Elevate Culture and Engagement with A "Conversation Cadence"

Work culture’s an important thing. It’s usually invisible, outside of conscious awareness – but it effects everything! What we understand, who we trust, whether we love our work or hate it, even what we believe about ourselves and our place at work.

It can be the difference between going to work fully engaged, eager to contribute, looking forward to being there – and showing up to do the minimum, furtively looking for another job.  Which kind of culture do you have? How engaged are your employees?

Culture is a pervasive force  that influences the way people work together, how decisions get made, which behaviors are rewarded and who gets promoted. It's what we do we're not thinking too much about what we're doing.

Engagement is...

• The emotional commitment a person has for his/her work.
• The invisible force driving discretionary effort.
• A reflection of the mind, heart and spirit.
• A measure of effort in the face of difficulty.
• How hard someone will work when things get hard.
• A psychological condition affecting energy, effort and enthusiasm.
• How much a person is invested in his/her work.

Conversations – how we talk to each other – can make all the difference in culture and engagement. Our words can trigger different reactions – some toward trust & engagement, some toward fear and anxiety.  We’re often not fully aware of the effects of our verbal and nonverbal communication. (Most people know that 93% of face-to-face communication is nonverbal. However, unless we are giving a presentation, most of us aren't conscious of our nonverbal communication and it's impact on culture and engagement.)

As leaders, we must always be thinking about when and how and what we communicate with our team members. Finding our way here is critical to our short and long-term success as a leader. My recommendation is to consciously create a "conversational cadence" with your team members. In this post, I will explain what that is, and how to create one for you and your team.

Create a "Conversation Cadence"

A conversation cadence is the flow or rhythm of communication between people, in this case between a leader and their team or individuals on the team. While this rhythm might not be the same with each team member, one needs to exist.  Like a band that can’t stay together without a drummer creating and maintaining a rhythm, without a clear plan and cadence, communication with your team members will be less clear and less effective overall.

Keys to Creating a "Conversation Cadence"

Determine the right cadence. Not every song has the same tempo, and not every person requires the same frequency of communication with you.  Think about the competence and confidence of each team member along with their personal communication needs.  Consider the nature of their work, and both their needs and yours.

Think this through for yourself and talk with them too. Ask them how often they would like to connect and talk, ask them what they need from you to be successful.  While you want to take their input, don’t ignore your needs either.  Come to an understanding and create a plan for your communication cadence.

Factor in the informal. Some leaders leave this to chance, figuring that we will run into each other during the work day, and take care of issues and topics as needed. While we should hope that we will talk with our team members outside of planned communications (though this is difficult and a bad assumption if your team members work remotely), assuming this will suffice for communication is dangerous.  All you need to do is look at the amount of poor communication in organizations to see that working without a plan isn’t working.

Create great one-on-ones. A big part of your conversational cadence is determining the frequency of your on-on-one dialogues. I’ve written some tips about these meetings before.  Here are three specific tips that will help these meetings maintain your conversational cadence:

• Have a schedule – it is one thing to decide you are going to meet every week, but another to actually meet. Get these meetings on your calendars and hold them as sacred times to connect and build better communication.

• Have a standing agenda – make sure both of you know the types of topics you will always address during these meetings.

• Keep a running list – as a leader keep a list of things you want to discuss with each team member and if they don’t get resolved in informal conversation, use time during your one-on-ones to do that. Encourage your team members to do the same.

Remember the bigger picture. With regularly scheduled one-on-ones your communication and success will improve.  But there is also a need to think bigger and longer term with people too. Talking about goal and career planning and other bigger picture topics is important and doesn’t need to happen as frequently as the one-on-one. Schedule time for the long range and bigger picture topics beyond the regular work communication.

In most cases quarterly will be a good frequency here, but make sure you don’t go longer than once per year. In many cases the team member won’t ask for this conversation, assuming you will ring it up.  Them not asking doesn’t mean they don’t want or need theses conversations. As the leader you are setting the cadence and make sure these bigger picture conversations are a part of it.

A Final Thought

Successful communication is hard enough when you have a cadence or a flow.  When communication is sporadic and unpredictable it becomes even more difficult and less successful.  As a leader you are the drummer, creating the right rhythm and flow for your communications. Set the tempo and make sure the beat goes on, and your conversations will help to elevate employee engagement and create a thriving culture.

