SME Academy, London | Advice, Tips and training for business owners » Leadership & Management

How to Deal with Problem Staff

admin — Thu, 06 May 2010 10:44:01 +0000

Are certain people making life difficult for other people at work? SME Academy offers a solution.

Problem behaviour at work affects everyone. It affects the people on the receiving end and it also affects those who are bullying and argumentative in the first place.

But how do you deal with it?

The first step is to take a pro-active stance, take command and control it in a positive way. It used to be that punishment was the only way forward and indeed some form of disciplinary action may be required. But prevention and support should also be provided, along with a strong and positive management style that will go a long way towards preventing such occurrences happening in the future.

Both coaching and mentoring have led to positive changes in such individuals, as they are offered practical and supportive solutions to change the behaviour that has so affected them and their colleagues. While it will take time to get back to a workplace which is more positive in nature, if you can provide leadership that everyone looks to for advice and support you will be setting the stage for that to gradually evolve.

It can be a tricky balance to present a face of management that is both firm yet supportive in the right ways, but it is vital to do so. You should also keep a close eye on how things are progressing and be prepared to meet with members of staff who have concerns or issues about any kind of detrimental behaviour they are experiencing at work.

Many businesses are now turning to neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) to produce better results over both the short and the long term. NLP is designed to help you understand the behaviours of others from both audio and visual signs, and can therefore help in two ways. Firstly the offending member of staff will learn how their behaviour affects others in a detrimental way, and secondly they will also learn how to make positive changes that will help to eradicate the problem behaviour altogether.

As far as your role as a manager is concerned it is vital to ensure that you learn to identify problem behaviour as soon as it arises, rather than finding out about it from staff members. By providing a hands on management style you can learn more about how your team works and thus get to know your team a lot better than perhaps you do now.

By looking at long term solutions to problem behaviour rather than quick fixes, you will find that your team works in a more harmonious way as a result.

SME Academy offers a range of Coaching and Mentoring packages that can be adapted to your needs. Call us on 020 7939 9910 or click here for more information about coaching

[Video Tip] Outsourcing to freelancers

Hannah McNamara — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:40:39 +0000

Small business coach Hannah McNamara from SME Academy (http://www.smeacademy.co.uk) in London talks about ways that you can use freelancers to do specialist work for you or take on some of the burden of your every day work.

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Transcript

Time or more accurately lack of it comes up all the time (excuse the pun) when I’m working with clients one on one.

They have great ambitions for their business but don’t have the time to do what it takes to make it happen. They’re too caught up in the day-to-day running of the business to think ahead and plan for the future. It’s often seen as quicker, easier and cheaper to do everything yourself rather than have to take on staff or get external help.

If this sounds familiar, rest assured you’re certainly not alone and I’ve been through it too.

I know what it’s like to want to feel in control of everything. To think that no one can do things the same way you can. And it’s true. No one can do it exactly the same as you. They might mess up. They might even do it better than you.

The point is, if you’re stressing out about the amount of day-to-day work you have to do, you’re not able to work on the important job of building your business. And it’s only going to get worse.

A flexible and affordable solution is to use the services of freelancers. You might have thought about using a freelance graphic designer for example, but what about a freelance personal assistant or webmaster? They can take on the administrative and technical roles in your business when you need them, and then when you don’t, well they are doing work for their other clients and they’re not on your payroll.

One place where you can find an international network of freelancers is Elance – you can find it at www.elance.com. It works a bit like eBay because freelancers bid to do work for you. I’ve used elance to find virtual assistants and freelance PAs, researchers, transcription services, data entry, audio editing, graphic design, webmaster services and many other services. Because on the whole I use people around the world, we use US dollars. This works out well on the exchange rate and there’s no tax to pay. Many of the people are home workers with low overheads so they can provide great value.

You do need to use a bit of common sense when looking for help on a site like this and check people out thoroughly before handing over work to them, but I’ve found that the benefits you gain from starting to delegate certainly outweigh the feeling of complete overwhelm and stress when you try to do everything yourself.

For more video tips and articles go to: www.smeacademy.co.uk

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[Video Tip] How to improve communication in your company

admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 07:40:16 +0000

Small business coach Hannah McNamara from SME Academy (http://www.smeacademy.co.uk) in London talks about what you can do to improve the communications in your business and how to motivate staff.

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Transcript

These days there are so many ways for us all to stay in touch, so why do so many business owners and company directors confide in me that they need to improve communications amongst their staff?

It’s precisely BECAUSE there are so many ways to communicate that we’re in danger of forgetting how to interact face to face. I’ll explain.

In an environment where co-workers email the person sat next to them it can be hard to get your staff to talk to one another. Equally if important company announcements are communicated through a note pinned to the notice board without any explanation, you can hardly blame staff for gossiping or for being less than enthusiastic.

The first step to improving communication is to acknowledge that there is a problem and that it needs to be addressed. Communication is not the responsibility of the Marketing department or the HR Manager – it’s the responsibility of the senior management team. Without buy-in from the top, communications will simply not improve so your directors need to take ownership of this and they need to lead by example.

