Free bonus management tips from Bruce Tulgan

Posted July 1, 2010
Who are your real performance problems? List them. For each one, decide on at least one concrete action for helping this person improve. Does the person need more direction? Does the person need a new role? Does the person need more training? Does the person need more encouragement or some other form of motivation?

And who are your best people? List them. For each one, decide on at least one concrete action for recognizing and rewarding this person.

Posted June 24, 2010
Can you think of a direct-report who has not delivered on the basic expectations of the job for you recently? Are there any rewards or special discretionary resources you can withhold in proportion to this individual's lack of performance?

Posted June 17, 2010
Many employers won't allow people to be paid solely on the basis of the concrete results they deliver. Don't give up too easily! For each of your direct-reports, try to identify the measurable results of each person's work in the smallest measurable pieces. Then ask yourself -- can you base ANY portion (no matter how small) of each person's standard pay on the accomplishment of tasks that are basic expectations of the job? Can you attach ANY rewards at all for demonstrations of above and beyond performance?

Posted June 10, 2010
Do you have any direct-reports who are making too many errors in their work? List the direct-reports who apply. For each direct-report, exactly where is the error rate too high? Exactly where are the errors on each task or responsibility? This employee needs a checklist of requirements for that task/responsibility. In your next one-on-ones with these direct reports, use the checklist to focus on improving quality.

Posted June 3, 2010
Do you currently have any employees who are so valuable that you would be willing to search for their "needle in a haystack" and help them earn a custom deal so that they are less likely to want to leave? In your next one-on-ones, make a point of talking with your best people to find out what they really want or need -- whether it's a special deal or a small accommodation. If you can fulfill a unique need or want, you will be doing something especially valuable for that person.

Posted May 27, 2010
This week, in every one-on-one management conversation with every direct report, ask the following three questions. And keep track of the answers in writing. This is the most important data you will ever have about an employee's true performance.
1. Did the employee meet every goal that was set? Did he do all the tasks that he was required to do?
2. Did he complete his tasks according to the guidelines and specifications provided? Did he follow standard operating procedures?
3. Did he meet the deadlines set in advance?

Posted May 20, 2010
Consider the five ways to monitor employee performance (watch employees work, ask for an account, help employees use self-monitoring tools, review work in progress on a regular basis, ask around a little). Rank them in order from 1 to 5 with 1 being the technique you use the most, and 5 being the technique you use the least. Then ask yourself - which techniques could I use more often to help make me a better manager?

Posted May 13, 2010
Do you currently have any direct-reports who are really struggling with one particular task or responsibility right now? Name them. Next to each name, make a note of the particular task or responsibility in question. Plan to set aside some time with each person so you can watch the individual perform the task or responsibility in question. Take notes of course. You'll learn so much from watching him/her actually do the task. Is he/she doing it right? Is it taking too long? What's going wrong? Now you'll be able to help more effectively.

Posted May 6, 2010
Choose an employee you manage whose job requires some creativity. Now list all the aspects of the job that are NOT within the employee's discretion. What are the required outcomes, timelines, and parameters of each task and responsibility?

Now figure out what's left. What is WITHIN THIS EMPLOYEE'S discretion? What decisions and actions are truly up to the employee to choose for him/her self?

In your next one-on-one with this employee, explain the analysis you've done. Ask for the employee's reaction. Talk about the limits of his/her discretion in the job. Discuss the decisions and actions that are TRULY within his/her discretion on a regular basis. Ask the employee: "How do you make those decisions? How do you decide what actions to take in that case?"

Posted April 29, 2010
In your one-on-one management conversations, start hunting for best practices. Try asking your direct-reports to start keeping activity logs in order to document exactly what they are doing and how they are doing it, every step of the way. Ask them to go into some detail, describing each step in each task/responsibility.

One task at a time, one responsibility at a time, start going over in detail with each direct-report the documentation he/she is building of the real work being done every day. Use your business judgment to begin identifying best practices on every task/responsibility. As you find best practices, work with each direct-report to convert those best practices into detailed written standard operating procedures.

Posted April 22, 2010
Whether or not you consider yourself a real "natural leader," what natural traits and characteristics do you have that might HELP make you a more effective leader? Name those traits in yourself. Next to each trait, make some notes to yourself about what you could do to bring out more of that trait in yourself. What could you do to highlight that natural leadership strength?

Posted April 14, 2010
Can you think of an example in your own experience in the workplace when you have worked for, or worked with, or at least witnessed in action, a person you would consider a good "performance coach"? What about outside the workplace? Answer these questions about that person -- what traits did this person have that made you consider this person a "performance coach"? What did this performance coach actually DO when it came to coaching? What kinds of words did he/she say? How did he/she talk? What do you learn from this?

Posted April 8, 2010
This week, try keeping track of how much time you actually spend dealing with each of these 5 items:
1) Fires get started that never had to get started.
2) Resources get squandered.
3) People do their tasks and responsibilities the wrong way for days, weeks or months before anybody realizes it.
4) You do tasks and responsibilities that would have been better delegated to someone else, if they could have been delegated effectively.
5) Having regular one-on-one conversations with direct-reports where you talk through the details of their day-to-day tasks and responsibilities.

And over the next few weeks, see if you can increase the amount of time you spend on #5, and keep track of how much less time you start spending on unnecessary problems (like 1 through 4).

Posted April 1, 2010
Write a brief presentation to give to your team that begins with this sentence, "Good news: I'm going to try and be a better manager and I want to start meeting with every one of you one-on-one." And then when you start meeting with your people one-on-one, you've got to remind them, "It's not you. It's me. I'm trying to be a better manager and this is what that's going to look like and I want you to help me manage you more effectively. I want you to help me help you earn what you deserve."

