Is Your Boss a Computer?

Computers are wonderful tools but they can be maddening at times.  I'm sure you've had the experience where you want a computer to do something but for some reason it won't work. All you get for feedback is an error message or a error sound. The machine can't tell you what it wants and that can be very frustrating.

In some organizations, leaders seem to take inspiration from computers.  Their staff is constantly trying to figure out what he or she needs.  Instructions are confusing, conflicting, or not stated at all.

Sometimes this is a leadership style where the leader wants staff to constantly be on their toes and spend a lot of time considering his or her needs.

In other cases, this style is a reflection of someone who may be good enough to get a supervisory position doesn't understand how to lead a team.

In either case, is the leader getting the most out of his or her staff?  Are communication mistakes being made that cut into productivity?  Are staff burning out from constantly being unsure what's needed from them and having to repeat processes?

Perhaps the most important question to consider is whether a highly effective leader is ever not an excellent communicator.

Do Managers Ignore Workplace Talent?

Some leaders pay outside organizations to do work for them that could easily be done by someone who is sitting just a few feet away. What's happening?  The company is evaluating employees by the titles they hold and not by the talents they have.

The economic slowdown has seen an unprecedented shuffling of the workforce.  Those who lost their jobs had to latch onto a paycheck wherever they can find one.  This may have resulted in a lateral or a downward move.  Organizations would be smart to evalulate staff not only by the skills they have for their job but also the skills they are not asked to use in the position.   


Instead people tend to be lumped in with the title and the performance of the average person in that position.  Automatically, it's assumed that the employee can do no more than their job description.  


Smart managers need to shift the hiring focus to include overall talent.  Make sure the needs of the  position will be fulfilled but also check to see if the individual has other skills that could benefit the organization.  Who's to say that an Administrative Assistant might not be a wizard with graphic design?


This kind of evaluation can boost productivity and better engage your employees.  It's about empowering people and not let labels limit your potential.   

Do You Hate Work Email?

Imagine that you're away from your desk at work for a while. You come back and immediately refresh your email. And you watch message after message populate your screen. Suddenly your stress level goes up.

So what's the problem with email? Would we be better off without it? Perhaps but it is a valuable tool and it's not going away anytime soon. Fire is also a tool but you wouldn't give it to someone if they didn't understand how to use it. That's the problem with a lot of organizations: They assume that people know how to effectively communicate through email. With that in mind, here are some suggestions for improving your messages:

Don't Over Write: Have you ever found yourself having to read a message over and over? I'm guessing it's because it wasn't clear. Put anyone in front of a keyboard and a simple request can become paragraphs. If you have to use email, keep your message simple and to the point. Confusion doesn't help your business.

No Tone: In email, it's not easy to tell the tone of a message. Imagine if your boss wrote, "Get it done." Is that an demand, a joke, or something in between? You can't tell and again, you have to spend time trying to figure out the meaning. Some like to put important things in bold or italics, but again, you're relying on people to understand your intention.

People Feel They Have to Respond: Ever see a simple request from the boss go out to staff and ever staff member feels they need to reply. Those replies are sent to everyone so everyone has to stop what they're doing to read it. Do you want your team spending their valuable time doing this?

Was That Important? How many times do you have to repeat something that you emailed a few days ago? There's just something about seeing a message on a screen that makes it hard for people to remember. Plus we get so many emails nowadays that it's easy to lose one in your inbox or you forget to get back to it later.

Let Go of the Mouse: Use email only for general things that you want people to know about, as if it was. an electronic bulletin board. This could include an announcement of quarterly earnings, the score from last night's softball game, and employee promotions. For action items, like a new dress code, sales strategy, or news of a visit from the corporate office, resort to good old-fashioned person-to-person verbal communication. This can be done at a staff meeting or having the information communicated down by supervisors. If you must, then you can send out an email that outlines the action item. You may think this will take a lot of time but in the end you'll save time by eliminating misunderstandings.

Buttons and Zippers

When it comes to communication, most people fall into two groups: buttons and zippers. Both of them do the same thing but accomplish it in a very different way. The problem is that buttons and zippers each think that their way of fastening (or communicating) is best. After all, you rarely see buttons and zippers in the same area on the same piece of clothing.

Buttons have a very close communication style. They like to talk directly to people.

Zippers believe that communication works best when it's at a distance. They love to send emails rather than talk in person.

Buttons like to talk a lot. If they have a thought, they're going to verbalize it.

Zippers tend to be more internal. They only speak after they've given their words careful consideration.

Buttons write long emails. They want to make sure all the facts are out on the table.

Zippers feel that emails should be direct and to the point. They feel information is on a need to know basis.

These are just some of the differences between buttons and zippers. The problem is that often one group doesn't know that the other exists. For example, a button is surprised when a zipper doesn't act like a button. This causes the two groups to frequently come in conflict with one another.

So are you a button or a zipper?

Over Engineered & Under Thought

Recently I looked at my remote control instead of my TV. I noticed how some buttons are well worn from repeated use. But on one of the top rows, I noticed a rather new looking button. It features the symbol of an asterisk. I then found the instruction manual where I tried to find out the button's function. I was surprised to read: "This button is not available."

Evidently the creators of the device decided to place a nonfunctioning button prominently on the keypad. That's a bit weird as there is an expectation that a button must do something.

In other areas of life we see similar things. Ever been told about a daily special at a restaurant, order it, and then be told there's no more available. Perhaps you've bought a ticket for a movie but when you get in the theater, the only seats available are in the front row. Or you've gone to a 24 hour pharmacy at 2 a.m. only to find that the convenience is outweighed by the fact that the place is massively understaffed.

It's good to deliver a product or service that creates anticipation. But it's equally important to make sure the expectation of quality is met.