February 2008
In this Issue:
Leading from Afar
The faceless manager directing his/her staff by phone and electronic messages, so often seen in spy movies decades ago is now a common element of modern, global businesses. With this new paradigm come new challenges.
How do you provide quality leadership over long distances? Can a leader really gain the confidence of a group that rarely or never sees him/her? What are the benefits of leading from a distance?
Leading over long distances offers great opportunities for global businesses, but it also requires leaders to give special attention to certain leadership skills. Clear communication, building relationships and building trust are three key aspects of leadership that demand exceptional execution with long-distance leadership.
Communication
A shared office allows for more immediate communication for important issues and conflict resolution, so a misunderstood email can be rectified quickly. Over long distance, it is crucial to be very clear and deliberate with every email that is sent out. If you send a message requesting action, you must be very clear about what should be done, how you want it done and when you want it done.
A good leader must know when to rely on technology for communication and when to have face-to face meetings. Email and teleconferences do not give people the opportunity to read facial expressions and read body language, which makes up a large percentage of communication.
Relationships
Good leadership comes down to the relationship you have with the people you are leading. If you want people to perform exceptionally and work toward a common cause, you have to interact with them. You have to give them clear direction and listen to their feedback.
It takes a great deal of effort to reach out to individual team members regularly, but those relationships are the core of strong leadership. People on both sides of the globe have to be willing to engage in conference calls at 5am or 11pm.
Use all of the technology available to you - phones, fax, email, streaming media, teleconferencing - but be sure to connect with people in person whenever possible.
Trust
A leader gains the trust of his team by delivering on promises consistently. If a team receives directions for starting a new project from a director 3000 miles away, trust in that director is the determining factor for the project's success. If the team believes in the vision of the director and they know he will credit them for their hard work, they will be motivated to work very hard to make the project successful.
Mary Lynn Pulley, Ph.D., recommends taking the following steps before launching a project with a long distance team:
- Identify how progress will be measured, what success will look like, and what roles each group member will play. Clarity about their purpose and expectations is essential.
- Discuss symbols of reward and gratitude with teams before launching a project. It can be as simple as an online card.
- When collaborating online, establish cues that indicate group members are listening, confused, or laughing. These can be as simple as using a smiley face icon to indicate laughter.
- Track group communication. Create a synthesizer role to pull long distance conversations together for the team.
- Foster a virtual team atmosphere. Leaders need to be purposeful about establishing a culture across distance to capture interpersonal connections that bind teams.
- Maintain a virtual persona. Pulley warns that online personalities can be perceived as cooler, task-oriented, and more abrupt without the interpersonal cues that occur in live conversations.
- Be open to possibilities. The potential for e-leadership is yet unrealized.
A good long distance leader will use the three concentric leadership skills effectively: out of good communication come good relationships, and out of good relationships trust comes trust. It is most important to remember that even with our advanced technology, nothing beats face-to-face communication.
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Bad Communicator, bad boss?
SmallTech / Monte Enbysk
Funny how many bosses think their subordinates are moving on because of dissatisfaction over what they are paid. Wrong.
A 2001 study involving some 20,000 exit interviews found that the No. 1 reason people leave jobs is "poor supervisory behavior." In other words, bad bosses.
And one of the biggest factors cited in "poor supervisory behavior" was . . . poor communication skills. People too often are promoted for their workplace accomplishments, without any assessment of their communication skills, says Gretchen Heller, human resources consultant at Watson Wyatt Worldwide.
Simply put, if you aren't a good communicator, you probably shouldn't be a boss. And you probably won't be one for long, although there does appear to be a lot of bad bosses hanging on out there.
Fortunately, good communicators are made, not born, says David A. Owens, assistant professor of management at Vanderbilt University's Owen School of Management.
I talked to several management and human resources experts recently about how well today's managers communicate, including their use of e-mail. When I asked what bosses generally need to work on, here is what they told me.
7 basic communication tips
- Be a better listener. Pay attention to your employees. Sounds simple, but it is a common gripe, says Maureen Dolan Rosen of Rosen & Associates, a human resources consultancy based in Chapel Hill, N.C. Among the things she stresses in workshops with managers is "learning how to listen better." She'll also offer a story about one of her former bosses, who cleverly perched his hand under his chin and appeared in meetings to be listening intently to whoever was speaking. But if you looked closely, under his glasses, his eyes were closed. He'd use the meetings to snooze.
- Make time for employees. Regular, one-on-one meetings with your team members are important; if employees work remotely, meet by phone. If you can't meet weekly, do it at least twice a month. And don't take phone calls during meetings, unless it is an emergency. Show your employees they have your full attention. Talk about their career paths and how you envision them growing in their jobs. On the flip side, employees need to be aware of bosses' time pressures.
