Tip of the month for February:  Effective Feedback

Many well-intentioned managers avoid providing regular feedback. They may believe they are giving their staff space to work in their own way and learn from their own mistakes.

It's important to realise that too little feedback is just as problematic as micro-managing every minute of your staff member's day. Everyone needs feedback.

If we get no feedback we:

If we get only negative feedback we:

If we get only positive feedback we:

We need a balance of positive and negative feedback to become:

“FAST” Feedback

Frequent - Give feedback regularly. Don’t ‘save it up’ for reviews or meetings.

Accurate - Check your facts. Talk about only what you know is true.

Specific - Tell people exactly what the action was, and exactly what you are suggesting.

Timely - Give feedback as soon as practicable after the event.

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Working as One

Teamwork is more than just a group of people working in the same space on similar or complementary tasks. In high performing teams members pull together, help each other out, recognise and complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and share a belief that they are responsible to each other and for themselves. They analyse and resolve any issues and celebrate strengths.

Our team development process is designed to help your staff achieve higher team performance through three steps:

Analysis of where the team is now

Intervention to address the areas identified by the analysis, which require development.

Review of progress made, and planning for future development.

The analysis procedure is a customised survey instrument, The Team Snapshot, developed by Nexus Partners Ltd and based on best-practice research.

Specific team development interventions and review processes are implemented according to the specific needs of the team.

Interventions may include training or teambuilding workshops. These always involve team action planning for the future. For some teams, it may be necessary to facilitate other issues before team planning is appropriate. In our experience successful interventions are always preceded by thorough analysis of the team’s needs, strengths and weaknesses.

Review may be conducted by the team as a whole, by the organisation or by an external assessor. It may be as simple as a group meeting where the team reviews its action plan created during intervention and compares it with its achievements; or it may take the form of a facilitated day retreat or a climate survey.

To learn more about Working As One and to discuss the needs of your team, please contact John Hornblow on 021 437566 or email him at johnh@nexuspartners.co.nz.

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The Art of Self Leadership

Trying to get some balance between the demands of work and the pressures of home is a hot topic of conversation.

A few weeks ago a close friend, 52, did not wake in the morning. His was the largest funeral ever held in our city with 1700 attending and all attested to a man significantly involved in business, school, church and family.

What was so different and special about this man? Certainly he had achieved a great deal with a positive involvement in the lives of many people. But he also knew how to take time out, to play, to keep things in perspective, to share wisdom and how to say “no”. He demonstrated leadership: not only organisational but self-leadership.

A few weeks before he died he gave me an article by Bill Hybels titled: The Art of Self Leadership. In it Hybels talks about leadership, but says that the toughest management challenge is always of yourself. Goleman, author of the best-selling book Emotional Intelligence says leaders that reach their fullest potential exercise significant time in self-leadership.

It can be sobering to calculate how much time you spend leading others, versus how long you invest in the task of leading yourself.

I have come to realise that in achieving the balance between all the competing demands of life, the answer is not principally external but within. Others do not cause my overload or pace problem. I do.

So, in order to establish a pace that is sustainable, five strategies I have found helpful are:

Then, as an organisational leader, you will be better equipped to influence your workplace by being a more balanced person.

We have national taonga, sacred treasures: our forests, mountains and heritage. We care passionately for these. Care as passionately for that other treasure that really matters: yourself!

For a copy of the process on self-reflection or to explore ways to help your workplace to be more balanced contact John Hornblow.

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Case Study - Truck Investments Ltd Leadership Development Programme

The sight of a big rig heading down the highway is impressive. It evokes images of power, competence, quality and direction. A machine with a mission. Others move aside in respect.

Imagine if apprentices felt the same as they watched their managers in action. However, the reality is often very different, with New Zealand having a significant level of dissatisfaction with workplace leadership practices. It also has one of the lowest levels of trained managers in the developed world. At times it shows!

At a recent Leadership Summit in Auckland it was reported that 65% of employees said they received no recognition from their manager. 85% had ideas on how to improve the workplace but only 15% shared them. People want to participate in building great workplaces but feel disengaged as managers manage rather than lead.

So much has changed since many of today’s managers entered the work place, since they were trained as apprentices. The on-the-job-training and coaching that young leaders receive today in our companies is often from those who may not have updated their leadership learning in a decade. Our technology, systems, service levels and workshop environment have changed significantly in the last thirty years. Imagine how excited the client of a trucking company would be if we tried to convince them that a 1950’s Ford would do the job expected of a Mack today? Our leadership practices also need to keep pace with changes in legislation, and the needs of employees, clients and business owners.

