Teach Them How To Fish

There's an old saying, usually attributed to Confucius, that goes something like "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you've fed him for a lifetime." There's an important life lesson in that simple statement. Some people translate it conceptually into something like "Education is the most important thing you can give someone to better his circumstances." For me I don’t believe this gets to the heart of the matter.

The translation I like goes something like this:

Give a man the answer, and he'll only have a temporary solution. Teach him the principles that led you to that answer, and he will be able to create his own solutions in the future.

It's considerably less catchy, of course, but I think this is the true meaning of Confucius’s statement.

Suppose a employee comes asking for information that they could easily collect themselves if they are given the right training and have the necessary skill set. However, you decide to give them that information because you believe it is faster and easier than trying to teach them how to collect that information. You have given him a fish.

FAIL.

Sure, you were able to help that person by solving their problem at the moment, yet you lost time. You were ineffective. Switching costs stole your efficiency.

Why is this considered a fail? If you provide all the answers and solve all the problems, you are not helping the business. If you are the person that is always providing information and yet there are others around you that could support it with the right training and experience, you would be better served to spread that wealth by teaching them how to fish.

We need to transfer knowledge or skill from a single person to others. We need to share that information. We need to train others. Turn them into teachers and allow them to teach others within your organization. They need to teach others how to become as good as they are at that particular role so they can grow and become bigger and better at what they do for the company.

The next time you are learning a new task or a new activity, something that no one else has done before, take the time to find a peer or subordinate that can help you with learning. They can grow alongside you building that new skill. They can share the burden of how that particular process works. In that effort, you are building relationships because relationships matter.

You are also teaching them how to fish.

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Micromanagement with the Power of Trust

Micromanagement: Everyone knows the term. Micromanaging is a method of management in which an individual closely observes or controls the work of an employee. In comparison to simply giving general direction, the micromanager monitors and evaluates every stage in a process, from beginning to end. This behavior negatively affects efficiency, creativity, trust, communication, problem-solving, and the company’s ability to reach its goals.

In the best situations, micromanagement is an impediment to progress and in extreme cases it can cause the organization to stagnate.

In today's changing and fast-paced work environments, it is critical for leaders to foster a culture of trust and support in their teams. Here are a few key ways to avoid micromanagement and highlight the benefits of empowering employees.

1. Build Trust and Strong Relationships:

Trust is the foundation of any successful team. For trust to be established and maintained, employees must have a clear understanding of how they’re performing and how their work contributes to the mission of the company. Holding employees accountable for their performance by utilizing performance management tools and providing clear expectations for “what good looks like” for their work.

However, the act of micromanagement can erode that feeling of trust, and it creates a strained relationship between managers and employees. Conversely, by relinquishing control and giving employees the space to excel, trust is built, and relationships are strengthened. Trusting employees demonstrates confidence in their abilities, which in turn fosters loyalty, open communication, and collaboration. The first step in this process is aligning your expectations with your employees on their role. This can be achieved through a variety of methods, but one method includes updating your employees’ job descriptions and goals on a regular basis. These interactive conversations help employees understand “what good looks like” for their performance, helps them understand their decision rights, and helps them discern when to partner with management on more complex issues.

2. Encourage Creativity and Innovation:

Micromanagement can limit employees' ability to think critically, problem-solve, and generate innovative ideas. Allowing individuals the freedom to explore new approaches and take ownership of their work creates a creative culture. Employees who feel trusted are more likely to think outside the box and propose fresh solutions to challenges.

3. Boost Morale and Engagement:

Micromanagement erodes trust and creates an atmosphere of anxiety. On the other hand, granting autonomy can signal trust in employees' abilities. This leads to increased job satisfaction, higher levels of engagement, and a sense of ownership over their work. Empowered employees are more likely to take initiative, feel valued, and go the extra mile to achieve shared goals. When individuals have the freedom to make choices, they are more likely to take responsibility for the outcomes. This sense of ownership can motivate employees to deliver high-quality results.

Effective leadership lies in striking a balance between accountability and freedom. While it is essential for managers to provide direction and support, it is equally important to avoid the pitfalls of micromanagement. By empowering employees, promoting autonomy, and fostering a culture of trust, organizations unlock the full potential of their workforce.

6 Strategies to Coach Your Employees to Succeed

Coaching is a difficult skill for many leaders to acquire. It’s vague and slow. Leaders tend to want to move quickly toward defined goals, reach those goals, and immediately move on to the next set of goals. Coaching is frustratingly elusive to understand and seemingly convoluted in the doing; it is much easier to direct than to guide.

Coaching is the process of preparing your employees to succeed. It is an ongoing, two-way process that involves using constructive, consistent feedback to reinforce positive behavior, resulting in improved performance.

You develop leader/coaches the same way you coach; by helping them discover what coaching is. Leaders need collaborative and engaging style management. This approach focuses on developing employees in order to achieve business results rather than managing their every move. The mindset of the coach is to create an environment that fosters learning, independent thinking and opportunities to contribute.