A Challenge

Reflect on and answer these two questions:

• What's a conversation that you need to have that you're not having?

• What's a conversation that you're having over and over that you wish you weren't having?

"No change, no change."

Check out a related post: Leaders Need to Focus On Culture and Engagement

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant

SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step... 

Interested in learning how leadership coaching and training can benefit your organization? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please contact: 

Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth. 

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

Sales managers, are you measuring the rate of your rep's improvement? (If not, you'd be advised to pronto)

"Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.” Benjamin Franklin 

What’s the point of raising quotas if your reps haven't increased their capabilities to sell by at least the same percentage increase? 

What’s the logic behind increasing individual quotas by 5% if your reps haven’t similarly improved their sales capabilities by 5%? 

Here’s a question for sales leaders: what data are you using to measure if your reps are ready, or capable, of selling more (from one year to the next?) 

Sales analysts like CSO Insights have been reporting for several years that the percentage of sellers hitting quota is dropping in B2B sales. We’ve all heard that. 

The typical knee-jerk response is to blame the rep. 

However, I believe this “quota gap” is more reflective of a growing “readiness gap.” 

A readiness gap meaning that companies are not appropriately investing in coaching (Click here to read how sales coaching can boost sales by 20%) and developing their reps at a rate that keeps pace with their target revenue growth rate. Thus, reps are not ready to hit their targets. 

I know that many sales leaders associate the term readiness solely in conjunction with on-boarding new reps. 

However, a sales career ideally is a progression from entry-level to skilled professional. Each step along the way requires a different level of readiness. 

In the era of the data-driven sales culture, it seems to me that we need a metric for capabilities and readiness and the rate at which they change. 

Then, if leaders want to arbitrarily increase quotas at the start of a year, at least they would have data to illustrate how big of hole they’ll be digging for themselves. 

If anyone has such a metric they use with their reps, I’d love to learn about it. 

You can’t measure your rate of improvement, as either a sales leader or a rep, if you’re not investing the effort to improve.

Good selling,

Peter C. Mclees, Sales Coach and Trainer

Smart Development

petercmclees@gmail.com

Mobile: 323-854-1713

We help sales managers coach their reps to accelerate profitable sales. 

Five Reasons Why It's Vital To Develop Your Staff's Leadership Capability

1. WORKPLACES HAVE CHANGED

In a relatively short period historically, the work that we do and the way that we do it, has changed significantly. Over the past 100 years we have replaced our bodies, and later, even parts of our minds with machines. Our workplaces have evolved from farms, to factories, to Facebook.

In the past, there was an unwritten psychological contract between employers and employees that loyal and hardworking employees would be granted a ‘job for life.' Today, career development means multiple employers within a person’s career with employees looking for companies that provide professional development, career growth, job challenge, flexibility and a strong employment brand.

Carrots and sticks no longer work
Managing people applying the ‘carrot and stick’ approach doesn’t drive performance outside the factory. The psychological contract has changed and now companies must engage their employees. Unfortunately, achieving employee engagement is not straight-forward. We agree that a positive emotional attachment to the work and organization is central to effective employee engagement. However ‘engagement’ means different things to different people. This makes engagement a moving target for organizations seeking to improve their performance.

Engaged employees put more effort in
The value of employee engagement is the discretionary effort that comes with it. This effort leads employees to go above and beyond in their work just because they can and it makes them feel good. If this can be harnessed (And these efforts are aligned with organizational objectives), then magic happens. Performance increases by 20 percent, as does business performance and shareholder returns and costly attrition is reduced.

Unfortunately, research indicates that more than 70 percent of the workforce at most companies is not fully engaged. This presents a significant challenge for leaders. Optimum performance will never be achieved on the strength of technical expertise alone. To achieve organizational objectives and fulfill their roles and career potential, they must also develop leadership skills that are influential in identifying and harnessing the intrinsic motivation of those they lead. If you have spent most of your life training in a technical specialty, the step up into a leadership role can often feel like starting out all over again.

2. ADAPTABILITY IS NOT NEGOTIABLE
This change in the way we work is characterized by the need to work faster and apply advanced thinking capabilities to stay ahead in a rapidly changing environment. It is no longer about ‘what you know’ and ‘who you know.’ Outstanding leaders need to know what needs to change, and they need to adapt quickly to stay relevant.