Posted March 25, 2010
Have you recently given one of your direct-reports the impression that he/she has more discretion than he/she really has? Have you given someone the impression that it's "up to him/her" what to do and how to do it, when it's not? If so, STOP! Go find that person. Explain that you've made a mistake. That it's not really "up to him/her" and there are specific requirements for what to do and how to do it. Share those specific requirements in vivid detail. Explain that you should have told him/her all this in the first place. Promise to do better in the future. OR CATCH YOURSELF IN THE ACT. If you find yourself saying: "Do it however you think it should be done…" OR "Take a crack at it…" STOP! Are you sure? Are you really doing this person a favor by letting him/her sink or swim on this? Are you really doing this person a favor by letting him/her reinvent the wheel? If there are proven best practices, standard operating procedures, or other requirements or specifications, spell them out in vivid detail.

Posted March 18, 2010
Make a list of all the real world obstacles that might get in your way or might make it difficult for you to be a strong highly-engaged manager. If you choose, you could make such a list over the course of the next week, adding real world obstacles as you encounter them. Remember, these are real world obstacles, so you can't make them disappear. But maybe you can start chipping away at them. Examine each real world obstacle, one by one, and ask yourself:
- What aspects of this obstacle are totally beyond my control?
- What elements of being a stronger more highly-engaged manager can I start practicing without any permission from anybody?

Posted March 11, 2010
Keep a journal this week so you can take notes. Try to catch yourself in the act of undermanagement. Whenever you catch yourself in the act of providing too little guidance, direct, and support… or tempted to provide too little guidance, direction, and support… STOP yourself. Ask yourself:
- Why am I tempted to undermanage here?
- What could go wrong if I don’t step in?
- Who needs my guidance and direction here?
- What guidance and direction is called for?
- What should I write down?
- When should I follow up?

Posted March 4, 2010
Help your best employees earn the most! Do you, as a manager, right now have employees whom you would like to help earn some special flexibility in one or more of these areas?
- ONE. More control over their own schedule.
- TWO. Control over who they work with; relationships at work.
- THREE. Task choice.
- FOUR. Learning opportunities.
- FIVE. Control over location and/or work space.
Name each employee you would like to help. Next to each name, make a note of the area or areas of flexibility in which you'd like to help this employee earn a special arrangement of flexibility. Think it through. How could it work?

Can you set up a situation in which the employee needs to earn this special arrangement every day or every week? Can you set up a specific quid pro quo of performance that the employee must deliver---every day or every week---in exchange for the continuation of the special arrangement?

Can you spell out expectations clearly for the employee every step of the way for exactly what he/she needs to do in order to continue earning the special arrangement?

How will you monitor, measure and document the required performance? You should consider keeping track of this as part of your ongoing documentation.

Posted February 25, 2010
Help your employees earn more! Can you think of an example of a bigger more significant reward that a particular employee is eager to earn? Choose one. Start by describing that bigger significant reward. Now, describe what would be necessary for that person to do, over what likely period of time, to possibly earn that significant bigger reward. Can you break that big equation into smaller parts? Can you sketch out a plan for helping this employee earn this bigger more significant reward over some period of time? What would this plan look like? You'll have to start at the beginning. Meet with the employee regularly with plenty of time in advance of each small goal. Go over the list of concrete actions/specifications/time-budgets for reaching each small goal. Keep going, one small piece at a time. As the employee succeeds, one step at a time, you'll help this person earn that bigger significant reward, one step at a time.

Posted February 18, 2010
Help your employees earn more! For each direct report, revisit that person's tasks and responsibilities. Look at the list of concrete goals. Now look at the check-lists of concrete actions for each goal. Revisit the price/worth of each check on the checklist. Now can you describe ways to "go the extra mile" on each concrete action in exchange for extra rewards? Consider the extra "worth" or "price" of going the extra mile on each check. What would the "extra mile" price/cost list look like in terms of extra rewards for going the extra mile at every stage of the game? Can you make a scale of extra rewards that you could actually help each person earn, quid pro quo, for going the extra mile on their daily tasks/responsibilities?

To the extent that you really could provide such extra rewards, from now on, in your one-on-ones with direct reports, consider explaining that scale of "extra mile" to "extra rewards" to each person and consider making reference to it on a regular basis. Even if you can't tie each person's actual compensation to those checks, you might find it a useful reminder of the ongoing earning process.

Posted February 10, 2010
Help your people earn more! Choose one direct-report who needs your help earning. Make a list of that person's tasks and responsibilities. Can you break each task/responsibility into a list of concrete goals? Now make the goals more concrete. Can you break each goal into a list of concrete actions? Can you break each concrete action into a step-by-step check-list? Now can you attach a "price"---what portion of the person's ordinary rewards---to each check on the checklist? How much is each check on the checklist "worth" in rewards?

From now on, in your one-on-ones with that direct report, consider explaining that scale of "checks" to "rewards" to that person and consider making reference to it on a regular basis. Even if you can't tie each person's actual compensation to those checks, you might find it a useful reminder of the ongoing earning process.

If this approach has the desired impact, consider doing this with all of your direct reports.

Posted February 4, 2010
Help your people earn more! Keep a running list of opportunities for every single person you manage to earn one small extra reward after another, as a quid pro quo for extra performance. Keep track of this as part of your ongoing documentation. If you keep a running list of opportunities for every person to earn more, then you'll be able to help every single person get into an upward spiral of continuous improvement and increased earning, one extra reward at a time. From now on, plan to help people go the extra mile, one task/responsibility/project at a time, in order to earn those extra rewards.