Coaching isn’t about telling people what to do but guiding them to uncover their own answers and build confidence. If you want to level up your coaching skills, try these six strategies.

1. Stay curious

Great coaches are insatiably curious. They ask thoughtful, challenging questions that encourage individuals to think critically. Resist jumping to conclusions or making judgments. Instead, stay curious, ask open-ended, probing questions, and let the employee do most of the talking.

2. Listen for intent

The most effective coaches are active listeners. Active listening requires tuning out distractions to be fully present, observing nonverbal clues, and asking clarifying questions to gain a deeper understanding.

If you ask an employee how a project is going and their response is, “Fine,” don’t stop there. Follow up with deeper questions like:

•        What does “fine” look like?
•         What metrics show it’s fine?
•         What would it take to make the outcome amazing rather than fine?

These kinds of questions uncover valuable insights and help employees dig into solutions.

3. Hone your question-asking skills

Effective coaching pushes people to think outside their comfort zones. Strengthening your ability to ask powerful questions helps employees develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The most powerful questions are often the shortest, simplest ones. Asking, “And what else?” is a powerful strategy for helping individuals dig deeper.

4. Cultivate trust

Impactful coaching relationships are built on trust. Individuals must feel comfortable enough with a coach to be vulnerable. Maintaining confidentiality and providing psychological safety are essential to any coaching relationship.

5. Incorporate goal-setting and accountability

Coaching is about progress, and progress requires clear goals. Conclude each session with goal setting and follow up in subsequent sessions to track progress or redefine goals when needed.

6. Celebrate success

Committing to and following through on change is challenging. To keep coaches motivated and committed to growth, remind them to celebrate their achievements, regardless of how big or small they are.

Important coaching behaviors to emphasize are many: being open and honest, taking risks, empathy, reflecting, linking coaching and performance, asking open-ended questions, providing emotional support and supporting self-discovery. Coaches are role models for others. They are excellent listeners and communicators, providing perspective and encouragement while also setting high standards and expectations.

Coaching is one of the premier skills of a good leader, but one that is often overlooked. A leader whose goal is to help employees fulfill potential must be an exemplary coach. When you adopt a coaching mindset with your employees, you empower them to grow and give them the chance to feel heard. Staff who feel heard are more likely to be engaged in their work and committed to staying in their positions.

3 Ways to Give Thanks on Thanksgiving (or Any Time)

Ah, November. The leaves are falling, the weather is chilly, and the smell of pumpkin spice permeates the air. While you’re probably making plans to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends, there’s one group of people you may be forgetting—your employees.

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to express your gratitude to those around you. Making your employees feel appreciated now only promotes mutual feelings of goodwill, but it can make them feel more loyal and dedicated to their work.

Giving thanks on Thanksgiving doesn’t have to be difficult. These appreciation ideas for employees will help you get into the spirit and show how much you appreciate the people you work with.

1. Take the time to talk to, and get to know, your employees. The most significant way to thank your employees is to get to know them. Take them to lunch or schedule time to ask about their values, hobbies, and interests. Understand your employees. Use what you now know about them to build a customized skills-improvement performance plan. Spend time with, and become interested in, each of your employees.

2. Ask employees what they think. The best way to feel appreciated is to be included – to feel that your perspectives matter. In a Lean environment, we need input from all of our employees to be successful. Including employees in company issues, challenges, and opportunities empowers them, engages them, and connects them to the strategy and vision of the company.

3. Say thank you and mean it. Most managers actually do thank employees who do great work. Employees work for more than money. They work for the praise and acknowledgement of their managers. A sincere thank you, said at the time of a specific event that warrants the applause, is one of the most effective ways to appreciate employees. Remember the phrase, “What gets rewarded, gets repeated.” Start to say “thank you” or “I appreciate what you do” when it is deserved, and it will inspire the behaviors to continue. Make it personal and sincere. Catch employees doing great things and respond. It empowers them, appreciates them, and celebrates their performance.

The Thanksgiving season is a great time to recognize employees for their dedication. Finding simple and creative ways to show your appreciation does not have to be difficult. Be creative and try to come up with new ways to say, “thank you” this holiday and every day.

Regardless of your style and how you do it, connecting with employees and taking the opportunity to thank them, whenever you can, pays dividends for everyone. Appreciating and thanking your employees isn’t hard or costly. So, take the time to make a difference in your employee’s life. You will be pleasantly rewarded by them making a difference in yours

This Thanksgiving, remember to extend a special thank you to your coworkers. Not only will it mean a great deal to them, but they will likely return their gratitude in kind! With a simple “thanks”, you will be building a sense of gratitude and appreciation that can outlast the Holiday season and ultimately embed itself into your company’s culture.

Respect for People – Not an Optional Principle for Successful Lean Companies

Respect for People is one of the most overlooked principles of Lean.  Respect for people means developing employees’ latent skills in both on the job and off the job training. It is easy to invest money in new technology, software, or equipment. It takes time, effort, and planning to invest in employee skills development.

Without respecting, involving, and drawing upon the expertise of employees who perform the work every day, you overlook the most fertile source of practical and ready-to-implement suggestions for improvement.