We compete globally – like it or not

Organizations now compete in a fast-changing global environment. Globalization had led to economies being more closely linked than ever before. In a boom there is global prosperity. However, a chink in the world’s economic armor can lead to a global financial crisis, as was experienced in 2008. Economically, we are like the occupants of a snow globe where even the smallest shake can have far reaching effects for many.

An IBM study of over 1500 CEOs projects an image of our future working environment being in a perpetual state of chaos. Many CEOs involved in the study used the army acronym VUCA to describe the new environment.

Volatile: change happens rapidly and on a large scale.

Uncertain: the future cannot be predicted with any precision.

Complex: challenges are complicated by many factors and there are few single causes of solutions.

Ambiguous: there is little clarity on what events mean and what effect they may have.

You need your ‘A’ game daily
With many unknowns and much new territory to navigate, there is more pressure than ever on leaders today to bring their “A” game. Organizations are actively competing to attract and retain the best leaders. Unfortunately, research shows a “significant gap" between the urgency of talent and the leadership issues leaders face today, and their organization’s readiness to respond.

But how do you define “the best” when it comes to leadership in VUCA environment? What are the ideal leadership qualities?

3.TODAY’S LEADER IS NOT TOMORROW’S LEADER
The heroic individual leader has been the gold standard for leadership over the last 40 years, and, consequently, leadership theorists have developed endless models in an attempt to define the characteristics and qualities of the “ideal leader.” However, even though leadership studies have been prolific over the past 100 years, no conclusive framework has been agreed. As a leadership coach, I am not surprised by this. When I work with clients, as well as their individual objectives, it’s also critical to consider the environment and specific context in which they operate. Good leadership in one context may not be good in another.

Many factors
Leadership is also not solely a function of hierarchy or location. Companies now have access to a global talent market and fast-developing mobile global workforce. Consequently, this increasingly complex work environment is less suited to problem solving by a lone, decisive authority figure. It requires the collaborative efforts of a network of smart, flexible leaders who may work at varying levels within an organization. Working together to share knowledge, this network of leaders understand that the “whole is greater than the sum of its parts” but, that equally each part has an essential role to play.

4.LEARNING AGILITY IS ESSENTIAL
Leadership in any organization should support the achievement of the organization’s immediate and future objectives; consequently leaders need to be continually evolving their skills.

Many leaders derail because they remain focused on the skills and competencies that got them promoted, and they stop learning the skills they need to be an effective leader. Both leaders and their team members must be learning agile. To get the best out of their team, leaders need to proactively support and develop their people (and themselves) to be the leaders that their people, organization and industry need. 

A leader needs to continually learn and grow, taking the time to reflect on what worked and what didn’t. This largely occurs on the job and requires them to take the learning from one situation and apply it to a different context. 

It is an ongoing process of discovery and application.

Your success is going to me made or broken on the strength of the leaders you lead. While technology might be the foundation of a business, it is the actions of the people who run the business whether or not it succeeds or fails. By investing in those you lead you are investing in the future growth of yourself and your organization.

5.LEADERSHIP IS LEARNABLE

In the past, leaders who behaved badly were tolerated as long as they had the requisite technical skills. The boss knew it all and no one expected him to change. There is no room for this excuse anymore. Numerous scientific studies undertaken since the 1970’s have established that the brain had the capacity to re-wire itself and change its structure and function well into old age. 

Departing from the centuries-old view that that adult brain is static and unchanging, the concept of neuroplasticity had changed our perspective on how we view the brain. More importantly, it has enhanced our understanding of our ability to actively influence our human potential though active management of our thinking and behavior.

Learning effort is rewarded

Changing the brain’s structure involves creating, new or strengthening existing, neural connections and weakening/eliminating others; learning, unlearning relearning.

If you’re motivated you can do it.

I’m excited by the findings as they provide the scientific explanation for the behavioral changes that I have observed in my clients. The ability to influence the wiring of our brain creates inspiring possibilities for expanding performance potential. Ranging from improved cognition and perception through to acquiring new skills and enhanced behavioral flexibility. I have observed that with self-awareness, responsible action, shifts in individual performance are achievable and sustainable.

So you may be thinking…

“I don’t have time for all this!”  My challenge to you is that you don’t have time to not do it! The cost of your leader(s) not performing is absorbing time you don’t have.