Posted January 28, 2010
HELP your people earn more! Do you currently manage any direct-reports who need your help earning more money or earning some non-financial rewards? That is, do you currently manage any employees whom you could help earn one small reward after another as quid pro quos for working smarter, longer, faster, harder, or better? How many employees can you think of who need your help earning more? (Hint: They all do!)

Make a list of things you think or know that an individual employee really needs or wants that ARE possible in his/her situation. Make a list of anything this person might need/want that YOU MIGHT POSSIBLY be able to help this person earn in this job. Now make a list of all the opportunities for this employee to work smarter, longer, faster, harder, or better. What can this employee do to earn some of the things he/she needs or wants? What can you do to help?

Posted January 21, 2010
If you do not know your organization's policies and procedures for dealing with persistent performance problems, taking disciplinary action, and termination, then STOP AND STUDY. Contact someone in HR. Get a copy of the policies and procedures of the organization. Read them. Read them again. Read them a third time, taking notes. Memorize them. Then get a trusted adviser in HR to walk you through the policies and procedures step by step until you really know and understand them very well.

Posted January 14, 2010
Do you currently manage any direct-reports with a significant BEHAVIOR problem that you would like to help solve? Do you want the person to change more than one behavior? You better take them one at a time.

Then, with each behavior in question, spell out the negative behavior in question, and MORE IMPORTANT, spell out the positive behavior you would like to see instead. Focus NOT on the behavior you want the person to STOP. FOCUS on the behavior you want the person to START doing instead. How can you help this employee use a check-list to remember the standard operating procedure? How can you help this employee use a check-list as a self-monitoring tool to help you both keep track of his/her improvement on this behavior?

Posted January 7, 2010
Do you currently manage any direct-reports with a significant QUALITY problem that you would like to help solve? Do you want the person to reduce his/her error rate? On every task? Most tasks? Or just one task?

With each task you'd like each person to improve, make a list of all the quality standards for that task. What are all the steps that need to be followed? What are all the specifications necessary to accomplish that task at the appropriate quality standard? Is there a check-list available spelling out each step in the process and all the specifications for each step? Is there a double-check procedure? Is there a triple-check procedure?

Then, in your next one-on-one or whenever you have the chance, you should ask the person to perform the task in question so you can watch. Watch him/her do the task. See if he/she is following the same steps you would follow. See if he/she is accomplishing each step with all the required specifications. See if he/she is using a check-list to make sure. See if he/she is using the double-check process to make sure each specification has been met with each step. See if he/she is using the triple-check process to make sure each specification has been met with each step. If not, you need to work with this person to make a check-list.

As long as the person DOES follow the same steps you would follow and accomplishes each step according to all the specifications, when you are watching, then you know the person is capable of achieving the necessary quality. That means it's almost definitely a problem of not double- or triple-checking quality before finishing. Reinforce the quality standards verbally. But there is simply no reason to try to do it without a check-list. Check-lists are the key to helping employees meet quality standards. Require a double-check. And require a triple-check. Follow-up routinely to make sure this individual is using the check-list THREE times with each task.

Posted December 17, 2009
Do you currently manage any direct-reports with a significant PRODUCTIVITY problem that you would like to help solve? Do you want the person to work faster? On every task? Most tasks? Or just one task?

With each task you'd like each person to speed up, break the task into its component steps. Figure out how long it should take to accomplish each step.

Then, in your next one-on-one or whenever you have the chance, you should ask the person to perform the task in question so you can watch. Watch him/her do the task. See if he/she is following the same steps you would follow. See if he/she is accomplishing each step in about the same amount of time you figured it should take. If not, try to figure out why not. If you can find a reason, then you should be able to find the solution.

As long as the person DOES follow the same steps you would follow and accomplishes each step in a reasonable amount of time, while you are watching, then you have the information you need to create a time budget for each task. Once you have a time budget for each task, you should be able establish a reasonable quantity of that task that can be accomplished within a particular time frame. That should give you concrete productivity goals for that task with that person. Follow-up routinely to make sure this individual is meeting those productivity goals.

Posted December 10, 2009
Do you currently manage any direct-reports whose performance is basically good, but who could use your help fine-tuning their performance? That is, do you currently manage any employees who have no significant glaring problems in their performance, but whom you could help solve one or more tiny problems?

Name all the tiny problems in that person's performance that you can name. Remember, tiny problems are good. Nobody is perfect. Every tiny problem is an opportunity for this person to improve.

From now on, keep a running list of tiny problems/opportunities-to-improve for every person. In your one-on-ones with each person, tackle one tiny problem at a time. Hammer away at that tiny problem until it disappears. Then move on to the next one.

What if you were always working with every person on solving one tiny problem after another? Then you'd be getting every person into an upward spiral of continuous improvement.

Posted December 3, 2009
Document employee performance every step of the way:
Try to come up with A SIMPLE SYSTEM THAT WILL WORK FOR YOU THAT YOU CAN SUSTAIN to help you track in writing the following key pieces of information in your regular one-on-ones with every direct-report:
- Expectations. Goals and requirements that were spelled out. Instructions given or to-do lists assigned. Standard operating procedures, rules, or guidelines reviewed. Deadlines set.
- Concrete actions. Write down observable facts only. What have you observed the employee doing while watching? What does the employee say when asked about his actual performance? What do his self-monitoring tools reveal? What does your ongoing review of work product tell you? What do you learn about the employee's actions when you ask around?
- Measurements. How are the actions matching up against the expectations? Has the employee met requirements? Did he follow instructions, standard operating procedures, and rules? Did he meet his goals on time?

Posted November 19, 2009
Document employee performance every step of the way:
Try keeping a simple ledger for each employee you manage on paper or in a computer: In one column, "Expectations set, date/time." In the column next to it, "Performance reported, date/time."

