Inverting the Pyramid
Today’s managers mentally balance the pyramid upside down on it’s point to reverse the direction of flow of information. Customers and their needs are put on top followed by employees then finally managers at the bottom. This helps them to appreciate if the communication process works in their organisations. This is called Inverting the Pyramid of Communication.
Tips for you.
1 Flatten the hierarchy by reducing the number of management levels in your organisation.
2 Mentally invert the Pyramid of communication to have a feel of what it is to be at the bottom and then make necessary adjustments to have an effective flow of information from the extreme ends of your organisation
3 Talk honestly with your staff and you will get honest answers
4 Remember, if reports are always good, you could have not been given the whole truth.
5 Be prepared for misunderstandings of what you are striving to communicate.
6 Encourage your staff to be honest with all the times even if they have made mistakes.
7 Make it clear that even negative feedback is a positive opportunity for making improvement.
8 You must ensure that your staff are not intimidated by fear of punishment for mistakes.
10 Do not always wait for staff for feedback, go out and ask for feedback and their comments.
11 Dynamise staff with anticipation, strong leadership, company purpose, support and loyalty.
12 Hold regular meetings, inform everyone of what has been achieved and has to be achieved.
Form Hot Groups along the following lines:
a) Introduce new ideas , c) announce the objectives, d) express confidence in your staffs’ ability,
e) Emphasise group or team spirit, f) look forwards and backwards of the projects, g) put across your own authority, h) banish doubts and doubters, and emphasise that efforts will be fully supported and rewarded.
Setting up Goals
Goals are the essence of planning and goals should be (SMART) ambitious, achievable, stretching, hard-headed, feasible and with sub-goals to help you and your team to attain them.
When setting up goals you should always ask yourself:
Are they clear, strong and measurable goals?
Are they understood and approved by implementers?
Can they be realistically achieved by my staff?
Do they have a clear sensible time-frame for completion?
Have they been translated into full plans?
Will they be revised as dictated by events?
Can we reach them in advance of our strategy time limit?
Will they generate rewards for employees?
Do they translate into individual goals as well?
Tips for setting up Goals
1 Remember that people respond to prospects of achieving high achievements.
2 Therefore, always seek to develop ambitious targets that can be achieved.
3 Expect setbacks and always have contingency plans (Murphy’s Law).
4 Cut your losses fast if failure is truly inevitable (Cut and run).
5 Think big as a leader in order to achieve bigger goals.
6 Set goals that will inspire your staff with pride and sense of achievement after completion.
7 Achieving goals despite difficulties and setbacks is a crucial test of true leadership.
8 Remember, a positive state of mind (Can do) is crucial to achieving your goals.
Set objectives along the frame below:
OBJECTIVES TRAGETS ULTIMATE GOAL
R
educe
the price Lower the cost of Production
Offer customers better
V
alue
for money Improve the Product Increase Market
Change methods to
M
eet
objectives Set targets and time-limits for
Teams and individuals
By selecting your objectives, individuals and team members can be given targets and time limits that slot together at the end to reach the ultimate goal.
Tips for Developing Teams
Your role is to develop a team that thinks and acts together with individual as well as aligned with team interests. To have an effective team you must:
1 Ensure that everyone on the team is working towards agreed shared goals.
2 Criticise constructively and make sure that you praise good work and censure poor work.
3 Monitor team members’ activities by continuously obtaining feedback.
4 Constantly encourage generation of new ideas from within the team.
5 Always insist on the highest standards of work from team members.
6 Develop the individual and collective skills of the team and seek new blood by recruitment.
Key leadership Roles are:
1 Analytic guardian and effective coordinator, pulling together the work of the team as a whole.
2 Encourage innovations ensuring smooth implementation of the teams’ activities.
3 Team building, team support and nurturing to grow and develop within the organisation.
4 Provide internal and external training opportunities for staff.
5 Encourage the team to share the same goals, critical solidarity and healthy competition.
6 Match roles personalities, double and trebled roles to meet the teams’ needs.
7 Concentrate on the teams’ contributive, collective performance and achievement.
8 Empower team members by allowing them to decide how best to perform their tasks.
9 The more you allow your staff to do some of your tasks the stronger your leadership becomes.
Openly reward real merit for good performance but never appear to have favourites. Rewards can take several forms, such as pay rises, bonuses, profit sharing schemmes, share ownerships, holidays and prizes.