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant

SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step... 

Interested in learning how leadership coaching and training can benefit your organization? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please contact: 

Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth. 

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

How Mindful Listening Can Expand Your Influence as a Leader

Have you ever stopped and realized in a group conversation, meeting, or even just a talk with a friend that you really don't even know what you're talking about?

If you're like most people, this happens quite frequently. While you may be interested in the topic at hand, your mind will still drift off to thinking about something else that is going on in your life.

Our brains are scattered and our minds are unruly, which is why practicing mindful listening can be a crucial part of a meaningful and attentive conversation. You have to be in the present moment to absorb what is being said. You also have to listen without judgment, and without trying to formulate what you are going to say in response.

Want to be more mindful in daily life? Start by practicing gratitude to help improve your mindful listening habit. 

What Is Mindful Listening?

Mindfulness is the practice of paying purposeful attention to the present moment, without making any judgments. It encourages one to be aware of the present and let go of worries or anxieties, along with any physical or emotional reactions you may have to outside influences.

Listening in this way requires you to give your full focus to the person who is talking, and to use your senses to understand their words and emotions. You must do this while being open-minded, and show that you are taking interest in what the other person is saying. Without being mindful, you may become distracted and fail to hear what someone else is doing or saying.

Studies have suggested that the average person only remembers 25% of what someone has told them only a few minutes prior to being asked. The goal of mindful listening is to stop your running thoughts so you can hear the message that is being shared with you, and so the speaker can feel understood. It is important to allow yourself to have the time to absorb everything the other person is saying.

Benefits of Mindful Listening

According to American author David Augsburger, "Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable."

Personal Benefits of Mindful Listening

1. Mindful listening helps increase your empathy.

Empathy refers to the ability to understand another person and share what they are feeling. When you are practicing mindful listening, you will increase your empathy because you will be taking the time and energy to put yourself in someone else's position, and really listen to what they are saying and their motivations behind engaging in the conversation with you.

2. Mindful listening further develops self-awareness.

Mindful listening will allow you to be conscious of your physical and mental presence throughout the conversation. It may also help you uncover some unknown biases that you have when listening to someone else's perspective or point of view. Self-awareness is a critical part of being mindful because it allows you to always be in the present moment.

3. Mindful listening helps deepen relationships.

Part of being mindful is being able to know yourself well enough to be able to create deep relationships with other people. If you are able to give someone your full attention by listening in a mindful way, you will be able to get to know them on a level that you otherwise would miss. The more you are able to understand someone, and vice versa, the deeper your relationship will be.

4. Mindful listening improves your focus and attention.

Practicing your focus while you are in a conversation will spill over to other aspects of your life. You will be able to gradually learn how to quiet your busy mind and pay attention only to what is being said to you.

Professional Rewards of Mindful Listening

1. Mindful listening improves your communication with colleagues, encouraging collaboration and initiative.

As a mindful listener, you will be able to improve your work with your colleagues. With proper communication, you and your colleagues will be able to listen to each other to learn about each other's ideas and thoughts about possible projects. Working together as a conducive team will allow you to better your work.

2. Mindful listening helps you make stronger connections.

With mindful listening, you are able to connect to the person to whom you are talking by taking the time to fully understand what they are saying and why they are sharing it with you. This will help to build a stronger connection because you can relate to what they are saying.

3. Mindful listening increases productivity because people are actually listening.

When people take the time to listen, they will also be able to engage in the conversation and add in their own thoughts to build off what the other person is saying. This can help people stay productive because it leaves little time to get off track or to put off short-term goals.

4. Mindful listening boosts workplace morale because employees feel they are appreciated and listened to.

When people feel like they are being listened to, they feel as if they are a part of the group. This is important in feeling valued as an employee. Also, employees who feel heard in their company are more likely to remain loyal employees than those who feel as if their opinions do not matter.

5. Mindful listening improves observational skills, allowing leaders to choose the best persons for projects or to delegate tasks to.

When you are listening closely to someone, you may pick up on some subtle things that you would not otherwise notice. For example, you might notice that one employee has a great attention to detail when it comes to numbers or some aspect of a project that will be really important. If you are trying to get to know someone, it is vital to practice mindful listening.

