Management Blog

Tips & advice to help you improve your performance

Self-Managed Teams – The Myths and The Reality

LandRover and BodyShop in the UK have led the way in a change process that has drawn attention from other companies and industries. It’s not a new concept, but one that has gathered momentum recently. (more…)

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How to Discover What People Expect of You

As a manager, how do you discover what people expect you to do? What feedback do you want that will help you improve your game and create opportunities for expansion in the future? The best way yet found to increase knowledge is to ask questions....

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Become a First-Class Conversationalist

Meeting and talking with others is an excellent way of honing your thinking skills and becoming a person that others seek out for advice and information. So here are some ideas when we want to improve our hit rate when conversing with someone. (more…)

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4 Levels of Employee Engagement

Ever despaired at your team members’ lack of engagement at work? Ever wondered whether your key employees leave their brains at the office door when they come in and put them back in when they leave? You’re not the only one! Many managers wonder how...

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How the Expectancy Theory of Motivation Really Works

Expectancy theory suggests that motivation is based on how much we want something and how likely we think we are to get it. I often discuss this facet of motivation when coaching managers, as it answers many questions about desire, want and need for extrinsic...

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How To Effectively Deal With Confrontation

Of all the skills managers want to have improved, communication pretty much comes up there at the top. Along with negotiating a higher salary, of course! But communication is such a broad subject. I often ask clients, ‘If there was one area of communication you...

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How Do I Manage Someone Who Is More Knowledgeable Than Me?

We had an interesting question this week on our management course that opened up a good discussion on leadership. The question came from a new manager who had been promoted from among his peers and was now managing people who were much more knowledgeable and...

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Understanding the EFQM Excellence Model

The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model is based on the premise that excellent results with respect to performance, customers, people and society are achieved through partnerships, resources and processes. The model explains performance gaps and identifies improvement directions. I’ve used it a...

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What is Your Listening Style?

Strange question? Maybe. Few people actually think about the style they adopt when they are listening to another person. But there is value in doing so, and I’d like to share some ideas that may help your communications in the future. (more…)

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How To Get Cooperation from Other Departments

One challenge that is often brought up in our courses is that of lack of cooperation between departments. Although you’re all working for the same company, other departments may appear to slow you down. Here are some tips in working with this situation. In dealing with other departments, begin...

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10 Steps To Empowerment

Your team can offer valuable assistance in achieving your goals and objectives, but only when they are given the opportunity to do so. Many managers are reluctant to offer more power to the team because it is risky and diminishes their control. But it is...

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10 Steps To Creating A Customer-Focused Culture

Many people who manage teams in customer service are aware of the need to display vision and customer focus in their businesses, but less people are able to apply this in the real-world atmosphere of the hot-house business. To create a culture takes time and...

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