What you need is a process that is simple and easy to use, not a bunch of cumbersome paperwork to hold you back. You need a process that is practical so you will stick to it. Think of something in your life that you currently keep track of in writing (either on paper or in a computer or hand-held device). How well does that system work for you? Do you stick with it? Do you use it consistently? Is it helpful for you? If so, can you think of a way to adapt the method you use in order to keep track of your employees' performance? How can you adapt the method that works so well for you in another sphere to use as your performance tracking system?

Posted November 12, 2009
Document employee performance every step of the way:
Try documenting performance just by using the checklists you make in your one-on-one meetings with direct-reports. In each meeting, boil down the expectations you set into a checklist of concrete actions within the control of the individual. Then in your next meeting, go over the checklist together, on each matter asking, "Did you do it? By the deadline? In keeping with the guidelines?" Yes, yes, yes? Check!

Posted October 29, 2009
Document performance every step of the way: Try writing things down before each one-on-one, during each one-on-one, and after each one-on-one. In between one-on-one meetings, make sure to write down everything of consequence related to that employee's performance. If you think of something you want to mention in your next meeting with the person, write that down. Showing the employee your notes as you take them will also create an opportunity to correct any misunderstandings up front. Some of the best managers encourage their employees to create their own parallel notebooks. As the manager writes things down, she can say, "I'm writing this down. What are you writing down? Are we on the same page?"

Posted October 22, 2009
As soon as you can, talk to somebody in HR and find out what current systems they have for tracking employee performance in writing. Are they flexible? Are you permitted to document performance your own way for your own management purposes? Or do they have a method you need to follow? Are you permitted to document performance in the ordinary course of management, not due to a problem? Are you permitted to keep track of expectations set and performance observed directly or indirectly in relation to those expectations? Are there internal rules or policies or procedures you need to follow? Do they have tools available for you to use? Do they have training available in how to use those tools? MAKE SURE YOU TALK TO SOMEBODY IN HR WHO REALLY KNOWS. Learn the system. Try using it.

Posted October 8, 2009
If you are managing any employees at work WITHOUT direct authority you need to create a basis for accountability with each of those employees based on influence. Make a list of all the employees you need to manage WITHOUT direct authority. Next to each name answer the following questions:
- How can you use interpersonal influence with this person? How can you keep the focus on concrete actions within the control of this individual?
- How can you use persuasion with this person? What good reasons can you give?
- How can you use transactional influence? Can you make short-term agreements for exchanging deliverables?
- How can you deputize yourself? Can you invoke the authority of someone else OR document the transactions?

Prepare for your next one-on-one conversation with each person, one by one.
- Start with a vivid statement of clear expectations.
- Keep the focus on concrete actions within the control of this person.
- Give good reasons.
- Make an agreement.
- Keep track in writing and cc this person's REAL boss.

Posted October 1, 2009
For each of your employees, try this: In your next one-on-one meeting, talk through your expectations in clear and straightforward terms. Write it down in the form of a checklist. Ask the individual to use the checklist and make notes on it during the course of the week. In your next subsequent one-on-one, ask for an account of the individual's work, and go over the checklist together. Take notes on your own copy of the checklist. If something seems out of sync with your sense of the facts, then use some additional methods of gathering information. If this method works for you, consider using it from now on.

Posted September 24, 2009
Do you currently have any direct-reports whose tasks and responsibilities can be evaluated in progress by checking random samples of their work in progress?
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EXAMPLES: If you have employees who create reports, you could check random samples of their reports. If you have employees who clean, you could check random samples of the areas they are supposed to be cleaning. If you have employees who prepare food, you could check random samples to make sure the food tastes right and is hot, etc.
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How many direct-reports do work you could monitor in progress by checking random samples? Name them. Spot check random samples of each person's work in progress this week. Take samples if you can. Take notes of course. Discuss what you find in your next one-on-one with each person. If this method works for you, consider using it from now on.

Posted September 17, 2009
Do you currently have any direct-reports who are really struggling with one particular task or responsibility right now? Name them. Next to each name, make a note of the particular task or responsibility in question. Plan to set aside some time with each person so you can watch the individual perform the task or responsibility in question. Take notes of course. You'll learn so much from watching him/her actually do the task. Is he/she doing it right? Is it taking too long? What's going wrong? Now you'll be able to help.

Posted September 10, 2009
Do you currently manage any direct-reports whose behavior at work you would like to change? How many? List them. Next to each name, answer the following questions: What behavior would you like that person to STOP doing? What behavior would you like that person to START doing instead?

One by one, take each person and each behavior you want that person to START doing. For each one, do the following:

Describe the behavior you want that person to START doing. Can you describe that behavior as a best practice? Write the standard operating procedure for following that best practice. Now make a check-list spelling out step-by-step how to follow that standard operating procedure. How would you use the check-list to teach the standard operating procedure? How would you help your employee use the check-list to remember the standard operating procedure? How could you help your employee use the check-list as a self-monitoring tool to help you both keep track of his/her improvement on this behavior?

Posted September 3, 2009
Do you currently have assignments for which you do not have an available well-trained experienced direct-report? Do you have available to you any employees who are less-trained and less-experienced with "underutilized capacity" (that is, TIME)? Is there anyone on that list you would be willing to invest in by spending time guiding and directing that person and helping that person succeed? Consider giving one or more of those excess assignments to this person but be prepared to spend extra time guiding, directing and supporting this person every step of the way until he/she becomes better-trained and more experienced. You'll be building a go-to employee you can go to with assignments in the future.

