Your First 90 Days as a Brand New Manager – Diagnosing Some Challenges

Picture this – it’s the last day of a tough, tough quarter. You and your young sales team are just one contract away from reaching your target, and your pipelines have been completely exhausted – except for one out-standing option. The CEO of a prospected company has agreed to speak with one of your junior sales consultants again in 15mins. Anything can happen, and team target hangs in the balance…

Do you:

a) Handle this important call yourself? You know you can close this and the team will be glad to reach target after the rough quarter we’ve all had. The team can practically start breaking out the celebratory beers and bubbles now!
b) Let the sales consultant handle the call? The CEO is a good guy, and if he has agreed to talk then he knows the game. It shouldn’t be too tough and could be a good notch in the new salesperson’s belt, and encouragement for the whole team too.
c) Let the sales consultant talk the talk – or rather talk your talk? You’ll be with him/her every step of the way, scripting and directing the conversation to make sure the team gets the positive outcome they deserve.
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Linking Innovation with Effectiveness

The generation of new ideas is simply about inspiration and, whilst indispensible in growth and development, if these ideas remain as simply that then they have little practical use apart from being the seed of other ideas.

It is when an idea is combined with action that it is transformed into innovation.

So how do we ensure that these ideas develop into an innovation that is effective, and does not simply represent change for the sake of change? As Peter Drucker, the leadership and management guru, is quoted as saying – “An innovation, to be effective, has to be simple and it has to be focused.”

So let’s take a simple, focused approach to innovation by breaking the process down into three bite size pieces or steps:
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When Expectations are Not Met Within a Company

Companies spend a lot of time trying to understand why certain goals or expectations are not met within the organisation. There are individuals who fail to get their work done in a timely manner. There are managers overseeing departments that never seem to be capable of meeting a deadline or are always turning in late reports. There is also the project team which seems to spend more time trying to decide what needs to be done rather than actually producing results.
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Interviewing Techniques for Organisational Success

Within any organisation there are many different kinds of interviews occurring at any time. They include interviews to hire new people, supplier interviews, internal promotion interviews, and project team selection interviews. A healthy organisation is always in a state of flux and that presents important challenges to be met in order to remain competitive.
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Dealing With Differences Within the Organisation

There are always going to be differences within an organisation to just about anything related to the workplace. People will object to their work schedules, job assignments, goals, supervisor instructions, and team positions. They will also come into conflict with fellow workers or bring conflict into the workplace that really started at home due to family problems.

Of course, there is a difference between true conflict and a difference of opinion objection. A difference comes about when a person disapproves of an action, statement, or behaviour but is usually willing to seek resolution. A conflict is opposition that borders on irreconcilability without intervention. The difference can seem unimportant though when a manager, supervisor, or team leader is trying to overcome differences of opinion or what seem to be irreconcilable conflict between staff members.

Reacting to the Reaction

The first step in dealing with differences is to admit they will occur wherever people are found and that overreacting is a sure formula for escalating the issue. Reacting too quickly or too negatively to such a difference usually serves to make the objector defend their position more vehemently simply because no one wants their opinion to be minimised or treated as ridiculous.

Yet this is one of the most common reactions found in the workplace because managers have the same problems as departmental workers. They are too busy, have too much work to accomplish, are short on time, or are simply weary of hearing about such differences.

Yet these differences of opinion will arise regularly in any organisation so it’s important to be prepared to deal with them in a thoughtful and productive manner. This makes it sound like a simple process, but anyone who has had to overcome the disagreements of another person understands that such differences can escalate into conflict if not handled delicately.

Dealing with differences in the workplace is much easier when a true team has been built. Creating a strong team attitude means personnel have common goals which serve the unified good of the organisation. In other words, everyone is working toward achieving the same results, and discussions about rules, procedures, and projects are intended to improve the process.

When there is not a spirit of teamwork, objections may be more related to egoism and overcoming them can become more challenging. In an organisation which operates like a team, personal values mesh with the corporate culture and the success of the company is seen as individual success. When a company operates with disjointed staff, objections tend to be more personal.

Getting to the Source of the Objection

Dealing with differences requires a lot of sensitivity and care in understanding the true source of the difference. The first rule of thumb is to not make assumptions the objection you are hearing is the real issue at hand. The real issue may be a completely unrelated need that is not being met and the objection is being used as a form of communication.

Overcoming differences is a matter of effective communication that addresses the problem in a thoughtful and reasonable manner.

• Gain an understanding of the other person’s perspective by asking questions
• Develop listening skills in order to extract important information from responses to questions
• Use listening skills to identify the true needs or issues the person is trying to address
• Find common ground as a starting point for resolution
• Give thoughtful answers which make sense and are not abrupt or dismissive
• Give some ground to the objector even if it is small so the person is not left powerless
• Always be honest even if the objector does not like the answer but support your responses with facts
• Do not play the “blame game” because it is counter-productive
• If unable to respond to the difference due to lack of information, make arrangements to meet again instead of responding off-the-cuff

It takes a lot of level-headed common sense when dealing with differences in the workplace. Resolution of conflict at any level requires the development of effective communication skills including both listening and speaking. Often, the biggest mistake managers make is responding too quickly to staff differences without fully understanding the real issue.