So the next step is to arrange a ‘closed door session’ for your senior management team where you come together and thrash out what needs to change. Have a frank and honest discussion about what’s working and what’s not and develop some practical solutions. If management meetings have lapsed or are missed by certain people, of course communication is going to suffer. When you have your ‘closed door session’ you might need to bring in an external facilitator or one of your non-executive directors to chair the meeting to ensure everyone feels heard and there’s a balanced discussion. Make sure everyone has a full understanding of the business plan and the company goals for the next few months. This will save people pulling in different directions or failing to prioritise projects crucial to other departments’ meeting their goals.

Then and only then, talk about how you’re going to cascade this through to the various teams working under the senior management team. Your senior team need to lead by example and put any past differences behind them. Some of them will already be good communicators, so find out what they do and see whether the others can learn from them. In the spirit of team-working encourage them to spend more time together, to have a quick weekly catch-up or even grab coffee or lunch together.

Now, for those people in your company who have been labelled as ‘difficult’ we need to get realistic. Most of the time, it’s because there’s a personality clash or where people have a different set of values when it comes to working. For example, this could mean that a particular manager might value adherence to deadlines higher then precision but they have a team member who believes it’s better to miss a deadline to get things right first time. There are going to be disagreements unless they have a frank discussion about working practices.

By keeping the channels of communication open it’s easier to nip any disagreements in the bud. It’s also easier to make sure everyone’s pulling in the right direction, because nothing is going to wreck your business faster than having a company where the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

For more video tips and articles go to: www.smeacademy.co.uk

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[Video Tip] Never let me make a mistake

Hannah McNamara — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:07:27 +0000

Dr Patrick White from SME Academy talks about the dangers of surrounding yourself with ‘yes-men’ in your business. His story illustrates how not allowing people to challenge your decisions can lead to expensive mistakes.

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We publish tips like this on a regular basis, so make sure you’re on our mailing list and you’ll be told when we add new video tips and articles to the site. You are automatically added to our mailing list when you download a copy of our FREE e-book ’10 Ways to Sabotage Your Own Business: Are you making these mistakes?’ Claim your copy now here.

Transcript

Welcome to today’s tip of the week. Something I’d like to talk about is called: ‘Never Let Me Make A Mistake’

And this is very important when you’re an entrepreneur or manager or leader because it has two values that I want to talk about initially and then I’ll tell you a story to illustrate how I came about this rule.

One of the things you don’t want when you’re running a business is a lot of ‘Yes’ people around you. You want people to be able to be empowered to tell you if they think you’re making a mistake because sometimes we as owners and managers tend to rush off and do things that our staff think aren’t too bright at times.

So one of the things you need to instil in your business is to let your people know that they can actually come up to you and say: “I think that you are making a mistake.” – And then have a discussion about why they think that.

I have found this very empowering for people and I’ll tell you a story where I actually learned the lesson about this.

One day I happened to be visiting a fellow fuel distributor, which was one of my past businesses. And on his premises he had this really shiny, very nice Pantech truck with a nice big back on it all painted up and sign-written and it had a drop-loader elevator on the back which was great; it looked really good.

And it immediately came to mind that I had a depot that I had visited not long ago which had a very poor looking truck which was 20 years old and had just a flat deck on the back.

I thought: Wouldn’t it be great to buy this truck and send it to that depot and give that particular truck driver a big thrill?

So I went ahead, purchased the truck and then rang the Manager of the depot, told him I had purchased the truck and sent it on to him.

A couple of months later I had to go and visit that depot and when I got there I met the truck driver just as I was walking in the door and said something to him and I got a bit of a grunt.

After that I carried on walking and talked to the actual depot Manager and I said: “What’s wrong with Brian? We’ve just sent him this brand new truck and it looks really good, why is he not happy?”

The depot Manager proceeded to tell me why. He said: “The reason we had the old truck with a flat deck is because we needed to move a lot of fuel tanks around so we don’t need a truck with sides on the back because we can’t manoeuvre the fuel tanks in and out of the truck.”

So what was actually happening was they were using the new truck I’d bought for local deliveries but when they needed to shift a tank they would go and hire a flat bed truck.

So not only had I bought another truck that I didn’t actually need but it didn’t serve the purpose that they needed it for. What I should have done is asked the question. But if I had empowered these people before I bought the truck they could have told me that this was a mistake, that wasn’t the truck they actually needed.

So hence I learned the lesson ‘Never Let Me Make A Mistake’. It’s important to give your people the right to talk to you when they think you are making a mistake.

It’s also important to encourage them to make sure they tell other people in the business if they think they’re making a mistake and most importantly they must tell the customer if they think he or she is making a mistake.

So that’s a lesson I have learned. So if you want to empower our people get rid of the ‘Yes’ people around you and empower them so that they can tell you when they think you’re making a mistake.

Thank you.

For more video tips and articles go to: www.smeacademy.co.uk

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How to deal with problem staff

Hannah McNamara — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:01:54 +0000

Are certain people making life difficult for others at work? Leadership & Management Coach Hannah McNamara explains what you can do about it.

