Janis Nett Management

Weekly’s Book
Review Volume 1, Issue 1

About the authors June 10/2012

Jim McCormick is the former

COO of the fifth largest archi-
tectural firm in the United
States. As a full- time speaker
and organizational consultant,
A true management classic...
his clients include: Bank of
America, FedEx, Hewlett-
Packard, PepsiCo, and Verizon. “Being successful is about valuing, under-
standing, and guiding the most complex of
Loren Belker was an executive
for a major mid-western insur- all systems–people. You will find it more
ance company for over 30 years of an art than a science and potentially
and is the author of previous
editions of The First Time more rewarding than anything you have
Manager ever done” (Becker, McCormick & Top-
Gary Topchik was the manag- chik, 2012). This book is a fantastic re-
ing partner of SilverStar Enter- source that has clearly helped countless
prises and specializes in man-
agement development. new managers. It would be impossible for
people to read this book and not improve
their ability to manage well, regardless of
how long they have been managing. The
book is written in everyday language and
provides meaningful and realistic exam-
ples. This book is a worthwhile invest-
Special points of ment for both new and experienced man-
interest: agers alike.
Engrained in this book
is the belief that a well
-led team will always Is management an art or a science?
achieve results that
Who is your current leader? How did they get to that position? Unfortunately, more often
are superior to those
than not, people are moved into managerial positions as a token of promotion and these deci-
of an individual. With sions are based solely on their current performance. The problem here is that being a man-
that said, a leader ager requires skills far beyond those of being an excellent technician. Although you demon-
must know how to strate yourself as being a good performer at your job, this certainly does not suggest that you
handle people. There will be a good leader. Managers focus on people, they need to rely on others, and are team
are two overarching orientated. In many ways, transitioning from the role of an individual contributor to a man-
messages: be thought- ager is similar to the difference between being a technician and being an artist. The manager
ful in your actions and is an artist because management is often nuanced and subjective.
always conduct your-
self with class.
 Page 2

Reality Check
Your first week on the job as a  Are „yes‟ people and will
manger will be unusual, to say the immediately start playing
least. You would be foolish to be- up to you, not to help you,
lieve that everyone is as happy and but to help themselves Often new managers are given
as excited as you are with your new
job description. In fact, some will  Will adopt a “wait and see” the advice to just “be
attitude. They will not
be secretly hoping you fail.
praise or condemn until themselves”. In fact, this is
Your team will consist of people your actions justify so bad advice because it may
who:
 Are jealous and believe
Initially you will be measured prevent you from recognizing
against your predecessor. If you
they are more equipped for
follow an incompetent predecessor
the different roles that will
the job
you will look great even if you‟re make you a successful
 Will test you early by ask-
ing you questions you do only mediocre. If you follow a manager.
not know the answer to for competent predecessor your adjust-
the sheer delight of embar- ment will be tougher as the bar has
rassing you
been raised.

5 Essential Lessons for a First Time Manager

Lesson #1: that remains for when it is really
needed. People know you are the will allow you to provide tasks that
Refrain from immediately institut- manager and are well aware of the your employees can successfully
ing changes for if you do you will authority of your position. The vast accomplish. This will benefit both
be viewed as arrogant and most majority of the time, it is unneces- the organization and the employee.
likely resented. Most people find sary to use that authority. Make your employees feel as
change threatening and will result in though it is perfectly natural for
a fear response which will most them to discuss small problems with
certainly work against you. you. By discussing the small prob-
Lesson #2: lems you will most likely avoid the
looming larger problems down the
Put effort into communicating road.
downward with your direct reports
rather than upward to your superi- Lesson #5: Manage your mood
ors. Your direct reports have more
Never think for a minute that others
influence on your future than your
superiors. At the end of the day you don‟t have the ability to judge your
will be judged on how well your moods. Yes, we all have our days
team functions. This lesson seems but we should never make our em-
obvious but many managers focus
on upward communication and only Lesson #4: Get to know your peo- ployees feel as though they contrib-
provide a passing glance to the peo- ple–really! uted to your bad mood. The first
ple who really control their future. Sometime within the first 60 days, step is to admit that something is
Lesson #3: plan on having personal conversa- troubling you. Your employee will
tions with each of your people in appreciate this disclosure because
Use your new found authority in your area of responsibility. Show a
emergency situations only. View genuine interest in their concerns they will not feel responsible or
authority as a limited inventory. and learn what ambitions they have inept and will appreciate your hon-
The fewer times you draw on the for the company. This information
inventory, the greater is the supply
 Page 3

