Helping Employees Embrace New Systems

Embracing new systems and processes can be challenging for many. Even for those who aren't apprehensive about technology, automating a manual process that employees have been accustomed to for years can be overwhelming.

With profitability and efficiency among businesses' top priorities, and technology a valuable tool for increasing both, how can business leaders help employees to adopt, and even openly embrace, new technology?

When considering a new technology — be it software, hardware or even a simple upgrade — talk to your team members about their current challenges and frustrations to gauge what features are 'must-haves.'
By taking a solution-oriented approach and integrating technology that meets employee needs, it will be easier to integrate the technology into day-to-day operations.

Show Them The Benefits
The best thing to do is to introduce the problem to employees and present the new system or process to them as a possible solution. After allowing them to learn more about it, they should be encouraged to give you feedback. Once you've identified the right system or process for the problem, you can make it available for use.

Training
Just like you would train a new employee on office procedures, it is important to train team members on how to best use new technologies. When developing a training program for your team members, consider company culture.

Is your company or department bursting with early adopters? Do team members lag behind in their adoption of technology? Knowing who you are working with is as important as understanding the technology itself. Understanding the culture will help.

It is also important to develop a program that trains all team members, not just system administrators. Training all team members on the system will prevent administrators from being bombarded with questions and reduce the number of team members who resist the technology due to lack of understanding.

To help increase team members adoption of the technology and minimize any apprehension, coordinate team training sessions in small groups where the team can work hands-on with the new technology and receive on-the-spot support and guidance. A small group setting will help people to feel more comfortable asking questions.

Measure results
Evaluating the effectiveness of a new technology is crucial. It both helps to determine if goals are being met and demonstrates the technology's value to the team.

Before implementing a new technology, set benchmarks. Potential benchmarks include how many team members you want using the technology after a set period of time, projected increases in productivity and desired reductions in system interruptions.

These measurements will help management to evaluate return on investment and illustrate the value of the technology to employees who are resistant to or struggling with the transition. Showing employees that customers are receiving better service, that they are more efficient in their role, and/or that the business is operating more smoothly, will motivate them to become familiar with and consistently use the new technology.

Once you have measured how many employees have become proficient with the technology, interface with those who are resisting the change or encountering possible difficulty.

Is there a key system functionality that team members have overlooked? Are team members using the system incorrectly, and are therefore frustrated? Identifying the reasons employees are not using a new technology can help to identify areas where additional training is needed and help to refine your purchasing strategy for future technology

Be patient
Wouldn't it be great if team members were on board and running at full-speed from the get go? Unfortunately, this is not always realistic.

Be patient when implementing a new technology and team members are trying to learn the new processes. While training will help, it still takes time for things to run smoothly. Anticipate that team members will have questions and challenges as they work with the new technology. Take the time to educate team members on the value of the new technology and highlight how it will make their job faster/better/easier.

It is important to evaluate the effectiveness of all technology, consider team members feedback, and assess overall impact on day-to-day operations. When implementing a new technology, work closely with team members to ensure that the technology is being used properly and that they are comfortable with the new processes.

Taking the time to help employees transition to using new technology effectively is key for allowing businesses to realize optimal increases in efficiency and cost savings while helping them to refine their purchasing and implementation strategy with future technology.

Unlearning and Relearning
Futurist and author Alvin Toffler once stated that the illiterate of the 21st century won’t be those who can’t read and write, but those who can’t learn, unlearn, and relearn. That remains a prophetic statement for the period of accelerating change facing many companies today. Unlearning is about allowing ourselves to go through the full cycle of change—from contentment to renewal. Personal power resides with our ability to recognize what is in front of us and to be willing to push through our own denial and confusion to reach that light at the end.

All the success,

Peter Mclees, LMFT

Principal

P. S. Smart Development Inc. has an exceptional track record helping restaurants, stores, branches, distribution centers, food production facilities, and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength 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.

http://smartdevelopmentinc.com/

Only 30% of employees are engaged! What leaders can do about it!

Gallup asked 150,000 employees whether they like their jobs. A good many actively hate them. Half just kind of tolerate the work day.

A common tactic people use to get their friends to stop complaining about work is to say that everybody hates their jobs.

The sentiment may be more than just a way to get people to shut up, though. According to a recent survey by Gallup, it's pretty close to true.

Of 150,000 full and part-time employees polled, only 30 percent said they're engaged in their work. Another 50 percent said they aren't engaged, while 20 percent said they're "actively disengaged," which means they outright hate their jobs.

