A tool to help run better meetings

 Culture  No Responses »
Dec 132011
 

The best meetings are short, sharp and focussed.  But just one person with their mind elsewhere can mess that right up.  Here’s a tool to help you get everyone laser-focussed.. 

The One Word Barometer

At the start of a meeting, after the welcome, each person is asked to describe how they are feeling in one word.  They can use any word but the same word can’t be used twice. That’s it!

There is no judgement, but, if a word that might indicate someone is distracted pops up, I always dig a bit deeper.  For example, if there’s a ‘stressed’ member of the team, it’s best to investigate and de-stress before starting the meeting.  If that person can’t be de-stressed, either they should leave or the meeting should be rescheduled.

At The Physio Co, we often use The One Word Barometer both at the start and end of a meeting.  Not only does it help focus everyone at the start, it helps ensure that all decisions have been understood and follow-up actions clear.

The One Word Barometer, a simple tool to help you run better meetings.

PS- Some of the words that I’ve heard: happy, hungry, excited, in-love, focussed, worried, relaxed, ok, pumped, stressed, enthused, hot, frazzled , on-fire, unsure, lonely, distracted, busting..

PPS – When starting out, it can be helpful to have a list of words ready to refer to.

Being ahead of your team’s emotional curve

 Culture  No Responses »
Nov 082011
 

As leaders, we need followers.  We need people to work with us and help us implement the change we’re creating. We need to build a team in quantity and quality. But even when we’ve got the right people, they don’t always seem to do what they know they should.  Here’s a way to approach it..

In my experience, putting more pressure on someone who’s not performing rarely improves their performance.  On the other hand, reinforcing that I appreciate someone’s effort and that I trust them to do a great job even when they are struggling will usually inspire them to lift their game.

Choosing which emotion/mood/approach you should take with a team member can be counter-intuitive.  For example, it takes a skilled and courageous leader to provide more support to a team member when that person has made the same mistake four times.  A typical approach would be to reprimand. But how likely is it that a fourth reprimand will work when the previous ones have failed? Especially when that team-member already knows what they should be doing.

Nearly every team member will appreciate some support and recognition when they’re doing it tough.  After all, if you’ve got the right people they will know what they should be doing.

Give it a try.  Instead of focussing on what hasn’t been achieved, take the time to genuinely reinforce that you trust and appreciate that person’s work. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised..  

Talk time with your team

 Culture  No Responses »
Oct 252011
 

Time to stop and chat is very valuable in every business.  How often do you stop working just to talk with someone in your team?

Every week, I make time to sit and chat with at least one person in our team.  Whether it’s dinner to celebrate a TPC anniversary, coffee with someone who needs some support, heading out of town with our leadership team or simply picking up the phone and asking “How’s it going? Is there anything I can do for you?”, talk time is one of the most important things leaders can do.

In the past two weeks I’ve spent time doing all of the above, and every minute was worthwhile.  I feel very lucky to spend time with our inspiring team. They seem to love having the CEO’s ear for a while and together we solve challenges and generate ideas to find a better way both personally and for The Physio Co.  It’s brilliant!

Talk time. Make it part of your week, every week.

Succession Planning – the key to great leadership

 Culture  No Responses »
Oct 242011
 

How often do you consider who will do your job when you’re not around to do it? How about who will do everyone else’s job when they’re not around either? Succession planning is one of the keys to great leadership. 

A friend of mine and former EO Global Director, Carlo Santoro, once described great leadership as ‘leaving a legacy’. In my opinion, Carlo is spot on and I use his approach as often as I can. 

Similarly, in Good to Great, Jim Collins discovered and described the humble but professionally driven Level 5 Leaders that were laser-focussed on creating an organisation that became even better after they left it.  Level 5 Leaders select and train successors to do a better job then they ever did.  That’s great leadership.

Succession planning is needed for every position in every organisation.  At The Physio Co, we continually reassess who will be completing every role a) this month, b) next month and c) in 12 months time.  We appoint an ‘apprentice’ often and provide as much training as possible. In my opinion, it’s not possible to be ‘too prepared’.

