No Bull Business Blog

ManageElite: Great new tool for training managers

Most managers get little to no training. Yet they need it as much or more as anyone on the staff. Biggest problem? Getting the time to train. And it’s always expensive. Here's a new product that is extraordinarily affordable (only $37 a month for unlimited use) and fits every manager's schedule.

A new product called ManageElite just launched and it’s perfect for getting managers the training they need. It’s online and the training modules are short – only 10 to 20 minutes long. And it is interactive. Plus, it’s real practical stuff and many of the modules have real-life scenarios that require the manager to make choices.

And managers can do the training right at their desks – at any time. Even on weekends when they are at home.

There are also other interactive pieces and PDF handouts in many cases.

The modules cover everything from Handling Difficult Conversations to Interviewing job applicants to doing Performance Review. Plus, there are modules on those tricky compliance issues like Sexual Harassment, Workplace Bias and Retaliation.

But one of the best points, is that it really affordable. ManageElite's charter subscription is only $37 a month, though the cost will eventually go up. But charter subscribers will lock in at $37.

Check out the site at ManageEliteTraining.com

The "Dirty Dozen" of performance reviews

Excerpted from the Executive Report – Performance Reviews: Best – and Worst Ways to Do Them

Here are the 12 biggest mistakes supervisors habitually make in performance reviews:

1. They do not adequately prepare for the review, and they do not allow enough time for the process, rushing through it.
2. They regard the review as a waste of time. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when they just go through the motions of giving all employees a "C" as a cop-out for not giving specific and pointed feedback.
3. They base the review on a score according to meaningless criteria. Does it really matter if someone scores 90% or 95% on attendance? Attendance problems can be dealt with separately through normal discipline.
4. They fear the employee's response. Many supervisors still avoid giving constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement because they fear a confrontation with the employee.
5. They lack training in how to give constructive feedback and have not sought it out on their own.
6. They are uncomfortable siting down one-on-one with employees to talk about performance and attitude.
7. They are plagued by anxiety over any possible area of disagreement with the employee being reviewed, instead of accepting it as a natural part of the process.
8. They let the review process reflect their own poor management skills.
9. They hide behind other supervisors - if other supervisors don't make a special effort on the performance evaluations of their personnel, why should they?
10. They use the performance review only to lay blame, instead of using it as an opportunity to point out the good and the bad. You want to praise good deeds so the employee will repeat them.
11. They don't want to say negative things. Everybody likes to play Santa Claus and give away raises and praises, but not everybody is comfortable sharing necessary bad news, and can do it in a way that is uplifting and points to a better future.
12. They save up some negative feedback to surprise the employee with it at performance review time since they believe they have to have something negative to say. Necessary criticism should be given out over events as they occur in real time, not "saved up" and stored for review time. The best reviews are the ones where there are no surprises on either side, the supervisor or the employee.

DIGGING DEEPER
Lawyers will tell you that if you aren’t going to do performance reviews the right way, then you’re better off not doing them at all. Find out the right way in this Executive Report – Performance Reviews: Best – and Worst Ways to Do Them

What their body language is saying

Excerpted from the Executive Report: 70 Ways to Hold Fewer, Shorter, But More Productive Meetings

One way to gauge the effectiveness of a meeting while it's taking place is by reading the body language of those around you. Here's what to look for:

• Open palms: Sincerity and openness.
• Leaning in toward the table: Interest, comfort.
• Leaning away from the table: Lack of interest or discomfort with what is being said.
• Nodding: For a man, this signals agreement. For a woman, it says, "I hear you; keep going." It's a woman's way of encouraging the speaker to continue.
• Crossed arms: Resistance, defensiveness.
• Gesturing with hands: Interest in the discussion.
• Hand to cheek: Thinking, evaluating.
• Clasped hands behind the back: Frustration.
• Clasped hands behind head: Superiority.
• Drumming the fingers: Restlessness.
• Holding fingers in steeple position: Forming a barrier between the individual and the rest of the group.
• Hand over mouth: Disapproval or withdrawal from the discussion.
• Tightly holding pen or pencil: Nervousness.