Posted August 27, 2009
Do you currently manage employees who report only to you and nobody else? Name them. Next to each name, answer the following questions in writing:
What are your expectations for working with this person? How often are you going to have one-on-one meetings with this person? Are you going to meet in person or are you going to rely primarily on email and telephone? How and when are you going to make assignments? How are you going to spell out goals? How are you going to make requirements clear? How are you going to monitor and measure performance? Spell it out every step of the way.

Prepare for your next one-on-one with each of these individuals. Explain that you want to revisit your expectations for working together. Explain that you are trying to become a better manager. Explain that you want to be more effective in providing guidance and support for everyone you manage. Explain that this is about your style and standard operating procedures as a manager. Explain to each person that this is good news! You are going to try to be a much better manager. Ask them to help you.

Posted August 19, 2009
Any employee you manage who answers to multiple bosses will thank you if EVERY TIME YOU GIVE THAT PERSON AN ASSIGNMENT YOU SAY THESE THREE SENTENCES:
- "What are all the other assignments you are currently working on?"
- "Once you accept this assignment from me, make sure your other managers know that you are working on something for me."
- "If ANYTHING else might get in the way of you completing this assignment for me on time, let me know as soon as the obstacle appears."

Posted August 12, 2009
Do you currently manage employees who report to multiple managers? Name them. Next to each name, answer the following questions in writing:
What are your expectations for working with this person? How often are you going to have one-on-one meetings with this person? Are you going to meet in person or are you going to rely primarily on email and telephone? How and when are you going to make assignments? How are you going to spell out goals? How are you going to make requirements clear? How are you going to monitor and measure performance? Spell it out every step of the way.

Prepare for your next one-on-one with each of these individuals. Explain that you want to revisit your expectations for working together. Explain that you are trying to become a better manager. Explain that you want to be more effective in providing guidance and support for everyone you manage. Explain that this is about your style and standard operating procedures as a manager. Explain to each person that this is good news! You are going to try to be a much better manager. Ask them to help you.

Posted August 6, 2009
Regarding every single person you manage, regularly ask and answer for yourself: "When (and how often?) do I need to manage this person?"

When?
- Sometimes the time is dictated by logistics.
- The best time might depend upon your and your employees' typical mood schedules.
- The best time might be indicated by a performance issue.

And how often?
- Most people need to talk with you a lot more than you would guess.
- Most need to talk more when they are working on something new.
- Force yourself to meet more often than you think necessary for a while.
- Over time, you will probably step back a bit and meet less often.

Posted July 30, 2009
Regarding every single person you manage, regularly ask and answer for yourself: "How do I need to talk to this person?"
- Think about what motivates this person.
- Figure out what tone and style work best.
- Most employees respond best to verbal communication supported by visual aids in writing.
- Choose the right communication tools and techniques for each person.

Posted July 23, 2009
Regarding every single person you manage, regularly ask and answer for yourself: "Why do I need to manage this person right now?"
- Clarify your goals with each person. What do you need from this person? Work faster or slower? Improve quality? Stop dotting the i's and get on with it? Adopt a new behavior?
- Keep in mind what might go wrong if you don't manage this person.
- Pay attention: The reasons for managing each person will change over time.

Regarding every single person you manage, regularly ask and answer for yourself: "What do I need to talk about today?"
- Talk about the work.
- Focus on what you want the employee to do in the immediate future.
- Decide whether you should talk about the big picture or all the minor details.
- What do you want the person to focus on between now and the next time you talk?
- For some employees, breaking things down and spelling them out can make the difference between high performance and low performance.

Posted July 16, 2009
Regarding every single person you manage, regularly ask and answer for yourself: "Who is this person at work?"
- Assess each employee's basic strengths and weaknesses.
- Consider the role each person plays in your workplace.
- Know how issues at home bear on an employee's role at work.
- Manage the self each employee brings to work.
- Is this person a high performer, low performer, or somewhere in the middle?
- Does this person have high productivity, low productivity, or middle?
- Does this person do high quality work, low quality work, or middle?
- Does this person have irritating behaviors that you want him or her to stop? Or positive behaviors you want others to emulate?

Posted July 9, 2009
TRAIN JUST-IN-TIME FOR THE MISSION, BUT TRAIN FOR EVERY MISSION
Fast-paced, super-intense, mission-driven training from day one is the only way to get people into meaningful roles immediately and move them along to greater and greater responsibility as fast as they can possibly learn. The most effective approach is to gear the training of individual contributors for the specific tasks, responsibilities, and projects they are going to be working on in the very near term.
1. Get new contributors up to speed very quickly so they can start adding value right away.
2. Create a just-in-time training infrastructure that can support ongoing as-needed learning. Provide maximum information resources in different media and give learners the remote control. Try to anticipate the learning needs that may come up over time; skill and knowledge gaps; refreshers; information that may come in handy. Also prepare contributors to anticipate their own needs as well. Gear just-in-time learning resources around anticipated gaps.
3. Transform your corporate culture by making everybody a knowledge worker. Knowledge work is not about what you do, but rather, how you do it. If a contributor goes out of his/her way to leverage information resources and employ skill and knowledge to accomplish tasks and responsibilities, no matter how basic, then he/she is a knowledge worker. Help every single contributor identify information resources and make a plan for leveraging skill and knowledge to accomplish every task and responsibility, no matter how basic.

Posted July 2, 2009
PAY FOR PERFORMANCE AND NOTHING ELSE
Stop paying people and start buying their results. Short-term pay-for-performance contracts will be the natural culmination of the free market for talent, and therefore, the norm of employment in the new economy. They are also the best way to give free agents exactly what they want most---to be paid what they are worth when they deliver---without breaking the bank. Never forget, an effective pay for performance approach requires all the elements of a well negotiated purchasing contract:
(1) Measurable individual performance benchmarks. Every step of the way, clear deliverables should be clearly defined for every contributor and concrete rewards tied directly to those deliverables.
(2) Clear expectations (among managers and workers alike) about the relationship between specific individual behaviors and specific rewards.
(3) Regular and close monitoring by managers of individual performance and the keeping of good contemporaneous records (this is high maintenance) and ongoing communication about the process between managers and individual contributors.

