Be a better manager and employee by avoiding these traps

1. www.ErycEyl.com

2. Do you want to get the
least out of your employees?
I doubt it. But it just might be happening.
Unfortunately, organizational structures, traditional
management approaches and those dreaded "best
practices" we all hear so much about frequently
prevent even the most capable managers from getting
the most out of their staff.
The same well-intended management approaches that
should help us get better results often get in the way
of effectiveness and efficiency.
Traditional command-and-control is less of a
hindrance when managing entry-level staff whose jobs
comprise strict parameters and predictable tasks.
But taking the same approaches to management with
experienced employees -- people you've hired for
their expertise, intelligence and creativity -- just might
end in disaster.
Keep your head and your heart while keeping your job.

3. Trap #1: Tell your employees exactly what to do.
Yes, I know. We've all heard how important it is
to give your employees clear direction and
explicit guidance.
This is good advice if you need someone to
assemble a watch or defuse a bomb.
If you treat your expert employees in this way,
however, you're likely to constrain and limit the
results you get, instead of maximizing them.
Better to give those seasoned folks a clear
sense of vision and purpose, and let them
figure out the best way to get there, using the
strengths for which you hired them.
Keep your head and your heart while keeping your job.

4. T #2: Monitor your employees’ comings and goings.
rap
If you're watching the clock every time your rock star employees arrive at the office or
head home, don't be surprised if they become clock watchers too. Enforce strict 8-to-5
boundaries on those folks and you'll get their bodies from 8 to 5, but less of their minds.
You'll also make sure that they do little work beyond those 8-to-5 boundaries.
Creativity, intellection and innovation rarely happen on schedule. Instead of measuring
minutes, work with your best employees on goals that more closely align with their
contributions to the organization’s success, and let them figure out when, where and how
to do the work to meet them.
Keep your head and your heart while keeping your job.

5. T #3: Leave your employees without a clear vision.
rap
As a manager, it's easy to get so caught up in the daily details of work -- the myriad project plans and
deadlines and tasks -- that you lose track of what they all add up to. Traditional management
practice says it's not a manager’s job to create a vision, but those days are gone.
If your brightest employees don't know where they're headed
or why, they won't be able to figure out the best way to get there.
Worse yet, when they run out of work to do, they won't be
able to determine the next right thing to do without
being told. That's neither effective nor efficient.
We're not talking about crafting the grand organizational
vision, but just conveying a clear sense of what role your team
plays, and what it will look like when you're successful, will ensure
you get the most out of them.
Keep your head and your heart while keeping your job.

6. Do you want control or results?
You've probably already noticed what these three management
traps have in common -- lack of autonomy. Commanding and
controlling also limit your employees’ sense of status and
certainty in their jobs. See my article on Dave Rock's SCARF
model to better understand why that matters.
These traps arose out of a 20th-century aspiration to turn the
world of work into something predictable and controllable (see
also SMART goals).
In a world where the most valuable work is predictable and
controllable, this makes sense. But in the 21st century, your
employees’ intellectual, innovative and creative contributions are
worth much more, and those can’t be predicted or controlled.
If you want to get the most out of your employees' grey matter,
you owe it to them -- and to yourself -- to connect and
collaborate by avoiding these three management mistakes.
Give up control and get better results.
Keep your head and your heart while keeping your job.

7. Meet Eryc Eyl
I was fired from my first job.
Since then, two decades of success and happiness in the corporate world have taught
me that life is a mashup.
For the past several years - from managing training and development for a division of
General Electric to leading change management (including acquisition integration) for
Level 3, a large telecommunications company, and planting the seeds of a structured
change management practice at OtterBox, a rapidly growing consumer goods company
- I have continually focused on the human experience of work.
As part of my corporate survival strategy, I have invented most of the 15 jobs I have held
in corporations.
Just like you, I'm more than just one thing. I'm an organizational effectiveness
consultant, certified Six Sigma Black Belt, change management expert, writer, journalist,
DJ, husband, father, son, brother and friend from the glorious state of Colorado.
Most workplace survival advice focuses on how to climb the ladder or how to jump off it.
My mission, on the other hand, is to inspire and instruct folks to integrate work with a
meaningful, fulfilling and fun life, and to help organizations develop and support
employees who are dynamic, productive and whole.
Unflinchingly focused on the human aspects of career and business success - and
unapologetically weird - I write, speak, coach, consult and DJ to help individuals and
organizations develop strategies for navigating the seas of change successfully and
happily.
I hope you’ve found this e-booklet valuable. I’d love to learn more about you. Introduce
yourself by leaving a comment on my blog (and subscribe, if you haven’t already). Shoot
me an email. Follow me on Twitter. Whatever you're into. I'd be delighted to hear from
you.
Until then, keep your head and your heart while keeping your job.
Read more and get tons of free information at www.ErycEyl.com.
Keep your head and your heart while keeping your job.