DIGGING DEEPER
One of the secrets of great managers is what they accomplish in meetings. Find out how to do a better job by reading the Executive Report: 70 Ways to Hold Fewer, Shorter, But More Productive Meetings

13 ways to improve your writing

Excerpted from the Executive Report: Business Writing - 83 Tips to Keep You from Looking Dumb

Here are 13 ways to make your memos, e-mails and other business writing clearer and more powerful.  

1. Shorter verbs will add power to your writing. Instead of: terminate and secure Write: end and get  

2. Personalize your writing by putting people in it.

Instead of: Profits are up 12 percent.
Write: CFO Julie Smith reports profits are up 12 percent.  

3. Write in specific terms.

Instead of: He worked for a company in the South.
Write: He worked as a consultant for the XYZ Co. in Atlanta.  

4. Try to keep sentences short - between seven and 20 words.  

5. Spell out numbers from zero to nine. Use figures for 10 and higher.

Example: Work on the facility will begin in four days and last about 12 weeks.  

6. Express large numbers clearly.

Instead of: $7,000,000
Write: $7 million  

7. To give your writing a more personal tone, use contractions: it's, isn't, couldn't, here's, etc.  

8. Pronouns help draw in the reader: you, me, him, her, our, etc.  

9. Unless the reader will react negatively to your news, try to stick with the active voice.

Instead of: Two proposals were approved by the committee.
Write: The committee approved two proposals.  

10. Use questions to make your writing livelier.
Instead of: Let me know if the plan has merit.
Write: Do you think the plan has merit?  

11. Try not to proofread on your screen. You'll catch more mistakes if you print out a document.   

12. Do not rely on spell checker. It will not detect misused words.  

13. Avoid using formal, stuffy phrases.

Instead of: As of this date
Write: Today

Instead of: The committee was in agreement
Write: The committee agreed  

DIGGING DEEPER
One of the biggest problems in business is communicating clearly. How often have you had to scratch your head after trying to decipher someone's memo? For help, read the Executive Report: Business Writing: 83 Tips to Keep You from Looking Dumb

No one ever changed the oil in a rented car

Excerpted from the Executive Report: Leadership Skills: the 7 Essential Steps to Delegating

You don't always have the power, authority or means to reward people the way you'd like or give them the growth they desire. Now what?

Realize that there's almost always something you can do to provide an incentive. It may not be a pay raise, but it might be:

• a small bonus
• more time off to spend with the family
• training and learning opportunities, or
• an incentive tied to the company's financial performance.

And you can modify and adjust incentives based on your knowledge of the employee involved.

Just as some people like opera while others like baseball, so can incentives be adjusted to target an employee's likes.

So, while your authority to award incentives is limited, your imagination is not.

Another incentive for successful delegation is to give the subordinate a sense of ownership of the task - a reason to be invested in its success. As the adage goes, "No one ever changed the oil in a rented car."

If you don't own a project, why would you care?

The sense of ownership ties in with other incentives - a bonus, a chance to move up, more independence. There's a difference, however:

While you might offer an incentive for taking on the delegated task, you might also offer an incentive for any successes that result from the person's taking it on.

Again, what you offer may be limited by your budget and authority. Still, almost all of us can come up with a reward for success.

DIGGING DEEPER
The ability to delegate is what turns good managers into great managers. Learn how to do it the right way by reading the Executive Report: Leadership Skills: the 7 Essential Steps to Delegating

Deciding when and what to delegate

Excerpted from read  Executive Report: The 7 Essential Steps to Delegating Successfully

Delegating can provide a manager with many advantages. That doesn't mean it's wise to delegate just anything anytime. When done randomly and without thinking it through, delegation can be a disaster.

So, first, be sure to determine when delegation is the best course of action. To do that, start by asking five key questions:

1. Is there someone else who I believe has what it takes - background, expertise, information, etc. - to do the job? Absent that, is there someone I can get up to speed quickly to take over the job?
2. Does the task provide an opportunity to grow and develop another person's skills, or am I just foisting off an unpleasant task on someone else?
3. Is this a task that that's likely to come up again, so that if I invest time in someone, I'll get multiple payoffs?
4. Do I have enough time to delegate the job effectively? If there's no time for training, feedback and, yes, an occasional redo, I may be asking for trouble.
5. Is this a task that I should delegate? Let your instincts decide which responsibilities must stay under your control.