Practices (micro-behaviors) of Mindful Listening

• Repeat back what someone else has said, but put it into your own words. This will allow your speaking partner to know that you have been listening and comprehending what they have been talking about. Use your own words to tell the person what they just told you. Tell them that this is what you heard them say, and ask if that was the intended meaning. This will allow both of you to be clear on the message that was portrayed.

• Encourage your speaking partner to tell you more by nodding and smiling, and even asking them to tell you more. This will let them know that you are interested in what they have to say, and that you believe what they are saying has value.

• Make sure that you are on the same level physically. Don't talk down to someone or have someone talk down to you. You want your eyes to be on an equal plane so that, both physically and metaphorically, you are on the same level.

• If you find yourself cutting the other person off to interject your own opinion, apologize and allow them to return to what they were saying. Be conscious to try to not interrupt people in the first place.

• It is not uncommon to be in a conversation and think about what you are going to say next while the other person is talking. Instead, allow the other person to finish what they are saying, and have an open mind. Once they are finished, you can take some time to process what they said and formulate a response.

• Take a quick pause before responding to what the other person has been saying. Use this time to absorb what they said without any judgment, and then translate back to them what you heard them say in your own words. In order to respond without judgment, it is sometimes important to take a breath and gather your thoughts. Formulate a proper response to the person to whom you are speaking that will show that you are interested in what they said, and that you understand it as well.

• Before a conversation even starts, you should set the intention to listen mindfully. Remind yourself that this is your time to give someone else your full attention and respect their willingness to take the time to talk to you. Get the most you can out of the conversation by listening in a mindful way on purpose.

• If you are not able to give the other person your full attention at the moment, choose another time to have the conversation. It is ok to ask someone to reschedule a conversation, especially if you tell them that you will be able to give them your full attention at a later time. This will help them realize that you value what they are going to say.

• Put aside any distractions like your phone or any other gadget. There is nothing worse than trying to be heard while the people to whom you are speaking are busy looking at their phones. It makes it seem like what the speaker is saying is not very important. Have the courtesy to put away anything that could be distracting while you are giving your full attention to another person.

• Encourage dialogue by asking open-ended questions. Saying things such as "Tell me more" or "Tell me about a time when…" encourages people to speak more than giving a one-word answer. This also opens up the floor to additional conversations, and may lead to talking about something else as well.

• Let the speaker share their thoughts; avoid finishing their sentences. You want to hear what the other person has to say, which may be quite opposite from what you assume it will be. Allow the person to whom you are speaking to take pauses to think about what they are going to say next, and really value every idea that they choose to share with you.

• Notice your thoughts, feelings, and body sensations as they arise. Be mindful of yourself in the present moment, and monitor how the conversation is making you feel. Do you agree with everything, and are you therefore relaxed and happy? Or are there some things you might not agree with, and maybe you get tense throughout the conversation?

• Pay attention to the other person’s tone and body language. Mimic their affect so they feel comfortable in the conversation with you. If their tone of voice is happy and active, then respond in a similar manner. If they are down and solemn, don't respond by giggling or showing excitement.

Mindful Listening Exercises

1. The mindful listening practice.

To do this, find someone who is willing to work with you, such as a friend or someone who is in your family. Each person will take turns speaking for three uninterrupted minutes.

When it is your turn to speak, don't worry about the topic. Just speak about whatever you want for three minutes straight. It is ok if you run out of things to say before the three minutes is up. You can also take a few breaks while you are speaking to gather your thoughts. Once your time is up, allow your partner to speak for three minutes without interrupting him or her. Do this back and forth at least twice so you both get an ample amount of time to talk.

2. Stop whatever you are doing and just listen.

This sounds easy! It is quite simple, but you do have to remember to concentrate while you are listening so your mind does not wander off to other topics or subjects.

Set aside the amount of time that you want to spend practicing mindful listening, and stick to it. If it is just five minutes, that is fine, but make sure that your mind does not wander during those five minutes.

Allow any sounds that you hear to anchor you in the present moment. Remember to not pass any judgment during this time, or to try to analyze the things that are going on around you. Simply accept what you hear and allow yourself to experience it. If you become impatient, notice what is happening, and slowly redirect your attention to the sounds around you. Do not react to your feelings of restlessness.