Why does that matter? People who report being engaged in their work are more productive, less likely to leave, and even less likely to have accidents on the job. Disengaged employees are more likely to skip work, negatively influence co-workers and scare off customers.

Some things are less easy to fix, though. Service workers are the most disengaged of any type of employee. Their engagement has decreased while the engagement of employees in other sectors has gone up.

Learn proven tips for boosting the engagement of your people in our free ebook,

 Inspiring Employees to Give Their Best...Without Raising Their Pay.

Learn simple yet powerful ways to engage employees and how honest leaders can undermine their influence. Gain vital lessons from John Wooden and Yoda (Yes, that awesome green guy). This guide will teach you what you need to know about motivating individuals and teams to excel by using "psychological paychecks."

Click here to receive your free ebook: http://tinyurl.com/freeEngagement-Ebook

To your greater success!

Peter Mclees, MS LMFT
Principal

Want to improve engagement? Learn from Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy Fallon loves his job. And it shows! He loves to make people laugh and he likes being a member of a creative team, working with writers and honing his craft.

That is a good lesson for anyone in management: Share your enthusiasm for what you do!

Life is tough, goes the adage, but work does not need to be so hard all the time. Research reveals that employees look to management to help provide meaning for what they do. One of the best ways managers can do this is to generate enthusiasm

Here are some suggestions on how to spread enthusiasm:

Speak up. Employees need to know their supervisor cares about the work. Some managers are very vocal; they are like middle school coaches, always teaching and always spreading cheer. Other managers are soft-spoken preferring to chat one to one with employees about what they do and how it matters to the team. It doesn’t matter which approach you choose–but employees need to hear it from you.

Show employees their work has meaning: To take satisfaction in your work, you need to know it has meaning. Help your employees discover the meaning by connecting their work to the mission. Talk about how what they do makes a difference. You can have them visit customers to see how their product or service performs, for instance.

Celebrate the outcomes. When things are going well, make certain you mark the milestones. Spring for a lunch for the team, or have an after-work social hour. Spread the atta-boys and atta-girls around by praising people for individual actions they took to help the project succeed. [If you don’t tie the praise to specific actions, it loses impact.]

 

The Limits of Enthusiasm

Obviously, managers who do not like their work, or the people in it, will not do well at generating a positive mood in the workplace. No workplace is perfect; and work is hard. But that cannot be an excuse for badmouthing “the corporation” or dissing “management.” We are all responsible for finding satisfaction in our work. And if the work we do does not measure up, it may be a sign we would be happier doing something else.

Generating enthusiasm is not always easy but managers who can generate a sense of excitement about making a positive difference can create a work environment where people actually want to belong.

 

All the success!

Peter Mclees, Principal

P. S. Smart Development Inc. has an exceptional track record helping companies create a strong culture, leadership bench strength 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.

http://smartdevelopmentinc.com/

Three Ways to Inspire and Engaged Workforce

First... As leaders, we need to commit to being engaged ourselves, regardless of circumstances.

Be what it is you want to see more of.

More enthusiasm. Less cynicism.

More approachable. Less eggshells.

More patience and kindness. Less grumpiness.

More encouragement. Less withholding.

More listening. Less telling.

More time, effort, and care.

Whatever you feel is most important to making a better experience for everyone (and achieving great results), model it. No exceptions. Fall off the horse? The moment you realize it, apologize (to others and yourself) and get back on it.

Second... Have more frequent and meaningful conversations about what it is you and your team do and the value it is you and your team bring to the world. Show people the big picture through any external feedback you might get from the people you serve (the good and the bad). Share it as much as possible in order to help people be more connected to that big picture (your purpose... your reason for being). Consider a quick daily team meeting (Try conducting the meeting standing up—it goes quicker!) that allows everyone to share what they're working on so people feel more connected to each other.

Third... Work to involve your people more in solving the challenges you face. Wherever possible, let them lead the effort to make that something special happen. Ask people more frequently to give you their thoughts on things (good and bad). Periodically, ask people how they would change things if they were running the place. Maybe do it over a cup of coffee or lunch to make more of a personal connection.

The key to all of this really comes down to caring about the people we work with... involving them the way we'd like to be involved if we were in their shoes... treating them the way we'd like to be treated.

Not rocket science (like most things), just the golden rule.

It's about making that commitment to your leadership efforts that you're asking your people to make to their work and the people they serve. (Can you do that?)

Model what you want to see.
Connect more with the people you lead.
Involve them as much as possible.