Be an active listener

One of the best kept secrets of successful management is the ability to listen actively. This is one of the first skills a new manager
should hone, for two important reasons: First, if you do too much talking and not enough listening, you will be viewed as a „know
-it-all‟, not a positive trait. Secondly, by actively listening you will quickly learn what is going on and gain insights into valuable
information. Active listening immediately lets the other person know that they have been heard. People enjoy being around
someone who shows a genuine interest in them. You will become well liked and your team members get a manager who makes
them feel good about themselves. Active listening is accomplished simply by making clarifying statements, asking questions, sum-
marizing statements, and making appropriate facial and vocal cues.

Have you ever noticed that

8 major roles and responsibilities as a the more you allow the other
new manager
person to talk, the higher
you’ll be rated as a brilliant
conversationalist?
1) Hiring-finding individuals with the skills and potential
to succeed on the job.
2) Communicating- sharing the vision and goals and
objectives with your employees.
3) Planning- deciding what work needs to be done to meet the goals of your depart-
ment.
4) Organizing- determining what resources that are needed to perform each job or
project.
5) Training- assessing the skill level of each of your employees
to determine skill gaps, and provide instructional opportunities.
6) Monitoring- making sure that the work is being done and that each of your employees is Everyone knows
succeeding.
you’re the “boss”.
7) Evaluating- assessing the performance of individual team members and comparing it to
Focus you energy on
teaching your team
Assess your management style something they don’t
already know
Autocratic: Diplomats are Democratic: Autocrats are con-
wimps! trol-freaks!
 Explains what needs to be  Values teamwork and diver-
 “do it because I said so”
done and why sity
 Make every decision Awareness Approach: Best of
 Quality time spent with em-
 Expect staff to provide ro- both!
botic responses to com- ployees
 Aware of your employees
mands  Builds respect and affection
contributions and shortfalls
 Engenders fear  Is judicious in its display  Uses the right amount of
 Constantly uses authority control and encouragement
 Situational-based
 Page 4

Control vs. Encouragement

Control is about TELLING PEOPLE WHAT TO DO; SHOWING THEM HOW TO DO IT; AND MAKING SURE
THE WORK IS DONE
Encouragement is about MOTIVATING; LISTENING; AND ALLOWING EMPLOYEES TO DO WHAT IS EX-
PECTED
Employees generally fall into one of these 5 types. It is important for the manager to know so the right amount
of control and encouragement can be used to maximize
employee potential. TYPE A TYPE B TYPE C TYPE
Someone who Someone who has lost Someone who per- Someo
is very moti- his or her motivation forms very well and is both ab
TYPE A TYPE B TYPE C TYPE Dbut has the skillsTYPE
vated but lacks to do E also motivated. THIS ingnes
Someone who is Someone who has Someone who per-the skill or Someone thewho
job.lacks Someone who
THIS PER- has WILL
PERSON THIS P
very motivated lost his or her moti- forms very wellknowledge
and is both
to ability
SONand medium amounts
WILL MOSTLY NEED ofLITTLE CON- NEED
but lacks the skill vation but has the also motivated. succeed.
THIS THIS willingness
NEEDto per- skill and motiva-
ENCOURAGE- TROL & LITTLE EN- CONT
or knowledge to skills to do the job. PERSON WILLPERSON form. THIS MENT PER- tion. THIS COURAGEMENT
PER- COUR
succeed. THIS THIS PERSON NEED LITTLEWILL CON- SON WILL NEED SON NEEDS ME-
PERSON WILL WILL MOSTLY TROL & LITTLE EN- LOTS OF CON-
MOSTLY DIUM CONTROL
MOSTLY NEED NEED ENCOUR- COURAGEMENT NEED CON- TROL & ENCOUR- & ENCOURAGE-
CONTROL AGEMENT TROL AGEMENT MENT