Other factors to take into consideration:

• How crucial are deadlines? What are the consequences of not completing the job on time?
• Is "good" good enough? In other words, could you get by with slightly lower quality for the sake of delegation? If not, you'll have to have full confidence in the person to deliver at the highest level.
• What are the consequences of failure? Handing over the job could increase that possibility. No one accepts failure, but you have to accept the possibility and be prepared to deal with it.

DIGGING DEEPER

Delegating is key to becoming a great manager. To get more help, read the Executive Report: The 7 Essential Steps to Delegating Successfully

Seven things not to say

Excerpt from the Executive Report: Document, Document, Document - What Every Manager Needs to Know About Tracking Performance and Problems

Good documentation lists specific events and examples, clearly identifying issues that need to be addressed. So some words and phrases weaken good documentation because they're either too vague or too hard to prove.

Avoid using these seven when documenting performance or problems:

1. Perhaps
2. Possibly
3. I think
4. Never
5. Every time
6. Always
7. It seems

DIGGING DEEPER
Documenting employee performance or problems is key to being a good manager. To do it the right way, read the Executive Report: Document, Document, Document - What Every Manager Needs to Know About Tracking Performance and Problems

The dangers of Facebook, Twitter, blogging in the workplace

Excerpted from the Executive Report - Facebook, Twitter and Your Employees: The Dangers of Social Networking

Employees are flocking to social network sites. Every organization needs to have a written policy on use of social networking sites by employees - for the good of both employees and the company.

A recent Harris Interactive survey found that just under half (48%) of U.S. adults have either a MySpace or Facebook account.

Usage statistics are much lower for Twitter, with only 5% of Americans saying they currently use it. But that number doesn't tell the whole story.

Twitter grew 1,382% year-over-year as of February 2009, registering a total of just more than 7 million unique visitors in the U.S. for the month.

As you might expect, there are substantial differences in who is and who isn't using these selected social networking sites:

• Three-fourths of those ages 18-34 (74%) have a Facebook or MySpace account, but this quickly drops off the older people get. Just under
• one-quarter (24%) of those ages 55+ have an account.
• Tweeting's also more common among the young, but not by much; only 8% of 18-34-year-olds use Twitter, while 7% of those ages 35-44 use it, 4% of those ages 45-54 and only 1% of those ages 55+ use it.
• While men and women use Twitter at the same levels (5% each), women are more likely to have a Facebook/MySpace account (52% vs. 45%).
• There's also an educational difference in usage of MySpace and Facebook. Two in five people with a high school degree or less (40%) have a Facebook or MySpace account, compared with 55% of those with some college and 52% of those with at least a college degree.

DIGGING DEEPER
To protect your company and employees, it's smart to have a policy to explains what's acceptable and what's not. To find out more, get the Executive Report - Facebook, Twitter and Your Employees: The Dangers of Social Networking

Is delegating a dirty word?

Excerpted from the Executive Report: Taking Control - 163 Ways to Save Time.

Delegating is a dirty word to many people.

Because doing it properly takes time and energy, they often think: "In the time it would take me to teach someone else to do this task, I could do it myself."

Or: "The only way I can be sure this task will be done right, is if I do it myself."

Here are two reasons to toss out both those ideas:

• Look at the big picture. While it may take more time than you'd like to explain how to do the task the first time around, it will save huge amounts of your time in the long run.
• Perfectionism is one of the biggest time-wasters. Are there some tasks that need to be perfect and require your expertise? Absolutely. But there are so many more tasks that don't need to be perfect, and where "good enough" is just fine. Productive people know how to tell the difference - and so can you.

DIGGING DEEPER

For most managers, working harder really isn't an option. But they try to do it anyway. But there are plenty of ways to streamline your job, eliminate distractions and get others involved. For help, read the Executive Report: Taking Control - 163 Ways to Save Time.

Writer's block: 7 ways to break through

Excerpted from the Executive Report: Business Writing: A Guide to Clear, Concise and Effective Writing.

It doesn't matter how many letters, reports or memos you've written. At some point, you'll find yourself staring at a blank screen, struggling to come up with that first paragraph or sentence.

Try these proven techniques for conquering writer's block. The methods are different, but their goal is the same - to get you "unstuck" and writing:

1. Write a headline. Before getting started on your letter, report or memo, ask yourself: "If this were a news story, what would be the headline?" Coming up with a headline forces you to identify the single idea you're trying to get across.