All the success,

Peter Mclees, LMFT

Principal

P. S. Smart Development Inc. has an exceptional track record helping restaurants, stores, branches, distribution centers, food production facilities, and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength 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.

http://smartdevelopmentinc.com/

 

Managing Mediocrity

The art of addressing mediocre performance in a way that preserves the relationship is the subject of this week's Leader's Digest Mail Bag Q & A.

Dear Leader’s Digest:

I am struggling with some employees who are just not cutting it. Their performance is mediocre at best, but there is not enough cause to terminate them. Other employees have complained about them. Customers have not complained about them but they never receive compliments either.
 

I feel as though I am stuck with these people who are not up to par. How can I better handle employees who just skate by doing the minimum?

Dear Managing Mediocrity:

We hope you're sitting down because our answer is going to suggest more work than you might have hoped. But we can assure you that if you really want to raise performance for not only these low performers, but for the entire team, this is an approach that may help.

First, let’s agree on the real problem. The issue you're facing is not low performers. The issue is low expectations. If these two employees are truly low performers and yet “there is not enough cause to terminate them,” then you are operating in a culture with mediocre norms. And if that’s true, then the work you have to do is not first and foremost with the low performers, it is with chronically bad group norms. If your team was crystal clear on high performance expectations, mediocrity would be painfully apparent and you wouldn't have to make a tough call when it came time to coach, counsel or redeploy.

So, how do you reset norms? How can you set a high performance standard that makes dealing with mediocrity much clearer?

1. Confirm the Company’s HR Standard. You, your peers, your supervisors, and HR need to have a uniform and explicit understanding about the kind of performance you expect from employees, their position and the duties they are performing in your department.

2. Go Public. Once you have sufficient support from the people identified in step 1 for the hard decisions involved with a higher performance standard, you'll have to go public. Let people know the bar is being raised. Let them know of any implications for jobs, for development, and any other consequences people will need to understand so there are no surprises. Acknowledge that the norms-expectations were different in the past, without sounding self-righteous and judgmental of past leadership. Frankly state how things will be going forward and why this is right for the company and good for those involved. Sell the vision as a way of instilling pride and ambition. Let people know that there will be ample and just opportunities to upgrade their contribution, as well as how you'll support that with candor, coaching, and development.

3. Coach, Coach, Coach—Redeploy. Now live the standard. If someone performs below the standard,coach them—have the “content” conversation to let them know the gap between what they did and what you expected. Three factors set those who are adept at talking about mediocre behavior apart from the rest of the pack: research, homework and connection. First, you need to gather data. Have a talk with the marginal employees about what they like and don't like about their current work situation. What are their frustrations, aspirations, and concerns? Approach your “research” conversation with a genuine desire to discover underlying barriers and then see if you can find ways to resolve them.

Next, scrupulously gather facts—from memory and observation—that will allow you to describe in illuminating detail the difference between mediocrity and excellence. This is crucial. Many managers are so vague about the difference that they end up using the feel-good, mean-nothing terms that typically pepper pregame speeches, such as “We need you give 110 percent.” This advice may make sense to those giving it but it only confuses and insults the people who are supposed to change. Ask yourself, what actual behaviors can I describe to make this distinction clear?

Finally, connect your homework with your research. Explain how your recommendations will not only bridge the performance gap but help them achieve their aspirations. When you make this link your influence will increase enormously. Also, this would be a great time to use goal setting to engage the employee in identifying and resolving the performance shortfall.

If it continues, coach again—but this time have a “pattern” conversation—let them know this is now a chronic concern, not an isolated concern. If needed, this escalation is documented and any necessary support in the form of training, mentoring, work process change, etc., is offered. If it happens again, it’s time for a “relationship” conversation. At this point the person must know that redeployment is an option. This must be put in writing to allow no wiggle room in understanding.

In conclusion, the greatest challenge you'll face in coaching is not the individual's performance, but your own clarity. Far too few managers know how to articulate the difference between mediocre performance and good performance. And if you can't describe it you can't expect it. You must do the hard work of detailing the behaviors and results you expect to see and contrasting those with typical mediocre performance. Every minute you spend more expertly articulating expectations will save you an hour in debate and resentment later.

All the success,

Peter Mclees, LMFT

Principal

P. S. Smart Development Inc. has an exceptional track record helping restaurants, stores, branches, distribution centers, food production facilities, and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength 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.

http://smartdevelopmentinc.com/

26 Ways to Savor Life in 2014

Improving your professional and personal results in 2014 might appear to be a heavy task that takes a lot of time. But, in truth, it's all about making small changes in a number of different areas.  