Building Team Dynamic

Getting work done through teams the final power of decision making, 6. Reward and accountability sys-
has become standard practice in you will notice confidence, camara-
tems- when team members under-
many organizations. It has been derie, and a feeling of strength
proven in workplaces that groups emerge. stand that they are held accountable
make better decisions than an indi- based on how well they perform as
vidual working alone. In today‟s 3. Clear roles and responsibilities-
identifying what is expected and team players, they quickly get the
world of high technology, the man-
ager cannot possibly know more whom it can be expected from message that team counts. Reward
than all the employees; the manager eliminates power struggles and con- people for both their individual and
is no longer the expert. Instead, the fusion and leads to more efficient
manager needs to support and guide outcomes.
employees and let them come up 4. Goal clarity- organizational goal
with work-related answers. clarity keeps everyone moving in As a new manager, you will
6 Essential Factors for building the same direction. It provides a
standard against which they can
need to become proficient at
team dynamic:
make decisions and decide on a spotting and cultivating talent.
1. Open communication-a team course of action.
that cares passionately about its task Success depends on recruiting
5. Effective Leadership-setting
is very positive. It has open and
clear goals and providing continual the best you can and making
honest communications.
feedback. Provide an environment them better!
2. Empowerment- managers set that encourages self reliance, self
boundaries of time, money, and development, and which builds
choices but once you give the team trust, respect, and collegiality.
 Hiring and Interviewing
Nothing you do as a manager is more important than hiring. One
bad hiring decision can cost hundreds of hours trying to address the
problems. You need to be very confident that you have the right
person.

Questions NOT to ask as they that make you, the interviewer, look
dumb!
Why do you want to work here?
What makes you think you‟re qualified for this job?
Are you interested in this job because of the salary?

Questions TO ASK as they make you, the interviewer, look

smarter!
What did you like best about your last job?
What did you like least about your last job?
Tell me about your last manager.

Why should a hiring manager care about an employees

past work experience?
Often, the answers to the above ques-  Work environment  Interested in getting time off
tions reveal best practices from other  Refers to previous manager
employees. By paying close attention to Not only can you learn from other
managers but you can gain some negatively
what other managers do/don‟t can be
powerful information for your organiza- valuable insight into the character of
tion. your potential employee.
What’s more important:
Some worthy responses may include:
Throughout the interview process, Experience or Education?
 Promoting from within
red flags may appear when the NEITHER!! The most
 Company sponsored and sup- candidate:
ported educational opportunities important criteria is
 Complains about over time
 Formal performance appraisal attitude!!
systems  Overly concerned with
salary

Managing Change: Dealing

with resistance

One of the most important aspects of a manager‟s job is managing

change effectively. Managing change includes:
accepting change
understanding change
supporting change
understanding why your team is resistant
finding ways to mitigate the resistance

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M A N A G E M E NT W E E K L Y ’ S B O O K R E V I E W
Dealing with resistance
What makes people so resistant to it. To mitigate this, the first thing
change? People fear change be- you should do is be sure to explain
cause of the unknown. They are
unsure how they may react to the the rationale behind the change.
uncertainties. Change may put a We know that not all areas of an
person‟s job at risk and they feel organization will benefit; some-
that they will no longer have the
times only certain departments will
skills nor be able to learn the
skills necessary to perform. Also, flourish. By making this fact
people fear change when they known there will be reduced scepti-
don‟t understand the reasons for it cism and no „behind the scenes‟
being introduced in the first place.
meetings. Secondly, in order to
Accepting change yourself How to reduce resistance mitigate resistance, involve your
As a manager, not only do have to People have different thresholds or team with the change process. Al-
be prepared to embrace change and resistance to change. Change does low the staff to come up with strate-
be a champion, you must also ac-
cept and support the changes that not affect everyone equally. Unfor- gies that support their daily work.
you may disagree with. tunately, more than likely the ma- Change occurs so much more easily
Resistance to change jority of your team will be resistant
and have strong reservations against