Posted June 25, 2009
STAFF THE WORK, NOT THE JOBS
Employers cannot go back to promising job security in exchange for loyalty because they need to stay lean and flexible, even while they are scrambling for access to the best talent. Organizations need to move away from the static long-term staffing model and move toward a more fluid model. In today's quickly changing marketplace, where employers can never predict what is just around the corner, the old-fashioned, stable, long-term employer-employee relationship just doesn't fit. The key to continued success for companies today is the ability to adapt rapidly to new circumstances---whether they are unexpected market opportunities or suddenly vanishing market opportunities. Depending on the circumstances, staffing may have to expand rapidly, or contract rapidly---or both at the same time. Certain skills may be required all of a sudden and others, just as suddenly, may be no longer necessary. In the new economy, staffing needs will be in constant flux. Employers must gear their staffing strategies around coping with this reality:
1. Shrink your core group of traditional employees.
2. Grow your fluid talent pool: Create a large reserve army, a proprietary talent database of former employees, temps, independent contractors, outside firms, part-timers, some-timers, flex-timers, telecommuters, and so on.
3. Develop solid working relationships with a wide range of vendors who can be counted upon for outsourcing.
4. Maintain an internal group of contributors who are not permanently assigned to any particular tasks/responsibilities, teams, locations, or schedules---who can be called upon and deployed to fill in staffing gaps wherever and whenever they occur.

Posted June 18, 2009
Gen Yers want to hit the ground running, and on day one. But they don't want to be thrust into sink-or-swim situation either. They want to hit the ground running with lots of support and guidance every step of the way.
- Grab hold of them and don't let them go. Create intensity, connection to your mission, a feeling of shared experience and belonging to a group, steady learning, and constant challenge. It's about taking Gen Yers seriously on day one and every other day.
- Turn every employee into a knowledge worker. If you work hard to leverage information, technique, and ideas in your job, then you are a knowledge worker---at least in my world. The more you encourage them to learn while they work, the better they will do their jobs.

Posted June 11, 2009
- Don't let good people get into downward spirals. When an otherwise good employee is struggling, help the employee see what's going wrong and how to make things go better. Break down the project, responsibility, task, or skill into small pieces. Guide and direct the employee in accomplishing one very small piece at a time. Instead of suffering the pain of failure, the employee will get a chance to bank one tiny success after another.
- Give the superstars the most time and attention. Don't make the mistake of thinking that some of your Gen Yers are so talented, skilled, and motivated that they don't really need the attention of managers. Surround them with teaching-style managers, advisers, organizational supporters, and maybe even mentors.

Posted June 4, 2009
BUILD THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS
When you ask young stars to step up and make the transition to leadership---at any level---you owe it to those new leaders to teach them how to do the people work, and then support and guide them every step of the way:
-- Explain that this new role carries with it real authority, that it does not award her license, of course, to act like a jerk. It is a huge responsibility that should not be accepted lightly.
-- Spell out exactly what her new leadership responsibilities look like. Focus on the basics, like spelling out expectations for every employee who works for them, following up regularly, tracking performance closely in writing, and holding people accountable.
-- Formally deputize new leaders, no matter how small the project or how short the duration of the leadership role. Announce it, articulate the nature of this new authority, and explain the standard operating procedures for management that you have asked new leaders to follow.
-- Check in to regularly walk through the standard operating procedures for managing. Ask about the management challenges they are probably facing. Take every opportunity you can to help new leaders refine and improve their management techniques.

Posted May 28, 2009
BONUS RETENTION BEST PRACTICES:
-- Instead of trying to eliminate turnover, take control of it. Not all turnover is bad. Your goal should not be to eliminate turnover among Gen Yers. That?s never going to happen. Your goal should be to take control of the turnover among Gen Yers. You want the high performers to stay and the low performers to go. The only way to make that happen is if you are the one deciding who stays and who goes.
-- Make your job the prestige job. How? You have to be extremely demanding, highly competitive, and fiercely merit based. Shine that bright light of scrutiny on yourself as a leader and on every single person you manage. Hold everyone to a higher standard, and help everyone meet that higher standard. Set up a constant loop of challenge and evaluation.
-- Push out the low performers. Remember that stubborn low performers hate the bright light of scrutiny and usually will find a way to escape. You rarely have to fire them if you are willing to shine that bright light.
-- Turn the reasons Gen Yers might leave into reasons they will stay... and work even harder. Gen Yers are coming to work to earn. Part of your job is to help them earn whatever it is they need and want. And that's the key to retention.
-- Find out what you can do to keep them. When Gen Yers express needs and wants that are totally unrealistic, you should let them know that immediately so that their expectations are clear. The next step, however, is to help them see what is realistic... and then help them earn it.
-- Do whatever it takes to hold on to the best and the brightest. The reality is that you can't do everything for everybody. Whatever you are doing to be flexible and generous to retain your good employees, you need to be much more flexible and generous to keep your great employees.

Posted May 21, 2009
TEACH GENYERS THE BASICS OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
We teach six basic rules:
1. Make yourself available.
2. Say as little as possible, at first, and listen carefully.
3. When you do talk, choose your words very carefully. In advance, study prepared materials, learn your lines, and rehearse.
4. Never wing it. Don't guess, don't hope, and don't exaggerate. Whenever possible, use prepared materials to help you.
5. Request feedback from customers during throughout your interaction. Ask, "Is that acceptable to you?"
6. Problem-solve. Solve small problems quickly and get help for bigger problems.

