33. Train them to bring you solutions, not problems

"Bring me solutions, not problems." Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister (1979-90)

It's terribly easy for staff to moan. I think it becomes a habit. You have to train your staff not just to moan. You can allow moaning but insist that if they bring you a problem they must also suggest a solution to the problem. Any idea that there is something wrong should always be met with, 'And what would you like me to do about it?' If they complain, meet them with, 'What do you think we should do?'

The best manager I ever worked for carried this even further and rnade us tell him the solution first - and then let him guess what he thought our 'problem' was. It made it a game, which was sort of fun, but it also made us think on our feet a bit - made us be a bit lateral in our moaning. I was having a problem with security staff. I thought they were wiping the CCTV footage without watching it, which was not on. This was my problem because if anything had happened I would have carried the can. I needed them to watch carefully but couldn't devise a solution to this problem - but I couldn't just go to the boss and moan that they weren't doing their job properly. I had to come up with a solution first.

Then it dawned on me that I didn't need to go to the boss. I could solve this one myself. I had to make sure the security staff thought there was something worth watching. I mentioned that some members of staff had been reported as having sex somewhere on the premises and it could have been covered by the CCTV cameras, but no one was sure by which camera. There were cameras covering car parks, offices, corridors and storage areas in the basement. Result. The security bods started watching as if their lives depended on it. My boss was pleased because this was part of my job brief and he had noticed it wasn't being done properly and was going to pull me up on it. And I had come up with a solution to a problem without going to my boss and just moaning, 'Oh, the security people aren't doing their job properly

Admittedly I had to come up with a fresh solution once the security staff realized they weren't going to see any smutty pictures - but it took them a long time, and they kept going back just in case . . .

"The great danger is fossilization, becoming pre occupied with its internal tasks and systems and procedures, and losing touch with the world out side. And this will happen if everyone is concen­trating on being efficient rather than being effec­tive - in other words, if they don't follow The Rules."

Sir Antony Jay, creator of Sir Humphrey in Yes Minister and founder of Video Ark, in his foreword to The Rules of Work

So that's the basic rules for managing a team. And obviously most managers have a team to manage, But all managers have themselves to manage as well - that's you. So the next set of rules is for you. These are rules to help you become more effective as well as more efficient. It's hard enough just getting through the day without trying to improve as well, believe me I know.

Being a manager is a tough job because it is always two jobs at once. You have to get your own work done and also be looking out for a team. The higher up the scale we go, the further away from our original job we get. And often no one bothers to train us as to what the new job - management - actually entails. Sure we go on the odd course - and some are very odd: I speak as one who has made Lego™ bridges, done jigsaws that are face down, been on canoeing weekends and all in the name of management training - but we don't specifically tram to be managers. Management is something we sort of pick up as we go along. Sure there are a few good instinctive managers, but invariably we stumble along picking up the odd hint and clue here and there -it's a very hit and miss operation.

And a lot of what we are taught is fairly obvious. What I'm doing here is giving you the unwritten stuff - the stuff you don't get on those canoeing weekends.