As we move into yet another year, we start to see the reality of life's fleeting nature. We can use this knowledge as an opportunity to see each day, each moment as a golden opportunity for enjoyment, happiness, and love.


If we live to age 90, from birth to death we have 32,850 days on Earth. Our Earth has been around 4.55 billion years. Our life here is just a blip.

This awareness provokes a lot of soul searching for many of us. I have thought, read and studied a lot about what comprises a happy life and have determined five areas that are key to enjoying life to the fullest.

1. Living in integrity. This is something you must define yourself by creating your own personal operating system. But in general it includes living in alignment with your values and your personal/religious beliefs; being authentic and honest with yourself and others; and living in balance financially.

2. Making a contribution. Whether through our work or otherwise, we all need to feel we have a purpose and have made some mark on the world. We need to feel that our lives have some intrinsic meaning. Having a passion and sharing it with the world provides tremendous joy and fulfillment.

3. Having good relationships. We need loving, supportive, and healthy relationships with romantic partners, family, friends, and co- workers. We certainly know the impact of bad relationships. Good ones offer us joy, contentment, and connectedness.

4. Being healthy. When we feel good physically, we feel good mentally and emotionally. We we feel bad physically, we feel bad all over. It is hard to enjoy life when your physical health is poor.

5. Having pleasure. There are so many things in this big world to enjoy--more than we could ever experience in one lifetime. If we are living in the framework our integrity, then pleasurable experiences should be pursued and enjoyed regularly--without guilt. Having fun is essential to savoring life.

As you examine these five areas in your own life, remember that first defining your integrity and creating your own personal operating system will make it far easier to define the other four areas. When we live outside of our integrity, it casts a shadow over all other areas of our lives.

Here are 26 ideas for savoring life and living it to the fullest in these five critical areas:

1. Define or refine your values and personal operating system. Know what is important to you, and seek to live in accordance with that.

2. Restore your integrity wherever you have stepped out of it. Make amends, correct the situation, shift the balance. This will reduce agitation and guilt.

3. Be true to yourself. Be authentic. Look for ways that you are pretending, acting to impress, or living out some other person's expectations rather than your own.

4. Examine your job. You spend many hours a day in this job. If you don't love it, or at least like it, you are frittering away a good chunk of your life. This is imperative for a happy life. Take control of your career.

5. Know your passions. If you don't know what you are passionate about, find out. Take the time to do this, and then find a way to regularly incorporate your passion into your daily life. Discovering your passion dramatically increases happiness.

6. Give to others daily. Share your knowledge, passions, skills, and time with someone else on a regular basis. This doesn't require a grand gesture. Impacting one life can make a huge ripple on the world. It feels good.

7. Show kindness. In the smallest interactions, be kind. Choose kindness over being right, indignant, smarter, richer, or too busy. Kindness feels good to you and to the recipient. And it's infectious.

8. Release some stuff. If you have loads of material things that you don't use, release them. Give them away to someone who can use them. This is tremendously satisfying.

9. Release some money. If you have plenty of money, use it for good. Contribute it in a way that makes one person or the whole world a better place.

10. Just listen. Listen to someone's story, their pain, their joyful event, their boring anecdote, their fears. Give someone the gift of really hearing them.

11. Nurture your friendships. Be the initiator. Express your feelings for them. Learn more about your friends. Be there for good and bad times.

12. Be the person you want in others. Define what you want in a relationship, then be that person yourself. Like attracts like.

13. Let it go. Be quick to forgive and quick to forget. Holding grudges and nurturing old wounds is unhealthy and makes you unhappy.

14. Know when to let go. However, some relationships can pull you down. Take a look at those in your life. Is it time to let go? How much energy are you giving away to them?

15. Expand your network. Actively meet new people. They can enhance your life, introduce you to new ideas, pleasures, and other new friends.

16. Love yourself. A healthy love for yourself with healthy self-confidence creates healthy relationships.

17. Communicate often. We so often misunderstand and misinterpret one another. Or we say things we don't really mean. Learn healthy communication skills and use them often, particularly in your primary relationship.

18. Educate yourself on nutrition. Read books, blogs, or magazines about proper eating for good health. Then eat that way. If you are unhealthy, it will undermine your happiness in all areas of your life.

19. Go outside every day. Sunlight boosts your mood and provides vitamin D. Being in nature enlivens your soul and makes you feel connected to the world around you.

20. Get moving. You know this. Get some exercise. Walk, bike, run, swim, dance, stretch, lift weights. You can make it fun. Take care of this remarkable house for your soul.

