWN inspirations are? Do you have more than one so that you can share common examples between you so that you both have a similar story to draw from? Frankly, I have no idea who inspired/inspires my own managers. I am sure they have no idea who my inspirations are or those inspirations’ works.
Wouldn’t that be an interesting thing for everyone to know?
Share This
By Phil Gerbyshak -- 5 comments
July 31st, 2008
Get Psyched as a Manager
by David Zinger
Sports is often used as a metaphor for leadership, management, and the workplace. What lessons have you learned from playing sports that helps you as a manager.
My specific interest is the application of sports psychology to management performance. I taught Educational Psychology at the University of Manitoba for over 20 years and firmly believe many of the skills from sports psychology can transfer to the workplace.
Here is a list composed by Bruce Hale and David Collins in a chapter on Psyching Up for Rugby from their book, Rugby Tough. Although they talk about Rugby these lessons can be learned from many different sports.
Read the list of 26 possible life lessons below and determine if you have learned any of these life lessons, or if you have learned other unique lessons from sports:
- Performance under pressure
- Organization
- Meeting challenges
- Handling both success and failure
- Acceptance of others’ values and beliefs
- Flexibility and success
- Patience
- Risk taking
- Commitment and perseverance
- Knowing how to win and how to lose
- Working with people you don’t necessarily like
- Respect for others
- Self-control
- Pushing yourself to the limit
- Recognizing limitations
- Competing without hatred
- Accepting responsibility for behavior
- Dedication
- Accepting feedback and criticism as part of learning
- Self-evaluation
- Wise decision making
- Setting and attaining goals
- Communication with others
- Ability to learn
- Working within the system
- Self-motivation
Please Comment. Let me know what you have learned from playing sports that also helps you as a manager.
Photo Credit: Misty Fall Baseball by http://flickr.com/photos/sis/266718134/
Share This
By David Zinger -- 3 comments
July 30th, 2008
Leadership Now’s Leading Blog is one of my favorite sources of leadership inspiration. Recently, they created some free leadership wallpapers with pictures and quotes from great leaders like:
- Winston Churchill
- Thomas Jefferson
- Abraham Lincoln
- and several others.
I think this is a really great idea. Take some great quotes, add them to a nice picture of the quote, and then offer them as a free download for your readers. Win-win all around, and something you could do for your team too, and here’s how:
Take your team or firm catch phrase (ours is Taking client service to the next level) and a great picture (we have a picture of people walking up steps), frame it, and hang it up on the wall by your team.
Or make them 4×6 photos, frame them, and give one to each person on your team.
Or do it with a picture of your team together (something we don’t currently have because of all the turnover recently).
If you’re looking to add a little inspiration to your desktop, I’d recommend you download one or two of these free leadership wallpapers.
Are there any great leadership quotes you’d like to see with photos? Leave your favorite quote below, and I’ll see what I can do to put something together for you, or maybe I’ll ask Michael McKinney from Leading Blog to add them to his collection for us all to enjoy.
Photo credit courtesy of Leading Blog.
Share This
By Phil Gerbyshak -- 7 comments
July 29th, 2008
Do you slack? Can you slack? Have you thought about slacking to create focus, turn off work, and get fit?
Slacking may not be what you think. In fact, slacking may reduce thinking.
Are you ready to think differently about being a slacker?
You slack when you wobble atop a one-inch-wide strand of nylon webbing suspended between two poles, trees, etc.
Here is a definition from Wikipedia’s entry on slacking.
Slacklining is a balance sport which utilizes nylon webbing stretched tight between two anchor points. Slacklining is distinct from tightrope walking in that the line is not held rigidly taut; it is instead dynamic, stretching and bouncing like a long and narrow trampoline. The line’s tension can be adjusted to suit the user and different types of dynamic webbing can be used to achieve a variety of feats. The line itself is flat, due to the nature of webbing, thus keeping the slacker’s footing from rolling as would be the case with an ordinary rope. The dynamic nature of the line allows for impressive tricks and stunts.
Here are a few lines from a recent Globe and Mail article on a different way of being a slacker.
Slacking in Mr. Avery’s case is a struggle not against laxity, but against gravity. It’s slacklining, and it requires the balance of a mountain goat and the focus of a Tibetan monk. …“It’s a form of moving meditation,” says Mr. Avery, who took his first shaky steps on a slackline three years ago. “You’re concentrating on everything and nothing at the same time.”
Are you ready to really slack? If you do I strongly suggest as a slacker when you are in the middle of the rope that you don’t ask someone to “cut you some slack!”
Photo Credit: Santa slacking by http://www.flickr.com/photos/wili/329206976/
Share This
By David Zinger -- 1 comment
July 28th, 2008
It shouldn’t cost you a bunch of money to thank your team for a job well done. Some of the best awards I’ve received have cost the person giving it to me absolutely nothing, and I love those awards far more than any of the costly rewards I’ve gotten. As I’ve examined the rewards that have meant the most to me, I’ve come up with 4 things that all of the most meaningful awards had in common.
