Are you someone different in work?

[oimate]

Hey,
I have recently became a manager of 12 people-All with their own challenging personality which is annoying but off course a good thing for my own personal development.

However i'd love to have some feedback on how some fastlaners have dealt with things in work

Essentially I am 'the nice guy'. I know some of the team dont work as hard as they could and likely to be some lack of respect from them

Naturally this pisses me off-I hate confrontation-How have you guys went from nice guy to prick?

Are you someone different when you go into the work environment? How does this work?

Look forward to hearing from you

 

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[Ninjakid]

I always have had more respect for managers who are friendly, and know how to effectively communicate rather than being a prick.

Perhaps you could approach certain people and just talk to them in a friendly way, and offer encouragement.

And as for myself, I've always been the same person I am usually when I would go to a job. Some people try to put on the "this is work, not play" face, but I found being myself always made me a better employee, and made everyone feel less shitty about having to go to work.

 

[jon.a]

You have to know the rules by heart and set expectations that they will be followed.

 

[minivanman]

For me there are a few different answers.

Work.... when I worked for someone else I was the same a$$ I am any other time. I worked my hardest and was never afraid to tell the owners of the companies I worked for how it was. I told them many times if they fire me, fire me in the morning because if you make me work all day before you fire me it could turn really bad.

As a manager I was easy going and nice but firm when I had to be. I didn't really like being in charge since it wasn't my own business. If I was going to be in charge of something I wanted it to be MINE.

As an owner..... some of my workers from 10+ years ago still ask me to move back and start another business there so they can work for me again. Even the people I hated still got treated as good as the people I really liked. I kind of learned with the world of today that if the job was done correctly, don't worry about how it got done as long as the customer is happy. Happy worker + happy customer = $$$

 

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[I Am I Said]

Hey,
I have recently became a manager of 12 people-All with their own challenging personality which is annoying but off course a good thing for my own personal development.

However i'd love to have some feedback on how some fastlaners have dealt with things in work

Essentially I am 'the nice guy'. I know some of the team dont work as hard as they could and likely to be some lack of respect from them

Naturally this pisses me off-I hate confrontation-How have you guys went from nice guy to prick?

Are you someone different when you go into the work environment? How does this work?

Look forward to hearing from you

The most useful things I have learned in 15 years of management, for developing people and getting more productivity happening sustainably are these:

1. Your team has to have a clear purpose summed up in a single sentence that is either done, or not done. You need ways of measuring success too, but most of all you need a clear purpose. For example, in Marketing, "Sales team has a steady supply of leads to act on". In Improvement, "Company knows how it measures up and takes clearly defined action each month to improve"
2. You need to be available to help your team, but mostly you need to repeat the team's purpose ad nauseum, use it to settle decisions, and stay out of their way on the "How" part (google "Level 5 leadership" for more);
3. Weekly 1-on-1 meetings. 30 minutes is enough. Have the employee fill this in beforehand:
   1. What can you stand for having accomplished that has moved our team towards [our clear purpose]?
   2. What's mostly on your mind right now?
   3. What's working?
   4. What's not working?
   5. What might be missing?
   6. What's next?

And then stick to a predictable meeting format of

• thanking your employee graciously for their time (after all, time spent with you is time where they're not producing whatever they're measured on);
• Reading out their answers and prompting for more, for example:
  • Accomplished: "good, how might we build on that?"
  • What's on your mind: "okay, what else is there about that?", "Okay, and what else?"
  • What's working: "good, do we have everything we need there?"
  • What's not working: "okay, if I understand you, XYZ is happening?" -> get confirmation -> "Ok, what's the real challenge here for you?" (google Michael Bungay Stanier for more)
  • What might be missing: read the employees input and ask for details about their idea. Whether you will use their idea or not, thank them for it and tell them that a decision will be made (and then make sure a decision does get made - nothing stifles employees like someone saying "I'll think about it" and then failing to do so)
  • What's next: read out their response and then ask, "let's make sure we can say how that moves us towards [our clear purpose]"

These are just eamples; the main thing is the weekly 1-on-1 where the clear purpose is emphasized.

Then of course, every leader needs to understand this classic.

How great leaders inspire action
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