Most of what seems stressful

Disciplining the Employee
when you’re new in
Every employee you are managing not the employees personal charac-
must know what the expected stan- ter. Too often, at all levels of ex- management will seem
dards of work are. When you disci- perience, managers turn a discus- ordinary and even mundane
pline an employee on the basis of sion about performance into a per-
vague standards, you are creating sonal attack: after you experienced it
more problems for yourself. Each
“You are making far too many er-
job description includes elements of
accountability and you need to rors”
measure the individual against those “I‟ve never had anyone screw this
standards. up so bad before” agreements.
Never make it personal “The task is not that difficult” 8. Always allot enough time for the
Remember that it‟s the behaviour or meeting. A thorough discussion
the performance that is reviewed, will lessen the chance of future mis-
understandings and convey that
4. Have a conversation, not de- you, as the manager, are truly inter-
Discipline with liver a monologue. You cannot ested in both your employee‟s well-
solve the problem without your being and the productivity of the
dignity employee‟s participation. organization.
1. Begin with a cool head. Al- 5. Try to get your employee to rec- 9. Not every personnel problem can
though you may be angry, this emo- ognize the performance problem
be solved by accommodation. It
tion is not warranted here. first.
circumstances where performance
2. Always discipline employee in 6. Ask your employee how you, the improvement plans have been ex-
private. manager, can assist in making the
performance better. hausted and there has been no evi-
3. Address the performance by dence of behaviour change, then
viewing it as the result of some mis- 7. End the conversation with a
memorandum of understanding, or a you must seek a replacement no
understanding about how the work
should be done (more often than performance improvement plan, matter how valuable the employee
not, this is the problem!) preferably written down. Recorded was at one time.
meetings and action plans have
more value than verbal
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M A N A G E M E NT W E E K L Y ’ S B O O K R E V I E W
 Do I have to fire you?
Firing someone can be a traumatic experience for both parties but if you, as the manager, did your job right, there
should be no surprises. In fact, there are more positives to firing than negatives. If you do it properly, your em-
ployee with actually thank you for removing them from the position. Really!
Two reasons to discharge an employee
1. Poor attitude and unwillingness to abide by the company‟s standards 70% of people who were fired
2. Poor performance later found jobs where both
Unfortunately, there is not much you can do when an employee has a poor atti- performance and salary increased!
tude and refuses to comply. Never negotiate or compromise the organizations
values to suit an employee‟s attitude. This would be disastrous to the organiza-
tion. Make sure the standards are clear and opportunities for corrective behaviour are in place. Once this process has
been exhausted there is no choice but to dismiss the employee. There is no value in keeping such as employee toxic-
ity can spread like a bad weed!
Poor performance dismissal is different. You have options. More often than not, poor performance is the result of
unclear expectations and processes. By standardizing expectations and providing additional training, performance
can be improved. If not, regular performance reviews will clearly indicate the employee‟s strengths and shortfalls.
This process is not meant to be punitive rather educational. An employee will realize their competencies and wel-
come opportunities that will maximize their potential, whether within the existing organization or elsewhere. Being
fired allows them to find a better fit for themselves. Keeping an unsatisfactory employee on the job is unfair not only
to the company but to the employee.

Knowledge is power...only when you share it!