3. Mindfulness-awareness meditation.

If you are able to take a moment to do some seated meditation, keep this exercise in mind. When you are practicing peaceful abiding, you will learn to settle and continue to return to the present by letting your thoughts pass by without acting on them.

During this process, you can see how your own self-absorption prevents you from experiencing so much of the world. Being able to let go of yourself is an important first step in allowing you to hear and see other people completely. Doing this type of practice is an important way to get to know yourself in a whole new way, and is based on the idea of being gentle and accepting oneself.

4. Focusing.

Being able to fully focus requires you to have three skills: intuition, self-awareness, and a caring presence. This is a contemplative practice that became popular in Western philosophy and psychology. Being able to cultivate these inner skills will allow you to understand your life experience, make decisions, and solve problems.

This type of focusing requires you to notice how you feel, and welcome those feelings without judgment. These feelings and senses typically go unnoticed or fall below your radar of attention, but they can be recognized if you allow yourself to be receptive to them. Felt senses are not only physical. They may be vague at first, or even non-conceptual, but they relate to parts of your life like your work or relationships, and they tell more about the person you are.

In conclusion, now that you know what mindful listening is, practice it a little bit every day until it becomes natural to you. Whenever you are listening to someone talk, listen mindfully and intently, and give them the respect they deserve. Doing these things will get you on the right track to learning how to do mindful listening, and with enough practice it will become second nature.

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant

SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step... 

Interested in learning how Smart Development can help your company address these issues? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please contact: 

Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, nonprofits, government agencies and other organizations create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth. 

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

  
                      

  

🍀 Effective Onboarding of New Supervisors Isn't a Matter of Luck 🍀

Just like four-leaf clovers, high performing leaders are hard to find and develop.  Creating an effective onboarding program for supervisors will help.

Most organizations have a onboarding program for new hires. Most don't have a good one for new supervisors and managers. 

In simple terms, onboarding is intended to help new employees learn:

1.HR basics (E.g. Safety, organizational policies, compensation, benefits, time keeping, where the restrooms are :) etc.)
2.Expectations of the work. 
3.Resources to be successful.
4.Rules of the organization.
5.Context of the organization (Culture, structure, values, management style etc.).

If onboarding is important for employees, think how important it is for new supervisors because of the ripple effect they’ll have in the organization. In addition to the standard onboarding topics 1-5 above, supervisors need  to know additional things for items 2-5 including policy administration, compliance, communication, performance management/development, and conflict resolution to name a few.


Many organizations only have vague expectations for their supervisors and managers such as "maintains good employee relations," "effectively supervises employees," "promotes teamwork" or "fosters a positive work environment."

Check out our blog post that highlights the importance of having crystal clear role expectations for supervisors: The One Thing New Supervisors Need Most

Bringing new supervisors and managers up-to-speed is tough. 

Whether you’re looking for a new, streamlined process to train your new hires, or want to supplement the existing program you’ve built, it’s tricky to quickly get a new manager up to speed.

…That’s not to say it isn’t critical.

One report found 60% of new managers under-perform (or fail) in their first two years likely because 58% of managers say they didn’t receive any management training or coaching.

Don’t fancy your new hires falling into that group?

Follow this guide to new supervisor and manager development and learn how to set first-time supervisors and managers up for success, along with the supporting material you can use to make sure they’re an asset in your organization.

Why Bother Developing New Supervisors and Managers?

You want to make sure all of your supervisors are successful, right? After all, supervisors have a huge impact on their entire team.

A bad supervisor or manager could cause a whole host of problems to start in your company, including unproductive staff. Managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement which could be the reasoning behind why just a third of the employees in the US are engaged.

There’s more to it, though.

Low productivity levels, a lack of engagement and dissatisfaction at work could cause health issues–something American companies spend $360 billion treating each year as a result of bad managers.

Ever heard the phrase, “people join a company, but they leave a boss”?

It’s true. A study found half of all employees admit to leaving their companies because of a bad boss, which could result in high (and unnecessary) staff turnover; not to mention the loss of high-quality talent that could be more expensive to replace.

11 Key Skills a New Supervisor Should Learn

Now you know the importance of new manager training, it’s time to build a program that’ll teach them how to be a fantastic role model in your workplace.

But what skills need to be built through their training program?