The future is inevitable.  How often are you preparing your succession plan?

PS – apologies for fewer posts last week. I won’t make excuses, I’ll just get on with it.

PPS – this week I’m in Phoenix for a ‘mini-think week’ at the Fortune Growth Summit. I’ll also be visiting Zappos while here in the US.  Exciting few days ahead!

How to be a better leader

 Culture  No Responses »
Sep 232011
 

According to Woody Allen, “Eighty percent of success is showing up”

One of the simplest ways to be more successful is to show up more.  If you want to be a better runner, run more.  Every time you plan a training session, show up and run.

It might be raining, you might be tired or perhaps you almost talk yourself out of it. But, if you still go, if you just show up even when you can hardly be bothered, you will improve a hell of a lot more than if you stayed home.

This applies to almost everything.  If you want be a sculptor, sculpt more.  If you want to be a better blogger, blog more.  If you want to be a better listener, listen more.

So, if you want to be a better leader, start leading.

How to get 110%* from every team member

 Culture  No Responses »
Sep 192011
 

As a leader, do you notice the people in your team?  I don’t mean just know when they’re in the office, but really notice them? 

I reckon you should know exactly how each person in your team is feeling most of the time.  Eg. right now, is Sally happy/sad/stressed/excited? How about Cyril, is he engaged/distracted/overworked/not challenged?  If you don’t know how each person is feeling, I don’t think you’re leading them well enough.

A secret that I use is to very quickly establish what is ‘the baseline’ for each team member. ‘The baseline’ is how that person looks, speaks, acts and even sits when they’re happy. This baseline is the standard that I’ll be trying to help them achieve for as many minutes of every day that I can.

When I notice that one of the people in my team is either above or below their baseline, I’ll mention it.  Eg. if Sally looks excited, I’ll say something like “Hey Sal, you look really happy this morning.  What’s so exciting?” And it’s likely that Sally will be rapt I mentioned it and will burst into something exciting that happened outside of work. On the other hand, if Cyril looks distracted I’ll sensitively (and privately) ask if everything is OK.  In this case, it’s likely that I’ll hear about something that’s not working out so well for Cyril. And hopefully I can help or support him through his challenge.

People’s happiness at work and at home fluctuates all the time.  If you don’t notice these changes in each person, acknowledge them and work with them it’s doubtful your team is functioning anywhere near 100% of it’s potential (let alone 110%!).

To get more out of your team, establish the baseline for each person and start noticing them.

*110% is not possible, I know that!

Want to raise the bar? Consider this..

 Culture  No Responses »
Aug 112011
 

To become a better leader, there are habits, tasks, responsibilities and even some ways of thinking that need to be left behind.

         ”You are what you can’t let go of”

                        - Brian Scudamore, 1800-GOT-JUNK

To reach the next level, I know what I need to do.  What is it that you need to let go of? 

The no. 1 way to get more done on time

 Culture  No Responses »
Aug 092011
 

What happens when a job needs to be finished by 5pm Friday? It gets done on Friday.  Even if it came in on Monday!  

What about if that same job needed to be finished by Wednesday at 5pm?  It gets done on Wednesday!  ”I’ll get it done by Wednesday” is nearly always code for “I’ll do it on Wednesday”.  

The no. 1 way to get more done on time is to stop saying “it will be done by …”, and decide exactly “when” it will get done.

For example, if I need to review a new document, I don’t say “I’ll get that done by Friday”, I make a decision that “I’ll do it from 2-3pm Tuesday”.  Then I lock it in my calendar.  On Tuesday at 2pm I review the document and finish the whole task much sooner.  

The result? A 1-hour task is finished and off my list of priorities much faster.  In fact, I barely had to think about it.  I made an appointment in my calendar (just like any other meeting) and kept myself accountable. 

The same can apply to your team mates, suppliers, even clients.  Instead of asking “When will you get back to me?”, start asking “When will you do that?”. And if they say “I’ll get it done by Friday”, consider asking if it can be done sooner.   

Keeping yourself and others accountable by asking “when” it will be done is one of the most effective ways to get more things done on time.  Give it a try.

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