Too many managers, both new and opposed to outside sources, which knowledge of what is not so than it
seasoned, take private pleasure in at best is assumed, or even worse, is to let them know what is so in the
knowing something that others do malicious gossip. By sharing infor- first place.
not know. This is a MISTAKE! mation with your team, you are
Don‟t assume that your team does unleashing the power of potential
not know what is going on. It is far from your employees, as they will
better for you team to hear the in- be more self-directed. It is much
formation from their manager as more difficult to correct people‟s

Encouraging innovation only success, you will get a lot

The pace of business continues to become successful. At the same less initiative because of the
accelerate. Technology has drasti- time, innovation requires a great fear of a failed outcome. En-
cally changed the way we do things. amount of risk with uncertain out- couraging initiative and innova-
To be sure, technology‟s presence comes. How does a manager en- tion requires you to send the
will continue to influence the work- courage team members to be inno- clear message that you value
place. In order to be responsive to vative knowing full well that their both even though they do not
these changes, employees in an or- ideas may not be successful? always yield the desired out-
ganization need to be agile and in- come.
novative. Innovation is important  Rewarding the effort is just
as important as rewarding Done well, you will enjoy a lot more
because very few organizations can progress than setbacks and your team
continue to exist without it let alone the outcome–if you reward
will be more engaged in its work.

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M A N A G E M E NT W E E K L Y ’ S B O O K R E V I E W
 The Generation Gap
First-time managers come in all answers but you will need to
shapes, sizes, and ages! Most con- know where to find them
flicts occur when younger managers
supervise older workers. Why?  Delay making what you
Most likely because the older would consider common-
worker is reluctant to take orders sense and fairly obvious de-
from someone younger or it can cisions–by postponing you
exist due to the possible impetuous- show that you are giving the
ness of the younger manager. As a matter thought
younger, first time manager, your  Consider asking for recom-
approach must be much more grad- mendations and input.
ual. Take time making changes. decline offers of increased com-
The second biggest conflict comes Helpful Advice for managing younger pensation at the expense of in-
from supervising generation X and employees: creased responsibility and their
Y employees whom have unique personal time.
 People from these age
characteristics. groups commonly seek fulfill-  Broad discretion is prefer-
Helpful Advice for managing older ment from their work more than able to direct supervision. Man-
employees: previous generations. aging them closely can cause
them to react negatively.
 Never fake an answer. You  They often have a higher
do not need to have all the value of personal time and will

Many older workers will read quick decisions by younger

managers as impulsive; decisions by older workers are viewed
as decisive

Basic guidelines for writing and conducting

performance appraisals
1. Set clear goals and objectives so
employees know what is expected the employee‟s performance, not
of them. attitude.

2. Provide training and coaching to 8. Appraisals are legal documents

each employee to help them suc- so make sure you are careful with
ceed. your comments.
3. Provide ongoing feedback on
performance.
4. Prepare paperwork for the re-
view.
5. Conduct the review in a timely
manner.
6. Understand and communicate
the review‟s importance.
7. Be thorough and base review on

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M A N A G E M E NT W E E K L Y ’ S B O O K R E V I E W
 Page 9

Caution! Appraisal inflation and

subjectivity
APPRAISAL INFLATION

HALO EFFECT
HORNS EFFECT
 You are evaluating an em-
ployee on several different goals  This is the exact opposite
and the goal that you, subjec- of the halo effect. When an
tively feel is the most important, employee underperforms in a
 rating all employees as satis- happens to be the goal that the duty which you subjectively
factory or better. employee is excelling at. You believe to be the most critical,
unintentionally overrate every- automatically every duty the
 Driven by the desire to avoid thing else the employee does. employee performs, even if
conflict great, is diminished.
 You will never receive per-
formance improvements
from employees
 You will cause confusion
with colleagues when assess-
ment results and are shared
and a weaker colleague is
Developing a positive self
getting the same feedback as
a stronger, more productive
image
employee
 Set yourself up for future Having a positive opinion of your own abilities is not an ego problem if it‟s a realis-
problems if performance tic assessment. As the old saying goes, “love your neighbour as you love yourself”.
appraisals are conducted by This principle applies to management too.
someone else or if a down-
sizing is looming on the ho- Strategies for improving self-image
rizon. You will want your Visualization
weaker employees to go, but
who are they? · Visualize a specific outcome that is important to you.