Posted May 14, 2009
SET CLEAR GROUND RULES UP FRONT
It's very important, when managing GenYers, to establish clear ground rules up-front for your management relationship---that goes for all the tangibles like how often you are going to meet one-on-one, how you are going to spell out expectations, how you are going to monitor and measure and document performance, and how rewards are to be earned. But it is even more important to establish clear ground rules up front when it comes to intangible elements of performance. Often there are no concrete policies to regulate important intangibles like attitude, tone of voice, and other subtleties of professionalism in the workplace. You may need to say, "Whenever you are working with me, on any task, for any period of time, these are MY ground rules." Then lay out your ground rules in no uncertain terms, and make it clear they are deal breakers for you: you can't work with someone who doesn't follow these ground rules.

Posted May 7, 2009
GIVE GENYERS REAL POWER, INSTEAD OF FAKE POWER
Give GenYers "real" power. The key to giving Gen Yers real power is to set strict deadlines with detailed time lines and regular benchmarks along the way. Let them know exactly what is required. Let them know exactly what is NOT up to them. And let them know exactly WHAT IS up to them. It may be limited power. But at least it's real power. Make it clear exactly what they need to do to earn what you are paying them. And make it doubly clear what they need to do to earn anything extra, financially or otherwise.

Posted April 30, 2009
IN LOCO PARENTIS MANAGEMENT: WHAT TO SAY WHEN GEN-YERS KNOCK ON YOUR DOOR WITH UNUSUAL REQUESTS (OR DEMANDS)
So when that Gen Yer knocks on your office door and asks if you have a minute to discuss his special need or want, this need or want might just be the key to driving this employee's performance to a whole new level, or at least the key to getting more work out of him better and faster for the short term. You want to be able to say, "Okay. I'll do that for you tomorrow if you do X for me today." Then deliver the reward in question as soon as you possibly can. Immediate rewards are much more effective with Gen Yers.

Posted April 23, 2009
GIVE THEM THE GIFT OF CONTEXT
Managers often tell us that their Gen Yers suffer from a fundamental lack of context. Giving Gen Yers the gift of context means explaining that no matter who that Gen Yer may be, what he wants to achieve, or how he wants to behave, his role in any situation is determined in large part by factors that have nothing to do with him. There are preexisting, independent factors that would be present even if he were not, and they determine the context of any situation. Teach them to play---nay, work---well with others. Teach them how to shine in presentations and team meetings. Team them to anticipate relationship issues, avoid pitfalls, and conduct themselves in a consistently professional manner.

Posted April 16, 2009
DON'T LET GOOD PEOPLE GET INTO DOWNWARD SPIRALS
Don't let good people get into downward spirals. When an otherwise good employee is struggling, help the employee see what's going wrong and how to make things go better. Break down the project, responsibility, task, or skill into small pieces. Guide and direct the employee in accomplishing one very small piece at a time. Instead of suffering the pain of failure, the employee will get a chance to bank one tiny success after another.

Posted April 8, 2009
NEGOTIATE SPECIAL REWARDS IN VERY SMALL INCREMENTS
The critical element when it comes to rewarding Gen Yers is letting them know that rewards are tied to concrete actions within their own direct control. This might remind you of the old-fashioned pay scheme called piecework in which individuals are paid an agreed-on amount for each defined unit of work they produce. The seamstress might be paid per stitch or per finished garment. The accountant might be paid per tax return prepared. The computer programmer might be paid per line of new code written. And so on. The key to your success will be defining those measurable pieces of work and setting a price per piece.

Posted April 2, 2009
IN LOCO PARENTIS MANAGEMENT: HOW TO MAXIMIZE DISCRETIONARY RESOURCES TO MOTIVATE GEN YERS
Most managers have more discretionary resources than they realize at their disposal. These are often resources that can be deployed as special short-term rewards. What extra funds are available to you that you might be able to use for special short-term bonuses? What can you do to improve work conditions in the short term for your employees? How much latitude do you have to make special short-term accommodations in employees' schedules or paid time off? How much control do you have over extra training opportunities? Can you offer exposure to decision makers? How hard is it to have a written commendation added to an employee's file? There are many extra rewards managers have in their control, and you need to leverage every resource at your disposal to drive performance. Trade those resources with GenYers for going the extra mile in their performance. Make the quid pro quo explicit: "Okay. I'll give you x, y, or z resource, if you will go the extra mile for me today and do X." Work a particularly undesirable shift? Work longer hours? Work with a difficult team? Do some heavy lifting? Work in some out of the way location? Clean up some unpleasant mess?

Posted March 26, 2009
IN LOCO PARENTIS: PLANS, CHECKLISTS, AND ACTIVITY LOGS
Help Gen Yers keep track of their own work by using self-monitoring tools like project plans, checklists, and activity logs. Gen Yers can monitor whether they are meeting goals and deadlines laid out in a project plan, make notations within checklists, and report to you at regular intervals. Activity logs are diaries that Gen Yers can keep, noting contemporaneously exactly what they do all day, including breaks and interruptions. Each time he or she moves on to a new activity, the Gen Yer might note the time and the new activity. By using these tools, Gen Yers can document their own hard work every step of the way and build their own track record of success.

Posted March 19, 2009
IN LOCO PARENTIS MANAGEMENT: THE POINT SYSTEM
If you can think of easy ways to convert the performance you need from your young employees into a point system, then maybe you should consider it. I promise you, a point system will get Gen Yers focused like a laser beam. If you want them to start showing up earlier for work, attach points for every minute they arrive early, and take away points for every minute they come in late. If you want Gen Yers to meet quality standards, give them checklists of every detail and specification, and give points for every detail and specification completed-and take away points for every one missed. If you want Gen Yers to speed up, set a realistic quota of tasks per hour and give points for every task done over the quota-and take away points for every task under the quota. Of course, it helps a lot if the points add up to concrete rewards.