Here are five essential skills your new manager training curriculum need to work on to set them (and your business!) up for success:

1. Making the Switch from Individual Contributor to First-Time Manager

It’s easy to work independently as the member of a team. You’re in control of the work you complete, not others, and it’s not your job to hound or motivate other people to meet their own deadlines. In fact, you were probably rewarded or even promoted because you were so productive as an individual contributor.

That’s not the job of a leader–which is why it’s so difficult to go from individual contributor to first-time manager.

You’ll need to teach your new managers how to deal with this change. They’ll need to learn how to get results through others, and paradoxically why they don’t want to quickly answer questions and solve problems. In other words they need to become more coach-like.

There are four transitions that new supervisors or managers need to make:

• A transition in relationships
• A transition of role
• A transition in skills
• A transition in perspective

These are perhaps the most difficult transitions for people to make, yet with the proper framework, awareness, training and coaching, it can be done. 

2. How To Give Effective Feedback

Employees thrive on feedback. It’s the best way to provide actionable advice that’ll help them improve in their job, especially when 92% of employees believe redirective feedback improves performance. In fact, not giving feedback will actually disengage team members as they feel that they they don’t matter, or they are not advancing in their skill set and career.

But there’s a difference between just criticizing someone and giving effective feedback. Instead of shying away from giving constructive criticism, or unknowingly de-motivating staff with the negative wording of their suggestions, educate your first-time managers on the basics of delivering actionable, effective and meaningful feedback. They need to learn when and where to give the feedback, and an effective 3-part strategy for making the feedback a positive experience for all involved.

Their entire team, and your organization, will benefit!

3. How To Delegate Effectively

“Why should I delegate when it’s so much easier to do it myself?” is a common question that many first-time managers might ask. Granted, they do have a point. We all want to simplify our to-do list, right?

And in fact, it often is faster and easier for the manager to just do it. After all, in most cases they have more experience or talent than their direct reports.

But new managers need to realize that delegating isn’t just to save themselves time; delegating develops their team members. It increases the future capacity of the entire team.

And effective delegation is different than just dumping assignments on people. New managers need to learn how to prepare the task, assign it to the right person, do appropriate check-ins, and conduct a final evaluation.

As a result of delegation, the relationship between both can develop since trust is being built. That’s something you’ll need to focus on, considering just 20% of the workforce trust their management team.

4. One-on-One Meetings

Somewhere along the road, meetings have gained a reputation for being a huge waste of time. 

While you don’t want to be the type of company having meetings about meetings, first-time managers need to understand the power of weekly or bi-weekly one-on-one meetings with each team member.

One-on-one’s have the dual benefit of engaging the team member, and increasing work results. As the the 1:1 is considered the direct reports meeting, communication scores increase and feelings that the manager cares about them as an individual skyrockets.

The meeting is also great for alignment. Has the team member been working on the wrong thing? Have they been delivered the wrong information? Are they waiting for a co-worker to complete something, but a mismatch in communication means the project is stalled for no reason?

All these questions, plus many other common team problems, can be highlighted–and more importantly, resolved–with productive one-on-one meetings.

5. Being a Coach-Like Supervisor or Manager

Old school management was about setting expectations and measurable objectives and making sure employees were meeting or exceeding them. Falling short was often handled with stern warnings and “progressive discipline”.

Today, managers need to move from performance management to performance development. Managers need to be continuously coaching their team members to higher and higher levels of performance. This means new managers need to master a new skill set: coaching. How can they use goals, accountability and questioning to elicit the performance they need while engaging their team members in a positive relationship?

Coaching can come in a variety of forms. But whether they’re helping staff with their own professional development or career growth (something 87% of millennials say is very important) or addressing a more acute issue, it’s critical all new (And established) leaders work on this skill.

Open to Further New Supervisor Training and Coaching? Develop These Other 6 Skills

We all know there’s more that goes into a managerial role than just five skills.

Although each five are extremely important (and could make or break the success of your first-time supervisor or manager), you could also consider building these six management skills into your onboarding process:

6. Excellent communication: Deadlines, budgets and to-dos keep a team in sync, but you can’t achieve perfect harmony if your new supervisors can’t communicate effectively. Productivity improves by up to 25% in organizations with connected and informed employees, which is why your new managers need to learn how to listen, explain things clearly, and make sure their team understand what they’re saying. 