Problem behaviour at work affects everyone. It affects the people on the receiving end and it also affects those who are bullying and argumentative in the first place.

But how do you deal with it?

By looking at long term solutions to problem behaviour rather than quick fixes, you will find that your team works in a more harmonious way as a result.

If you or someone you work with is having trouble with a difficult member of staff, or a co-worker, we can help. Call 020 7939 9910 in confidence and ask for Hannah McNamara or email info AT smeacademy.co.uk (replacing AT with @)

Growing Pains: Why can’t my staff do the job properly?

Hannah McNamara — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:45:16 +0000

In this column, we address the ups and downs of being a director or owner/manager in a growing business.

A business owner writes:

“I set up the business 6 years ago and it was just me and my business partner. The first few years were tough. Now there are 13 of us and we’re got steady business coming in. The trouble is I spend most days fire-fighting because the staff keep coming to me with problems. Last week it was a customer who would only talk to me. This week it’s arguments with a supplier over terms. Why can’t they just get on with it and sort out their own problems? I could do it when I was doing the work.”

Hannah McNamara replies:

First of all, you’re not alone. This is actually a common problem among people who have built their businesses up and then brought in other people. Have you also caught yourself saying or thinking phrases like”You can’t find the staff these days” or “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself”?

Neither of these attitudes is helpful, but they are forgiveable! You may be a victim of your own success. You built the business with your partner. You know all the intricacies of how the business works. You probably care deeply about things being done right. You have a personal connection with many of your key customers and probably some of your suppliers. You have developed your skills in this business over the last 6 years and it can be painful to see other people potentially undoing all the good work that you’ve put in. Your business has needed you for the last 6 years and you’ve worked hard to achieve success.

The fact is, no one will ever be able to do the job exactly as you do it. They might mess up from time to time. The might handle a tricky situation differently. They might even do things BETTER than you can. But unless you let them try, you’ll never know.

Before you leap in and abdicate all responsiblity to your staff, you need to be clear about what you expect of them and where the boundaries lie. For example, at what point should they come to you with a problem or concern? You also need to be clear about whether if they do come to you, you’ll take the problem on yourself or whether you’ll coach them on how to handle it themselves.

There’s that saying, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” As long as your staff know that you’ll sort their problems out for them, you’re giving them the fish. It could be that you don’t think you’ve got time to train them, or teach them how to fish, and it’s quicker to do the job yourself, but this really is a false economy. All the time that you take responsibilities away from people, you are tying yourself to that role and you’ll never be able to step away.

Now, here we come to the big problem. You have been in the business doing things yourself, and certain things, such as how to deal with people situations, have become second nature. You can’t understand why people can’t do it themselves and it’s frustrating you.

You’re at a stage in your learning called ‘Unconscious Competence’. Let me explain. There are 4 stages of learning:

Unconscious Incompetence - otherwise known as blissful ignorance! At this stage, you don’t know what you don’t know. Other people might be doing things for you and you don’t know what’s involved in them. You might even think that the things that others do is easy.
Conscious Incompetence - there are things that you know you’re not doing properly, but you haven’t quite got the hang of it yet. Someone might be teaching you, but it doesn’t quite make sense and you feel out of your depth.
Conscious Competence - you now know what to do and how to do them, but you have to think about it to get it right. You could explain to someone what you’re doing as you’re doing it, because you’re still focused on the steps you need to take to do things properly.
Unconscious Competence - practice makes perfect. At this stage, you don’t even have to think about it because it comes naturally. If someone asked you to tell them what you’re doing, it would be difficult to describe it to them because you’re not aware of the steps you’re going through.

If you’re at the stage of Unconscious Competence, where are your staff?

More importantly, if you do decide to train them in what to do, where do you start? For example, if you’ve been riding a bike for years, you may think that you just get on the bike and ride. If you’re explaining how to do it to someone else, you might leave out vital pieces of information like it’s easier to balance when you’re going faster or that you need to pedal harder to go up a hill. All these things seem like common sense, but they’re not to someone who’s in stages 1 or 2 of their learning. You can’t blame them when they don’t know what they don’t know.

It sounds like you need to be clear about two things. 1. Your role in the business. 2. What you expect of your staff.

Once you ARE clear about them, then you need to seriously think about staff training. Spend some time thinking about what they need to learn how to do better and how you’ll know that they are making progress. For example, what will you see them doing differently? What will they be saying differently? How will you be feeling about them taking on more responsibility?

Ultimately, if you are in charge, then it’s your responsibility to manage your resources effectively. That includes your human resources. You get out what you put in and you need to invest more time in developing your people if they are ever going to be able to let you get on with the crucial job of running the business.

Funding for training is available through Train to Gain. A grant of £1,000 is currently available for businesses with 10-249 staff who are based in London. For more information on how SME Academy can help you access this grant, click here

About the Author: Hannah McNamara is a Director at SME Academy and works with business owners to be more effective at work and get more from their staff. She provides training courses, team coaching and one-to-one Leadership & Management Coaching.