Posted March 12, 2009
IN LOCO PARENTIS MANAGEMENT: TEACH THEM TO KEEP SCORE
When Gen Yers know you are keeping track of their day-to-day performance, their measuring instinct is sparked and their competitive spirit ignited. Keeping close track of their work tells them that they are important and their work is important. The process motivates them to perform because they want to get credit, score points, earn more of whatever there is to earn. Make it very clear every step of the way exactly how those points can be earned--or lost. You need a system.

Posted March 5, 2009
IN LOCO PARENTIS: GIVE THEM STRUCTURE AND BOUNDARIES
If you want to give Gen Yers more freedom at work, the biggest favor you can do for them is establish clear boundaries and give them a structure within which they can function with some autonomy. It is true that some jobs require employees to take risks and make mistakes. Even in those cases, it is the manager's job to help Gen Yers avoid taking unnecessary risks and repeating mistakes that others have already made. Creativity and innovation do not require recklessness. As a leader, you have to create a structure and clear boundaries in order to create a space in which risk taking and mistakes are truly safe in the context of a job.

Posted February 27, 2009
IN LOCO PARENTIS: DON'T PRETEND. BE AUTHENTIC. TAKE A STRONG HAND
Focus your relationships with GenY employees on the authentic common interest between you two, which is the work at hand. Focus on playing your authentic role in their working lives: that of a manager. Lead, but don't pretend to be a cheerleader. Sympathize, but don't pretend to be a therapist. Be authoritative, but don't pretend to be a tyrant. You can lead in a demanding and supportive way and be real all at the same time.

Posted February 18, 2009
IN LOCO PARENTIS MANAGEMENT: CARE ENOUGH TO KEEP TRACK
Care enough to learn their names. Care enough to know:
How long have you been working here?
What is your basic schedule?
What are your main tasks every day?
What are your current projects?
Where do you sit at work? Or travel?
Are you generally a high performer, low performer, or somewhere in the middle?
Are you generally a fast worker, slow, or somewhere in the middle?
Do you usually get all or most of the details right?or not?
Are you generally a positive influence on colleagues, negative, or neutral?
How long are you likely to stay? Is there a chance you will stay for the long term?

Posted February 12, 2009
Practice "IN LOCO PARENTIS MANAGEMENT." It has become almost cliche to say that Generation Y is over-parented. You can't fight the over-parenting phenomenon, so run with it. Your Gen Y employees want it. They need it. Without strong management in the workplace, there is a void where their parents have always been. In loco parentis, a Latin term, means "in the place of a parent." Treat them with caring and respect. Set them up for success every step of the way. And hold them to high standards precisely because you care! Be strong and supportive (and strong!):
-Give them clear boundaries and lots of structure.
-Teach them how to keep score when it comes to their own performance.
-Negotiate special rewards in very small increments.

Posted February 5, 2009
Use your email communication to document your management relationships every step of the way. First, be very careful what you write in an email. Emails never go away. Second, create separate mail folders for every direct-report you manage and possibly for some people in lateral roles. You might even make a special folder for your email dialogue with your boss (or each of your bosses). Going forward you'll have to make a rigorous habit of saving all of your outgoing and incoming emails in the right folders. Third, remember you can't manage by email alone. You need verbal reinforcement and, ideally, in-person communication. Send very brief emails in advance of scheduled one-on-one conversations, to state your agenda. Then, after every one-on-one conversation, send a detailed follow-up email to confirm (and clarify if necessary) expectations. Fourth, focus your follow-up emails on concrete goals with clear guidelines and specific deadlines. Try ending each email with a check-list of deliverables. If you want to take it to the next level, for each deliverable, make a list of concrete actions within the control of the individual along with a time budget for each concrete action and a list of guidelines.

Posted January 28, 2009
Before your next team meeting (regularly scheduled or not), ask and answer for yourself the following questions: "Does this meeting really need to happen? What is the intended outcome of this meeting? Who really does NOT need to be at this meeting? Who really does need to be at this meeting? What role do I want each person to play at this meeting? What is the most efficient and helpful preparation each person should be doing in advance of this meeting in order to play his/her role? How can we make the most of this meeting in the shortest amount of time possible?" Then prepare a written agenda for the meeting and make sure to follow it. Consider having the team meeting with all participants standing up.

Posted January 22, 2009
Identify a common error made often by one or more employees that you really want to eliminate. First, evaluate the standard operating procedures related to the task or responsibility in question. Make sure the standard operating procedures for the task/responsibility are correct, up to date, thoroughly detailed and easy to understand and implement. Second, make sure that the standard operating procedures are known and practiced by every employee who might ever do the task/responsibility. Third, make a detailed step-by-step checklist spelling out the standard operating procedures and remind people to use the checklist whenever conducting the task/responsibility. Watch the common error disappear from your workplace.

Posted January 14, 2009
Prepare your employees to make the most of any down time they might experience during the current economic contraction. Ask every person you manage to make a list, in order of priority, of important-but-not-urgent to-do items they have been postponing because business has been so busy. Tell them: "If you find yourself with some down time, start working to accomplish one of the items on that list."

Posted January 8, 2009
Ask every person you manage to keep a time log for one week and identify their biggest time wasters and their greatest ?time management opportunities.? Do it yourself as well. Meet with your people one-by-one to share your own experience and discuss theirs. Then help them one-by-one eliminate their biggest time wasters and focus more acutely on their work.