By engaging people in the process of problem solving, it reduces resistance to the recommended solutions. Rather, participants want to see their ideas implemented and be successful because they are their ideas. Lean is inclusive; it is not done to people; it is done by people who feel empowered to create value.

If you really want to empower employees, you'll need to create a company culture that encourages and rewards innovation. You may start by asking individuals to look for ways to improve efficiency, output, safety, etc. in the tasks they perform every day.

Allow them to make mistakes as a form of learning. Show that it is really OK to make mistakes. Trust that people have the right intentions and will make the right decisions, even if they are different than your own. Let them know you really support their decisions.

Many attempts to implement Lean have been superficial. Unfortunately, the reason is that most companies focus too heavily on tools such as 5S and just-in-time, without understanding that Lean is a system that must permeate an organization’s culture and emphasize respect for people.

Tools and techniques are not secret weapons for transforming a business. Toyota’s continued success at implementing these tools stems from a deeper business philosophy based on its understanding of people and human motivation. Its success ultimately rests on its ability to cultivate leadership, teams and culture; to devise strategy; to build supplier relationships; and to establish and maintain a learning organization.

Whether you work at a small or large company, consider how you can create a Lean thinking culture. You may have made some hard decisions about whether or not you have the right people in the right roles to foster this. Having the right talent with the right attitude goes the distance. You can never teach drive and passion. You can always teach skills.

Ask yourself if you are fostering a culture of Lean thinking where you respect your employees and the expertise, they provide each day. Can you leverage this to create lasting value in your company and drive out waste?

In the end Lean is all about people.  The power behind Lean is a management's commitment to continuously invest in its people and promote a culture of continuous improvement.  Establishing good working conditions to promote teamwork is a key component of respect for people.

Lean Quote: Employee Appreciation Day

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed."   —  Napolean Hill

Today, March 1, marks annual Employee Appreciation Day, which has taken place on the first Friday of every March since 1995. Employee Appreciation Day encourages managers of all levels to support and reward their employees, and to show their appreciation!

Employee Appreciation Day is all about your employees. Celebrating the value they bring to your organization as individuals is a great way to increase employee engagement, commitment, and motivation. It's important to make employees feel valued.

It seems like a simple concept: Make employees feel appreciated, and they will work harder and be more loyal. But there is often a disconnect between the type of appreciation employees want and what their managers think they want.

Employees should be appreciated each and every day, but hey – why not make them feel extra special with these ideas.

Focus on Fun 

Employee Appreciation Day is the perfect excuse to have fun at work! Your employees are used to the everyday work grind. If you throw in some fun activities or games, it will be a memorable and refreshing break from the same old, same old.

Snacks are Essential

Food is a great motivator. Present me with a cupcake and I will remember it for the rest of my life. Throw a celebration with no food at all? I will remember that for the rest of my life, too. Okay, I might be a little dramatic BUT either way, food is a celebration must. Food brings people together. It’s the centerpiece. It’s what connects us all at the end of a long workday.

Recognize Publicly

Recognizing your employees publicly for a job well done is an underrated idea for showing employee appreciation. As a boss, your positive words can greatly boost employee morale, especially if the praise is given in front of colleagues and peers.

Simply Say “Thank You”

This one might seem super obvious. Make sure to take some time to say thank you with intentionality. A heartfelt thank you can make employees feel valued, motivated, and appreciated for their efforts.

Recognition cannot be an afterthought. It must be deliberate and timely. Whether it’s a simple thank you or more formal recognition, people want to feel appreciated at work. They want to feel a sense of purpose, and that they are part of something bigger than themselves. The right employee appreciation program can help make those connections and much more.

Show Your Employees Some Love

It’s February 14th and if that date doesn’t ring a bell, you must live under a rock. It’s Valentine’s day!

Whether you “believe” in Valentine’s Day or not, it’s the perfect occasion to show some appreciation to someone special and your employees would probably be delighted and surprised if you took the time to show them some love this Valentine’s day!

Here are 6 Ways you can Show your Employees some love this Valentine’s Day!

1. Verbal recognition – Share a little praise for a job well done.

2. A handwritten note of appreciation – This is powerful. I’ve seen employees keep a note from their boss for years. Some even display it on their desks.

3. Snack time – Surprise employees with a snack of some kind. It can be a chocolate bar, an ice cream sandwich, or anything special. Be sure to remember employees who might have food allergies.

4. Teambuilding – A game or teambuilding activity is always fun and memorable.

5. Take the team to lunch – An hour away from the office to enjoy a meal with your team can build better relationships and morale.

6. Free coffee – Nothing says “I love you” more than a Starbucks gift card. Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, but people do love their Dunkin!

All of these tips require very little effort but have a large payoff. After all, people who feel appreciated are not only likely to put more effort into their work – they’re more likely to stay at their current job for a longer period of time! So this Valentine’s Day, go ahead and let your employees or coworkers know that you really do appreciate all of their hard work – and then reward them for it!

Does your company use Valentine’s Day as a time to show appreciation?