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Social Networking
Posted in Collaboration, Communication, Employee Engagement, Goals, Productivity, Social Networking on August 11, 2009
The GSA announced earlier this year that it had reached agreements with popular web companies such as Flicker, Twitter, and YouTube. How is your agency using social media to accomplish your goals and objectives?
Commitment
Posted in Commitment, Engagement, Leadership, Morale, Performance, Productivity on July 17, 2009
I have been talking with some other consultants in the government arena about the impact high unemployment numbers and the stress caused by the economy are having on government workers relative to their non-government counterparts. Several think that government workers are not as committed because they are somewhat protected from the layoffs. I completely disagree. I think government workers are VERY committed to giving their best effort in their jobs. I think the only thing that gets in the way is ineffective leadership.
In what ways do you feel leadership affects people differently in government jobs than in private ones?
Achieving a Balance
Posted in Collaboration, Direction, Leadership, Leadership Development, Productivity, Results, The Ken Blanchard Companies on July 13, 2009
I have worked with, and for, a number of managers in my own government career. I noticed four types of focus that drove the leadership they provided:
1. Focus on Self.
2. Focus on task results.
3. Focus on people.
4. Focus on a balance between tasks and people.
The only ones that I believe were effective, over time, were the ones who focused on the balance. People who had any of the other types simply were not able to get the best effort of their people.
What type of leadership style brings out the best in you, and which one works best for your people?
Government Roundtable Issues #4
Posted in Communication, Employee Engagement, Silos, Teams, The Ken Blanchard Companies, Transparency, Trust, Vision on June 25, 2009
At The Ken Blanchard Companies Government Roundtable in Washington DC, attendees were asked to participate in a table discussion on an issue of importance. Below is the fourth and final set of consolidated notes from each table discussion.
Issue 4—Employee Engagement
What are the top 3 to 5 ways that your table team identified how Employee Engagement impacts productivity and/or morale?
• Negative morale—Impacts productivity
• Not fully engaged—Not using all your resources
• Communication—Suggestions
• Misconceptions—Goals and outcomes
• Lack of engagement—Leads to fear
• Employee engagement increases ownership
• Engagement increases morale & productivity
• Transparency
• Engaged employees leads to trust and mutual respect
• Engaged employees understand the bigger picture/bigger vision
What are the top 3 strategies and/or activities your table team identified that can be employed to enhance Employee Engagement? What are the top 3 activities that should be avoided to prevent a decrease in Employee Engagement?
Enhance:
• Communication
–As open as you can be
–Be open to other ideas
• Work with change agents
• Building Trust
• Engage yourself
• Keep your commitments
• Engagement–motivates everyone
• Seek employee input
• Provide interaction opportunities
• Transparency/open door policy
• Climate surveys – are they using them
• Group challenges for improvement
• Involve the people who prepare sound changes
• Builds awareness
• Dedicated weekly time/Open agenda
Avoid:
• Get people to get out of their comfort zones
• Decrease miscommunication
• Creating silos
• Restrictive chain-of-command
• Lack of communication
Government Rountable Issues #3
Posted in Attitude, Buy-in, Change, Communication, Morale, Productivity, Silos, The Ken Blanchard Companies on June 22, 2009
At The Ken Blanchard Companies Government Roundtable in Washington DC, attendees were asked to participate in a table discussion on an issue of importance. Below is the third set of consolidated notes from each table discussion.
Issue 3—Managing Change
What are the top 3 to 5 ways that your table team identified Managing Change (planned or unplanned) impacts productivity and/or morale, in a negative or positive way?
Positive:
• Positive attitude—understanding of how each person can contribute towards the change–empower people to participate (once in a lifetime opportunity to contribute to health care change)
Negative:
• Slows production/action on tasks to understand new direction/mission (negative impact on employee engagement)
• Lower morale
• Decisions on change were made at the top, pushed out and people quit–change has yet to be implemented
• Change will flounder without a sense of urgency
• Creation of silos due to change, may negatively impact productivity/morale
• Staff spend non-productive energy gnashing their teeth around change without appropriate communication
• Can have a devastating impact on morale
• Churn disrupts productivity
What are the top 3 to 5 strategies and/or activities your table team identified that can be employed to Manage Change in order to minimize negative impacts or emphasize positive impacts of change?