2. Create an outline. We're not talking about a long drawn-out outline with Roman numerals. Just jot down the major points you want to make and use it as a guide while you're writing.

3. Write it wrong. When you're working on your first draft, forget about typos, poorly constructed sentences and awkward transitions. The sole purpose of your first draft is to get your basic ideas down on paper. In other words: Just do it.  You can worry about "cleaning it up" later.

4. Take 10. For 10 minutes (time yourself), write nonstop. Glance at your outline if it helps, but keep writing. Sure, some of it won't be usable. But you'll find the simple process of continuous writing will help shape your thoughts.

5. Say it out loud. If you're drawing a blank trying to write the first sentence, say it out loud. Pretend the person to whom you're writing the letter is sitting across from you. What's the first thing you'd say? Now write it.

6. Switch readers. Sometimes writing a letter can be difficult because you know there's a good chance the reader may be intimidated or angry about your message. Write your first draft as if you're writing to someone else - someone who's friendly and receptive to what you have to say. You can change your tone when you go back to revise it.

7. Pick a card. Stuck on the order in which to present your points? Get a few index cards and write down one idea per card that you'd like to include in your letter. Don't worry about the sequence. Once all your ideas are down on cards, rearrange them so the ideas flow in a logical sequence.

DIGGING DEEPER
The truth is, most of us aren't great writers. One reason is that we try too hard to sound fancy or formal. But concise and conversational does a better job when trying to communicate ideas. For help, get the Executive Report: Business Writing: A Guide to Clear, Concise and Effective Writing.

Get a grip – toss the paperwork

Excerpted from the Executive Report: Get More Done in Less Time

 

Even though a lot of communication comes via e-mail, we're still not a paperless society. And the paperwork that flows into our office can kill productivity if handled poorly.

 

Here's how to tame some of the paper:

• Sort and handle papers in the inbox only twice a day.

• Throw out rough drafts once the final is done.

• Highlight the important info on a document to avoid having to sift through it again.

• Toss memos immediately after you mark the date and info on a calendar.

• Request summaries and recommendations with lengthy reports. And create them when you write your own reports.

• Keep these folders to file what you receive and don't toss

• • To do (for things that must be acted on by the end of the day
  • Reading (for long reports and industry publications)Personal (for the good-to-know stuff
  • Training (for useful info on personal and professional development)
  • Upcoming events (details you need that aren't written on the calendar)
  • Projects (one for each that is current)

• If you put something aside more than three times, ask "How likely will I ever need it?" If the answer is "Not likely," toss it.

DIGGING DEEPER

Getting leaner means being more efficient. Good managers can’t afford to waste time. For help, check out the Executive Report: Get More Done in Less Time.

It's OK not to be polite

Excerpted from the Executive Report: Executive Phone Skills for Business - A guide to clear, concise and effective business conversations. 

 

Saying you're sorry is almost always the polite thing to do. But when it comes to business, don't apologize for calling someone.

 

You wouldn't be calling them if it wasn't important, so don't start the conversation apologizing for "bothering" them.

 

It immediately weakens your position.

 

The reason you're calling them is because what you have to say is important - to them and to you. It's business and you wouldn't have "bothered" them if you didn't need to.

 

So exchange pleasantries and cut to the chase.

 

DIGGING DEEPER

The phone is a critical tool in business, yet most people make the most of their phone calls. There is a guide that will help. Read the executive report: Executive Phone Skills for Business - A guide to clear, concise and effective business conversations.

When you absolutely need to touch it more than once

Excerpted from the Executive Report: Get More Done in Less Time

 

We've all heard it. The most efficient folks only touch a piece of paper once.

 

Truth is, that's often not possible.

 

Most paperwork that comes across a busy executive's desk needs more than a minute's attention.

 

So it'll likely need to be touched more than once.

 

But the real key is that you take some action every time you have to touch it. Some possibilities:

• post a date on a calendar when real action needs to take place

• file it

• trash it

• make a call to followup or initiate action, or

• delegate someone to read or act on it.

 

DIGGING DEEPER:

Execs who get the most done and are the most effective are the one's who don't waste time on low priority issues. Get help by reading the Executive Report: Get More Done in Less Time.