- Get the word out to those affected as efficiently as possible. Take great pains to reach those who should be in the know about workplace changes coming down from above. This is tough. How easy it is to forget to tell someone, on a timely basis, something they should know about to do their job. But know the downfall: Work may not get done, and you may also look like you aren't in the know — which doesn't exactly inspire confidence in your troops.
- Put out a consistent message about your values. Knowing who you are, and what you stand for, can help your employees make better decisions on their own (or at least decisions that you will like better). If you're sending mixed messages, explain them or suffer the consequences.
- Give regular feedback; avoid surprises. Employees shouldn't first learn about significant performance issues in an annual evaluation. They should be confronted well beforehand (and as humanely as possible) that there is something they need to improve. "The annual evaluation should be more of a recap," Rosen says.
- Be effective in speaking to groups. I'm not talking here about speaking to the local chamber of commerce or Rotary Club — although that is not a bad skill to have too, by the way. I mean employee groups. If you can't speak well at employee meetings or in front of employee groups, you lose credibility as a manager. Learn how to do it; learn how to get better at it. The same thing goes for writing group e-mails.
- Don't hide behind e-mails. Most delicate matters must be discussed in person. Most conflicts must be settled in person, or at least by phone. When emotions are involved, e-mail becomes a less-appropriate vehicle to communicate. And e-mail is never an appropriate method to tell someone he or she is being laid off, Heller and others insist. (Yes, I know it happens.) Nonetheless, e-mail is an important communications tool.
Getting your own evaluation
Should you seek out feedback from employees on your performance as a manager? You bet. It will engender loyalty, and likely make you a better boss.
How do you solicit such feedback? Larger businesses, such as Microsoft, have annual manager feedback forms that can be answered by employees (anonymously, if they so choose).
While that is one way to do it - and a way that is helpful in a corporate setting, where you have large HR staffs - I suggest you continually strive to get the feedback in person, as part of an ongoing dialogue with each of your employees.
Don't do it via e-mail. Use your one-on-one meetings with an employee to hear him or her out on an issue or concern with your management style. Try to disarm the employee as much as possible, with humor or whatever, and be sincere in your interest about what he or she has to say. It may be hard for you to do, but it may even be harder for the employee to speak his or her mind. The end result is likely to be a better relationship.
What if you can't get the employee to speak up? Your best bet is to keep working at your dialogue, without making the employee uncomfortable. Over time, the employee will confide in you. A smart way to end every one-on-one meeting is to casually but earnestly ask, "Is there anything else on your mind?" Then be willing to listen because, over time, you will be hearing more about what the employee is thinking.
Acting on employee feedback
How do you handle an employee's criticism? You listen to what the employee has to say, ask questions where appropriate, get the employee's suggestions on how you could improve and then pledge to consider it.
You are likely not to agree with everything said, at least initially. But take it all under advisement. Your initial reaction might be to reject the feedback completely. Bad move. Tell him you will take some time to think about the criticism, and get back to him later. Then do so.
Chances are, you will appreciate what the employee had to say, even if - after spending some time thinking about it - you still disagree. Do get back to the employee and pledge to do what you feel is necessary to enhance the relationship.
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Hold on Tight: Gen Y Is Driving
Say the words "Gen Y" in the workplace, and you may hear lots of grumbling from boomers and Gen Xers. This young generation is not interested in paying their dues, say their elders, many of whom had to fight their way to the top.
Gen Y is receiving a lot of negative attention, but is it all well-deserved? Here are some of the many positive attributes this group of young employees is bringing to the workplace.
Work-Life Balance
Of course, the balance depends on your definition. But how balanced is your life if you bring your Blackberry to bed? Do you take business calls while watching your son's soccer game?
When Gen Y employees leave the office, most are done for the day. And like generations before them, they are committed to doing things differently than their parents. This means leaving the office in time to pursue passions that don't involve work. We could all learn a thing or two from their approach to living a more balanced life.
Tech Savvy
We thought Gen Xers were tech-savvy. Wait until you can see what this generation can do with technology. This group is fearless. Before you pick up the phone to call for technical support, give one of these employees a chance to fix the problem. They'll have the situation resolved before you're done listening to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony while holding for assistance on the help line.
Tipping the Status Quo
If you have worked with Gen Y, you may already be accustomed to hearing, "Why are things done this way?" Is that necessarily a bad thing? Not if you are interested in improving your organization. This generation is constantly challenging the status quo. Encourage them to continue to challenge how things get done, and change the way you do things when a good idea is presented.
Two Heads Are Better Than One
If you are into the team approach, you are going to love working with this generation. This group has grown up playing on teams. They seek opportunities to collaborate. You'll get the most productivity out of them when they are working with others for a common cause.
Like it or not, the latest generation to hit the workplace is going to be here for a while. You might as well embrace this new approach to work.
It might even lead to increased profitability and more time to devote to other things besides work. Now that's a healthy balance we can all live with.
Copyright 2007 Human Resource Solutions. All rights reserved.
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