21. Cut back, simplify, reduce stress. Find balance in your life by letting some things go. You can't do or be everything. Pick a few things, and enjoy them fully. Identify where you are stressed, and deal with it.

22. Find an outlet. There are difficult times in every life. Find someone, a coach, counselor, minister, or friend, who can help you through them. Talking about your problems with someone trusted helps you heal and cope and stay mentally and emotionally healthy.

23. Play often. Play shouldn't end at childhood. Have fun regularly. Define what is fun for you and go do it every week.

24. Increase your travel. The world truly is your oyster. There is so much to explore and see and enjoy. Pick some places that intrigue you. Save your money. Plan some trips.

25. Unplug. Television and computer have pulled us away from real living. Actively reduce the amount of time you spend in front of them. Fill that time with pleasurable activities instead. Read, cook, play a sport, meet with friends, do something creative, make love, meditate, go to the theater, look at the stars, chop wood, carry water.

26. Think less. Be more. Act more. Negative thoughts create negative feelings. Actively seek to stop negative thinking, and just be in the moment. If negative thoughts and feelings are getting intrusive, do something distracting.

Pick a few of the activities above and savor them!

It takes thought, planning, and a dose of wisdom to create an abundant life--a life that you can savor. Experience teaches us these lessons, and wisdom helps us to embrace them.

All the success,

Peter Mclees, LMFT

Principal

P. S. Smart Development Inc. has an exceptional track record helping restaurants, stores, branches, distribution centers, food production facilities, and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength 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.

http://smartdevelopmentinc.com/

Leadership lessons from "It's a Wonderful Life"

Most of us have seen the classic holiday movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” A lot of us have seen the film many times because it tells such a timeless and compelling story about how any one life can positively impact so many others. While the movie holds many life lessons, we feel it has a few leadership lessons as well.

For those who have not seen it,  “It’s a Wonderful Life” is the story of George Bailey—a man who serves and sacrifices for others. The Bailey Building and Loan lends money to poor people many of them would not own a home were it not for the BBL.  Mr. Potter, the arch villain in the film, is a greedy old man who thrives on exploiting people in Bedford Falls. He continually threatens the Bailey Building and Loan’s survival.

George Bailey is in conflict between his obligations and his dreams—He wants to get out of the small town of Bedford Falls (George remarked, “ I want to shake the dust off my feet of this shabby little town and see the world. I've got big ideas and big plans and I want to build big things.”) And as he said to his father at dinner one night—“I want to do something big and important.” His father replies: “In a small way we are doing something important—man has a fundamental urge to own a roof over his head.”

George’s ambitions are thwarted by old man Potter’s schemes. After his Father died George is on his way out of town. In a character defining moment George agrees to stay dashing his dreams of far-flung adventure—creating instead a more intimate adventure that has a far greater impact on his personal world.

The film shows that real influence comes not from title or rank (as George had no formal title in the town such as Mayor) but from attempting to connect and help the people around us.

The movie also shows us that as we make ourselves available to others with courage and caring our lives develop meaning and a legacy is created, not necessarily along the paths we intended but in small acts that make a difference. George Bailey shows that if we respond with generosity and compassion our lives would have meant something. But he didn't realize this fact until the end of the movie.

Scene: George, faced with financial and personal crisis and feeling that he never made it. He attempts suicide and Clarence his guardian angel (Read: life coach) gives him a privileged look at the impact of his life on the people in Bedford Falls

George Bailey only understands the dramatic difference he made when he sees what Bedford Falls became had he never lived.

Scene: George, in desperation and shock is walking along the snow-covered streets of what is now called Potterville—a town overrun by greed and selfishness.

Clarence  says “Strange isn't it, each man’s life touches so many other lives and when his isn't around he leaves an awful hole.”

In one of the most famous (and emotional) scenes in movie history: When the townspeople all came to George's house to contribute to the BBL deficit, George finally understands how his life of service has created deep commitment to him from the town’s people (when he was in need) even though he didn't know it.

George has a wealth far beyond material goods or power. Frank Capra reminds us that there is no substitute for relationships of integrity, trust and caring. Relationships that are forged through consistent acts of service.

Whatever our position, if we influence the lives of those around us, we are engaged in the act of leadership. And if we are leaders in any sense, we are also creating a legacy as we live our daily lives. Our leadership legacy is the sum total of the difference we make in people's lives, directly and indirectly, formally and informally.

George Bailey had created an enduring legacy because of his acts of caring, compassion, and courage.

Cheers to a new year and another chance to make a difference.

Peter Mclees