Meaningful and full of meaning – One of the organizations I belong to and that holds a very special place in my heart is HDI (formerly Help Desk Institute). Each year, the leader of our local chapters gives out awards that cost her next to nothing, but they always make people cry and hold them near to their heart and on their desk. One such award is called “The Rock of Our Foundation” and it’s nothing but a big rock with a nameplate attached…except for the special story Sophie shares about each winner. If you know why you’re giving someone an award, share the WHY behind it with everyone and put the meaning into the award!
Unique to the individual – Before you even think about starting a rewards and recognition program, ask your team how they like to be recognized. Do they like it in public or in private? Do they want a plaque, a lunch, or a gift certificate? Is a high five and a handshake good enough? ASK your folks what the best way to recognize them is, and then do it!
Specific to the action(s) demonstrated – Make sure you say specifically why you are rewarding your associate. A “You increased productivity by 10% because of the new method of tracking orders” is far more impactful than “You did a great job this day/week/month/year.” Work this specificity into the award some way.
Timely – Instead of waiting for the end of the year to do ALL your recognition, how about some just in time recognition, like right after something great happens. If I get a specific, positive e-mail from a customer about something someone on my team did, I share it with the WHOLE TEAM right away so the behavior is fresh in my team’s mind. I send it to the whole team because I want to reinforce the positive behavior and encourage the rest of the team to do likewise.
If you can remember MUST, you can create employee awards that don’t cost a lot of money.
- Meaningful
- Unique
- Specific
- Timely
What would you add to create even better employee awards that don’t cost a lot of money?
Flickr photo credit to Unhindered by Talent
Share This
By Phil Gerbyshak -- 6 comments
July 26th, 2008
What are your 3 management wishes?
Slacker Manager Readers Respond. Here is a selection of responses from Slacker Manager readers on 3 wishes they would like a Genie to grant. The 3 types of wishes were:
- The wish I would grant for the people I manage is…
- The wish I would grant for the organization is…
- The wish I would grant for myself is…
I alternated the display of wishes between red and black:
-
happiness, regardless of their choice to work for me or my company.
-
the necessary vision to move forward.
-
that every decision I made as a manager, I knew the outcome ahead of time.
-
to be more confident with their abilities
-
they’re a real talented bunch! to be more considerate of the individual, and not be so overly focussed on the bottom-line
-
the wisdom to be able to continue to develop my team into an effective unit and lead the organisation into unfamiliar territory.
-
the courage to try and to accept failure
-
the ability to prioritize and pick the “right” projects
-
receiving the above two wishes
-
I wish I actually had authority over the people I matrix manage — that way, they would get clear direction and know where they stand and understand there are consequences and rewards for their actions. Instead they are just drifting in the wind without clear direction.
-
Clear lines of authority inside the organization as well as outside to the org’s sub.
-
The power to bestow the internal motivation that each great employee needs.
-
be proactive
-
listen to the employees
-
improve leadership
-
Work Life balance
-
Effective communication
-
Reaching top
-
To make more money
-
To make more money
-
To make more money
-
that they are fulfilled with what the job is providing them.
-
that it values its clients and its employees and not just the dollars attached to them.
-
that I remember no fire is greater than the time I have for my family
-
that people would always think before speaking or acting.
-
to function as a supportive team without the deceptive, dishonest tactics.
-
a job that I love!
-
Be intelligent, proactive, flexible enough
-
Intelligent, proactive, flexible enough
-
Live in a world with people and organization intelligent, proactive, flexible enough
-
Self Starters
-
Systematization
-
Better Leader
-
A recognition of success from the highest levels of the organization
-
The ability to see that communicating even the smallest triumph can greatly enhance the overall success of the organization.
-
More time to make the first two happen.
-
Bigger salary
-
Bigger profits
-
Bigger salary
-
Straight Answers
-
More Snow
- Team Players
-
That they can be a genie like me.
-
That it can be the best genie driven organization in the world.
-
That I am the best at what I do.
-
To feel as though they are doing the best they can each day.
-
Strong and sustainable growth.
-
To build the most respected group of its type in the world and to be considered an excellent project and people manager.
-
People to be happy
-
Where taxes and the prices on food, gas, etc, would be affordable for everyone
-
A life I have been dreaming of since the first day of this summer vacation to be real, not in a dream, but real where I can actually explore it, real as in I’m actually in it like how I am in this world, a life where I am really slim, slender, really, really gorgeous to the point everyone thinks I’m really beautiful, sexy, really gorgeous, a life where I really do have an older brother and yet still have my same little brother, a life where my dad will not be miserable because he is rich, have 3 children that makes him proud, the life where I’m a prodigy in everything (skateboarding, surfboarding, mountain boarding, pen-spinning, guitar, EVERYTHING including singing) the life I have been imaging, I want that to be real as this world and this life I’m living in right now have never exist but I still have a memory of it.