• Ensure your communication plan includes specificity
• Be mindful of how much change you are asking for in a specific period of time
• Need to build relationships and engage stake holders to effect change
• Accept that there are many ways to effect change
• Need to be careful about timing–too fast doesn’t allow full engagement; too slow could delay implementation
• Transparent communication about nature of change
• Communicate greater goal + get buy-in
• Touch clients – get real sense of what situation is + how it changes
• Feedback loop about results of change
Government Roundtable Issue #2
Posted in Collaboration, Communication, Direction, Performance, Relationships, Roles, Teams, The Ken Blanchard Companies on June 18, 2009
At The Ken Blanchard Companies Government Roundtable in Washington DC, attendees were asked to participate in a table discussion on an issue of importance. Below is the second set of consolidated notes from each table discussion.
Issue 2—Managing Performance
How can managing performance positively impact productivity and/or morale? How can the failure to manage performance negatively impact productivity and/or morale?
Positive:
- Personal accomplishment / satisfaction / achievement
- Mission achievement / results (outcomes)
- More collaboration
- Clarity of goal setting – “What does an ‘A’ look like”
- Communication can enhance performance (constructive feedback is critical)
- Inflated rating tasks don’t always mirror actual pd
- Rating should be based in reality and “connect” on all levels
- Focus on relevancy of performance plan – re-evaluate periodically to test the barometer of relevancy
- Objectivity is key. Create a team culture of success. No ‘I’ in team, “we” not me
Negatives:
- Lack of direction / roles understanding
- Loss of staff
- Harder to move people
- Project delays
- Lack of clarity
- Leads to a lack of accountability between employer and management.
- Stop equating Managing Performance with FEAR on the part of the employee.
What are the top 3 to 5 strategies and/or activities your table team identified that can be employed to ensure positive impact of managing performance?
- Cross-functional teams
- Regular meetings
- Develop relationships/communication
- Clearly define roles + expectations (more frequently than once/year)
- Rewarding success / communicating success
- Have objective conversation between leader/manager and staff person to determine what priorities should be.
- Have elastic and relevant goals.
- Know critical success factors and what ties them together.
- Coach and train leadership as well as staff on issues that drive better performance.
- Create a culture of “helping” everyone succeed. Find the ‘new normal’. Distinguish “goals” what stretches you and the tasks at hand.
- Focus on clarity of mission.
- Build relationships with employees.
- Feedback shouldn’t be reserved for the negative.
- Encourage ongoing communication with employees not just on performance issues.
Government Roundtable Issue #1
Posted in Engagement, Goals, Roundtable, Silos, Technology, The Ken Blanchard Companies on June 15, 2009
At The Ken Blanchard Companies Government Roundtable in Washington DC, attendees were asked to participate in a table discussion on an issue of importance. Below is the first set of consolidated notes from each table discussion.
Issue 1 – The impact silos have on an organization
Specifically, how do Silos impact productivity and/or morale, in a positive or negative way, in your organization?
Positive:
- Fields of learning can focus on specific areas of concern
- Clear focus on customers. Service better.
- Specialization. Compartmentalize information. Protect information. Only expose one department to threat/problem.
- Strong group identity. Engaged with group area. Loyalty
Negative:
- Silos can be self-serving
- They tend to miss big picture
- They don’t facilitate knowledge sharing
- Competing interests doesn’t help organizations reach objectives
- Lack of information sharing or misinformation. Leaders need to communicate better with other groups.
- There can be duplication of efforts
- Creates fear in an organization. Focused on self. Blinders on. Lose perspective.
- Limits creativity.
Identify strategies or activities that can be employed that minimize the negative impacts of silos.
- Establish culture where compelling vision exists – Everyone, in every department, is clear about who we are (our purpose), where we’re going (our picture of the future) and what will guide our journey (our values) – compelling vision supersedes individual silos. The goals for each silos takes on more meaning.
- Recognize uniqueness of each silo and listen to their concerns and issues.
- Establish goals that go across silos.
- Technology + Innovation
- Department heads need to communicate and build relationships. What are our commonalities? Build on that.
- Focus on the vision/mission.
- Identify pros and cons of change. What are the consequences? Bring it to a personal level. Humanize the process.
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