7. Team building: “Teamwork makes the dreamwork”, right? It’s true: Companies and organizations that communicate effectively are 4.5x more likely to retain the best employees. Your manager’s department won’t meet deadlines (or do the work) if they don’t work together. They need to learn what motivates their team, and understand how to foster a community of teamwork.

8. Reflective and problem-solving skills: Has something gone wrong? Whether it’s a mismatch in expectations or an individual’s fault, managers should be able to spot the problem by reflecting on it, and find a way to prevent it from happening again. 

9. Resilience: All leaders should be role models for their team, but that can’t be achieved if your new supervisors aren’t resilient. In the words of Amy Modglin, “the true grit of a leader is not how they perform during the good times but rather how they display emotional strength, courage and professionalism during the most trying times”.

10. Adaptability: It’s not uncommon for things to go against plan. (It’s why plan B is so popular!) But, if that happens, your new managers should know how to adapt. This is something 91% of HR directors predicted would major recruitment goal in the future.

11. Conflict prevention and resolution: Have two team members fallen out, or suffering with a bunch of employees that aren’t listening to their manager? Your new managers should learn how to prevent and resolve resolve conflicts in the workplace–something that causes 385 million working hours to be lost every year.

What Should Your New Manager Training Program Include?

Now you know the skills a new manager should learn, but should the new manager curriculum look like–what delivery options should it have–to be effective?

The Importance of Ongoing Coaching

Did you know that 87% of companies admit to not doing an excellent job developing leaders at all levels? The training and support you’re delivering to first-time managers shouldn’t stop when they’ve completed their training.

You need to offer coaching to your leaders–even if they’ve passed their first few months of management with flying colors.

Here’s how to coach your first-time managers, and make sure they’re leading your team effectively in the months (or years) that pass their initial training. 

Set Regular Check-ins
The “sink or swim” method shouldn’t be your motto throughout the first few months of your new managers’ role. Why? Because your new managers might be struggling with something, and not realize there’s an easier way to do it until their mentor shows them. 

However, setting regular check-ins can prevent this from causing problems in your workplace. By setting weekly or bi-weekly (but no longer than monthly) catch-ups, you can spot and solve them before their entire team suffers.

Get Feedback from Their Team
It’s hard to self-evaluate. Even if your first-time managers know what they need to work on, they might not be as good at confidently saying the things they’re proud of.

However, supporting their sessions with feedback from the team they’re managing can help them quickly improve–and give them confidence they’re doing a good job!

That’s why you should regularly ask the mentor you’ve chosen to survey the new manager’s team for feedback. What are they doing well? What can they improve on? The answers to these questions could give them a confidence boost, while also create a list of next steps to make them even better.

How to Measure Your New Supervisors' Success

Your new manager and their mentor have had weekly meetings for the past six months. But, you might still be questioning: Are there any other methods I can use to determine how successful my new managers are? 

The short answer is yes.

Here are two types of survey you can use to get a broader take on the performance of your first-time manager:

Employee Engagement Survey

After your managers have at least 6-12 months of experience, you should establish a quantitative measure of their performance. 

One reliable measure is to include them in your employee engagement surveys. These feedback forms help you to analyze how engaged your entire workforce is, their happiness at work, and discover how effective their managers actually are.

But, don’t keep the results of your employee engagement surveys private.

Once your staff have filled-in this survey, give your first-time manager their own score. That way, they’ll be able to see their performance, and how it stacks up to other managers.

360-Surveys

You could also factor-in 360-surveys as a way to measure the success of your new managers. 

Robust multi-rater 360 surveys gather feedback from the manager’s team members themselves–giving individual managers personalized feedback on their work.

A 360 survey typically includes feedback on:

• Overall team satisfaction
• Manager effectiveness
• Performance against a variety of competencies

[Smart Development has a simple and cost effective way to do 360's that is combined with 1:1 leadership coaching.]

Final Thoughts

As you can see, bringing a new supervisor or manager onboard is a complex process. You’ll need to build a comprehensive first time manager training program, evaluate their skills, and commit to a coaching program that’ll encourage them to constantly improve.

But, offer an inclusive onboarding program that covers all three and you’re bound to set all new supervisors up for success.

Contact us if you'd like to learn how we can  help your organization design or enhance a new leader onboarding and development program.

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant

SMART DEVELOPMENT

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Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

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