-
Increased motivation in the face of constant rejection (they sell appointments for Home Improvements)
-
An upgraded IT capability that lets us communicate and do business online (with internal customers)
-
The patience to suffer the ignorance of non-connected, non-techie, non-communicative management.
-
I wish Ii could get a job for free at McDonald’s
-
I wish my dad would keep his room organized
-
I wish I could make wishes everyday for the rest of my life
Share This
By David Zinger -- 0 comments
July 25th, 2008
Sam Decker shared a fantastically helpful articled about the 5 stars of a Rockstar Employee.
- Initiative
- Integrity
- Execution
- Strategic Agility
- Communication
Here’s a bit of background on why Sam is qualified to write this list:
In my career I’ve worked with hundreds of people, interviewed a few hundred, and hired over 100 people. A minority of these folks (say 10%) were rockstars, a minority I’d never hire or want to work with (another 10%), and the rest are in the middle. From my perspective, these are the characteristics I saw in the top 10% whom I’d be honored to work with anytime.
I find this 10-80-10 curve is VERY true in my hiring experience as well. Looking back, I realize I’ve hired mostly folks in the middle with few on either end of the curve. What I think about when I hire folks is one simple question:
Would I want to go camping with this person for a weekend?
This question helps me think about these key questions:
- Can this person do multiple things and prioritize them appropriately?
- Can this person adjust her/his expectation in case it rains, and we have to move the camp?
- Can this person be self-sufficient and yet willing to pitch in and help out if I’m struggling?
- Can this person be resourceful to solve unexpected problems?
I find that folks that stack up well in my camping analogy also do well on my team.
A few questions for you to answer or at least think about:
- What are your top 5 qualities of rockstar employees?
- How do YOU hire for these qualities?
- What other things do you do to find your best 10% of employees?
Picture from the personal collection of Phil Gerbyshak.
Share This
By Phil Gerbyshak -- 2 comments
July 24th, 2008
I admit it, I am addicted to good blogs
by David Zinger
We do not use an extensive blog-roll on Slacker Manager. I published the list of blogs I follow on my site: www.davidzinger.com. There was such a positive response with people finding new blogs or rediscovering old blogs that I decided there was good value to offer this list to you.
Happy Reading!
Share This
By David Zinger -- 11 comments
July 23rd, 2008
This month I’m working on mid-year reviews for my team, and I thought it might be helpful to share the Mid-Year Review Form I use with my team. I like to keep the meetings at 30-45 minutes, and I like to make things clear, concise, and simple to complete. If you do a good job discussing things the first 6 months of the year on our one-on-one weekly reviews, this form should be very easy to complete.
About the form:
There are 2 sections, with 3 parts in each section:
Section 1 is completed by the associates that report to me.
- Goals - I ask for updates on each goal they might be working on, and what they are doing to ensure they complete them by year end. My team sets up to 3 personal goals at the beginning of the year and I want an update letting me know how progress is coming.
- What went went well - Anything they did that was above and beyond, I want to be reminded of at mid-year. These are things like special projects volunteered for, extra shifts covered, customer kudos, and any training completed.
- What do you need from me to ensure a successful second half - As their manager, it’s up to me to provide the necessary resources they need to get the job done. If anyone is working on a goal they need my help on, this is their opportunity to let me know. Additionally, this is a good reminder that if you don’t ask, you don’t get what you want, at least not on purpose. Of course they can come to me throughout the year to let me know what they need, but the formality of doing this at mid-year is a good check-in.
Section 2 is completed by me.
- Looking back - What did I see went well for the first half of the year. What did I see that needed improvement over the first half of the year. These are typically repeats of themes we’ve talked about at their weekly meetings, so this isn’t a surprise to anyone.
- Looking ahead - What do I see coming down for the second half of the year. This may be a project I see that aligns with one of their goals, it may be a training course they need to sign up for, or it may be a team-wide item that I need them to focus on for our team to win for the next 6 months.
- Other news and notes - This would be any special announcements that I need to share, any hiring updates, any things that need just a little more tweaking in order to be hugely successful for the second half of the year.
I ask my team to complete section 1 before they meet with me, and I put the onus on them to schedule their mid-year review when they are ready to discuss things, no later than July 31st. We completed our last mid-year review on July 18th, almost 2 weeks ahead of schedule.
You’re welcome to copy and paste the questions above into a Word document, or feel free to download my Mid-Year Review Form.
Questions for you:
Do you do mid-year reviews with your team and/or your manager?
What questions do you find most helpful? Least helpful?
What would be on your ideal mid-year review sheet?
NOTE: You can do whatever you want with the Mid-Year Review Form I created. I’d appreciate if you share any updated forms with me and the readers here, it’s not necessary you do so in order to download the form.
Share This
By Phil Gerbyshak -- 2 comments