· After periods of practice, these visual images become part of how we view
our actions and ourselves. The brain records these images for later use.

· This is NOT wishful thinking; its programming your mind for the outcome
you desire.
 Developing a positive self
image Many new managers believe
that they must know how to
Win-Win Positive Self-talk
perform every job in their area
· Provide people with a lot · It is estimated that we send
of responsibility. If someone
of positive feedback and ourselves over 1000 mes-
work hard to help others sages a day. quits, they are personally
succeed. This makes you responsible for performing the
· To build up your self-
feel better about their work
image, make sure these
task. This, of course, is
as well as our abilities as a
manager. messages are positive ones. RIDICULOUS
The more you do this, the
more the brain builds a
positive sense of self.

requires the art of repriori-

tizing. Most interruptions
are just that–interruptions
Manage your time wisely that appear urgent but in-
deed they are not. Tech-
nology has provided us
We all have days where we do with infinite opportunities
not accomplish what we set out · Schedule your high prior- to be interrupted but few
ity items at your peak en- are urgently important.
to do, however, if this is a ergy level. Try to match
regular occurrence, you may your tasks to your different · To be successful, do not
have a problem with time energy levels. Your less reprioritize your day
important ones can wait. around interruptions.
management
Carefully prioritize the
3. The Flammable task list item to where it belongs.
1. The List · No matter how well you
plan, plans are never abso- 5. The need for reflection
· The first thing you do in
the morning is make a list lute. Unintended issues · Plan to have a quiet period
of the items you wish to be occur without prior warn- each day. Ideas are con-
completed that day. Keep ing all the time. As a good stantly bouncing around in
it realistic. manager, you have been your head and providing
awarded sound judgment time to be conscious of this
· Scratch off each item com- and you must know when is beneficial for two rea-
pleted and focus your en- to stick to your plan or sons: Cognitively your file
ergy on the next item. when to divert. There is information which will
no right or wrong answer happen regardless but pref-
· This is a relatively com- but it is important to keep erably not when you are
mon-sense approach but your plan in mind, even in suppose to be enjoying
surprisingly many manag- the midst of chaos. your personal time. Sec-
ers do not do this. ondly, a quiet setting often
4. The Tyranny of the immediate allows for new ideas to
2. Timing the task
· Some interruptions require surface.
immediate attention which
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M A N A G E M E NT W E E K L Y ’ S B O O K R E V I E W
 Page 11

Coping with stress

Stress is not all bad. Stress is what gets you up in the morning and has led you to
successfully securing a managerial position. Stress can sometimes have a negative
impact. The solution is to manage stress the same way you would manage anything
else.

1. Don‟t panic as it will make things worse.

2. Take a breath, relax, and speak slowly.
3. Keep first things first. Stick to your plan and assess the urgency.
4. Distribute the load by assigning major elements to members on your
team.
5. Seek advice from experienced members on staff.
6. Be level-headed and think about the problem, not our reaction to it.
7. Visualize wisdom and make inferences on how a role model of yours
would handle such a situation.

When you get a chance…DELEGATE!

Your best friend–Delegation
When you delegate properly, you can focus less on performing tasks and more on managing and lead-
ing.
Benefits of delegating:
 Employees become more engaged and motivated because they are acquiring new skills and feel
more involved in the organization.
 Delegating allows you, the manager, more time to address challenges and opportunities that
are approaching.
The First Time The moment you become a manager, you’re faced with the responsibility
Manager
of making sure work is getting done, your people are performing at the
height of their potential and everything in your department is running
smoothly.

Now in a revised 6th Edition, this trusted guide includes new material on
increasing employee engagement, encouraging innovation and initiative,
m
helping team members optimize their talents, improving outcomes, and
distinguishing yourself as a leader.

One thing for sure, as a rookie manager, you don’t have much time to
JANIS NETT learn the ropes. Accessible, friendly, and inspiring, the First Time Manager
remains the ultimate guide to starting your career in management
(American Management Association).