What do workplace leaders today need to know to be effective? They need to understand the difference between management and leadership; to know how to use power constructively; to be flexible in using different leadership styles; to be able to communicate assertively; to resolve conflict constructively; to have a vision and to inspire followers to reach for the vision; to understand how people communicate; to give and receive feedback; and to manage performance and delegate effectively.

The trucking industry, and worksites in particular, have not been places where the soft skills of leadership have traditionally been espoused. However, things are changing. Having a vision of workplace leaders who inspire, influence positively and communicate effectively drove Truck Investments Ltd to create a leading edge Leadership Development Programme for their most promising younger, higher performing staff. They partnered in this project with Nexus Partners Ltd, a business performance company that had worked with TIL for many years.

When customers select a new truck they go through a rigorous process, making their final decision on a number of criteria and a good deal of intuition. Choosing participants for a high performance leadership programme needed to be just as thorough. Selection criteria were developed that included completion of MITO trade qualifications to the highest level; written and verbal communication skills; a ‘can do’ attitude; a proven track record with the company; leadership experience (could be in the community) and a will ingness to be led.

Potential participants were invited to a “Leadership Workout” which included vigorous, physical team activities; discussions on what leadership is, and isn’t; and personality profiling. The process was transparent and positive and all those originally selected were confirmed for the three year programme.

The design of this programme took account of two challenges businesses want addressed when considering training. First, how can you make training stick? How can you ensure that learning is transferred and integrated into the workplace and performance improved? Secondly, how can a return on the investment in training be measured?

Carefully researched processes are used in this programme to ensure that learning actually occurs, is integrated into the workplace and does make a difference. The first essential component is to ensure that participants’ managers are fully involved in supporting the process and encouraging the application of learning into the workplace. Each participant meets with their site manager before each workshop to identify the focus of their learning in the approaching workshop; to debrief following the workshop; and to receive coaching, mentoring and feedback throughout the process. In addition, senior TIL managers are assigned to mentor and monitor a group of young leaders and to give them constructive feedback and affirmation.

The next critical element is for participants to take responsibility for their learning. They keep a personal learning journal in which they reflect on how they are integrating the learning into their workplace, what they are doing well and what could be done differently. At each workshop they report on this progress, using specific situations they have encountered in the workplace to validate their progress. Finally, between each workshop, participants undertake specific practical assignments relating the learning to their actual tasks.

Historically most training delivered in a traditional manner has about a 10% uptake of learning, not a high rate of return on investment! In this low-return model, participants roll up to a training session without really knowing why they are there, with little say in the relevance of the programme, and return to the workplace with a cursory “How was it?” from the boss and no accountability for using what was ‘learnt’. By integrating strategies for learning transfer, TIL and Nexus Partners are achieving high levels of behavioural change.

In the past, measuring behavioural change following training has been problematic, but now it is possible. Nexus Partners uses measurement strategies it has developed for the New Zealand workplace, having been inspired by best-practice examples from Canadian experience. This measurement is invaluable as it tracks the progress of each individual and the TIL Group’s return on investment.

On the whole the leadership participants’ peers have been positive about the programme and the changes in their colleagues with only the odd knocking comment a reminder that the tall poppy syndrome is still a reality for some.

This TIL/Nexus partnership in leadership development has helped participants to focus on the culture of their workplace, on how this culture is changing and how the participants can bring their workplaces into a 21st century understanding of what work is all about. Rather than provide a ‘quick fix’ solution to leadership issues, it has put in place a strategic, three-year process to build and deliver competent leadership with the TIL group of companies.

Pat O’Connor, General Manager of Truck Stops, one of the participating companies says that they have worked closely with Nexus Partners in the past to provide a wide range of training to our existing managers on an 'as required' basis. “It is both refreshing and exciting to be proactive and take a group of young people with obvious potential, and start training them in management skills so that they have the ability to 'step up' when a suitable position becomes available. It is very rewarding to see the positive growth in all thirteen participants that are on this programme, even though the first year has not yet been completed. We have no doubt that this Leadership Development Programme will achieve our desired objectives.”

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Congratulations to South Taranaki District Council

In the February issue of Consumer magazine, we were delighted to see that our client, South Taranaki District Council, had been ranked with the best local authorities in New Zealand across several different categories.

We extend our warmest congratulations to Mayor Mary Bourke, the Council, CEO Craig Stevenson and the entire staff of STDC.

For more information on South Taranaki District Council, visit their website www.stdc.co.nz. For more information on Nexus Partners' services, visit us at www.nexuspartners.co.nz.

To read last month's case study on the challenges STDC faced dealing with last year's catastrophic flooding, check out Performance News Issue 1 online.

Prize Winners from Performance News Issue 1

In Issue 1 of Performance News, we gave away 2 copies of Allan Pease's new book, The Definitive Guide to Body Language.

The winners were:

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